pink knits

Birthdays

2009-02-21T18:53:00.004-06:00

Not sure how this happened, but Q turned 12! His birthday wish was a new hat knit by Mom:

If only it was this easy to make him happy all the time....

Goodies for Mingmay

2008-08-09T19:04:00.005-05:00

One of the great things about being an auntie is that I get to knit little knits:

Baby Surprise Sweater for Mingmay. Knit with Opal sock yarn. Yellow trim just for her. Red buttons picked out by her cousin Q.

And then because I know this is how she feels:
How could I resist this cute bib?

Look who I met!!

2008-08-07T23:06:00.004-05:00

Myrna Stahman came to the store tonight. I was so excited & kinda shy to met her. In the picture I'm wearing one of her shawls (!!). Also pictured is Maureen, who got me addicted to lace in the first place. It was a very fun night. Myrna brought many gorgeous samples & was very friendly.

Now comes the hard part of deciding which shawl to knit first out of her book.....

Nieces

2008-06-13T17:33:00.003-05:00

I have been a very lucky auntie! Niece #2 arrived at the end of May:

Meet Mingmay. Isn't she beautiful? She is laying on the quilt my mother made for her.

And here's a picture of Bella wearing the sweater & socks I made & laying on the blanket I made for her too:

She's already got some dance moves down. ;-)

I'm an auntie again!!

2008-05-12T20:00:00.003-05:00

I have to show off my adorable niece Bella:

New family member

2008-05-11T21:34:00.003-05:00

Perhaps it's fitting to show you our newest family member on Mother's Day. He joined our family because of my love for my sons & their need for a buddy. Meet Bruce:

Or Bruce Wayne, also known as batdog. He hasn't quite mastered the art of smiling for the camera.

He is a 80lb puppy! And as you can see he is the only one who can actually wear my boys out.

I always thought I wasn't a dog person. Then I thought maybe I could live with a small dog. The boys picked up on that & started praying for a dog. And God heard them & sent us the perfect puppy. Very lovable, very playful, & completely in love with the boys. And surprisingly enough, I'm starting to fall for him too.

There is lots of knitting going on too. I'm loving spring/summer knitting & the yummy yarns. I love that I'll have 2 nieces very soon & all the cute things I must (& some I already have) knit for them. Fun times.

New things

2008-02-28T17:17:00.003-06:00

Many new adventures have been keeping me busy. Moving, working, kids growing up, and lots more. One of the more exciting things is my (other) niece:

Meet Mingmay. Adorable, isn't she?

And I also started a blog for my designs.

More updates coming soon....

Now this I would watch.....

2007-12-04T20:38:00.001-06:00

So very exciting!

2007-11-08T20:28:00.001-06:00

So about a month ago my sister found out she is expecting a baby! And then a week later my sister-in-law called to tell me she was also expecting a baby!

And being a very proud auntie, I had to show you the 1st picture of my sisters baby:

Can't you already see how cute he/she will be? I'm working on knitting an American flag themed baby sweater & blankie.

Here is the baby sweater for my brother & sister-in-law's baby:

It matches a hat that I made my brother. (it's the baby bolero from One Skein. Knit with Blue Sky organic cotton).

Sockapalooooza

2007-08-29T21:23:00.001-05:00

Finally here are the socks I knit for my pal:

Look, 1 sock is showing off by standing on its own.

Knit with Cherry Tree Hill yarn, using lace addi circs in size 1 (oh yes, I finally own lace addis!! And I do love them very, very much), in 3x1 ribbing, toe-up, & short-row heels. They took much longer due to not being able to knit as much after my fall. (I'm still having neck issues...ick). Now comes the wait to see if my pal likes them. I'm always so nervous during this time!

I'm so glad I joined sockapalooooza! I adore my socks my pal knit for me & I do enjoy picking out the yarn, knitting the socks, & the hopeful enjoyment my pal will get from my socks too. These exchanges are the only chance I get to have someone knit me socks! And the 2 previous pairs I've gotten have become my most favorite, as will the new (how exciting!! New socks ready for the fall weather to arrive!) pair. Thank you Allison for running this! And thank you to my pal for patiently waiting for your socks! (I'll update with her blog once she's gotten them).

Our family

2007-08-26T20:57:00.001-05:00

How cute are we? (you can get your stick family here).

Look what I did!!

2007-08-25T18:08:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow my baby turns 9. I'll be trying hard not to cry. Seriously 9? And he'll be starting 4th grade! Oh my.

One of the things I wanted to make him for his birthday was a pillow case. The idea came from one of my times drooling over Etsy goodies. I haven't sewn in years, but finally got an awesome vintage sewing machine (I should take pictures!) & with my mothers help got it going. So tonight I sat down & sewed my 1st project in years:

A pillow case. I really did it! And I'm home alone, so there is no one to show it to. But look, I did it! Just looked at my pillow case & went for it. I used yummy fleece found in the leftover bin at a craft store & a little bit of the fleece I use to patch the boys holes in their jeans. The only oops (I have found so far & I'm sure there are many more) is this:

I guess M will be offering free advertising to the night fairies. (or who visits boys at night? night superheros?). Oops. But I did it! I made a pillow case!

Lace design

2007-08-24T16:15:00.000-05:00

So a few weeks ago I had a very rare night out without my kids. My good friend & I ventured out to the street fair that was going on & I had hopes of finding the new yarn shop I had heard rumors of. Well not only did I find the shop, but a couple days later the owner called & asked if I wanted to work there! And so begin my dream job, a job I wouldn't have applied for, but one that has so enriched my life. The owner is wonderful, the shop gorgeous, & the yarn so very yummy. And I must take pictures of the sample sock I knit with Tofutsies. A dream to knit with!

Well, this fall I will also be teaching some classes. One of them being a lace class. I wanted to design some lace that looked a bit 'North Dakotaisch'. I liked the idea of it looking like snow falling. And a design that could be a scarf or turned into a cute little purse. I'll spare all the swatches of those until later. But today I had an idea to add a 3rd option to the pattern:

It would be more of a triangle shawl. This is just a little swatch & still needs to tweaked. (and I realize it's hard to see with the blue monopoly towel & bad lighting, but I think you can still get the idea). Any thoughts?

Pictures!

2007-08-22T12:57:00.000-05:00

I'm so sorry that it took me so long to get pictures up. Life took an unexpected adventure that left little time to do much else.

But here are my beautiful socks:

The socks are made with Socks that Rock yarn (my first experience with this yarn!) & are so very yummy. And look at the card! It's gorgeous too.

Why must taking pictures of your feet be so hard?

Aren't the socks perfect? I really, really love them. Everything about them.

And to completely spoil me, my pal included this Opal yarn inspired by an Austrian artist!

Thank you to my pal for the most perfect, yummy socks & goodies. (She did include sugar-free candy that got eaten by M before I had a chance to take pictures.) And thank you Alison for putting this together again.

Coming soon: pictures of the socks I knit, many FO's, M's major haircut, & the exciting news that I now work in a yarn shop!

My socks came!

2007-08-10T12:49:00.000-05:00

My socks came & they are gorgeous & amazing & perfect! And my pal sent me yarn inspired by an Austrian artist, as well as sugar-free candy.

I'm running out the door to see my chiropractor again (fell last weekend & ended up with a dislocated jaw, a slight concussion, & a messed up neck..yuck. Thank God for my amazing chiropractor!). I will update this post with pictures of my socks & the other goodies. In the mean time check out my pal's picture of her knitting my socks.

My socks are famous!

Monday morning blessings

2007-07-23T09:34:00.001-05:00

Drinking my coffee in a new coffee mug brought for me from China:

A gift of love from my big brother & a souvenir from the town my sister (in-law) came from.

My sons

2007-07-17T23:55:00.001-05:00

Since becoming a mother to 2 sons, I've noticed something. When you met another mother of a son, there is an understanding, a connection that does not need words. Having a son completely changes how you view the world, how you view yourself, how you view men. I now know that boys are sensitive too (but they only show it to the people they trust & their moms of course), boys need to get their energy out or they burst (it's true. I've seen it), boys can talk just as much as girls (only their stories involve cars, bad guys, karate, & often some kind of a crash), & that if you do not feed them they get incredibly grouchy (tiny tip: always carry snacks).
But the best thing about being a Mom of sons is that even after an incredibly long day, where I'm convinced I will never, ever have a quiet moment again in my life, one glance at their (finally!) peaceful, sleeping selves & my heart just melts. I remember again how much I adore being their mother & how lucky I am to have been chosen by God to raise them.

A new thing

2007-07-16T19:34:00.001-05:00

Last year when M was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I quickly became frustrated with the limited amount of 'fun' bracelets. For something that he needs to always wear, it should be fun. Right? Anyways my first attempt at making him a bracelet last year was very sad. Apparently my skills at making those friendship bracelets had vanished. (And Elizabeth, I'm sure we had to have made a few of them together!)

Fast forward a year, add an ebay find of hemp cords & beads, mix in a niece who is very into making bracelets, & look what I made:

A bracelet for M! And because I had searched before on etsy for a diabetic bracelet & found none (although I haven't searched recently), I decided to start my own etsy shop. It needs some more work, but I'm excited. I have lots of ideas of what I can craft & add to the shop. I've sold knitted items at consignment shops in town, but this feels more like a community. A community that I already love & spend way too much time looking at. (Seriously. Have you seen the talent? I'm always awestruck.)

So I'm trying a new thing. Perhaps something to reaffirm that I'm a crafter. I think I'd forgotten.

Cousin time

2007-07-10T21:38:00.000-05:00

We got an unexpected, but very much wanted, visit from my niece & nephew. The last couple of days have been filled with giggling, late-night runs to the grocery store for ice cream, playing, staying up way too late, & of course crafting...

Here is Dani's creations. I'm so thrilled that she taught me how to make jewlery like this. We got more auntie/niece bonding in than we have in years sitting around creating bracelets.

