I'm Back!!

I know you have been wondering what has been up with me! Well, summer at the lake got in the way! I am commited to posting more.
I have been knitting all along.......I have 2 more socks without mates! That's a post coming soon! I have made 3 baby gifts which all but one turned out fabulous! I will post pictures soon of a couple of them.
As soon as I get done here I will be finishing up my first ever top down sweater and I am in love!

Next post..........
Ode to The TopDown Sweater!

All Things Beautiful!

Yes, I have been knitting. As soon as I finish this post I need to go sew the rest of the baby sweater together. I also made a matching hat that I need to sew up too. The shower is this weekend so I need to get going. Remember my previous post with the cover of Knit1? Well, I just remembered I have another baby gift to make so I will be starting on the cutest little coat. This baby I know will be a girl so I am knitting a coat/jacket from the Simply Baby book by Debbie Bliss.
Always excited to start something new!!!

I currently have GREEN ankles from mowing the lawn! And while I was out slaving awayI was enjoying some of the beauty of spring!

Check it out!

I would love to have a beautiful back yard that is more of a garden than a yard but unfortunately, I like to go to the lake more so I don't have much time to devote to a lush yard. My husband is going to plant some things in our small garden. Nothing tastes better than home grown tomatoes in the summer so I have to have some of those and I would love to have most of the rest of the garden be sunflowers......I don't think husband is going to go for that but, we'll see. I will post pictures as it progresses!

Happy Day!

Dying for a new project!

I have only 3 things currently on the needles, one actually has a deadline! And I am ready to start something new. I know, unbelievable!!! Today I picked up the new Knit.1 magazine and I fell in love with this sweater!
Isn't just adorable??!! I think if I start now I might actually have it done by the fall!

As I write this post, I am watching the Food Network.....(I love watching but I'm not much of a cook!) and I'm having a flash back! Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with Guy....the crazy guy with platinum spikey hair and tons of energy is talking about scrapple! I remember eating that at my Grandpa and Grandma Yager's farm!!! As an adult who tries (I said tries, not succeeds!) to watch what I eat, I would never touch it now because it is 'pork scraps' (oh my! they just said "everything but the squeal!") which I'm sure means lots of fat but I remember loving it when I was a kid! I was a picky eater as a kid, and still am to a certain extent so it amazes me that I liked it but it was fried and what kid doesn't like fried! (My nephew Jake's diet according to my sister is "anything fried in moderation".)

So if my sisters read this hopefully they will get a blast from the past too.....Di may not remember but I bet Sue will!

Enjoy your weekend! Hopefully it will be pretty out!

Special Guest

This is the adorable, expertly knitted cable sweater my friend Deidre made for her grandson. Isn't it something else? I was so in awe of her skill and how good it looked! I told her she needs to teach me how to pick up and knit because the ribbing around the neck where she did that looked fabulous! Mine never looks that hot.

Deidre has been knitting probably since she can remember. She tells me these great stores about her mother knitting and the 'lessons' she has had over the years. Her mother hired a lady to teach Deidre how to knit the "German" way which was with one of the knitting needles UNDER HER ARM!!! I'm having a hard time even picturing that! I think I am right in saying, that lesson was wasted on Deidre because I don't think she knits that way today. She is the shepardiss of knitting at her place of work and has brought many virgin knitters into the fold. They too are now attending Knitters Anonymous meetings and drowning in their incredible yarn stash!

Thanks Deidre for being my guest knitter! I'm not worthy!!!

BTW....I haven't really talked about some of the books I have been reading lately......I just finished Midori by Moonlight. It was a very enjoyable read. I had gotten it as a suggestion from a friend of mine's book blog. It's a chick lit book with a happy ending, a dream realized in work and a love story. Doesn't get much better than that! It would be a great 'beach/pool' read so put it on your list!

Diversion

I have been feeling the need to do some papercrafting lately so I took a couple hours and made some cards! It felt good!

Check out my results!

I especially love these two! My family would say the black, white and tan one is so me.....my favorite color combination. I tried to like other colors but it seems to me that I usually gravitate back to these colors!

Sometimes I get inspiration from books or magazines and sometimes it just comes from inside me.

Coming Soon! A guest appearance from a friend who just finished this ADORABLE cable knit sweater for her grandson. I was in awe! She's sending me pictures so I can post them.....stay tuned!

Houston, we have 2 socks!

Yes!!! It has been accomplished! I now have 2 socks that match and are complete!!

The key for me was having a easy pattern that went quickly and didn't require a lot of study to complete so it was very easy for me to be motivated to complete a second sock. This is the pattern I used for a ribbed sock..........it's great! I found it on this blog - Wise Hilda Knits.

I now have the go-to pattern for those great sock yarns I see at the store and so badly want to use!! Now the trick will be to have it memorized so I don't have to fiddle with the papers!

Still working on my baby sweater.......done with the front and more than halfway through the back.

Happy Knitting!

Back from vacation

I had a great mini vacation at our lake condo with 2 very productive visits to the fabulous LYS there! They keep getting more and more yarn each time I'm there so it's a pleasure to visit. Robin sat there with me and tried to help me figure out the really vague directions for the Baby Surprise Jacket my Elizabeth Zimmerman. I had to rip out all that I had done in a day and a half because I did it all wrong then I started over and still screwed it up. Couldn't bring myself to try it again. Needless to say, I may not be making a baby surprise jacket.

Started on a Debbie Bliss baby crew neck that is striped. VERY CUTE.

Yes, I know you want to know about that second sock! Well, since I had the baby surprise jacket issues I didn't spend as much time on the sock, BUT I am half way there. Tonight I am going to finish the heel and the rest goes VERY quickly. I love this really easy pattern and I WILL have a completed MATCHING pair of hand knit socks!!! A pattern like this could get me addicted to socks......maybe.

I have been reading 'Rhett Butler's People' and loving it!
At first I was worried because I was having a hard time getting into it but that didn't last long. I love the fact that it tells the story of the more interesting of the characters. Scarlett was a spoiled brat who didn't know what she had till it was too late. Rhett knew how to work any situation and was a man of strength. When you read about his childhood from this authors perspective you start to understand what made him tick and where he got his strength from. It is upsetting at times to read how they treated slaves and then freed people of color after the war........hard to read but I do believe unfortunately it is probably accurate.

I will post pictures of the completed pair of socks so you can sufficiently ooo and ahh!!!

Happy Day!

Coming Soon! The saga of the Palm Pilot.............