I'm a New Auntie Again!!!

The lovely Emily Mae.
Born to my brother, Matthew.....
and his lovely wife, Mindy.....
and big brother, Benjamin! I see he has the whole posing while getting a photo taken gene down!
Congratulations!!!!

Sky Harbor Invitational

David and I attended the Sky Harbor Invitational fundraiser last night held at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge. It benefits the Phoenix Children's Hospital and the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center.

David has been attending this event for 16 of its 20 years and I have attended 10 years. Scary!

It was a bit bittersweet since one of the planners, who David has known for 16 years he has been attending, announced that their youngest son has autism. I know as a parent of a boy, I secretly obsessed about whether Simon would have autism.

I took this photo because there was the resort worker on the right and two gals from Skyy Vodka. Of course they were young and wearing tight clothes....however, apparently they were window dressing because the guy on the left was doing ALL the work. They were just standing there watching him. It was a funny sight, or at least funny to me.
My husband has been "jokingly" asking me to get a back tattoo for years. So, since Harley Davidson was the theme last night, I finally got one. A "LICK & STICK" tattoo that will last a couple of days.

And....we bought another trip this year to Waikiki. I have never been to Hawaii and am looking forward to it!

Random Wednesday

This is Leah helping me work. WHY she chose to go to sleep there, I don't know but she spent most of the morning sleeping on my desk.

Knit Unto Others update: 3 scarves, a shawl and a pair of mittens.
Sewing. Hannah was having a rough day on Sunday when her friend across the road had other girls to play with outside. The new girls did not want to play with her so we went to Joann's and got the purple batik fabric in the bottom. However, by the time we got back, everything was find with the girls so, she no longer wanted to learn to sew.

Yesterday afternoon, we had some time after they were all done playing and so made the two travel tissue holders in purple batik from this great pattern. Hannah did most of the sewing on one of the purple ones and I did the other.

The ones in the top row I cut out and made this morning. Nice little Christmas gifts made from scraps of fabric I had floating around the house. Um, what are these??? Reading glasses. Yes, I had to break down yesterday and get a pair with just a wee bit o' magnification. I can read pretty well without them but I find myself squinting to see small print and the computer screen sometimes. I wore them yesterday when I was working and they made a world of difference.

Yes, there is Knitting!

I finished up this scarf for the Knit Unto Others project. Another one for the Red Scarf Project.
Pattern: One I kinda made up.
Yarn: Karoake by STWC
Needles: US 7 straight needles

Pattern:
Set Up:
Cast on 1 stitch
Row 1: Knit into front & back of the first & last stitch.
Row 2: Knit

Continue with these two rows until desired width.

Body:
Row 1: Knit in front & back of first stitch, knit to last 2 stitches and K2tog.
Row 2: Knit

Continue 2 rows until you get desired length.

End:
Row 1: k2tog, knit to last 2 stitches, k2tog
Row 2: knit

Continue until last two stitches and knit 2 together. Weave in ends.

Pam came to the rescue and had another full ball of the Lion Brand Magic Stripes so I am back knitting this scarf again. (Notice, I am still wearing flip flops in November! It is 70+ today in Chandler.)
We decorated the tree yesterday. It is a wee bit bottom heavy which is amazingly proportional to the height of the oldest child.
Only 1 ornament casualty......a hand blown glass ornament from 1984. Somehow, it just hit the tile.....not a good combination with glass. Oh well, it is to be expected with the kids helping decorate!

My parents gave us each an ornament every year so that when we left home to our own home, we would have a tree full of memories. Every Christmas is a trip down memory lane as we trim the tree. I have ornaments from my paternal Grandma, my Godfather and parents.

We are continuing the tradition with our children. We got our family ornaments, everyone picked their own, while we were in San Diego earlier this month.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

We're in Spin Off!

My collaboration with Yarn Botanika has made the "news" in Spin Off!

Of course, it is right next to the really nice ball winder..that I really can't afford but am drooling over!
You can also find the collaboration spinning & sock kits at Yarn Botanika, Kpixie, Knitted Bits & One Planet Yarn & Fiber.

Thank you Suzie!

I got a nice surprise in the mail today....a thank you gift from Suzie of the Knitter's Tea Swap for being a co-hostess. Walkers shortbread, Assam Breakfast Tea from the Republic of Tea and Regia sock yarn. I have never tried Regia before but aren't they lovely colors?? Did you notice the lovely card? It is from the Luscious Gracious Clan. Small world, eh?

Check out this checker board I saw at Target. Shot glass checkers???? Funny!

How Hard is it to Knit a Scarf??

Apparently much harder than I thought. I am knitting the scarves for the Red Scarf Project as part of Knit Unto Others.

First try.....a Flying V Scarf with the left over Merino Tencel.....Um, not so much so this is now a ball of yarn.

Second attempt to use stash yarn......Lion Brand Magic Stripes. Again, not enough to make a 60 inch scarf. However, it has not been frogged because I am hoping maybe Pam still has some of this in her stash since we bought a 3 pack together from Tuesday Morning a couple of years ago.
Most recent attempt...I KNOW I have enough self striping Karoaoke to finish at least this one scarf.
Can someone tell me why our son, Simon, thinks he needs to come to our bed at 4:22 am after he has gone to the bathroom? I put him back in bed and he slept until 6:30 am but the night was done for David & I after his visit.

