Me A-Z

I read this on Julie's blog and she tagged everyone who read it so here I go
ACCENT: Ohio with a little Virginian thrown in.
BREAKFAST OR NO BREAKFAST: Breakfast every morning
CHORE I DON'T CARE FOR: putting away laundry
DOG OR CAT: both one dog& two cats
ESSENTIAL ELECTRONICS: cell and camera
FAVORITE COLOGNE: I really like rose scents like Vera Wang and Stella McCartney
GOLD OR SILVER: Silver
HANDBAG I CARRY MOST OFTEN: depends on the season. Right now a cute Isaac Mizrahi from Target
INSOMNIA: Occasionally : (
JOB TITLE: Student
KIDS: Not yet hopefully someday!
LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: In the same house I grew up in, in a quiet friendly neighborhood
MOST ADMIRABLE TRAIT:honesty and devotion
NAUGHTIEST CHILDHOOD BEHAVIOR: Ganging up with brothers and picking on my sister
OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: when I got ear tubes when I was 6 or 7 and after my foot was run over by a car
PHOBIAS: walking with my foot asleep
QUOTE: I can't think of one right now
REASON TO SMILE: Life is good!
SIBLINGS: 2 younger brothers, 1 older sister, and 1 older sister in law (I love to rub that in!)
TIME I WAKE UP: between 8:30-9:00
UNUSUAL SKILL OR TALENT:I have an amazing memory for random trivial facts!
VEGETABLE I REFUSE TO EAT: peas- yuck!!!!!
WORST HABIT: I can be really hard on myself over little things
YUMMY STUFF: chocolate cake with chocolate icing or pretty much anything chocolate!
ZOO ANIMAL I LIKE MOST: The orangutans. The babies are so incredibly cute the adults aren't bad either!

I'm going to copy Julie and say if you read this you are tagged & must do it in your blog!
xoxo,
Holly

Making Progress

I tried writing this last night but my computer was acting wonky. It's back to normal after I rebooted so I'll try this again! I finished Dotty's hat! I'm really happy with how it turned out if it fits. I am in desperate need of a good head model. I have a huge head as does my Mom. So we are both out of the running. I was going to try it on my bro's girlfriend but I ended up being sick when they were going to visit. So for now it is sitting in my knitting bag. I finished one section of Red Roses. I used a quilted lattice stitch The flash did odd things to the pattern but you can get the idea. I really love this pattern. I've used it before and am always happy with the result and how easy it is!I have one more section to go on it. I think I am going to use a pattern form my stitches calendar called crocus buds. Then I will do the border! I also finished my portion of Lavender's blue preemie blanket. I don't have a picture yet as my batteries for my camera are charging. I'll post one tomorrow. I'm about half way done with my section of Rainbow Joy 2 . I'm also doing a border on it. I finally found a not hideous green (I'm using the kelly green which looks better in person thatn it does on my screen) for rainbow blocks and am half way through my first repeat. I should have it finished in the next day or so! I really love the pattern we are using. It's called seed blocks Again I will post piccys when it is done! Yes I do have knitting ADD right now! Mom's poor sweater is just waiting paitently to be finished. I think I may have mentioned that she decided she wanted it to be long sleeved not 3/4 so I am stuck in st stitch boredom trying to get the sleeves long enough. I have to try and finish it up soon or she'll think she is never going to get it!
Well it's late and I should try to get some sleep.
xoxo,
Holly

And the list get longer and Yeah!!!

My UFO list just keeps growing and growing and growing. Tonight my dlb( little brother) called to ask if I would knit him a bag to keep his Rummikub pieces in. I knit one shortly after we got the game. It made much more sense to me to have a bag than to pass the box with pieces around. C(my dlb) made so much fun of me when I made it. Now that he has the game he has decide that yes my way was better and would I please knit him a bag. For some reason I just can't say no. It will be made with the hideous super saver I inherited. I should do tons of ugly stripes in non matching colors but then I would have to weave all those end. Yuck!! He is coming this weekend but I don't think I have the time to make one between now and then while I am working on eveything else and summer school. Of course that doesn't stop me from trying!

