Monday, December 29, 2008

One sock done!

Finally, one sock is done! I already casted on for the second one. I am dyeing to make something else but I know that if I don't stick to one project I will never finish anything. 

I love how the two circulars don't leave a gap in between like the double points do. Can you see the gap in the middle of the bottom of the sock? you can see were the circulars started because the gap disappears after the last black stripe. 

I love how the sock turned out except that I wish I had had more yarn to make the leg higher but I went as far as I could calculating having enough yarn to finish the second sock. 

Ya terminé una media y comencé la segunda. Me gusta mucho como quedó.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

FELIZ NAVIDAD/ Merry Christmas

Desde California les deseamos a todos una muy Feliz Navidad y que Dios nuestro Señor los llene de bendiciones hoy y siempre.

Merry Christmas and blessings to all of our friends and family. May God bless you all richly.





Monday, December 22, 2008

A treasure of knitting videos by Cat Bordhi in UTube

I am still working in the sock. Yes, the same sock, not the second sock but the first and only sock I have been working on since July that my dad came to visit. Yes, part if the baby and part the tedious 5 needle knitting that makes it go so slow and part is the super fine gauge of 8.5 stitches bla bla bla.... more excuses... bla bla bla.

So, a couple of days ago I read an article from my email subscription to KNITTING DAILY about how this lady became a sockaholic when she found out how much easier it was to knit socks in two circulars instead of double points. I have tried to use two circulars before but I just couldn't figure it out. So I started to google about it and voila! 

I found a video in UTube posted by Cat Bordhi herself:

 



Needless to say I started to knit with two circulars yesterday and I am loving it! the sock is going so much faster!

Check out Cat's wonderful videos for anything you want to learn, they are a true treasure and the best part is... they are free!!!

Thank you so much Cat, you rock!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Caylee Anthony didn't have to die...

I just had to say something about this case because this little girl has been in my heart since day one. I wish someone will bring to people's attention what this case is really about. This case is about a young woman who is unfit to be mother and since pregnant was not up to be a parent or had any desire to rise a child. She was going to give this baby in adoption and her parents pretty much forced her to keep the baby. Big mistake! I think there is a huge need for easy anonymous routes to give children in adoption far pass the first days of birth. This will save children from all kinds of abuse. Also the adoption process needs to be completely redesigned as to make the process easier and inexpensive. With the average adoption process in the US been around $20,000 so many families who will be great adoption candidates are left out. I don't want to blame the grandmother of this child but I think that if she wanted to keep Caylee she should have adopted her granddaughter herself and ask full custody of her instead of forcing Casey to take responsibility of a child she never wanted in the first place. Not that this justifies in any way killing the child of course. It is just so sad, that such a beautiful child had to end up like that, in a plastic bag. It really brakes my heart.

They said in the news that Casey had told her friends that her mother told her she was an unfit mother several times... That means that the grandma new something was wrong. She should have acted to protect the child instead of trying to force Casey to be what she was not. Anyways poor lady I don't want to give her a hard time, I can only imagine her suffering, giving the fact that it was probably she the one that had rise that baby for the most part. 

Most of us parents are in denial when our children don't turn out to be what we expected. And this family continues to be in denial to this day. I think it is that parental denial that frame Caylee's dead.  

I just wish there was a system that would have allowed Casey to give this child up very easily to caring adopting parents. The problem right now is that if the mother does not give the newborn to the authorities right away or within a few days of the birth, giving up a baby or small child is nearly impossible. Wouldn't it be better to let parents give up their unwanted children at anytime? So many children would have a better life if they could be with people who can love them instead of been treated like a "holdback" or a "nuisance".

I could be wrong but I bet there are plenty of people wanting to adopt, enough to match the amount of unwanted children, if the system was easier and cheaper for both parts. And there were no limits on age to give up a baby.

Am I crazy for thinking this way? 

Friday, December 12, 2008

Aunt Ann's visit


J's aunt Ann came to visit! we hadn't seen in her in years! It was great to have her over. Ann is a knitter, so we were able to share a lot about our projects...

La tia de James vino a visitarnos, hace anos que no la veiamos. La pasamos super bien. La tia Ann tambien teje asi que pudimos compartir montones sobre nuestros tejidos...


She made this beautiful hat for Ian. I love it! I hadn't had a chance to make one for him and this one is so pretty and it fits perfectly! Thanks so much Ann!

Le hizo esta gorrita a Ian. Me encanta! Yo no habia tenido tiempo de tejerle una... Le quedo perfecta y los colores me encantan!


She also showed me how to spin yarn... it was fun to learn but I realized afterwards that spinning is not my thing! I think I am going to stick to knitting... lol

Tambien la tia me enseno a hilar lana... Fue interesante aprender pero me di cuenta que eso no es lo mio... Yo me quedo con la tejedera... JA JA 






Fog Delay?

Not for us... What can be better than stay in bed until 8:30 on a cold-foggy day? Get up and do your school in your p-j's while zipping on nice cup of hot cocoa ?

I truly feel sorry for the kids who have to go to school on a day like this... 



Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Bench Project / la banca que pintamos

This is a bench that I got at Woodland. It is really big and just what I was looking for to put Rachel's stuffed animals in. She has soooo many... 
Esta es la banca que compre para poner los peluches de Rachel. Ella tiene un monton!

Here is the finished product. It took more work that I expected to be honest. First you sand it, then you primer it, then sand it again, then paint it pink two coats, sand some parts that were still rough, and finally apply transfers and stickers and a coat of poly to protect the paint. I love it! and so does Rachel. 

Aqui esta la banca terminada. Primero se lija, se le pasa Primer blanco, luego dos capas de pintura rosada, luego lija, y por ultimo el Poli que es como una capa que sella y proteje la pintura. Ah y claro antes del poli se pegan las calcomanias y unas transferencias. A R y a mi nos encanta como nos quedo!