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Can you tell what's wrong with this picture?

Here's your hint. It was taken moments AFTER I walked into the house the other day after retuning from Fed-Ex.

Happy Birthday!

Happy 21st Birthday!

Your 21st has finally arrived....Happy Birthday Baby Girl...Enjoy your whole celebration! Wish we were there with you. We miss you. Love you lots!

Busy week of Greats and a not-so great events

Now that this sign is no longer needed (for the most part) for one of my 'kids'....

I'll bring you up to date on how 'varied' the week turned out.

Indiana shopping found a wee bit of cotton! Both Joann's there and Hobby Lobby had some of the colors I've been looking for.

I've been asked where I find the large skeins of cotton. Hobby Lobby had these kinds of 'kits' in stock. I've been looking for pink, purple, black and brown solid colors. Found 'em!

A 5 year old is no longer 5, now he's 6 with his birthday pancakes.

Once the papers were finally finished..and turned in...the 'games' began. First it was Guitar hero before X-box... (keep in mind, no sleep for 3 days.)

A BBQ in the afternoon with fellow graduates...

Reception in the Law School Library for family and friends in the evening...

Worthy opponents for warm ups and teaching the parentals what really went on for 3 years...

Before off to the tournament...to round out the day.

After a few short hours of sleep, next up brought on THEE ceremony... before....

the Momma kiss...(NO occasion is complete without it!)

And after! Only missing one sibling...(darn 'family friendly' employers that won't remember that family events need all parts of the FAMILY!) We missed you kiddo! Oldest kiddlet, get your pens and pencils out. Your next turn is coming up shortly! (Just don't remind me that you're moving away soon.)

I then had the chance to go to the outlet store of the Bernat/Paton's factory in Listowel. Here's what I picked up. Check out those cones in the back! They're not in the stores yet, but watch out for them! They're a DK weight yarn called Baby Jacquard! (can't remember right now if they'll be Bernat or Patons. but yummy!) They're made for baby type projects and will make jacquard patterns like so many of the sock yarns! It's all acrylic so that means easy wash up for Mommies. And soooooooooo soft! Outlet shopping is fantastic for mill ends deals and bunches on cones! I love the longer length so I don't have to put multiple skeins together!

On the way out of the Graduation festivities, baby girl hadn't been feeling so well...and a couple of days later ended up in the hospital back in Boston. While we KNOW she wasn't looking for attention, she certainly got some. For the next few days, she was having some 'interesting' conversations with her sister and myself, compliments to the iv injectables aka known as pain meds. She's home and back to work now, thankfully. But while she was in the beginning stages of her own little 'adventure away from home' I couldn't keep my head from being 'Mom' also known as momma worry time. Better known to my kids as Mom's freakin' out.

I knit these three little darlings out of the mill ends I'd just picked up while on the way home as I got a text message stating she'd just been given morphine as the flight attendants said it was time to turn off the cell phones. I highly recommend that not every parent experience that event. After all, you're not allowed to tell the pilot to 'punch it' to get you home faster to be able to check on your kid. But it does speed up your knitting when you can't get more details about the 'mass' found in a CT Scan. (update...it's been treated and is no longer a scare. But...I do need more hair dye I tell you).


3 hats on one 4 1/2 hour flight. Yep...that's some fast knitting I tell you. The one on the left is the regular Umbilical Chord hat pattern as written from the original Stitch 'n Bitch book. The middle one was knit with the remainder of the same skein as the left one, but with only 56 stitches cast on. Same for the one on the right. These three have been mailed off for an AC4C project to benefit the Cooper University Hospital in New Jersey.

I finished the Chocolate Chip Kitchen set during the Graduation week. These will match up with the Chocolate Chip Sack Sock I'd finished prior to the Graduation trip. Notice how the striping is so different with the different numbers of cast on stitches. All these things were from the single 12 oz skein of Bernat Handicrafter Cotton skein! Count 'em...Sack Sock, Kitchen Hanging Hand Towel, Dishcloths in large and small and a Tribble. All were knitted with the Simply Striped Pattern series found over <<<<<<---there! Goggle for Abigail's Tribble pattern.

After returning home, my local Joann's had these treasures in store for me. (Yep, just for me...only me..har har har....) Go fast and see if your store has them in stock. Out of the 3 Joann's near me, only one of them carried these huge skeins.The set on the left are cotton, and on the right are acrylic in Sport/DK weight. They're all in the "Baby" label, but the cotton is the same gauge as the regular worsted weight cottons. I think the "baby" title is more for the color groupings rather than the weight of the fibers.

I used the Chiffon Prints of the Bernat Baby Sport to knit up another Just My Size Basketweave Preemie Blanket as written in the patterns over <<<<<-------there. I found it to be very light weight and really soft. The final size ended up 19" wide and 21" in length using this DK weight yarn. The skein is on the top right hand side of the stack up above. For charity knitting it's good stuff for a great price! I'm guessing I could get 3 of those blankets out of the single skein. I used 81g/2.75 oz of the skein, which if I have my math correctly figured out comes to 259 yards of yarn. Yep, I'll use it again. The end of this month will be the annual Stitches from the Heart Tea in my local neighborhood, so I need a few things for the preemies to take with me. This will be the beginning of that knitting.

