Two FO's and the Most Hilarious Phobia Imaginable...

Steve's secretary just had a baby so I, of course, had to knit her something.  I actually threatened not to because they wouldn't find out the sex until she was born (I have no patience for these ancient rituals ;), but I relented in the end.  I've decided to make baby mittens with my insane amounts of sock yarn that I can't seem to stop buying so here are Miss Ivy's little mittens...

Pattern: Malin's Mitts

Yarn: My Bootee (local yarn company)

Needles: US  47" size #3 (love me some magic loop)

Made for: Little Miss Ivy

I had what looked like "tons" of this sock yarn left so I thought "hmmm, wouldn't it be cute if Erica (Ivy's mom) had matchy matchy fingerless mitts in the same yarn".  So off I go a knittin' and barely had enough to finish Erica's mitts let alone do an i-cord for Ivy's.  Sorry Ivy, if one of these falls off, you are OUT OF LUCK ;)

Here are Erica's...

Pattern: My Bootee Arm Warmers

Yarn: My Bootee

Needles: US 47" size #4

Made For: Erika

Here they are, matchy matchy, mitts squared (they're MFEO)...

Cute, huh?  And no, I do NOT expect Erica and Ivy to wear them together.  I'm not THAT nerdy!  But I do expect them to have professional pictures taken in them ;). 

Okay, here comes a confession.  I may lose some blog readers over this one!  I have this hilarious phobia for which I get made fun of all the time.  I know of only a few people that have it including my mom and one of my sisters and a couple of friends.  I'm telling you this so you know I'm not completely crazy ;).  It's called "cluster" phobia or, as I found out last night, the technical term is trypophobia.  It's a real thing!  It's this revulsion for clusters of holes.  For some people it's an actual fear but for me, and any of the people I know who have it, these things just MAKE OUR SKIN CRAWL.  Beyond the clusters, I have an aversion to the sight of any odd texture or cluster.

 

Here's an example...If I'm making mac and cheese for my kids and all the stupid noodles are facing me, hole side up, it makes me sick and I have to mix it up really fast to destroy the pattern!  

Also; fish scales, the backsides on the chickens in the movie Chicken Run, skin cells under a microscope, hair follicles under a microscope, WOOL under a microscope, mushrooms growing in my grass, beehives, spores on the underside of ferns, bundles of pipes on a truck bed...the list is infinite.  They all make me crazy!  

I'm in fits of laughter just writing about this.  I had to post about this because I was talking to my friend last night and she thought I was nuts and that I should look it up-so I did.  Apparently, it's some form of obsessive compulsive disorder and for some people it gets so bad that they have to be on medication.  When I was reading about it last night I was crying I was laughing so hard.  There are so many people grossed out by the same things as me but also people who have nightmares about clusters getting imbedded in their skin.  Now I want to puke.  

For your viewing pleasure (and so you can gain a full appreciation for my phobia), I thought I'd include a few pictures of some things that gross me out.  Beware, if you have trypophobia you'll hate my guts forever for this.

This is the mildest...

Now we're getting worse...

COME ON!!!!!!!

WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO EXIST?  No good can come of this.  Only more hideous frogs who have babies out of their backs.  What do you think is left after these eggs come off?  I'll tell you.  Holes.  Some people keep these as pets.  Come now, pets?  Honestly.  Well, there is your ride down Insanity Lane for the day.  I hope you enjoyed it!

Great, now I have these hideous pictures on my blog for all eternity!

Without Family...

Without Family, a lot would be missing from my life.  Steve and I both have all of our family living close by and it's a blast.  We can count on them for everything.  We spent the week with my family up in Wolf Creek in Eden, Utah.  It was great.  The kids loved it and though it exhausted us completely, I'm so glad we have these opportunities to spend with our families.  I know they are the memories our kids will keep forever.  This post is just a little ditty about things I would never have realized or been able to enjoy without my family.


Without family, we wouldn't be able to do fun things like spending the week up in Eden, Utah.  It's amazingly beautiful and the kids had a riot.  We spent some time in Ogden, eating at some delicious restaurants, going to a wonderful yarn store, and visiting the Dinosaur Museum.  I also discovered a use for all of my sock yarn...baby mittens!  Hoorah!  Pictures coming soon. 

