Update.....

67 days, really! That's all I have until this baby gets here.....*sigh* I'm ready but I think I need more time. As you can see time has not been my friend lately, I seem to run out of it frequently. Maybe it's the attention the little guy needs or maybe it's that my house is still in a disarray but we are coming to the end & I am happy to say that today we get electricity in the room & the tile in the shower will be done. Next weekend we will have running water! Then the fun begins, decorating! Any ideas ladies? Anything in your bedroom that you were so glad you put, painted or planted in there that you want to share?We did get a bed (our old one is a queen size) & bedding. I searched for bedding for hours on the internet, with no luck, it's so hard to tell the colors and what you are going to get quality-wise. So I was off to many different stores in our area & settled for some Martha Stewart Bedding from Macy's & was pleased once I got it home & the colors worked. I still need to get the bed skirt on & Matt is going to help me make a headboard. I found this link, it looks simple...so it's off to JoAnn's for fabric!
Jack had his surgery last week & I am glad to say is doing great! No infection, no split stitches & he can finally get a real bath tonight after 5 days! He was a real trooper. I got to save his little hospital gown & it now has a special spot with his older brother's hospital gown. Justin was 3 when he got his tonsils out, now when Cole gets here he will have to accquire one too!

Sadly knitting has still been scarce. Ruby has given me a little bit of a headache & I am thinking she needs to be put away for a little bit so we can get a break from each other. I am making a ring bearers pillow for my SIL's wedding in June so I have to start that. It's really like knitting 2 dishcloths & sewing them together, it shouldn't be that hard & my little man will be carrying it down the aisle. In the meantime I did start my conatiner garden on the deck & I love it. I have so many different herbs. Chamomille, Stevia & Catnip for tea. Rosemary, Basil, Thyme, Oregeno, Chives, Parsley & Cilantro for cooking. Around Memorial Day I will add the veggies! Yummy!

Hope all is well with you all.....

Loco Loco

Time flies by when your house is under construction. The days get away from me faster than I can blink & by 9 p.m. I am tired & wanting to go to bed. Maybe it's that I only have a 101 days left before the baby comes, maybe I am just getting old. Whatever the case I have been up to things, I just haven't had time to share....so here it goes. Short & sweet.Ruby is cooking along & is the only thing that I am working on at the moment. Ruby is more challenging & only gets worked on at night when the kids are tucked away. I am past the second armhole & am looking forward to the end, so I can start on the sleeves.I made these cute little letters for the Easter/Spring holiday for my mantle. Cardboard letters from JoAnn, painted by me with a cute little cutouts from JoAnn hot glued onto them. I had to take it easy for a couple of weeks because of a low-lying, torn placenta....I was kind of on "couch rest." But after another sonogram this past week I have been given the OK & everything fixed itself. These letters were a result of my "couch rest" period.I had baskets for everyone on Easter morning, including one for my husband. It consisted of some of his favorite candies & these really cool beer bands. I rediscovered Pier 1 Imports recently & found these there. Just like us ladies have wine charms the men can now have beer bands.My FIL brought me back these wonderful truffles from Belgium, If you have never had Belgium truffles or Belgium chocolate I insist that you try it. Find someone headed over there & beg them to bring you back some of these. You won't be sorry. It made my Easter so much better!Honestly, I could run off a list of the things that have been going wrong in our home. From the 4 hours I spent at Pep Boys the day before Easter with a 15-month old getting my car fixed, only to come home exhausted & find that my husband & our drywall-er had ripped out a Living Room ceiling because of a leak/crack. Which in under most circumstances isn't awful but when you are having Easter dinner the next day it's kinda bad.

But the worst is that 2 days before Easter we found out that the little boy you see there with that smiling face has a hernia & needs surgery. I am contemplating running away for a while until all the craziness is over. It's starting to wear me down. Anyone know any good pregnant lady vacation spots?

Miss you all.....I am going to go to my Google Reader now to catch up on all of you!

Felicity

I finished Felicity a couple of weeks ago & forgot to post it! It was a simple knit & I really love this hat. Looks great on, especially from the front but I won't show you my unwashed, raccoon-eyed tired face today, don't want you all to loose your breakfast.

