Mitts: Done :-)

I changed my Blog template. Got sick of the pink. I like this better, but I wont have time to re-do my side-bar until next week.

Onto the knitting content.

I finished the fingerless mitts that will be paired with the cinchy hat. They're not blocked yet, but here ya go anyway:

So, the kids are in NH with my parents.... I miss them, but it sounds like they're having a great time. I've been sick the past few days, so I'm kinda greatful that I have the time to just come home form work (early) and sleep. I'm getting migraines again. Ugh. Hopefully it's just stress & will stop after the kids go back to school. I'll be going up to NH on Thursday with Gloria- may be stopping at WEBS on the way up!!!- then will head off to Martha's Vineyard on Sunday to visit my nephews. We'll stay there til Tuesday, then school starts on Wednesday. Busy week, but it's better than being at work!!

One more knitting progress pic, I picked back up the cropped cardi I'm making for Gloria. It's finally cool enough to work on it again. I actually JUST seamed up one arm, so all that's left is knitting the 2nd arm, adding the button and blocking it :-)

I'll be back next week, and will hopfully have a good picture of Devin & Georgie with my nephews. I can't believe Charlie will be ONE in October & I STILL don't have a good pic of all 4 kids together!!

Flashing my Stash

I'm flashing my stash for a contest for my SP11 group. My stash doesn't live in just one place.....

I have some yarn in bags on a dining room chair:

There's the bag I bring to football/cheering practice with me:

There's cotton under the coffee table in plastic bins:

And the majority of my stash lives in these bins, which live under my bed:

Shall we see what's in them?

There's more throughout the house, but I didn't bother to photograph it all!!

beachy goodness

We wanted to go sailing today, so the kids & I dropped George of at the boat & went to the beach to wait for his call saying he was on his way to the dock to pick us up.

Georgie played in the sand:

Devin made silly faces by the water:

They looked for *treasure* by the water:

They looked adorable walking down the edge of the water together:
And they played on the playground:
In the end it started to rain, so we didn't get on the boat. But we had fun, so it was ok.

And if you're wondering what that thing is on Devin's hand, it's a fingerless mitten. I was making a pair of mittens to gift & I had her try them on & she complained about every aspect of the mitten, this is too tight, that feels funny.... So I stopped where I was, bound off, tied some waste yarn to the thumb & put it aside. Devin picked it up, put it on & said *I love this!!! Can you make the other one for me tonight & leave it on my pillow while I'm sleeping?* What??? She said it felt different when it had the needles in it & she made a mistake when she said the ribbing was too tight. She's a nut!!! She's been wearing it all day though & even wore it to bed, so I think I may switch my original plan from mittens to fingless gloves since the giftee is Devin's age & I'm hoping she'll like them as much as Devin does!

BooBoo Face

I need to figure out how to use cool fonts here....

Anyway.

Devin fell off a swing at camp yesterday and banged up her chin, nose and forehead. Of course she put on her saddest little face for me to photograph this morning. What a Drama Queen!!! Here's my little BooBoo Face:

Doesn't she look pathetic in these? :-( I love her big brown eyes in the second picture though.

And that's about all that's new here.

As far as knitting goes, it's still too freaking hot to work on anything much. I got a new ribbon for the cinchy hat and have two washcloths made to give to Georgie's summer school teacher and reading teacher. I wasn't sure if I should give them a gift or not since it was only a 4-week session, but really, he's learned more in there 4-weeks than he did in ALL of Kindy!!! I'm just giving them each a knit washcloth with a bar of soap that my sister Juli made. Which means I'm down to just one bar of soap :-( And it smells so good stored in the container with my small finished projects. I'll need to get some more (hint, hint. Make it a super secret project Juli!!). I can't find my camera at the moment, but I'll take pix of the projects when it turns up. For now, it's too hot to be doing anything but laying in the air conditioned bedroom, so I'm off.

Oh, and I had a freaky dream inspired by that Zombie quiz a few posts ago!!! Ugh! It was so weird and scary! I can't even grasp the details any more other than to say it was very disturbing!

Hat: DONE

I wish I had a big *DONE* stamp like they had on Monster House. Too bad that show isn't on any more :-(

Anyway, the cinchy hat is done :-)

My model was somewhat reluctant and was horseing around with her Dad when I was trying to snap pix. The Mama of the girley girl getting the hat promises to take lots of pix :-) This isn't the ribon that will stay on the hat. Mom has some burgundy ribbon in her stash that I think I'll steal a yard of. I want to make a bow instead of just a knot.

Awesome

Check it out:

http://julispinsandneedles.blogspot.com/2007/08/gorgeous.html

That had was made with yarn I spun! How cool is that? Yeah! That's the first thing that's been knit with yarn I spun :-D I'm so proud of my little drop spindle.