Without family,  I wouldn't have seen the joy this painted horse could bring to two little kids.

Without family, we wouldn't have Logan to tell us things like "I think this car is broken" and then point to the part of the car he "thought" might be broken.  The car is at the Ogden Dinosaur Museum and I think it's meant to look like a dinosaur ate part of it.  I almost tinkled my pants for laughing over his observation! 

Without family, I wouldn't have this little boy to take a picture of.  This naughty little boy who turned into a raptor about 30 minutes later when I told him it was time to go home.  He threw a cliche of a fit wherein he kicked the car, called me an "idiot" and "stupid" and laid himself out on the ground.  Oh, how I wish I'd had the Tobasco sauce!  Luckily my Mom was in the parking lot so I told her to keep an eye on him while I "left" him there.  That calmed things down rather quickly and he called me on my Mom's cell and asked me to come back and get him.  This of course, broke my heart but honestly, what the heck was I supposed to do with that?  Worst fit of his life, bar none.  It is, of course, extremely funny now and fits aside, I love this little man with more than my whole heart.

Without family, Steve and I would just sit around on Sundays instead of inventing "fun" activities for our kids like making chocolate dipped pretzels.  Well, they thought it was fun and I guess that's all that counts ;)

Without family, we wouldn't have people to go to Gardner Village with to see the Witches and sit on crazy wagon rides with women dressed up to entertain our kids...  

and be able to stand in line with chubby nephews who make crazy faces...

and have cute husbands who try to kiss cute daughters...

and have cute daughters who try to scare everyone in line (how cute is she?)...

Without family, we wouldn't know how much fun it is to have a picture taken in front of a giant wooden pumpkin with haystacks to sit on.  Or have cute little nieces who help with the younger kids and always has a smile to share (thanks, Morgan).

Without family, I believe life would bore me to sobs!  Thanks family, you're the best!

Farms, Parks and a Finished Prezzie

This time of year is my absolute fave.  I love it when it's just cool enough for a sweater or jacket but you don't need full winter armor.  I love the color of the leaves and taking drives up the canyon to see the trees.  I also love that this year I'll have a bunch of new knitted items to wear as will many friends and family!  

I've been trying to get some outdoor activities done before the cold comes. I absolutely love tiring my kids out at the farm or any of the million local parks. They love it too.  Lizzy is a climber.  She climbs everything and she gets very upset when she can't scale a certain object.  This tractor was really ticking her off.  She finally did get up (after a few bumps of the head).

They have a really good time at the farm.  The problem we've been having recently is that the ducks and especially the geese are getting VERY aggressive about being fed.  They swarm us like fowl possessed and the kids end up screaming and throwing huge amounts of bread in an attempt to save themselves.  It's hilarious but just the teeniest bit scary (those things bite, you know!).  I guess they're just too used to people feeding them.  

Our latest trip to the park started a trauma in Will's life.  Will and Logan (Will's cousin) like to race.  We like them to race because it tires them out and they take good naps.  Also, it gives them something to do rather than just narrating their activities instead of actually doing them (do anyone else's kids do this?).  By the time we left the park both boys were red in the face and very tired.  I offered Will some water but he insisted that he wanted milk.  Needless to say this wasn't the best option and he was shortly leaning over the toilet thinking he was going to puke.  He did this for almost an hour until I pried him away from the toilet and made him get into bed.  Poor kid.  He thought he was going to puke for days afterward.  

Lizzy didn't have quite as exhausting a time but did get a bit of a red face.

And so to knitting.  I finally finished a scarf I've been working on for way too long.  It's not that it was a difficult project, it's just that I've been reading some fab books lately and I can't seem to put them down.  This scarf is meant to go with the fingerless mitts I showed in my last post.  They're for my older sister for her birthday.  This yarn, again, is unbelievable.  Everyone should knit at least one item with it!  

I love the mock cable and especially love the colors in the yarn.  I'm sure my sister will be over the moon about the set of mitts and scarf.  Lucky her!

Pattern: Super Yak Scarf from One Skein Wonders

Yarn: Sheep Shop Sheep 3

Needles: US #8

Mods: The pattern calls for a chunky yarn and this is sport weight so obviously I did MANY more repeats than the pattern called for.  

Made for: my sister Brooke

That's all.