I ruined Passover dinner...

Yes, that is correct. I passed out while making dinner which, of course, scared the crap out of my mom and kids... Bryan was amazingly calm. Then I thought I was fine - just a little woozy and then while serving dinner it just about happened again. So, off to the ER we went. Twenty people in my house and we just left.

I have to say, they were wonderful. Everyone (just about) helped clean up and put everything away. It was very kind of them. My mom worked her butt off and I really appreciate it!! We were in the ER until after one AM. I have a Dr's appt today so we'll see what she has to say... I don't want to go back on meds. That's my worry... I haven't excersized like I should and I know I haven't... ugh, I hate this....

Spinning and Dyeing and fun, oh my!

So Laura came over on Saturday and we had our spinning and dyeing class!! It was a lot of fun! Of course, I learned that I don't have the patience for dyeing and will probably stick with buying fleece that's already dyed.

Laura made cute little drop spindle kits for everyone, see:



I did pot dyeing using a very pretty garnet color. It came out lighter than it probably should, but after almost two hours I was done and didn't feel like waiting for it. It's still pretty though:


The rest of the time, I did rainbow dyeing by hand and then microwaved it. We learned that I have a very strong microwave since it actually melted the first batch!! Once we figured it out, we were good to go!!


Love the pinks and purples!!! Now I have to spin it up... how long do you think it'll take me to do that???

I'm on the second sleeve of the sweater jacket - woo hoo!!!

Computer Frustration!!

I need my own lap top... this sharing thing is getting on my nerves.  The boys download things and make it sooo slow - I can't stand it.  It times out, I don't have the patience to wait, and so I don't post...  Very annoying!

However, I just bought/ordered a Health Master and there went the money I would have put towards the lap top.  So, maybe for next year as a holiday gift?  We'll see...

I am really excited about the Health Master - it's seems similar to the Vita Mix, which I had a problem with.  I'm hoping this is better - it's half the price too which is a plus.  I researched it and it seems really great.  I can make whole, raw foods into soups and drinks and smoothies and am hoping it's as good as it says.  Right now it's scheduled to come on the 30th which works out perfect because I'm off from work so I'll have time to play with it.  I'll let you know how it goes!!

My Cliq

Yay! Blogger fixed whatever was happening. Here is my pretty purple skin phone:


That's my home screen... I've changed it a bit but basically that is it. It also has a qwerty board - what's qwerty? It's the first 6 letters on the top row of a key board! Yeah, I didn't know that and had to ask. I've been typing since elementary school but it just didn't connect... then of course, when Matt told me, I said, "Oh yeah!" Here's my qwerty board:




Notice my screen view changed too? How cool is that - I can hold it vertically or horizontally and it will change for me. Yep, it loves me!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JARETT!!!!

Jarett's exciting pre-day birthday

Tomorrow is Jarett's 11th birthday!!! What did we do? We bought him a cell phone!! He's so excited!! Of course, Bryan and I upgraded ours too. We got a great deal on a buy one get one Smart Phone. We got the Motorolla Cliq. Two words - LOVE IT!

It took a little bit to figure out - especially since I'm not that computer savvy and kept opening things when I was trying to scroll.... but I've got it down and even figured out how to get it to vibrate and ring when I get a text - which is what I wanted because I was getting texts and didn't have the slightest idea that I was getting them.

We got skins for them too. Mine is purple. I don't know why, but blogger isn't let me upload pics tonight.... I'll have to try later... anyway, I love my phone and Jarett is a happy new phone owner!!

Power Loss Weekend

So the hurricane like winds finally blew out our power around 4:30 pm yesterday. I was surprised it stayed on that long! We went out to dinner to the infamous Plum Tree and found out that our favorite waitress had QUIT!!!! For me, it was traumatic!! She understood my gluten allergy and would always come up with creative dishes for me. It was so awesome. Instead we had a very "efficient" waitress who was no nonsense and I just got plain steamed veggies and shrimp with no sauce... no special soup for me and no special sauce... It was still good - I just missed my special attention. :-(

Good news was, I finished the left side of my sweater jacket and started the right side. It's moving along - woo hoo!!

We came home to a dark house and the boys had a ball with lighting the fireplace and candles. Jarett and I sat with our reading lights and books and Bryan and Matt played on their ipods. The electric finally came back around 12:30 in the morning. But, with no power and no alarm to set and then having to set the clocks forward, by the time we all woke up, Jarett missed Hebrew School. He's not too sad... Anyway, my mom's coming to cook for Passover so it'll be easier anyway to not have to worry about running out to get him.

Until she gets here, I think I"ll knit...

Free Patterns

Okay, I'm a moron and can't figure out how to make a link to put a couple of patterns I made. So, I'm posting them here. They are both from workshops I did when I worked at Michaels. I hope you enjoy them!!

Wrist Warmers

by Sharon Hoelzle

Wear these indoors in place of gloves to keep you hands and wrists warm. Your fingers will be free to pick up items or write. Enjoy!

Materials: size 8 or 10 needles, yarn in your favorite color.

