I'm back!

Finally, we're back from our whirlwind road trip. I've got pictures, pictures, pictures and plenty of stories. I don't even know where to start, but first I've got to go finish unpacking and getting our life sorted back out again. We actually got home yesterday (at about 4 am, after driving straight through from Glendive, MT) but spent the day watching two discs of Six Feet Under while sitting like zombies on the couch.

Keep those sign-ups for SAM2 coming! I'll get the names up on the sidebar very soon and the fun will start on Tuesday. And get those last July socks in before midnight on Monday. I will be doing some serious grand prize drawings this week, and you don't want to miss out! One of my goals is to post pictures of the booty that will be given out, but we'll see if that actually happens...

I also have plenty of good stuff that has come my way in the mail. Thank you Sonya, secret pal, Michelle and Mama-E. Pics are coming soon - I swear!

To be continued...

Greetings from the Great Plains!

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Sioux Falls, SD, taking much advantage of their free wireless network. It's so great that wireless is pretty much standard fare in hotels these days... We've got one more day of driving before we hit Minneapolis and get to see our friends' new baby (who's not so new anymore). Road tripping has been fun, although it has been a hassle in a different way than plane travel with the kids. It's hard to get them fed and napped on a reliable basis, and they get crabby from being strapped in their seats for so long at a time. Owen in particular spends about 4 hours per day crying at us pissily, but he does that at home, too, so it's not abnormal behavior.

I don't have long, so I'll just make the announcement that Sock-A-Month 2 has been officially announced. See the post below this one for details. Also, my lovely and amazing MomMA co-founder Chris has whipped us up a website, which all you nursing moms and supporters should go check out. It looks really great.

Time to hit the road! Sorry to miss the sock update this week, but be ready for a mega-update and grand prize extravaganza when I get home. Knit on!

Sock-A-Month 2!

Coming to you live from the Comfort Inn in Sioux Falls, SD, here is the official announcement of Sock-A-Month 2! It will work the same as the first and run from August '06 through the end of January '07. Here is another go at the rules:

The goal will be to knit one pair of socks each month for the next 6 months. There will be prize drawings each month for everyone who completed a pair of socks that month. You'll also get a letter by your name for the first pair of socks you finish in a month and each letter you accumulate will give you one entry into the grand prize drawing at the end of the knit-along. Knit one pair of socks between August 1 and January 31, and you get one entry in the grand prize drawing. Knit one pair each month, and you get six entries. Easy as that! Anyone who knits a pair in each of the six months will be entered in a bonus drawing for an extra special bonus prize (ooooh! aaaah!). How's that for motivation?

This knit-along will be fairly mellow for those less-competitive folks since you can knit just one pair of socks and still get your name in the drawing one time. You can knit as many socks per month as you want, but you'll only get grand-prize credit for the first pair (so max number of entries is six). However, you will get a little * (a brownie point) by your name for each pair knit beyond your first monthly pair. At the end, all these little brownie points will get counted up, and the person with the most will win a brownie point prize.

Sign-Ups
Send me an e-mail at knittinmom at gmail dot com to sign up. I'll need your blog address (if you have one) and/or valid e-mail address. I won't use your e-mail for anything but contacting you if I have a sock-a-month-related question and to keep track of you since there are often a few of you with the same name. You don't need a blog to participate. You can sign up anytime before January 20th, 2007.

Deadlines
You must sign up by the 20th of the month to get your letter for that month (but once you're signed up, you're in 'till the end, so you don't need to sign up each month). You should try to let me know about your socks by midnight PST of the last day of the month to be included in that month's drawing. If you forget to send your update, you can get me a late update to get credit for the grand prize drawing, but you won't necessarily get in on that month's prize drawing depending on how on-the-ball I am that month.

Also, you must finish the socks (i.e. they must come off the needles) in the month in which you ask for credit. Socks can have been started anytime and can be socks that you will be giving away.

