Here are the rest of the general purpose links. While I have time to post.

Free Patterns
http://www.berroco.com/pattern_library.html
http://cache.lionbrand.com/content-knittingPatternIndex.html (registration required)
http://www.straw.com/cpy/free_patterns.html
http://www.canadianliving.com/Crafts/knitcrochet/
http://www.spotlight.com.au/projects/yarn_projects
http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/kategori_oversikt.php

Knitting Blogs
http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/
http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/
http://www.knittingcurmudgeon.com/
http://www.ysolda.me.uk/wordpress/
http://pinklemontwist.blogspot.com/
http://mamastopknitting.typepad.com/mama_stop_knitting/
http://majorknitter.typepad.com/

Yahoo Groups
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/knitlist/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sweetlifeknitters/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Knitting4children/

Tomorrow - some geek stuff, so be warned.

I have 2 babies to knit for - both due in September. My goal is to have knitting boxed and ready to mail on Sept 1.

Here's the Tulip (scroll down) I started last Thursday at SweetLife Knitters Meetup:

Not quite the pattern, but close. Here's the blanket I'll prolly send with it, unless I do something with the matching yarn in time. Lots of finishing, and I prolly will adjust the next one to decrease the amount of finishing. But it's top down, easy (except for the knitting in the round sleeves), and memorizable. And quick. Most likely it will be completed on Thursday, if I can get the size 6 dpns in time.

 

The blanket is white mill end cotton, and will most likely have one more diamond before I begin the decreases. I may or may not embellish

The other set will appear tomorrow.

Yes, folks, apparently some of you ARE reading this. Which means I gotta be more disciplined in posting.

Chicken Pox Update: Hubby was down for a week. He eased back into work last week, but until this past weekend, that was it. He'd go to work, pick up the girls from school, then be useless the rest of the evening. Only the essentials - dog feeding, pool maintenance, trash to the curb - got accomplished. Needless to say, I wasn't Happy Harriet Homemaker. I'm an overweight, cranky, menopausal forty-year old. (Yes, it's menopause. Been confirmed.) So, the house is still recovering.

Finally, this weekend, he seemed back to normal. And then the five year old started having a nose. Sheesh, it never stops.

I started my not quite a tulip baby sweater last thursday, and I've made it to the first sleeve. Knitting in the round on dpns is not my favorite activity, but as a knitter, it's a necessary skill. I tried magic loop, but it stretched the stiches too much. I looked all weekend for the camera, and I found it this morning, so hopefully I'll get some pics up this evening. And I need a set of size 6 dpns.

Back to the day job.

Holey Schmoley! I gotta reader! Someone actually commented! My free knitting patterns reference must have come up on a search list or something.

In other news, the company outing yesterday turned into laser tag. I actually competed in one game, and didn't come in dead last (it was a beginners' game, so death wasn't permanent). I got my immediate supervisor more than he got me. Not bad for a forty year old fat woman with exercise/allergy induced asthma. The fog machine got me though, and I had to sit out the second game. Luckily, I had my knitting.

Kidlies and Hubby are disappearing this afternoon, so I'll take and post some pics then.

So, I finally went to a knitting group last nite, and one of the less computer-oriented asked where to find free knitting patterns. So, Just now, I've gathered the beginnings of a reference list.

General Patterns
http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/baby.html
http://www.elann.com/freepatterns.asp
http://magknits.com/archive/
http://www.knitty.com/
http://www.knittingknonsense.com/
http://www.dailyknitter.com/exclusive.html

Generators
http://www.knittingfool.com/pages/topdown.cfm
http://www.thedietdiary.com/knittingfiend/

I have more bookmarked, but most of the rest are ones and twosies that I'm interested in.

Okay, here goes nuttin'...

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I have skin allergies with both wool and nylon, so I've been enjoying cotton and cotton blends lately. Haven't tried other things.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? Denise case, loose in my knitting drawer.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I consider myself an intermediate knitter. I've been doing this off and on since I learned in 4th grade, 30 years ago.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Yes, at amazon (geek alert).

