So Cazh...Heel Flap

So I made it to the heel flap on the first sock today.  I can't believe so many people are finished with these already!!!!!  I am loving them...and still gushing over the yarn!  I had some trouble on the second repeat, as it had been a couple days and even thought I left a note for myself, I misinterpreted it..and I spent over an hour knitting and ripping last night...I finally put them down for a bit and when I picked them back up was able to work on them....I may finish the first sock today, but I now have to take a break to correct papers and write lesson plans...go back to school tomorrow....but only have 3 days, as I have jury duty on Friday.....

YOP: Week 7

After last week's finishes, I really haven't worked on much.  The Hubs actually commented on this, as we went away for a few days and I brought 4 projects, but did not work on anything....mainly I read...I bought a new book, To Marry An English Lord, which is a non-fiction book about the history of rich American girls marrying into titled English families...just like Cora in Downton Abbey...Some of the stories I knew about, but it is very fascinating to read....

So really the only thing I worked on was the Business Casual sock, which I blogged about earlier...and Nelson, the Valentine Owl....poor Nelson...he did not get made for Valentine's Day this year....and I had to rip him out...as I realized I hadn't read the directions correctly and failed to switch colors for his chest...once the two big pieces are done..the rest will go quickly....just haven't felt like crafting...

ETA:  I finished Nelson, the Owl..who I have renamed Eros..... 
 
YTD Completed:
Crown for Natalie: 1/5/2013
Sparkie the Monster: 1/21/2013
Casseiopia Shawl:  2/9/13
Crikey Cowl: 2/10/13
Feet Blankets: 2/12/13
Eros the Owl: 2/16/13 (although no pictures until Friday, cuz who knows if I'll finish something else!)

WIPS:
Crochet:
Mission Falls Poncho: (Started 2006)
Round Ripple: (Started 2006 (?) Aiden)
Aran Blanket: (Started 2009): two panels done
Around the World Afghan: (April 2010): about ¼ done
Betty Shrug: I don’t know how long I’ve been working on this, but it only has an arm and a border to go.
Sunrise Sunset Afghan: this has been hibernating awhile, 6 squares done.
Saturn Sweater:  Dissertation for T7 (February 2013)
Deep Blue Seas (January 2013)

The Trellis Shawl (February 2013)

Knit:
Learn to Knit Afghan: (started 2010): 3 squares done

Socks:
Kai-Mei: (April 2012)
Beaded Camo Socks: (July 2012)
Hermione's Everyday Socks (January 2013)
A Heart Full of Love: Johnny's Socks (January 2013)
Business Casual (February 2013)

Scarves/Shawls:
Splashy Flowers: (May 2011)
Larry Stashbuster Scarf (2012)
Breath of Fresh Air Scarf: (April 2011)
Creekbed: (Feb 2012)

Bags:

Beach Bag: (started May 2010)  Just needs lining sewn in

Really Big Bag (2011): Stashbuster

Charity:

Hats:

Misc:

Sunflower: (August 2012) Need a back and to felt

Nelson, the Owl (February 2013)

Gifts: 

Nerd Wars:
 T7R1:

WIMs: Projects I have the yarn and the pattern

Sweaters:

Baroque Tabard Tunic

Test Pattern Sweater

Car Coat

Cowl Vest

Shawls/Scarves/Cowls 

Bedford Springs Shawl

Rockefeller

Wholehearted

The Age of Brass and Steam

West End Scarf 

Gathering Leaves

Alhambra

Petal Edge Scarf

Filippi Scarf 

Firefly Scarf

Fraxinus

Danube Cowl

Simple City

Fire and Ice

Multnomah

Leylines 

Hats and Mitts

Hermione Hearts Ron

Nehalm Hat

Felicity

Stellar

Cabled Headband

Fetching

Cayunga Hat and Mitts set

Preposterous

Ruffled hat and mitts

Evergreen Gloves

Socks:

Memento Mori

Rubus

Siren Socks

Hey, Have I Ever Steered You Wrong?

Savory Lace Socks

Autumn Flame

Firebird

Bags:

Sarape Shopper

Pleated Purse

Stash Acquisition Saturday

I like yarn, it makes me happy..and I do not join any stash-busting KAL/CAL/Meme, because the reality is....it wouldn't happen....

The Hubs calls my stash...My Retirement Fund....when I retire in a bazillion years, I won't have the disposable income I have now....but I'll have the stash..and I know I will never use it all up, but I don't care...I do donate stash, but never with the goal to reduce it...just to share it or because I come across stash I know I won't use....

Today we drove by a Hobby Lobby...and although I don't use much acrylic any longer and have tons of their yarn..I had that desire to turn into that mall....

But I did acquire some stash this week....as we went away and it is "holiday" stash...