Sizes: 32 stitches will make a women’s size small, for smaller hands, cast on 28 stitches, for larger hands cast on 36 stitches.

Instructions:

CO 32 (or amount for size you need)

Work in K1 P1 ribbing until about seven inches long.

BO

Fold in half. Starting at top edge, sew one inch down from top, leaving about a one inch space for thumb. Finish seaming down to bottom edge.

Beaded Scarf

by Sharon Hoelzle

Materials: 2 skeins Caron Simply Soft Chunky

US size 10.5 needles

US size G crochet hook

optional beading supplies: package of beads, lace crochet hook

Special Instructions: Yarn Over - start with yarn behind needle, bring to front as if to purl, one wrap - bring to back and around to front again, two wraps, etc.

Instructions:

(cut 56 8” strands for fringe. save till end)

CO 14

Rows 1, 2, 3 - K across

Row 4 - *K1 YO3,* repeat from *to* till last stitch, K1

you will now have 39 extra stitches on your needle

Row 5 - K1, *drop extra yo stitches, K1* repeat from *to* until last stitch, K1

Repeat Rows 1-5 for pattern

BO at desired length

Fringe - Taking two strands together, fold in half. With crochet hook, pull loop through each space on CO edge. Bring single ends through loop, pull to tighten. Repeat on BO edge.

Optional Bead Work

Determine what row you would like to have beads.

Using small crochet hook, insert hook into bead. With crochet hook (bead is already on) lift the loop of yarn off the left needle and pull through bead. Replace loop onto left needle. Knit this stitch.

Continue this until you have the amount of beading you want.

Experiment with bead placement until you are satisfied with the results. Placing the beading between two knit rows, makes a tightly placed bead that will not move around. The bead will stand out when using a contrasting color. Placing the bead on an elongated stitch will result in a loosely placed bead that will freely move along the length of the stitch.

Respectfully losing

So as the losing team of the Beaufort/Langhorne Ravolympics challenge, we have to send a "Philly" gift basket to them. It will be full of Philly foods like Tasty Cakes, peanut butter tandycakes, mallo cups and Peanut Chews which I didn't know were Philly related!! Look at the huge box I got:

We also are sending post cards from the surrounding burbs and, of course, yarn. Sock weight or lighter since they are in a warmer climate....

As a special "thank you" for Colleen, Trudy and I are giving her flowers and a book:


I think she'll be happy with it!! I can't wait to see what everyone brings - it will be a lot of fun packing everything up!!

Plymouth Jacket

I've been working some more on my jacket - the yarns really are matching up nicely! The Flauto is pooling a bit, but other than that, I'm happy with the way it's coming out. What do you think?


You can see the darker pooling in the middle. Here's another pic:


So this is the back and it's just about done. Then I have to do the fronts and the sleeves...

With the temperatures warmer up, the snow is melting - YAY!!! One of my turtles must think it's Springtime - she's peeking out:

Isn't she cute?! Her friend is still sleeping in their log. I guess there's no fooling that one - Spring isn't here yet!

Bandit, on the other hand is enjoying the warmth of the sun from his sunny perch on the steps.

It's Fah - rrriiiii - day!!!

My report cards are done! Yay!! Four days early - yeah, I know, I'm good!! So now I get to knit all weekend! Phew! I haven't knit since Tuesday night - I'm having withdrawal!! I finished the "floopy" part of the back of the sweater jacket and am on the main yarn now. It's coming out pretty.

Jarett is on the last book of the Percy Jackson series that I bought him. Now there is a new one out so he wants to go to Barnes and Noble and get it. That, and a reading light!! Did you ever think I'd be saying "stop reading and go to bed?!" I love it!! I wish Matt loved reading... Unfortunately that gene skipped him...

Good news, I am off my blood pressure medicine for a week now and I feel fine. I need to cut back on the homemade nachos - I think I gained five pounds!!! I'm not sure what to do about the Super Greens I bought. They were very expensive and they do not dissolve into the water. I don't know what to do. I'll guess I'll try to call the company, but it's messy to drink it - it's just powder sitting in the water and not mixing...

Time to get ready for open mat night!! Until later...

No time to knit...

So here I am doing book orders and report card grades... no knitting time tonight!!! No time to blog either...

Bandit isn't feeling too badly for me...

Tuesday Knitting

So we ended the Ravolympics as the losers to the Beaufort group. :-( Now we have to pay up - that'll be our job tonight, organize a basket to send them. We're thinking Tasty Cakes since they don't have them there, and yarn of course! We still did well - over 11,000 yards knitted in two weeks!!! Next year we may do a charity competition. We'll see...

In the meantime, I started on my next Plymouth stash buster project - it's a long sweater jacket. It's supposed to be in Flauto and Fiocco, but somehow I don't have Fiocco... Not sure why not... So, I'm substituting Fusion instead. I'm doing a loop stitch to make it fluffy like the Fiocco looks. I think it's looking cute so far:



Now it's off to knit some more and get ready for my group!! Bandit isn't in the mood to help...