I-Spy Bags

I recently had no idea what I wanted the Easter Bunny to bring my 2 children, 7 and 19 months (by the time he arrives). That was until I realized the perfect gifts! So, I told the Easter Bunny that he should get my 7 year old, who loves SpongeBob, an awesome brain teaser for the car (since we travel every other weekend to see each other). It's an I-Spy bag from Corrine's Treasure Hunts at the Creative Mamas Congo. The Easter Bunny said he ordered it and that it had arrived today. WOW! Talk about super fast shipping. Well, the Easter Bunny called me to tell me that it is perfect!! It is a soft material (which I thought it was more of a thin knit but, it's not it's a thicker flannel fabric) that is yellow and has various SpongeBob faces on it. It has a clear vinyl window and a ton of little things inside ranging from a tiny silver bell to a HERO logo, and are hidden in a sea of partially opaque poly beads. I am quite sure that my son will love it when the Easter Bunny brings it to our house this Easter!

Moving Along

Things have settled down here quite a bit and even though it seems like the days are going super slow they are just zooming right on by. Before we know it April will be here and then June and then July and it's getting ready for homecoming time! I can't believe it's already almost the middle of March!!! March sure did come in like a lion and I hope it goes out like a lamb! Speaking of the old saying, check out the super cute artwork by Abby Rose Creations at the Creative Mamas Congo for sale now!
Although ANK has taken a short hiatus from the CMC, with everything settling down I am finally able to get my priorities in check. Of course, family comes first, always. But, I think taking this month off from customs will help a lot in getting those priorities straight and get back in the game! They always say what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger......this is true, this is true.
So, I am glad to say things are slowing down for me....I just hope that in reality they stay the same so that my Snugglebear will be here before we know it!

More Updates

I have made a lot of progress in the last couple of days, LOL. Thanks to some yarn that behaves like it is supposed to haha. But, I know in the end it will be all worth it.

FrainFam ~ I am at the gusset on the Aiden longies, I have PMed you via CDN with pics! Yay!!
ErinBeth ~ I have PMed you as well with pic updates on the Woody longies!

I have also updated the WIP meters which you'll find over to the right sidebar.

I can't believe February has already come and gone. 1 month down 5 more to go.

All At Once - ErinBeth & FrainFam Updates

It seems like with the deployment of my husband, everything has suddenly fallen apart. If it's not one thing it's another, right? Fortunately, things are beginning to work themselves out and I can start de-stressing.
I have so much on my mind right now that isn't knitting and it's not fair. I shouldn't have to think about this stuff. It shouldn't be the way it is but, I think things are improving and I will be back to my old self soon.

I apologize for not making updates with my current customs and I apologize for the delay.

ErinBeth ~ Down to the legs on the "Woody" longies after much pooling troubles. I think I've finally gotten it to settle some. I will send you a pic shortly.
FrainFam ~ With the pooling issues from the above longies I've had to put your longies on the backburner (aka stitch holder!) to beat the pooling out of them! I should be getting yours back on the needles tomorrow and have an update pic for you as well!

Another decision that I did not take very lightly in making was temporarily withdrawing myself from the Creative Mamas Congo. I am hoping that I will be able to rejoin in April once everything settles down here for me. Time seems to be moving so slowly for me yet, the days are flying by.

I am also taking the month of March off for customs. I will be working on other things to stock for my return as well as taking a much needed vacation to wherever my car will take me! I haven't decided where to go but, money is still tight right now since DH isn't getting the extra incentive pay he is supposed to be getting shortly. Go figure...darn Navy always screws up someones pay...I remember when I didn't get paid for 2 whole months and no one could figure out why! That's why they shouldn't have 2 separate PSDs...everyone needs to know how to work everything!!! UGH! Or at least know who to direct you to. LOL. Ok, enough of the military lingo.......

Ok, so I need to get back to work!

Been MIA

Well, a lot has been going on here with DH deployed. Things have been hectic trying to arrange things financially. But, I think it's getting under control now that he is able to actually sit down and have time to access things.
And, so in the midst of it all I have been up at odd hours of the night...they have picked up speed because, they are zooming through those time zones! LOL.
Anyhow, enough of that...don't want OPSEC knocking on my door. Hehe.
Finished the "Monkey" custom longies for ErinBeth over at CDN. The 2nd leg went a lot quicker!! I don't know why LOL! Anyhow, I'm working on her "Woody" longies as well as the TIG "Aiden" longies for another mama at CDN. Hopefully, I can get the hats finished for the 2 sets going to ErinBeth pretty quickly. Those are always fast! I really hate getting behind on things. I didn't realize how complicated life would be without DH! Wow...I guess it gets easier with "practice" LOL. Thankfully, his command rotates their deployments between a large command. The ONLY thing I like about living here!
Well, with no further ado.....the "Monkey" longies!

The Spotted Box

Ok, so the Creative Mamas Congo is doing a March Spotted Box. I really want to help out and submit some samples but, where oh where do I find the time?! LOL. With 3 customs on needles right now I'm running out of needles hahaha! No, I don't have small enough DPNs to make the samples I want to make. Dang it. I so need more needles. Well, my birthday is coming up in May...so maybe I'll be able to get some then. :) In the meantime I think I can wing a few things with my crochet needle...err (knitting on the brain) hook (hahahahahahahahahaha). We will just have to see what becomes of the sample key chains I plan to make! It shouldn't be too difficult to whip up 10 of them since they're small. Better get to cracking then!