I also gave Dani a scarf I had crochet:

Of course now that she is gone, I see that you can't really see the scarf very well. Oh well, isn't my niece beautiful? We found many things that we have in common these last few days...we are middle children, love crafting & cooking (although she is the true chef), & we both love mystery shows. Hopefully we'll get lots more fun times like this.

The boys all had fun too. M & my nephew were a bit scared last night during the thunderstorm. Here is a picture of very rare sleep:

And to play catch-up, here are my kids & my Dad enjoying a new summer toy:

Aren't Grandpa's fun?

Summer fun

2007-06-26T14:20:00.000-05:00

I did a little bit of updating of my sidebar today. I didn't realize it was that long overdue! There are alot of finished items I need to take pictures of & post here.

So I'll start with one that went to my knitting buddy Maureen:

It's Elspeth from Rowan 37. The yarn is from a recycled sweater (Lambswool/nylon). It was a really fun knit & went quicker than I thought. I did the crochet edging a bit tight, so I'd change that next time. It fits Maureen perfectly & I'm thrilled that she likes it!

Check out these gorgeous flowers my friend had delivered to me on my birthday:

I can't stop drooling over them! This year I was also able to use my 'birthday' teapot with my traditional birthday cake my Mom makes for me every year:

Yummy!

And just because here are my sons swimming in a friends pool this past weekend:

Aren't they cute? And um, speaking of cute.... this summer marks the start of little girls calling our house. Is there a support group for Moms to help us deal with this stuff?

One of those days

2007-06-22T16:52:00.000-05:00

This has been one of those days. At a very favorite retail store of mine today, I was given horrible customer service. While stopping at our pharmacy I witnessed some dispute that involved a few cop cars, what looked to be a social worker, & a 2 year old child running around the parking lot. Later while trying to discuss an incident with someone who supervises the program my kids are involved in, I was railroaded to someone else & they had no idea why I (the mother!!!) would want to get involved since everything was 'under control'. And when I sat down to upload pictures of my birthday yesterday (Jessica, I'm so impressed you remembered! Happy Birthday to you too), my camera refused to cooperate with my computer.

Thank goodness these days don't happen often. I can easily give my money to the store that will respect me. I can be thankful my home life is peaceful. I can continue insisting that I am included when it comes to my child (I am the one raising him for pete's sake). And I can blog about my most amazing birthday when I have more patience to figure out why my camera & computer are not talking to each other at the moment.

Happy weekend! I'm going to work on doing some random acts of kindness!

Summer

2007-06-19T22:20:00.001-05:00

We are busy enjoying summer, which includes lots of rain so far. Here's M riding his bike to his 1st day of the local summer park program. (He's got his backpack full of his diabetic stuff under his sweatshirt).

Crafty posts coming soon...

Finally!

2007-05-26T18:41:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the long absence! Life has been busy, had disk problems in my back (serious ouch!) & the computer was acting up. Blah.

Since my last post, I have become addicted to crochet. So much fun. (and after looking at some blogs, it seems others are crocheting a bit too). So here are just a few of my recent creations:

* Z's necklace: Just little flowers crocheting onto a necklace bought at Hobby Lobby.

* a hotpad (figured out the pattern by trying to copy one someone sent me in a swap that I love. I was so proud of myself that I figured it out!) for my sister with fabric that reminded me of our growing up years sewn on. Made to match her new kitchen colors, yet apparently the only purple she has is stuff I've given her.

* Necklace #1 for my Mom. Pattern was one of the Interweave knits free patterns knit with Rowan 4-ply cotton.
* Necklace #2: I should have gotten a better close-up. This pattern was in a crochet magazine I found at Walmart. Knit with cross-stitch thread bought at the Hancock fabric that is going out of business here in town. My Mom is heartbroken & will miss the store alot, so this is a little 'keepsake' for her. hehe.

* Necklace for my niece who turned 12. The big flower is supposed to be a 10 & the little flowers make it a '12' necklace. She was not impressed with my logic. At least it amused me.

Lots more crochet coming later. Here is a sign that I saw while visiting Q's presentation at school. Do you see what the 'D' is doing? Yup, knitting. Ahem.

And I finally managed to get a picture of Jill hanging from our stairs, chillin. Silly cat.

Ps...this is for my sockpal: I lost your e-mail that I was so excited to get! I'm so sorry. Can you e-mail me again?
Also Jessica tagged me & I promise I'll get to it very soon.

Fun finds

2007-04-10T19:31:00.000-05:00

What's up with snow in April? When we awoke to this a week ago, I thought it was a dream:
And yet it remains. I even watched more snow falling today. Q has been quite concerned that we will not have summer this year. I'm hoping spring comes soon so I can wear this:

My newly found Austrian skirt (where I spent I my childhood) that matches Cece perfectly. What more could a girl ask for?

CeCe

2007-04-02T18:57:00.000-05:00

I finished CeCe & I love it!
A quick picture (not the most flattering). Hopefully I'll get a better picture at another time. A close-up:
I love the button! I haven't blocked it yet, because I don't want to take it off. The yarn is recycled from a men's Structure sweater. The only thing I changed with the pattern was that I knitted the neckband & attached it to the back stitches as I went. I think this is my favorite knitted sweater I've ever made for myself.

Much better

2007-03-21T19:59:00.000-05:00

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

2007-03-16T19:01:00.000-05:00

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

2007-03-14T12:18:00.000-05:00

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

2007-03-03T11:51:00.000-06:00

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

2007-03-01T09:05:00.000-06:00

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".

Life goes on..

2007-02-26T12:30:00.000-06:00

If only I blogged here as much as I come up with posts in my mind. Life always seems to stay busy. Here are a few things we've been up to:
My hair went from this:

to this:

10 inches off (which went to Locks of Love). The new hair is very fun.

Q also celebrated his 10th birthday:

He's the cool dude in the Beatles shirt (sorry Dee, I had to use this pic just because of the shirt...hehe). M is standing next to him. I still have no idea how my son has gotten so big. His intelligence & abilities are amazing. I'm so very proud of the man he is slowly becoming.

There is lots of knitting to show, but I just discovered all the pictures I took of my varies projects really aren't the best. So for now I'll just show you a glimpse of new skills discovered:

Knitted lace border around a shawl corner!! I really did it. There was a happy dance done that day.

And go check out Jessica's adorable new baby daughter!

Favorite socks

2007-01-21T20:04:00.000-06:00

I realized I never blogged about one of Q's favorite socks:
They are knit with Lorna's Laces Camouflage. He wears these at least once a week. See how well they have held up? Another reason that Lorna's is one of my favorite yarns.

Matchiness

2007-01-16T12:13:00.000-06:00

I'm finally posting these pics that I took 2 weeks ago. For Christmas I gave my brother some not-quite finished socks. On New Years I finished them (while hanging out with my other brother):
They are being modeled by my Father (who was very sad they weren't for him). I knit these with Opal yarn (thanks Maureen!). The main point was so that they would match Q's new socks:

I finished his right before his bedtime & he insisted on wearing them to bed (& 2 days after that). Q's are knit with Trekking yarn (actually managed to get the yarn from the destash blog). These are the only socks I have ever made completly match, strip for strip. Q said these are the best & most comfortable socks I have made so far. I really hope he doesn't lose his incredible sweetness in the upcoming teen years (only 3 years away..yikes).

I thought it would be cool (gotta use those pre-teen words now!) for Uncle & nephew to have kinda matching socks. Both were knit using the magic loop style, size 1 needles, and a version of the garter rib stitch from the Sensational Knitted socks book. I love this stitch. It's the one being used on all my socks at the moment.

And this picture is for my very good childhood friend in Germany with whom I've recently gotten in touch with again (Hi Manuela!). She asked me how I decorated the ouside of my house for Christmas. Well here is my house in all it's glory:

Yup 1 bow. How pathetic is that? I usually put more bows along the fence, but for some reason couldn't find the rest of them this year. That's it. That's all I usually do. Maybe I should call it the 'simplify your life' look. (Love that show. Has anyone else seen it?).

Still knitting away...

2006-12-29T19:41:00.000-06:00

I know I've been neglecting my blog. Frustration with my computers, camera, etc led to me just ignoring it all. But thanks to all of you that let me know I was missed!

Let's start with some knitting....
A shawl for my knitting buddy. Maureen knits amazing lace & has inspired me. (and encouraged me). It only seemed fitting to give her a shawl I knit. It's the Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark from Fall 2006 Interweave Knits. Knit in Misti Alpaca & Maureen's favorite color.

Look my first nupps!

Continuing with some showing off:

My father organized a Christmas play at his job. My sons were shepherds:

Aren't they handsome? (I've been told I can no longer call them cute. They are too old for that. Sniff.) Q is holding the cutest baby lamb.

And amazing presents:

Some knitting presents! Maureen blew me away by gifting me with Victorian Lace Today (the most beautiful lace book I've ever seen) & kidsilk spray. She just gave them to me today, but I had to start a shawl! And another knitting buddy gave us adorable lambs. Mine has socks on her hands & feet. The card with it says: 'May the incredible love of Jesus knock your socks off!'. How fitting for the season.

I have many other knits to show, plus some cross stitch. I gifted my first (& last) embroidery projects without taking pictures. Perhaps a sign that I need to get back to blogging regularly?

Fall fun

2006-11-05T21:38:00.000-06:00

Fall is my favorite season. Knitting kicks into high gear, the boys are wearing their knits full-time again, our fireplace is being used again, legs don't need to be shaved daily, movie nights can bring those far too few cuddles from my sons, and so much more.
I will update soon with my knitting FOs. My camera & computer are not working together at the moment. (This is my Dad's picture).

Golden birthdays are fun....

