My baby boy turns 3 tomorrow!

And really, I don't feel a bit sad. Well, that is untrue. He has called me Mom-O ever since he grew out of that baby 'mama' stage....but recently he started just calling me 'Mom' and that sorta makes me sad. Chris takes up for my feelings and corrects Thade, telling him that he is supposed to call my Mom-O. I am not the only person who has gotten a name change though. He changed 'Mamaw' to just plain 'Grandma'. We don't know why. All the other grandkids call Chris' mom, "Mamaw." He also has started calling Stephanie, 'Stephie' half of the time. The other half she is just Sissy. Oh, and sometimes when he is being short with her he will call her 'Tru' in a long and exasperated way like, "Trrrrruuuuuuuuu!" LOL!
I asked him this morning what Sissy was gonna be when she grew up and he said ballerina. Ain't that cute? Then I asked him what he is gonna be when he grows up and he said he was gonna be a cooker. Hahahaha! Yes, I corrected him and said, "Do you mean a chef?" He said, "Yeah." But it was in the 'DUH!' tone of voice. I then asked him if he was gonna have a five star restaurant? He was like, "YEAH! And cook for people!" It amazes me the things he knows about. He told me last night, while we were watching the American Idol try-outs, who sang bad and who sang good. He was only wrong on one person. So, how does my big boy know these things? He astounds me. And I am very proud of him....all the time! Have I told ya'll that he is teaching HIMSELF to read and write?! HIMSELF! Then he turns around and can't sing 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' or the alphabet without help. I don't understand how he can't remember songs but he is so smart in other areas. Just the way his brain is working I guess.

So, you are thinking to yourself, 'Is she just gonna go on and on about her brat that is fixing to turn 3....or is she gonna post something loom related?' Number one, I could go on and on about my nearly 3yo brat, but that is why I have another blog that is MUCH more protected and that is where I discuss the very personal things about my life. :D Number two, YES I am gonna post something loom related.
Pictures of the hats whose patterns will be posted on Friday. :P
Here are both of the Ruffled Hat patterns that you get as a 2 for 1 deal ($4.50).

A close up of one of the one with the shorter brim.

A close up of the one with the longer brim.


And here are pics of the free pattern. Strawberry Sundae Delight. It started out as a dud, but turned into a pretty cute hat!


Ya'll come back now, ya here?!

Hmm, no pictures?

No, there are no pictures in this post. I am working on the pattern for a ruffled edge hat...that has spawned more ruffled edged hats. So it is going to be a package where you get more than one hat pattern with the purchase. And I didn't want to post pics and give it away. I was hoping to have the pattern up for sale yesterday, but we were super busy and barely even home on Thursday and yesterday. I have only had time to loom up the hats, but no time to do the patterns. Since Fridays are the days I have chosen to post my patterns, you will just have to wait for next Friday! :D

On Thursday we got our taxes done. Well, it is really Chris' taxes but I get to spend some money too! And yesterday we got a check for most of the money (that is something offered by the accountants we use).
I told Chris that I wanted to order an EFG oval sock loom from DA Looms along with the Kiss Loom Combo 2 Modular Unit that he promised me. He said OK, and I am using some of the money I have made over the past couple weeks to purchase the cables booklet that Isela had released in December. So, when I was on the DA Loom site trying to narrow down what loom I needed I decided the EFG oval sock loom looked like a good candidate that wouldn't use up too much money. But then I saw the Wonderloom in the small gauge and I want that too! Ever since I saw it I have been coming up with more and more ideas for patterns and I don't even have the darn thing! So, I added that to my wish list hoping that he will tell me to go ahead and order it as an early b-day present b/c we never have money when it is my b-day. Keep your fingers crossed, Ya'll! I want it, and I want it NOW!
Sir Thade is excited to tell ya'll that, according to the pediatrician office, he is 41" tall, weighs 36 pounds, and his b-day is this upcoming Thursday. He will be three and he tells me everyday that his birthday is soon. :D We are getting him a $150 kitchen set from Toys'R'Us b/c he loves to pretend to cook. And he also wanted the table and chairs that comes matches it. So, the kitchen will be a belated Christmas gift (Chris and I couldn't afford to get the kids anything for Christmas, but don't fret....God and family and friends gave the kids a wonderful Christmas!) And the table and chairs will be considered Thade's b-day present. :D He is gonna love it. And we bought his booster seat yesterday. He is so excited about that!
As for Lady Tru, she is 32" and 21.5 pounds (at 15 months old) and she got a porcelain baby Princess Aurora doll that she thinks is a regular baby doll and can't figure out why Mom-O won't let her take it out of the box. Princess Aurora is her favorite princess and we have a bunch of the dolls around. She loves baby dolls!
Ok, that is enough rambling and filling up space. :P