I have been working on the remainder of Ruby like a mad woman, I am past the second armhole & cruising along. It's my night time knitting because nothing gets done during the day.

Today I have electricians here, and this weekend they broke into the main part of the house & tore out the walls separating Sabrina & Jack's rooms. Lots of dust & lots of cleaning today....here is shot of what used to be Sabrina's wall & Jack's Closet...all gone...

Just call me Slacker!

I know, I have been terrible. It's bad when you feel guilty because you haven't kept up with all your cyber-friends blogs. Not commenting or ohhing & ahhing over their creative talents. My creativity hit a wall these past couple of weeks. But it is slowly coming back.

I have spent most of my online time picking out faucets, shower heads, body sprays, sconces, ceiling fans(I still have yet to find one I like), recessed lighting and a new bed. I sit down at night for what should be a few minutes of searching for the perfect sconce & 3 hours later I wonder where the time went. This experience has taught me one thing, I am not fit mentally to ever take on the task of building a home from the ground up, Matt & I would end up in divorce court, or living together in our beautiful new home, sleeping in separate rooms. Here is the progress so far.
On the creative front..................a big fat ZERO! Nothing to share, nothing to show. But as soon as I finish this post I am off to put the trim on those PJ pants that have been haunting me for 3 weeks. Now I see why so many bloggers skip the trim on these babies.

I did get home to see my mom 2 weekends ago & she gave me a stash of vintage material that was in her attic. Most of it is from the 70's ans 80's when she was in full on sewing mode!My favorite piece is that of Henrietta Hippo from a show that my sister & I used to watch(click her to see a YOUTUBE of the show & see if you can figure our who the mailman is!) called The New Zoo Revue. I can still hear the theme song in my head!

Charmed....I'm sure

This lovely neck warmer started out as Felicity, I got to the decreases & realized I was going to need another skein. After a frantic, 20 minute search online, I came to the realization that I was not going to find my colorway, the yarn, Charmed, has been discontinued & everyone was pretty much sold out. So I went to Ebay & bought 2 skeins, that match, in a Raspberry color. So I will cast Felicity on again this week!

*House update....this neck warmer is hiding my cold sores, 3 in all! I look like a leper & it is because of this house. So much going on & getting to my washer to do the laundry is a challenge since I have a large pile of dirt in front of it....God help me. They start ripping the roof off this weekend.

Purple Overload

Purple seems to be the theme around here. I finished the Rose Hill Hat for my Aunt Lilia & I am making another one for my mother in a lighter purple. Now that the scarves for my daughter's dance school have also been done I have been working on Haven in the evening & just love the way it is turning out. I think I may cut back to using 2 skeins instead of the recommended 3....it's very long with 1 skein already....with the leftover I am thinking of making Felicity, inspired by A.D.D. knitter.

Confessions of a Disgruntled Housewife

I am disgruntled, I want spring to be here and for my house to have open windows & fresh air. I want my Lilac bush to blossom and smell heavenly. I want to play outside with my son and feel the sun on my face. I want to grill food on my deck and sit outside on the front porch to have my morning tea. I want to wear my Hunter "wellies" in the spring rains. I want birds chirping & see flowers blooming. Is that so much to ask? Well I asked, and it's not really happening. So to combat my spring blues, I made a spring apron......I am on a bit of a sewing kick, learning something new can be so invigorating!

I found this pattern in Amy Butlers book...In Stitches. I think I did really good for my second project. Right now I am tackling the Amy Butler Wide Leg PJ pants. Stay tuned....

Some of my FLiCkr.com friends have already heard & seen some photos. This past week we started a 5th bedroom onto the house, while searching for the drainage to our new bathroom we found this. A secret room underneath our garage. Nothing was holding up my cars except for about six of these beautiful 2x4's & a steel beam that had rotted away & fell down, it was a disaster waiting to happen. I'm just glad we found it. So before we can add the bedroom we have to fix this problem. The bonus is that this dirty, gross room will now be a "theater room" in our basement. We are going to have to bust through a wall in our already finished basement but I am all about utilizing space.

