the emotional life of sølje

So I decided that I need to find the Alan Dart Gnome Pattern (wonder how many hits I will get with this being in my blog), and I came across a board with a lady stating that her Barnes and Noble had the Simply Knitting mag on the shelves and the gnome pattern was in it (this post was dated 7-29-2007, just two days ago). So I decided to run out there and grab a copy.

Well, first… they have the magazine wrapped in plastic so their kitschy freebee is with the magazine! GRRRRR. Means I can’t thumb through it!!!
Second… there is nothing showing on the front cover that states the issue (is the July or August’s issue?)
Third… there isn’t enough information regarding what is inside the magazine!!
Fourth… before I even went to BnN, I went to Simply Knitting’s website to see what was in the latest issue, and no luck!! Looking at a subscription website for back issues, I think this is July’s magazine. Do I dare Simply Order an August issue?
So, do the Brits Simply Like a knitter to be Simply Surprised with their Simply Knitting?

No Gnome inside. An Alan Dart Pirate pattern instead. I am a Norske searching for the Alan Dart GNOME for goodness sake. I feel like a stalker at the moment.

I won’t even discuss the parking lot outside BnN, as it always is like walking across the Indy 500 racetrack. I think I need to stay in my safe home and shop online… if I could only find that pattern online!

Tags: Fiber Art that doesn't fall into one catagory, Knitting by Solje
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Here is some of the progress on the circle quilt I started yesterday. I also gained the enthusiasm of a little apprentice! Daniel decided he needed to be creative and started making some scrap collages. Pictures are from last night. Today he created another little gem. I am may do some FMQ over the top to completely secure his pieces (some had fusing already, others he used a glue stick).

And over the weekend we cleaned out the garage and pink room (room above the garage) of old technology. His work is having a recycling event and is allowing personal stuff. A good opportunity on our part. It did fill 50% of the back of the truck.

Tags: A Family Affair, Quilting by Solje
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I have been wanting to do a circle quilt, but I don’t want to applique, and I don’t want to fuse. Drunkard’s Path seemed to be a good logical solution. It’s going to be bright and maybe a little garish, but it is making me happy I have many more sets then this to do… I may need to start wearing sunglasses by the time I am done with this quilt.

I only had enough time today to cut the pieces and put together 4 DP blocks. Darrin hasn’t been napping in the afternoon for very long lately, and it’s cutting into my sewing time

Tags: Quilting by Solje
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What happens on a rainy, summer, Washington day? The snails (and slugs) come out. I took the picture with three snails in it first, and then later went snail hunting to find some more. I couldn’t find any more big groups that I originally found them in (there were actually four more snails above the three, but the view wasn’t very interesting, and my back was getting wet from the rain. Thinking now I should have snapped them anyway), I am sure they are currently munching on my weeds as I type this.

Tags: Washington State by Solje
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We left for Ocean Shores, WA yesterday for the night. This is a place that I used to love. For some reason, I wasn’t as excited about it as usual. It may have been the area was not as sunny, maybe driving through depressed towns… I don’t know. Our hotel was ok even though I couldn’t get a room with a balcony and view (we were on the first floor). We stayed at Comfort Inn & Suites, and it was much nicer than the last one we stayed at (The Sands, I think… that was a dive the last time we went to Ocean Shores). I used to think about moving there, but at this point, I am not even considering that in my day dreams!

I was disappointed to see how filthy the beach was. Fireworks stuff leftover still and trash galore. Nonetheless, Daniel had an excellent time!

I am sure Kevin will get some better photos up on one of his sites soon. 1. Flickr 2. Photo Blog

Tags: A Family Affair by Solje
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Kevin’s parents and sisters came to visit last week after flying down from Alaska to attend his brother’s retirement ceremony from the Air Force. Yesterday we took the boys and Kev’s sisters to do some tourist stuff: Space Needle and Center fun, along with a drive up to Edmonds to take a ferry run.

We were able to get some pretty good pics at the beach and ferry, though, mine not as great… but at least the clouds were dramatic. I have a few more on my flickr page (click through one of the pics here), and Kev has some on his flickr site (or click through the Saxophonist below. I love that picture), and photo blog. There is always something interesting going on at the Center. Yesterday was a celebration for Bastille Day. So, when the hands were free I grabbed a few pictures.

The ferry ride was nice. But thanks to 9/11 stuff, walk-on riders now have to disembark instead of being able to ride round trip. It is “free” when traveling east, so it didn’t make much sense to me to have to get off (we paid first since we were traveling west first).

I think that the real story is that Washington State Ferries want to make sure they collect as many fares as possible, so if you get on in Kingston, you have to get off in Edmonds and pay to get back home. Makes sense, I guess, but highly irritating when you have an armload of crap that you have to carry off and on again.

Tags: A Family Affair, Washington State by Solje
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Front is finished. I am trying to think of something different for the back. Basically what I am thinking is making a rectangle back since I don’t like the fact that this pattern’s back is the same as the front. I don’t like a dipping back like that.

So, I will do a diagonal/triangular style. If you see the horizontal line on the finished front, that would be the shoulder. We’ll see how this works out; I may start it tomorrow… maybe.

After midnight… time for bed before I zzzzz off right here!

Pattern: Heartbeat Sweater by Jill Vosburg; www.justonemorerow.com/
Yarn: Something out of my stash that I purchased off eBay a couple years ago (handpainted wool and alpaca, know the colorway was named ‘Storm’)
Needles: US9

Tags: Knitting by Solje
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Happy 40th Birthday to my sweetie!

Tags: A Family Affair by Solje
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All I have to say, is that may bad karma bestow upon the person who decided to steal my cell phone last night. Some dweeb took my LG VX-6000 from my car, charger and all. I heard Bonnie go off in a “guard dog” bark last night, so thanks to her, nothing else had been touched from our garage, my car, or Kevin’s truck.

