Prairie Mama

It’s not easy taking a picture of your right hand, have you ever noticed that? Here is my first fingerless glove! As you can see in the background, I’ve cast on the second. This is my own pattern…real tough, ribbing at the bottom and stockinette throughout the glove. I did the picot bind-off as seen on Fetching.
I wanted to do cables and such on these, but it just didn’t look good with this yarn. I love this yarn though. It is Manos Del Uruguay, and is just WONDERFUL!!! If I have enough left over, I will be making myself a calorimetry or panta with it!!

A JOB!!! A JOB!!! A JOB!!! Jeremy was offered a job at Zimmer today (in Indiana), and as soon as he passes the background check, he’ll get the official offer!!! They say it could take about 2-3 weeks. But, IT’S A JOB!!!!!!! WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!! I had a fabulous birthday (on the 11th) and party yesterday!! Oh my goodness, you all will be so JEALOUS when I tell you what my husband did. But first…A’s sweater!

Here it is blocking on the 11th. After this I had to do the hood, all the seaming and buttons! It took me almost another week to get that done. Life just gets so crazy!!

But…VOILA! I finished it!! My goal was to have it done for my party at 3:00 on the 17th. I weaved in the last end at about 11 am!

And, it gets better…look at it on my BABY!!

Here are the specs -
Yarn: Patons Marino Regency colorway and Cascade 220 Brown Heather colorway.
Needles: Size 7 and 8’s Knit Picks Options
Baby: Just too cute for words

Ok, now to my party.

Look at what my Mom made for me. I don’t really have a great place for it in my little apartment (but it is on my wall). I think it is just so cute though!

So, my husband can be pretty darn creative. He made me a wonderful cake, invited tons of my family and friends…and surprised me. I was beyond surprised really. We have a friend, Mike (Lori’s husband) who is a graphic artist. He and Mike have been working on something since Thursday. He kept joking with me telling me it was a marble sculpture of me. Ooh, that is something I want
So, imagine my surprise when he comes into the room where my party was being held and said that he had a surprise for me. And… I needed to go outside. So, out I went with everyone looking so excited…and this is what I saw

A PINATA that looked like YARN! WOW, that is so cool! Just to give you an idea of how big it was, here’s a picture of it next to my head

So, I start swinging at this thing, and all the sudden Nicole and Stephanie get a bit nervous looking, converse and tell me to stop. One of Stephanie’s kids goes to their van and gets out a big blanket and they put it under the pinata. I start thinking..could this be what I think it is?? Could it be that there isn’t candy in here?? Could it be something else?? I dared not to hope, but just kept whacking away (and letting all the kiddos there do the same).

When it finally opened…here is what I found

30 BALLS, SKEINS and HANKS OF YARN!!!!!! OH.MY.GOSH! I was stunned, happy, no, really, those words don’t do justice to how I was feeling. I had sock yarn, worsted weight, bulky, you name it…all sorts of wooly goodness!!! I got the pink and brown Lorna’s Laces that I was coveting over at Simply Sock Yarn, I got Socks that Rock January One Colorway (ooh, I love that!), I got some fabulous Rowan, Manos Del Uruguay, and lots of others!!! 30 balls for 30 years.

Here I am at home, in my bed, with my yarn. I love my husband! He totally surprised me. Now he has 10 years before he has to top himself

Last night there was a terrible tragedy in Salt Lake City. A gunman went into a large mall here and opened fire. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and all of those who will be haunted by this night forever.

Pregnancy, and Interview, and Bouillon Cubes, Oh my!

That was just yesterday! So, the kids and I were out yesterday and when we came home, our crazy upstairs neighbor was coming outside. Now, remember, I said she was crazy. She stopped to chat for a few minutes and looked at me and said “You’re not pregnant again are you?”. I was shocked. Stunned. I took a minute to collect myself and said, “No. I’m just fat.” She stumbled over her words this time saying, “Oh, no, I didn’t mean..it takes a long time for me to lose the baby weight too. I just thought that you were pregnant because you looked like it and I thought WOW if she’s pregnant again, her hands will be really full!”. I looked at her again. Truly not believing that we were having this conversation and again, I said, “Nope, just fat. Thanks”. And I walked inside. What a WHACK JOB! Jeremy said that I should have said, “Oh, they let you out of the loony bin again?”.

