What happened to my baby????

David took Simon to get his hair "trimmed" yesterday. When he came home, my baby had grown up so much!!!!

Here are the before curly haired photos!!!!






And here is Simon AFTER his trim. He is still a little boy but definitely not a baby!!!!




My other baby, Hannah, has her last day of kindergarten today!!! Where did the time go this year!

Holiday Weekend in Review

What started out as a quiet weekend turned into a pretty busy weekend.

Saturday was quiet enough. Hannah, Tamara & I went to the mall for a short visit BEFORE the crowds. Many of the shops opened at 9 am instead of 10 am. We went swimming and just relaxed the rest of the day.

Sunday started the busy portion of the weekend. The Humane Society called on Sat. to say they had a Siamese mix female kitten or two for us and could we come in on Sunday? Another person called on Sunday and when I told them we had to decide when we were going to trek up to the Sunny Slope location (Northern & 19th Ave), the nice man said he could get them transported to the South Mountain location! Yea!

We dropped Hannah at a birthday party at Makuta's Island and off David & I went to get our new kitty, Sophie.





Her arrival precipitated more knitting, a new Kitty Pi cat bed. She has been really a nice cat and we aren't having the aggression issues we had when we brought Oliver home. They are getting to know each other but doing pretty well and will get along well in the future as things settle in around the house.

I am using a bunch of the green yarn Pam got me on ebay some time ago.



And this is how we spent Monday.....buying a new to me van! It is a Dodge Grand Caravan. I love it. You would be surprised how hard it is to find a van with the automatic sliding door (or doors) and captain's chairs the second row to separate the kids! They can't touch each other which cuts down on the fighting!



I have been really paranoid since I got broadsided in Nov. 2003. The vehicle should have been totalled but it wasn't because they probably didn't think about it until AFTER it was fixed. The Chevy has never been the same and I have always been worried about getting hit again or it breaking down on the freeway....

I feel much better now! The only thing this didn't have was the integrated DVD system but we will probably get one put in before our summer driving vacation. I don't use it much but it sure is nice on a long trip.

On more knitting news, I had to take a break from knitting with the recycled sari silk because it is quite rough on my tension finger. I have a big section on which the skin is rubbed off so....I will have to wait to finish it until my finger heals!

10 Things I Have Never Done!

I was tagged by Pam for this game......

1. Been to Paris!

2. Driven a motorcycle.

3. Gotten a tattoo nor do I want one.

4. Had really long hair.

5. Developed a love of beer!

6. Maxed out a credit card.

7. Owned a Ferrari!

8. Stayed up all night! (not even in college)

9. Won the lottery.

10. Flown on the Concorde!

SWTC & Free Yarn

Here is my test knit from SWTC prior to being felted. It was HUGE!



Here it is after the spa treatment. The needle is a 14 inch needle so you can tell that although it felted quite well, it is still the size of a messenger bag.



Here is the addition to my stash from SWTC for making the test knit. The jewel toned yarn is the Karaoke (soy silk & wool), Fur Real in Peacock and Melody.



Finally, this is the first section of my bag that is knit with the recycled sari silk. It is quite rough and I feel like I have to wash my hands every time I finish knitting with it but I understand that is softens up really well with washing and wears like iron!

Recycled Silk & SWTC Test Knit Bag

I got about 800 grams of recycled sari silk off of ebay last week and it arrived on Monday. It was in hanks so I had to get out the ball winder and swift to ball it up. Of course, Simon was a great help.

It was a messy project with all the extra fibers and stuff that came off during the winding process. The yarn also seemed a bit "dirty" or dusty but I am sure that is directly related to the fact that it is wound by women as a cottage industry in Nepal and neighboring areas.

Here's the mess:



And here the beautiful balls once they were wound.



I am going to make one of these bags, maybe two (as a gift) from the yarn.

http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall04/PATTunbiased.html

And finally, my Southwest Trading Company test knit is at the spa getting a warm bath treatment as we speak. It doesn't appear to be felting too quickly.

Here it is before I sewed it up.



I am hoping it dries quickly because I will be over that way for a birthday party for Hannah's friend and it would be great to drop it off today.

And finally, a gratuitous photo of our kitty, Oliver. Hannah took this with my camera yesterday and it is a very nice photo.

Cupz Stitch N Bitch

It was a good group at Cupz last night.

There was Ashley finishing up her tank top. She was really excited that when she went to try it on that it actually FIT! This will likely be Ashley's last meeting since she is moving to DC next Wednesday and then off to Japan in October.

