October 31 of 31

Happy Hallowe'en Everyone!

I was a Devil today.

And Sean was a Frog. A Tom Arma frog. He wore the entire costume (minus the feet because he kept pulling them off) all day! What a sport.

Today we accompanied my mother to Kingston, Ontario to meet up halfway (between Montreal & Toronto) to drop off Piper my mom's Great Dane with her co-owner. He's going to be showing her in a couple of shows and hopefully getting her all the points for her Championship. Upon my request, we met up in front of Michaels on Gardiners Road. I picked up a few supplies that I needed from Michaels, and then we headed back on the road home. It was 3 hours there and another 3 hours back. That's a lot of driving in 1 day with a 10 month old! He was pretty good on the way there, and just a little bit fussy when he wasn't napping on the way home. Upon leaving, I noticed where the Wool Tyme store was (directly across the street from Michaels), but we didn't have the time to go into it today. Another time. I know where it is now.

Oh. I heart knitting accessories. I could spend hours in this aisle!

Having a 6 hour drive today, I had time to knit. I worked on my Monkeys. I didn't finish Sean's Drive-Thru as I thought I would. I just wasn't into it today. However, the Monkeys... I need to knit more to see, but I'm not sure yet if I like the way it's knitting up in a striping Regia colorway. I am not sure if a more variegated yarn would be better than self-striping. We'll see how it knits along.

On my way home from picking up my car at my parents house, I drive by my new house (getting keys tomorrow!!!) to see if my crescent was into Hallowe'en. NOPE! Every light in that circle was off! I couldn't believe it! It was getting late and Sean was asleep in my backseat, but since all the lights were off, I didn't bother going to meet my new neighbors. I am sure I'll meet them as we move in over the next few weeks. It looks like we'll be booking the movers for the week of the 12th-16th. I am going to have to pack my ass off, because I really want to be in the new place already! Anyhow, the rest of my street (not in the crescent part) had some lights on and decorations for Halloween and some trick-or-treaters in the area, so at least I know that next year, I can hand out candies. I'll dress up Sean next year, and take him to a few houses, but he'll be 22 months old, I don't think at that age he should be eating candies & chocolates yet.

I moved up my housekeeping apointment from Tuesday the 13th until this upcoming Tuesday, so we'll have the new house cleaner, sooner. I also changed Sean's flu shot apointment with his new doctor to two weeks later for the booster instead, because he got his flu shot on Monday when we got his ear infection cleared (I forgot to mention that on Monday). Sean tried the yellow of an egg today, as per direction of his doctor. He made really funny faces while eating each bite, but kept eating more?

I actually started packing tonight. I started in the Den with all the DVDs and stuff on the shelves. There is a lot of things that I'm purging and throwing out, or donating. I have a lot of stuff that collects dust, and I don't want to bring into the new house. I want to see if I can "simplify" my life with less "stuff". However, I've always liked "stuff", so we'll see how much I can actually purge. Very excited to get our keys tomorrow to the new house!

One day left to purchase your November Sock Club Kits. This is THE kit that you will regret not getting! Tomorrow night I'll be listing the December Sock Club and letting you know the details on that kit.

October 30 of 31

This morning Sean had his swim class and we actually made it! I got yelled at by one of the lifeguards for bringing my stroller near the pool area (no one told me I couldn't?) and Sean was a super trooper in the water. He hasn't been in the water since about August, so it's been a while. He was all smiles though, except when getting dunked under the water. There were 2 fathers in this class with their babies, I was quite shocked! Wasn't expecting that. Sean is able to swim a few feet on his own and grab onto the edge of the pool. He can stay on the edge of the pool for several minutes with no help. He's such a big boy. I hope he gets used to the water more and more and doesn't hate it. So far, so good.

I met up with Amy right after Sean's swim lesson. We hurried over to Véronik Avery’s office, and we each got our book signed. I do NOT feel guilty snapping this photo below, because Amy did too!

Veronik signing my copy of her book Knitting Classic Style.

Here's what she had to say! I sure will enjoy knitting from this book, first project I want to make is the Military Jacket. We stayed a while talking about tenants and renovations and suburb vs. city life. It was nice.

After we went over to Mouliné, and Amy got to meet Svetlana & Scott. Scott is always goo-goo ga-ga over Sean, so I spoke to him for a bit. He remembered Sean and couldn't believe how big he was getting. I found a copy of Cat Bordhi's Book New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One. I've been looking EVERYWHERE for a copy, and Amazon.ca nor Chapters.com have it, and I wasn't about to start ordering from amazon.com. It was just easier to not pay shipping and pick it up from Mouliné whom I knew carried Skacel products. Skacel won't let me wholesale from them as I don't have a store front. (I tried!) After Mouliné, we got lost on our way to meet Sarah at Effiloché. Unfortunately I'm not 100% familiar with Le Plateau, and I had directions from Mouliné to La Bobineuse de Laine, and not from Mouliné to Effiloché. So, we got a little lost, but found out way. Sarah, Amy & I (along with Sean of course) went to eat lunch at Nickels. I hadn't eaten there in years, but really enjoyed my burger. Sean enjoyed my french fries. After lunch we actually went into Effiloché and Amy bought some yarn, as well as myself. I know, bad bad girl. I have my own shop and I'm buying yarn (that I don't need!) at another yarn shop. Eh, I fell in love with the colors. Two different skeins of Regia Sierra Color. Photos to come soon. After Effiloché I dropped Amy off at Kate Gilbert’s house, as she had plans to hang out there.

