Don't Know What The Title Should Be

I finally got the address from my Monkey Pal, all I need to do now is enclose a note in her package and send it on it's way. Victoria's package has been sitting on my diningroom table also in need of addressing and a final trip to the post office. They'll be put in the post sometime tomorrow morning after my Weight Watchers meeting.

I casted on for my ISE5 pal's scarf on Sunday. I had to frog it numerous times. I started with size 8 needles like the pattern stated, didn't get gauge. I went down to a size 6 needle, didn't get gauge. Casted on with a size 4 needles, got a close enough gauge. I'm knitting the Montego Bay scarf in Handmaiden's Seasilk Sangria. It is absolutely gorgeous. I did have to frog it a couple more times because I kept forgetting a yarn-over. The next time I knit something else, I am going to be doing yarnovers without even thinking! I believe I have about 48 inches knitted. I keep measuring the scarf by holding it up to see about how much more I have to go before it's bigger than me. Nope not yet. By the way, i'm only 5 feet tall. The pattern says that the scarf should be 80 inches after you do all the pre-cutting for the fringe. Well, I keep looking at the remaining yarn and keep thinking I am not going to get an 80 inch scarf. I do know though that when I finish with this hank of yarn, I am done. I casted on with 43 stitches, I now have 41 stitches. Somewhere along the way, I lost two stitches. By the way, if you find them could you please tell them to contact me. I am absolutely loving this pattern and can not believe what a quick knit it is. It is hard to believe how much I have knitted in less than a week's time.

DH and I got a surprise invitation over the weekend. DS called and asked if we would mind having Thanksgiving at their house. I'm not going to pass this one up. Since Mom moved into a smaller place there is no way that we would be able to have it over at her place.

Monday, I got a Halloween costume to wear at my Sunday Weight Watcher meeting. I'm going to be a buccaneer, is that the same thing as a pirate minus the eye patch? Hopefully BD will wear her costume to the Sunday meeting. BD is going to be Marilyn Monroe.

Have you checked on the Winter Preview for Intervweave Knits yet? There are three patterns there that I would eventually like to knit. I like the Henley Perfected, Sweater Girl Pullover and the Tilting Cable Socks. Who knows if I will ever get around to knitting them. I'm not sure if I would add them to my Ravelry queue or not. I am just using the queue for what I absolutely want to knit. Yesterday, in the mail I got my Zelda Bag from Offhand Designs which I ordered through StitchDiva.com. I would absolutely order through them again. The bag came real fast and directly from Offhand Designs. I ordered the Zelda bag, it was a bit smaller than I had anticipated but it will work great for carrying around my sock projects. Eventually, I may order the next size up Zelda bag. Check here for a comparison of the bags. I didn't order the Zelda Grand because I didn't like the handles on it. So I may end up ordering the Zelda Tote. The bags are simply gorgeous and hold up very well.

I didn't do as well as I would have like in bowling this week. My first game, I was way off. I bowled a 94, 137 and 133. If I calculated out everything right, I dropped my average by 1 pin this week. My average is about 127. Saturday night, DH and I are joining a couples league. It'll be our first night bowling. I wonder how well I'll bowl then. I am waiting for my average to be higher on that league. I did decide though, that when leagues are done with for the season that I am going to get a new and non-plastic bowling ball and learn how to throw a hook.

Tonight, I have a date with DH. I think I surprised him when I asked him "out". I'm cooking Shrimp Scampi, putting candles on the table and using the good china. Yep, you heard right the good china (that's if I don't kill myself getting it down from the high cabinets.) We borrowed a movie from our son to watch (Ghost Rider). I'm getting dressed up and I told him that he needs to shave and do the same.