Knitting ADD

Ya, so you know those shawls & stuff that I said I was working on last time? And the leg warmers/socks that Devin wanted? Ya, well I've moved on to the Cinchy Hat from the most recent Knit Scene. I'm also planning on making a pair of matching mittens & leg warmers :-) I hope I have the right gauge for a kids hat, since it's for a friend'd daughter. If not, I'll keep this for myself & knit another one. HeeHee! No, it should be just fine.

I did a different increase than in the pattern, so I think it looks a little wonky, but it should be fine when all is said & done.

I left work early to pack to go to New Hampshire tonight, and so far all I've managed to do is eat some left over sesame tofu and watch part of Dirty Dancing. Guess I should go get the laundry from the basement and start packing before I get the kids from camp & hit the road....

Secret Pal 11 Questionnaire

Here's my Secret Pal 11 questionnaire. I can't wait to get assigned my Pal :-)

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I like knitting with all natural fibers. I LOVE alpaca. I don't like acrylic. I think I may be a yarn snob.....

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have a needle case that my Mom made that fits a fraction of my straight needles. Everything else is in a plastic container.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
Been knitting a couple of years. I'm self-taught. I guess I'm intermediate. I can handle cables and lace, seaming kills me though! And I have a very short attention span, so large projects are often lost on me.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yup, I've got an Amazon wish list

5. What's your favorite scent?
Vanilla, or cookies baking... or pumpkin pie spice....

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
I have a VERY sweet tooth!!!! Chocolate is my favorite. Dark. I'm also a constant gum chewer & coffee drinker.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I'm teaching myself to spin with a drop spindle. I like to make beaded jewlery, but I wouldn't say I'm any good at it! I attempt to quilt every so often, but that usually ends with me running to my mom for help! I'm trying to teach myself how to dye yarn and to tie-dye. The tie-dying is going pretty good :-)

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like Folksy music: Indigo Girls, Simon & Garfunkle, Dar Williams, stuff like that. I can play MP3s on the computer.


9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
Purple is my favorite color. I like to knit with earthy colors. Not so crazy about super bright colors. I love fall colors- browns, deep reds....

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Married with two kidlets (a boy 5 & girl 7) and a cat.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes, yes, yes and no.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I like knitting cables, lace and baby items. When I get frustrated with a project I usually turn to a dishloth or washcloth as a quick *get it done* project then go back to whatever was frustrating me.

13. What are you knitting right now?
A bunch of shawls! A lace weight mostly stockinette shawl out of Merino, Alpaca Shawl with a lace pattern, DNA cable/lace shawl out of Alpace silk and a wool shrug.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Of course!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I adore my straight bamboo needles, but I've grown rather fond of my Knit Picks Options set, so I may try out some Knit Picks DPNs. I can't knit with plastic needles.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yup, got both thanks to mom!!

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
Umm.... a year?

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas! Or 4th of July for the fireworks :-)

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Turtles, and does yarn count?

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I subscribe to Knit.1 (thanks to my sis, Juli) and Interweave Knits. I'm dying for the Vogue stitchionaries, any lace book, and any beginner sock book (gotta jump on that bandwagon!). Looking to try out some Knit Picks DPNs- I don't have any DPNs smaller than a 2.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Hmm... I can't think of any. I have the magic loop booklet, but I haven't tried it yet. Oh, and colorwork! The most complicated color work I've done is ball band dishcloths!! I want to try stranded knitting & have a few patterns in mind (the pirate hat from Hello Yarn being one!)

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Not yet, but all the cool kids are doing it, so I have some sock yarn & some patterns ready to go for when I can take on another project. I wear a size 7 shoe.

23. When is your birthday?
November 14th I'll be turning 30 @@

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
YES!!!!! I'm valink over there, and I'm totally addicted!!!

Zombies!!!!

I hope they're not coming any time soon... 40% isn't the best odds....


40%

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

Nothing much new

So, not much knitting or spinning has been going on around here lately. I finally finished the new HP book, but I still haven't been getting much done. It's too freaking hot and humid to want to do much of anything around here. I don't have air conditioning, so during the times that I would usually be knitting I find I just want to lay on the couch with the lights out! I did get a few rows knit on my *something warmers*- which Devin has requested that I make into knee high socks for her, and I did a few rows on the Morehouse Farms Contessa Shawl. Oh, and George found the reversable cable scarf that I made him! Yeah! I'll have to force him or one of the kids to model it for a picture, as I only have *in-progress* pix. Georgie's rattle snake scarf continues to be missing :-(


Onto the pix.


Devin modeling what I thought was going to be leg warmers, but now may not be. No soap was used in the production of these pictures, so please excuse the messy house & dirty kids!




The beginnings of the Contessa Shawl. I'm only on row 20.



And my main man in his football gear.