On my way home I stopped at the post office as I had a missed package in the mail. Apparently Canada Post sent me a copy of Canadian Small Business Kit for Dummies. Uhm, okay? Thank you?

I also got in the mail today, my free skein of Vickie Howell's yarn for advertising her new podcast on my sidebar. It's pink and it's 70% bamboo/30% Silk. It's a 50g skein, called LOVE. (From SWTC - the South West Trading Company). I should be able to make a baby hat out of the 90 meter skein. I'm either hoping my next child is a girl, or someone I know will have a girl, so I can use this solo skein for a baby hat. Can't think of anything else more perfect, it's super soft! I can't wait to feel it running through my fingers as I knit! I'm wondering if it's already for sale, and where? (Michaels? Nope, Michaels only has Vanna White's Yarn)

Tonight I had tickets to the Habs game. I was supposed to go with my brother, but he nicely gave up his tickets and Jamie & I went to the game together. Sean got babysit at my in-laws tongiht, and we unfortunately lost 3-2 in a shoot-out to the Atlanta Thrashers. It was a crappy game (the Habs should have played the entire game the way they played in the 3rd period). However, I did cast on for my first pair of Monkeys (been dying to try this pattern), and I'm using one of the new balls of Regia Sierra Colors that I got today. I hope it comes out nice, the colorways is very funky. We'll see as I knit a few more rows.

In house news, the offer on my has has been 100% settled, so now we have the house inspection 10 am on Thursday, and they have 4 days after that to get the report. Also, as of noon today, they have 10 days to clear their mortgage. (Which I'm not worried about, as they're putting a very large down payment on the house). Everything is still set up for Thursday 7pm for me to get the keys to my new house! I cannot wait. I think I'm going to start on Friday with cleaning the carpets. I already have a housekeeper lined up for a thorough cleaning before we start moving in all the furniture, etc. I have to look at the calendar and pick a date to hire the movers for the furniture. It's looking like it will be the week of the 19th of November. I hope to move as many boxes and items as we can into the house before our furniture comes, (less things for the movers, more money we save!)

October 29 of 31

Today while out my sister & I found these on the shelf at the grocery store. And we giggled. A lot. Poppycock? I've never heard of this before, but I bought a bag, JUST for the packaging. Totally funny. Our grandmother, who was with us, couldn't understand what we were laughing about, because she grew up with Poppycock, and knew what it was. She just thought we were really silly. It was too funny and lots of laughs. I am still laughing. Everyone needs a good laugh at some time, and today this was it!

I don't know if you can see, but one of Sean's top teeth have cut through the gums. Thank goodness! Now we just need the other one to cut through, and we're good to go, give it 2-3 weeks tops, and they'll be out chomping away.

This afternoon I took Sean to his check-up for his ear, and the fluid that was in the ear was gone. Thank goodness, so he's clear to go to to his swim class tomorrow morning - finally! Though, he's got a rash on his tuchas (yiddish for tush, bum, tushie....!) so he's got some treatment for 10 days and I'm hoping it goes away soon. If it's not this, it's that.....! Right?

Today I arranged for my new phone number to be at my new house for after the signing on the new house. I need to switch carriers as the carrier I am with now cannot switch my city number to the suburbs. That's okay, because I'm getting a great deal with the new carrier and more features! Not only will we have caller ID, we'll have visual call waiting, so I can see who is beeping me! Also, we'll have three way calling and call forward, which I've never had before, on top of the Call Answer (answering machine service), caller ID, and call waiting which we have now. All for less than I'm paying now - GREAT! And they are waiving the new line fee. Usually when you move or start a new number you have to pay a 55$ CAD transfer or start-up fee, and it's being waved! Great! I won't complain! I need to keep my old number in our duplex until we're fully moved into the new house, as I need an alarm system (which is via the telephone) at both places for the month of November. I was disappointed not to switch our old number to the new house, but I'm happy that I'll be getting away from all those telemarketers that have our old number, including those who STILL to this day call for Jamie's ex-roomate from his old apartment. (Same phone number that Jamie brought with him from then). I hate telemarketers!

This afternoon while we were out, I got my eyebrows waxed, and boy do I always feel better after getting them waxed. I don't know what about it, it is... but it's just so great. I'm usually good for about 2 months before I need to go again. I have my "girl" that I go to, this awesome Israeli lady, and I won't go to anyone else. I will run into the city 6 times a year from the suburbs just to go to her! Gives me an excuse to meet up with my grandmother for lunch! (It's near her place).

