he's home with some loot...

So...totally off the knitting topic but this subject has been the focus of my life since April 7...

How do you like my new Obama-wear? [you can click on any of the pictures to big-a-size them]
Please ignore that long pale expanse of arm, it's been a long winter.


After a long two and a half weeks The Saint has returned to Chez B. I am so glad! It's not that I didn't have elevendy-zillion things to keep me busy, I just missed him being here driving me crazy on a daily basis. That's his favorite thing to do, be annoying to me and the dogs. And we miss it, don't you find that a bit strange?

He came bearing loot from the campaign trail...shirts, buttons, placards and even an Obama version of the terrible towel financed by his new best friend Franco Harris, drool,

this is my fav...they worked very hard and forged some new friendships, The Saint is the really handsome man 2nd from the right, next to my fav Steeler of all time, Franco Harris.

he says there's no place like home...

Max went to the groomer for her spring hair styling today...I know she's a happier dog now. Wouldn't you be too?

before and after

And for all of you who came wanting to see some knitting, here ya go!

I've been invited to a baby shower for a co-worker tomorrow after work. This is what I made for her "bun". Thanks everybody for keeping me company the past couple weeks. I really appreciate it.

The Saint is off to a meeting for a couple of hours so I'm headed to the deck for some more quiet time (like I haven't had near enough, lol) with a nice glass of pear wine and my crochet dress that I haven't worked on in several days.

Thanks, again, for stoppin by. Have a great evening!

sorry if you missed it...

my home away from home...

another super fun Late Night Yarny Party has come and gone...seemed like there was a record number of new folks there. We all had a great time and I have photographic proof...

I really was crocheting, between sips of Merlot, he he

Lorilee was giving a little instruction...

there was spinning...






and knitting... and more knitting...









and let's not forget the snacks...and our resident genius, with his newly felted bag...hey Patrick!

Yes folks the grass is getting green...finally

and Max is still miffed that she can't get into the big part of the yard yet. Oh well, she'll get over it.

Yes, spring has finally arrived here in W Mi. I'll have to get The Saint's short sleeve uniform shirts out of storage this weekend. I'm sure he's gonna want them when he returns from the campaign trail next week.

He got to spend the time during the Obama/Clinton debate in an adjoining room watching on a big screen tv. Guess that's better than being at home watching it on tv.
Better proximity or something... Interesting video here just click on the camera above Pittsburgh on the map if you want to see it. The Saint is the handsome one with the earring about 1:10 into the video, lol.

The 23rd can't come too soon, that's for sure. This is the longest we've been apart in 10 years. He goes on that week long fishing trip every year but that's only 1 week for goodness sakes! Tomorrow he'll be hangin out with a group of retired Pittsburgh Steelers...like my all time fav, Franco Harris!!!! I told him to make sure the camera batteries were fully charged cause we can't miss an opportunity like that...The Saint and Franco together, I think I'm feeling faint, lol.

Kate Jacobs update: Did everybody read The Friday Night Knitting Club? which is now available in paperback I liked it, a-lot. The author of that book, afore mentioned Ms. Jacobs, will be appearing soon at a blog near you! Yep, right here...her new book is titled Comfort Food and will be released on May 5. I've been reading through my advance copy and I'm finding it very interesting. Completely different than FNKC and of interest to me since it's about Foodies. I think I've probably mentioned here before that my son-in-law Chef Wes happens to be - a chef! So stay tuned for that...

I'm hooking like crazy on my summer dress. I've got 2 repeats of the lace done on the skirt. Whatchu think? If I could sit still for a few hours I might get more done.
I'm just having a bit of difficulty concentrating. Livin alone bites!

Heeeeey to all of you that faithfully stop by!
Good traveling thoughts go out to Cass and her girls as they make their way to Raleigh and back this weekend. Congratulations to Gnat on her new job.
Jump over and see Nichole...I'll bet she's havin another contest, lol. And you have to go see Grace's fabulous lace! It's amazing! And you can usually find some yummy Food on Friday at Amy's place. And we really should try to motivate Rena to post to her blog more often, hehehe. Love you Rena! See all you peeps on Ravelry!
And if you have an appreciation for pretty papers go check out Charles' Etsy store. Some good stuff there.

knitter identification and some politics, sort of...

I guess anyone who saw these would have a clue I'm a knitter...


what is it about belonging to a particular group that makes us feel more secure in ourselves?

I've been a member of a lot of "groups" of people in my lifetime but no other has given me more satisfaction and an elevated sense of self like being a knitter. I'd like to give a big thank you to all of you who have boosted my self-confidence and expanded my circle of friends. I'm different and hopefully better person than the one who started this blog almost a year ago.

With this new found confidence I'll be making an attempt at writing a speech tonight for The Saint. He's scheduled to speak at a meeting in the morning. He's been in Pittsburgh for almost a week now working with other Teamsters on the Convoy for Change. Next week they'll be working the phones and shaking hands promoting our candidate. It's an exciting time.

And before I run off to City Knitting for the afternoon I wanted to show you what is drying over my tub...

my new felted loafers designed by Lorilee at City Knitting and knitted by Rena. Aren't they just too cute?! Rena thought I was crazy when I chose her leftover red and green Ironstone as a color combo for these slippers. I guess I showed her, huh? I LOVE THEM.















