rub a dub scrub

i threw away a couple dishrags becos they were shredded or otherwise just gross (no matter how much i washed them!)  while waiting for the stephen west mystery shawl KAL, i decided to knock off a dishrag and scrubby.

basic dishcloth (knit 2, YO, knit to last 2, YO, knit 2).  don't remember the yarn, probably sugar and cream in pink, orange and white.  the fabric it created is soft as the dickens.


i started this scrubby months ago (seems to me i cast on during an episode of who do you think you are?).  it's crocheted!  i've long admired crocheted mesh scrubbies and i bought 2 fruit shaped ones last winter and thought i'd try my hand at crocheting a scrubby.  i used my favorite crochet hook and chained twenty stitches.  i think i tried to do single crochet - i don't think i did that well.  the scrubby languished for several months until i found it in the kitchen and decided once and for all to finish it off.

(also, i found my missing crochet hook!  you would have thought i lost my right arm when i realized i couldn't find my favorite crochet hook!  mystery solved!)


oh well, it doesn't matter what it looks like, when it's scrubbing cooked on food in a pot.  

might as well use them

my knitted dishrag supply is pretty sad.  i threw away one that shredded (i have no idea how this happened) and others that are just so stinky and disgusting no amount of washing soda or vinegar can rehabilitate them.

while i sit surrounded by holiday knits and neglected WIPs i pondered when i'd find the time to crank out a few dishrags.  i have tons of cotton yarn; i actually bought some over the past few months, including a skein of dishie from KP that i'm dying to try.  then i prayed that my ILs could pick me up a couple at the craft bazaars they frequent.  hubby's MM used to give me dishrags and scrubbies for christmas and now that she is living in a retirement facility, i doubt i'll get any now.

while cleaning out the mitten and hat bins this week, i found these:

dishcloths!  i entered the sunflower one in the county fair a few years ago but didn't win becos it had no category.  the multicolored one is a praying hands one (like the red one that shredded).  and those are M-D ball band dishcloths that i cranked out while healing from my miscarriage.

i remembered a (loose) quote by the mason dixon ladies - dishrags are meant to be used - they are not precious objects.  why should i hang onto these dishrags?  they're just sitting around, not doing me much good, when they could be earning their keep scrubbing my cast iron skillet and the kiddos' cups.

that sigh you just heard?  relief that now i don't have to make any dishrags!

some scrapple for the holidays

i've been quite busy.  i'll let the pictures do the talking.

the knits portion of this post:

cookie a's monkey, in kraemer yarns sterling silk and silver in majestic blue.  these socks are going to fair!  aside from one tiny glitch in sock 1 (somehow i missed a yarn over and the hole is a bit bigger than it should be) and somehow goofing up the heel turn on sock 2 and winding up with 2 fewer stitches, these socks are pretty darn perfect.  and they are the first socks that fit me perfectly.

bordered heart shaped dishcloth that i started back in february, probably for a HAPL comfort package.  why it took only 6 months to complete, i have no idear.  it was half finished, and i completed the rest of it (the top part of the heart) in half an hour.


the stitch marker portion of this blog:

this are the brass beads i got at celtic fling.  well, the celtic cross and shamrock are brass, i think the moon is copper.  they are tiny beads and will make excellent sock markers.

my first snag-free markers!  i love me my skulls, i love the beckoning cat, and seriously, how cute is that frog!

millefiore beads, also snag free.  the big one reminds me of a globe.

these markers are a bit bigger.  i love the celtic "charmed" knot, the mouse with a red heart, and the skull with the movable mandible.  can't wait to see that one dangling off my needle, leering at me!

goddess, turtle, seahorse and fairy markers.  i made these with small closed jump rings.  they're for smaller needles.

i have a couple sets of rainbow markers to complete.  then once i get my act together, i'll see if my favorite LYS will sell them.


the kids portion of this post:

i have no explanation.  i have no idear how freddie can sleep with petunia laying across him.  the last picture, i checked him several times to make sure he was still breathing.  no wonder these kids are light sleepers!

ah, every toddler's right of passage, the exercircle.  this one was inherited from the boy.  i loathe the monstrosity which takes up a quarter of our floor space.  the kids really don't play with it much (although they like the tractor and weeble toys that come with it - they play with them).  we are getting ready for yard sale in a month, and i really should get rid of the stupid thing becos seriously, petunia's practically walking and freddie pulls himself up to the hassock.  but the weird thing is...i feel a bit sad about getting rid of it.  oh, i could keep the loose toys and get rid of the circle, but i'd rather sell everything as a whole package.  i had the same feeling about the podee bottles.  hated cleaning the tubes, packing them with the tubes dangling...only to feel sad that the kiddos don't need them anymore and are to move onto sippy cups.  have you ever felt that way...dislike something only to feel sad/bad/guilty about getting rid of it?  or am i just crazy?


the "rememory" portion of this post:


i am coming up to the EDD anniversary of mackenzie, my first pregnancy loss.  a chemical pregnancy, i had no idear i was pregnant until i found myself miscarrying.  i was saddened, but not nearly as devastated as when i lost ani.  i lost mack on all saint's day.  we have no idear if it was a boy or a girl, but as always, mack felt like a girl.  and i chose "mackenzie" as a good strong scottish unisex name for a soul not of this world.