Today we sent them the counter offer for the same amount that they countered last night, but with a closing date of December 18th. They were trying to push late December, however Notaries don't work during the Xmas period, so we had to either close before then in mid-december on the sale of our duplex, or in January after the new year. I did NOT want to carry this house past 2007, so we agreed upon December 18th (since the 15th is a Saturday). 18 for Jews is Chai - meaning good luck. The symbol to your left is Chai in hebrew. It's got a numerical value of 18. So when people give gifts of cash to weddings or bar or bat mitvahs, etc, they will usually give denominations of Chai. (18, 36, 54, 72, 90, 108, 126, 144, 162, 180, 198, 216, 234, and so on). When we bought our duplex, we signed and got the keys on May 18th, 2005. Jamie & I got married on September 18th, 2005. We'll be selling this house on December 18th, 2007, and we'll be getting our new house on November 1st, 2007, which is 11 (Month) + 07 (the year) = 18! (Thanks Amy for figuring that one out with me on MSN today!) Not that I need luck, I'm all for Chai! (Except for that really HIDIOUS necklace with the hebrew letters (above) of chai that Sean got from a distant relative for his Bris back in January.... it's sooo hidious! I don't think he'll ever wear it... but it's tucked away in his drawer. Anyhow, back to the house, we're waiting on a fixed version of the amendment for the counter offer, with all the inclusions and exclusions for my house, they wanted it in writing, since it had been changed a couple of times. People care about what you leave and don't leave in your house upon a sale of the house. We've included the upstairs (where my tenants live) washer & dryer, fridge & stove, and we're including the lower (our place). We're taking some light fixtures (replacing them with inexpensive ones from the hardware store) because they were given to me from my parents and even if we don't need them in the new house, I'd like to give them back to my parents or to my brother or sister for their place should they need them. I don't want to leave them. We're also taking the satelite dish, which is attached to the house, and apparently that is something you need to include as part of an exclusion or inclusion. Man, buying and selling homes can get a little "detailed" sometimes....! I'm also taking with my window treatments (the ones I made and the one from our bedroom, which will go into Sean's big boy room, and the teddy bear curtains from his baby room, will go into the spare bedroom for baby number 2 when he or she should decide to come along in the future). Our new house is coming with a washer/dryer, but ours is newer, so we'll be selling the ones in our new home, as they're fairly new but not as new as ours. Also - our new place is coming with a fridge, so we're leaving the fridge that is in our place now, which we actually bought off the previous owner. I don't want it. We're taking our bed freezer, which we bought off the previous owner, but we need it/want it and it's ours. We're also taking our new gas stove, as we're going to install a pipe in our new house to the kitchen to be able to use it, however, we are getting a stove in our new house (which I think my brother wants, since his stove is older). I'm leaving the dishwasher in our current place because my new house is coming with a much newer one that is already built into the counters. We don't need two dishwashers. Also - we are getting a built in microwave, so we'll take our current one for the basement for popcorn during movies! (Someone suggested that to us - what a great idea!) Anyhow, so as you can see, anything that is attached to the house, or an appliance you have to state whether you are taking it or not.

Ok, enough house talk... I need a break! The next few days are going to be NUTS around here. Tomorrow we have aqua in the morning and then Sean & I will be galavanting around the city with Amy to do some yarn shopping and Amy wants to meet Veronik Avery, so I am taking her to Veronik's office to get her book signed. (Must bring my book too! I haven't gotten it autographed yet either). Tomorrow night, I've got the Habs game with my brother - very excited - need to figure out which knitting project to bring with me to the game (a project that doesn't need counting or cable needles)... and then Wednesday I am accompaning my mother to Kingston, Ontario for a few hours to meet up half way from Toronto with her friend who is a dog breeder/trainer, etc, who will be taking Piper, one of my mom's great danes for a few weeks until Bosco is feeling better from his snip-snipping which he had done today. My mother had to fix him, as there was a problem with a dog in his litter, so she can't breed him, even though he's got a clean bill of health. Piper's currently in heat, and my mom thinks it's best if her friend (who also co-owns Piper) takes her for a few weeks until Bosco is healed and not so hyper. So, I'll be visiting Michaels on Wednesday, I made sure there was one in Kingston! I need a few things, and I'm dying to go! Sean will be coming with us also. Because there is no second dog coming for the drive, there is room for Sean & I!

I had to put Sean to sleep tonight with my tshirt that I wore yesterday. I think he needed mommy's scent. He's been very clingy lately, and after he falls asleep in my arms, he wakes up, and wants to go back into my bed with me. I can't have that. I can't let him get used to that. So I'm trying the tshirt that smells like mommy trick, and we'll see where that goes!

Tonight we ordered pizza from my fave place near us. I am surely going to miss ordering from there when we move, (there is only 1 location and they will not be delivering to my new area). I will have to make a point once and a while to go there for supper. I will miss my whole wheat green pepper pizza with low fat cheese. Mmmmmm. And their house salad rocks. Gotta order from there a few more times before we move!

I really should be packing. I've only packed one box so far. We get keys to our new house in 3 days. (Thursday). I need to steam clean the carpets, paint 2 rooms and the basement, and do a once over cleaning in the house before bringing any boxes over, so we still have a bit of time. I do however hope to be 100% settled into the new house by November 30th. That's the deadline, but now we have 2 extra weeks since the new owners of my duplex don't take possession until December 18th. So we have that little extra time should we need it. Phew!

10 Months

Sean is 10 months old today. It's starting to hit me that he is almost 1 year old. Time to start planning his 1st birthday party. I think we may be settled to have it in our new home. If not, I think we will have it in my parents house.

We had an open house today again, even though there was an offer on the table for the house. 4 different sets of people came by, one of them, in a Weaving Guild in my area asked me for some business cards when she saw my yarn inventory. My pleasure!