2006-10-28T18:19:00.000-05:00

My little brother had his golden birthday this past week. We had a little birthday party at my house (with yummy ice cream cake). One of his presents was a scarf knit by me:
It's the blue thing he is half modeling. It was knit in basketweave, using Woolease (the thicker version), & size 15 needles. Quick knit & hopefully warm. I think he liked it. Boys just do not gush like us girls, do they?

It's the little things...

2006-10-23T13:44:00.000-05:00

Life has been busy around here. So when I went into the kitchen, looked at the fridge & saw this:
I was left speechless. (It says 'Mommy you rock'). How did I ever get to be such a lucky Mom?

Drake adventures

2006-10-09T10:15:00.000-05:00

While Sir Francis Drake was here visiting us, he insisted on being taken around town. We were easily swayed & took him to a few of our favorite spots.

We started with a trip to my old stomping grounds:
We may have parked illegally & ran to snap this picture. Sir Drake was rumored to be a bit of a pirate, which might explain why he encouraged that bit of risk taking.

Our next stop was a favorite hangout of ours:
We love the library & I think Sir Drake was impressed with how nice our librarians are.

Feeling a bit adventurous, the boys & I took Sir Drake to our river:
Look it's dark & we are out! This is the Red River. It separates Moorhead (Minnesota) & Fargo (North Dakota). The boys & Sir Drake jumped back & forth between state lines a few times.

Venturing out some more, we took Sir Drake to my parents house:
The live right next to a horse farm. This is as close as Sir Drake got to riding anything though. He was also very impressed with my Dad's carrots:
Are they bigger than Sir Drake? After this we send Sir Drake off to more adventures.

Socks

2006-10-03T19:03:00.000-05:00

Socktoberfest has begun! I thought this may be a good time to show you socks that I knit before & have yet to blog about. Here are a pair I made for Q this summer. I did blog about them, but somehow the post just disappeared.

Here they are being modeled by Q, who is in a very, very silly mood today. The yarn in Meilenweit Cotton (thank you Maureen!). They were knit my usual way: toe-up, magic-loop, short-row heels & toes, 64sts, size 1 Addis. I made the leg a bit shorter since they were 'summer' socks. It kinda looks like his foot grew a tiny bit too, doesn't it?

And finally, I was tagged. 5 weird things about me:
1. I like my house to be clean, but if my knitting area is too clean I can't get comfy. In other words, I need a slight mess to be able to create. (and creating causes a mess, so usually this is not a problem..hehe).
2. I can't sleep well unless there is a 'white' noise in the room. (when my sister pulled out her fan for me before I came to visit, I knew she really loved me. Mel, is that the acts of service love language?)
3. I have a pillow I like to sleep with every night. I'm not sure why. I even take my pillow on trips with me & have passed this onto my sons, who now also take their pillows on trips with them.
4. I can not leave my house for days & be ok with it.
5. If I'm stressed, walking the aisle of Target will calm me. (except if there are lots of people there. I hate crowds).

I'll tag whoever has not done this yet & wants to reveal what makes them odd. hehe

Yarn Aboard!

2006-10-01T11:07:00.000-05:00

Look what came to my house last week! Yarn Aboard's Sir Francis Drake with treasures:

The goodies he brought came from Sherrill. Look at the yummy sock yarn! Sherrill included some Meilenweit, Regia, & Sock it to me!. Also included was some Organic chocolate (very yummy), some Gummi Bears (which were eaten very quickly), a cute notepad (will the flowers on it keep my boys from 'borrowing' it?), and a fun pattern (Tsunami Lace Sock).
Thank you so much Sherrill & Amanda! What a treat to get this in the mail this week! Sir Drake will be on his way to explore another home in the next couple of days. I hope to take him out on the town first & take pictures.

Breathing again...

2006-09-28T15:34:00.000-05:00

With the first steps towards a big life change for my household done, I can finally breath a bit more. I have lots of catching up to do.. a meme from Angelika (Wie gehts?), e-mails to return, and pictures to take of Yarn Aboard that just made it to my house (!!!).

But first a FO: A quick gift for a child hood friend who had a birthday last week.
It's the Arrowhead shawl (again) from Interweave Knits. This time I knit it with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the beautiful Goldhill colorway.

I only had 1 skein in my stash & was pleasantly surprised to see how much I love the colors with this pattern. And since this only took a couple of days to knit, it proved to be the perfect quick gift.

N is for New

2006-09-13T19:46:00.000-05:00

N is for New..

New school year for the boys:

How did they get to be this big? Seriously, 3rd & 4th grade? And they keep getting cuter.

New socks for me:
Yummy socks. The yarn was given to me by my knitting buddy (she picked it up while in Vegas). The yarn is Trekking XXL, color #107. The colors reminded me of Strawberry shortcake & girl-hood days. They are knit toe-up, short-row heel, using the magic-loop method, size 2.5mm needles, & 3x1 ribbing. I love, love these socks. Thank you Maureen!

New Knitter:
My sister-in-law started knitting!! There is a knitter in my family now. I wish we lived closer so we could knit together more. Isn't this like a dream come true for knitters? And look what her first project is:
Socks for my brother. Knit with Trekking XXL (that she picked out herself, the girl has got great taste). She is farther along now, perhaps even done with the first sock?

New things sure are fun.

M is for M

2006-09-01T18:52:00.000-05:00

M, my youngest son, turned 8 this past week. We celebrated with a quick trip which included:

Legoland! Every boys dream? If you look beyond M & Q racing their legocars you can see my favorite coffee shop. (Every Mommy's dream)

Z even created something:

M got to meet Legoman (this is where I show my obvious boy knowledge ignorance, since I'm sure legoman has a name):

And thanks to Deanna (who called everywhere until she found low-carb flour), M got a low-carb cake. What do other diabetic kids do? His Uncle Mark put a trick candle on his cake, which made M a little nervous.

And what does every boy need for his birthday? Handknit socks from Mom:

See the purple in them? We're calling them Viking socks. (I got the yarn in a grab bag. It didn't have a tag, so I don't know what brand it is.)

So M is for M, my youngest who is growing up too fast.

L is for letting go...

2006-08-20T18:38:00.000-05:00

Letting go. Such a hard thing for a mother to do. How does one go from having our kids be dependent for everything to realizing they are closer to leaving every day?

My first instinct is always to protect them. As they get older I really want to keep them from the hurts life can bring. But weren't my greatest lessons learned from the mistakes I made? Mistakes that formed who I am, how I think, & made me both stronger & more compassionate. Is there a way to pass on what I learned & save my kids from going through their own mistakes? I think that thing called the teen years kinda erases that hope, huh?

Perhaps the hardest part of letting go right now is allowing them to venture out & do those things that boys do. Like today, Opa (grandpa in German) took them out kayaking. He let Q go in his own kayak. Upon hearing this I just about fainted, only to be reassured by a nearby college-age boy that this was what boys do & he was safe. Yes, letting go. Thank goodness I've still got a few years to practice letting go.

K is for knowledge

2006-08-18T19:27:00.000-05:00

K is for knowledge & the never-ending desire I have to learn new things & sharpen my skills. Currently the 2 big learning areas are cooking & lace-knitting. I am currently working on 2 shawls, one of which is the Icarus from Interweave Knits:

This is knit with the yarn Z gave me (Skacel Merino Lace) on size 2 needles. I've done 5 pattern repeats so far & will make it bigger than the original. (You can see Jill, our cat in the picture too)

While my kids are not eating all the new dishes I'm creating, they both loved the egg roles I made from scratch tonight:

I was surprised how yummy they turned out (it being my first time making them). We will definitely be making these alot from now on. Hopefully the new cookies we are going to try making tomorrow will be just as yummy!

Vacation times

2006-08-15T19:29:00.000-05:00

We started our vacation with a great view:

Then spent the week having fun:

Added a few crazy times:

And found ourselves being driven home by someone else:

That is my niece driving us. I managed to remain calm, although I did wonder how I managed to 'suddenly' be the responsible adult driver. We had a fun vacation week & I was able to start a shawl with that yummy yarn in the first picture (thanks again Z!). I'll post a picture as soon as I get us readjusted to homelife.

Simple pleasures

2006-08-07T11:02:00.000-05:00

We are busy enjoying the simple pleasures of summer. There is lots of swimming, giggling, reading, lounging, & more going on. The boys are even discovering new adventures:

The picture is from a fabulous day at a friends lake house (hi Susan). Much to their delight the boys actually caught fish.

There is knitting happening here. Lots of knitting. I may have a complete addiction to lace now. My sister-in-law also surprised me with the perfect yarn this past weekend, which just further proves that my brother did indeed marry the perfect girl. I'll post pictures soon. For now we are off to spoil my nephew for a week.

Yummy greens...

2006-07-29T13:53:00.000-05:00

I recently discovered the beauty of the color green after winning this on e-bay:

Isn't that yummy? It's from handpainted yarns. I've been dreaming of what shawl this may become. I've got about 1500 yards, which should allow me to make a good size shawl. Any suggestions?

Then today I got my package from my flip flop pal Missy:

How spoiled am I? And look at all the green! How did you know Missy? Missy included so many goodies: a huge bag (which a knitter & a mom always needs), green flip flops, really cute, fun flip flop goodies (I searched for these for her package & couldn't find anything), a very interesting book for me & one for the boys, some yummy Trekking xxl (do you see the green in it?), and the pattern for flip flop socks (which I made last year for Q, but never actually printed the pattern. I will knit these again!). Thank you so much Missy! I love my goodies!

Catch-up....

2006-07-23T17:48:00.000-05:00

Finally I'm posting the socks I made for Q to wear on July 4th:

The picture was taken much later at our house. In the picture you can also see Q's garage sale find hat that he loves. And do you see our tiny strawberry's? My Dad planted some for me & they are a favorite of mine. Yummy.

