Flowers & Simon

Look at our poor little baby!!



Simon fell over at preschool and hit his lip on a plastic bucket! Wow, it must have been a hard hit! Ironically, it has not impeded his eating or drinking! The kid is a little chow hound.

The swelling has gone down some today and hopefully it will be closer to normal tomorrow.

Look at the pretty flowers my hubby brought home for me yesterday! Not for any reason...just because!



The usual Saturday for us with swimming lessons. We have a friend that runs a carnival, A Great Northern Affair, who is in Chandler this weekend so we will probably go over there either this afternoon or tomorrow. They let the kids ride all the rides than want for free!

Knitting Musings......

I finished the feather and fan shawl last night. I love it when I remember to "weave" in the ends as I go along! Last night I only had 1 strand to weave in and that was because of the bind off.

Here I am modeling the finished product.



And here is a close up of the detail.



This is a relatively easy pattern:

• Row 1 (right side) Knit.
• Row 2 K 3, purl to last 3 sts, k 3.
• Row 3 K 3, *[k2tog] 3 times, [yo, k 1] 6 times, [k2tog] 3 times; repeat from * to last 3 sts, k 3.
• Row 4 Knit.
• Repeat Rows 1-4 until piece measures 60 inches (or desired length) from beginning. Bind off all sts. Weave in ends.

I have used Jiffy and Homespun to make this shawl and both turned out really nice. I have to admit that I like the Homespun one better but both were really soft.

I started the baby socks from the most recent Interweave Knits but didn't have size 0 dpn so I tried it with size 1 which is only 0.5 mm bigger but they looked MILES too big for a baby so...I am either going to buy size 0 or decrease the number of stitches.

While I am waiting to get the needles or lose interest in the socks, I started a basic roll brim hat from the last ball I have of this yarn.



I had made a girlfriend a scarf from this yarn using the Flying V pattern from Exquisite Little Knits and thought I would try to make a matching hat from the last ball. It will be pretty boring due to the limited yarn but she lives in NJ, so she may actually wear it from time to time!



The V is made by using short rows and then knitting straight. It was a fun pattern.

I like this book but most of the yarn required for the projects are out of my budget! For example, a little, wispy shawl cost $70 and provided nothing but a cute look...no warm. Needless to say, I do use the patterns but rarely the yarn required in the book.

Stitch N Bitch at Cupz

We had a good group of knitters this past week.

Here is a photo of Heather with the start of her Clapotis with Eva in the background. Eva had just come in from Snowflake...she convinced her co-worker to drive so she could knit!!!! Sorry Eva, the photo of your gorgeous blue Clapotis was way too dark!!!!



Here is Ashley working on a very cute sweater for her 1 yo niece. If memory serves me correctly, it was a Sirdar pattern...kind of a cross over ballet sweater style. Very cute.



Another note about Ashley is that she will be moving to Okinawa, Japan in about 6 months...the first thing out of my mouth? "oohh...think of all the Noro you can buy!" while she was thinking about Koigu yarn. Yes, we think of moving and we think about what yarns we can get...scary!

Here's a photo of Mary and Jude. Mary is working on a gorgeous camisole with VERY TINY needles, they looked like 2's. Jude was thinking of starting a Berrocco tank with some yarn she got from Elann, I think. Hopefully she won't be using her "ghetto needles" as she called them from Joann's.





Last, but certainly not least, is Alison working on her own Clapotis out of Noro Silk Garden. Yummy yarn! To offset the cost of her Clapotis, she brought in sets of circular needles and lots of yarn to sell either to the group or off it goes to ebay! I got a nice set of 11's so I can start my "Tie one on" from the new Knitty pattern.



I am working on the feather and fan shawl out of homespun. It is about 90% done and off it goes to the client! Somehow, I don't think he will wait until October to give it to his wife since they are newlyweds (just got married at Christmas time). It is always good to bring mindless knitting to SnB..since you can't talk and count at the same time, or at least I can't.

Grandpa & Grandma Linda came to visit.....

I was having issues with my post yesterday so I just decided to start over.

My Dad & his lovely lady, Linda, came to visit over the weekend. Our new room addition was really nice for them..the only thing that would have made it nicer was having their own attached bathroom but they had to make do with a big closet, a computer of their own and a tv of their own.

Here are some photos:

Dad with is USO do-rag. The USO is a great organization that provides a bit of respite for soldiers in battle areas (http://www.uso.org). David went to a luncheon for the USO and got this bandanna and a baseball cap.



Here is my Dad dancing with Simon & Elmo.



Simon & Dad relaxing and playing.





David and Simon "shaving".



Dad, Linda & I:



And the happy couple.



Hannah, Linda and I did some chick stuff but of course, I didn't take any photos so here is a recent photo of Hannah from the Asthma Walk...so she doesn't feel left out!

The Red Hat

Well, first I have to start out with how Simon's Cookie Monster, Daddy & Elmo photo looked AFTER he came home from daycare. Actually, it was quite amazing he was still hanging on to it after playing outside, having lunch and a nap!



Now, on to the red hat.....

When David came out to go to work at 7:00 am....he runs for the camera to take this photo! I think he loves the blog as much as I do. This was right after the kids were fighting over who got to use the ball winder!



