MIA

I know I've been gone for a while but not having reliable Internet can really put a damper on blogging.

Now that I've gotten more comfortable with my iPhone, I'm going to try and blog a little more frequently.

Most of my projects have fallen under the
Christmas knitting category. I have kind of-sort of figured out my Flickr app and have put several pictures up there. I am registered as Kristy's In Stitches if you want to check it out.

And if anyone out there has suggestions on blogging with an iPhone I'd love to hear from you! (First things...I'd love to add some pics & create links. I'll work on that this week. You might be seeing some test posts but I'll warn you in the title so you can skip over them.)

Hugs!

Sandy hit WV

We are doing fine. A little inconvenienced with no power, no water & no heat but the kids & I have had a great day. They had a Monopoly marathon while I worked on my first "knitted knocker" for a friend.

Stay safe, Friends!

Back in the Chicken Business

Just picked up 7 "new to us" chickens. Now to figure out what we have and who's in charge.

The Beauty of a Detour

Yesterday we opted for the scenic route and today we were asked to do a "double check" at my parent's lake house. We ended up at Valley Falls State Park. Hope you enjoy the beauty of our autumn in West Virginia!

A Pair of Socks

I finished my first pair of socks this afternoon. All of the time I've spent waiting for soccer practice to finish & pre-game warm ups that I've had to sit through have finally paid off. I'm especially proud of the fact that both socks are pretty much the same size! Yea, Me!

Wanna see 'em?

Here they are--

Things are finally settling down

Soccer season is almost at an end and I almost have my first pair of socks finished. I have worked on them all season while sitting at the various soccer practices & games where we had to be there an hour before the start. Hopefully I will have a finished pair to show before the week is over.

Homecoming is over. My baby girl had her first real date. Isn't she beautiful?!
Our oldest boy has gone the last three years but is smart enough to keep away from the drama. He has more fun just hanging out with his friends.

I started a new job, it complicates the car shuffling, but I'm enjoying it.

Perhaps I will be able to do a little more blogging now that I'm getting the hang of this new phone.

Hope to be back again real soon.

~kristy

iPhone test

I just got a new iPhone.
Hoping that this will help with the crazy Internet problems we have been having.

Grrrrr!.......and, Yea!!

Grrr!

Our internet is messing with us again this month.

I think I am going to have to learn to blog from my phone.  

Not a pleasant thought.

So, I missed the announcement of my giveaway winner.

I've already contacted JuneD to let her know that she was the lucky winner.

She is blogging at QuiltQuest if you'd like to stop by and visit her.

Congratulations, JuneD! (This was the "Yea!!" part in case you were wondering.)

I've been told that I now have to ration my blogging (I'm putting up too many pictures they say.)

So, I've got to sit back and prioritize my posts, learn to work nicely with my phone...and maybe even have a little time to get some projects worked on.

I really do miss you guys!

'Cause while I'm not posting, I'm also not getting to read very many of my "Start the day off Right" bloggers!

Take Care, & I hope to see you guys again real soon!

~K

Another (Almost) Finish

I've been working on my first T Shirt quilt for quite some time.

Well, while the internet was down last month, I finished the top and back and got it all sent off to the quilter.

Here are some of the pictures taken before it went to the quilter.

 

I'm thinking about using strips from all of the blocks to do a "scrappy" binding.

What do you think?

~K

I Finished A Sock!!!

My very first sock!

"Folded Cuff"

"Knee-High"

 I've been wanting to knit socks for some time now.  

I've practiced "knitting".

I've practiced "purling".

I've practiced reading patterns.

I've purchased sock yarn. 

(More than a reasonable amount for someone who has never knit socks.)

I've bought books.

I've visited a yarn store.

I've cast on. 

(Several times.)

I've frogged.

(Several times.)

And, now, I've finally finished my first sock.

It's teeny, tiny.  

But that's okay.

I've made some mistakes.

But, that's okay, too.

It's finished!  I've knit my very first sock!

And now I have to do another one!

Just so you know, I've already cast on!  And now I am off to do some more knitting!

I also wound some rags for my rug loom.  My newest projects.

Don't forget about the give away on Sunday.  Just leave me a comment & you'll be added to the drawing!

This Knit-wit is off to work some ribbing!

See you soon!

~K

 

Back Online & Ready for a Giveaway!!

First, I must apologize for such a long absence...

Our new internet provider only allows us a certain amount of data each month & it isn't quite enough to support all of the 4 am you tube video viewing that my insomniac hubby required.  We pretty much used up our allotment the first week and a half of July and spent two and a half weeks slipping off to the library, Burger King or wherever we could manage to get a few minutes of free internet in.

