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facebook and typepad are refusing to be friends anymore. >:(




facebook and typepad are refusing to be friends anymore. >:(
I finished one of my socks from the Awesome Socks pattern. Loves it. Very stretchy and nice. I also love the way the yarn worked up. Please excuse my large Irish ankles and wide Irish feet; I can't help it, I just have a good under-standing. ;)












So, for a while, I've lost what I lovingly refer to as my knitting mojo. I hadn't bought any good yarn in ages, I didn't have any truly exciting projects in the works, and I just didn't feel like knitting. I forced myself through a couple of trades with others, but I really haven't been feeling it. Finally, though, I bought myself some new yarn, dusted off some of my favorite tools, and bought myself a new pattern to pull myself out of my funk.
First, meet my new yarn, "Heart Throb" from Blue Moon Fiber Arts (heavyweight superwash)...



My favorite Addi 4" DPNs...

My gorgeous RSEW Yarn Bowl...




And my new pattern from my beloved Linds, Awesome Socks.
I am armed to battle my knitting funk with beautiful tools. I firmly and wholeheartedly believe that beautiful tools yield beautiful work. If your tools aren't pleasant to touch or to look at, how can you expect your work to be beautiful? How can you expect to come up with gorgeous results when you're using nasty bargain bin acrylic yarn? It's the difference in a pleather purse and Birkin. I don't know about you, but given the choice, I'm choosing the Birkin.
So far, I'm loving this pattern (visit the link to the pattern for more pics- it makes a gorgeous sock). The pattern shows off the colors of the yarn gorgeously, without creating any undesired pooling. I, for one, don't mind pooling a bit, but I know there are plenty of people out there who hate it.
For those of you who are confused by the word "pooling", this is what is commonly referred to as "pooling" by knitters:

Ok, these are crocheted, not knitted, but bear with me (for the record: I also made these). See how the colors in the yarn grouped up together and didn't really mix? That's pooling. There's a lot of different ways yarn can pool, but this is my favorite. I think pooling is beautiful. Yarn has a story, let it tell it's story.
I should write more, but I'm excited to get back to knitting. It's about time.
My baby is writing. I cannot believe it. A couple of weeks ago, we stopped in at the homeschooling store here, the aptly named "Educational Store", to pick up a roll of paper for Seamus' easel- they're the only place I can find that carries it. I also picked up a preschool workbook for him that taught writing. I figured that getting a head start on K-4 for this fall couldn't hurt. We worked through the first part- the writing basics part- last week and most of this week. Lots of angled lines, straight lines, and curvy lines with some circles and half-circles thrown in for good measure. But today we got to start on letters. We started with the letter A and worked a bit on B. I can't believe he can write the letter A. I'm so proud...and sad...and thrilled. So very bittersweet.




Seamus starts pre-kindergarten this fall- it's offered by the school system here to prepare kids for kindergarten. They learn the basics of what they need to know before kindergarten- he probably already knows most of it, but it's free and it certainly can't hurt to send him. He's all registered and ready to go now. I was totally cool with it, totally ready. He'll be riding the bus every day. He's still going, but the closer time gets, the weirder I feel.
I picked up my new glasses yesterday and I love them! I don't think Mike likes them very much- I think they're bit too retro-cute for him, but he'll get over it.





So, I went to the eye doctor today (yes, I'm writing about this, bear with me here). $260 later (my insurance covers a vision exam and NOTHING else), I am the proud owner of a new prescription for Acuvue Oasys Contacts and some new glasses that I get to pick up tomorrow afternoon. My new glasses are awesome. I cannot wait to get them.
It really about time I got new glasses. My last eye exam was either in '06 or '07 and I got glasses then, but my beloved Seamus flushed them down the toilet about a year or so ago. Since then, I've been using the glasses I got before we moved to Japan (and we moved there in '04). Well, while they're fine for around the house, I was beginning to notice that if I went out with them on, I couldn't see. Whatever, it'll all be over tmw- you can bet I won't be tossing/donating/breaking these old glasses, though. Not since Mommy's Glasses vs. Toilet '08. The toilet won, man. The toilet always wins.
My contacts, though, are fan-freaking-tastic. I never knew it was possible to not feel the contacts on your eye. I remember being in high school and wearing Bausch & Lomb Soft Contact Lenses. The kind that came in the little glass vials, like this:


Yeah, yeah, yeah. I took a little break. It was unplanned, but necessary. Thanks, Manda, for giving me a nudge. I'm going to make this a quick fly-by update.
Right after we got back in Feb, it snowed. And I mean it S-N-O-W-E-D. As long as I live here, I don't think I will ever get used to the snow. What really amazed me, though, were the icicles. We've had them before when it snowed, but never in this massive volume. They were everywhere...and lovely.