This evening I met up with Amy, who came in from Ottawa, to visit while her husband came in for a conference. She wanted some knitting - so we hooked her up with some knitting. I called a Knit Night at the Second Cup near my house. Amy is also in my SP11 group (she was in my SP10 group too) so we've been chatting for months now!

I *finished* Sean's Drive-Thru, HOWEVER, it won't fit over his neck... so some frogging at the top has been done, and there are live stitches on needles now... I need to sit down tomorrow and figure it out.

The people who placed an offer on our house, countered with an amount that was 5,000$ less than what we had originally wanted to settle at with a closing date of January 30th, 2008. My agent is trying to work on the other agent, to bring it to December. I am *willing* to drop the 5,000$ if I get the closing date in December..... preferably the 1st, but I'm willing to close mid-month. We'll see where it goes tomorrow, right now the ball is in our court, since they countered back. I'll let you know tomorrow if I've sold my house or not!

October 27 of 31

Today I went by the new house to take measurements for painting. I also wanted to take picture of the walls for insurance purposes should the movers bang anything moving the stuff out of the house before we move in. There is still a bed, a couch, some sofa chairs, dining room table, buffet, etc in the house, so it wasn't left completely empty.

I LOVE my new kitchen. It's double the size of my current kitchen. I have an island in the middle for cooking and baking, which I lack in this place. I really HEART my new kitchen. I can't wait to be fully moved into the house.

Please ignore my purse & diaper bag on the kitchen table which they are actually leaving us. I just wanted to show all angles of the kitchen.

I love this reflection picture of Sean in the patio doors of my new master bedroom. Reflection pictures are so much fun to do.

Tonight we were officially given the offer on the house. Right away I countered back. We gave them until Monday morning 10 am to counter back, but I am sure we will hear from them tomorrow. I countered with December 1st, but it looks like they will counter back with January 15th or January 30th, 2008. I reject January 30th, but January 15th which is a Monday is the absolute latest that I will go until. I really did not want to carry this house past December 31st, but I understand that Notaries will generally not do sales on houses at that time of the year (xmas break, what have you). I have my agent preparing 2 counter offers, for two different ideas that I have in my head. One will be firm and final, if I get the counter back that I would like. The other, is if they are just a little bit lower than the amount I want them to counter with - then I have two to play with. Either I'll be selling this house on paper by mid-week next week latest, or I'll reject their counter if it's not in the ball park that I'm expecting. My house has only been on the market for a week and a half, so it's early in the game. If I should sell my house, they have 5 days for a house inspection, and then 10 business days to get approved for a mortgage. We also have an open house tomorrow, we'll see how that goes.

I got a copy of Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts from Angela, and I'm going to go plop myself on the couch, watch some TV with Jamie, and check out what gifts I like in this magazine!

I am *this* close to be done Sean's Drive-Thru Sweater. Details tomorrow, hopefully with some F.O. pictures!

Just a reminder, there are 5 days left to purchase the November Sock Club Kit. November's kits is absolutely stunning, I do have to say so myself. You do NOT want to miss out on this kit. If there is one kit to buy this year, it's this one! The colorway is just out of this world. There are matching stitch markers to go along with it, and an awesome pattern. Thursday, November 1st is the deadline to get it. It makes a great gift, or a nice goodie for yourself!

October 26 of 31

I forgot to mention last night that the signing on our new house will take place on Thursday instead of on Hallowe'en because the daughter who has power of attorney to sell the house wants to be in Toronto for Hallowe'en because her young kids want her there, and she totally forgot about Hallowe'en. So we moved it to Thursday, which is fine by me. She'll be pre-signing at the notary's downtown office in the afternoon before jumping back on a plane to Toronto, and I'll be signing at 7 pm at the office near my new house. The notary actually lives across the street from my parents and knows my parents really well. The last notary we used when I bought the house I'm currently in, is a total putz, and I refuse to go back to him. Ironically the old notary, lives and works in the same place (since he's in a wheel chair) and it's the building that my grandmother lived in after she married my late grandfather many moons ago. Less than a week and I get my new house! I am very excited. Paint colors have been picked out for the rooms that will be painted and we're ready to rock-and-roll.


I also forgot to mention that when I went upstairs last night to show the Hasidic family the apartment upstairs when they returned last night, I was shocked to what I saw! You'll never guess! My girl tenant (1 girl tenant, 3 boy tenants), was KNITTING! Yes, you heard me correctly. She was knitting! She's working on a hat on some circulars. I was pretty impressed. She said she just picked it up from her mom who picked it up because she was leaving to go away to University and needed something to do to cope! CUTE! She showed me this book that she got and which projects from it she wanted to make. I gave her also the link to my shop, and told her about our knit nights. (Is that too weird?) Soon, I won't be her landlord anymore, so maybe it's not too weird??


Speaking of which....... I got a call today that the Hasidic Jewish family that came by yesterday for two 45 minute intervals will be placing an offer on the house. They unfortunately CANNOT make it do give the offer before Shabbat tonight, so the agent (who was the agent who originally sold this house to me) will be dropping it off with my agent tomorrow night. At first they asked about July 1st occupancy (which gave me the clue that they're renting a place and their lease is until June 30th/July 1st). However, I don't want to carry this house longer than December 31st 2007/January 1st 2008. I was hoping for December 1st, but if I have to do one more month, I'll accept that. However my agent was able to get a feel for what the number is, and got a verbal offer delivered. It's a lot lower than I was expecting, but they are expecting a counter offer. The counter offer will be given tomorrow night after we get in writting their initial offer. Also, they want occupancy for April 30th, 2008, which is out of the question. I'll be counter offering my amount with December 1st, 2007. I refuse to carry this house longer than December 31st, but I will try first for December 1st, unless we got top dollar for this house, and I can use that for the mortgage payments, and all the other bills to keep this place going (heating bills, phone line for the alarm system, etc) but even still I don't want to be responsible for this house past 2007.