LATE BREAKING NEWS: I have just went loom shopping crazy (hubby told me to do it, so don't freak!) and purchased the DA Looms EFG sock loom, Wonderloom, a wooden handled pick tool, and Kathy Norris' 'More Knitting Wheel Fashions'.....the cables booklet was out of stock. :( Then I went over to Kiss Looms and ordered the Combo 2! OMG, I am so excited to get these looms in. I want to hold them and love them and squeeze them....then yell 'OUCH' b/c I am sure that those pegs and pins aren't too comfy to squeeze. LOL! I can't wait!!!! Yippee!!!!!!!

Maybe toilet seat covers aren't such a great idea....

The more I think about it....the more I think that the toilet seat cover isn't such a wonderful idea. It would get awfully filthy and you would have to wash it constantly. A comment left on my last post suggested a wooden seat b/c those don't get cold! Good idea and a lot easier to keep sanitary. LOL!

As for my Plushy House Socks (umm, SOCK)....well, the first one is finished! I don't know if it was the yarn I used or what but when I got the toe all seamed up the sock seemed boxy looking. I put it on and it fit perfectly on my foot, but not around my ankle. Every slipper I have made on the blue KK doesn't fit around my ankle so I am assuming that my ankles are just too small for the loom. :D Easy fix will be to take some elastic thread and weave it in and out of the cuff of the sock. No big deal! So, you wanna see the sock? HERE IT IS!!!!!

And I wore this lone sock on my foot for about 2 hours before we went to bed last night. Chris thought it was funny. But I think he sorta understood. After all, he wears the slippers I made him for Christmas every day. He gets home from work and takes off his shoes and puts the slippers on. :D I would have never imagined that he would wear them so much. I am so proud. LOL!

Well, I am off to work up some patterns today....after I get the always dreaded dishes out of the way (and I guess it is close enough to lunch time to get the kids fed and Lady Tru off for her nap! That is always good b/c I can handle one kid bugging me while I am looming, but with her....UGH! :D)

Oh, I almost forgot to mention.........I SOLD MY FIRST PATTERN LAST NIGHT!!!!!!! Uh-huh, oh yeah, go me, it's my birthday!

It was MY afghan!!!

Let's start off this post talking about a needle knit afghan that I had made myself with Red Heart Light and Lofty and size US 19 needles. I made it back in the beginning of October and though I had cast on 60 stitches, ended up with 70 stitches only a few rows in to it, then had to get back down to 60 stitches, and the final product ended up with 55 stitches I just loved my very first afghan. It might have been too short for my tall frame, but it was great for watching tv. Not so great for when I was looming b/c the afghan kept catching on my looms. But, I felt special even though I made it for me.
Well, it is no longer MY afghan. Garfield (a.k.a. Fat Cat) has claimed it and has slept on it nearly all day, every day for the past week! He gives you this look of annoyance if you come anywhere near him on the blanket. I have now moved it to the back of the couch where he liked to camp out the most and guess where he is at this very moment. I was gonna make the cats and my dog some sort of 'pet tent'/'pet sack' but I guess he thought I was taking too long. If I didn't feel bad for taking so long to make his own, I would snatch it back......but he can have it, now. Covered in cat fur anyways! Nyah!
And for good measure, here is the baby (8 months old), Yang. Notice the look of annoyance on his face as if he is pissed that I haven't made him a blanket yet and Fat Cat won't share the one he claimed. LOL!