Updates
Since I am a lazy knit-along hostess, I ask that you e-mail me with your sock updates. I'd love to visit all y'all's blogs to check for socks, but since there are so many of you, I just can't do it. And I don't want to miss anyone's fab socks! So send me an update when you have your socks done and I'll give you your letter in the sidebar as soon as I republish my template. If you want to show your socks off, please join our Flickr group and post your sock pictures there.

I will be keeping track of how many socks you've knit next to your name in my sidebar. You will get a little letter for each month in which you've completed a sock. If you sent me an update e-mail before the update deadline and don't see your socks included, please let me know. With the large volume of e-mails related to this knit-along, I can't guarantee that I won't miss a few. Please be patient with me, and know that if I miss you it's not at all intentional! Just e-mail me and I'll do my best to get you updated correctly ASAP (by the next sock update at the very latest).

What counts as a sock?
Socks can be as big or as small as you'd like, but they need to have a traditional sock construction (knitted in-the-round with a turned heel). Baby booties don't count, but baby socks do. Also, they must be wearable on a human foot (no sock earrings or keychains, please). Felted slippers don't count, except for Fuzzy Feet which are basically felted socks. If in doubt, please check with me.

Join us!
E-mail me if you want to join up. With all the other sock knit-alongs going on right now, what have you got to lose? How can you beat getting multiple knit-along credits with one little pair of socks?

Let the fun begin!!!

SAM2 Knit-Alongers:

• Abigail ********** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Adelle - A


• Adrienne **** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Adrienne - S


• Aija **** - S,O,N


• Aimee ******** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Amanda - A,S,D


• AmyDe - O


• Anastacia 25* - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Angela - S,O


• Ann - A


• Ashley * - A,S,O,N,D


• Becca - S,N


• Beth *** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Bettina ******************* - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Bobbi - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Brenda*** - A,S,O,N,D


• Carole - S,O


• Charity - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Chrissy ** - A,S


• Christa - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Christine - A,S,O,N,J


• Christy * - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Crazy Knitting Lady * - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Dave - A,S,N,D,J


• Debbie ********************* - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Dee * - S,N,D


• Deirdre - A


• Diane ** - S


• Emilee - A


• Emily **** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Emily *** - A,S,O,N


• Emily - A,S,N


• Erica * - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Esther ******* - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Eva ***** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Gerlinde *** - A


• Ginger ** - A,S,O


• Ginny * - A,S,N,D


• Hanne - A,O,N,D


• Heather - S


• Helga ** - A,S,O


• Jacey * - S,O


• Jamie *** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Janin *** - A,S,O,N,D


• Jen - O,N


• Jenipurr ********* - A,S,O,N,D


• Jenn **** - O,N,D,J


• Jenni - A,S


• Jennie ** - A,S,O,D


• Jennifer * - S,D,J


• Jessica ****** - S,O,D


• Jill *** - A,S,O


• Johanna - A,S,O


• Joni ** - A,S,O,N


• Judy - A


• Julia - A,S


• Julia * - S,O,N,D


• Julie B* - A,S,O,D,J


• Karen ** - A,S,O


• Karen ******** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Karen - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Kat - O


• Kathy - A,S


• Katrina - S,O,N,D


• Kelly - A,O,D


• KellyD * - A,S,O


• Kelly *** - S,O,N,D,J


• Khris *** - S,O,N,D,J


• Kris *** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Kristy in WA - A,S,O,N


• Lacey - S,O,N,D


• Lain *** - A,S,O,N,D


• Lara ** - A,S,O,N,D


• Laura ****** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Linda ** - A,O,N


• Lisa ** - A,S,O,N


• Lisa - O


• Lisa - N


• Liz ** - S,O,N,D


• Lolly - A


• Lyndsey-Jane ** - A,S,O


• Lynn - A,S,O,N


• Manda ** - A,N,D,J


• Manda - A,S,O


• Mandy - S


• Margo *** - A,S,O,N,J


• Mary * - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Melanie - O,N,D


• Melissa - A,N


• Michelle * - A,S,O


• Michelle * - A,S,O


• Miki - A,O,J


• Missy - A,S,D,J


• Monica ******** - N,D,J


• Nadine ************** - A,S,O,N,D


• Nancy * - S


• Nancy G *** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Natalie - O


• Nelda * - A,S,O,N,D


• Nicki * - S,O,N,D


• Nicola - A,S,O,N


• Nicole - N


• Nicole * - A,S


• OzKnitter - O


• Pam - N


• Pat Q **** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Paula * - A,S,O,N