This one is for Abi....these are some vintage plates that were my Grandmother's. They hung in her house as long as I can remember. All they are is pieces of material that were cut out & seem to have been dipped in glue then pasted onto the plate to make a Victoian man & woman. The glue has browned over the years & the black painted outline of the plates is not in great shape, but I keep them in my kitchen & think of Grammie everytime I look at them. She passed away in 2005 at 94 years young.

A little something to keep you warm...Bobby's Sick Soup.

I had a friend who was a great cook, we were friends, about a decade ago, so I can tell this story now. She was in her late 40's & a great mom(though her kids were off in college), great wife, great friend.....she had one little indiscretion. His name was Bobby, yes she took a lov-ah, in her defense her husband was not a very good communicator but they are still together from what I hear.
One time Bobby was sick & she took him this soup with a nice loaf of bread & a down comforter to keep him warm.....she was a great girlfriend too! I remember stopping by her house & she had stored this soup in a giant ball jar & was headed over to see him.....she rolled the recipe to me off the top of her head, I think I got it right & quite frankly have never written it down....until now.....for all of you.

Bobby's Sick Soup*
1 rotisserie chicken
1 cup of mild slasa
3/4 cup of rice
1 can of mexi-corn
black beans(optional)
48 oz. of chicken broth
32 oz. of chicken stock

Put broth & stock to a large pot. Add salsa, corn & rice. Pick apart the breast of the chicken, tearing into pieces. Add to pot. You can simmer all day if you like or out it on Med./High until the rice is cooked through. Serve with a nice crusty loaf of bread, I bought a loaf of Pan Bigio at Giant Eagle OR if you are feeling ambitious you can hop over to Leslie's & grab the link to a homemade loaf of bread.....enjoy!
*I think I might need to come up with a new name.

This is what has been going on over here....

I wish I could tell you all that I have been doing some fabulous knitting but it has been really boring.

I am doing some striped garter stitch scarves to be used at my daughter's dance school for a recital number that hails from Mary Poppins. The little girls are dancing to Chim Chim Cheree & are dressed as chimney sweeps....all black....dirty faces and they only splash of color will be scarves. I taught a group of moms at the school to knit a couple weekends ago & while most got it some were not bitten with the bug. A couple ladies were. We need 19 scarves by February, I have turned out 3 & am working on my 4th. My duaghter isn't even in this number.....oh, the things I could be knitting.In sewing news....I took a class at JoAnn Fabrincs & walked away with this. Not bad for my first project. I hope to get some more sewing in......we will see if time & kids permit me! Aprons are fun. I think I might try one from the book A is for Apron...I picked it up at JoAnn's when I got me other sewing notions!

Malabrigo

Anything I knit in Malabrigo, always pills....why? I don't understand, it makes me so mad! I paid good money for the yarn & somehow I end up looking like I grabbed some item at the Salvation Army & threw it on. Does anyone have advice? What do you block it with? How do you block it? Does it pill? Erin & A.D.D. Knitter both use Malabrigo & their things never seem to pill.....am I cursed?

The Winner is.......

Kristin!
I had hubby pull a name out of a hat & you are the winner. E-mail with your info!

I met up with Leslie at Knit One last week & bought some great yarn by Rowan called Cocoon.
It is so soft & smooth. I started knitting Haven (Ravelry link) & can't stop.....it is such a pretty scarf. I am hoping to have it done next week.

Namaste' & a contest...

Last post I told you all what I look forward to for this year! Leave a comment here & tell me what you are looking forward to, and get a chance to win this bag. It was a birthday gift & I really wanted it but it just never worked right for me. Contest ends this Saturday, January 10th at Midnight.

Bring on 2009!

As I sat down to reflect on the year ahead with all of you I started to panic slightly. I realized how much I have ahead of me. It was scary. The scariest part was the realization that I don't know that I will have a lot of "me" time.

As many of you know my mom is not doing well, and after her appointment on the 30th of December the doctor told her to just go home, call hospice, and enjoy her time. So I will be traveling home quite a bit to see her. Sometimes with the kids, sometimes without.