No pictures yet but an Update

Update on the Monkey situation, it's getting a little hairy. I've got the toe left and I am running out of yarn. I don't think that I am going to have enough to make it. I want to try to finish the sock tonight. I am debating about getting out of work early to go up to Whitefish Bay to get the yarn. I've got 17 rows left and the bind off. With the amount of yarn that I see, I really don't think that I am going to make it. Now the I wish I would have's come into play. I wish I would have done one less pattern repeat, then I would have had more than enough yarn to complete the sock. Oh well. If I have to go get another hank of yarn to finish the sock, my monkey pal is going to get the leftover yarn. Last night GJ a friend from work went to our LYS. GJ was looking for some yarn to do a vest and matching socks for her granddaughter. She picked out some Shepard Sport Weight Lorna's Laces in Bittersweet. It is going to be an awesome vest. I picked out some Malabrigo for the Amelia hat for KD and also the knitting book YNot. KD absolutely loved the color that I picked out. When I was at the LYS, I fell in love with another Tonya bag in the Hip To Be Square Mocha colorway. But I all ready have one in the Spring Stripes colorway. I also don't want to spend that much money for another Tonya bag. So I did some investigating and decided that I want to order a Zelda bag in the Hip To Be Square Mocha colorway. Well I am getting off of work an hour early and heading up to Whitefish Bay to get the yarn. I just hope traffic isn't going to be too bad. I am bound and determined to get this sock finished tonight. While I'm there I'm going to look for some sock yarn for a pair of socks for my boss.

What to Call This Post?

I am finding my posts few and far in between and of course without photos. I'll have to take care of that soon. Knitting Daughter and I wanted to get some Mommy and me photos done. I had stopped at Sears on Friday while I was wasting some time before I had to meet my Dad for dinner. I stopped in at the Photo Studio and made arrangements for a sitting on Saturday. When I looked at the price, I decided to add a few more people into the photo shoot. My DS was available and DH was told to show up. Yep, it was family picture time. This was actually the first family professional photo that we have had taken since DS was 1. We never got one done with KD. We had a lot of fun. The pictures that turned out the best were the ones were we were not in the traditional poses. We got pictures of DH and KD, DH and DS, the two kids together, myself and DS and myself and KD. I can't wait to get them back. Sunday, DH, KD and myself went bowling to try out my new bowling ball. Wouldn't you know, I bowl my highest game ever and it wasn't during league night. I bowl on a league every Tuesday. DH and I were talking about maybe doing a couples league together. I mentioned that to one of the girls on my team on Tuesday and guess what? Yep, we're going to bowl every other Saturday on the same league as her and her husband. I'm pretty excited. Should be interesting to see if DH can improve his bowling from what he bowled on Sunday. So far, I am better than he is. Monday was an interesting morning here at work, I walked into my cubicle and almost walked back out. My first thought was this isn't my desk it's too clean. My next thought was "oh yeah that's right I cleaned up on Friday before I left. I have kept it pretty well straightened up and am getting used to it. I used to joke around and say that my desk barfed up all over itself. Last night was strange, I got done with work on time for once and didn't have my Wednesday meeting to do for Weight Watchers. I am going to miss that meeting. Also, I haven't been very good on plan. I've been sneaking a lot of extra sweets. It'll be a miracle if I don't gain weight this week. I am also debating about giving up the position of location coordinator at the center. I don't know what's stopping me. I'll have a lot more time on the weekends and not having to worry about making sure things are done in time. Guess I'll have to send that email out. Homecoming is this weekend for KD. She has a hair appointment on Saturday and is pretty excited about it. After homecoming, the Moms and kids are going to IHOP afterwards (I am thinking not good for watching my weight). I'll have to post a picture of her in her dress and new hairdo. I signed up for yet another swap. This one is Sock It To Me Twice. She's only accepting 50 and if you were in the first one you have priority. I figure the deadline is in March so I should have more than enough time to get a pair of socks knitted along with the other things I have planned. Speaking of socks, I finished the first Monkey on the morning of the 12th. Casted on the second Monkey on the 14th and I am now on the gusset. I am hoping to finish this sock over the weekend get it on the blockers and send off sometime next week! I absolutely can't wait to cast on for the Montego Bay Scarf that I am knitting for my ISE5 pal.

