Once again, I find myself behind...

I've got a lot of catching up to do.

I've not posted in a while, not since I knit up some snails (I've left two snails at different homes, one at my mom's and one over at Cate's. So far, they've been very well received and I find myself wanting to make them by the dozen and start leaving them in places like the knitting section at Chapters or near the sugar at The Monk).

Here's why I've not been blogging: last Sunday we traipsed out to my mom and dad's place to have some Easter fun and I brought the camera as I usually do to snap cutie pie pics of my adorable children hanging out at Nana and Grampy Land. I packed up to leave, tossed the camera on top of the very full bag. That was last time I'd seen it.

We tore our place apart, I called Mom a number of times asking her to check places, I looked there on Monday myself, and came to the realization that I probably dropped it out of the van in the parking lot. If that was the case, then it was gone.

I have been sick all week about this. I did not have a chance to download pics of the kids painting Easter eggs or the Easter hunt. Gabriel's first Easter experience...gone. I was sick that people had a nearly full SD card with pics of my kids on it. Frankly, I got a bit depressed about it.

Sunday we went again to mom and dad's place and I asked again if maybe the dogs had snatched up the camera in it's case and hid it somewhere.

Dad suddenly spoke up and said "Your camera? It's in the cupboard. I put it there for safe-keeping when I found it on the floor."

The lesson here: Sometimes, Dad knows stuff too.

So I submit for your viewing pleasure, the Neily children painting eggs
Cam was very serious about it, while Grace was just trying to use as much pink paint as possible

Gabriel had more fun trying to put the paintbrush in his mouth and laughing as I said "no, not in your mouth" than actually painting

In the end we had some very pretty eggs

Why yes, those are sock needles. I don't use my dpns anymore, not since discovering magic loop. But I knew that they would come in handy at some point, and look I was right!

Easter was a feast of chocolate and a few new toys. My kids each got an outfit from us as usual, and a good time was had by all. This year was a bit weird though, as Phil had to work the day shift and was long gone by the time the kids woke up. He's never missed a holiday like this...and I was suprised by how much I missed him. He did come home on his break (beauty of working at a nearby hospital), which was nice.

On to the knitting!

I finished the Sienna Cardigan Wednesday morning and began the process of sewing it up. I have discovered that seaming sucks the very soul from my body and I am just not cut out for it. Took me several days to get it done. But it is finished


To recap:
Pattern: Sienna Cardigan by Ann E. Smith, Interweave Knits Winter 2006
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, in Stream

I am very pleased with it, although I do need to fix the button holes. I should have followed my instincts and just did a yarn over style button hole rather than cast off 2 sts and then make 2 sts on the way back...since I thought with the way I knit that will make the button holes too loose. Yep, they are too loose. Not sure how I'm going to do it yet, but I'll get to it soon.

I've cast on a pair of Juju for Gabriel


Yarn is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Pampas Heather. I've made them big, hopefully he'll gets lots of wear out of them.

I headed over to the Market Saturday Morning (hint: Do not promise a 3 year old that you will go to Market to buy her special cheese unless you truly intend to do it) and while over the great water I popped into The Loop to pick up my new theragloves that I had ordered
I opted for the purple-blue set instead of the black...and they really pop!

While there I also snagged a ball of Tofutsies. This is the official yarn of Sock Wars III

We're not obligated to use it, but I figured it was worth a try. But I'm not sure I'll be able to give up this stuff...I love the colour!!

In other stash enhancement news my first parcel from the Seven Deadly S(p)ins Club arrived earlier this week. The first sin is Gluttony

And oooh we were loaded with goodies! I started off with a lot more jelly beans than what's in the photo, lol! Plus I recieved another sock blocker key chain (not sure what I'm going to do with it, since I do have one and do I really need two? Part of my loudly declares "Yes! Yes you do!"), sock shaped point protectors and a pen from my vendor Woolgirl. The yarn is a special dye, as it moves through the pattern the colours all change to compliment one another...I cannot wait to cast on! The yarn is from Unique Sheep...and I cannot say enough good things about their yarn, it's delicious!!!!

I also signed up for the Yarn Pirate sock club, which should be fun. I've decided to end my swapping days on a good note (I thoroughly enjoyed hosting the Cocoa Swap and putting together the package for the Scavenger Hunt Swap), and move on to yarn clubs. I'm planning to get in on some Socks That Rock action next year :)

OK, I think that's it. I'm off to refill my coffee cup and maybe take advantage of naptime to get a shower. Ah, the glamourous life of a Mom.