And here is a pic of one of my other towel toppers from the class. I decided that you didn't need to see both b/c they look identical....and my camera battery was about to die. I need a new digital camera....the batteries can charge all day and you only get a few uses out of them. But the problem is not the batteries themselves b/c you can put brand new batteries in the camera and you are lucky to snap three pics REAL quick. That is if the camera even turns on. :( I used to take so many pics. Like 20 a day or so. But the camera started messing up on the day of my daughter's first b-day party. So, my mom ended up taking most the pics with HER camera and my camera was so much better.

Enough talk on digital cameras. Hopefully I will get a new one in the next month or so. :D
Let's talk about one of my latest pattern designing ideas. Drum roll, please..........................A TOILET SEAT COVER! Not a lid cover, but for the toilet seat so that my poor bum doesn't fight me b/c it doesn't want to sit on the frigid toilet seat. You guys would bust a gut laughing at me if you saw my face when I have to sit down on the seat! ROFL! Really. It may not get so very cold here in Mississippi as it does in the northern states, but I can tell you that when you only have small electric heaters in the kids' rooms, 2 in the great room, and one small one upstairs in your room, the rest of the house is frigid. Somedays, the old thermostat in the hallway doesn't even register numbers (the lowest of which is 50) so going in the bathroom and sitting on that seat is murder. I usually hold it, if I can....but everyone says that isn't good for your bladder or urinary tract. :( Sir Thade and Chris are so lucky that they can stand up to pee!
So, requirements for the toilet seat cover (or multiple ones depending on how quickly it becomes filthy) will be: easily washable, durable yarn, easily removed and put on. I can see a whole coordinating set coming from this. The seat cover, lid cover, tank lid cover, and a floor rug (to be used later when Sir Thade's aim gets better!) Might even do the toilet lid cover in a fun fur with some eyes and stuff on it. That sounds funny! But....the kids might get scared about a Potty Monster so maybe not a good idea. Hmmm, a tongue coming off of the bottom of the lid cover. Yeah, maybe I could get away with it. After all....I won't put teeth on it! But then again, I wanted to do that bathroom in a dolphin and whales/underwater theme and furry Potty Monsters really don't fall in that category. Upstairs bathroom is frogs so maybe a froggy face and long tongue will work up there!

I had a mild heart attack when I sat down to start on my Ravelry Loom A Long Plushy House Socks. I picked up the skein of yarn (Baby Bee Lambie Pie by Yarn Bee) I chose to do it with since my Hobby Lobby did not carry the brand used in the pattern. I though the yarn was a thick kind that would be perfect for some house socks, but when I pulled a strand out it looked more like thread with a bunch of soft fuzz coming off of it. I was sure that even using two strands there would be holes everywhere. But I decided that 'you don't know until you try' and I started my socks. I can see absolutely NO holes in it and they are so soft. I can't wait to get it off the loom. It was my first attempt at short rowing also and I did it perfectly fine with no issues (accept for having to put it down b/c Lady Tru wanted to be held and she likes to try to loom with me and I didn't want her to mess up my short rowing, so I marked where I was in the pattern and set it aside). I still have a long ways to go with the foot part of the sock b/c I wear a 10 to 10 1/2 size shoe. Now I am nervous about the Kitchener stitch for the toe. Isela says there is a tutorial on her site...so I need to go check that out and watch it a few times before I actually need it. But other than that, these should turn out pretty cool. That is, after I buy another skein of the yarn b/c I didn't buy enough in the first place.

Another Loom Class project!

I finished my Loom Class 'reversible dishtowel toppers' taught by Christine Clauto. Well, two of them. I still have another two to go. I will be using red yarn for the other two. :D These were so easy and useful! I had been wondering if there was a way to put a loom knitted topper on towels b/c I get furious when Chris or Sir Thade move my towels from the drawer handle by the sink! Thankfully, Lady Tru hadn't figured out she can pull them off the handle yet. Chris is afraid to wipe his hands on my new towels. LOL! He said, "I don't wanna wipe my hands on your new towels b/c I am afraid you will fuss at me for getting them dirty." I laughed and said that they were meant for function and not aesthetic purposes. Of course, those words were too big and I had to scale it back to about kindergarten level speak. LMBO! My hubby is not quite the brightest crayon in the box and I tend to forget that. :D