Today we went out for lunch with some friends, and Sean was sporting his Red Sox outfit, which was given to him by his "Auntie" Sherrie. Jamie says he allows Sean to wear it because the Sox are in the playoffs, but if the Yankees had made if further, Sean would not be wearing it.

I got my mannequin leg in the mail last night. Help me name her. She definitely needs a name. I will give a prize to the person who helps me come up with a good name for her!

This picture is for Tara. It's the mannequin leg modelling Jamie's Cabled Socks. Yep, it's sock number 1. Sock number two is still in progress. (I better finish it soon)

Progress on Sean's Drive-Thru Sweater. I am LOVING it!!! Coming out so great. Makes me want to knit another one after this! (REALLY!) I am soooo happy with the color choice I went with. It's looking great.

Since Bertha is making the same size sweater (when she casts on) for her daughter June, she will be doing it in the Berry colorway, I am sending her yarn for the yoke. I actually have a skein of berry for a probably one day daughter sweater, providing I one day get that daughter I want! I need a little more, which Bertha will be mailing me (thanks again!) and I'm sending her in return 6 colors for her to choose from for the yoke on her sweater. I told her it's rediculous for her to go out any buy a full skein for the yoke, when I had so much leftover from Sean's sweater, and extras I had in my stash, which I had no use for. Does anyone happen to have any Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Blue Violet, Charcoal, or Taupe in their stash, that they can part with some? If so, email me, I'll let you know how much I need and we'll figure out a swap/trade. There are no Michaels near me where I can get some. The nearest Michaels is in Ontario in Ottawa or in Plasstburgh, New York.

Anyhow, I'm beat and I have to be well rested for a lot of counter offering tomorrow. It may go back and forth tomorrow night and we may have a sale, or it may take a few days, depending on how fast they want to settle, and if they want to meet our price. Also - it seems like they want to settle before the open house on Sunday, so we'll see how it goes....! Wish me luck to get the price and occupancy date that I want!

43 Weeks

Sean is 43 Weeks today. Sunday he turns 10 months old. I can't believe he's nearing 1 years old. I really still feel like I just gave birth to him last week. I really have no idea where time goes, and I guess I can keep wondering that for the rest of my life. Sean has to touch everything that I have. For example the camera strap in the above photo. He has to taste everything. He's very curious. Too curious for his own good sometimes.

I have a new found love for my Canon Rebel Xt. I just love it. I've been using it more and more often lately. Though, sometimes I'm lazy and just use my pocket cameras. I really need to start using my XT more. Because I just love it.

Today a Hasidic family came to see our home. The husband and wife came with the real estate agent at about 3:45pm. Sean was just getting up from his nap. (Phew - good timing). It was actually the real estate agent that was selling this house when I bought it with my agent. They were about 45 minutes here. Anyhow, they decided to come back again this evening while Angela was over with a bunch of their kids and another lady, this time without the agent, which was cleared with my agent to be okay because we know the agent and I'd already met this potential clients. They were here another 45 minutes. The seemed REALLY interested in the house, and kept asking about the open house, whether it has just passed or was happening this weekend, and I told them there was one last weekend and another this weekend. I think he was asking to see when he should make an offer by. My only concern is that his agent was talking to my agent about occupancy for July. I don't think so! I'm looking to get someone asap (Like Decemeber 1st. I'm willing to carry both houses until December 31st latest). I really dont want to have to pay bills at both places for longer than that.... July? Is he kidding? The family is from New Jersey, and it seems that they are probably renting here, because the kids go to school here. I hope that they can get out of their lease, because I don't want to carry this house too long. Anyhow, I'm not going to get ahead of myself, but I'm really hoping for an offer to come in soon! We'll see what happens. If they wanted to put an offer before the open house Sunday (Which we'll still have even if there is an offer, no point in wasting time), then it will have to be done by tomorrow evening, because of Shabbat. So let's see what happens.

I really hope that no one comes by tomorrow because I really just want to relax for one day! That would be nice. Today was just such a hectic day...

Tonight, as I said, Angela came over. I have been working on Sean's Drive-Thru sweater and it's coming along great. I will post a progress photo tomorrow, or maybe it'll be an FO! I'm in the middle of the yoke, and I want to finish the yoke before taking a picture. Hopefully on my lazy day tomorrow I can work on finishing it! I'm so happy with the way it's coming along. I even know how many feet it takes of yarn (My yarn meter measures in feet), for each color of the yoke. More details about that tomorrow.

ps- Looks like Sean's rash on his face fadded almost completely. I think it was just a heat rash. The other night he had woken at 4:30 am and I took him into our bed to fall back asleep and between our bodies (heat), he woke up with a rash.... I guess I won't be doing that again!

