I had to share this moth photo. It was one HUGE moth that got into the house and this is it being freed outside. It was, I kid you not, about 3" long with a wingspan to match! It was freaky.

This is me, I colored my hair with straight purple but it doesn't show once again. Bummer.
And per Meg's request, I give you progress on the Basalt Tank. Working on the third hexagon and one more full one to do, then it's 5/6 and half hexagons to do. I doubt I will get it done this summer but it would look good over a tight long sleeve tee so I'll still wear it! :)
So, please pick yourself up off the floor and hopefully life won't get to fricken crazy that I won't go so long again without a post. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer, despite all the storms we keep getting. Peace!

Quick it's late, again....

Since it's been awhile I thought I had better remind you what I look like again. I am so vain aren't I? LOL

A finished project! Jessica's birthday booty bag. I have to get it to her as soon as it's dry. I hope she likes it.
Hate the rain we've been getting but goodness, I LOVE the green. Green, glorious green, green, green green! sigh. I have other projects in the works but I didn't have time to snap a photo of them. I'll try to very soon! Peace.

This is where K@ waxes poetically about....

her total stupidity. Remember a post or two ago when I said I couldn't find the stitch markers that Meg made for me and I said they're around somewhere? Well, they were around somewhere... they are IN a WIP!!!! Hello? Knitter! Where did I think they were going to be? ROFL even though I felt as dumb as the rocks I collect I was very happy to "find" them again.

*gasp* Does that mean I'm knitting? Why yes it does! And on a WIP that's been going on for a few months as well! I'm trying to knock off some of my WIPs before the summer semester starts. See, I only have one class this spring and it's a math class so once the homework is done, it's done and there are no lurking reports to do, no presentations hanging over my head, and that my fine woolly friends means there will be knitting time for me this spring! WooT WooT

I'd love to show you the WIP with the markers but it's a birthday gift for my friend Jess who's birthday is in June. I will post a photo later though. Promise. So for now, I'm off to keep my coffee buzz and KNIT. Yes, I still can't believe it, KNIT, I am KNITTING and I am getting things finished and in between spaces in my house are getting cleaned. Life is good. Peace out woolies!

Wow, call the newspapers!!

It's two posts and both have knitting in them! I just finished what I dubbed the Grape Vine Poncho. My own design (don't ask, I B.S.'d my way through it) and it's with that Catherine the Great colorway yarn that I can't remember anything else about. I can't believe I'm modeling with no make up on either LOL, but tough! :P


And this is the first hexagon for the Basalt Tank from Knitting Nature. King Tut yarn. I have to make three more and a few half hex's. I would like to wear this tank to school this summer to show off the tattoos ya know? :)

I'm pretty happy with the first one but I seriously need to find more comfy stitch markers. I'm ashamed to say that I've missed placed the ones Meg made me using beads her bro. made. I'm such an ass. I'm sure they're around somewhere, it's just locating them in this sty.

Anyway, enjoy the duel post with knitting content. Who knows how long it will be before it happens again. :)

Hats and Tats

I went get my new tattoo and took this to Mr. Ed. I was excited to give it to him and wish I could have sooner so he could actually wear it but hey, it's Michigan and the day will come again that requires wool on the head.

And for his lovely wife I made the shrunken head. I love it and they're fun to accessorize.
And this is my newest tattoo... flash on, flash off LOL. I love it. I love it so much it almost brings tears to my eyes. Mr. Ed is just amazing. Just amazing.
The red tailed hawk is my spirit animal, totem animal, something I always need to be aware of in my life - clear sight. Anyway, I'm in love with the hawk and Mr. Ed is my hero.

Look! "THE Shirt" came today!

BOOH YEAH BABY!

Oh go look at this!!!

Thanks to Meg from Blogless I now have a new tee shirt on it's way to me! Go check it out dudes, it's totally me!