I also finished the second initial scarf and Chris ran off with it this morning before I got to take a pic of it. I should have taken a pic yesterday, but oh well. At least that is finished!
Now to finish my other two towel toppers and move on to my plush house socks that the Ravelry Loom A Long is doing! I couldn't find the right yarn at Hobby Lobby for the project so went up and down the two aisles of yarn searching for a close enough texture and weight. I ran across Yarn Bee Baby brand called Lamby Pie that is soft and plushy only to get home and look at the pattern again and realize that I need about 90 more yards of it. So I guess after the dishtowel toppers I will work on ONE sock and use a 40% off coupon to get another skein so that I can make my other sock. I am sure I will be sad and walk around in just one sock until I get the other skein though. They look so warm and cushy on the pattern! :D
Well, I think that is all I have for today! Talk to ya'll later!

Butterflies have gone.

And I thank all of you that reassured me NOT to be nervous. The wonderful comments that were sent my way made the process a LOT easier and by the end of the day I was giddy to call myself an official 'DESIGNER' as Kathy Norris told me to say that I was. :D YEAH, Kathy Norris was the very first person to e-mail me and congratulate me, give me a pat on the back, and tell me that she is still nervous putting patterns up for sale and for GOODNESS SAKES she just had a book come out for sale! I was like star-struck. LOL! Then the next two people were Karen and Bethany and I look up to these two like they are the wiser, more experienced big sisters and it just made my day that everyone was so supportive. I had about 10 messages in all, congratulating me and telling me that I had done a great job. :D As of 3pm yesterday afternoon I had 45 downloads of the Woven Ribbon Hat. Chris, my hubby, was just like, "WOW!" I am happy that you guys like it.
My plans for the future are hopefully to put up a new pattern every few weeks. And I want to keep just as many patterns for free as I have for sale. That is my plan, at least. And maybe someday, in my wildest dreams, you guys will see me writing up my own book of patterns and being well known in the looming community like Isela Phelps, Denise Layman, Anne Bipes, and Kathy Norris! That would be awesome to be able to add my name to the list! But I am not the only crafty 'designer' out there. There are others all over such as Bethany and Karen that should get their names on the list before me. Other designers are all over out there! :D

Oh, and you guys need to run over to Dawn's site and check out her cupcake hat! It was her first project ever and she finished the soaker last night so hopefully she will have HER pics of the soaker up soon.
And Penny made a post about all her charity hats that she has made. Ya'll give her some encouragement to move beyond hats and to flat panel knitting! :D

Totally and completely nervous

I just posted my very first free pattern and my very first 'for sale' pattern. I am absolutely, completely a nervous wreck since these are the very first patterns I have posted. I have more to come in the future, so let's hope that I did everything right and that I did a good job typing them up.
Whew, butterflies PLEASE go away!
The patterns can both be found here: Rockin' the Loom Patterns

What is on my looms:
Right now, on my red KK I have a waist band for longies (or shorties) b/c down here in the Mississippi summer heat I let the kids run around naked (meaning in underwear or diapers) but Lady Tru likes to pull at the tabs of her diapers if it is exposed and next thing you know...the child is actually naked and lovin' it! LOL! If she has anything covering the diaper she forgets about the tabs (until she gets smarter, I am sure) so I wanted to knit up something to cover it up in the hot summer months. :D (For those interested, pattern will be available...eventually. :P)
On my pink long KK I have another initial scarf. Same pattern as the first one except initials are JMK and the main color is black and the contrasting color is light pink. I would say that I am 1/4 to 1/3 finished with it at this very moment.
And on Monday, I sat down and made another Woven Ribbon Hat. This one is for a friend of mine that is in the hospital. She has cystic fibrosis and seems to be in and out of the hospital frequently. I hate that she has to do that and I feel like it depresses her. She was asking questions about the Woven Ribbon Hat, but was wanting it in black (instead of the original cream). Her coat is black. I tried really hard to get her to buy her own looms (seeing as that many of the looming community uses them while in and out of the hospital and at doctor appointments), but I think she was admitted back into the hospital before she had a chance to purchase any. I will suck her into this world one way or another! LOL! But for now, since I can't send flowers and she doesn't live here (she lives in Indiana) I will send her that hat she wants so badly. :D