it's firecracker time!


it's the july 4th weekend.  take time this weekend to remember what the holiday is about - our country's freedom, our rights as humans, and how blessed we are.  it seems as though our freedoms and rights are disappearing under our noses, and i am so grateful for what this country has to offer.  we can be stronger, we can be better.  and we should remember how and who brought us this far.

masochism at its finest

i have to stop torturing myself. i've been debbie downer all weekend and i must stop!

first off i gotta lay off the forums i frequent. one in particular is depressing the hell out of me. perhaps it's a sign that i should move on.

my grief group has been very good to me over the past 3 months. maybe i don't need it anymore since we've been TTC since august. reading about someone else getting lucky is just putting me in a down mood and i just don't need it. it's putting too much pressure on me and even hubby and that's that last thing i need right now.

on the other hand, the TTC group also makes me feel depressed. some are getting lucky and that hurts too. then there are the ones who've been trying for ages, and i feel guilty becos i already have a kid and i can just picture these girls saying "what are you so down about? you already have a kid."

i have to stop putting words in my head. i'm really good at that. i'm not psychic, so i should stop acting like it.

for some bizzarro reason i've been on a dishrag kick for the past few weeks. never mind i have 3 pairs of socks, a xmas scarf and a 2-year old sweater UFO hanging out. yet i found 2 more neat dishrag patterns to work on!

more scrapple

it's been a while since i last blogged and i have lots to say yet at the same time don't. hence more scrapple.

ravelympics is done for the year and all i have to show is 2 medals for my hats. i maybe got an inch of sock done in 2 weeks time. what did i do during the competition? knit dishcloths. lord knows why. 2 ball bands and a sunflower rag courtesy of the M-D ladies. started another baby kimono, another sunflower dishcloth. i have no idear why i'm hung up on dishcloths now. not much of a challenge there (although the sunflower, with using 3 yarns, crochet and picking up stitches was a challenge). i wish i knew why i have such an adversity to my socks right now. i better get over it real quick tho - kdo is in a few weeks and my morning class is about socks!

the other thing i've been doing lately is reading. i go in spurts like that. read and knit, knit and read. unfortunately i can't do both a the same time.

this weekend hubby and dad should hopefully be putting up the roof on the garage. it scares me a bit tho. i don't want them to fall off.

my neighbors are so entertaining. last week i was working on the computer when i heard commotion next door and saw my neighbor WITH A COP. so i sat by the window and eavesdropped. pretty soon C&Y was called. this totally freaked me out. this in the neighbor who rides his bike with his newborn in either a snuggly or a bike seat, and they PUT THE BABY IN A WALKER. i couldn't tell what was going on, but the caseworker came and was there for only a few minutes, so either it was a bullshit referral or she's already acquainted with the family. i know it's none of my business, but the whole thing upset me. this kid has a bunch of kids with lord knows how many baby mamas. as far as i can tell, he doesn't work. i can only guess who's paying for this baby (namely us the taxpayers which really pisses me off). it's like these people never heard of abortion or adoption. why have a baby when you can't take proper care of it? call me snooty, but we're a good family, church going, do the right thing, and we lose babies...and why trash like that is allowed to multiply. i cried, had my 5 minute pity party, then moved on.

on top of that, aunt flow paid me a visit this weekend. i guess i half expected it but i didn't becos i thought i was pregnant - crampy, big heavy boobs, nausea, excessive salivation. maybe my brain's punking me. but it hurt. the good news is we get to try again.

hubby's newborn cousin is really sick. lost a lot of weight, had high sodium levels. apparently a kidney issue and the doctors are figuring out how to treat her. it's really sad.

what's sadder yet is how my inlaws made such a fuss over the situation. they showed more care and attention to them than they did to us when we had our loss. i don't understand. i prolly never will. that's how they are, and as hubby said, "that's why we didn't tell them our good news in the first place." nuf said.

i also don't understand this - how a minister can throw someone off a church roll without following the rules. the pastor at hubby's church wants to kick his family out of the church. i don't know how they can do that as we've tithed and sent communion notices to the church. we don't know if the pastor has an agenda or somebody(s) on church council does. at any rate, it really stinks. and it just shows how unchristian that congregation is. hubby joked that he's tempted to send a buck to church (that's all you really need to do which is shameful but A LOT of parishoners do it) and show up at a service. i know at my church you have to either tithe or communion, it's either or not both. we already did contribute (to a woman's memorial) and all hubby has to do is send a communion card this sunday from my church. they CANNOT kick someone out when they've followed the rules. but i've come to admit that everyone adjusts the rules to fit their agenda - the government, the church, people in general. it sucks.

i can't think of anything else to write. i'm in the middle of doing wash and waiting for lowes to bring the roofing materials. i'm chomping at the bit to tell my folks the church gossip but i'll wait until dad gets here for the delivery. today is the boy's last day of summer. tomorrow he starts school he has **18** kids in his class this year, up from 12 last year. i can't get over how quickly the summer went. it wasn't a bad summer but i've had better. in a way i'm glad fall is here since we can get a fresh start - with the baby, with family, with the house, with everything.