• Persnickety Knitter * - A,S


• Rachel * - S,O,D


• Rachel ********* - A,S,O


• Ragan ****** - A,S,O,N


• Robin ** - A,S,O,N


• Sara *** - A,S,O,N,D


• Sarah * - A,S,O


• Sarah * - A,S,O


• Sharon * - S,O,N,D


• Shayla - A,S,O,N


• Shelby - S,O


• Shelley ** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Sheri *** - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Silja ************* - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Sillyewe - A,S,O


• Siri ***** - A,S,O


• Soap Fiber Gal ************** - A,S,O,N


• Sonya - A,O


• Sprite - A,S,O


• Stacey ** - A,O,N,D,J


• Stariel 30* - A,S,O,N,D,J


• StarzAbove - S


• Susie - S,O


• Tammy **** - A,S,O


• Tammy - A,O,N


• Tanya ******* - A,S,O,N


• Teri ****** - A,S,O,N


• Tiffany - D


• Tina - O


• Tonia ***** - A,O,D


• Uli ** - A,S,O


• Vicki * - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Vigdis * - S


• Virtuella ******* - A,S,O,N,D,J


• Yvonne - A,O


• ZhiWen ***** - A,S,O


• Zonda ** - A,S,O,N,D,J




• KEY:


• A = August - our prize winner is Sprite!


• S = September - our prize winner is Tammy!


• O = October - our prize winner is Sonya!


• N = November - our prize winner is Bettina!


• D = December


• J = January


• * = brownie point socks!

We did it! Although not in under 3 hours...

I know I said I probably wouldn't post again before we leave, and here I am posting twice in two days. Go figure! But I just had to share. We are now proud owners of a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta TDI!

We went over for a test drive last night and, as so often happens with the two of us (we are impulse buyers to the nth degree), we'd pretty much decided already to buy it unless we drove it and really hated it or they weren't willing to give us enough for Bill's car in trade. Of course, driving it was loads of fun and it's such a neat little car. It's a manual transmission, which is what both Bill and I were raised on but haven't owned for awhile (we got rid of our other manual when we were in LA and couldn't hack driving it in stop-and-go traffic for two hours).

We did find out, however, that it's next to impossible to buy a car in under three hours. We got there just after five and didn't drive away until 8:30. Even though we pretty much said "we'll take it, we'll pay what you're asking and we're paying in cash" (just FYI, we just took out a home equity loan - we don't normally have that kind of cash just lying around). How much simpler could it be? Still...it is just such a ridiculously slow process. Fine, it's nice customer service, but it doesn't really encourage impulse purchases (especially for those of us with small children who can't just drop everything to buy a car for 3 hours).

Anyway, we're running a tank of regular diesel right now, but as soon as that's gone, we're running straight to the biodiesel pump. I saw a great bumper sticker the other day on a truck - "This Vehicle Powered by French Fries". We found out yesterday that the diesel oil that's used in the TDI is synthetic, so we're going to be almost completely petrol-free! That is so exciting.

As we've been doing all this research on biodiesel, we've both been amazed at how little people know about it. When I first heard the word, I didn't realize exactly what it was. I figured it was a type of diesel fuel that was somehow combined with organic stuff, but was still basically a petroleum product. But 100% biodiesel is completely made from vegetable oil! No petroleum at all. Granted, most places sell a blend of biodiesel and regular diesel, so we'll likely have a 95% biodiesel blend available to us, but still. That's a huge reduction in the amount of petroleum this family will use. Plus, it gets great mileage (40+ mpg highway), which the car we traded in did not.