Blown away

It is so silly, but I get totally blown away when people like Karen, Bethany, and Brenda comment on MY BLOG! I bow down to these women, so when they comment to me instead of the other way around, and they give me a pat on the back or thumbs up, I am just flabbergasted and am left with my mouth open in shock! They commented to ME!!!!!! Ok, I know I am silly, but let me be giddy for a minute. :D

Chris said that I can order THIS when we get our income tax refunds back this year. I started out just wanting the combo needed for the Loom Class on the Baby Items done with the Kiss Looms. But the longer and longer I wait, and the more I read on the Kiss-Looms group, the more and more I want to order! I gotta have it all! I can't wait!!!!!!!!!

Speaking of Loom Classes, here is the Shellie I made for this weekend's class! The teacher and creator of such a cute little turtle is Jenny. I named him Scooter and then Little Miss Tru snatched him and I don't think she will be giving him back. LOL! I will be making another one today in a red, orange, and yellow variegated Red Heart for Sir Thade. We are naming that one Speedy. :D I love these little Shellies so much that I think I will make a whole family of varying sizes. Haha! And guess what Little Miss Tru surprised me with this morning? When she held him up I told her, "Yep, that is your turtle. His name is Scooter." And she said, "Tuhtul." Ok, proud Mom-O Moment that few will understand I am sure, so quit rolling your eyes at me! LOL!

I am so proud of myself at this moment!

So, I got the scarf and hat delivered and Stephanie is so in love with it that she wants me to make one for her sister as well. She also said that her sister has 'babies' (meaning dogs) that she might want me to design some sweaters for. Looks like I am gonna be quite a busy girl.
I have been out of my mind designing a diaper soaker. A lady named Dawn was desperately seeking some loom knit diaper soaker patterns, but could only find one and it had no picture. This couldn't be just a diaper cover, b/c she cloth diapers. It had to be functional. So, since she was in need of this and seemed pretty near her wits' end, I offered to try to convert any crochet or needle knitting patterns she might have for what she wanted. I might have skimmed through both patterns once before realizing that I don't know how to read crochet or needle knit patterns. I didn't know them from Chinese. But I looked at the pics for them and figured that I could come up with something with the same shape and function. (I believe there shouldn't be any copyright infringement b/c I didn't follow any part of the patterns. Not even stitch used or anything. I just used Dawn's daughter's measurements (soooo close to my own dd's so I had a model!) and made the thing up as I went.
This was my first prototype:

The flaps came up too high on the hip and the rise from belly button, through crotch, to about the same place as belly button on the back) was to low. I figured there must be an easy fix for this.
So, I started on a new one. This one started out w/a ribbed waist band that follows a slightly wierd pattern b/c of the fact that it is done on an even number or pegs but needed to start and end with the same type of stitch. It then switches to double stitch so that it is a very tight knit. She had the idea of two rows of buttons so that it is nice and secure and by placing more and more buttons to each side, then you can adjust it. Brilliant. She also has other ideas bouncing around in her busy head at the moment that she is gonna try with the pattern when she gets to knit it up.
But here is the pay off for my OCD perfectionist complex. (Present me with a challenge and see if I can say 'no'! It is impossible.)
Oh, and we know that the butt is baggy (taking off an inch in the pattern will fix that) and I needed to sew on the buttons closer together (side to side wise).





We haven't quite decided what we are going to do with the pattern yet. Since it is a collaboration it is hard for just one of us to claim the glory, but hard to share it since she lives in NY and I live in MS.
Now I can get started on my Shellies for the Loom Class. :D YAY!