On top of that, my sister-in-law gets married on June 13th, my daughter's BIG recital is June 20th, my baby arrives somewhere around July 24th & oh yeah, we are adding a 5th bedroom over the garage. Which in itself is HUGE, but then I realized Sabrina will be moving into our old room(it will need painted) Jack into Sabrina's old room(it will need painted) baby-to-be into Jack's old room(it will need painted because we are taking a wall down in there). Hold on a sec.....panic attack coming on! *breathe, Keana, breathe* Was it's God's joke not to give mother's 8 arms, because we really needed them!What I would really like to do is take a sewing class at JoAnn's ( I think I just might). Sew more, organize my home, finish knitting Ruby, attend the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival, get my D90 fixed(the LCD screen broke) Flickr more, cook less, & organize my yarn storage chest. Wow, I really try to make it all about me, but somehow it just never works out that way.
I started my first project yesterday, going through 3 big plastic bins full of old photos. I went to JoAnn's & got these. I started labeling photos & trying to remember what year they were taken. It will take me a couple weeks but I know it can be done. I guess my overall New Year's Resolution is to be MORE ORGANIZED!!!!! It would make my life so much better.
Happy New Year bloggy friends, I couldn't imagine going through all this craziness without you guys!

We interrupt this blog........so mom can rest.

Hey guys, Christmas was great, it was my first & I really had fun. But mom is taking a break till January 1. Seems my new sibling is making her tired & sick most days. I will give him/her a talking to when they come out in July!
The hours she feel o.k. she is busy with me & my siblings. She will be back though. Promise! She posted a few photos on Flickr.com, you can find her there under KeanaLee.

Breaking News!

At night this is where we sit, usually watching the television. Tonight was a perfect night for a fire, temperatures are hovering around 7 degrees, tomorrow they will stay in the teens. This gives me hope for my white Christmas, though they are calling for freezing rain on Christmas Eve. Christmas looks cloudy, followed by more rain. My husband says "If there can be precipitation, it could be a Christmas miracle, we could get snow", he thinks because Elmo has Christmas miracles we will too. Do you think he watches too much Sesame Street? Well, there will be a lot of Sesame Street for years to come, Jack is getting another sibling! Yes, I'm having another! They will be 18 months apart & I am due sometime the end of July. I told you my life has been flushed with lots of good news. I'm off to knit a little before bed in front of my fire. Have a good night.

A gift for Sarah

Life's funny. Over the past few weeks I have been hit with a great deal of good news & wonderful things have been happening, everything just seems to be falling into place. Little things, just the other day I got a flat tire, which normally is horrible. But I decided to stop in my chiropracter for an unscheduled visit & when I came out I had a tire on it's way to being kaPooT! Luckily I was right across form a service station, and they put on the spare. Now had I gone to Wal-mart as planned it would of blew on the highway & that would have been ugly.

My husband got a promotion! I got my Christams stuff done, on time! My ex-husband's estate finally closed & the long 4 years is over! I got some new Malabrigo sock yarn! All GREAT news.....but it seems that for every 2 things that happen good, I would get some kind of bad news.
I got an e-mail from an old high school friend telling me that a friend of ours was recently diganosed with Ovarian Cancer. She had just given birth to her first child, a beautiful little girl, Louisa. She is stage 3C & in for a long road. I know this because as many of you know my mother was diganosed with stage 3C Ovarian Cancer almost 2 years ago. Oddly, the same day I got the news about Sarah, I got some news about my mother. The cancer has spread throughout her body, her options are none. There is really nothing else to say. I know what comes next from other peoples stories & online reading, the nagging question that hangs so cruely in the air for all of us is, "How long do we have with her?" I hate surprises. I just want to know. So I will be spending time at home with her in Altoona, driving back & forth. Jack turns 1 on January 10th, this calls for a party at Grandma's house!

I sat down last night to knit Sarah a pair of fingerless mitts, chemo can make you cold. I know she'll love them. I have to get them done tonight. They will be sent off with a care package that a girl from our high school is putting together for her. I hope she has a very Merry Christmas with her family. I know I will.

Cookie Exchanges...bah humbug!