Hodge Podge

Wow, it's been 10 days since my last post. Sit back-relax and let's get caught up! I've decided to cut back a bit on my activities with Weight Watchers. I work as a leader, receptionist and location coordinator for two different locations. My full-time job was starting to interfere with one of my meetings and in the future I could see it getting only worse. I called my boss and told here that I needed to give up my Wednesday night meeting and also the location coordinator position for that location. I'm not sure if the members know or not. I'm still working on the Monkey socks for the Monkey Swap 3 exchange. I just finished the first pair this morning. It took me about 11 days to get one pair knitted. I really didn't do a whole lot of knitting over the weekends. I have all the extra goodies to go with the socks so now it's just a matter of finishing them. Lately, I've been using my Weight Watchers scale to measure the knitted sock and the leftover yarn to see if I have enough to do the second sock. This morning when I weighed them, they both were so close. This is going to be interesting. I just hope that my gauge doesn't change. In Hogwarts Sock Swap news, i'm waiting for Victoria to give me her address so that I may send her package off to her. The socks have been done for weeks now. I finally also decided what else I am going to include in her package. I'm not saying a word because I know she reads the blog and I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise. Stay tuned for pics later though. I am anxious to finish the Monkey socks so that I can start on my ISE5 scarf. I don't know if I mentioned or not but I decided to do the Montego Bay Scarf from the Interweave Knits Summer 2007 magazine. I have picked Handmaiden's Sea Silk in the Sangria colorway. Last Saturday, knitting daughter, her friend, DH and myself trekked up to Milwaukee to visit Ruhama's. Well DH came along for the ride. Knitting Daughter and her friend went into the shop with me. I was very much lighter in the pocketbook. My main reason for going there was to score some yarn for the Christmas Around the World Knitter's Swap. I had finally decided on the pattern, which I am going to knit the Clapotis. I looked at all the projects on Ravelry to determine what yarn I wanted to use. I had narrowed it down to two- Colinette Jitterbug, or Koigu KPPM. Once we were in Ruhama's I had a hard time deciding which colorway to use. The girls decided for me. They chose something in Koigu KPPM. I'll post pictures a bit later. I purchased 4 skeins but am debating about making a return trip for the 5th skein. I figure that both scarves should be a quick knit and I should be able to make the beginning of December deadline for sending them off. By the way, both pals are overseas and in the same country no less! While we were at Ruhama's knitting daughter found some yarn that she liked and asked if I would get it for her. She decided that she wants to make a scarf. The only stitch she knows is the knit stitch. I casted on 25 stitches for her. She is finished with one skein and is working on the second one. I'll have to get a picture of the scarf and maybe her knitting it! She is doing much better this time than the last attempt. I've only had to fix it one time, and so far there are no holes!

On to the Monkeys!

I should have posted this a few days ago. Over the weekend, I finished Victoria's socks. They are washed and blocked. But most important of all they are dry! I just need to gather a few more items and also get her muggle address so the owl can deliver the parcel. I absolutely love these socks and everyone else that has seen them. Once Victoria has received her parcel stay tuned for the pics of her socks. I casted on a yesterday for the Monkey Swap 3. I just finished the cuff during lunch and am now on the leg. I am knitting these in Colinette Jitterbug in the Florentino colorway. Click the link to see the color. I also have been in constant contact with my pals for the ISE5 and Christmas Around the World Knitter's Swap. Both pals seem wonderful. For my ISE5 pal, I've decided to knit the Montego Bay Scarf in Handmaiden's Sea Silk, Sangria colorway. And for my Christmas Around the World Pal, I'm going to do the Clapotis or another Montego Bay scarf in Sea Silk as well but I haven't decided on the colorway.