I'm currently knitting Catherine's new pattern:

This is the wide scarf version, but it will be more shawl size for me. I'm using Cotton Fleece & went up to a size 10 needle. The picture does not do this pattern justice, it is a fun, beautiful knit. I'm excited to wear it while welcoming fall (doesn't it feel too soon to be seeing school supplies everywhere though?).

J is for Jack

2006-07-12T19:24:00.000-05:00

Last week after finishing my sisters shawl (& Q's socks which I will post soon...), I wanted more lace. And how perfect that I found sweet somethings:

The little arrowhead shawl from Interweave Knits (summer 2006), knit with Southwest Trading Bamboo yarn. This was a quick knit (took 2 days), and a great lace project. But the best thing about this pattern is that I was able to knit it while chatting with friends. I will knit this pattern again, as soon as I decide which yarn to use.

And pictured here with Jack, our cat. (He's looking at Jill, our other cat. She's shy.) I love the carpet they are laying on too. The only carpet in the house, it will remain on my steps as a memento to the decade of my birth: the 70s.

I is for Independence

2006-07-08T10:08:00.000-05:00

I need to catch up on my ABCs and my blog, don't I? (somehow I think I lost a post too...) Independence seems fitting for the letter I this time of year. It also is perfect for descriping what my now 14 year old niece is striving for:

(the picture shows 'growing-up-too-fast' niece with the blond hair & her cake. We also celebrated Z's birthday - she is in the background with candles still lit).

This family trip also allowed me to gift my sister her birthday shawl. (Fiber Trends Stars & Stripes. Knit with Wool in the Woods yarn: ballet in the color military blue.)

A quick closeup before I left. I didn't realize that the settings are off on my camera though & therefore it's blurry. Blocking this made me realize some things: I love lace & I want these.

They fit!

2006-06-06T19:39:00.000-05:00

My sockapaloooza pal got her socks & she likes them! I'm in knitting heaven.

Summertime

2006-06-05T18:42:00.000-05:00

School has ended for the year & summer vacation has begun. The time for Saturdays all week long (according to Q) & finally being able to watch Mr. Rogers every day (that's M). I've recently started thinking about what summer vacation means. I have memories of being lazy, playing with my toys all day long, reading while laying in the grass, biking with friends, & my favorite: sleeping in. I loved summers & have tried to recreate this fun for my sons. They are involved in a daily (but optional to them) neighborhood park program, which allows them to do the sporty things their mother is just not gifted in. We try to take small trips to see my siblings, the boys join my parents at their cabin, & day trips to a lake for a swim are also a favorite. Our summers are usually carefree, spontaneous, & fun.
I'm curious as to what others think about summers? Do you plan lots of activities for your kids (or yourself)? What are some of your favorite summer memories?
(the picture shows the boys talking today. I came out to hear them talking about how tax is cheaper in Tennessee. Thinking their report cards did not lie & I do indeed have the smartest kids around, I casually asked what they were talking about. Well, umm, apparently they are trying to figure out a way to get a Nintendo DS cheaper. The things boys discuss....)

Love socks

2006-06-03T10:59:00.000-05:00

What does a Mom do when she watches her son adjust to a new life as a diabetic? Knit love socks! These socks were as much for me as they were for him. As I knit these I felt like I had a little control. I could remind him again that his mom loves him through all of life's adventures & always will.
7 year old boys do not like to stand still long for photoshoots of their socks. This picture was taken last week at Grammy's house. Don't his feet look like they are ready to get back to having fun again?
Knit with Lorna's Laces (always so yummy!), color argyle. My own pattern.

H is for Heritage

2006-05-27T18:38:00.000-05:00

I often think of the heritage I was blessed with & hope that my kids will grow up and feel the same. I have made it a point to live by my parents & grandmother, in hopes that my children will enjoy the many little traditions I grew up with. There is my grandma's mashed potatoes, my mother's apple pie, my Dad's spiritual guidance. (I'm raising boys, so food is an important part of their lives. Therefore food is a memory they will always remember.) As I get older, I find myself doing things like my mother & have realized that my taste in things is becoming very similar to hers. My dad's dedication to be a part of raising my sons amazes me. He added something to his life that was not required of him, because he knew his grandson's needed a man's love & guidance. I find comfort in listening to my grandmother tell her favorite stories of the past & am honored that she still adores me. I miss my other grandparents & try to tell my kids about the legacy they left behind for us. My grandfather T would always treat me like a lady & told me I should not marry, unless that man could treat me the same (I did not listen to that advice!). My grandpa B was a quiet man, but let us know we were very loved. I still smile when I remember his quiet sense of humor. My grandma B was (still is) my hero. I inherited her health issues & I hope I inherit her complete joy in life & her strong faith. I always knew she was praying for us & I still always treasure her complete joy when she first saw Q & realized he had curly hair (she put curlers in her hair daily to achieve what he had naturally).
Heritage. A gift that is too often missed. Something that is often forgotten or not wanted. Something that is a part of our daily life. Something that I am forever grateful for & hope that I learn from.

The pictures are from our Buffalo-hunt. The top one shows my grandma standing by 'Jim-Bob' and the bottom one shows my sons & me standing by 'Spirits of the Prairie'. (Can you tell that it was very windy?) More are on flickr.

Catching up

2006-05-23T10:43:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to catch up with things in life that have been neglected or have taken much longer to get done. One of these is my poor sock pals socks. With all the stuff that went during the month of April, these socks took me much longer to complete than I anticipated. And once completed, it has taken me way too long to
block these & get them in the mail. I hope my sockpal with forgive me. I knit these using the Thuja pattern from Knitty. Since my pal has 2 young sons, I thought it would be fun to knit these in a simple pattern that I could take along on journeys with my sons. These went to the park, watched movies with us, & then unexpectedly went to the hospital with us. I knit these while my son recovered & prayed for my sockpals sons. In a way, these socks helped me to get through the past 2 months. I hope my sock pal will enjoy them & build many memories with her sons while wearing them.
I also wanted to take a closer picture of the really neat bag my Yarn Aboard pal made me. I've been carrying it with me everywhere & love it! Notice the flowers it is hanging by? They are on my front porch & just decided to bloom this year. The past 2 years my Dad (the gardener) has wanted to replace this vine, but I didn't want to lose the little bit of privacy it offers. This year I suddenly find myself with gorgeous exotic (to me) flowers. Isn't that how life is? With a little patience, seemingly ugly things suddenly become beautiful.

Fridge surprise

2006-05-17T13:29:00.000-05:00

This has been a really hard month, with many challenges still being worked out regarding M's health. So when my parents gave me a card for Mother's Day telling me that my gift was a new fridge, I was very excited. Having to tape your old fridge's door shut becomes old quickly. (you know when you are having one of those months, your appliances usually start acting up too. It's just the way life works, right?)
Today was the delivery day. I took everything out of the fridge, excitedly watched the guys unload my new one. Stood there as water suddenly started to leak everywhere, including through the ceiling into my basement (right onto the playstation & TV of course). Watched as they discovered they could not turn off the water in the kitchen due to the pipe being eroded. And then moved the boys bikes so the new fridge could sit in my garage until my Dad could come to turn off the water (because as things would have it, he is 2 1/2 hours away at their cabin). I walked into my house, preparing myself for putting my food back into my old fridge. Wondering a bit if this was a moment to cry or laugh, when I heard the sound of my mailman honking.
How did Leah know? She sent me the best Yarn Aboard package: my favorite smell in a candle, my favorite chocolates, swedish fish (which I haven't had in ages & will probably eat all of them before my sons return from school), adorable mary jane slippers (I needed slippers really badly), cute mirror clings that will go on my mirror today still (I love those girly things), a great foot spa set, sparkly yarn just like I've been wishing/longing for (and it's Cherry Tree Hill!!) in colors I love, and an amazing sock project bag she made herself for me! The sock bag will travel many places with my boys & I. It's perfect for putting on the bike for trips to the park too.
I'm in complete bliss. I will laugh about the fridge & have my new one set up before I know it, right? And while I wait, I'm going to start knitting myself some sparkly socks. (cause you gotta have fun somewhere in your wardrobe). Leah, thank you so much for the great package! And Amanda, thank you for squeezing me in at the last minute & being willing to set all this up. I'll get the radio box going to it's new destination very quickly.

Mom's Day

2006-05-14T20:24:00.000-05:00

Mother's Day is always fun around here. My Dad & sons will create something for me, my mother, & my grandmother. My kids giggle and try so hard not to tell me what they made me, but usually spill it by Friday evening.
This year my sister & her kids joined us for the weekend. We spent most of the weekend being silly & laughing. My mom, niece & I also spent an hour in my sister's furniture store's massage chairs. Those are amazing.

I hope everyone else had a great Mother's Day! Knitting updates coming very, very soon. (just need to take pictures)

G is for Grand Artist

2006-05-11T09:07:00.000-05:00

M is my grand artist. He loves to draw & loves to draw everywhere. Drawing quiets him, it refreshes him, it allows him to express himself in a way he can't otherwise. He is a true artist.

This picture, which is now hanging in my living room, was drawn on a 'real artist paper' (known to us as canvas) given to M by his Uncle (a graphic designer graduate). M's paintings & drawings vary so much. Some are simple, some are complex. All are loved by his Mom.

Knitters are the best!

