Much better

This weekend we discovered the kerchief looked much better on Z than anyone in our household:
Isn't she cute?

Another fun discovery:
Hand-knit mittens at the consignment store for $8. Knowing the amount of work that went into these makes these all the more special.

Yummy things

Thanks to a new huge bowl (a find at a thrift store. On sale because it's green. Gotta love that),
M & I made:
Yummy granola. A favorite with the boys.
And while watching M measure the ingredients, I finished this:
It's the Kerchief scarf from LMKG. Knit with a ball of GGH Sprint I had sitting around. This was a great knit to have in the kitchen & pick up whenever I had a minute.
And we discovered we have a model in our house:
Jill sat with the kerchief & seemed to even pose for us. She didn't jump off until I took the kerchief off of her. Silly girl.
And Elizabeth, for when you have a minute, here are some examples of lace blocking. But I'm thrilled that you will (hopefully very soon) be too busy (a very good busy!) to look for awhile.

Gifting Knits

It seems there are a lot of babies & weddings going on this spring! I used to never knit for my friends babies, but was convinced to change this after seeing more & more cute baby knits on different blogs. And when a good college friend of mine told me she was having her first baby, a boy, I quickly knit up a sweater for him:

He is now 2 weeks old & the sweater is on its way to his house. Doesn't the sweater look so tiny on our high chair? Hard to believe my boys were ever that tiny. (the sweater is from the one skein book. I substituted & used Plymouth Encore & knit it just a wee bit longer. I also changed the ribbing to moss stitch.)

The next knit is for my Uncle, who is getting married this weekend:

We've watched him date for years & are thrilled he finally met the right one for him. I knit him & his new wife a little heart doily to put on their own table whenever they wanted a 'date'. The hearts can remind them why they fell in love. I really hope they like it. The pattern is from the First Book of Modern Lace knitting & the yarn is a thrift-store find. This was my first time doing the crochet border & I obviously need to figure out how to block that a little better. It was a super quick knit though...1 afternoon!

Finding the beauty in what life brings our way

We have been enjoying a couple days at home watching the snow falling & then falling some more.
See our 'table cake'? (This morning I noticed my brother took a similar picture. Great minds think alike, huh?) Q enjoyed shoveling the snow into a snow fort:

Where's Q? Look for the blue, can you see his eyes peaking out of his hat? M thinks playing in the cold is insane & has been bundled up inside by the fire drawing his comic book. (it's not 'officially' out yet. Only I, the mother, am allowed to see it.)

And finally some knitting:


Here is the Shoulder Shawl (in Syrian pattern) from Victorian Lace Today before the border was added.
And with the border:



Isn't it amazing how much the border adds? I'm totally in love with this shawl. The kid silk spray was amazing to knit with. The shawl itself was a quick knit. This was the first shawl I didn't use lifelines with, because it would be easy to quickly see any mistakes. I also love the size of this shawl. Perfect to drape around my shoulders & not worry about it falling off. Thank you again Maureen for a great Christmas present!

Where do most people store their lace shawls? I hate to put mine in a drawer & usually find a spot in the house for them to lay. This one hangs on my living room rocker, allowing me to see it all day long. Yummy.

The snow arrived

The first of the snow has arrived, just in time for the boys spring break. The fire in the fireplace has been started, movies picked out, & games pulled out. More snow is supposed to come tonight, leaving us plenty of time to enjoy being "snowed in".