And a shout to all my faithful following, lol...you're the greatest, thank you for hanging out with me. Especially you, Wildflower, don't work too hard. I love that Coral Pink yarn. Those socks are going to be amazing!

Ok, gotta go! See you later, happy knitting everybody!

Better Late...you know the rest

Phew! It was a busy weekend at Chez B. Knitting, raking, packing...

Packing - The Saint left this morning for his stint with the Obama campaign in Pittsburgh. He'll be gone a couple of weeks, I told him it would be worth it if he brings me back a picture of him and our favorite candidate, lol.

Raking - Spring finally got here and there was much to do outside. With two medium size dogs you know what was waiting for me in the backyard after a long very snowy winter, lol. Well, that's done and the grass is starting to green up a bit. Gives me a new lease on life.

Knitting - with all this new found energy, I started a new project...no, I'm not finished with the 4 other things I'm working on but that's beside the point, isn't it?

This is Nani, she's gonna be a my new companion when the weather is chilly in the evening, or the morning or whenever. I bought this yarn [Sirdar Evita] on eBay a long time ago, forget about it and the other day when I was rooting around in the closet, aha!, guess what I found. It is pretty ugly yarn but I like how it is knitting up. Crazy how that works sometimes. This yarn is not looking anything like the model but I'm doing it on a smaller needle in the larger size stitch count so I'm hoping it's gonna fit when I get it done. I am really only after the shape anyway so we'll see.

Looking at this picture it reminds me of the orange plastic lei I had when I was a very small child, I think it came from a carnival. The Sirdar is actually a bit darker than the picture shows. My camera skills are still not what I would like them to be.

I've been crocheting too, progress is being made on my spring dress...

this is the upper back and the beginning of the front. It's a bit slow going since I can only crochet for short periods of time. gah

I love all these perfect rows of stitches...

I guess the dogs and I will go knit and watch some Food Network, actually they're probably gonna continue to lay around like their doing right now.

After causing me endless headaches trying to create this blog post, Norton just informed me that I have no viruses or spyware so I'll be able to sleep soundly tonight, lol. I wish it didn't decide to run a scan just as I'm trying to get started here. I'll have to get Jared over here to change the schedule on that thing. Or I could try to change it myself...nah, gives me an excuse to see him sometime other than Saturday breakfast.

Everybody have a great week. I'm going to try and get through my Bloglines this week while I'm livin single. I've been lax...I'll try to do better. I know you all miss my comments, hahaha!

Wee Tiny Sock

I got my Wee Tiny Sock today

Nisha did a great job dying this yarn as you can see . It's so cute and the yarn is so soft, it's even sparkly! And she put a nice little loop on top to hang it with. So tomorrow morning it will go to work with me and be added to the bulletin board of honor next to my desk.

Thank you Nisha!

It was so nice to get personal mail that didn't involve an RSVP and buying a gift, lol.

This Wee Tiny Sock will be a nice reminder of yet another great idea from Emily.

Obsession/Perspective

Don't you just love Wee Tiny things?



obsess: to preoccupy intensely or abnormally

Knitting/crocheting is an obsession for me. Whether that's good or bad depends on the perspective.

My house would probably say my knit/crochet obsession is a bad thing as the dog-hair tumbleweeds roll across my dining room floor. LOL

If you are my husband and want to go to the NCAA tournament in Detroit for the weekend, my obsession can be a good thing as my first thoughts at his mention of going were of sitting for hours knitting and not feeling guilty because I'm not giving him enough attention.

My budget...this one is a toss-up...of all my hobbies, knitting/crocheting isn't the most or least expensive I've indulged in so it could be better or worse.

If you're my daughter, Rena, it's definitely a good thing as Rena has the same obsession (only no anti-knitting, as she refers to crochet, for her)

This knit/crochet obsession is keeping me from cleaning my house today, I can't get that crochet dress off my mind. While cleaning out my car getting ready for the aforementioned NCCA trip on Friday, The Saint "found" a box (20 skeins) of cotton/acrylic that's I've been driving around for months. The same box of yarn that was in my office at work for several months before I put it in my car. I got a "good deal" on eBay and couldn't I pass it up. 20 skeins of cream cotton/acrylic for cheap! Certainly enough to make the dress. Now that I've figured out it's the correct gauge, I-want-to-crochet, endlessly!

And if you are my carpal tunnel syndrome...well, you know, it's been a few pain-filled days. I'm not one to complain about it since it is resulting from too much of something that I enjoy doing. However, I've had to resort to wearing these at night, again. gah! Hate 'em. Hate aging and having nerves and joints that protest when I try to work them like they're still teenagers. I'm gonna try to take a break...as soon as I get this dress done...ROFL

And I've got a new toy, it's gonna help me be more organized, and send faster text messages to The Saint. In theory, I won't need this paper calendar anymore, yay! And I can even check my email, from anywhere. Ah, technology...I won't have to miss a single Knitty email no matter how far away from home I am. lol Thanks everybody for stopping by and leaving comments. I've recently gotten word that I may have a guest blogger sometime soon. She's the author of one of my favorite knitting novels, an advance copy of her new book is on it's way to me as you read this, it's so exciting...stay tuned

In the meantime Sam wants to know "Whe'a da paw-ty at?"