Road Trip

We seem to have been on the road a lot lately. Two granddaughter's have had birthdays, my father-in-law celebrated his 86th birthday, we have gone to photography seminars, and other fun things that take us up to two hours from home. Each time we have planned to wash the car before we leave town. Each time it has rained or snowed the day before and made car washing pretty much pointless since we drive through a small pond on the street in front of our house. I was actually taking pictures of the mud splatters on the window in the first picture but really like the look of the hubcaps better. Hubby was drooling over some tools in the tool store. I had been drooling at the fabric store earlier in the day.

3/8/08

This my leg. Not very interesting but next to it sits my knitting bag. This is where it lives when we are in the car. Right by my feet. Next to the door in the winter so it insulates my forever cold feet more and summer time, well, it usually has to block some of the AC off my forever cold feet. The knitting project of the day was a prayer shawl. It is nearly complete since the last trip this past Sunday.

Coming up:

Hot cocoa swap

Cold and wet = stew

More Finished Objects

3/5/08

A sweet little bunny dishcloth. I just loved this little guy and his fluffy little tail is my favorite part. I was pretty proud of the edge as well. I have finally knitted enough that I can control my edges enough I don't want to go back and bind them with fabric or something. I try to pick projects that inspire me to learn if even just a little bit. Though I didn't really learn anything new on this one it was the first time I have worked on the diagonal. I got a lot of practice increasing and decreasing.

 

 

 

3/6/08

My first mittens! I am so excited. They are for my college age daughter. Of course it is now too warm for her to wear them but there is always next year. I love this pattern and will certainly be making it again. They will be great Christmas presents next year. I already have some yarns picked out. This project forced inspired me to learn and try several new things. A huge buttonhole which scared me but turned out not so difficult at all and I really like the ribbing along it. Picking up stitches for the thumb was the first time I picked up less stitches than there were stitches to pick up. This meant I had to decide where to pick them up. That turned out OK too. The very best thing I learned, kitchener stitch! The first mitten I just totally butchered it but the second one I watched the video on knittinghelp.com and it was so easy. I could not figure out what I was doing when I read the instruction in the book but after watching the video a couple of times it was a breeze. I won't remember it when I try it again but hopefully the video will always be there.

 

OK, so I am a little proud of my mittens. You get a couple more pictures.

 

And if you can stand just one more, how is that for kitchener stitch? Now I am no expert  and this was my first time but I think I did pretty good. In case I didn't, lie to me anyway.

 

New Yarn in the Mail

It is so much fun to see a package on my desk when I arrive home from work. If I order anything for my husband that needs to be a surprise I have to have it shipped to another address because he always gets to the mail before I do. That also means he knows how often packages arrive for me and where they come from. I'm glad he is the understanding, supportive guy that he is.

3/3/08

 

I have joined the Mystic Light KAL and this is the yarn I plan to use. This is not at all the yarn I had planned to use but I couldn't find what I had pictured in my mind and I was on a bit of a budget. Since then I have found a couple of yarns that would have mirrored the picture in my mind quite well. The budget issue is still there but not wanting to spend a lot of money on yarn was based more on the facts this was my first KAL, my first lace knitting and my largest project to date. I did not want to put a lot of money into a project I wasn't sure I was going to like. The swatch instructions were released last week and about 10 minutes into it I knew I loved the yarn and was going to like knitting lace. I was having trouble with my needles though so what did I have to do? Order new needles of course! That means there is yet another package winging its way toward our home. That also helps me justify not spending too much on yarn since I HAD to get new needles. The first clue will be released on the 26th. My needles will be here by then, my swatch completed and I will be ready to knit lace.

 

3/4/08

Since I was ordering yarn anyway I had to check out the clearance section that a new friend on Ravelry pointed me to. We both liked this lovely little yarn and the price was just too good to be true especially when you divided it by two. I can bust a yarn budget wide open without really trying. This yarn doesn't know what it wants to be yet so it has joined the stash to contemplate its future. I know it will want to become something wonderful. It will also be fun to see what my new friend's yarn grows up to be.

Coming up:

FOs

Road Trip

Another Gift

3/2/08

This was a gift from the author of the Hot Cocoa Swap I participated in. She sent me a little gift just for participating. It has been gift central around here lately. Thank you Grace and it looks lovely on my end table sporting my tea cup and misc. knitting items.

You can find this and other lovely things Grace knits here.

What Was Inside Those Packages Anyway?

Remember this. I had so much fun opening all of these gifts. I remember asking mom to do this when I was younger. I loved having many little packages to open.

3/1/08

The paper gifts. A Hawaiian cookbook. I haven't prepared any of the recipes yet but it is fun to look at. The notecards were photographed by her husband of flowers in their backyard. I want to go visit her yard!

The fabric and handmade gifts. The silk scarf she hand dyed herself. The fabric is Hawaiian and she made the lanyard.

The food gifts. Tea, coffee and cookies. Perfection.

Soap and a serving set. The serving set filled the regifting category .

Check out the beautiful young girl on the package of soap.

Is this beautiful silk or what?

I was very blessed to receive these wonderful gifts.

Coming up:

FO's

New Yarn in the Mail

I am sooooo excited!

Why?

1) A package containing yarn arrived today.

2) It was knit night and our group grew by two more people.

3) I finished another dishcloth. No big deal. I make at least one a month but it is really cute.

4) While watching an episode of "24" I finished my first pair of mittens AND learned to do Kitchener stitch. If I say so myself it looks pretty damn good, on one of the mittens. The first one looks like one my granddaughters tried to help me with the finishing. I attempted to fix it but that kind of made things worse. Oh well, they are mittens, they will be warm and they are finished.

I can't wait for tomorrow after work so I can take pictures of all the excitement.

I Have Been Gifted With More Yarn

A friend who has had a little trouble lately staying on her feet was unable to knit for a while. Since she couldn't complete the dishcloth she owed me in an exchange she offered to send me yarn instead. Though I miss having something that she knitted I had absolutely no problem accepting her yarn. It is a lovely hand painted cotton. It has not decided what it will be yet but it has joined the stash to think about its future.

2/25/08

Top O The Mornin' To Ya

 2/26/08

Yes, another dishcloth. A green shamrock for the recipient to wash away the winter blues and bring in spring and a little Irish spirit.

This was another fun one to knit. I especially liked the background. A bit of a cable look but no actual cable.

I'm really quite disgusted with the weather. Saturday was a warm, 70+ but very windy. For the first time in months I didn't wear a coat and the car felt warm when I get into it. Sunday was again windy but things were starting to dry out. My Man even took a short ride on the Harley. By late afternoon it was a dark and stormy day that ended in a cold, driving rain. What happened to spring?

Color in Glass and Wood

2/20/08















Two of the granddaughters were here to visit. Grandpa was photographing them for their 2nd and 4th birthdays. The youngest turned two on February 1 and the oldest turned four on March 1. Happy Birthday my precious ones.
So while Grandpa and Mommy were looking at the photos they had posed for earlier Grandma and the girls got to play for a while. We have this large basket of blocks in the studio for when little ones need to be entertained and the girls brought them in to the house to play with. We had to set up two play areas in the living room because Little One was certain that Big One was building towers just for her to knock down. The above it the Little One's "tower". She can build a real tower but just couldn't stand it and would knock it down about three blocks high. I think this picture is when she went over to knock down the Big One's tower when she wasn't looking. The picture below is the Big One on guard duty.
















2/23/08


At a lovely Methodist church in Topeka, Kansas I had all kinds of eye candy. All the windows in the sanctuary and the front of the church were this beautiful art glass. This was not my favorite window but the best picture without running it around in Photoshop.