Silliness

This week I've been trying to catch up with my energy and spend time with out-of-town relatives. I did finish my 'recycled' tank, knit from a cotton sweater I took apart. I am almost done with 4th of July socks for my oldest son. I've been trying to finish up some wedding gift knits. And I received an awesome prize package from Carrie. But have I taken pictures of any of that? No. (I will very soon take pictures!)
So instead you get this goofy pic of my sons. The pumpkin hats were a gift from one of my knitting buddies. The lady who knit them sadly passed away this spring.

This is after 'making' them sit on my parent's fireplace for pictures. Aren't my boys goofy?

A new Mr & Mrs.

My brother's wedding was beautiful. His new bride was gorgeous. And my favorite part was seeing the love just shine through (on?) their faces.

My son did a great job as a ringboy. He did take off one of his 'shiny' shoe in the middle of the ceremony to look at himself. No one in the bridal party noticed and it amused the guests. Both the ring pillow and the flower basket turned out great. I sadly never got a picture of the red lace I knitted for the flower basket, but you can see a picture below of the kids with both items. And without planning, my sister and I wore very similar, matching outfits. So while we are still all tired, it was a great wedding. And I finally have a sister-in-law!

Practicing

The rehearsal was lots of fun. I tried to get the flower girl and ring bearer (my son) to understand the concept of walking down the aisle slowly. Perhaps their fast walk will add to their cuteness? (Of course it will, it's my kid.)
Here is a pic of the practice run....

The big day is here (almost). I finished the lace for the flower girls basket and am going to sew it on in the morning. Pictures later.

Getting ready

It's down to the last minutes. The rehearsal is today; decorating is going on right now (how I wish I could be a part of that! But 2 somewhat excited and wild boys do not mix well with decorating a church); family and friends are arriving. My son tried on his tux last night and practiced holding the ring pillow:

I will be the blubbering crying mother/sister. Look at how cute my boy is! The bride thought he might even be cuter than the groom. (hehe). But you know what the best part is? My brother is really happy.

Birthdays

Today I turned 30. My family spoiled me and I had a very fun day. My sons sang Happy Birthday to me all day. Even my siblings remembered to call!
I picked this magazine up last week. When I got home I realized that it was published the year I was born. How fun is that?

I'm actually excited to start my 30s. I'm finally at a place in my life where I've grown into myself. I like who I've become and I really enjoy my life. It's not the life I thought I would have, but it is by far more fulfilling.
Below is a picture of my kids and I celebrating today at lunch.

Wedding lace

The lace for the ring pillow is now blocking/drying. This was fun to knit since I knew my son is the ring boy and will get to carry this pillow on Saturday. I finished the long lace edging that will go around the pillow on Saturday while watching some of my favorite movies (Mona Lisa Smile; Down with Love; Welcome to Mooseport). My kids were earning money working at Oma & Opa's (grandma & grandpa's), so I was free to watch PG-13 movies.

The pattern for this pillow is in Knitter's - Spring 1998. It's the amazing lace issue. The main part of this pillow will be red satin. Tonight I'll be knitting the edging in red for the flower girl basket (which is white).
We are also starting to count our 'sleeps' before the big day: 5 sleeps until the big day. 4 sleeps until we see my nieces and nephews; 3 sleeps until my Uncles and their wives arrive; 2 sleeps until the last minute clean-everything/pretend we always live in a spotless house day; and 1 more sleep until I turn 30.

Bottle Fun

It's now only one week to go until my brother's wedding. And only 2 (or almost 1) day until I turn 30. I think this will be a crazy, fun week.
To start out the fun, look what came in the mail:

Bottle fun from the whenever sock group. I love my stuff and thankfully the person I sent the 'bottle' (umm..ok box) to liked her stuff too. It's such fun to participate in.
I also enjoyed a visit from a childhood friend. He treated me to a night out on the town, plus a couple of coffee's. It was a lot of fun to catch up on each other's life. And it was fun to hear that I still do things that I did as a kid. He remembered me knitting as a kid all the time and I apparently wanted the name of his wife during the game of life back then too. (hehe). So Mr. Got it (I'll call him that, as a memory of the waiter apparently taking a liking to him and bringing him more drink refills; if you got it - you got it, right?), if you are reading this: thank you for a fun 2 days!
I've been busy knitting wedding stuff. I'll be posting pictures this week. And Dad, if you are reading this: Happy Fathers Day!