Here's another photo

This is the photo The Yarn Harlot took of my tattoo.... (See that red mark on my neck? That's what happens when essential oils get directly on your skin... but the massage was worth it anyway!) So despite the goofiest damn look on my face this is how the tattoo looks now (and I drew the original myself *squeal*.)

Is it my imagination or do my boobs look extra big now that I've lost that 45 pounds? Just wondering LOL. Peace.

Finally, a post with knitting content!

The Yarn Harlot! She was beautiful, clever, and hilarious as always. Always a delight to get a chance to see and if you weren't there then, well, you seriously missed out! This is a terrible photo (Stephanie doesn't look horrible, my photo was) but you'll have to take into consideration that I was at the very back of the room and flashes only go so far.

But, this is a better one! Meg (Blogless No More), Stephanie, and I with my knitting tattoo! Maybe one of these years I can actually stand next to Stephanie in a photo lol.
I made some mad progress on my "school sock". Count down 4 red sections and that's what I got done while waiting. My nail polish matched too, pretty groovy eh? I call this my school sock because usually I only knit on it between classes.
I decided instead of doing regular ribbing I'd do a basket weave look and it's turning out pretty good. I wonder if it'll take me another two semesters to get the second one done. Lets hope not! I have at least 8 or 9 Socks that Rock kits to do an another one coming in a month or so. Stash! Gotta love it.
I do want to apologize for the lack of posting these last few months. School is kicking my hiney and my kids seem to decide that instead of all four of them getting sick at once they'd play tag. I've had one sick for one week for the last four weeks. Now, on top of all that I have a HUGE paper in my ecology class due Tuesday, a presentation for Monday in Glacial Geology, and a HUGE paper due in my social foundations class by the 22nd. Plus take home questions for my last test in ecology Thursday, four field trip write ups for geology, a poster presentation in biogeography, and two finals. Hello? Can someone shot me now? Holy sheep sh*t I'm feeling a bit crazy, overwhelmed, and panicky. Thankfully there's knitting to relax me (procrastinate with). Have a great weekend and if I don't emerge in 10 days come peel my face out of my text book K? :)

I'm going to see The Harlot!

April 11- Ann Arbor, MI Ann Arbor District Library, 343 South Fifth Ave. Time: 7pm

Meg (blogless no more who just did the most adorable hedgehog) and I are! Who else is going? Anyone else? HUM? Let's meet up! Let me know and we'll hash out something about time and place and such. I do hope you'll join us!

Leave it to Holly!

Holly found a website with clan Arans on it and though it didn't have one for my father's name of Telford it did have one for my mother's family, Clark. WooT! Holly you rock my world girl! Thank you so much!

Here's my mom's family.

Go see if your family is here.

That's some seriously awesome searching, but then, pop over to her blog and check it out. She's always finding some way interesting stuff to read.

Thanks again Holly!

Need a little help finding something....

A new friend of mine said that there are cable patterns or knitting patterns depending on what your last name is if you are Irish. My question is, if this is true, then how in the hell do you find them? I'm not all that good at doing searches on Google and I've totally run out of keywords.

Does anyone know about this? Can anyone find it? And if so, Telford is the name I'm lookin' for. And, lol, it's not for knitting, it's for a tattoo.... if it's attractive enough LOL.

Anyway, all you search geniuses, can you help me or tell me he's got it wrong. :)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Ta-Da! Done hat!

A close up of the hat....

and the hat it self....
It was a fun knit and just a lovely pattern to knit! Only took me 8 days to knit and that's not knitting every day either! I highly recommend it. Ok, off to look up a tattoo expo coming to our area! Peace peeps!

Don't fall off your rockers!