Don't buy too much Koigu while you are there! Do you think they have a second's bin???? Tempting, tempting!



And Melanie continued to work in her bear. She was working on the ears last night.



Heather was working on her test knit for awhile but apparently I didn't get a photo of her!

Pam was working on a tank/tube top in this lovely green Caron yarn.



And Michelle was working on the crocheted scarf from Pam's blog (http://hiphipcrochet.blogspot.com/2005/05/not-quite-good-enough-headscarf.html).

Of course, this isn't it since the item below is knitted, not crocheted. In THIS photo, Michelle is working on a pretty tank top.



I continued to work on my test knit bag. I am nearing the end with the attached i-cord edging, which I have never done but like the looks of on the bag.

Small SnB at Cupz on Thursday

Eva, Melanie, Pam & I met up at Cupz on Thursday night.

Heather was supposed to come but those darned kids of hers got in the way of knitting!

Melanie's photos is of her bear as we are leaving....sorry Melanie but the other ones I took did not do you justice!



This is Pam trying to look away from her gorgeous Noro bag to be which was back in a ball of yarn by the end of the night. The Noro will now be the center point of a bag with some other colors around it. Pam realized that after she felted that little bitty bag, that it would be about big enough for potpourri on the coffee table.



Here's Eva working on...I forget what! I did remember her working on her yellow Soleil (no pun intended) top (pattern from Knitty.com) later in the evening.



And here I am working on the test knit for SWTC. I had to get more of the Fur Real because I could tell there was no way on God's green earth I was going to have enough of it to finish the whole bag. While I was there, I also got more gray so I could probably finish the bag this weekend.

Hannah the Dancer....

Here are some photos of Hannah from her dance recital last night.







She did a great job in the City of Chandler classes but I think she has gotten too old so I am going to try and find her a school in Chandler...I have a couple in mind.

Photos of Hannah Knitting

Here is Hannah knitting....she is doing quite well and she will probably finish this project. She is actually getting quite quick at the knit stitch and uses her left hand instead of her right hand to move the yarn around which means that she will probably do quite well with the continental style of knitting.

Random Weekend Stuff

BIG NEWS (at least in my mind): HANNAH WANTS TO KNIT AGAIN!

I have tried teaching her in the past but with no real project so this time we are making a bunny from a knitted square. She will knit the square and I will put it together. She will have a sense of accomplishment when she is done.

Yesterday, when she started again she just picked up the knitting and off she went. Knit stitch only, of course, but the rest will come. She wanted to try knitting continental but I am not sure she has the manual dexterity to do it. Anyway, she is doing a great job!

We had swimming with the kids yesterday and today they both have make up classes since we have missed a couple of classes this past session.

Both kids are doing great in their swimming classes. We are going to skip the June-July session and probably pick up in August. Simon is doing really well and will start the "regular" beginner's class without the parent in August.

Yesterday, he was wanting to jump off the edge of the pool over and over again and then grab on and get out! He is doing so well....if only he would kick his feet and use his hands when he is put under water. Oh well, at least his isn't heading straight to the bottom like last summer! He is actually floating!

Hannah will definitely be swimming by herself this summer. She had few false starts in the past with lessons but is really doing well and is really working on her confidence!

Yesterday, I went looking for the cat and where should I find him? In the top bunk of the bunk beds.

Here he is..... How he got up there I have no idea. I guess he used the ladder like the kids.

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And here is a photo of David & I yesterday before we went out for dinner at El Zocala in downtown Chandler. They have a gorgeous back patio that is so beautifully landscaped and romantic! The owner's are part of the De la Cruz family who also own Mango's in Mesa and El Sol in Chandler on AZ Ave. just south of Ray.



On the knitting front, I had to frog back to the end of the first arm on my shrug because the back was just a little scrawny for me. I added 12 stitches to the back section to make it wider and am about 1/2 way through knitting it again. It fits quite nicely and will be good this fall.

Simon & A Guest Knitter

Simon is really growing up...just as fast as his sister in his own way. His recent favorite expression is, "I can do it myself!"

His latest triumphs in this department are pulling on his shorts, putting on his pajamas and this morning, getting his seatbelt on all by himself in his carseat!

Wow, where does the time go?

On the knitting front, I think my shrug will be ready to wear this evening when I go out with my hubby.

I will post photos tomorrow.

Now...the guest knitter is my little sister Naomi. This photo was taken on her new digital camera. Now, if only her arm was just a little longer.