Interview – well, Jeremy had another interview yesterday with the director of hip development at Zimmer. She had some reservations about him and wanted to chat with him some more. Apparently, the other people who interviewed him really liked him and so she needed to see what she was missing that they saw. So, I guess during the on site interview, she was asking him some questions and really wanted to get at his thought process on how he would handle a situation, and he didn’t answer her questions well enough. She gave him a design problem and she said that he gave up too easily when he didn’t know the answer (I don’t remember the specifics, I will talk to him and then we will edit this part). He was really glad she called. He recently read this book, “Now, Discover your Strengths”, and he told her about it. He learned from that book that he is pretty analytical (really???) and that he needs to sit and think about something before answering. He doesn’t just jump in with an answer, he takes his time. She was glad to hear this, as she is the same way He also took a test online to see what his strengths are and sent her the results. So…we’ll see. She said that they would be making a decision this week! *fingers crossed*

Bouillon cubes…*roll eyes*. My son. He is a very mischievous boy. Yesterday I was laying A down for a nap. I heard some banging of cupboards in the kitchen, but I couldn’t get up to see what he was doing. So, I just took a very Zen approach and said, I’ll deal with it when I get up. I go out to the kitchen about 5 or 10 minutes later and I see a chair pulled up to the counter and the spice cupboard open. S had something in his mouth and I asked him what he was eating. He opened his mouth and there was a chicken bouillon cube! GROSS! I told him to give it to me and explained that it isn’t for him. He said, “Oh, it’s just for Mom and Dad?”. No, sweetie, it’s for cooking! What a nut!

This morning I got up and he was eating my last piece of birthday cake. Ooh buddy. You don’t come between Mama and her cake. He ate all the frosting (whipped, my favorite!) and the oreo that was on top. I was laying in bed dreaming of that piece of cake and it’s gone. In the belly of my 2 year old. Here is the conversation he and I had:
Me: S! What are you doing?? That’s my birthday cake!
S: Well, you can share!
Me: No sweetie, that’s my cake!
S: But, you gave me some in my Cars bowl.
Me: Yeah, last night I did. But, that was my last piece of cake and I wanted it.
S: Sorry Mom. Sorry for eating your birthday cake Mom.

Ugh, why is he so cute? Because it saves him. Just now, he was coloring on himself and the table with markers. Who is this child?!?!

Anyhoo…my birthday was SO relaxing and fantastic! We got up and went to church. We came home and Jeremy made me lunch and then I got to have a nap. Nicole came over after my nap with a great bag she knit for me. Jeremy and Seth got me some headphones for my iPod (I think it’s because I steal Jeremy’s daily!), and we had some FABULOUS cake. (I’m still mourning the loss of my last piece of cake). It was a really nice day and I was so happy to share it with my family. Now, I’m the big 3-0. So far, my thirties are good

Oh, and I will post pictures…I just can’t right now. Our great neighbors let us use their high speed internet…well, it hasn’t worked for a few days now. So, I’m on dial-up. I hate dial-up.

I am almost done with A’s sweater!!! I am needing to seam it up (I’m finding that I really don’t like seaming) and do the hood. I’m supposed to make the buttons snaps, but I really want button holes. So, I need to figure out the spacing for the button holes and do that also. I am still holding on the goal of having it done by my party on Saturday. I’m going to my sister’s today, so I should be able to get some good knitting done.

Alright, I have to go feed the boy. He’s hungry. He just had my birthday cake! How can he be hungry?!?!?!?

I am feeling OH so much better! I lost 4 lbs. the other day! I hate being sick. I despise it! Luckily for me, my husband came home and took care of my babies so I could take care of myself! And, now, I am better!
Ok, as promised…. 30 things about me for my 30 years!