The biggest problem now is the lack of availability of diesel vehicles. Apparently VW was having problems with the EPA over their diesel engine, so they've stopped producing them. The one we got was on the dealership's 2nd to last shipment, and many of the cars on the last shipment have already been sold. There was no haggling on price because it's such a scarce commodity. However, Daimer-Chrysler did just introduce diesel versions of the Jeep series this year. Hopefully other auto-makers will follow suit. The diesel trucks and Jeeps don't get great mileage, but the diesel versions are MUCH better than the gas versions (20+ mpg versus 10).

Now I've started to feel guilty about my van, but the awesome and fabulous Lolly posted a link in her recent post about what her family is doing to help the environment to Terra Pass, where you can offset your vehicle emissions by helping to fund alternative energy production. So, now I can feel a little less guilty about driving my gas-guzzling minivan (although it's not really a gas guzzler - it gets nearly 30 mpg on the highway, much better than our Subaru Outback did!).

Anyway, enough about our new car. I'm off to work through a mountain of laundry. Woo-hoo!

A post totally unrelated to knitting.

I haven't been doing much knitting lately. I've been charting patterns, working with sample knitters and generally doing lots of paperwork. But very little knitting. So this is a post about everything BUT knitting that's going on in my life (and that's a lot!).

First, I said a few posts ago that I was going to talk about An Inconvenient Truth. We still haven't seen it yet, but I had a long talk with a friend who had and it has re-energized my commitment to working to lessen our family's impact on the planet. Now that I have children, this seems like such an important thing. We're starting to do simple things, like composting. And making an effort to recycle absolutely everything that can be recycled. Turning lights off when we leave a room. Stuff like that.

Today we're possibly going to do a much larger thing. We're going to go test-drive a diesel-powered Jetta, which we'd buy in order to use biodiesel. Why use biodiesel? Well, the diesel Jetta gets at least 42 miles per gallon on the highway. Biodiesel is pretty much completely clean - the only greenhouse gas it produces is NOx. No carbon monoxide, no ozone, none of the other nasty stuff. It simply converts back to CO2 which is what plants use to make oxygen. Go here for more info.

There are tons of people using biodiesel in Portland, and there are several commercial pumps we can use. There's also a co-op, where we can get it at about half price for putting in some work time. If we go someplace that doesn't have biodiesel, we can switch to regular diesel at any time. Plus with biodiesel, apart from engine oil, there's absolutely no reliance on foreign or domestic oil. No drilling in Alaska. No sending money to the Middle East. What's not to love?

I've also dusted off the old bicycle and I'm trying to use that for shorter trips. I rode to knitting group the other night, and it was so much fun (other than a sore tushie - it has gotten soft after not being on a bike in over 6 years!). I could check out people's yards, smell the flowers as I rode by, feel the wind in my face... I was puffing like a steam engine after the first couple blocks and arrived at knitting red-faced and sweating like a pig, but I still had a mighty fine time!

The other big thing that has been keeping me from knitting is my nursing moms group. We are gearing up for World Breastfeeding Week, which is the first week in August. We're planning to do little coffee meetups around the city all week, and then have a family picnic downtown in Pioneer Square on Saturday. We've renamed ourselves (we are now MomMA - Mom's Milk Anywhere) and are working to get a website, blog and Cafe Press store up and running. My co-founder Chris and I were also interviewed by a reporter from the Oregonian (the big Portland newspaper), and we'll hopefully be the front page story in the Living section sometime during World Breastfeeding Week. Things are really starting to happen! But it's taking up a lot of my time, needless to say...

I have a little lactivist rant in response to a ridiculous newspaper article from NC, but I'll save that for the end of the post. I will be announcing some fun things involving MomMA soon that can involve folks all over the world. Stay tuned!

We had a little excitement in our neighborhood last night...actually, not our neighborhood, but one very close by. It was strange hearing all the helicopters buzzing over our house - reminded me of living in LA! For awhile, we lived in the Miracle Mile district (which is between downtown and Beverly Hills), and there were LAPD helicopters constantly circling over our neighborhood.

Continuing on with the random nature of this post, I'll give you some pictures now.