Hi my name is Keana and I'm a houswife who can't bake, or doesn't want to bake, I'm not sure which. A little of both I think. I bake occasionally, a batch of cookies here a cake there but when it comes down to it I'd rather cook. I know a lot of people that bake around the holidays & give away cookies but honestly if I baked for that long I would want to keep them for myself. I seem to always burn cookies or screw up cakes, though I am really good at no-bakes & bar-type cookies. Every year when Christmas rolls around I just make a TON of these. I package them in these great tins & chinese food containers that cost $1.00 at Michael's and off they go. To cookie exchanges, teachers, neighbors, family. This particular batch is headed to 2 cookie exchanges with me this week. Most exchanges ask that you make 3 or more dozen & seperate them into half dozen packages. Since you can't really give somebody just 6 of these I scoop about a half pound into each package.
5 bags of Snyder's of Hanover Snaps, 10 pounds of chocolate discs, 4 bags of M&M's and about 8 hours of work, I have these. Easy to make & delicious to eat, just ask the extra 5 pounds I've put on in the past 2 days. You can find the Recipe here!

Jack's Hat

I knitted up this hat for Jack last week. It's called The Boyfriend Hat. Perfect, since he is my boyfriend & will never date...EVER! Let me have my dreams :-(
I used Cascade Wool 220 Heathers in color #2430 & this took about 3 hours to knit. Lovely!

Chritmas gifts.

Noro Cash Iroha, I never knitted with it but I am sure glad I did.  This scarf goes to Karen, she has taken care of the kids finances & estate since day one, she works in downtown Pittsburgh where it can be awfully chilly by the 3 Rivers.  I thought this would keep her warm.  I used 2 skeins, you can see more about the project here.  A sickness has ripped through our house knocking most of us out for almost 2 weeks but the baby & I are finally over th hump.  It's good to back.  Next up, socks for the estate attorney that has dealt with this mess for 4 long years.

Flickr Meme

This was a fun Meme.

1. What is your first name? Keana
2. What is your favorite food? Pizza
3. What high school did you go to? Altoona Area High School
4. What is your favorite color? Pink
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Jude Law
6. Favorite drink? Tea, hot or cold
7. Dream vacation? Montana
8. Favorite dessert? Choclate, any way shape or form, but mostly in a Souffle
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Stress Free
10. What do you love most in life? Peacefulness
11. One word to describe you.  Bold
12. Your Flickr name - KeanaLee

Want to play too?
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

1. KEANA!, 2.Pizza, 3. AAHS  4. pink gerbera 5. Jude Law, 6.true tea  7. A Montana River, 8. chocolate souffle 9. stress free 10. "Peacefulness", 11. Sunflower, 12. keanalee

Toasty & warm......

I knitted up some Toasty in 2 days. So cozy in Malabrigo, color #80 Azul. This yarn desreves to be a full on pair of mittens too. These would be a great last minute knitted Christmas gift.

I have been under the weather for about a week with a cough, stuffy nose & headache. Not much knitting going on, makes my head hurt. I'll be back soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last night the kids & I played this game, they got me it for Christmas last year. It was Thanksgiving Eve & we had fun. We played the movie in the background & it truly marks the beginning of the Christmas Season for me, the minute I play that movie.

I know some people aren't big fans of the movie & some just don't get it and I don't get them, I find that these people have a sense of humor I just don't get. (no offense to anyone, though I am sure I have offended) I call them the Anti-Ralphies.

To me it brings out my inner child, remembering wanting that ONE THING so badly & somehow it always made it's way under the tree. Our parents never let us down. That is what this movie reminds me of, that my parents never let me down, always understood what it was like to walk in my shoes, always made the holidays super special, and always taught us to be thankful for what we have. That is what I am thankful for today, my Mom & Dad. Without them there would be no me. Thanks!

Birthday Wishes do come true.........and you don't have to be in Disney!