Also, there is a new online yarn retailer!

One Planet Yarn & Fiber opened over the weekend. Go over and check them out!

Saturday Sky

This was the sunset from last Saturday night when we were driving to dinner.
Sunsets in the desert are truly gorgeous!

Knitting....

I finished the first fingerless glove this morning and am well on the way to adding stitches to the 2nd one for the thumb. Quick knit, if only I had not had to start over 3 times because I cast on too many stitches!!! Ack!

Lovely Yarn Botanika Merino Tencel...kind of Pine Forest with periwinkle.

A photo of the finished 2nd sock from the Summer Sock Party swap this summer. Amy knit the first one so I only had do knit the 2nd! A great way to knit socks.

Scenes from my Office

I work at home so.....my office also has the cats in it from time to time.

I left my big lateral file open today and I heard rustling from inside the cabinet. So, I look over....and can't see anything, can you?

Then I see two little eyes inside the box of file folders.
I am amazed she could get in there but she is still a wiley little kitten.
Not much knitting. I finished the second sock, tried out the elastic stretchy circulars but made the foot too long on some toe ups so I have to rip back. Verdict on the stretchy needles? Not bad and definitely compact for throwing the project in your purse.

I sewed a lot of bags this weekend so there was very little knitting. I LOVE my serger!

Random Thursday

First, I need to thank Keri over at Knitty Gritty Thoughts on Knitting for the stretchy circulars she sent me. I won them on a contest on her blog. She sent me the pocket sized ones since she did not like them. I am going to try them on some socks since I finished up my sock yesterday and have enough Lorna's Laces left for a pair of footies.

Crazy Shoes seen at Sea World & MCRD Graduation

At Sea World: High heeled boots! Ugg Boots with knee high socks & a denim cut off mini skirt.
Marine Corps Graduation: Formal Shorts with high heeled boots. (The is held outside and you sit on football bleachers). I also saw a formal satin prom dress and a lot of stupid 5 inch heels with ultra short mini's.
Back at Sea World. High heeled strappy sandals!

Back at Sea World (family photos)
Watching the whales.
Exploring the polar bear den. The kids would not come with me because there was growling in the dens so I had to do it all myself.

The walrus having lunch. Simon loved this because the walrus kept spitting out his fish and sucking it back in!
The Clydesdales.

San Diego

We took a quick trip to San Diego to attend the Marine Corps Graduation of our friends son.

Here we are as we go to the Parade Field.

With our recently "christened" Marine, Kyle. He lost 48 lbs in 3 months during boot camp! Ack, I guess that is one way to lose weight.
On Saturday we took a trip to Sea World and visited Shamu.
A family photo on the grass.
Simon with a starfish......
and Hannah too. They are wet (actually we are all wet) after a ride on their water rapids ride. Yes, no matter what you did, you got wet.

I did not finish my sweater. I woke up at 4 am after a restless night on Thursday morning and did not knit a stitch on the drive over when I wasn't driving.

I did take my "tiny" knitting project along. The 2nd sock from my Summer Sock Swap. I actually chose the same pattern for my swap partner but don't hate knitting on the little needles this time around. Maybe because they are the short ones instead of the long needles.

I am about 3 inches from done and then back to my sweater. The sweater is home knitting only because it is so big!

Up later or tomorrow....stupid shoes/outfits worn in San Diego.

Happy Halloween

I made mummy dogs. My eyes are horrible but the kids loved them! They are now a Halloween tradition. I used homemade pizza dough instead of the overpriced crescent rolls and Hebrew National hotdogs. Yum!
Here is the Halloween family. Yes, that is David dressed as Goofy with Snow White and the Devil. Oddly appropriate the devil.

This is how much candy the kids got!!!! And we fished out the icky stuff to pass out to the late trick or treaters because we ran out of candy.
I already know what they are having for breakfast! I love the look of the green eyeball on the bottom left of the left bowl. It is just a gummy but comes in a blood shot plastic case.

Sweater Update

I finished the back, left front and am almost done with the right front. Probably about 3 more inches.

Amazingly, all the pieces match up!!!! I added 2 inches in length since I am long waisted and didn't want it to me too short.

Can I finish it by Wednesday evening? I don't know. Maybe if I can get it done except the neck, I can finish that on the trip to San Diego.

We'll see.....I would be a bit further had I done my Sunday Night Marathon of family unfriendly shows (Footballers Wives Overtime & Desperate Housewives) after the kids went to bed but I was too tired! Plus, there is Halloween with pumpkins to be carved & Mummy Dogs to be made before we head out trick or treating.

A New Project

I realized I just can't look at another lace project at the moment that requires small needles and tiny yarn. Plus, it is finally cooling down in Arizona in the mornings.

So, I decided I needed to make this sweater. It is the Weekend Cardigan from Chiagu.com

I am knitting in Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed. I just can't see knitting a bulky 100% wool sweater for Arizona. I realized AFTER I bought this yarn with the help of one of my SnB ladies (you know who you are) with their 50% off employee discount at Michael's that I had bulky cotton in my stash. I can always make a second sweater.

I have visions of finishing this by next Wednesday night because we are going to San Diego on Thursday. Yeah, I am a dreamer because this is all I have knit in the past two nights. About 8 inches on the back.
We'll see what the weekend brings!