Yesterday, we got locked out of the house for about four hours. Fortunately, my mother-in-law was home, so we spent the afternoon over there. Unfortunately, all my knitting was locked away from me. Anyway, I took Sydney to her swimming lesson and left Owen with his grandparents. He got soaked playing with the hose and his grammy sent him home in this:



It was so funny to see him walking around in a little dress!

Last weekend, Bill ran in the Oregon State Games 1500m race. Here he is, running himself into the ground on one of the hotter days we've had this summer:



If you click on the picture to get a bigger version, you can see him in the white shirt right below the big red pole. Right in front of super-tan shirtless guy. He came in 5th overall but 1st in his age group (and got a nice medal as a result).

We were going to go berry picking afterwards, since the blueberries and raspberries are going strong right now, but it was too darn hot. We went to a local berry stand instead and got these beauties:



We got six pints of each berry type for $20. So yummy! I held them on my lap for the drive home and totally gorged myself. One of the best things about living in Oregon is all the great produce. Love it!

Speaking of produce, here are some shots of our crazy wild garden. Mind you, this is in our front yard, so it definitely looks interesting from the street...

Here are some of our wild-and-crazy tomato plants (which have totally overrun the green pepper plants, much to Bill's delight (he thinks green peppers are the world's most disgusting food)):



See how many tomatoes are on here?



Unfortunately, they're probably going to ripen while we're on vacation. But I'm hoping that there will still be some good ones when we get back.

For those of you who remember The Pumpkin from last fall, here are some pictures of its offspring. Here is one we transplanted from the burial mound to the garden bed:



And here is what we left growing wild:



It's doing pretty well, but it's kind of under the eaves so it's lacking water and sun. Anyway, we shouldn't lack for pumpkins this fall! Or zucchini...



I am so excited to be swimming in home-grown vegetables! Our berry bushes, on the other hand, don't seem to be producing anything. We've got a couple raspberry bushes that look like they might do something later on, a couple blueberry bushes that have kind of gone dormant, and a bunch of strawberries that have been blooming without producing any strawberries. I guess we'll have to give them some more time to get established or something. In the mean time, we're certainly not lacking fresh berries around here!

Okay, time for me to wrap this up and tackle the mountain of work and laundry that I have to get done before we leave on Saturday. I've been in denial about this trip, so we're going to have a couple of brutal days trying to get everything ready. Wish me luck!

As promised, here's my lactivist rant. First, go read this ridiculous article from the Daily News of Jacksonville, NC. And here follows my response:

Dear Ms. Toler.

I just finished reading your article "Some food for thought for nursing moms" from the July 7 Daily News. While you made some interesting points, I strongly disagree with your statement that breastfeeding needs to be done in private.

First of all, you contradict yourself when talking about the Victoria's Secret incidents. The moms there were trying to use dressing rooms to nurse (which, I think anyone would agree, are a private place), but were refused and directed to the restrooms instead. None of the moms actually breastfed in the store - they politely asked permission first and told that breastfeeding in the stores was against company policy (which is untrue).

You go on to say that you're a strong supporter of breast feeding and don't find anything shameful, weird or strange about it. You state that you preferred to feed your daughters in private because you wanted to give them your full attention and let them nurse in a calm, quiet environment. That is great, but just because you preferred to feed your daughters in a private spot doesn't give you the right to say that everyone else must do it the same way. And planning your outings around your baby's feeding schedule isn't always possible, either. I've breastfed two kids, and they were extremely different. My daughter would eat on a two-hour schedule which you could almost set your watch by. My son, on the other hand, hasn't gone more than three hours without nursing since birth (and he's now over a year old). Now that he's older, he can go a few hours during the day without eating. When he was younger, however, he would go through phases where he'd want to eat every half hour for a few hours at a time. It was impossible to predict what his schedule would be. I suppose I could've just never left the house, but how fair would that be to my daughter who would be forced to miss playdates and trips to the zoo just so I wouldn't have to offend anyone with the sight of the back of my baby's head.