Judge madchen

One of my favorite shows is Judging Amy. (let's not talk about the fact that it was just cancelled). Well this week I got asked to be a judge at a local fair. I was able to actually feel and drool over many handmade pieces. They had free coffee and gave me my own assistant (hehe). I had way too much fun and was thrilled when they asked me to return next year. I'm wondering if Judge Amy framed her first paycheck? And I wonder if it read like mine: 'stricken madchen - Judge'.
Upon returning home, my cats where the only ones home. I excitedly told them all about it, even telling them that they are not the only cats who leave cat hair on everything. They were not excited. In fact I don't believe they were impressed at all.

Mission completed

My youngest son asked me for some fingerless mittens quite awhile ago. I made him many socks and other things, but still he requested fingerless mittens. I tried finding a pattern that would work, tried telling him about all the other things I could make or him. He still insisted on fingerless gloves, 'in red please'. So a couple of weeks ago, I took out the Cascade 220 tweed (in red!) that he had picked out last spring. I patted myself on the back for using the pattern from Weekend Knitting (I would be in heaven if I ever used every single pattern in every single book I have bought. Of course by the time I get around to all of them, I probably will be in heaven. I'm sure that God allows knitting in heaven, right?). I used my Brittany double point needles (love those) and knit away. Never mind that it was a bit big, Cascade felts.
Well, I eventually returned to reality and realized that it wouldn't work. I tried again to show my son all the other stuff I could knit. ('How about another pair of mittens? They are cool. Look, socks! Do you want another headband? Well, it must be your day! Mommy can knit toys now!'). He still wanted these red fingerless mittens. So, I took a deep breath and confronted the real issue. I was scared. Seriously. Fingerless mittens? They look like so much work, all those half fingers. I had survived the hand-part when I knit the mitten way too big. What if I couldn't pass his ideal? What if I failed and his idea of me as the 'can-knit-anything-and everything' mom was destroyed? Yes, it was your good-old-fashioned fear that was preventing me from knitting these red fingerless mittens.
So after this soul-searching realization I took a deep breath and pulled out some red sock yarn and size 2 needles. I took my Weekend Knitting book and started over. This time the mitten was coming out the right size. I came to the finger part, I thought of my son and took a deep breath. And you know what? It wasn't hard, 4 fingers appeared where they were supposed to and the thumb followed. Look!!!

They are completed and my son loves them. I'm trying to ignore the fact that my oldest son has now asked for a pair too. I'm also ignoring that they are not perfect. The important thing is that after 20+ years of knitting, I finally made a pair of fingerless mittens.
(the bag in the background is from a friend who was just in the Middle East)

Red yarn

I spent this weekend trying to plan and/or finish wedding knitting, washing some of my recycled yarn, and getting a new door! You'll hear more about the wedding knitting in another post. But check out what this red yarn that I recycled from a sweater did to the water:

Did the person who owned the sweater before ever wash it? That's alot of red. I'm hoping it will become a summer tank eventually. It's 55% Ramie & 45% cotton.
My other big news is that my Dad came over and installed a new door. Even though I loved the original door, it leaked a lot of cold air this winter. I have to admit that I had visions of things going wrong and me sitting here with a big old hole in the wall. But my Dad proved his skills very worthy and the door looks great. It will get painted another day and the trim put on later this week. (I think it helps that a very good friend is coming to visit at the end of the week). So even though there were moments of craziness, thank you Dad for this awesome birthday gift.

Boys

My last post was about girls, so today I'll talk boys. My sons are huge blessings to my life. They have such character and I love watching them grow daily into their personalities. At 6 (almost 7) and 8 1/2, I'm impressed with how smart, kind, compassionate, and loving they are. It's been the 3 of us for the past 6 years and I'll be forever thankful that I am lucky enough to be their mother. I also can gush about them more now, since we have passed that 'throw tantrums in the store' stage.
My sons also love my knitting. They request alot as well, and think everything I make is wonderful. (as long as I follow their desires). Seriously, what more could a mother ask for? So, this week I've been working on another pair of socks for oldest son. When I finished the first one, he asked if I would take a picture of it and put it on the internet 'so it could be famous'. Well, how could I deny a sock the chance to be famous?

