Holy cow! I got so busy at work and just had no time for extras.  I was barely even getting email read, let along posting in my blog.  Someone quit, then someone was hired, but then she had to be trained.  Then people were off, in December.  I barely had time to breathe!  So, the blog waited and waited and waited.  Now I have 14 pictures to post of finished objects, snow from December 19th, and big waves from January 3rd!

My family was very happy that Obama won the election and that it was a done deal even before we went to bed on November 4th.  We look forward to the Inauguration now!

We had a great Thanksgiving and  a wonderful Christmas, although I was so busy I barely got to enjoy it.  Had fun at Christmas celebrations on both sides of the family.  My family did a White Elephant gift exchange.  Parameters were that the gift had to weigh about a pound and cost $10 or less.  I ended up with some Charmin’ Ultra Plush toilet paper and while my sister thought toilet paper would be the ultimate gag gift (and we did laugh about it!), my family was in desperate need of toilet paper, at that precise moment, so we were glad to get it!  LOL!  Gary got a bundle of bungie cords, Sarah got some fancy hot chocolate mix, and Emily I can’t remember anymore.  Gary almost got candy, but that was stolen away by a candy-hungry nephew!  Bungie cords are more useful for him, anyway.

I didn’t get to open Gary’s present, until we were together with Gary’s family.  He had it shipped to their house and then had my SIL wrap it in 3 different boxes, each one completely wrapped with ribbons and bows, too.  It turned out to be an 8G iPod Nano in turquoise blue!  So, I’ve been busy uploading music and getting that all set up to my specifications!  Also, we had to delete a ton of music from my iTunes library that even Sarah wouldn’t be listening to anymore.

Emily earned all but $20 towards a Nintendo DS.  She got Polar White and is enjoying it very much.  Sarah was doing some video work for my nephew Ryan and got paid nicely for that, so she went out and bought a Wii.  We’ve all been having fun with that.  I bowl better on the Wii, than I do in real life!  The cow racing game on Wii Play is hysterical.  It’s also hard to play the game, when everyone is laughing really hard.

I’m way behind on posting pictures of finished knitting projects, but I was finding time to get them photographed.

I’ve really been a slacker!  Ugh.  I’ve been working 48-52 hour payperiods, the last 4 weeks, along with Emily having to be at the county fair, all 5 days that it was running, have to go for 4H judging, of her knitting, shopping for wedding clothes, going to my nephew’s wedding, and trying to sleep in there somewhere!  The last 2 weeks of August were insanely busy.

For the good news, though, Emily entered her Wicked Sweater, her Foliage Hat, her Saucy Socks and her Cabled Mittens and got blue ribbons on all of them!!  Woohoo for Emily!!!!!! Plus, her Wicked Sweater got a special merit and if she wants to, it can be displayed at the Wisconsin State Fair next summer!!!!!!!  She’s only been knitting since March 2007, but she’s a most amazing knitter.  For her riding, she got two red ribbons, but she had a blast, and was so cute in her show clothes.

I’ve also been busy knitting away, with my Monthly Dishcloth KAL group. I love knitting dishcloths, that are a mystery.  I’m way behind on posting my work, though. In the gallery above, you can see the dishcloths that I knit, from the beginning of August. With the yellow one, I thought I might have enough yellow. I almost did, except for 1-1/2 rows, and the bind-off! LOL! Peppercorn was from one of the cones of Peaches and Creme that I got for Christmas from my SIL. The schoolhouse was a good September design. I just wish my purl stitches had been a little tighter.

Weather in Wisconsin has been uneventful and nice most of the time. The last 2 days have been damp and cool, though. Will love it when the extra moisture goes away. A few mornings this week, we had temps in the 40’s!!! The last two mornings haven’t been quite so cool. We haven’t needed the AC or the heat, which is good. I’ve needed long sleeves and quilts, though! LOL!

My thoughts and prayers are with those who live in TX. God Bless You tonight!