Don't forget to check us out at the Congo and our new Hyena Cart!

Brrrrr!

Yes, it's snowing again. Wet and freezing cold is no fun so head on over to Creative Mama's Congo and check out some of the warm items we have in stock. Some cute and warm hoodies from Abby Rose Creations and adorable recycled wool pants cute enough for Valentine's at Born Again Baby. And, don't forget all the other great items too!

And, We're Back!

We had a crazy snow storm over the weekend. Knocking out power and along with it the internet! UGH. Talk about a boring weekend. Nah, it was a great time to cozy up with my lil sweetheart and work on some customs. This one particular custom is not behaving. I think I'm going to frog it...again. First it was the waist ribbing that didn't want to purl and then it was the short rows wanting to purl in the wrong places (how ever did that happen I will never know!!). But, it's behaving now...I'm not thrilled with the striping. So, I think I'm going to pull it out and make the first stripe thinner just because, that's my longer short row and it looks a little funny haha.

There are some great items previewing at the Creative Mamas Congo right now and some great stuff upcoming from a couple of guest vendors, Mama Marsh's Creations and Abby Rose Creations. So, welcome aboard mama's!

Beautiful Yarn

For a YYMN customer she wasn't able to find enough yarn in boyish colorways and decided to have me dye her some instead. The first yarn I dyed started out a disaster...I had been sick all week on top of it so, nothing I dyed last week turned out decent! So, I tried to overdye it...still did not turn out right. So, I overdyed it again! And, OMGosh is it the most beautiful skein I've ever seen! I looooove it so much I just want to keep it a skein forever! But, one of these days it will become something even more beautiful. I call it "Scarlett" and I am hoping I will be able to recreate it....I'm pretty sure I can...skein by skein.
At least the "real" yarn for the customer turned out right!

Her 2nd set was a little more behaved although silly me accidentally picked up the wrong blue so it came out lighter and had to over dye the blue on one skein! But, it is ok now...I'm not sick anymore! Onward to the knitting!

I don't have pics of the 2 skeins for the YYMN because, my camera died and flashes "CHANGE BATTERY PACK" at me LOL and I cannot find my camera charger for the life of me! I'm hoping I didn't leave it on my trip home. :(
But, here's a pic of Scarlett!

Pretty

For a great website there's one thing you can't forget...and that's a great design. Now, don't get me wrong...I'm my biggest critique...but, I've got a pretty good design. And, with the help from Tina at Joyful Rose, my header logo is prettier!

I was able to convert my existing website into my Hyena Cart design and it turned out pretty darn good! I'm impressed with myself. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would either. Ok, so I did spend almost all day on it but, there was a lot going on in between! Next stop, changing the url to the Hyena Cart. It's currently still under Daribum's. Rikki from Daribum's has moved to the Stalk Shop and no longer needed her HC. What a lucky gal I am, huh?

Thanks to both of these amazing ladies!

If You Build It, They Will Come

So, I've been contemplating getting a Hyena Cart and shutting down the current site and just having the domain transfer over. Well, I guess it is meant to be because, I came across an offer for an HC transfer! Yay. It's not set up yet. I'm waiting on them to finish removing some of their things tonight and I can start changing things on there. Yay! I'm excited. It will be a little while before I get it completely up and running though. But, it's a start! We're gonna get those hyenas a runnin'!

In the meantime, you can always stop by the Creative Mamas Congo and check us out!

Creative Mamas

Stop by and visit us at Creative Mamas and check out some of these great items we have in stock!
Don't forget to stop by every 2nd Friday at noon to catch us stocking our items!

1/22 Stocking

Some cute stuff being stocked at the Creative Mamas Congo tomorrow at noon! Check out the previews right now and don't forget to arrive early tomorrow to beat the hyenas!

I just finished this hat a little bit ago for the stocking. I totally love it!

Ok, that's all the preview you get! LOL!

My Ship Has Sailed

Today is a very difficult day for me and my family. My husband went on his first 6 month deployment since he has been in the Navy. We have been lucky to avoid it for the last 3 years, although we knew it was coming.

So, this morning we got up at the crack of dawn...no before dawn LOL. About 6am and took him over to the base. Then we came back home and took a nap before heading back over to the base (of course he forgot something) but, they were also having a goodbye gathering with the other families. I wish we had a video camera!

Well, we get there around 11am and they leave about 1pm. As soon as the LCAC's were on cushion and in the water we left and hurried through the million stop lights to Rudee Inlet and went up on the boardwalk in hopes to see his ship. And we did! It was there making it's way out to the open sea. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me...below is a crappy cell phone pic of the ship they loaded the LCAC's into (yes that's plural for 2!).

I couldn't believe that we didn't miss it. Of course, I did drive almost to the end of Virginia to catch up with it!! It really made my day to see that. So, currently I am exhausted...the kids are exhausted and my hip hurts from chasing and carrying a 20lb 16 month old on my other hip all day. LOL.

But, tomorrow it's back to work. I'm hoping to get some yarn dyed for the Creative Mamas stocking this Friday @ noon!

Click for larger image

Keep Those Cuties Warm!

One of my recent favorite patterns to knit is the Hudson Hat. I just love it! I recently finished up one (see previous post) and I'll be starting another one here shortly for my son. I may have 2 more on the books as soon as a customer finalizes the details for the 2 sets she wants.
Anyhow, don't forget about this awesome striped Hudson Hat at the Creative Mamas Congo! And, best yet.....it's on SALE!

Infant Pacific Breeze Hudson Hat - $40