Before I'd left for Indiana, one of the two local Michael's had these new Confectionery Colors by Lily in stock. When I was at the outlet store, it confirmed my suspicions. Lily Cotton, Bernat Handicrafter cotton and those one pound bags of mill ends that I've picked up at AC Moore stores, are all made in the Spinrite Factory up in Listowel! So, I was right with the Pink Stripes set when I said they were identical! Ahhhhhh..thank the grocery stores for teaching me to read labels. I do recommend if you're ever up there, to stop in and visit. You will be on overload...all kinds of Paton's and Bernat's and mill ends..and and and..well....what are you waiting for? I have to get back to Birthday knitting for 3 more kids and my dad's vest is still staring at me. I think it's perfecting that 'evil eye' stare!

Happy knitting! (wonder if the son has woken up yet?)

Happy Mother's Day!

Only thing better, would be to have all 4 of them here at home with me! And to be with my Mom as well!

FINISHED!

Soooooooo very close!

Seems like only yesterday....I was taking this kid to his first day of Kindergarten. (He swears he also thinks better with his bat...)

Right now, as I type this, he's taking his last final exam. Hopefully, ever! Only he's really got the 'mother of all exams' coming up...called 'The Bar.' This picture was taken last night. After I.FINALLY.GOT.HERE.

For all of you parents, soon to be parents, have been parents, never will be parents, know someone who is a parent, have parents, have to live with parents...Stop what you're doing RIGHT NOW...and go get your cell phone, and program in the 1-800 phone number to your own state's DMV office. RIGHT.NOW.

Trust me, You might need it when you really don't have time to HAVE to need it. Take me for example. I'm full of learn from my mistakes kinda stories. The last time I can totally prove that I had my driver's license? Going through the security check at LAX. The next time I can totally prove that I don't have it? Trying to rent the car at IND airport to drive down for Graduation last night.

Perfect timing. HUH? What do you do when you have over an hour's drive, your son is supposed to be studying for his exam, finish his final papers and you can't find the blasted driver's license? You text message your daughters who are still at work in California to give you the phone number to the DMV office, call them 10 minutes before they're closed, oh, which also happens to be 50 minutes after their typist goes home, so they can tell you that TOMORROW they'll fax a copy of your driver's license to the state you're in so you can rent the car you're supposed to pick up 2 hours ago. Because you just spent the better part of 3 hours dumping out your suitcases, your purse, your knitting bags, and your computer bag panicking when you remember the last time you had the license was to get ON the plane.

Go ahead. I'll wait. It's THAT important.

Now, I'll also send my hugs and love to the very sweet DMV manager in Sacramento who took pity on my tearful Mommy phone call saying...I'm at the airport car parking lot, standing outside, I can't wait outside over night to get the information faxed here. I have to drive down to my son's apartment tonight for his Graduation! Now what am I supposed to do? Bless her heart and all she did to override the system and get me in a car to his apartment! Only to find him sitting here, at the desk....playing online checkers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ULG.

Didn't your sister JUST tell me that you needed someone in the apartment tonight to make sure you were working? He says...yea, I'm just playing a game of checkers and I'm about to win. Get to work son! I will, I will. Are you ready for your test? Uh, no. I'm working on my paper. How far are you? Well, I just started.

Hence, you'll understand why at the grocery store I saw this card...and was ohhhhhhhhhhh so tempted to get it for him....

Yea....I about died, right there in the middle of the aisle cracking up at midnight. They must have thought I'd really lost my bonkers. After all I'd been through the past 6 1/2 hours, it really hit the funny bone last night.

When I got back, after cooking him some pork chops, I stayed up until 4:30am typing for him. (Hey, it's a Mom thing, my Mom used to stay up typing for me....and it's been awhile since I've helped type out 'homework' for the kids!)

I think I'm going to go back to sleep while I can. After all....Hobby Lobby is down the way and it's BEGGING me to go! But so is my Dad's vest. I thought since Mom and Dad can't be here in person with us, (don't think about that too much, or the water works will start all over again!) it would be fun to mail it from here. So, I guess I really need to get it finished? Might be a good idea. [Insert the BEST NEWS of the WEEK? Dad told Mom , "I"M HUNGRY!" and he's starting to put weight back on!] Soon as I get a hold of the daughter to add to my 'I swear, if my head wasn't attached to my neck this week, I'd have forgotten this, too' list to add another 3 more things I forgot to pack. I hope she's got presence of mind to bring tissues. It hit me packing to leave for this trip, the kid isn't coming back to California. He's going onto Boston later this summer.

I did take his card 'hostage' from my parents that just arrived here until he's finished handing in everything and crossed his 'I's and dotted his T's'...should have seen his eyes get really big when I snatched it out of his hands. Are you serious Mom? Yep..get to work! (hey, it's the last time I can pull a 'homework' punishment on him!)

If it weren't for all the yarn in my house, I think it would really echo quite loudly. The daughter is moving this summer to Syracuse, too. Heaven help me. I'm not ready to grow up that much, yet.

But, I guess it could be worse.....

At least I wasn't bit again by fire ants this week...that was last week...and I'm telling you..they suck!

And I still haven't found my glasses, yet. Wonder if they're out playing with my driver's license this week?

OY!