October 24 of 31

Sean woke up with a rash on his face this morning. Not sure if it's because his top teeth are just about poking out, or what, but I am not liking it. He had a bit of a rash on the rest of his body last week when we went to the doctor about his ear infection, and that has since mostly cleared up but the face rash is new. Poor kid.

Today I got mail from Laura, who send me some more black yarn for Sean's blankie. Between this blankie for Sean and the blankie for a future child, I have enough black yarn for the squares. Thank you very much Laura!

I lost 8 emails tonight, 4 of which are from an order through Robyn's Nest (I get an email from my server telling me that there is a quantity decrease, etc.. and then the order invoice, etc...) What happened was Outlook downloaded 8 emails, somehow my computer rebooted itself, and then when I went back into Outlook, the 8 emails were gone. Grr! Computers! I am now aware of what another one of those 8 emails was, so just 3 that are now myseterious. If you tried emailing my Robyn's Nest email last night, you may need to re-send it. My apologies.

Anyone see that Boston Red Sox game tonight? HOLY MOLY! Bottom of the 5th the score is 13-1 which was the final score! Crazy potatos. Jamie's a Yankee's fan, but Sean now is a Sox fan! Shhh!

So it looks like we are closing on the new house at 7pm on October 31st! I can't wait. Now I just need to sell my duplex!


I worked on Sean's 2nd sleeve tonight, and have finished it. So now there are 2 sleeves done, and I just need to work in the round on them with the body and we should have a finished project very soon! I love this project - so easy and fast it's great!!

October 23 of 31

*(Rockin' Sock Club October Kit Spoilers below - read at your own risk!)*

While out this morning doing some errands before my mom dropped Sean back off at our place (he slept there last night since we had the hockey tickets, it was easier for my mom to babysit Sean at her place then come over to my place), and found this really neat basketball for Sean. It's small enough for him to hold and big enough for him to not be easily distracted by other things.


Upon getting Sean back, I saw that his top tooth (one of them) is about to poke through the gums. Maybe tomorrow? You can see the jagged edges under the skin! My baby will soon have his front 4 teeth - yey! All the crankiness and diarhea is now explained! I was sure a few days ago though, when I saw the pockets in his mouth.

Today I received my Rockin' Sock Club yarn from BMFA's today in the mail. They mailed out Canada before the rest of the International this time (I think), because usually England and even Australia would receive it first before Canada. (And Canada is WAY closer to the USA than the other two...!) I AM IN LOVE!

This is the first kit that I totally 100% love. The others are great, and some grew on me - but I just absolutely LOVE this one. And I love the little spiders (actually big spiders) they sent with it. The pattern is alright, I doubt I'll knit this skein in the pattern it came with.


Today I picked up my order of Claudia Handpainted for the shop. It is absolutely breath taking. I'm in love. With every single skein. Please buy some before I want to keep it all myself! The colors are vibrant, rich and just absolutely stunning.

There are three skeins of Regia Cotton Surf color at 60% off in my shop (no taxes on them as they are a deStash sale!) If you are interested, better snatch them up before anyone else does! Sale on all Yarn Art yarns in stock. 70% off! Check it out! Great for baby projects and other. Only 1.50$ per skein!! (If you want all 15 skeins of one color, let me know, I'll do all 15 for 20$ instead of 22.50$)

Houston we have a sleeve. One sleeve done for the Drive-Thru sweater for Sean, one more to go. The sleeve was a fast knit. I'm hoping to have the 2nd one done tonight (maybe) and then start on the yoke tomorrow. For the yoke, I'll be using my yarn meter to figure out how many meters you need for the yoke. I'm curious. Maybe someone else is. And I am sending some Cotton-Ease for yoke to someone for their Drive-Thru. Maybe soon I'll have a finished object, and then I'll have to cast on a second one in some girlie colors to put away for the future.... this project is soooo addictive!

October 22 of 31

Today we had the house inspection done at the new place. As soon as we hear that the chimney piece is fixed, we'll lift the condition on the offer on the house, and then arrange for the deed of sale for me to get possession of the house. The only major issue was the chimney, and the real estate agent who is selling the house for the family, said he will take care of it immediately.

Here is the gorgeous FALL scenery from my new balcony off my new master bedroom. GORGEOUS, ain't it? I can't wait. The leaves changing colors is just simply gorgeous!

Ignore the HOT pink and lighter pink. I have NO IDEA what the old owner was thinking, but my new basement is pinks. That will change as soon as we get possession of the house. Paint colors have already been chosen. You see the room behind the pink walls? That will be Robyn's Nest storage for yarn in stock on one side of the room and the other side of the room will be my stash room! I need to add a door to the room to keep Sean & the cats out, but this will be my room. I also think there is enough room to put my sewing table. It should fit beautifully in the corner of my "Stash" room. (The panels on the back wall are the boxes for the electricity. That's where I'd go if a fuse was blown to re-set it. The ceiling needs some jip rock and plastering.

This is the left hand side of my new "Stash" room. I think I plan on keeping the lower part of the shelving, but witht the top half I hope to do something like this (below):

I saw this "set-up" online somewhere, and want to use a set-up like this. I have a lot of ideas for my new storage space, and I'm looking forward to getting handy with some tools!