2006-05-04T14:21:00.000-05:00

It's amazing how 2 packages came this week at what seemed like perfect times. On Monday my final SP package came. I was literally speechless. My Secret Pal was Emily & she did such an awesome job spoiling me! In my final package she found pictures of my favorite cartoon, the German Biene Maja. (Love those!). She also included some very yummy yarn: Debbie Bliss merino aran (I've never owned any Debbie Bliss yarn, just dreamed of the day) & Schachenmayr Catania Color (which I think is perfect for a summer tank). (there was actually more skeins than in the picture, but some are spread throughout the house so I can dream & pet them.) I was absolutely speechless with how much she spoiled me throughout SP & amazed at how well she picked things out for me! Emily, thank you so much. I'm really disappointed that you didn't win Best Secret Pal though(I nominated you).
Then today I returned from one of my many daily trips to M's school & found a package. I wasn't even expecting my sockapaloooza socks & was so excited to see them! They are absolutely gorgeous! I put them on & could only bear to take 1 off to take pictures. They fit perfectly! (this is where you ask why I didn't take a picture of the socks on my feet, right? Apparently I was too excited to think logically. I will post pictures soon though of me wearing them.)
My sock pal was Sherry. Look at all the fun things she included in the package too! Thank you so much Sherry! I will wear these socks a lot. The really ironic thing is that I almost bought Socks on the Go 2 for this pattern. Having them knit for me is so much better. ;-)

M is doing better. He is back in school this week & has got lots of teachers & staff looking out for him. (seriously we are spoiled with a great school!) He has his moments where he doesn't want to do shots & finger pricks for the rest of his life, but who wouldn't? He can now check his blood sugar by himself (except for the 2am one, which he sleeps through) & has considered giving himself his shot, but then the actual movement of putting that needle in his own skin makes him give it back to me. (he can't see the needle with the fingerpoking pen.) I'm just so thankful we live in a time where giving insulin is a possibility! So in between driving back & forth to his school 3x a day, learning how to control his blood sugars, & figuring out all the carb counts (which controls the amount of insulin he gets), it was so incredibly refreshing to receive these 2 incredible packages! Thank you Emily & Sherry!

Home

2006-04-26T10:20:00.000-05:00

We have been home for a few days now. M has been recovering much faster than expected (power of prayer!) & his doctor was merciful in allowing us to go home early & finish some of the education/testing on an out-patient service. And the best part of this exhausting week is that M is looking & acting like himself again. Thank you so much to everyone who left comforting comments! I still cry everytime someone says kind words to us. I think seeing your child go through so much takes alot out of a Mom. My brain still has not processed everything.
The learning process is not as overwhelming as I thought & M is quite the trouper. He has occasional moments where he expresses his sadness, but mostly he is busy enjoying feeling better. I'm trying to organize things at home to help us both. A part of this process is bagging & marking his foods with carb counts so he can help get his meals ready & start counting his carbs too. (this is how we know how much insulin to give him after each meal). Thankfully the things M was used to eating will not have to change much. Q is the one who loves chips, candy, & all the things that are much more limited to M now. (everybody was surprised to hear that M eats oatmeal for breakfast every day & spinach is eaten regularly around here).
And today we are planning on sitting down & watching a movie together (sitting! relaxing! I've forgotten what that feels like). This means that I can work on my sockapooolza socks some more too. How exciting is it that we are so close to the mailing day!
(the picture of M & Q is from Sunday. I now realize I'm thankful I don't have a picture of him in the ICU with IVs & other things hooked up to his body. He doesn't look too bad for a kid who was incredibly close to a coma & had collapsed veins just 2 days before! A moment before both boys had been laughing, I think I caught them at a serious moment in the movie...hehe.)

Changes

2006-04-22T20:50:00.000-05:00

M is in the hospital. He was admitted in the ICU with what we now know is diabetes & dehydration. He is recovering faster than expected, but will remain in the hospital for awhile. I'm so grateful he is going to be ok. And now we start the learning process of a changed lifestyle.

Happy Easter

2006-04-16T23:44:00.000-05:00

Sweater time

2006-04-08T20:09:00.000-05:00

Q's sweater & hat are done! The pattern is Max from Junior Knits (by Debbie Bliss). Yarn is Plymouth Encore (thank you Secret Pal again for the yarn rescue!!). I knit it a little different than the pattern. I knit it in the round, then picked up stitches & knit the arms from the top down (decreasing to fit the # of stitches I had). I discovered that apparently zippers that separate aren't that common. Thank goodness that Hancock just received some 'spring' colors. I hand-sewed the zipper in myself, a move that shows how deep a mother's love really goes. It took forever. (bad close-up picture of the zipper). And I knit him a matching hat (made-up pattern). But when I heard him tell me he loves it, it's the best sweater I've made him, it was all soooo worth it. And check out the stunt that he did for me!
And just because he is so cute too, there's a picture of M wearing his own hand-knit by Mommy sweater & hat. He's also wearing 'pretend' (umm, Target) birks. How cute are they! The look on his face is due to the fact that he is still not feeling well. Poor guy. Although I have enjoyed the so-rare-now-days cuddles with him this past week. They grow up too fast!

A new way home

2006-04-04T22:44:00.000-05:00

It's way past my bedtime & M is very, very sick. But when I saw these pictures my parents e-mailed me, I had to show them. In one my Mom is standing in front of her (& my Dad's) driveway, which is now part-lake. In the next you can see her getting a ride to her house from their neighbors. My sons & I are hoping to visit them tomorrow & join the 'adventure', but I think Q will be the only one to go. (M's still battling 102 fever. Tomorrow will be day#3, according to the doctor, this fever/virus lasts for 5 days.)
And the knitting pics: my Dad bought himself a new spring jacket & I happened to have yarn that matched. So Opa got a new hat. In the pics you can see Q modeling it. The yarn is Plymouth Encore, knit on size 7 needles. My pattern, 2x2 ribbing, 84 sts (I think).

F is for Flood

2006-04-02T14:55:00.000-05:00

I had many ideas of what I was going to write about for the letter F. But the last few days have brought flooding to the area & that
is a fascinating twist that must be blogged about. Right?
Wednesday evening both my basement & my parents basement flooded. (see Miss Thang standing by the water in my house?)
Thankfully both houses are now dry
and we hope they stay that way!
On the way home from the library
today, my sons & I decided to check out the river. We were surprised at how high the Red river is now. Aren't the pictures amazing? Seems surreal. (I'm about 3-4 blocks from the river, so my house should be ok.)
Knitting updates will come this week. A great treat this week was getting Claudia's ex-yarn! Thank you Claudia!

A simple knit?

2006-03-29T17:25:00.000-06:00

It looks like a simple chenille flower washcloth, right? I've made lots of these, since they are such yummy, easy gifts. This one thought decided to be a difficult knit. Can you see the 2 cast-away peddles? Upon trying to join all 5 peddles together, I put my knitting needle into the little loop & the loop broke. Thinking it was just me having a bad knitting moment, I quickly knit another peddle and umm, the same thing happened. At this point I put the flower aside, muttering about how I would never speak to it again.
I did finally come around and picked it up, speaking sweetly about how it was supposed to go to my Secret Pal and make her happy. I guess discovering it had a purpose was all it needed & the flower washcloth is now done, leaving me with a new record of needing more than a week to knit this. Seriously.
Notice I had the brilliant idea of photographing it on my purple towel. Yes, a purple washcloth will look very pretty on a purple towel, if you can find it. But let's look beyond all that and look at the ground. This picture was taken in the very spot that the bee socks were last week. The snow is disappearing!

E is for Eager

2006-03-24T09:44:00.000-06:00

M woke up on the 1st day of spring super excited. He ran to the door and I could see disappointment take over. After counting the days, checking with everyone to make sure that he had the right day, the snow was still there!
Therefore I thought it would be fitting to show his new bee-socks next to the bee-sign in our yard laying in, yup you guessed right, snow. I didn't have the heart to ask him to model them in this pose though.
I love these socks, in fact I think I love them more than he does. (he's a boy, they are socks, need I say more?) They are made from 1 skein of Lorna's Lace beestripe, 56sts, toe-up, magic-loop, 3x1 ribbing. Do you think they will help spring come faster for a very eager boy?

A trip through North Dakota

2006-03-19T21:21:00.000-06:00

My boys & I took a quick trip to my sister's house this past week. It was their spring break & they had both gotten very good reports during the parent/teacher conferences. Seemed like the perfect time to go bond with their cousins, right?
I took these pictures on the way to my sister's. I always say that North Dakota has the same tree that appears over & over & over again. Thank goodness I discovered Knitcast & Storynory before I left!
More later this week after we get unpacked & settled at home again.

Heel adventures

2006-03-13T09:42:00.000-06:00

It all started with some yummy Trekking yarn my knitting buddy gave me. She has the same color, which will mean matching socks. (I love
matching things!) She has started hers and
is doing an afterthought heel. I loved that idea and decided to practice with Q's St. Patricks socks (there is green in them).

1st picture: both socks done without the heels. (on the orange chair. Do you see the white in the background? That's the snow we got yesterday. Seriously, spring? You can come anytime now.)

2nd picture: 1 heel done, 1 'hey there is a hole'. The boys giggled a lot over this and thought that I should leave it like this.

3rd picture: the hole left after finishing the heel. Easy to sew up, yet it left me wondering if I was supposed to pick up stitches here?

4th picture: the socks on his feet this morning.

It was fun to try this way, yet I'm not sure if I will do it again. The socks went really fast, until the heel. Maureen you were right, picking up the stitches takes time. I also usually like adding a few extra stitches around the ankle (for about 1 inch), then going back to the regular amount of stitches for the rest of the leg. I suppose I could figure out how to do this with the afterthought heel, but it's just easier the 'normal' way. It was a fun heel adventure and best of all Q has his 'green' socks.

For the love of yarn....

2006-03-11T20:17:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago my Secret Pal saved me by sending me extra skeins for the sweater I'm knitting Q. I was blown away by how quickly she got the yarn to me & Q was blown away that she had send something that will (eventually) be his. I wanted to capture the moment I showed him the box, his mouth just dropped and he was so excited. But alas, it's now how many weeks later and my camera shy boy will just not be talked into letting me capture the moment.

So, instead I'm showing the yarn with the sweater. One of the skeins my SP sent me is already almost knit up. I put the sweater aside thinking I had made the armholes too big. Today I measured it on Q, and it was perfect. Apparently once again my mind has not caught up with his growing older. On the other hand, the good news is that I can now finish his sweater without frogging anything.