I've also found the most perfect pattern for oldest son. Check out the summer sock collection from Spun. He hates to go without socks, been that way for ages. He doesn't like sandals, but he will let me buy him a pair of leather flipflops every year. I showed him these socks and he loves them. Hopefully I will get a chance to knit him a pair soon.
Yes, boys are fun. They keep life interesting and never dull. Good thing God sprinkled a couple into my life.

Girls

Certain things in life make living much better. You know: chocolate, babies, hearing 'I really like you Mom', yummy yarn, coffee with friends, etc. Then there are special people in your life who make life more fun. Topping that list are my own sons and my nieces. Yes, those beautiful girls who still think I'm cool, while my always cool sister is suddenly 'Mother'. (you remember what those pre-teenage and teenage years were like). Well among the long list of reasons why it's great to have both of them in my life is the fact that I get to knit these awesome girly things for them. In fact they will even request things at times.I think that when family requests things, it's a good sign. (By the way, anybody have a pattern for knitted shoes?).
So here is one of the many things I have knit for them. It's the Lacecap from Knitty.

Here is a shot of the top. (look below for another shot of the hat). This one of a couple purple knits for my youngest niece's birthday. (They are all purple, cause this old aunt forgot her 2nd favorite color). What fun this was to knit! My other niece has a birthday next month and her favorite color is pink. Believe me, I waited years for her to come to this color and I did a happy dance upon hearing.
Here's to nieces. The girls you can forever be the cool one with, talk boys with, spend hours playing sims (while the rest of the family fails to understand the bonding that takes place during this time), watch Gilmore Girls together, shop with, and of course teach them how to knit.

Fun things

There was much love in the air this weekend. My parents celebrated 40 happy years of marriage and my brother and his fiancee came to visit. It's fun to watch both couples very much in love.
I also made sure the garter would fit, then I finished it. The bride is happy, which makes me very happy.

I found the red ribbon while on a trip back to my grandmothers hometown with her last week. This little town has the best thriftstore. I found this ribbon for 40cents and also found the perfect dress for me to wear to the wedding. (I'll post about that another day).
Notice what the garter is on? My dad made my mom a footstool and put 2 hearts in it. This weekend he endured the rain to make my mom a little pond in their backyard. He remembered she has wanted one for years. I sincerely hope that my sons grow up to be such attentive husbands.

My first knitting shirt!

Today I got to spend time with my knitting buddies. One of them surprised us with matching shirts. Mine is pink!


Isn't it adorable? Since all 3 of us are sock knitters, it's perfect. We are getting together again next week and will get our first chance to wear them together.

Slumber parties and scarfs

Today is my sons last day of school. I was going to try and enjoy my last day of peace and quiet. Instead, I am turning my house upside down looking for something I lost. Very fun.
Tonight we are going to have a slumber party. Lots of chips, brownies, and tatertot hotdish. (my sons picked the menu). The 3 of us will settle down in my room and stay up as late as we can watching cartoons. I'm betting I'll be out by 10, my oldest son will be out soon after, and my youngest will be up ALL night.
I finished a scarf/shawl for a friend of my mother's who did something incredibly special for me. It took me awhile to decide what to make. I wanted something that she would love and enjoy. I love Sally Melville's Shape It scarf, so when I saw that she had updated it in Scarf Style, I knew this would be perfect. I choose Berroco Furz yarn to knit it with. It's one of my favorite yarns. It's so soft and fun. Originally I bought this yarn on vacation with my sons a year ago. I was going to make a pillow for my oldest son. Then I got a great deal on e-bay for the Furz in a little more true boy blue. So, the teal Furz became the wear-as-a-collar scarf.


I hope that the recipient loves it. It's very soft and I'm seriously considering making myself one. The next picture shows the edges. I think that Sally Melville's 3rd book in her series should be coming out this year or next. I'm looking forward to that.
Ok, I'm off to search for my missing item. The cats are having a blast trying to get in my way. Who knew today was their lucky day for amusing times?

Edges

Another shot of the wear-as-a-collar scarf.