First we'll start with the Viking's hat. I got the jaw done on the third row of skulls and Mr. Ed, the master of the ink gun expressed interest in one himself. Well, seeing as how this is one of the EASIEST charts to follow, and I'm totally loving it's rhythm, and Mr. Ed is a rockin' cool dude, I think he may just end up with one... but in ORANGE which is his favorite color. We'll see, we'll see. I don't have a photo of the tattoo he did on the Viking but I have to say, it was totally evil, and so detailed and, well, it was truly one of the greatest tattoos I've ever seen. *sigh* I wish I could share it with you all. Anyway, this is the We Call Them Pirates hat in the Viking's favorite color and it's a wonderful knit. Now on tooooooo my newest tattoo!
On my right shoulder I now have a little buddy to remind to keep my knitting rocking and hard core. I think it needs something added around it but I'm not sure what just yet. But I love it and it looks rather tough when I'm wearing a wife beater tank. Yep, Mr. Ed did a wonderful job of making my little drawing work. I'm so happy with it. I've already got the next tattoo figured out and the next one after that and another one after that too! My back is going to be full LOL. Well, enjoy the photos, it maybe awhile before you see anymore unfortch.

I have nine weeks left of classes and I'm taking the spring semester off to get the yard ready for summer and to give myself some time. I've been going for almost 2 years straight and need a break. By taking the spring semester off the kids will still be in school the majority of it. Then I plan on taking two classes in the summer. Of course that time will also be spent knitting my little fingers sore! Oh, and if you're wondering since you can't tell in the photo, the ball of yarn is about the size of the diameter of a pop can. Ok, I'm off to do stuff now! Peace Peeps!

Just a quick update

Today is my new tattoo at 4:30, the one I'm keeping secret until it's done. I'm staying in a hotel tonight *wink wink* and am really looking forward to it. The person I'm staying with at the hotel is getting a We Call Them Pirates hat. I started it Wednesday night and I'm already half way done with it. I'll definitely get a photo of it before he takes off with it LOL. Well, it's not like I won't see it again :)

So tomorrow I'll post some photos and share my own designed tattoo surprise and whatever progress I make on the hat. It's a really easy knit and I think I'm going to make another one or two or three....

Have a great weekend! Peace.

The saga of my life continues.......

and boy have the last few weeks been rough. I know that life goes in cycles but the down swing of that wheel can be rough and feel like it's dragging you through water trying to drown you. Anyway, as you can see by the photos I finished my newest tattoo and added on to it a bit. Mr. Ed once again proved he's the master! On top of that I'm going back on the 16th to have another one put on my deltoid of my left arm, one that I designed myself and Mr. Ed is going to rework so it will, well, work LOL. I'm keeping that one a secret for now.
On the front I had Mr. Ed add one more curl. It just didn't seem to come down far enough before and now I'm happy. Not that I wasn't before LOL, but I'm even more so now. This time it feels like it's healing much better too. I can't wait to see how the colors develop after it's done peeling and softens up a bit.
I love walking around school with it peeping out of my neckline and watching peoples reactions to it when they walk by. I'm like yep, I am cooler than you! Speaking of school. God damn. I have three 300 level classes and one 400 level class and it's rough. The reading alone is enough to take up every waking moment of my day.

And then, on top of the stress from school I got sick last week. My youngest boy came home Monday and promptly feel asleep with that rosey faced, glassy eyed, vacant stare that kids get when you know they're really sick. Next day the doc tested him and he had the influenza. Well that same day, after my second class I was eating and I looked at my friend Adam and announced that I didn't feel well. One hour later I was high tailing it home (missed my third class) and woke up with a 103 temp. One that wasn't brought down by anything I took so I had the chills, runny nose and a terrible, terrible cough, which I still have.

I have slept in a chair for the last 6 nights, tonight I'm going to try and sleep in bed. I actually got some solid sleep last night and my body is crying out for more. So between school and illness I really haven't done any knitting other than the few rounds I reward myself with at school after studying on what I am calling the watermelon sock. It's knitpicks yarn and I'm just doing my own version of a short row toe up sock on US 1's. Isn't it sad that I can't even get one sock done a semester?
I have made the decision that I'm going to take the spring semester off, while the kids are still in school, so that I can take a few weeks for just myself. In small chunks while the kids are at school of course LOL, but still, I've been going to school for two years straight now and I NEED some time for me. I'm planning on taking two classes during the summer term.