Which brings up my next point. I can't believe that you actually compare breastfeeding in public to being nude. That's just beyond ridiculous. In general, you have a thousand opportunities a day to see women who are showing much more exposed flesh than any breastfeeding mom. Just go into Victoria's Secret. They may be covering the dreaded nipples, but there's a lot more breast shown by those models than I've ever displayed while breastfeeding either of my kids. People are not uncomfortable with breastfeeding because of the exposed flesh, they're uncomfortable because it's something they hardly ever see. I used to feel that way myself, before I had kids and surrounded myself with breastfeeding friends. Same with my husband. Both of my aunts had babies right around the time that we got married, and they were unconcerned about nursing anytime and any place. It made my husband uncomfortable at first, but these days he doesn't even notice when a friend is feeding her baby on our sofa. He sees it so often that there's no shock value. It's as normal as seeing me eating lunch.

You're right, being a mother is full of inconveniences. When the health benefits of breastfeeding are so incredible (reduced risk of SIDS, allergies, respiratory problems, diabetes, obesity, higher IQ, and on and on), why would you want to make it more difficult than it has to be by forcing women to go to great lengths to make other people "comfortable"? When I breastfeed in public, I'm not trying to make an "in your face" statement. I'm not trying to make any statement at all. I just want to be left alone to feed my baby the best food he can get in peace. If you have a problem with that, you have the right to look away.

I sent this in as a letter to the editor, but I don't know if they'll print it since I'm from Oregon (and who cares what some crazy person from Oregon thinks, right?). Do any of you guys live in NC? If so, and you'd be willing to write a letter to the editor, please let me know.

Thanks, guys! And I'll see you on the other side of summer-vacation-road-trip-from-hell. I'm thinking optimistically about it already.

Better late than never, right?

Since I'm a day late in posting, I'll do socks first and then talk about myself (in order to spare those of you who are only interested in socks).

We have a few late June socks trickling in:

Crazy Basket Lady Karen finished two pairs of stripey Regia socks.

Yvonne knit up some sample socks for me, but you won't be able to see them until the Winter issue of Interweave Knits comes out. But let me tell you now, they are awesome!

And Abigail had two more June pairs that I neglected to put into my last post (oops!) - a rosy pair of Conwys from Knitting On The Road, and a pair she's dubbed Rivendell.

Wendy, our on-the-road knitter, finished a pair of Broadripple socks and another pair of Broadripple socks. Hmm - she must've liked the pattern or something!

Now for our July entries...

Karen has two pairs done already!

MissyJoon finished some lilac Simply Lovely Lace socks.

Adelle finished some Hederas!

Adrienne knit up a lovely blue pair, which I can show you, and some top-secret socks, which I can't!



Ragan finishes off the updates with a bright, bright pair of orange socks for her son.

Whew! Now that that's over with, I'm going to leave you to get some work done. I am just too busy these days to do much blogging! I am hoping that things will get better in the fall. Also, you should know that I'm going to be on vacation starting Saturday, so I'm not sure if sock updates will be happening until I get back. Keep sending them in, and if I can manage to find a wireless network and a free minute, I'll try to post them. If not, expect one mega massive post when I get back!

And I know you're never supposed to post that you're going to be gone, so I'm going to remind any potential thieves about our top-notch home security system, nosy neighbors who are home all day and that guard dog that we'll be starving all week so he's good and hungry if anyone should happen to break in.

August B-day Swap Questionairre

What day is your birthday?
8/11

Are you crafty?
I like to think so! I used to do counted cross stitch a lot and have done some artsy stuff like paining and drawing. But lately it's been all about the knitting.

Would you enjoy things like: Buttons, ribbons and embellishments?
Definitely! Esp. stuff I could use in my knitting, like a ribbon for a pretty sweater tie or big buttons for a felted bag.

Do you dye your own wool?
I haven't ever done this, but would love to try someday!

Do you like to scrapbook or make homemade cards?
This is one of those things I just don't have time for.

What small project would you be interested in making? Socks, mittens, scarf, hat, baby items, wash cloths, doilies, shrugs etc
I'm always up for socks...

What are your favorite scents?
Cucumber, vanilla, citrus, melon, anything clean.

Do you like stationary and cards?
Yup! Esp. knitting-related, but anything cute/pretty is good.

