A Fiber Friendly Day

First, I had lunch with Yarn Botanika and got to fondle some of her yarn.

The green is a gorgeous fall colorway from the Wool Tencil. The hot pink, well, I just want to rub that one on my face. Why???? It is 100% CASHMERE! It is coming soon to her Etsy shop.

Then, when I got home, the QUEEN sent me the swag from her Pride of Hawaii Cruise. I won it in a contest. She must have known I needed to win because they are my FAVORITE colors.

The balls are 100% wool from a company named Di-ve. The small ball at the back is a 100% polysmif in the same colors. What to do with it????

The chocolate covered macadamia nuts are chilling in the refrigerator just asking me to eat them!!!

Thank you Yarn Botanika & The Queen of Snarkville!

Photo Heavy Post

Wrap up from Simon's Birthday.

Simon & his friend, Matthew at McD's.


David during the party.

Me during the party.

The cake...Simon is obsessed with Spider Man & Pirates at the moment.

Grandpa & Grandma Linda after dinner.

Bridger family photo.

Hannah's first day of 2nd Grade on Monday. Simon, with his backpack (empty), so he can be just like Hannah. He will be going off to kindergarten next summer!

My lopsided zippered pouch....it WAS for the wristlet swap but um, it is now mine! I think it will be the home for my ipod & headphones in my purse.

I made two more this morning and modified the pattern a wee bit so it is MUCH MORE user friendly. I finished the other two in about 30 minutes. I love my rotary cutter.

I finished the 72 stitch, size 0 needled sock last night at SnB. It will be off in the mail later today.

Happy Birthday Simon

This is the photo from Simon's birth announcement. As you can see, he already has a wild side to him! Why yes, it does appear as if he is giving us the finger!

With his sister in his new bed in the Spring of 2005 before we finally (I finally) gave in and had is curly locks trimmed.
Here we are last summer eating corn on the cob for the first time.

And this morning....after he opened his presents from Mom & Dad at 6:05 am.
Aren't you scared???? May the Force be with YOU!
There were many days I was not sure he & I were both going to survive but he has truly grown into a nice little boy. I love that little boy!

We are off to McD's in a little while for his party with a few friends and then out to dinner tonight with Grandma & Grandpa.

Shirts & Socks

I ordered a long and short sleeved version of this t-shirt from Urban Yarns.

On the back it says: Until she started all that knitting.
When I told David about the t-shirts, he laughed and said I needed one of each! ;)

I have almost finished my sock pattern with the lovely merino-tencel wool from Yarn Botanika.
I have to go look up how to do a Kitchener stitch again.

I have been sewing, which cuts into my knitting time and am also in a bit of a knitting funk. I ripped out the Mystery Stole. I will try again with bigger yarn but the provisional and cobweb weight yarn did not go well together.

I don't know WHAT I want to knit so I am finishing my Sock Swap socks and will knit the second one to this set & write up the pattern.

I also need to finish my wristlet for the Wristlet Swap hosted by AfricanKelli. Her recent post about Slosh Ball (kickball with a keg) was quite funny!

Wednesday!

Heather brought me some cotton she picked up at Craftmart a couple of weeks ago. These will be Mason Dixon washcloths in the future.

We took the kids to a birthday party at the neighbors over the weekend. Hannah was jumping off this diving board into the deep end with all the other "big" kids. Her swimming has really taken off in the last month when one of her friends came over and was swimming like a fish. It was like a switch (probably the competitive one) turned and she is doing great!
Simon is still in his swim vest but that is such a lifesaver. We can watch from the side and he is happy as a clam.
In other news, the kids are going to "Camp Grandma & Grandpa" tonight. It started out as just Hannah but I think it would have gotten real ugly fast when someone (cough, Hannah) started gloating about how she got to go without him. You can all imagine it in your head.

You can see Pirate Simon all ready. (He loves that pirate hat he got at McDonalds.)
Hannah is packed and was packed within 10 minutes of getting up this morning.
Hmmm....what to do??? David & I haven't been home alone, in our house, since Hannah was born. I think some nice cheeses and a bottle of champagne are in order.