I visited two LYS..one a farm stand LYS..The Hudson Valley Sheep and Wool in Red Hook, NY...(I'll blog about it later)...From there I obtained the 4 skeins on the left:  2 Silk/Merino blends, then the purple 3 ply handpainted, and the 3 ply Bulky.  I plan to use the bulky as the crown of a hat and the orange as the headband of the hat....

Then I went to Fabulous Yarns in Tivoli, NY...no pictures, as she is in the middle of moving..so I'll go back at some point....anyway I'd read online that she had IndigoDragonFly in stock....and I scored!!!  I got "Well put me on the short bus and send me off to clueless school."  The Lorne colorway from Angel...I love Lorne.  It's the one all the way to the right....The two in the middle are Madelinetosh....Tosh DK in Byzantine..and Tosh Merino Light in Firewood....

I also received some more in the mail, but more on those later...

Finishes, Finishes....Who's Got Finishes????

I DO!!!!!  I have three!!!!!

First off, the Hubs Feet Blankets because I had to finish them, as I kept getting a guilt trip from him...his old Feet Blankets were in this shape...

And he was tripping over things when wearing them...

Now he has a brand new pair....he named them his Feet Blankets.  His says the new ones are very warm.  This is his third pair....he is very rough on them....which is the reason he will NEVER get hand knit socks.....these don't take as long, and they are acrylic (he does not like wool) so he can beat them up as much as he wants...funnily, he never received any when he was a kid...we always got a pair from our grandmother at Christmas...the design is one I create as I go, to fit his feet...

I also finished my Crikey Cowl!!!!!  I absolutely love the colors!!!  Funny thing is my Random Fandom this month was a similar color...

There is no green in the cowl, it's just picking it up in the yellow...
Random Fandom: To The Batcave!

And the last finish was Secret Swap Project...which is called The Casseiopia Shawl.  I got the idea from a Kathy Merrick design, but went off on my own.  My swap partner likes the Casseiopia Supernova colors..so I took those as my inspiration....unfortunately I only had those bright colors in Red Heart Super Saver...but it did soften a bit with washing and hopefully will continue to soften...

Yes that is it modeling on the snowbank that was at the bottom of our porch....

To check out some other finishes this week, head on over to Tami's Amis, Wisdom Begins in Wonder, and Creative Friday...

Snow....

So on Saturday, after the all mighty dump of snow we received, the Hubs headed outside to do some shoveling.  Although we do have a guy who comes (he tends to come late now..new guy)...so the Hubs wanted to at least get a path going on the sidewalk....and I eventually joined him...

And he asked me to go and spread some seed for the birds along the fence...now mind you the snow was up past my knees...

Some bird tracks I saw on the way over to the fence..

Spreading the seed

The hole I fell into and could not get out of...every time I put my hands down, I just sunk deeper..so I had to roll over onto my stomach and crawl my way out....yeah...

This was my path

After rolling around in the snow and finally making it up...see the Hubs back there..he was NO help! And he had the gall to ask me why I did it!  Please! The snow is above my knees!  I lost my balance!

But the wind made some pretty interesting images in the snow...the Hubs said it almost looked like sand...

See this mound?  It's the cab of the Hubs truck...yeah it's under there somewhere...

They cancelled school for the rest of the week...I drove down the street our school is on today...although the sun is out and it was in the 40's and lots of melting going on..there are still un-shoveled sidewalks and in some places only one vehicle can pass at a time....so they deemed it too dangerous for the kids...(there are 15 schools in the town where I teach)

we had a long weekend coming up anyway, as they had taken away February vacation and we just had Friday and Monday...now it seems as if they may take away April vacation...that kinda sucks...

Business Casual - Finally!!!!

I got it!  I got it!!!  Finally!!!!!  So I am on my way.....Kelly also posted a very informational video on how to do the Traveling Stitch without a cable needle....and while my goal is to eventually cable without a needle, not sure I am ready for that yet.....

So here I am......

Again the yarn is so very, very yummy!!!!  I'm also loving the slight variation of color in the blue...

We are off from another day of school...at this rate, we won't have an April vacation....and I can finally leave the house...so I have a few errands to run...when I get back..I'll work on it some more...

Obligatory Snow Post

Charlotte or Nemo (I have no idea why there are two names) dumped a ton of snow on Connecticut...We got about 2 feet....picture heavy post....
About 6:00 PM on Friday Front Steps and porch

About 10:30 Friday night: street and front porch

About 1:00 Friday night

The aftermath on Saturday:

And school has been cancelled today, as roads are still not clear enough to be passable...and tomorrow is also in doubt... That second to last picture, you can see snow on the inside..we did have snow on the inside, too...oh and it took the hired snow plow guys three hours to clear our driveway with a snow blower...