Do you like hand lotions or soaps?
I love them, but don't ever seem to use them. Candles would get more use from me...

Do you like to sew or embroider items?
Again, don't have time to do this.

Do you like beads?
Yes! I do make beaded stitch markers, so fun beads are always enjoyed.

What kind of mail-able snacks do you like to eat?
Well, chocolate is my favorite, but I'll also eat anything salty and love hard caramels.

Do you like to wear costume jewelry? Necklace, earrings, bracelets etc.
I love them but don't ever seem to wear them.

Do you like to play cards or board games?
I am a Trivial Pursuit fiend, and used to play cards all the time but haven't lately. Can't wait until I can start playing w/ my daughter.

What are your favorite colors of yarn?
I love earth tones - deep oranges, greens, browns and reds. For sock yarn, anything goes!

Do you like solid, variegated, heathers, or self stripping yarns?
All of the above!

Do you like kitchen magnets or key rings?
I used to collect magnets, but now we have a stainless steel fridge and they don't stick - so sad! I would love a cute key ring - right now my keys are on an ugly metal coil.

Do you like picture frames?
Yes!!!

Do you like to make/or use stitch markers?
Yes!!!

Do you collect anything?
Simpsons chotchkes.

Do you have any allergies? Smoke, food, fiber, pets, etc..
No allergies, but strongly prefer smoke-free.

Do you have any hobbies?
Um, knitting?

Do you like scented or unscented candles?
Definitely scented.

Are you a fiber snob?
Yes, and I become more of one every day. Although I did just do some designs using Lion Brand yarn and was pretty impressed with their stuff. I really liked working with the Lion Cashmere and Microspun. Go figure!

So that's what it's for!

And here I thought my laptop was for surfing the 'net. I wasn't quite fast enough to get a picture of him when he first got up there and was dancing on it...

This kid has no fear. He is constantly climbing on things, standing on tables, etc. This morning we were at the park, and he scrambled up the playstructure and was running around on the highest platform (scaring the bejeezus out of me). Sydney has always been cautious - she's just now getting to the point where she'll go down slides by herself and climb up to the top of the play structure without screaming at me that I need to hold her hand. Not Owen - he just clambers right up there, no fear at all. I'm afraid. It's a good thing we're well-insured...

I don't have any new knitting to talk about. Still working away on the 2nd Y2Knit design. So, nothing to see here. I did want to tell all you parents about an amazing book I've been reading called Hold On To Your Kids. It is all about how in our current culture, kids above a certain age tend to be peer-oriented rather than adult-oriented, and this is what is causing all the problems our society is having with drug-use, promiscuity, violence/aggressiveness and just a general lack of discipline. The theory is that all humans, and children especially, have a very strong drive to form attachments. The idea is that they will attach to their parents, and the parents will act as guides and teachers for them until they are mature enough to function on their own. However, in our current obsession with raising independent, self-sufficient kids (and also the time-crunch that most parents are under, along with all the things that are trying to separate kids and parents), we're really turning their attachment drive from their parents to each other. So basically kids end up parenting each other, with less-than-ideal results.

It's an extremely interesting, eye-opening book and I'd recommend it to any parent, regardless of what your current parenting philosophy is, if you're interested in looking at new ways to keep your kid from getting into trouble when they enter those challenging teen years.

Okay, I was going to talk some more, this time about the new Al Gore movie An Inconvenient Truth, but the boy just woke up so you're spared.

Stay tuned for details on Sock-A-Month 2! Anyone up for making some buttons?

Super Sock Sunday!

Or should I say Super (super) (super) Sock (sock) (sock) Sunday (Sunday) (Sunday)? You know, like those Monster Truck Rally commercials? Anyway, I'm hoping Blogger will be more cooperative this time. If not, maybe I'll take Jennifer's suggestion and go get Firefox. I have been on IE forever - I'm such a dinosaur. It's not that I like it, particularly, I just don't dislike it enough to bother getting myself a different browser.

Anyway, enough about browsers. Let's see those socks!