This is Sean's adorable face before I left him today. He is sleeping at my parents house tonight, as we had the habs game tonight. I totally forgot that Sean has his 3rd aqua class tomorrow (We missed the first one because I forgot and we missed the 2nd one because we went to the doctor, and we'll be missing the 3rd class tomorrow because he's still on antibiotics). And now that we're moving - I don't even know if it's worth it anymore. I'm going to call tomorrow and see if I can get some sort of refund... Ugh.... this sucks. But I don't really think I should take him in the water tomorrow just in case his ear infection isn't totally gone. I don't want it to get worse.

Tonight Jamie & I went to the Habs games. We kicked the Bruins butts 6-1. It was a FANTASTIC game. And I got a lot of knitting done on Sean's Drive-Thru sweater. It's easy to knit stockinette at hockey games. Anything tricky is too hard to do in the seats there. Anyhow, silly me forgot any of my cameras at home tonight, so there was no photography tonight at the game.

I did however want to show you progress (6 of 8 inches done on the size 2 Drive-Thru before you start the sleeves & yoke) and my lovely Habs jersey (mirror reflection so it's backwards).

I think Zeus is ready to move to the new house - what do you think? This is the first box that will get packed with some DVDs.... I think that's the easiest thing to start packing.

There is a super cute photo of me, as well as some super cute photos of Sean on Not An Artist's blog today. Go check it out.

Tomorrow is the agents Caravan at my house. It's when my agents (Century 21) invite ALL the agents from other companies that are interested in seeing my place to come. From this website it says: "Hold Agents Caravan - Agents sell what they know. In order to get other agents interested in your house an Agents Caravan, for agents only, is held during the week usually at lunchtime. I will invite all metro agents to attend and provide food and drinks. This will give your home a higher profile with those agents who attend." Uhm, I'm supposed to have food & drinks here? SHIT... maybe I should bake cookies in the morning??

ps- A week left to purchase your November Sock Club kits! You get yarn dyed by Pixie Riot, a pattern by designer Erin Vaughn and some gorgeous matching stitch markers made by Robyn's Nest (me!). Need a gift for your Secret Pal? The colors are just stunning...!

October 21 of 31

Today is my 2 year blogaversary. This blog started out as a way for me to document my journeys, but then turned into a knit blog and a baby blog since giving birth to Sean. Many thanks to everyone who reads my blog and keeps me going by commenting and sharing advice, opinions and words of wisdom with me. Here's to the year to come! And many many more!

The winner of my Blogaversary Contest - the person who was the 2121st commenter was.....

KRISTO!! (Kristy!)

And the 2121st comment was this one in particular! CONGRATS!

I'm a very very very bad girl. I cast on another project:

Sean's Drive-Thru Sweater. The smallest size you can make is size 2 (2 years old), so I'll make it - and he'll wear it when he fits into it, whenever that will be. You see, I got really bored with the Cabled Pullover. Well bored is not the right word. I needed a change of scenery. I'll get back to it, eventually. Hopefully before he outgrows 18 month size! I'm using Lion Brand Cotton Ease for Sean's sweater since I picked up some gorgeous colors while in Michaels when I went to Webs with my mother and grandmother to see the Yarn Harlot back in May. Wendy Bernard gives you a list of brands of yarns that you can use for this project. (Possible Yarn Substitutions: Marlabrigo, Elann Peruvian Highland Wool, Cascade 220, Lion Brand Cotton Ease or Wool Ease, Misti Alpaca Worsted, Karabella Aurora 8, Plymouth Encore; worsted cotton would also work.) So since I had the colors in my stash for the project in Lion Brand that I wanted to use (I could have used Cascade 220 Superwash), but didn't have any colors that I wanted to use for Sean in stock. I fell in love with the colors that Julia Frick used for Biscuit's sweater. I'm doing Sean's in the same family of colors because it looks soooo darn good. And ironically back in May I picked out similar colors.

I've decided that I will be frogging Sean's Tank Top. It's also with Lion Brand Cotton Ease and I DO NOT like working with it on US2 (2.75mm) and US3 (3.25mm) size needles. It is just absolutely horrible. Sean's Drive-Thru is knit on US 7 ad US 8 needles. That's more like it. Doesn't kill your hands.

I did a swap with the blogless Josee from Winnipeg. I'm sending her a ball of Regia Galaxy from my shop for some black yarn and some leftover sock yarn for the two blankies (Sean's and the girl one I hope to do when I have a girl one day). I am now after receiving the package Laura sent me) fully equipped with solid black yarn for the two blankies. Thanks ladies!

Josee sent a wonderful assortment of leftover sock yarn. Thanks again Josee. She also sent me some handmade stitch markers and earrings that she made! I forgot to photograph them though.

The open house today went great I think. There were about 8 different sets of people, and some of them really seemed interested. Now I just sit and wait for feedback/an offer. I don't know how long it will take, but I really hope to not sit with 2 properties for too ong. Since the open house ended (I stayed home and worked in my office while my parents took Sean to visit each set of his great-grandparents, and Jamie went bowling with some friends), one person stopped in front of my house and jotted down the real estate agent's number and my address, and someone else from another agent called and booked a possible appointment for 6pm tomorrow night, which is fine as long as it's 6 pm prompt, because Jamie and I have Habs tickets for tomorrow night for a 7:30pm game, and Sean's sleeping at my parents house, so we get another night to ourselves, which will be nice, even though we'll miss the little guy. So back to the open house/prospects: I think we'll be okay. I've just got bad anxiety now until we sell this house. I get bad anxiety when things stress me out. It's not good, but it's really hard to relax when I'm in this state.

