praise for billie!!!

my new favorite hat pattern is the billie hat!!! i so love it and it's quick and easy. remember my new year's resolution to do at least 5 items on my ravelry queue-well, i got one down-yee ha!!!!

after blue played "disembowel" with the yarn-with the help of luca brassi(see previous post) i actually had the patience to untangle it-hey it was manos-and one of my favs. i wasn't about to trash it. i began the billie hat...i had it done in two days. it's definitely a one day hat but i can't just sit around and knit all day...i know "in a perfect world!" the hat is even cute without the brim.

i was debating whether to add it or not. but i really wanted to try the short row shaping brim-and wow-what a blast! how do people think these things up-amazing!!the only thing i would have done was to knit it a bit longer before the top decrease. i was doing the small size-fits great around my head but a bit short in length-i would do the 5 1/2 inches of the larger size and then decrease. it's a hip hat for teens. great gift idea as it is so quick and fun to knit!here's an art shot: where is that hand coming from? if only it was dripping -it would be so dali-okay steph's cold is getting to her head...she needs a nap!
you can get the free pattern from patti gonsalves aka dandelions2-on ravalry. just look up the pattern for the billie hat. any of you fiber freaks out there that are not hooked on ravelry yet-i suggest you go do so now-best damn drug- i mean virtual addiction out there. but ya gotta get on the waiting list. which isn't long these days.

i wanted to clarify the guilty parties in the yarn fiasco-it's definitely kitsie knocking the yarn from the high shelf down to Blue. now- what i'm wondering is-are they in cahoots together in this act of yarn violation or is kitsie mearly doing this to get blue in trouble--hmm-i wonder.

madness

i can't believe it's been so long since i've posted. it's not because of lack of interest or being too busy. it's because of my own pathetic lack of computer knowledge. i've been blogging for awhile now and i'm so embarrassed of my egitness as to why i couldn't get it to work right- i can't even tell you what happened. and to think of all my time wasted trying to figure it out. duh! double duh!

anyway...in the meantime we got some much needed rain and even some snow.

i love seeing reflections on the deck..ahhh! but it's back to sunshine now and can only hope more is on the way.

while i was M.I.A. from the blogosphere i had a moment of complete insanity...maddness you might say. now, those of you who know me; know i struggle with finishing knitting projects-even small ones. hearing that my l.y.s. was having a sale i search my ravelry queue for something that i wanted to make but did not have the yarn in my stash to do so. here's where the madness kicks in. did i chose a simple hat or a pair of socks? oh no-i had to pick a pattern that out of the 273,063 registered ravelry users.....only 22 freakin people have chosen to knit it. here it is-a "rowan" pattern mind you. i always have lots of trouble with their patterns too!

a knitted dress. at least i have chosen to omit the faire isle sleeves and just make it a jumper. i found some equivalent yarn(not rowan) that was 50% off at the sale. needing many skeins i couldn't get my first choice of colors with was a mossy olive green. so i got my second:

i wonder if i can finish it by Halloween....so i can rise out of Linus's pumpkin patch and fly through the air and bring toys to all the children of the world. okay -seriously-maybe i should just take bets on whether i ever finish it at all.

i've been really wanting a new knitted cap lately. as i was looking thru mt stash i found an old skein of manos that would be perfect for the billie hat i've been wanting to knit. also from my ravelry queue. i put it well out of reach of "blue." this morning when i was looking for it i could not find it. then i realized that kitsie the kat(aka luca brassi from the godfather-remember her) was capable of reaching it. her love of fine expensive wool still lingers. while looking for her i see 'blue" out of the corner of my eye run thru the house shaking wildly...something that resembles a rag doll. horror of horrors i realize it is my skein of manos yarn!!!!! i yelled "drop it" louder than i have ever yelled at him and let me tell you...it worked. he cowered. he usually runs away when he knows he has something he shouldn't-wanting a game of catch me if you can! here's my skein now:

ugh! death to thee oh cute one!!! but there's other things to do with yarn besides knit. a friend sent this to me :you can read about it here.

hey soxy-does this answer your question?

yes we can!!!!!

Yesterday…we started our day schooling as usual. When liam said to me “I wish it were a 3 day weekend.” then I remembered it was MLK day. I looked at the school calendar and sure enough-we had the day off.

I chose to read to him from a civil rights leaders book before we took the rest of the day off. No matter how many times I read aloud about Martin Luther King JR., I lose my composure and weep at the end and one of the kids has to finish reading it while patting my back and saying it’s okay to cry. This year it was liam’s turn to finish reading it.