And without further delay

Here is the initial scarf that will be delivered to hubby's employee tomorrow. I still had leftover yarn and wanted to thank her for her patience (I was finishing up late Christmas gifts and then got the sinus infection...AND DANGED IF I DIDN'T MAIL OFF THE BEARS W/OUT GETTING A PIC!!!!) so I made her a matching hat w/out initials. I really hope she likes it. She said that she LOVES Cody's hat and that he wears it everyday. He is only 5 or 6 and loves the fact that his initials are on his hat. :D


And these little guys are for preemies.....though I don't know yet if they will even fit. I sure hope they do. But if not, I can always frog them or give them to a poor little deserving baby doll (b/c you know, Little Miss Tru didn't have enough in the first place and so she recieved 7 regular sized ones and 7 mini ones for Christmas. :P)

In other news, I purchased the Knitting Pattern a Day calendar from Books-A-Million on sale for half off. EXCITING!!!!
I also found the grippy for my hooks that I have been searching for everywhere (pics will be in next post). It is called 'The Pencil Grip' and I had originally purchased one in college, had it for several years, used it last about a week before buying my first KK loom set, and POOF! It has disappeared off the radar. You can imagine how I freaked at the checkout counter at Books-A-Million when I saw a container of them!!!! Cashier thought I was crazy. I only got one at that moment.....but I am thinking I need ten more. They are only $.25 so it isn't that expensive and they make my pick sooooooo comfy. Big smiles and happiness here (and over a stupid grippy). LOL!
And quick question for all who have or had small children......do your kids eat yarn? I caught Little Miss Tru eating, YES EATING, pink yarn the other day. It was soaked with spit. EEEeeeeEEEEeeeEEEeeEEEWWWW! Sir Thade hasn't ever put it in his mouth, but then again, he is almost 3 (TURNS 3 ON THE LAST DAY OF THIS MONTH!!!!!)
Well, hubby is beckoning me to go to bed.....I am so tired.
Rock those looms!

No more initial hats for me....at least for now.

I bet doing fair isle is different from trying to do initials, but I totally stressed myself out over making this hat for one of hubby's employees. It was for her son and she wanted initials on it. This is the finished product:



All the weaving and making sure floats weren't too long and all that jazz. GEEZ! Not fun!
Now I am working on an initial scarf for the employee, herself. This seems much easir since I am using the pink long KK as a board BUT it would have been beneficial if I had figured out that using cream yarn on a light pink background wouldn't show up. Easy fix, I didn't even frog what I had done. Just took it off the loom and started all over again using the leftover red from her son's hat instead of cream in the pattern. I hope that she likes it. I really am putting a lot of effort into them.

Well, I got to meet Penny and her family, in person, last night. We had hamburgers and hotdogs at her place (good food, mmmmmmm). And they are such a nice and friendly family. I really enjoyed my visit (most of all Chris enjoyed himself and he is always uncomfortable in unfamiliar situations!). It would have been perfect had Little Miss Tru not run around the ENTIRE time getting into this and that. I am not saying that Thade was an angel, himself, but at least he wasn't into EVERYTHING. I am seriously thinking the pack'n'play would be a must the next time I visit with them. LOL! Penny and I will be taking a trip to the Women's Hospital this week to get specifics on what they need for us to make the preemies and newborns. :D

OMG, I just had a heart attack! I look at the kids and see that Little Miss Tru had the pink long KK with 'scarf in progress' attached and she was attempting to wrap the whole 12 inches of it around her neck. Talk about Mom-O jumping up and racing across the house fast and Stephanie trying her hardest to put it back before I reached her. Silly how she always thinks that if she puts something back before I get to her then it is like she never touched it. LOL! 'Scarf in progress' is undamaged and Little Miss Tru now has HER scarf and wrapping that around her neck. WHEW!
Ok, well I am off to try to get as much done as I possibly can on that scarf. Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Stupid Sinus Infection!

It is succeeding in keeping me from finishing a silly hat! I just want to finish a HAT!!!!! For goodness sakes. When I take medicine it knocks me out (even non-drowsy) and I am totally oblivious to the world. Chris said that, as I was sleeping on the couch, Thade came up and basically had his nose touching mine and was staring at me, waiting for me to wake up. He made Thade leave me alone......but I was totally not even there! Had no clue. LOL!
I had really wanted to make some bread today.....and that hat should have been finished 2 days ago. I did get the dishes done though. SCORE! 1 point for Robin!
Well, since I don't have anything Loomy to talk about I guess I will leave you guys with
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!