There is just over a week left to buy a November Sock Club Kit. Just a reminder that the colors are absolutely STUNNING for November. I have a skein here in my office, and I'm in love. If you're only going to splurge one more time this year, this is the kit to get.

Tonight I leave you with a creation. I got this shadow box in a gift exchange at Xmas 2 years ago. I finally found something to use it for. It's my sock yarn butterflies! I plan to put it in my new office when we move:

October 20 of 31

I'm so jealous of all those who went to Rhinebeck. Please share photos and stories. And please tell me you touched yarn for me!

This morning I got up early and went to do some errands. Stopped by the post office and mailed off a bunch of parcels that had to go out. Phew! Had to get those out of my house and into the mail. Then I stopped by Walmart and did a return. I also picked up a few things that I needed, including Multi Grain Cheerios for Sean. He likes those. Then I went to Futureshop to do an exchange and pick up Wii Play. I have Wii sports, but also wanted Wii Play (Skiball and Ping Pong, etc!) Then, I went to Reno Depot (the hardware store) and picked up door knobs and light fixtures for our duplex. The current door handles and the light fixtures belong to my parents originally and I want to take them with me when we move. So Jamie spent this afternoon replacing those (better to do it before the open house tomorrow) and I went with my dad upstairs to fix their leaking tub, which took them a week to tell me that is was leaking. (I thought I'd heard something, but wasn't sure). Well, that's fixed now. Also - upon going up today, I found out they broke the top of the toilet. You know the part you remove where the water stays inside before getting flushed? The resevoir tank I think it's called? Well, they broke the lid. A ceramic lid. How the fuck did they do that? And why is it going to take them a week to get a new one? Are they importing one from China??? I have a house to show tomorrow and they have a broken toilet. FRIGG. I recommend, NEVER RENT OUT TO UNIVERSITY STUDENTS! Thank goodness I will never ever ever ever have to be a landlord again. I don't like being a landlord. Too many headaches for nothing. Really!

Like father like son. When Jamie needs a haircut and doesn't gel his hair, he looks like Kramer from Seinfeld. Sean, out of a bath, looks like his daddy.....!

This evening I half watched the Habs game, (we kicked Buffalo's butt 4-2 Woohoo!) and did a lot of work in my office. I can actually see my desk right now (but the floor, yeah, that's a whole other story). I have more cleaning up to do in my office before tomorrow's open house.

I have been doing a lot of purging. I was hanging on to a magazine subscription to a magazine that no longer exists (only ran for about 2 years, but I had every issue). Why was I keeping it? No idea. I put it out into the recycling box. I have been slowly organizing my things, and finding some yarn to DeStash. I'm sure you all want to see what I'm DeStashing, more info coming soon. I've got some of the yarn online in my shop in my DeStash section. Some of it sold already! There is still some Knit Picks bare left, someone please snatch it up! I really want it to go to a good home, as I do not have the time to dye... though, I wish I did!

Anyhow, I'm going to go back to preparing for the open house tomorrow, MUST SELL THIS DUPLEX! I didn't knit a stitch today, so no progress report yet. I hope to have some knitting time next week. That's the plan.

October 19 of 31

The Regia Galaxy Collection is on sale 21% off in my shop for a limited time only. Colinette Jitterbug is also on sale in my shop at 20% off. I'm probably going to keep this going on until after I move. You never know what other surprises I'm going to throw at you! Like for example, I've just put Cookie A's patterns on sale! As well as the Hallowe'en Skull Themed Stitch Markers at 25% off! Yep stay tuned for some great deals! Don't forget to sign up for Robyn's Nest November Sock Club, the yarn is handpainted by Pixie Riot - and it's absolutely STUNNING! She's the one who painted my Robyn's Nest Signature Colorway (Which by the way, is also currently on sale!) Also there is a skein of Cascade Ecological Wool on sale too. One skein is plenty for a project, as there is 478 yards in one skein. Would make a great scarf or hand bag. And there is some Online Linie 117 City in the shop, 50% off. What a great deal!

The other day at knit night, Alison had a present for me. Sean Sheep yarn. Sean has his own line of yarn! This is a lovely color that I think I will make something for Sean with. Maybe a hat? Thank you very much Alison for thinking of Sean!

The good thing about moving is the purging and the de-cluttering and the de-stashing as well. I definitely have things to de-stash, and I will be getting that online shortly, just thinking about the best way to do it. I do have some yarn already up on the DeStash Section of my site. Anything is DeStash has NO taxes. In the DeStash section, so far, I'm destashing Knitpicks Bare Sock yarn and all my unused dyes. It was a project I was going to venture into, but realized I do not have the time. I hope it goes to a home where it will get used!

Tomorrow we have a lot of work to do around the house for our open house on Sunday. Gotta make sure the house is as clean as I can possibly get it. Today I went back to the new house to show it to my mother and sister. I go back there on Monday for my House Inspection, and then as soon as I get the report and lift the condition of the house inspection, we schedule the date for the deed of sale, and then I get my keys! Oh, I'm very excited! There will be painting to do and some minor repairs as well as some carpets to clean before I start moving in our things.