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me............to my shock & amazement my husband surprised me last night with my birthday gift two days early. May I introduce you to the Nikon D90, which I have so lovingly named Moose.Moose & I are becoming fast friends & he has so much to teach me. He tells me that there are a bunch of accessories that he would like as well!
Moose was given to me very without much fanfare. A box arrived at the house yesterday & when I told my husband that I knew it was my birthday gift, he replied, "No, it's some books I had to order for a class I'm teaching at work." Now, you must know my husband cannot lie, he is terrible at it. So I told him I wanted to see the books. FINE! He says, rips open the box & just sets it in front of me as I am sewing curtains at the "craft table." I hyperventilated for first time ever, then I got teary & was afraid to touch Moose for fear I might break him. I got over that quickly!So here are some photos I was snapping last night, no touch-ups, just them.
I can't end this post any other way than to say Thank You Matt, I love you.

Christmas Kntting

Don't mind me, I'm still here, knitting away. I just find it so difficult to post pictures of Christmas knitting for fear the recipients will see their gifts. So I try to be coy.
I found it difficult to decrease a cabled hat, though I followed the instructions, it wasn't working out. So a little frogging was in order..........I'll try again tonight with a fresh mind but can't help but to think there is something missing from this pattern.
I was in downtown Pittsburgh yesterday, stopped at the Starbucks in the Westin William Penn & knit a few rows. What have you all been knitting for Christmas?

Dimorphous Mitts & birthday wishes.........

I have fallen in love. I have to make these. I must make these. I bought the outer yarn today, now to find the perfect color to go underneath. Hop over to Mimknits & pick up you pattern!

I have to give a belated birthday wish to my wonderful husband who turned 29 on Tuesday.Your finally the age I was when I met you 7 years ago............I love you Shnoogets Dad! You are the most wonderful man ever. Who would of thought that the day I celebrated my 7th birthday so many years ago, my future husband was somewhere lying in his crib, only 11 days old, dreaming of someone like me!

Around the Corner

I feel it. Santa is coming, and the chaos will start. It is chaos that I love & welcome every year around this time. I look forward to the crazy things of Christmas, some of them are:

~~snow
~~wrapping gifts
~~decorating the house
~~Black Friday shopping
~~my baby's first Christmas
~~crowded grocery shopping
~~my daughter's shortbread cookies
~~Salvation Army guys outside the Giant Eagle
~~my carved Santa, which is from the trunk of our tree from last year
~~my Christmas Morning Casserole (made every Christmas since my daughter was 3)
~~A Christmas Story all day long, everyday, for about a week. I drive my family crazy!
~~crunch time for knitted gifts(one is in that house in my photo, I will show it after the holidays)
~~our light display that I make my husband do every year & the pride in his face when it's done
~~Christmas Eve, late at night my husband & I getting ready for the morning with a roaring fire
& a sparkling tree
~~and snow

Check out this Giveaway!

One of my favorite blogs to read is by a gal named Tsh, she currently has one of the best giveaways ever! Has nothing to do with knitting but everything to do with photos. Get there! Enter to win!

Simple Mom Blog!

While you are there, check out her link to Shabby Apple Dresses. The best little black dresses you will ever see - all in one place & all at terrific prices!

What could the future hold for one of our own?

Vote.

I went out early this morning to miss the lines & cast a vote for the next President of The United States. Jack went with me & I wish I could of taken a camera. I let him push the final VOTE button to cast the ballot. It would have been a priceless shot. His little baby fingers were more than happy to press a bright red blinking light.
I also wore the new gloves I knitted for my son, Justin. I used some fabulous yarn from Kraemer Yarns out of Nazareth, PA. It is from the Vintage 2006 collection, some of the softest alpaca I have ever touched.
The pattern was Those Mitts by Leslie. It was a quick knit & he loves them!
Happy Election Day!
**picture was touched up with Picnik's new "sandbox", go play in it! So fun!**

Before & After

The bathroom floor was finished this past week. It looks beautiful. We plan to do the whole foyer after the 1st of the year but this time we might leave the tiles down & use a grout saw instead of taking the whole floor apart. In all fairness the before photo has some tiles that were removed & just laid down there for picture purposed, if you look closer to the top of the photo you can see the old grout in tact.

The cabinet is getting a paint job in the next couple of weeks. Along with some new knobs & some TLC. Thanks to my wonderful husband who did the grouting, yucky job! I highly suggest this if you have old tile you would like to save & restore. If you have any questions about the products I used just e-mail me. I spent a total of $156.78 on this project & still have enough product left to do the rest in the new year!