New To Me Serger

As many of my SnBer's know, I have been wanting a new serger with 4 spools instead of 3 spools like the one I already own.

I have dreaming about getting one for about 5 years although my hubby thinks I just decided yesterday. My main reason, I did not want to invest $500+ on a new one that I know is not the quality of my all metal one.

However, I started looking on ebay but I hate to buy something electronic and have to get it shipped to me for another $50 in shipping so, I went to Craig's List and found THIS!!!

It is the same vintage as my 3 spool but with the 4th spool. I found the ad yesterday and picked it up today.
I haven't had a chance to play with it (I did try it before I bought it) but I did get some new fabric and more serger thread at Joann's this afternoon. Joann's was having a sale on serger thread for $0.99 a cone.

I can't wait to try it tomorrow. Only problem, it doesn't have the original book so I hope I can thread it right. I am pretty sure it is color coded like the one I have so it should be ok. I hope I can get a manual from Bernina or ebay.

Now, if only I could buy the other sewing machine he had from an estate sale......Ironic, it is just like the one my Mom bought some years ago and is comparable to one of the Viking currently sells for about $5000+.

However, even though my Mom is trying to convince me I NEED it, I don't think I do. I WANT it but I don't NEED it.

New Fridge

The lovely Yarn Botanika just left after a visit where she showed me all of her gorgeous hand dyed fiber & yarn. She makes me very tempted to want to spin! ;)

After she left the delivery company called to say our new refrigerator is on its way. However, that means I had to clean everything out of our current fridge which is also 26 cubic feet.

I did a bit of a clean out of both the refrigerator and freezer but I still have 3 big coolers along with 1 small one. Thank goodness the neighbor had two coolers.

Our fridge has been dying for about 4 months. I keep turning it higher & higher trying to keep it cool but it is on the highest setting and although it is cooling, it is still not keeping things really very cold.

I am HOT. Gotta love Arizona when it is 110 F!

I have made a decision. I am going to rip out the Mystery Stole and either start over or use the yarn for something else. Even if I block it REALLY well, it is going to be a wee bit small for my frame....more like a scarf.

I think I am going to go back to my original plan for that yarn, the KnitPicks Candle Flame Shawl and add a couple of repeats to it so it is wide enough for me.

Tuesday

My mystery stole along still has issues. I have WAY less stitches than I need for the second half so I have to "recreate" the set up row and then can knit the second part of clue 1. It is frustrating since the yarn I am using is like dental floss and BLACK.

So, last night, I used some of the Yarnbotanika hand dyed yarn to start a pair of socks of my own design.
It is the merino wool & tencil and boy is it soft and a nice knit. I think the pattern is nice without being to much for varigated yarn.
And, finally, I got my new vanity plate.

Pirates of the Caribbean

We took the kids to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest yesterday.

I was a bit worried that it might be too scary for Simon but they both went to sleep last night with no problems.

It was a really good and fun movie. The worst thing about it??? The darned movie was 2.5 HOURS!

Both Simon & Hannah were getting a bit restless by the end but they did great.

I have been knitting but one thing is a surprise swap for the Summer Sock Swap so I can't show you. Suffice it to say it is small yarn and little needles. Thank goodness I only have to knit 1 sock!

I am also knitting the Mystery Stole Along. This is Libby's photo (not mine) but I am almost there. I have knit 1/2 of the photo below but had a little problem unzipping my provisional cast on in lace yarn! I don't have quite enough stitches but I am sure I can fix it with a little "finagling".

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

Every time I see the flag, I think of when I returned to the USA after a year in Norway (a great place for which I have a great affinity for their food and culture).

I flew into JFK on my way to Minneapolis and I remember being on the ground and "driving" up to the terminal and seeing Old Glory blowing in the wind. I was so happy to be HOME.

I hope everyone has a relaxing and safe 4th!
We are lucky enough to be able to see fireworks at the end of our street and not have to deal with the traffic.