Another Chick with Sticks

I am getting more and more excited about Spring with each day that passes, especially now that I can tuck away the wool and tweed yarns and start knitting with cottons and linens.

Last night after work, and after the kids were tucked in, I curled up and poured over the new Spring edition of Interweave Knits…I’ve been looking forward to this issue for a while now and I loved it!

Here are two that are on my knitting to-do list…First is the diminishing rib cardigan. Unique because it has no closure, but I’m thinking a vintage looking pin at the top to close would look sweet.

Next is the Silk Cocoon Cardigan, which I’m thinking of knitting in a soft spring green color.

Perusing Ravelry, I also added the Molly

Ringwald top (I just love the name) to my faves as well. I’ll definitley knit this in a shade of pink.

On the WIP’s front, the Fish Tail Tank is coming along great! The front is finished

Here’s the lower edge (fish tail lace portion)…I think it came out pretty nice…

It’s a great pattern and when it’s finished should look cool over a top with a pair of jeans.

Have a great day! Go Knit!

Hi!  Hope everyone has been keeping busy ~  I’m  planning my  middle son’s birthday, which is Feb. 17th, right now. Dinner out with family  and a cake at the restuarant of his choice. Keeping it simple  but fun . My oldest son turned 12  just  2 weeks ago.  We had his birthday dinner at Boston’s and  everyone had a great time.  The waiter had the whole restaurant sing Happy B-day to him, which as you can see here, he was a little embarrassed. lol.

Sigh, I can’t believe he’s 12 already!  Here is another pic of my 2 younger kids and I….trying to hang on to all of them before I blink and they’re going off to college.

As of 3:25 pm today, I officially have all 3 home for February vacation.  I  have activities and games and little trips here and there planned, so  everything should go smoothly. I’ll blog about it of course…I’ve been very inspired by my BFF  and all her organizing and crafts.

On the knitting front, my WIP’s are coming along. I have to say that I am  a girl who likes to have  more than one WIP going at a time.  And not just knitting. I also adore counted cross stitch  so I finally broke down and ordered the Summer Sampler from 123stitch.com today. I’ve had my eye on it for a while, and  can’t wait till it arrives.  I am starting with Summer because I don’t know how long this will take to finish and I like to  keep a season ahead anyway.  Here is a pic of the Spring one…I must have this one too!
On the knitting front, I added one more WIP – the Fish Tail Vest from Erin’s knitting blog. (Here is her pic from her blog of the vest)

For the pattern just hop on over to her blog at www.erinknitting.wordpress.com

This is knitting up very quickly so I’ll be able to post the finished item very soon. I just love it – I’m knitting mine in purple of course, and think it’ll look great with jeans and a top underneath. It can go with anything, though, which is part of the reason I chose it.

Off to knit now! Have a great day!

I saw a story on the news last night about a woman who is known as ‘the coupon queen’. The cameras followed her on a weekly grocery shopping trip where, at the check out, she paid $19.38 for a $220.00 order.  In one single trip.  Shocked, I decided to try to find the story online this morning but there was no link on the news site. I did find very similar stories of other women across the country who are doing the exact same thing, though.

A coupon queen in Quincy, Ill. feeds her family of four for an average of $70.00 per week. She also started a website www.jeepmomsavings.com where she alphabetically lists companies that you can send an email to to request manufacturer coupons. Great idea! You can read the news story at http://www.connecttristates.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=162473

I admit, I haven’t been using as many coupons as I could be (or should be). I am vowing to become a coupon queen. I know I may not see results for at least a month, but I’m committing to it.

First, I need to have a Coupon Binder.  See how to make yours at Ehow.com.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2213817_organize-coupon-binder.html

You’ll need baseball protector sheets, a pencil pouch, a binder, dividers and a couple large folders. Piece of cake.

I will also need to brush up on Coupon Lingo. Great tips in this article by a woman who regularly spends $10.00 for $100.00 worth of groceries each week.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4448872_understand-coupon-lingo-free-groceries.html

Don’t forget online coupon sites to print coupons too!

check out  coolsavings.com and coupons.com.

If you have more tips to add, comment!!!

Moving on to my yarn stash, in the midst of my other WIP’s, my daughter asked me to make her a ‘flower blanket’ for her room. Tall order, lol. I decided to crochet it as it will go much faster. I found the cutest daisy square on CrochetMaryEllen’s blog:

For the pattern:

http://crochetmaryellen.blogspot.com/2007/06/easy-daisy-granny-square.html

Have a great day! Stay warm!!!

Happy Game Day! I’m not particularly a fan of either team playing today, but I’ll be watching anyway. I am a Springsteen fan, so the half time show will be a bonus, as well as the commercials. The kids are going to don their 3D glasses for those special 3D commercials too.

I have to update you all that last night I decided to abandon the Spring Forward top for now. I began the pattern for the top half of the back, and was not happy with how it looked. Discouraged, I decided to put it aside and instead cast on with my next queued cardgian, the February Lady sweater. Very lovely and I have very pretty vintage looking buttons for it. I have started on the yoke and am past the first buttonhole. I’ll post a pic of my progress soon.

If you would like the pattern, visit www.flintknits.com/patterns/ladysweater.pdf. Here’s a pic….

I’ll probably end up lengthening the sleeves, but haven’t decided on that yet.

Since it’s Game Day, I thought I’d share some knitting games from around the net. Yes, there are knitting games out there. I was surprised when I came across them, but have to admit they’re unique. lol.

BellaOnline’s knitting editor, Marjorie Colletta, put together a great list of knitting related games which you can find here:

http://www.bellaonline.com/subjects/216.asp

Games include Hangman, word search, word scramble and a learn to knit quiz. All knitting related, of course.

Also check out:

http://www.funnygames.co.uk/knitting.htm for a knitting game where you can choose a pattern and color.

So, if you’re not especially into the game on tv, you can always play some online.

Have a great day! Stay warm!