No, I didn't teach Naomi to knit but I did help her learn the right way after the person who taught her somehow made her twist all of her stitches the wrong way. I also showed her how to knit continental which she finds much faster than the throwing method.


Here is an example of some of the things she has been knitting and SELLING to her co-workers in Florida.



And here is a bag I made before Christmas and she finally got from me in May.



Oh, and I forgot....I went to the post office yesterday to pick up my business mail and found a note in my P.O. box stating my mail would not fit in my mailbox so I had to wait in line to get it. As I entered the line, I thought, oh gosh, I don't have any knitting with me! Horrors, I'll have to stand in line and just WAIT!!!! How wasteful of good found time.

Then, I remembered, oh yeah, I have that hat in my car and ran outside and got it! I was so happy to have something to "do" while I waited and so the line moved very quickly after my knitting arrived from in the car.

Note to self: ALWAYS keep a little knitting project in the car. Just in case you find yourself waiting somewhere unexpected.

A new shrug for me......

For all you non-knitter's reading my blog, this is a knitting post so beware!

I have had this nice cotton yarn sitting in my stash trying to be something since the big sale at the Fiber Factory in January. I tried using it for a couple of things and they just did not work.

Well, I think I have finally found what it wants to be....a shrug (basically, sweater arms without the big sweater).

I started it last night during the Amazing Race and I am about 10 inches into it.




I decided to knit the sleeves in the round instead of as a long rectangle and then having to sew it up after I was finished! I had the dpn's in both size 10.5 and 11 so I figured, it was an omen. Plus, I hate sewing things up like that after the fact!

Here you can see the place where the seam was supposed to be on the bottom side of the sleeve. It will act like a ribbing when I get to the middle section.


Regarding the Amazing Race...I am so happy the Uchena and Joyce won over Rob & Amber from Survivor. That guy is really a jerk.

It was nice to see honest, good people win. I hope they are able to have the baby they so desperately are hoping for in their future!

Mother's Day

I had a very nice Mother's Day but before that happened, we went to visit our friends that run the carnival.

Here are photos of the kids having a lot of fun!





On Mother's Day I got this bouquet of flower's that Hannah picked out for me, some homemade cards and this pretty pen & pencil holder for my office from Hannah.



But, here is the big news...my BEST Mother's Day present was that Hannah passed another milestone, she learned to ride her bike without training wheels!!!

David did a great job working with her this afternoon! He has really helped her confidence to ride her bike alone. Thanks David!



When did she grow up so FAST?????????

Baby booties....

so...I tried the ones numerous times from interweave.com and I realized that no matter what sized needles I used, the yarn was too big.

Another thought I had was that I really did not want to spend 10-15 hours knitting 1 pair of socks that may or may not get worn.....

So, I made these little babies instead. Took me about 1.0 hours total on size 2 needles. The pattern called for 6's but the one I knit was big enough for a 1.5 year old!



I thought I would use some straight needles I picked up at a thrift store because they were these weird flexible things made by Hero. I did not like them in size 2 and the ones I had were too long so I found another, shorter pair of aluminum needles that worked fine. Here they are being modeled by Hannah.



As many of you know, I use circulars almost exclusively but on some projects, I found that I don't mind the straight needles. Of course, the only reason I have the straight ones? I got them for $0.60 a pair at the thrift store.

And here is the cat actually using his felted Kitty Pi.



And here is my organization box with the darned sticker finally scrubbed off. My husband only wishes my office, closet and drawers were as organized!

The weekend in review.......

We had a relatively quiet weekend. The usual swimming lessons, errands, etc.

On Saturday, I ran up to the Fiber Factory for size 0 double pointed needles.



I was hoping to get metal ones but all they had were bamboo...there were metal ones but they were quite long and I didn't want to use them on such a little project.

I attempted these socks yesterday...cast on and ripped 4-5 times! I am thinking maybe this pattern is not for me.



I used a 2 hour massage from Christmas yesterday! It was wonderful! On my way there I stopped at Joann's & Michael's in search of white sock yarn to no avail. I did find this cotton on clearance for $2 a skein so I thought I would substitute it since it is quite fine and the gauge is the same.



Last but not least, I found this little box to keep my stitch markers and little knitting things in so they are organized. The only problem is the (%$()#$%# sticker on the top! That darn thing has been a pain to get off.



I have been using the old soaking with oil method and scraping it off after the label has been saturated.