Thank you again SP for sending this yarn! This sweater will now allow us to remember your generosity every time Q wears it. (the other picture shows Miss Thangs new favorite spot to nap. I recently moved my yarn shelf and she kept pushing some yarn off so she could lay there. I finally gave up and let her have 'her' spot. How can I blame her if she wants to nap by yarn? She's one smart cat!)

A scarf...

2006-03-07T20:15:00.000-06:00

It's a scarf! Whew, betcha didn't think I could knit anything but socks...hehe. This is a simple garter stitch/dropped extra stitches scarf knit with LB ribbon yarn. (I think I used 12 stitches). I took this pic of Deanna right before we left for the trip back home. We were walking and I remembered I needed to take a picture of the scarf, so you get the quick pose (it was cold!). Sadly I just realized you can't see the fringes in this pic.

My blog is having issues again. I'm not sure what the cause of it is. Someone hacking into it again? It's very frustrating and I'm trying to decide if I should switch to another service. Any suggestions, ideas, etc will be greatly appreciated! (Twice this week, when you try to get to my blog all you get is a weird code. I have to then redo everything and I haven't had the time this last time to finish re-adding some of the changes I had made to the sidebar.)

The fun we have....

2006-03-05T16:00:00.000-06:00

Close to the end of the Olympics, Q realized that maybe they were cool. M had been humoring me all along and watching them with me, but not Q. My can't-breathe-without-sports son didn't want to be bothered with watching, until they were almost over. Isn't that how it always goes? He did however build an Olympic torch in our front yard. I love when they do unique things all on their own.

The 3rd pair of Olympic socks were for M. Technically I never did watch the Olympics while knitting these, but they were knit during the time. (remember the long hours in the car?). They were knit with Regia mini-ringel, which I now love. Aren't those stripes cool? (56 sts; magic-loop toe-up; 3x1 ribbing; short-row toes & heels).

A birthday break...

2006-03-03T19:43:00.000-06:00

This is my favorite picture of my big brother & me. Probably because it was taken when we still got along...hehe. You know before the whole annoying each other phase. (I tried taking a picture of the picture & it didn't work so well. One of these days I'll set up that scanner sitting in my closet).
Today is Mark's Birthday. I'm going to come right out and share something he doesn't even know. Mark is the sibling I admire the most. He always got great grades (actually trying to keep up with him was my motivation in school), he never got into trouble, and he always seemed to have life together. He has become a great teacher who really cares about his students. Something that I think is rare. And after years of having girls cushing over him (including almost all of my friends), he proved that waiting for the right person is worth it and much to my relief married a nice girl. But the greatest thing about him is that he has proven to be a great Uncle to my sons, which we all know is what really matters.
So here's to big brothers, great teachers & in Q's words an 'awesome Uncle'. Mark, I hope you are having a great day!

More Olympic socks

2006-03-02T21:22:00.000-06:00

I discovered today that I had actually been added as a participant for the Knitting Olympics. I was so excited about this that I organized my sidebar a bit. I tried putting the FOs up and found that I really should take better pics and that I haven't blogged about all of them. Seems silly considering one of the reasons I started this was to have a record of what I knit. So my goal for my 2nd year blogging (yes, last month was my blogiversary) is to be more organized.

And I'll be posting more in the next couple of days, as I try to catch up with showing you the Olympic knitting that I did. In the pics are Z's socks, the 2nd pair of Olympic socks. This was a Valentine gift to her to celebrate her getting engaged to my brother last year on Valentines Day. The socks are knit with Lorna's Laces in the colorway Yellowstone, which is where they spent their honeymoon. I really wished that the colors weren't so girly, cause I wanted to make my brother a matching pair. (56 stitches; magic-loop toe-up; 3x1 ribbing; short-row toes & heels).

D is for Deanna

2006-03-01T18:48:00.000-06:00

A big treat this past weekend was that I got to see my bestest friend. We don't get to see each other as often as we want and the times we do get together go by way too quickly.
She spoiled my kids and I rotten with Christmas gifts. (She gave
me 2 seasons of the Gilmore Girls!! I guess calling her up crying when I realized I could no longer get the WB in my area provoked sympathy for me? Either that or she had to figure out a way to keep me from whimpering every Tuesday.)

I knit her a pair of socks using Regia in the color way Las Vegas. (Thank you Maureen!!) She is
planning a trip to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks and these seemed perfect. And they fit, making me seem like a knowledgeable knitter...hehe. (they are knit magic-loop style, size 1 Addis, 3x1 ribbing, with lots of good luck mixed in for Vegas).

The biggest thing Dee's friendship has taught me is to be incredibly thankful when you are given the gift of an amazing friend. Friends like her are so rare and so good for one's soul. There is nothing like sharing things with her and everyday I wish we still lived by each other. But most importantly I am incredibly thankful that she is winning her 3+ year battle with cancer. Cause who else would know to make me a Ben Stiller collage for my birthday?

Back to a great surprise..

2006-02-28T09:12:00.000-06:00

Our weekend was very fun. My brother's bathroom survived his 2 sisters and 2 pre-teen/teen nieces. I was able to see my bestest friend, visit my favorite church & get to 1 yarn shop. And I figured out that it takes me about 6 hours to knit 1 of M's socks.
I was a little disappointed with the yarn shop. Actually I seem to be everytime I visit this one, so I need to find another one that's close to my brother's house. I did manage to find a couple little fun things to take home (pictures later). So when I came home and saw the little note in my mailbox that there was a package going to be re-delivered, I started getting excited. I spent the day doing laundry & other house stuff, pretending that I was not just waiting for the door bell. I'm so much more grown-up than that (not). Well, this package was so worth hanging out by the front door for. (That sentence makes you think I'm lying about being college educated, huh?).
My secret pal did so good. In fact I took the picture last night, in bad lighting, because I could no longer control myself and had to cast on with the Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn. Yummy!! She also knit me a panta (!!) using Noro Lily. I've been wanting one and this one is so soft. (I'll get pictures of me in it on a day when I'm wearing make-up..hehe). She also included 6 little bags of Lang Bambini Cotton in pinks, which I think I might use for a shrug? And a skein of Artful Galazy that is so soft. Thank you Secret Pal!! I love it all!!
By the way, the above picture is my sister. Perhaps the thumbs-up was for surviving with 5 kids in the car? My parents were driving alone in their car. They did not have a dvd player or nintendo, so they got peace & quiet. I will also post about my 3 pairs of completed socks, 1 scarf, and my attempt to knit a top for myself (instead of another pair of socks & 1 more scarf).

Off we go...

2006-02-25T08:52:00.000-06:00

So I finished wrapping the presents and then remembered I had not taken pictures of the knits. Here's hoping my usual scattered brain will remember to take pictures!
We are off for a family wedding, some family bonding (think 3 siblings, 1 spouse, 5 kids, & the 2 parents who started it all in a small house with 1 bathroom...hehe. I'm hoping Z, the 'new' spouse, still likes us after this), and a little friendship bonding & a tiny bit of yarn shop browsing for me. And with other people driving, that leaves 8 hours in the car for me to knit. Let the fun begin....

Grammy's socks

2006-02-22T19:14:00.000-06:00

Well, I realized I can't show you what I have gotten done for my Olympic knitting, cause they are gifts. So, instead here are my grandmother's socks I finished in January for her birthday. She had told my mother that she was the only family member that did
not have socks knit by me yet. (technically not true. My little brother hasn't shown interest and my nephew doesn't have a pair). Well, I got the hint and she received socks for her birthday. She sent me the cutest thank you card telling me how she lets everyone know her granddaughter knit these. And she was amazed that I knew to pick her favorite colors. Seriously, what would we do without our grandma's?
Her socks were knit with Moda Dea Sassy Stripes (color polo?). I picked these cause she really likes acrylic and the yarn is thicker making these perfect house-socks.

On a very sad note, Q experienced his first bad haircut. He has been trying to grow his hair (check link for example) and although we were told the hairdresser knew what she was doing, it quickly became apparent she was clueless. Most of his hair is now gone and he is near tears. Honestly, I am furious. Why lie? Why not just admit you don't have a clue? And I suppose to add insult to it all, M's hair wasn't even cut straight. A simple cut using a razor, how can you not get that straight? My boys told me they only want me to cut their hair from now on (which I normally do). We just simply wanted to treat ourselves to 'professional' cuts for the wedding. Argh.

Q's birthday

2006-02-17T21:11:00.000-06:00

Look who turned 9!! Q, my first-born is 9. He has grown so much this year. Suddenly I can actually wear his shoes, carry on conversations about politics, and watch him start moving slowly towards independents. He is my silly, always on the move, gifted in so many areas, ever popular son. And he was so totally worth the 20+ hours of drug-free labor.
Q, I love you so much. I'm so thankful that God chose me to be your mother. Everyday I seem to learn something new about you. I love how you work so hard to keep your room clean, that you treasure your family, your love for volunteering, the fact that you are super smart, and that you have immeasurable patience for your mother who is completely inept in sports. I'm so proud of you and cannot believe my luck in being able to share these growing up years with you!

Valentines Day!!!

2006-02-14T21:48:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite holidays is Valentines Day. I love seeing pink everywhere, I love all the cute Valentines the kids give out, and I really love spending it with my family.
M wore his 'newish' red socks. (knit with Steinbach Wolle & size 1 Addis). He also wore red pants and a red shirt, but told me that red shoes 'would be a bit too much'. (hehe).
My brother brought a heart-shaped pizza for supper, my Mom brought little presents for everyone, and my Dad brought flowers. My boys shared their chocolates with me and gave lots of hugs (something I treasure more & more the older the get!).

I will post soon about the wonderful package from my SP (thank you!) and my knitting Olympics progress. Thank you for all the comments encouraging me!