Now for the Yeah portion of the title. I think I may have mentioned that I am participating in a Secret Themed Swap on KH. Last night I received the name of my partner. I sent her, I can safely say her because I don't think any guys joined this time, an email today to get more information. I really love participating in these swaps. I always enjoy getting to know other knitters. I am going to make a real effort this time to really get to know both my receiver and my giver. I feel like I have missed out in the past with some of my partners by not really getting to know them. I haven't heard from my giver yet but we are supposed to be contacted within the week. I am so excited!!

I'm about 3.5 inches into Dotty's hat. I decided to go ahead with the floppy brimmed one first and attempt the lacy one later. I really hope she likes them. I haven't seen Dotty since she and her husband moved out of the neighborhood last summer. She is part of my Mom's homemakers' club. She had really good news this week that her brother is a good match for a bone marrow transplant. Thank God! Out of five other siblings he was her only match. I know they are all relieved that they found a match so easily. Prayers really do get answered.

I know blogs are pretty boring without pictures. I'll be sure to post some when I actually have a finished object, hopefully in a few days!

xoxo,
Holly

Adopt a cat month!

I was reading the paper this morning and one of the stories was about June being national adopt a shelter cat month. Then I looked up at the calendar and thought wow it's the 16th already! But I digress. I didn't adopt my cats from a shelter but they were going to be taken to a shelter if I didn't adopt them. I just couldn't let that happen. I'm pretty sure I would have never gone and adopted a cat let alone 2 if they hadn't been shelter bound. The shelter here is a kill shelter. They don't give kittens a more than a couple of weeks before being euthanized due to the constant and overwhelming number of kittens they get. I don't agree with their policy but I do understand lack of funding and space. Here they are a few days after they came home. How could anyone resist those faces!?! Joey is the gray one and Sierra is the tabbyThis picture was taken a couple of months ago. They will be turning 5 next month.

I know it's cliche for a knitter to have cats but I really don't care. For the most part they leave my knitting alone. Occasionally one will attack a tail hanging while I am knitting but other than that they are good. I don't regret for one second that I chose to have these sweet loving creatures become part of my family. This next picture I took this weekend. It's a little gross but sweet at the same time. Joey never covers when he uses the litter box. He will scratch the wall, the box everything but the litter. Sierra always covers for him. On Saturday morning I went to clean the litter boxes and saw this expression of Joey's love for me.


I highly recommend adopting a cat!

Knitting wise I start Dotty's chemo cap but it was turning out humongous! Note to self read the needle size recommended and make a gauge swatch. I'm using the laced edged lady's hat pattern from Headhuggers. I'm using Plymouth Bamboo which is really soft and breathable! I decide to go ahead and make her two. My second hat will be the floppy brimmed hat. I think it will be perfect for summer! I'm not sure what yarn I'll be using for the second hat. Darn I guess I'll have to go yarn shopping! ;) I'll be sure to post pictures when they are done!
Hope everyone is having a great Monday!!

xoxo, Holly

100 things about Me

It is very rare to see a blog without one of these lists. I throughly enjoy reading them so I decided to go ahead and try to make on myself.

100 Things About Me

1. I was born on April Fool’s day at 12:02 am
2. My mom wanted to name me Katie but my dad said Katie my last name didn't work so they named me Holly which works quite well with my last name.
   