So that's what's been up around my world lately. Karl and I are getting along really well, the kids are doing great despite the occasional sickness, and I miss you all very much. (((hugs)))

I'm sorry.

I still haven't taken photos of any knitting, but as you can see here, I did finally empty the memory on the camera so now I CAN take photos of the knitting. :)

I just had to add two of the snow photos, especially this one of Max trying so hard to use the snow blower. It was so funny to watch and he had a blast. The snow "ain't so pretty" now but it sure was that day.
And this is a photo of us with Shamus, my day old nephew. He is SOOOOO cute! It was great to hold a baby again... and the best part? Handing him BACK! lol Seriously though, he's awesome and I'm really looking forward to when he can sit up enough because I'd like to take all 8 kids to get a portrait together. It's almost freakish how much they all look like siblings instead of cousins.
So in between the snow, tests, and babies I did manage to get a tiny bit of knitting done. I have just cast on for the first sleeve of the baby sweater and have the back and both fronts done. My goal is to get it done shortly after Christmas so I can go visit the baby again and give my SIL the gift. It's hard to believe that my two youngest started out that size! Damn they grow so much it's freaking amazing! My two older ones were approximately a pound heavier so were a bit bigger.

Hopefully tomorrow I will get around to posting some actual knitting photos for a blog that is supposed to be for knitting! And I so miss the knitting. I'm fighting the urge to cast on something else too but the quantity of WIPS laying around is daunting so I resist. I'll tell you how well that goes for me later LOL. Peace Peeps! Love ya.

First sickness of this school year

I knew it was going to happen sooner or later that's for sure but why couldn't it have been oh, say a head cold like the kids have gotten? Or the 24 hour flu? Noooo I get to go right into my usual strep throat. And yes, I'm going to whine about it because I. DON'T. FEEL. GOOD. LOL, a little drama to start my day off, sorry.

I'm missing school today to see if I can get into the doctor's and for some of you, that gives you an indication of how sick I am doesn't it? Especially since the two classes I'm going to miss are the ones I'm failing. :(

Just wanted to pop in and say that I've managed to not get much more done on the baby sweater for my brothers newest one and it's due in like two weeks. But school has got to come first right now and I have 5 days over Thanksgiving which would be just enough to get that tiny thing done.

Gotta go take a shower now. Peace lovies.

An idea I'm thinking about.....

THIS was showcased in the most recent Lion Brand Yarn email and I'm thinking this may be what I decide to do since socks take me so long. If I were quicker at socks then I'd make them too but I'm not so this may be what I can do. I've met quite a few people who served over there recently and though they are back safe and sound I feel like I can do something for them by helping others. Anyway, it's brewing in my mind. Just thought I'd share. And plus, the first one, which won't be that good probably, could be a good gift to Karl's dad for Christmas. Have a good one... oh, and

GO BLUE!!!!

Drum roll please........

I'll start you off with our pumpkins we carved last night. With flash and without. Mine is the left hand one, my oldest didn't do one, the party pooper LOL.

Oooooh, scary eh?
Ok, what you all have been waiting soooo patiently for, the Penis Socks! Officially known as Inside Out! designed by Kaci Kyler Hays in the Socks that Rock color way Monsoon by Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I wore them today and all I can say is DAMN they kept my feet warm and comfy! I may just do this pattern again someday for sure! So left foot.....
and right foot....
and as good of a photo I could take of the cable pattern at the top.
I'm really happy with how they turned out and I'm going to cast on the Lenore socks next since the yarn matches my hair and that makes it close to my heart. I'm such a dork I know! :)

So, if you don't hear from me before then, have a

Happy Halloween!!!!