Taylors Fiber Fancies ~ News! » 2005

Yes, I’m still around

Sep 29th, 2005

I can't believe it's been nearly 3 weeks since my last entry. I don't know where the time goes! I don't even have any pictures to share!

Since the last post, I've finished a crew neck sweater for my son (a learning experiment on the knitting machine) and I've finished about 8 scarves.

Right now I'm working on a lace scarf on the knitting machine from some black alpaca that I hand spun last week. I think it's going to be pretty, but doing the lace on the machine takes much longer than straight stitch rows, I'll tell ya that!!

I've been preparing for doing fall craft shows. The first one is in only 3 weeks!! I don't feel nearly ready enough, but if I stop to think that way, I'll never be ready because there will ALWAYS be some kind of work to do besides that stuff. I've got 2 more after that.

Last week I did something fun that I haven't done since I was a kid - I made jelly with my mother-in-law!! We made watermelon jelly (kinda weird), canteloupe butter (pretty good stuff!) and jalapeno jelly (everyone's favorite by far!) - all from the fruits of our garden. There is something very satisfying about that!!

With all the kvetching I've done about the garden this summer, I have to say that there is little as satisfying as the kids picking fresh melons for their breakfasts in the morning, or serving them fresh veggies with meals, or seeing a deep freeze packed to the gills with home-grown produce for the winter. It makes it all worth it! Even the dastardly tomatoes that I've been fighting with all summer have finally started to show some love!

The pregnancy is going well - I'm nearing 150 lbs and I have 10 weeks to go now. All the vitals and pee strips are looking good. Baby keeps flipping from the correct position to transverse (lying sideways and facing out!), but we have plenty of time for him to figure it out and settle in. I can always tell when he's in place - big rounded firm feel to the bottom of my belly, my innards are getting tickled and rearranged, and I have to make MANY more potty trips with much more urgency!! I don't know why he wouldn't stay that way though - there can't be that much room to be lying sideways and facing out in someone my size. Isn't he starting to get crowded?

Well, I must be getting on with my day - just wanted to stop and say hello since it's been so long. Hopefully next time I'll have pictures and something more interesting to share!!

Oh, PS - have you seen these? Isn't it adorable?:

Vincent is on the way! (At least we think it's a boy!)

Boring Home Videos - the Blog Equivalent

Sep 5th, 2005

Last Monday we went for our annual trip to the NYS Fair. I waddled about almost non-stop for a full 8 hours or so at 25.5 weeks pregnant! Suprisingly, while it was very tiring, I felt it could have been way worse. . . . like that time we went to Washington D.C. when I was pregnant with my daughter and my hubby dragged me all over D.C. from site to site until my feet were blistered and I was near tears with exhaustion (the Mall is waaaaaaayyyyyy longer than it looks from wherever you are standing at the moment!) - and that was MUCH earlier in pregnancy! I do think this UC (unattended pregnancy / childbirth) thing agrees with me! This is the healthiest I've ever felt in pregnancy! But I digress - I should move on to our fair pictures before I get on a rant!

Now be a nice blog-guest and nod your head and smile as if you are enjoying this!

Blogs are nothing if not somewhat narcissistic and self-indulgent, so allow me my moment.

This my friends is the old Yankee Stadium done entirely in TOOTHPICKS!! Can you even believe it??? Where do people find the wherewithall to sit and do this?
I suppose some might say the same thing about knitting though.

I suppose some might say the same thing about knitting though.

This one is "Uncle Sam" the Bald Eagle. He has a damaged wing tip so he spends his time traveling places on display and looking pretty. David took this shot - nice, huh?

This is another gigantic - although amazing - waste of time. Fascinating enough that you can't bear to look away, yet you must ask yourself "why?" And the Orangement still lost their first game yesterday. :::Waiting patiently for the whiners to start calling for the return of Coach P. whom they've been stringing up for years:::

My rabbit children - I HATE the poultry building! Yes, there are cute little bunny
rabbits in there, but the screeching and cackling of all that fowl - it's like
something from a made-for-tv Stephen King movie!

Anneliese milking a goat. She keeps acting icked out by the thought, but then immediately says that she can't wait to do it again next year! She even got a ribbon that says "I milked a goat at the NYS Fair!" The best 50 Cents we spent all day!

Anneliese at the military exhibit flashing a Nixon in the miniature fighter planes.

Ok - you can relax. It's all over. Time for horsdouvres!

My First Knitting Machine FO!

Sep 2nd, 2005

I've only got a sec, but I had to show you this! It's my first finished object on my new knitting machine that I told you about! It took about 15 hours or so start to finish, but it was my first attempt, so I think I can improve on that tremendously once I have a better handle on how to use this thing!:

I think I should have made a slightly smaller size since my daughter is a bean-pole pixie, but otherwise it's cute, huh? Should last her through the entire winter. I've made her thigh-high leg warmers (not pictured - yet) to match too that she can wear over her stockings when she goes out for recess in the snow at school. Uber-cute!!