3. I am the second of four children. I have an older sister and 2 younger brothers
4. I have a black Labrador retriever named Bentley
5. I also have 2 cats Joey, who is a light gray tabby, and Sierra, a tabby
6. I knit
7. I also crochet but prefer knitting for the most part.
8. I have an amazing wealth of useless knowledge
9. I tend to learn quickly and am very good at memorizing
10. I wish I had a photographic memory
11. I am very competitive when it comes to board games
12. My mom is my best friend
13. I have long brown curly hair
14. I have blue eyes
15. I am 5’7”
16. My skin is very fair. So fair it is lighter than most foundation’s lightest shade.
17. I need to lose about 100 pounds
18. I love to cook
19. I went to Culinary school did extremely well until I decided I didn’t want to be a chef
20. I love the smell of fresh laundry
21. I served a year on a traveling retreat ministry team
22. My dad died two weeks before my tenth birthday
23. I often wonder how my life would have been different if he had lived
24. I’m close to my brothers, sister and sister in law
25. I can’t think of a time that I have gone more that a few days without talking to one of them.
26. As close as I am to my family I am not very close my cousins and extended family.
27. I think it mostly has to do with the physical distance between us.
28. I can barely see my outstretched hand without contacts or glasses
29. I prefer to wear my contacts!
30. I have never had a brand new car
31. Two of my cars were hand me downs that I bought from my Mom
32. I have decided to go into nursing and will be starting a pre-nursing curriculum in Fall 2008
33. I love being able to help people
34. I like to garden but hate to weed and only do so when I absolutely need to
35. Little things can make me so happy
36. I took French for 3 years in high school and can remember very little of it
37. I love to read
38. I’ve been known to stay up all night to finish a good book
39. I am much more likely to get a book from the library than to buy one
40. But I did buy the Harry Potter books as they came out
41. I love coffee, I take creamer and 2 Splenda packets
42. I drink a lot of water especially at restaurants
43. I always tip big
44. I believe in love at first site….but haven’t experienced it
45. I'm very detail oriented. I notice everything.
    
46. I try to perform as many random act of kindness as I can
47. I am Catholic
48. My middle name is Elizabeth after my Grandmother, who was and will always be one of my favorite people ever
49. I seriously dislike email and text message slang. You is only 2 more letters than u how it that so hard? But I have been known to use lol.
    
50. I cry while watching the news, Extreme Home Makeover, movies, etc
51. I am a hair and face product junkie who is trying to reform her ways
52. I babysit my brother and sister in law’s puppy anytime I start getting the feeling of wanting another dog.
53. I have only knit one thing for myself in the 9 or 10 years I have been knitting
54. I am a sucker for little things: kids, puppies, kittens, plants, mini food I love it all
55. I love Josh Groban
56. I mostly listen to country music in the car
57. My first trip out of the country was to Canada
58. My foot was run over by a car, it took 3 surgeries and months of PT to be able to walk again
59. I have gotten not one but 2 speeding tickets for going less than 5 mph over
60. I fought both in court
61. I want to have a large family
62. I love when the weather is nice and I can open all the windows
63. Purple has been my favorite color for as long as I can remember
64. I live on the East Coast but love the West Coast
65. My immediate family all live on the east coast so I will probably never move out west
66. I can be very hard on myself- I’m working on it
67. So far in my life there have been very few decisions that I have regretted
    
68. I am a creature of habit
69. I always change my sheets on Sunday nights
70. My closet is such a complete and total mess that I don’t even know where to start to get organized
71. I love freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and brownies
72. When I eat something sweet I always want a glass of milk
73. I can type fairly quickly but often have typos mostly inverting letters
74. I love photography
75. My college GPA so far has been a 3.98
76. I’m hoping to get perfect 4.0 in nursing school
77. Every room, except a small windowless hall bathroom, in my house has at least one houseplant
78. I recycle, compost, & donate religiously
79. I always sleep on the right side of the bed and sit on the left side of the couch
80. I will always try very hard to solve a problem myself before asking for help
81. I can be stubborn , obsessive and a little nutty at times
82. I am an optimist
83. I consider myself shy but most people who know me laugh when I say I am
84. I have had dreams that have come true, but they have mostly been about random things.
85. I often sit with one foot under the other leg.That foot always falls asleep, and I honestly can’t remember a day that it hasn’t happened.
86. One of my biggest fears is walking with my foot asleep
87. I am fascinated by architecture. I love Victorians with turrets, log cabins, craftsmen, cute cape cods I guess it's all about the details!
    
88. I spend entirely too much time online looking at people’s blog or different websites.
89. I love to drink cold sun tea in the summer.Hot chocolate is my drink of choice in the winter.
90. I am a sucker for "new and improved" and packaging. I'm an advertiser/ marketer's dream.
    