This is my very first snowman. Why is he laying down? Because he's tired. Yeah, that's it- he's tired. We'll stick with that because no way could it be that I have no clue how to make a snowman stand up. Either way, be impressed- Seamus was.

This is one of my new favorite patterns, although I'm probably one of the last people in the world to make one. I intend to make a bunch of them for next winter because it's sooooooooo much better for girls with long hair than a proper hat, which makes that stupid line in your hair when you take it off (those of you that live in the South probably have no clue what I'm talking about). The yarn is Peeps by my dear friend Aimee of Big Bad Voodoo Mama and it's CASHMERE and delicious.

















I'm finally back home and starting to get back into the groove of things. I really enjoyed the time with my folks, but damn, I have missed home- with MY things. I've also especially missed having my laptop. It's a pain not being able to get on the computer and do something you need or want to do when you're so used to being able to do that all the time.
I finished another couple of pairs of socks. One for me and one for my mom and teensy little feet (seriously, folks, she wears a 5- it's like knitting a sock for an 8-year-old). Hers are from a Miss Babs colorway (called "violets", I think...maybe it's "irises") and mine are from another Miss Babs colorway called "Bluegrass".








God, has it really been over 2 months since I updated? I'd like to say that I've been busy curing cancer or taking in orphans or something equally amazing, but the truth is, I've just been trying to keep my sanity.
Christmas was lovely. Seamus got a bunch of stuff and so far, nothing has been completely neglected, which is good. I would list everything, but frankly, I can't remember. We didn't go crazy or anything, but Christmas is just a blur to me. I got some great presents and so did Mike. I got a set of new Le Creuset cookware (thanks, mom and dad), which I am head over heels for. Mike says I'm the only woman he knows who would actually be thrilled to get a kitchen appliance for a gift. I got a new pair of sunglasses from Mike, which I desperately needed, my poor old pink ones were coming apart. All in all, it was a great Christmas.
I got to see my aunt, uncle, cousin Brandon (and his lovely wife Audrey, whom Seamus calls "Laundry"), and my cousin Cole. It was so nice to see them all and even nicer to sit down with someone who wanted to learn to knit (that would be Laundry). She picked it up pretty quick and according to her blog, she is coming along quite nicely. I'm so proud that I can say, "I taught her that!". (While you're at her blog, check out her AMAZING quilts. I could die of jealousy.)



Mike is in school in Augusta, GA, which is why I'm down in Florida visiting my parents with Seamus. Seamus has been taking the seperation from his Daddy incredibly hard, which, in turn, has made it incredibly hard on me. They talk on the phone, Mike came down at Christmas (which left us broke as a joke), but ever since he left to go back, Seamus has been acting out in a BIG way. He has been hitting, punching, having fits, and generally a whole laundry list of other things that he never does. I've talked to him, I've punished him, and I've done everything in-between. he keeps saying the same thing: "When is my Daddy coming back? He said he was coming back." I'm taking him to Augusta this weekend (thank you, Dr. King, for the holiday) to let him see Mike and, hopefully, quelch the monster inside of himself.



After Mike went back to Augusta, Seamus and I stayed a few days with my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law (Tatoe and Mammaw, respectively). While we were there, there was a Mardi Gras parade downtown in honor of the bowl game being played in Mobile. My MIL and I took Seamus because we never seem to make it down there for actual Mardi Gras. Seamus enjoyed it immensely and caught a ton of beads, but only a couple of moonpies (I...I mean, HE was very sad about the lack of moonpies).

I also got to see my best friend of 17 years, Ryan (I mean, seriously, how many people can say that?). We're going to re-try this picture again when I see her on the 31st for her Scentsy party. Maybe then my bangs won't be tucked up under my sunglasses. I love seeing Ryan, I just wish I could do it more. I miss her terribly and I wish I could have been there for her during the past few months.
All in all, though, we're all doing well just mucking through life. We're all healthy and happy (save for Seamus and The Great Separation Anxiety of 2009) and well. I hope the New year finds all of you the same (save for separation anxiety ;) ).
Been busy, had surgery, home now, and doing well. I have 5 million emails to sift through. Good times.