Preparing for the Olympics...

2006-02-10T09:57:00.000-06:00

During boys night last night, our Christmas tree finally made it back to the box. M & Q wanted it up even longer, but thankfully hearing Opa tell them that was silly allowed them to say goodbye. They made a show of being very goofy and ended with a relaxing rest under a 'palm' tree.

So now with the tree gone, we are ready for the Olympics to start. Yummy treats are being made today, maps are being brought out and new sports are being discovered. Fun times are about to begin!

And perhaps even more exciting is the Knitting Olympics with over 4000 knitters! At first I wasn't going to join, but now I'm really hoping I'll get accepted as a late-sneaker-inner (not a word, I know). My Olympics knitting goal is the following: 4+ pairs of socks (some already started) and 2 scarfs. These are all gifts that need to be finished. Do these count? Is that a good enough challenge? (versus my always present procrastination).

And thank you for your kind words regarding the missing Xs. We are back on track and doing well. There is no bigger motivator than an unhappy Mommy!

Finished Market bag

2006-02-07T09:57:00.000-06:00

Not the greatest picture is it? I actually finished knitting it over a week ago, but finally sewed it up this weekend. I made it smaller, because I was afraid it would stretch too much. It came out a little smaller than I had imagined in my mind, but it is still perfect for taking a project somewhere, picking up a few things at the farmers market, or putting my favorite books in it and making a quick escape.
Escape from what, you ask. Well, it seems that we are going through end of winter blahs combined with 'let's test our boundaries with Mom' phase. Note behind the market bag is 1 of the chore charts. Do you see many Xs? I don't either. So we are busy getting back on track around here. I'm usually a very easy-going Mom, if rules are followed and respect to all is shown. Yes, the fun.
Thank you so much Secret Pal again for this yarn and pattern. It is so cute, quick and easy. And in response to the comment in my last post (from I think my SP), the yarn is #1444. (Plymouth Encore worsted). I've divided for the arms now and almost have the right front done. I might be able to finish the back with the yarn I have, but I will be running out. On the other hand, both Q and I love the colors and think it will be a favorite sweater of his. Once his now living in reality Momma finds more yarn...hehe.

C is for crochet cast-on

2006-02-03T08:50:00.000-06:00

C is for my first crochet cast-on for a cardigan. I use this cast-on for my socks, because I can then take it out, pick up the stitches and keep knitting the foot of the sock.

Q's sweater this year is 'Max' from Junior Knits (by Debbie Bliss). I managed to get this book on e-bay finally. (I think I had this on my Secret Pal wish-list?). I'm never very good at completely following a pattern, and this is no exception. I'm knitting the 2 fronts and the back together and the idea of casting on all those stitches made me cringe. So in my complete laziness I had the brilliant idea of using the crochet cast-on. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I love
this way of casting on for cardigans. Yeah for being lazy!

On another note I may not have enough yarn. Let's ignore the fact that after 20+ years of knitting, I still start a project, hear that little voice warning me, and think that if I hope really, really hard it will all work out. I'm now in full fledged denial, sneaking moments of frantic internet searches for this particular color of brown that apparently is not carried in a lot of places. (It's Plymouth Encore that I bought in an e-bay auction). Let's see how far hope & denial get me.

B is for....

2006-01-31T10:04:00.000-06:00

There were so many things I wanted to use for B and I finally decided to use them all. So B is for boys, books, and blog buddies. All have shaped my life in some way.
Books have been a part of my life since I can remember. I moved alot during my childhood and books always allowed me to escape and find friends. They also have been a shared passion with my father, as well as some very good (real...hehe) friends. Books are everywhere in my house and are well loved by my sons too. Reading books together is a favorite activity here and hearing them read to me is something that makes my heart 'warm'. (a new expression here in our house. Used to describe how I make Q feel inside. Awww.)
Boys are a constant learning experience for me. Having sons is a true blessing, but also often a state of complete confusion for me. I love raising them and we often discuss the fact that 'boys just need to do these things'. They love teaching me how boys are different than girls and I try hard to allow them to be who they need to be.
Blog buddies are new to me. In the past year as my health struggles have limited what I can do, I have loved still connecting with people. I can start each day catching up on (with?) my buddies, while still in my jammies drinking my coffee. And experiences like yesterday can brighten my day: I came home from a long, icky day at work (I love my job, but unforeseen circumstances/people can make something fun into something not fun), and was greeted by a package from Jessica. Inside were these great knitting notecards and some stitchmarkers she made just for me. See? Blogging buddies are the best.
Pictures show: my fun gifts from Jessica, the 3 books I'm currently reading, and my 2 sons along with my adorable and also very boyish nephew.

Happy New Year!!

2006-01-29T19:53:00.000-06:00

In honor of my favorite sister-in-law (ok, she's my only sister-in-law), Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Some fun activities to add to the celebration: color a picture (a big hit with M), wordsearches (M & I are addicted to these), discover some Chinese inventions, or maybe a puzzle? And Q's favorite: music.

Z, we hope you are having a great celebration! We (M, Q, and me) all love you and are so happy you are part of my family. We really wish we were there to enjoy the food that I'm sure you cooked today!

Sock fixing

2006-01-25T18:27:00.000-06:00

Once upon a time, a little boy (who we will call M) wore holes in his socks. M waited and waited for his mother to fix them. She was quite slow, it seems that she enjoyed knitting the socks more than fixing
them.
So one day M told her how much he missed wearing the socks. M's mother knew the time had come and sat down to do the simple fix job. (she giggled a little when she realized that all the holes were on the left heel.)
And before M could finish playing, his mother brought him the finished socks. But being the silly Mommy that she is, she only took pictures of the sock to which she had lost the matching yarn. M didn't care, he was already off wearing all the socks at once.

Special Pal

2006-01-23T15:12:00.000-06:00

Look what came!! A package from my secret pal! When I saw the package with pink flowers on it, my heart stopped. Could it be?
I tore open the package and found more pink...hehe.
My pal did an awesome 'rush' job, as she called it. She (am I right to assume she's a she?) send 4 skeins of Coats mercerized cotton (2 blue, 2 pink), 2 skeins of Cascade Fixation (pink), 2 wonderful smelling 100% soy candles, and a CD she made for me with different sock patterns and a market bag pattern.
I'm so completely impressed with the CD! She even put an original label that says 'Secret Pal 7 Patterns'. (Can you see it in the picture?) And Q just gave me this cute little candle holder that needed a candle. How did my SP know? The candle smells very, very yummy. I am also seriously wanting to cast on for the market bag right now. The blue and the pink will look so cool together.
Thank you Secret Pal!! I love it all. Although I think my favorite was the letter you included. What fun to allow me to get to know you better!

Christmas #3

2006-01-19T10:05:00.000-06:00

Another Christmas installment! These are my big brother's socks. And now while looking at all the pictures, I realize you can't really see the socks, just our goofiness. They are knit from Lorna's Laces 'Fall Flight', which also happen to match the University of MN colors where my brother got his masters.
While I've knit many socks for various people, my brother was the first to actually wear holes into his pair. Granted they were knit from woolease on bigger needles, but still a compliment in my eyes.
Perhaps because every knitter worries if the recipient will value their time and thought that went into the knit, if the recipient will actually really wear the knitted piece, or maybe it was just a compliment because I have never known what to give my brother. (I am not one of those people gifted with the 'that is the perfect gift for so-and-so' knowledge). So, from now on I will gift my brother with socks. And in making this statement, I bet it will be really hard for him to figure out what he is getting for his upcoming birthday....hehe.
In the pictures you can see my brother and Z showing off his new socks (and her non-knitted socks, which will soon be fixed with the most perfect socks...hehe), Z taking a picture of his socks and her resulting picture.

Sock buddies

2006-01-15T14:18:00.000-06:00

Remember my saturday night fun sock? The sock that brought fun colors between my Christmas knitting? I finished the pair soon after Christmas and wore them on New Years Day. Which meant that I wore a new pair of handknitted sock to end and start the year(s). Perhaps a new tradition?
The socks were knit from Regia yarn (my Christmas gift from my knitting buddy Maureen); magic-loop style; toe-up using size 1 Addi's; using the Thuja pattern from Knitty. Well, actually the idea of the pattern, I still went with my normal stitches, toe & heel. The pattern was a fun and easy way to spice up sock knitting. The picture above shows my sock next to Maureen's sock. (aren't they cute?)
And here are the socks right by the pillow my mother made me for Christmas. The fabric shows different spots in the US, depicting one of my desires to travel more.
I also hope to start posting more now. My laptop is off getting fixed and I finally got the kids computer to work for me. I've still got Christmas knitting to post about! Plus more finished socks. Eventually perhaps I'll get around to knitting something besides socks this year. My brain just seems to be stuck.

Ugh!

2006-01-13T19:44:00.000-06:00

Apparently it amuses a certain someone to mess with my blog. So please excuse this annoyance!

SP7 Questionnaire

2006-01-10T18:42:00.000-06:00

I'm very excited to finally be a part of Secret Pal. So here goes my questions:

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? No, I don't think I'm a yarn snob. How the yarn feels and wears is more important to me.

2. Do you spin? Crochet? I don't spin. I can crochet a little bit, but so far have only used it to add to my knitting.

3. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I keep them in their original package (if possible) and then keep the circulars & double-points in 2 different boxes/containers. My single points (which I haven't used in a long time, I use my circulars for everything now) are in a cute basket being used more or less as decoration.

4. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I have been knitting since gradeschool, so 20+ years. I did take a knitting break during those fun teen years. My skill level is probably advanced?

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No, might change this soon though.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) I'm not sure I have a favorite, but vanilla and any of those baked goods are yummy.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I have a sweet tooth, but don't indulge often. My favorite is gummy bears and marzipan. Chocolate is a given, right?