5. What's your favorite scent? I like strawberry and rose, but due to allergies, the only scents I can really tolerate are vanilla and cinnamon.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? Sweet Teeth, definitely. The only candy I don't like is gummy anything. Butterscotch and butter rum lifesavers are a rare treat, when I can find them.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I don't spin, being allergic to wool. I'm a geek, so in my non-knitting spare time, I futz on the computer with programs.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD). I like any kind of music EXCEPT COUNTRY. And of course I can do MP3s.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? I'm a blue freak, and I don't like orange all by itself, or brown/tan with pretty much anything. Or Teal. (the old windows 95 default background made me want to puke practically every time I saw it.)

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? 3 girls (17.9, 5.5, 3.9), 1 husband (43), 1 dog (6.8). Various parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, fabulous in-laws.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? I've got long hair, so I don't do the hat thing, but I'll snip the fingertips off cheap mittens, if needed.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? I'm having fun with my first top down raglan sweater per Barbara Walker's book, and the tulip baby sweater.

13. What are you knitting right now? See above, plus... cuff to cuff for the youngest, Kelly sweater (from Daily Knitter) for me, something surprising for Demented M, besides the baby's blanket.... (must not cast on, must. not. cast. on.)

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Of course, who doesn't?

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Circs, definitely. I'm a clutz, so they're easier. I use Denise, supplemented by whatever.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Nope.

17. How old is your oldest UFO? There's something upstairs that I started before my nephew was born - he's nine now.

18. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas!

19. Is there anything that you collect? Besides yarn? Crayons, probably. I love the smell. My kids never run out.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I haven't read the harlot in print, just yet, only online. If I subscribed to a magazine, it would probably be to knit n style. Vogue, possibly. I'm getting into design, since I don't usually like the designs that are in the glossies.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Cables are next. I've done one swatch, but I want to get good at it.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Never done that. Wanna learn. My shoe size is 8 wide. (short fat feet)

23. When is your birthday? May 26.

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID? Yes, I'm on ravelry. Kaplooeymom, of course.

There you have it.

Pics coming tonite, I think.

That's what the husband has. The doc said he might get it when the 5 yr old got her shot, so we postponed her shot, and his doc told him to get vaccinated, and he did, then two weeks later, she did, and now he has chicken pox. So it's either from his shot or hers, no one knows. He's pretty miserable, and pretty disgusted with the medical advice, and I'm exhausted from sole care of girls, and they miss their dad.

(New Paragraph, finally.) I have knitting pics, but I haven't taken the time to sit at the computer in the evenings and upload them from the camera. Today is Thursday, which means Grandmother gets them from daycare, and keeps them until about 8-ish (ish can be anywhere from 15 to 50 minutes, BTW), so I can work late or relax. So maybe I'll get stuff done then. Don't count it.

At the day job, I have to rassle with InstallShield script - who knew how complicated a progress bar could be?

I saw this on a blog, somwhere, and had to try it...

Link: The Which Ancient Language Are You Test written by imipak on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Barely. Husband is sick - started sunday afternoon when he came home from weekend work. He's pretty sick, fever/chills, dizzyness, soreness everywhere. Since he hates me to fuss over him, I just concentrate on the girls. So I get pretty cranky sometimes.

The party was a success, for the most part. I tried to take pictures, but of course the batteries were low, and the moment was lost.

AC Moore has/had a one day sale today, and I found some fuschia Microspun for 1.87 a ball - I got all 7 balls left. I'm trying to schedule in a trip to the other store to see if they have some. I'm working on a microspun baby blanket for one of the michelles, and while it's not gonna be pink, the yarn is pleasant to work with, and at that price, I can stock up and work double if I want something thicker.

I'm gonna try to take/post more pics tonite. Either of knitting, little gels, or both.

(Beware, I'm into alliterations.)

I'm hosting a cousins' Christmas in July party tomorrow night. I need to plan dinner and crafty thing for 2 almost 4 yr olds, and 5 to 6 yr olds (We invited the neighborhood boys, but they won't sleep over). If the weather holds, I'll wear them out in the pool, then plop them in front of a project while I fix the food.

I'm trying to figure out what exactly to feed them. The craft is set - I got cheap t-shirts and fabric markers, and I need to pick up some stencils, and we're set.

I'm getting a tiny bit exhausted just thinking about this, but the kids just love it when I do this, so I try to do one every other month, when the husband is scheduled to work all weekend.

Brain break is over, back to coding at the day job.