91. I’m always amazed at people’s generosity especially other knitters I have met.
92. I love the show Lost!
93. It is the only show that I will not answer the phone, knit or do anything else like fold clothes during.
94. My to do list is always long
95. I try to keep my list of unfinished project to less than five but it doesn’t always work
96. I love the sound of babies laughing
97. I am always sending emails to friends and family of product or ideas that I think will help them
98. I love getting mail! Real mail like cards, letters, and magazines not bills
99. My dream is to someday own a farm with sheep, alpaca, dogs, cats, horses you name it. I think I should probably marry a Veterinarian to make this dream more financially feasible!
100. I completed this list in 2 sittings and it was harder than I thought it would be!

Caffeine good!

Last night I read on knittinghelp about a copy cat recipe site. Being a former culinary student and all around lover of cooking I thought I would check it out. I found quite a few recipes I really want to try. But one in particular really caught my eye. The copy of Dunkin Donuts coolata. I love coolatas in the summertime! I made one this morning with a few mods. I omitted the hazelnut syrup because the I had hazelnut coffee, I used homemade chocolate syrup and instead of just milk I used 1/2 Coffee mate and 1/2 milk. It wasn't exactly like a what I would get from DD but it was darn good. As I was drinking it I was inspired to start working on one of the oddball baby blankets that showed up here yesterday. I actually received two yesterday. I already had one here and soon I'll be getting a preemie blanket! Oy! But I LOVE working on them! I'll post picts as soon as my camera is charged of the goodies that came with the blankets. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again knitter really are the most generous people!I'm about half way through my 1st section on Red Roses now. I'm doing 2 sections and probably a border on it.I most likely would have finished it but, Bentley(my dog) needed to go out so I took him. It has been 100 degrees here for days and finally yesterday the heat wave ended and it cooled off. I have a garden around my mail box that was being overrun with weeds. When walking past it with Bentley, I decided to start weeding the garden while it was still in the shade. An hour later I was done. I'm so excited! I've been eyeing different flowers to put in it and now it is ready to go! I was shocked to see that a few annuals I planted last year came back but were hidden by the weeds. B , after he went potty, was so cute he just laid down in the shade and took a nap while I was working. I don't know if it was the "coolata" , that I 'm feeling better or a combination but it sure feels good to get things accomplished again . Especially after a week or so of feeling like a slug!
xoxo,
Holly

I don't want to whine....

But I am sooo frustrated right now. It seems as if everything in my life is conspiring against my knitting. Summer school is kicking my booty. What was I thinking trying to take Chem , Medical TerminologyII and Stats all together? I have a bad cold that is taking for-evah to clear up. It's so so hot outside. And I was just diagnosed with Insulin Resistance. The IR requires a special diet that doesn't seem too hard to follow, but it's just another thing to deal with. I really want to know how people handle it all. I know as soon as I feel better every thing will seem less dire, but for now I just want to curl up on the couch with a good movie and some knitting. Unfortunately I have way too much schoolwork to do it.

Ok I'm done whining- really!! I feel better just putting it out there!

On the knitting front here is my WIP /need to finish list
1. PIF gifts( I would link to them but they are supposed to be a surprise!)
2. Mom's sitcom chic
3. Chemo hat for Dotty
4. NIU healing blanket squares
5. Ongoing Oddball baby blankets

I'm really excited to have gotten my Great American Aran Afghan pattern yesterday! I like the idea of this afghan since it is a bunch of squares. A few seem a little over my my skill level but I think in the long run I will be a better knitter for having done them. There is a GAAA along on blogger and Ravelry. I'm pondering what yarn I should use. I'm also not sure what color. I love the idea of a cream aran afghan but the thought of the dog and cat hair in this house makes me a little hesitant. I'm leaning toward something washable. Any suggestions would be very appreciated! I have no idea when I will start it but I will be sure to blog about it when I do. I've learned so much from other people's blog post about it.

If you have read all this and are still here thank you!
xoxo,
Holly

To my PIF angels

I have not forgotten you! And I have not flaked out on this! I know my 6 months has come and gone. Life has seriously gotten in the way of my knitting. I am so so so sorry!! I am working on your gifts and will hopefully be contacting you soon to send them out. Please forgive me. I promise if I had a choice I would have finished my gifts long before my deadline. Thanks for being patient!! You all are the best! xoxo, Holly