Marie Grace Designs

The best knitting...

2009-11-05T08:15:22-05:00

Ya know there's lots of kinds of knitting like "Dang its cold out and I need a hat" knitting and gift knitting and something to do knitting and for some of us there's even work knitting. But you wonder if they'll like it and should you even bother and will it fit or heaven forbid they decide they're allergic to wool.

When did it all get so complicated?

Well yesterday a friend and I threw off our responsibilities (I've got deadlines and she's a mom who has returned to college) and went out for Greasy Burgers of Death for lunch (with fries) and then spent the afternoon camped out in my living room with yarn and daytime TV. It was blissful. The best knitting ever.

It was the most relaxing afternoon I've had in eons. We both have kids and we both have dogs so she wasn't concerned about the toys on the sofa or the hair balls on the floor and she drinks coffee too. We chatted some and were quiet some and we did a lot of knitting. Such a pleasant reminder of how completely liberating greasy burgers and an afternoon of knitting can be.

When in Rome...

2009-11-01T14:06:40-05:00

Well maybe not Rome but the living room will do.

It seems that we've had a successfully relaxing weekend complete with movies (Hitchcock, Jules Verne, and Bram Stoker) and homemade soup (potato and mushroom chowder... yum).

Tater didn't even get out of her PJs all day on Saturday and to top it off she ever so unceremoniously parked herself in this laundry basket at my feet and there she stayed for quite some time watching movies with me. I'm not really sure why she felt compelled to camp out in a basket but who am I to question a 5 year old? Especially one who has a tissue paper ghost on a stick.

And while Tater camped in a basket at my feet Tucker snoozed on the floor at her feet and several cats were dreaming away amongst the quilts piled at the end of the other sofa right by the window. People... you often couldn't get this sort of day even if you paid big money so I consider it a very good day indeed.

And even better yet... while all these smallish creatures kept me company I did some knitting. Hours worth of knitting actually that is well on its way to being a new design. At least that's the plan.

So how about your weekend? Was it full of relaxing and knitting or candy and monsters?

Happy Halloween aka...

2009-10-31T11:16:43-04:00

an entire day devoted to sitting on my butt, eating candy with the kids, watching movies, and KNITTING!

Hitchcock at noon and Bram Stoker to follow... good times!

(Is that a knit sweater she's wearing.... hmmmm......)

To add to the creepiness it seems that Mac Daddy left a coffee cup in the basement a few days ago and it has grown itself a neat little mold garden which in our (slightly weird) house means there's an excuse for FlyBoy to drag out his microscope. These sorts of occasions generally start out pretty calm and mostly educational but quickly disintegrate into giggles and boys spitting on glass slides and hunting through the house and yard for all the sorts of things I try to kill with obsessive cleaning. Talk about a nightmare.

So here's wishing you a Happy Haunty day with a bit of knitting and lots of candy... but wash your hands first!

Knitting, cake, and daytime TV...

2009-10-27T10:11:25-04:00

Look! Knitting...

Its a grey, rainy day... perfect for knitting and coffee and cake.

And speaking of cake... I made this here cake because some lady on TV was doing an interview with some other lady about how to eat food you really like but in a way that won't make your butt big. I don't know how much of it I believe but I really liked the sound of the cake so I whipped one up.

All you do is use a boxed chocolate cake mix but instead of adding the eggs and oil like the box says you just add a can of pumpkin. You also add the water that's called for but that's it. The theory is that by replacing the eggs and oil with the pumpkin you save calories and add fiber and stuff.

Its actually pretty good but it is a bit heavier than making it the regular. Of course I don't want cake without topping so I'm pretty sure that when I slapped a blob of cream cheese topping on top of that cake I pretty much negated any calorie savings gained by using the pumpkin. Blah! Save money not calories!

See what happens when the kids go off to school and leave me here with yarn and daytime TV? I'm watching all those chatty ladies on TV and getting all worried about cake and my butt. Well not really. I just wanted the cake to go with my coffee and knitting because daytime TV sucks so it better give me cake.

2009-10-26T09:50:05-04:00

Well this week is starting out with a doctor appointment for one sick kid and the others are all in some state of minor illness but at least nobody has the flu.

Along with that is my calendar which somehow has some sort of disturbance penciled in for every day all week. Maybe I need to write "Knit" on the calendar.

Anyways... thanks for all the kind words per my last post. Things will work out as they always do... its keeping it all in perspective until then that can be difficult at times.

Since I've no knitting to show at this moment I'll leave a few pics I snapped around the house this weekend while the sun was shining.

Tater's punkin...

Our tiny little barn (on a big hill)...

The fall lettuce is still doing well (thanks to the fence that keeps the geese and the goats from eating it all right out of the ground)...