Today we took another day off school to watch the inauguration of our 44th president-the first African American to become the leader of our country. what a wonderful day it was! i'm so glad the bunny ears worked on the t.v.!!!!!! and what a gorgeous dress Michelle wore today! one of my favorite colors!

hey girls-don't forget to slide down that banister in your new home!

liam and i went to the inauguration party here in our tiny town-at the only bar/restaurant there is. thanks cathy for organizing it!!!! she had a message board there for people to sign with their hopes and wishes. cathy is going to send it to obama.

this is the board when we arrived....when we left it was full!!! yeah!!! i'm so proud of out little town. for being in a rural republican part of california election results surprised me. of the 329 that voted we had a total of 178 for obama! mcCain only got 136. the rest of the votes were split up for independent candidates. wow! our town voted for OBAMA!

cathy made the night special with her usual wonderful guitar and singing...her own inauguration songs!! you rock cathy! i wish i had gotten more photos from the event....damn!

completion..aahh! it's a good thang!

there is nothing like the day when the murray mcmurray hatchery catalog comes in the mail. all responsibilities go sailing out the door. time to cuddle in and dream about all the different kinds of chicks we want to get this spring. last year we didn't get chicks-we had enough chickens. now, with "insulator" the rooster and "ruth" gone we want to expand the coop a bit and get more. we are thinking of building a new separate little banty coop down by the garden. liam really wants to have some banties.

we usually buy our chicks at the feed store. but they are limited in types. we won't order from murray as they have 25 minimum chick order-we don't need that many-i can't imagine 25 chicks in my bathroom-no thanks. we are going to order from ideal hatchery. they have many rare breeds too and only have a minimum 25$ order. i like that better. the post master is sure going to be surprised when they arrive...get ready BO! if anyone wants a real good reference site for checking out different chicken breeds -check this site!

on the fiber side i'm thrilled to announce that yes-the woolydaisy has actually finished a project!!! it's true, no lie! and i've even gotten the suckers dirty.....yeehaa! i'm turning a new leaf! my mantra... "finish finish finish finish finish it...damn it, will you just finish it!" ahhhh!-or is om! that should do it.


and they even fit!
i'm not one for new years resolutions-but i do have a few..i won't bore or titillate you with my deep dark secretive ones..... no-i'll just share my fiberish ones-as i did with the knitting nite gals last nite.
1. DESTASH!!! notice the use of capitols there. i only use them when truly needed. i want to cut my yarn stash in half!

2. finish lingering projects or have a ball frogging them-i'm gonna have a frogging party. everyone can come and rip stuff out that they know they will never finish...might as well reuse the yarn,eh?

3. my ravelry queue..it's insane! madness has taken over.....me the non finisher thinks she can actually finish these projects in a life time-ha! so i'm gonna be gentle with myself....i will complete..drumroll please......5 only, 5 of my queued items. but that's okay-i gotta start somewhere. i don't want to set myself up for failure. i think i can do this...and if i do more...well, i'll have another party okay?!!

4. finish my god damn crocheted quilt. enough said!

meanwhile on the home front......couch wars! my grand friend jeanette just gave me her effin awesome down stuffed antique couch! in a gorgeous shade of sage! carey(tall son) who is 6'2" can stretch out and lounge-even sleep on this thing. liam (short son)-the antique collector..has dreamt of owning this couch since the first time he saw it! needless to say...it's heaven! thanks J! the picture does not do it justice! and she gave me the coffee table too!!!!well, once again duty calls...geez! you'd think i was in the military or something!

still standing!

okay okay- i'm trying to post....i'm in the midst of going back to teaching the kids after 2 weeks off for winter break. 2 weeks of hell because of my back. so i'm a bit bitter to have to get right back into schooling without a real vacation. unless you call two weeks of nonstop back labor a vacation-ugh! i'm bummed as i can't go to spinning saturday this week as sitting is still very painful.

i did get some dyeing done-i'm most comfortable standing:
just a sampling. trying to get my etsy shop updated. i have a pathetic amount of stuff and no rovings. i need to update!!!

i feel like i'm drawing a blank....had so much to tell you all and now that i have a few minutes to fill you in..... i feel like i've been "stupefied."

one milestone our family passed was...carey turned 17! OMG! we had a party here for him with his desired dish of enchiladas! blue had a great time pre-washing the dishes!YES! i had a memory revival!!!!!!! i wanted to fill you in on the yarn club i joined today. hazel knits ....i love her stuff! i've never joined a yarn club...so much for my yarn restriction and "stitches o9" soon approaching!

family is calling gotta go!

happy new year!

happy new year everyone from "wooly" at the "rebel hen ranch". did i ever mention that's what i named our little homestead? being that we live on rebel ridge, i thought it appropriate. it was named rebel ridge back in the civil war days as the town of camptonville was yankee-rebel ridge harbored the rebels on the outskirts of town. this does not make me a civil war rebel supporter-i am of the union strain. but i'm a rebel in other ways...so i thought i'd reclaim the use of the word "rebel."
the gurls are finishing up their molting and are looking so much better. and the eggs are slowly returning.

we celebrated last nite with a mellow time of pizza and a harry potter movie. which kept hubby and i from falling asleep before the big hour-well-actually it didn't work so well for hubby! blue loved his first new years and got really excited and barked in the new year!

my favorite knitted gift item i made this past year were the hemp dishcloths. i'm excited that each small skein of the hemp can make 2 cloths-i will have extra to make our family some. being that hemp is mildew resistant it makes a great dishcloth an doesn't fall apart as quickly as the cotton ones!!
i know many of my readers are book lovers! i urge you to check out Kelly*girl*knits blog as she has some great 2009 reading challenges! may 2009 be all you want it to be!