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? At the moment none. I did cross-stitch before I had kids and someday will get back into it. I guess I do alot of various little crafts with my youngest son too.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I listen to alot of Christian music. Caedmon's Call, DC Talk, Michael W. Smith, many more. I'm also a huge jazz fan and love Frank Sinatra & the Beatles.And I can play MP3s.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? My favorite color is pink, although I wear alot of blues & browns. And at the moment orange and purple are catching my eye alot. I don't think there are any colors I don't like.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I've got 2 sons (7 & almost 9) and 2 cats at home with me. (I've been divorced 6+ years).

12. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? I wear mittens & a cowl right now. I do wear scarfs too; hats occasionally, and once it starts warming up a bit I love wearing ponchos.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? There are alot of yarns that I have enjoyed knitting with. My big thing is softness. Lorna's Laces is a favorite for socks.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I'm a little tired of fun fur and scratchy novelty yarn, although they have there times.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? Umm, socks? I always have socks on the needles. In the back of my mind are planning the cardigans I want to start for my sons sometime soon.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Socks, they are easy and I can knit them without looking or really paying attention.

17. What are you knitting right now? Socks for my knitting buddy (almost done). I have other things I want to knit, but I have to finish up other gift knits first.

18. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? I love it!

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Circular needles

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I think it depends on the project and the needles.

21. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? No, not yet.

22. How did you learn to knit? In gradeschool in Germany. Taught by a very scary teacher in the basement of the school. My mother thought I would never comprehend how to knit and every once in awhile remarks how she wishes that teacher could see me now.

23. How old is your oldest UFO? Oh my goodness, 10 years? I have a sweater I started for my now 10 year old niece. Probably won't fit her now?

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? My favorite animated character remains Biene Maja (from Germany).

25. What is your favorite holiday? Valentines Day. I love going into the stores and seeing pink everywhere.

26. Is there anything that you collect? Stuff from Germany & Austria; Paris things for my kitchen; knitting-related stuff. My sons collect nutcrackers and monopoly-related things.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? At the moment none. (used to have one to Interweave Knits).

28. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks & Folk Socks. And I'm very much wanting to finally own a Rowan magazine. I've been drooling over the Rowan Felted Tweed in the Cocoa color for a couple of months now. It looks perfect for a shrug, but my LYS only has 2 left. Also Debbie Bliss' Junior Knits.

29. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Learn how to knit cardigans top-down.

30. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? I am a sock knitter! I wear a size 9 1/2- 10 shoe.

31. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) June 21st, the first day of summer.

A is for Anne

2006-01-07T13:36:00.000-06:00

Schaefer Anne that is. After Christmas I knit myself a pair of yummy, yummy socks made from the Schaefer Anne yarn I've had in my stash for awhile. Then I wore them on New Years Eve, welcoming 2006 in style:

This yarn is so soft. I debated for awhile whether to knit a shawl or socks with this yarn and I'm glad I choose the socks. They are knit on size 1 needles; magic-loop style; toe-up; 64 stitches.
And they are the perfect way to start the ABC along. Now if only my computer would quit acting up. How is it that a not even 2 year old computer can already be having major, major problems?

Christmas #2

2005-12-30T22:32:00.000-06:00

Here for their debut are the Christmas socks:

On the left is M and on the right is Q. How fun is it that their socks turned out slightly different? M thought his looked like a candycane. These were so fun to knit and because the yarn was an unexpected gift from my knitting buddy, they were a reminder of the many blessings I have in my life.
Here are Q's socks modeled by me (with the 3rd skein before it was knitted into M's socks):

Details: Lorna's Laces - Country Christmas yarn, size 1 needles. 64 stitches Q's socks and 52 stitches for M's socks. Knit toe-up, magic-loop style.
And to show you our 'country Christmas', here we are at our Christmas dinner:

My sister and her family couldn't make it this year and they were very much missed. You also can't see my Dad who was the man behind the camera.

Christmas #1

2005-12-29T11:32:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe Christmas is already over. It was a fun, memory-making couple of days. Due to my computer having issues, I'm still trying to download all my pictures. So Christmas pictures will be in installments.
Installment #1:

M and Z with a custom puzzle my brother and Z gave M. It's a picture of M at their wedding, where he was using his creativity during the ceremony and found his reflection in his shiny shoe to entertain himself.

Q received the guitar he has been wishing for. Here my brother is showing him how to play. (with my little brother and Z looking on).
And a knitted item:

Z loves the poncho I made her. (made from Homespun yarn and a pattern from Vogue Knitting).

Christmas fun begins

2005-12-22T19:33:00.001-06:00

The countdown is getting so close and the fun is beginning. Presents are being wrapped and given:

Teacher washcloths tucked in with lots of hugs & kisses. (Rudolph made by M). Both of my boys have incredibly great teachers this year and I am sooo thankful. They are made with Reynolds Saucy; pattern from Knitters Stash. (And Maureen - the big skein made both of these..hehe).
My boys had the privilege of being shepherds in Opa's Christmas play:

M, Q, and friend waiting to make their entrance.
After the play we went to visit residents (some who are friends) who couldn't make it to the big play. And what did we find?

A chocolate fountain! (Why didn't I put this on my Christmas list?). The shepherds (one who lost his robe, cause 'it's itchy') loved it.
And then the Shepard took his little shepherds

and brought the real baby lambs back home. (How cute are they all?).

My Saturday night of fun

2005-12-19T09:57:00.002-06:00

It was a Saturday night in the midst of a busy season. There was so much do to and time just seemed to be slipping away. The list was slowly being checked off, yet temptations were everywhere. Perhaps it was the undeniable tiredness that was in the air, or the many games of Scrabble that seemed to cause my brain to get off track, but when this called my name:

I found myself caving. A night of indulgences seemed to be well deserved. Soon I found my fingers rolling the yarn into a ball, the vibrant colors lighting up the night:

My crochet hook found its way to the scrap yarn:

and the start of the process seemed to just appear:

The yarn magically starting forming the toe:

until it's shape could no longer be denied:

The stitches knew their purpose, playing along just right:

growing by the minute:

the truth was evident:

On this most perfect night, my son had once again beaten me at Scrabble.
(Many thanks to Jack the cat and M's fingers for their help in this story)

Nice is what it's all about

2005-12-14T12:31:00.001-06:00

Upon returning home from work on Monday, I found my 'bottle' waiting for me. I left the groceries in the car and raced inside for the glorious moment of opening up my treats:

Debra sent me some amazing things. Some pink yarn that will become a scarf; a chocolate calendar (every day next year there will be chocolate!!); some Sockotta yarn in whites and pinks; 2 skeins of Steinbach wolle which is made in Austria (where I spent a good chunk of my childhood); a cute little knitting book; a yummy banana-muffin candle; some of my favorite little stitchmarkers; and one of the new Chibi's I've been really wanting. She also included a set of yummy lotion, body scrub, and body wash that is already in my bathroom and a really cute ornament that is already being used as well. I love it all. Thank you so much Debra!
Just like everyone else's, life is busy around here. I did my last Christmas shopping yesterday and am now going to avoid the stores. I hate how people seem to forget to be nice around this time of year.
Thankfully my brother and father are incredibly sweet men who spend the better part of yesterday giving me more insulation in my attic:

Little brother and all the fun floating stuff in the air. (Can I still call him little even though he is 25? hehe).
And even though I told my Dad to make a 'normal' face, he has apparently been around my kids too much:

Do you see all that stuff all over him? My kids had fun vacuuming it up all over the house. The best part was going to bed and realizing we were actually really, really warm. In the middle of a winter snow warning. After I had already turned down the heat lower than it's been all fall.

Early Christmas gifts

2005-12-10T15:47:00.000-06:00

So much knitting going on, yet so little I can show you! I did finally finish my cowl:

It remains unblocked, because it is cold and I've been wearing it. I also came to the conclusion that messy hair is worth the warmth this provides.
Pattern: Beaded Smoke Ring. I did not add the beads and did not do the pattern on top. I didn't like how I couldn't get the yarn-overs to match.
Yarn: It's the Target yarn! I loved the color and once they went clearance I caved in and bought some. The total cost to make this? $2.10.
I also received 2 early Christmas gifts. The first one is my early Christmas gift from God:

A loveseat that is identical to the couch I used to own and loved. The couch and loveseat I have now is not that comfy and on the many days that my muscles are hurting me, they are impossible for me to sit on. I just happened upon this loveseat, being given away for free. It seems to be a gift from my heavenly Father, allowing me to once again be comfy in my living room. My sons are excited because we now have a couch and 2 loveseats, leaving a spot for each of us...hehe.
My other early gift came from my knitting buddy:

It's a knitting bag and yarn. I had been really wanting some fun sock yarn and she seemed to read my mind. And I love the bag! I think the girl looks like me too: with her hair-bun, the pink knit in her hand, and the coffee. Thank you so much Maureen. I can't wait to see how you will like your gift.

Oma's Birthday

2005-12-04T20:20:00.000-06:00

Exactly 4 days after my father was born, my mother was born. They now get to celebrate their birthdays together, often disappearing to some Bed & Breakfast. They are the incurable romantics.
My mother is now my best friend. We talk daily on the phone and think very much alike. We both strive to live the simple life, believing God & family are what's important in life. We have the same crazy laugh that leaves us unable to talk as tears roll down our cheeks. And we share a love for coffee and chocolate. Why is all this significant? Because it took me way too long in life to realize how lucky I was to have her as my mother. And then I realized that luckily I am becoming more and more like her every day. I just hope that some day I'll finally manage to make meatloaf that tastes like hers!
Here is the birthday girl going down the slide while on a swimming trip with her grandsons and me:

Doesn't it look like everyone stopped just to watch the beautiful lady go down the slide?
Happy Birthday Mom! My boys and I are way too spoiled by having you in our lives. Thank you for all the pies you bake and the hours you spend listening to me. Wir lieben Dich!!