I have tried two times to cast on to the hat first with size 7 needles and second with size 6. I didn't like how either of them was looking so I decided I needed to use the yarn together. What better way than to use my new ball winder to wind two smaller balls from the bigger one?

I am about 1/2 way done with the brim.



We have swimming lessons this morning and David and I are going to dinner with some friends to the Pinnacle Peak Patio (http://www.pppatio.com) where we had our wedding reception almost 8 years ago!

MMMMM....Stitch Markers......

Ok, that was my best Homer Simpson impression....

Anyway, Illanna (http://www.knitpowerstopeace.blogspot.com/) had a little contest on her blog and I was the second winner of a cute little lamb and some stitch markers. But, not only did I win the "prize", she brought it over to my house on her way to Cupz last night!

Here is a photo of Illanna arriving at my house in a Pi Shawl:




And here is Simon relieving Illanna of the little lamb she brought with her.



And here are the stitch markers...I made a bit of a haul since I also bought some additional stitch markers from Illanna (the poor college student).



Here is a close up!



I know, I know, I could have made them but:

1. I don't need another hobby that costs me money and requires storage space.
2. I have a gorgeous 2.5 yo boy that would throw those beads all over the house!
3. Who has the time.....that darn taking care of kids, working and LAUNDRY can take up a whole day!

Thanks Illanna for not only delivering the prizes but also for taking time last night to make extra stitch markers so I could get my instant gratification of buying them immediately!

I used one while finishing a baby hat last night and it sure was fun to get back around to the beginning again just to see the marker!

And one last thing...the kids have taken to both sleeping in Simon's room in the bunk beds since Sunday. As they were getting settled after David & I had tucked them in, I heard them talking and laughing like I used to do with my sister's in our bunk beds. It was a nice sound and as always, they went to sleep in their own time.

Kid's being kid's

We got home from a "play date" yesterday and one of the neighbor girls brought out a sprinkler.

Here are all the neighbor kids dropping their clothes and having a great time.

Simon, in all of his white trash glory!



There's Hannah in the back......


And here is Simon after he "helped" me with my mascara this morning......a really great job by Simon! Yeah, right....



Off to the dentist this morning. Hannah loves the dentist and is very excited about going which is definitely better than the alternative.

The New Bunk Beds

Well...we finally got them together late this afternoon. I don't think we will be seeing the kids for awhile.

The whole excitement of climbing the ladder and hiding under the top bunk are so much more fun than anything else we could have gotten them!

Of course, I remember pushing blankets around the bottom of the top bunk to make a cave as a kid! Oh what fun it was!

Here's the full view and the kids in the top!





Hannah is all ready to sleep on the top bunk....gotta go...Simon just fell off the top bunk. Boy, that's not a surprise!

David was surprised that Simon fell out....I told him I thought it was just a matter of time but he would probably not fall more than once. Simon has mastered the ladder!

Hannah, of course, slept in the top bunk last night!

Current Knitting Projects

Ok..finally took some photos of the Felted Kitty Pi bed made from scraps of wool in my stash. It is currently 90 F in Phoenix so...the kitty is not going anywhere near that wool bed!



and and overhead shot...the neon orange is the tangerine Kool Aid dyed yarn. The white stripe did not felt...hence the bed is a bit floppy.



Here is a shawl I am knitting for a friend using the Lost Points Shawl pattern from Southwest Trading Company. As has been noted by quite a few of the gals that are test knitting, their patterns leave a bit to be desired. It is nowhere near as big as the pattern noted AND the edges roll...I knew I should have put a garter stitch around the edge. I will be undoing the cast off and adding quite a few more rounds...probably on bigger needles. It is made from Melody and some GORGEOUS silk yarn (not soy silk) but, real silk. I guess it is a good thing that the skein of silk was much more yardage than the pattern called for because I will probably use most of it!



This is a photo of 1/2 the shawl. The other end looks just like this so it is really a big rectangle with these dangly bits on either end.



I just have to get motivated to do it....

Instead, I am knitting feather & fan patterned shawl for a friends wife...and even getting a few $$ for it...although, as we all know, you never make any money from knitting. This is going really quick because I am using Lion Brand Homespun which is a bulky weight yarn.



The kids did great at their swimming lessons and today we are relaxing. David is going to finish Simon's bunk beds (I will post a photo soon) and I am taking Hannah to the mall to get her a fancy dress for a friend's wedding. Hoping to get some great sales on those leftover Easter dresses!

My adventure with Kool Aid

so...I tried dying yarn with Kool Aid last August.

I used one skein of Brown Sheep and just gave it a whirl.

Here is the yarn before dying...have to let it soak in hot water.



Here is the yarn cooking..think it is black cherry flavor.



And here are the final products:

Tangerine:



Black Cherry:



I used the orange in a felted kitty pi cat bed and the color did not run at all! It is still quite orange.

Ok...ok...I know, you knit your cat a bed? I have to tell you he loves it! I will post a photo when I find it on my hard drive or go take another photo!

I have heard you can use regular concentrated paste food dye to dye yarn...might try that cuz the Kool Aid gives the yarn a weird smell.

Gotta go...my gorgeous two year old is "playing" read wrecking my cd & dvd drives.

Heres a cute photo of my two little ones.



Aren't they just the cutest things? I know, I am a very proud Mom!

Some recent FO's

A close up of the Clapotis. It is made with hand dyed cotton.

The finished Clapotis from knitty.com