I had been thinking of upgrading, at least buying a new battery if nothing else (the old one did not keep a good charge, it was dead within minutes, so I typically just kept it plugged in my car adaptor for emergencies. I rarely used it anyway), and after last night, the decision was made for me. So what if it’s been a couple of years since I bought it, and our contract was out of date and I could have bought a new phone without penalty… it was my phone, with pictures of my son, and my contacts. The phone isn’t worth much, good for donation, but it was my phone. What’s worse, this is the second time my phone has been stolen. My first LG VX-6000 was stolen during my last contract period, so I ended up finding one on ebay (box and all, not stolen out of someone else’s car) to activate and use… rather than take the penalty.

For the last few months, I have been looking at reviews on new phones. I decided on an orange enV by LG. LG enV reviews I really wanted a pink phone, but didn’t want a razor… I like the keyboard that the enV had. So, there you go.

Kev had to also get a new phone… so he says. He chose the Motorola MOTOKRZR K1m, which was my second choice.

I tried calling my cell before I suspended the number. The verizon owner was not available… battery probably died. Kevin asked me what I would have said if someone answered… I said, “Jesus is watching you.”

We also purchased a motion light for the front of the house today.

I hope your Sunday was less eventful!

Tags: A Family Affair by Solje
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Happy Birthday, USA! I have been feeling especially emotional lately. I think it’s because I miss my parents. Songs come on the radio that I have heard a hundred times before suddenly have me crying. Kevin and I were talking baseball today, and I remembered Johnny Oates who managed the Rangers had died following being diagnosed with a brain tumor. Anyway, Kevin was reading off a blurb about him having been honored before he died at a game, and that nearly sent me into tears. Today I took Daniel to get a haircut at the same barber shop that I would take Dad to, and while looking at some books with Daniel while waiting our turn, listening to the older gentlemen chatting about all things… again, sent me off into reminisce land. I hate how much has changed over the 5yrs (with both my parents having passed away), but the alternative would have been terrible with both being in terrible condition.

Yesterday we went to Bothell’s parade, ran into some friends, and were later planning to attend a BBQ at their home.

Darrin was a major pill, so I stayed home with him and Daniel and Kev went over. I hated being alone (nevermind being alone with a cranky and crying 4yo–I kid you not, he cried from the time he got up from his nap to darn-near the time he went to bed for the night), and was remembering how the 4th of July was my mom’s 2nd favorite holiday (behind Christmas). She would create great parties, inviting friends, and of course family was always there. Now so much has changed. So, I ate cookies. Granted, they were 4th of July cookies, but I felt really stuck in sorrow.

I hope I can pull out of the tailspin and simply be able to remember my parents without so many tears. I am sure over time it will get a little easier.

My Heartbeat Sweater Progress:
I am not doing very well with measuring for length. But I think I am going to do about eight more rows, and I should be done with the length, then time to fill in the sides.

Pattern: Heartbeat Sweater by Jill Vosburg; www.justonemorerow.com/
Yarn: Something out of my stash that I purchased off eBay a couple years ago (handpainted wool and alpaca, know the colorway was named ‘Storm’)
Needles: US9

BTW, clicking on the firetruck will take you to Kev’s images at flickr. He got some neat ones, including a couple of fireworks shots. He explained the shutter delay/speed on that, but I don’t remember. His photoblog also has great pics too. I wish I would have taken a few pics of the SeaFair Pirates. Their ship “Moby Duck” stopped right in front of us at the parade, and anyone who has witnessed these guys knows that when you hear the winding-up sound, you better cover your ears because a big blast is about to happen! The percussion was enough to about knock you over Here is their album of pics from the parade this year: http://www.seafairpirates.org/PiratePics/archive2007/070704-July4Bothell/Flash01/ Partway down the first page of pics, you’ll see the Duck, take a peek.

Tags: A Family Affair, Knitting, Washington State by Solje
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We are getting closer to finished. I went on a rampage Friday about my frustration on the projects that are just halfway done in our home. We’ve completed a lot of good projects (new windows, roof, endless hot water tank, gas fireplace, new bathroom and quilt room, new deck, poured concrete for new front porch, balcony removed for new overhang above porch, and new office as starters), but we have many smaller scale projects that have sat unfinished for so long. The last biggie will be installing the kitchen cabinets and new flooring in the kitchen (we have to replace some floor due to some water damage), but I don’t see this as being the year that it will happen (hey, it’s been about 5ish years since I bought the cabinets… they’ll be out of style before they get installed!).

So since realistically we can’t start on the kitchen right now (we have family coming in two weeks), I decided that the wainscoting was going to go up. We already had one and half walls finished (since 2003), so I have had partial wallpaper showing since then, and it was time to get that changed. I told Kev that I was going to use his tools, so he humored me and got to work. So now I have two more walls finished, stained and sealed! We have at least one more wall left to do, maybe two if I decide I still want to go down the hallway to the front door with it.

I only have two more doors to replace downstairs, and then I will have to work on the upstairs. ugh. I hate staining, but I hate the painted look even more. Thinking about it, all we really have left to do is:
1. Kitchen cabinets and flooring
2. Daniel’s bathroom (new toilet and sink. We need a new toilet in our bathroom too).
3. Upstairs/downstairs doors need to be replaced and finished (6 doors upstairs, and 2 for downstairs).
4. Three more lights to be replaced (we already have the lights)
5. Carpeting, which I am waiting until we are done with the messy stuff before that happens.
6. Tile the fireplace surround (marble tiling).
7. Some finish work left (one window sill, molding).

All things considered, this is a super short list compared to when we began 10yrs ago.

One of these days we’ll be done. And then we’ll move

Tags: A Family Affair by Solje
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