1. I was born February 11, 1977 at 11:38 pm.
2. I stay up until my birth minute every year and wish myself happy birthday.
3. Since I have become a Mother myself, I have called and thanked my Mother on my birthday.
4. I have 3 children
5. 2 are living…it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
6. I grew up in Omaha, NE; Coffeyville, KS; and Kaysville, UT. However, when I tell people where I’m from, I always say Kansas.
7. I could never sleep in as a child. I wished I could…it was terrible being the first one awake at a sleep over at someone else’s house.
8. I would eat chocolate everyday if I could.
9. I am learning that chocolate doesn’t cure everything though.
10. I have been pregnant or nursing (or both) for the last 5 years (in March)
11. I bit my toenails when I was a kid (gross, I know)
12. I have been 5 foot 6 inches since 6th grade. That was the year that I grew 6 inches!
13. I had my first kiss when I was 13. I felt so old then, but now that I have 13 year old nieces, it is SO YOUNG!
14. I am the 4th of 5 children.
15. Between the 5 children in my family, there are 20 grandchildren!
16. I love to read
17. Therefore, I love audiobooks!
18. I wish I could knit and listen to books all day long.
19. I would never do that, because I love reading to my kids and playing legos with Seth!
20. I love Barry Manilow and the Carpenter’s. I thank my sister and my Mother for that.
21. I always wanted a car mat like my brother’s had, when I was little.
22. My feet are always cold.
23. I wish I could knit socks faster…because my feet are always cold
24. I have the best in-laws in the world, seriously.
25. I was a Sign Language interpreter for 2.5 years.
26. I have been signing for 24 years now.
27. Someday, I hope to go back and finish my degree in Deaf Education at Utah State University.
28. I made a cd when I was in college. Don’t ask to hear it, I won’t let you.
29. I play the piano and guitar…neither of them well, but I can.
30. I am the luckiest woman in the world to have such a fantastic family. I mean, who couldn’t love these people?!?! Oh, and btw, the last picture is of Emma. I know, she looks just like A!

Oh man, it sucks when Mom is sick. I’ve got what Seth had, but I get to take care of 2 little ones, change diapers, make food and try to be a nice Mom while doing it. Ugh.

I take back what I said yesterday, I guess I’m not slow, I just take my time I was very honored that Margene actually read my blog and posted too! WOW! She reminded me that it is the process I love. I am loving the process so much right now. I have the back and left front side of A’s sweater finished. I hope to have it done by my birthday party on the 17th. And, I have decided to do S’s sweater in a dark charcoal gray with a dark blue heathered yarn for the edging and sleeves.

I got some birthday money today from my in-laws. I’m going shopping!!!! When I was pregnant with A, I started this dress. I was going to make it in an off white with soft pink flowers and sage green stems. I did the front and started on the back only to find out that my gauge had changed and the back was turning out bigger than the front! So, my very pregnant, very frustrated self said “that dress is dead to me” and stuffed it in a corner. After A was born, I wanted to finish the dress and let her wear it as a shirt. Well, she was WAY TOO BIG and so I just frogged it. Now, I am making it (the same colors as the pattern) for her 1st birthday. Now that I have my birthday money, I can buy the yarn!!! YIPEE!!!!!!!!! So, I am going to order it and Nicole and I are going to have an Anouk knit along! I am SO excited!

I am also going to get myself some stitch holders (my dpns just aren’t cutting it) and…well, I am going to Soul Spun Yarn tonight for knitting…so if anything else catches my eye…Stay tuned for pictures…I think I may be going on a yarn spree!

I have come to accept something this weekend. I am a slow knitter, and that’s o.k. That last part, the part about it being ok, is very hard for me to accept. I want to be done with socks fast. I think my main problem is that the first pair of socks I knit were with worsted weight yarn. That makes for a relatively quick knit. But, now I am doing socks on needles sizes 2 and 3, and well, it’s not so fast. So, I am a slow knitter, and that’s o.k. (I will keep telling myself this until I believe it.) My biggest problem is that I read some great blogs, women who are fantastic knitters. They have been knitting for a long time, I have not. I need to have more patience with myself, right?? Here are some pictures of my slow knitting.

These are the Jaywalkers that never end (sung to the tune of “This is the song that never ends”)

Here is the back of the sweater I’m making for A. I am a little irritated because there is some pooling happening here. It got worse as I finished the back. One side is all pink and red and the other is brown and orange. It happened after I bound off for the armholes. I started on the front tonight and it is happening again! ARGH! It makes me want to SCREAM!

S asked me if when I am done with A’s sweater, I’d make him one. I told him that I would and that he could help me pick out the yarn for it. He wants it black. Black?? Really?? He’s 2, what does he know?

And, here is something that makes me love knitting. Alpaca booties for my darling daughter. They knit up so fast and they make me feel like I’m not a slow knitter. Even though I know I am…I can kid myself!

Now, on a non-knitting note…the sun is finally shining and it is warm here! It was 45 degrees today, 45 gloriously warm degrees here today!!! The kids and I went outside and it was SO nice! S is working on potty training…he told me that he would do it if he had an Elmo seat. Well, I got him an Elmo seat and he stayed dry all day!!! YIPEE!!!!!!!!

Here are the booties I made for my friend Sarah’s, little one, Z. Don’t they just look so sweet on that newborn? She isn’t even 1 month old yet!
Sarah is sweet and says that the pictures don’t do them justice…I think that they don’t do baby Z justice…she is just so sweet.