First of all, Jenn has an old pair of May brownie points that I forgot to count. Sorry I missed them, because they are rockin'! Although they do seem strangely familiar... Are you sure I didn't post them? Are you trying to sneak in an extra brownie point? You're lucky I'm too lazy to go back and check...(although any of you thinking of telling me that I missed 64 of your brownie points, think again! My memory is bad, but not THAT bad...). Oh, yeah - she also finished her June socks!

Zonda whipped up some Fixation Footies.

Siri the Wonder Knitter has four pairs for us. Mom's May Socks, Zutanos, Marble Socks and Regia Strato socks for Father's Day. Whew!

Ragan finished more little blue socks for a brownie point.

Jen finished up some nicely matching striped socks for her grandfather.

Michelle finished up some tiny little socks for CIC:



Karen finished a lovely pair of Fisherman's Socks 2.

Quikeye finished up a perfect pair of Pomatomi.

Carry finished up a cute little pair of fraternal twins for the Dulaan Project.

Johanna finished some striped Meilenweit socks.

Julie has finished some socks that she thinks are "the most hideous socks this side of the Mississippi". You'll have to go see them for yourself...

Helga finished some swirly socks of her own design.

Roberta knit up some 4th of July Footies. How patriotic!

Brianne has two pairs - one red and one blue.

Christine finished a nice baby blue pair of baby cable rib socks.

Sheri's also got red and blue pairs of socks for some brownie points.

Dave finished a pair of blue socks, one of which he knit toe-up, the other top-down (he gives a review of both methods).

Christy finised a lovely pair of Trekking XXL socks.

Kris finished a pair of Fairgrounds Socks of her own awesome design.

Karen finished some electric blue socks with her first attempt at dying yarn.

Living Lakeside knit up some pretty blue socks.

Sonya finished her hubby's Norwegian Stockings. What a lucky guy! I have promised Bill that one of my very next designs will be for his feet, but they're just. So. Big.

Abigail (who I just found out is also going on the sock cruise - yay!) finished two June pairs.

Adrienne finished a super funky pair of Pomatomuses.

Kristy knit these lovelies for June:



Jessica came in just under the wire with some Embossed Leaves.

Persnickety Knitter snuck in a pair of blue Trekking XXL socks.

And Choomon is our very last entry for June, with a pair of Simply Lovely Lace socks.

Finally, I will announce our lucky winner. It is...Sonya! If anyone deserves it, she does for knitting TWO pairs of Norwegian stockings in the month of June. Just in time for summer! Get me your addy and I will send you a nice yarny prize.

Since Blogger seems to be a little more cooperative today (although it will probably stop now that I've said that), I'm going to try to show you a few more pics. First, the missing yarn pic from my trip to Knot Another Hat the other day:



Isn't it purty? I can't wait to dig into that Cascade 220, although it is a bit hot to knit with in the middle of summer.

Next, we have my 2nd package from my One Skein Secret Pal:



She sent a cute little card, a recipe for Honey Mustard Chicken that looks totally yummy, and a little hank of Tartelette from Knit One Crochet Two. It's so pretty, and not something I would normally buy for myself (which is a good thing - I tend to get stuck in a plain wool-only rut). Thanks, pal!

Oh, she also sent me a couple sheets of stickers. They didn't make the picture because they were otherwise engaged:



Not the best picture of Sydney, but it's the best she would give me. This was taken this morning, and she's still running around with stickers all over her, crazy girl!

And since I have a girl picture, I took one of the boy and his new haircut:



It's a tad bit uneven, but it was the best I could do. Bill held him down while I slashed and Owen screamed his little head off. He does NOT like getting his hair cut. But we decided it was time since his bangs were very much in his eyes.

I am knitting away on my Knitscene design, and I am just delighted at how it is turning out. It's a fast knit, and it's so cute. I can't give too much more away, but I definitely want to make one for myself! That is one of the definite downers about designing - you don't get to keep most of your knitting! And you don't have time to make your own copy of everything. I know, I know, boo-hoo. Time to get back to it! If I don't get back before the holiday, have a great 4th everyone!