My inability to work well with technology prevented me from posting from my current cell phone (one of the draw backs to having had the twins...the pregnancy totally confused my body & I now suffer with some crazy inability to keep a watch battery running & cause lots of "fun" glitches in my cell phone usage! LOL)

So, now that I am back online...(I hope that I still have some readers out there...) I would like to offer my finished hot pad from the Red, White & Blue Blog Hop!  You can still stop over and take a peek if you'd like.  Since I didn't think to include the give away when I posted on July 2nd, I will be adding those wonderful visitors to the drawing!  

I am not going to try and figure out the "linky" thing...(we are crazy busy here planning a wedding for this Saturday) so, I will be drawing a name out of the hat!  It will be completely random!  I promise!

So, even if you didn't stop by during the hop, you can still have a chance to win!

I will draw the name on Sunday, August 12 (when I have a little bit of breathing room).  Just leave me a note on any of my postings between now and Sunday and you will be entered.  I will limit the number of entries to 3 per person...you don't have to do anything other than tell me that you stopped by!  See...now that's pretty simple isn't it?!

So, here is what I have for you:

It's a little over 10 inches square, inspired by the June 2012 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting.  The original design is by Thomas Knauer and called "Electric Slide".  My block was pieced using 1.5" half-square triangles left over from a previous project.  The batting is Insul-Brite so it can be used as a hot pad.

Thanks so much for sticking around & Good Luck!!

Lost in Chaos

Just a quick check in...
We are having a crazy time with our internet.
Supposedly we will be back up and running on August 4.  I can only hope.
My limited computer time has been spent keeping up with bill payments & such so I have lots to update you on when I get back online.

You can expect to see an update on:
the T Shirt quilt (It is in rotation at the quilter's! Yea!)
some of the Barrister's Blocks (I'm slowly catching up.)
A Give Away!!
That's right, my first give away!
I will be sending out the "Electric Slide Hot Pad" that was made for the Red, White & Blue Blog Hop!

Any way, my time is up and I must go...
Hope to be back again REAL soon!

~K

Red White & Blue...Day 2

I know.

I've taken several days off...

...but I've been getting ready for this great 
Red White & Blue Blog Hop hosted by Jane's Fabrics and Quilts! 
(Please Hop on over to her blog for a complete listing of the other R/W/B bloggers.)

When I signed up to join the Hop, I had in mind to use some of my left over 1.5" Prairie Paisley (the original) half square triangles.

Here is what I came up with:

I've been wanting to do this for a while.

This one was inspired by the June 2012 over of American Patchwork & Quilting.

Then, I went to my current favorite book...

Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts by Pam & Nicky Lintott

I love that the blocks in this one are organized by size and they have a wonderful variety!

"Garden Trail"

"Maple Star"

"Union Square"

It's my plan to make a table runner from these three blocks before the 4th of July rolls around...I know, I'm running out of time!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Enjoy the Hop (it's just getting started!)

And please keeping on hopping...

Here are the other bloggers that have some great things to show you today!

July 2nd

Sharon P

Snoodles

The Raspberry Rabbits

KrisD

Quilts From My Crayon Box

Elaine 

And if you stop by Jane's you can find the complete list of ALL the links for this amazing Blog Hop!

There are at least 100!  

(That should keep you busy for a while!)

Before anything else...

...I want to say a great big "Thank You!!" to From Here to Quilternity!

I was one of the "random" winners during this spring's Blogger's Quilt Festival and this is what I found waiting for me when I got home from our vacation...

Now, on to a quick check in on some of my other projects.

I feel like I have accomplished quite a bit considering we came back from vacation Sunday night and I spent all of Tuesday and Wednesday in bed with a killer migraine!  Darren said he had no idea he married a barometer...Yesterday was a quiet day of recovery until more storms moved in and I was knocked off my feet again.  Today is better and I'm able to step back and look at some of what I managed to accomplish in my drug induced stupor.

SO...

I am linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for her "On the Needles" weekly check in.  I have 2 projects "on my needles".  

The first is my sock!  I have cast on again!  And I must say that it is getting easier and easier to cast on and knit those first few rows.

The second project is a basket weave dishcloth that I have been dragging around for quite some time.  I would really like to see this one done by next week!  And it just might happen since I have an all day soccer tourney to sit through tomorrow.

And here are the goodies that I found at Knitting Addiction the day before we left the Outer Banks.  I can't wait to get back there!  I loved my blue scarf so much, that I went back and bought every other colorway that she had!  And some more sock yarn!  One of these days...