This month’s dishcloth, was an “illusion” cloth! That means we knitted the design twice, once in the lighter color and opposite in the darker color. So, when it’s on an angle, you only see the design rows, to make a picture. Here’s the front of the cloth. You can sort of see the design.

Here it is, from the backside. You can see the design, this way, too.

Here it is, viewed from more of an angle.

Another view from an angle. Isn’t it a neat effect? I’ve never knit an illusion cloth before!

Officially, this winter, we’ve had 82 inches of snow. However, that amount is again inaccurate, since we have 5-6 inches of new snow, out on the driveway, yard and sidewalk. Argh. It’s been snowing for about 12 hours now! Might I remind you, that it’s officially spring now, too? I might have seen a robin, but I’m not sure. I saw a bird in a tree, that looked like the right size and the right shape, but I couldn’t see the color of the breast feathers, since the lighting wasn’t right. Darn it!

Pictures of the socks. Finally! I finished the second one, on 2-27-08, but was too busy, to get the pictures posted. They keep my feet warm, and are very pretty. I wore them to my knitting group last night!

Yarn: Sandnes Garn Sisu Fantasy #6547
Needles: Size 2 dpns (Chia Goo Bamboo)
Pattern: Silver’s Sock Tutorial

I already did another Finders/Keepers cloth. I think it’s as addicting as a ballband is! Although it will probably look better with 2 solids, than a solid and a variegated, since the variegated yarn would be hard to see, in the “hidden” row! This one is in blue and ecru, to match my kitchen.

Here is the 2008 March KAL, from Monthly Dishcloth KAL. It’s called, “The Empty Tomb.”

“They found the stone rolled away from the tomb…” ~ Luke 24:2

The stockinette stitch in the lower left-hand corner, is the stone being rolled away. The purl stitching, that resembles a tree, is the empty tomb and the rays are the radiance of the Lord rising from the dead! It’s very appropriate, since Easter is at the end of this month!

Man, it’s cold outside. The last time I was outside, I about froze, and the last time I checked the temperature, it was about 13 degrees F, outside! Brrrr. It’s supposed to be MARCH, not January! On the plus side, all the roads, that had deep, frozen ruts, have greatly improved, so driving around is fun again. One had to drive over those rutted roads, very slowly, or take the long way, driving on better roads.

Our neighbor is a sweetheart. He’s been coming over to help us chop the ice and packed-down snow, that was covering our driveway and at the moment, it’s 90% dry and clear. He’s also been big help at keeping the storm sewer free and clear of snow and ice, so our street doesn’t flood. We’ve had about 80 inches of snow this winter and the snowbanks were starting to take over the road. Then we had one warm day and 1-1/2 inches of rain, and the water had nowhere to go! That’s all better now, too. Tonight, we are supposed to get 3-inches of lake-effect snow, meaning only the east coast of WI is supposed to get snow, with winds from the East. The clouds pick up moisture off the lake and dump it on us, as snow!

Oh yes, and all of Wisconsin is in mourning right now, since Brett Favre decided to retire. So, it will be interesting to see what happens with the Green Bay Packers next season. I think it was time for him to hang up the cleats. He had a good run!

This morning, I asked a kindergartener, who was talking about football, if he wanted to be the next Brett Favre, and he nodded his head enthusiastically. I thought that was so sweet.

It seemed appropriate to me. It seems all we hear about is football, in January, especially since the Green Bay Packers get to play the Championship game at HOME! DH and I watched the last 2 minutes of the Giants/Cowboys game last night, because the suspense was killing us. I wanted the Cowboys to lose, so the Packers could play at home! I’m staying far away from Green Bay next Sunday. Sounds like it could be a crazy place!

Recess duty for my lunch job, wasn’t too bad today. I think we are going to be inside, later in the week, though, especially with kindergarten kids, because it’s supposed to be good and cold! I’m not looking forward to that!