I'm also going to tell you that I haven't done any spinning this week (I'm going to try and motivate myself by including that in my On the Needle updates), but I did manage to get the other 2 fleeces in buckets to help soak out some of the dirt.

I'm also slowly very slowly making progress on my Barrister's Blocks.  I won't say how far behind I am, mainly because I don't have a clue...But, I will catch up!

Now, we are off to a kick off soccer picnic!

Home Again!

First, I will let you know that I am anxious to get some more photos up of the goodies that I found at Knitting Addiction.

I have another sock cuff started...hopefully I can make it to the heel flap this time *sigh*

We arrived home late last night...took the smart aleck phone's navigator directions a ended up on one of the best roads for getting car sick!  We had to make several frequent stops just to keep everyone happy.  

I took lots of pictures on the way home and hopefully got a couple of good shots.  We shall see.

Anyway, just wanted to check in since I will be busy over the next couple of days getting things unpacked, washed up and dealing with the general re-organization of the house.  I also just found out that a dear friend is having some major back problems and I will be helping to watch children and cook while some other moms help her with cleaning at her house.  

Several of the teen age boys are very concerned for her husband...who is an amazing dad...and hasn't complained at all about being the Mom (cooking, cleaning, watching 2 little girls, laundry, etc.) this past week...and are anxious to volunteer for evening babysitting duty so that "Dad" has some time to relax!  

Now, how many teen boys do you know that would do that?!

So, my dear friends, I'm not sure when I will be back, but I hope it will be very soon!

Knitting Addiction...again!

Headed back to that wonderful shop!

Darren has offered to take me back this morning and then out to lunch!

He is such a sweetie...volunteering to go back...even after the shop owner told him to "Suck it up, Buttercup!  You're a fireman...you can do it!"

Of course, this was after he complained that there weren't any hunting  or fishing magazines to look at!

Hopefully he will behave better today, but if he is willing to buy me more yarn, I think Jeanne & I both will be happy to put up with him...for a while!

I'll post pics of all my goodies when we get back!

Promise!

On the Needles & Knitting Addiction

On the way back from the aquarium, we stopped at a couple of Thrift Shops.  They were a little too expensive for me...

Then, we stopped at Knitting Addiction...Oh, my goodness!  

They have some great yarns!

Darren & Thing 1 were touching EVERYTHING!

I was just trying not to drool on anything.

I have been wanting to learn how to knit socks and the owner, Jeanne Shrader has written some really great patterns.

I'm linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times...she has started "On the Needles" to help motivate herself and others to take time to knit.

 

Jeanne talked me into starting with a newborn sock since we both felt that I could have the cuff knitted up and get back to the shop for her to help me turn the heel before we leave on Sunday.

I haven't done much knitting on DPNs and I've ripped out the stitches at least 3 times since 5pm last night.

This mornings "do over"...in K2, P2 ribbing.

...an hour later...

Here is what I am working with...

 The yarn is a sock yarn that I purchased on clearance at AC Moore.  I figured it would be a good "practice" yarn and I wouldn't be wasting too much money on my first attempts at knitting socks.

So, I better get busy.  Darren has offered to take me out to lunch (since I missed the seafood buffet on Wednesday) and back to Knitting Addiction this afternoon!

Stop over at Judy's and see what the other knitters are working on!

The Aquarium

Today is another "No Swimming" day at the beach.

We have been told that when the red flag is flying some of the police officers will cite you for just putting your toes in the surf.  So, we have kept the kids off the beach.

Yesterday we went to the Roanoke Island Aquarium.  And took some pretty interesting pictures.

Before we even got there...

All my munchkins!

Thing 1 & Thing 2 looking for shark's teeth

A turtle quilt the aquarium is raffling off!

Cool image taken by Thing  1

Would love to hear what you would do with the kids on a 

NO BEACH 

day!  I don't know what we are going to do with them now...

It's a Little Bit Windy!

The surf is up...

The red flag is flying...

The wind has blown over all of the chairs on our deck...

But, I did finish my first Starbella ruffled scarf!

I told you it was windy!!

We are thinking a trip to the aquarium is in order today.  Everyone went out for the seafood buffet last night and the outdoor drama of The Lost Colony*...except for me and Thing 2.  He was running a fever and we didn't think it would be a good idea to keep him out 'til midnight.  
He is feeling better today, so we are trying to find some fun, relaxing things to do.

*The Lost Colony outdoor drama isn't loading on my computer right now, I will try and add the link a little later today.  Sorry.

I've been told that there is a "general store" in Manteo that sells fabric...and there is a yarn store in the local shop information, so I might have some goodies to show you later!

Wish me luck!