Yarn mom of 8

Lady Eleanore II

2009-03-03T07:45:00.000-08:00

Sheryl was here for a couple of weeks after Christmas and saw my first Lady Eleanore. I wanted to make her something and she picked out the Lady E pattern. We spent a couple of nights researching yarn and she chose this:

I was a little concerned it would be a little on the wild side...too bright for my tastes but she was right. It is just her style/colors and it turned out beautiful! Husband inserted for scale:

A few modeled shots by the beautiful Z and it was off in the mail to her today.

Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole by Kathleen Power Johnson

Noro Silk Garden color #87 - 10 skeins

Size 8 needles

2008-11-04T06:27:00.000-08:00

A friend of ours created a CaringBridge site to keep you up-to-date on our man, Vince. CaringBridge is a nonprofit organization that helps friends and families stay connected. Anyone can visit his site, so if you know of someone who wishes to stay current on Vince's progress, please feel free to provide them the site address.

Here's the address: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/vinceturk. It might be a good idea to bookmark it in your browser so you don't have to remember it. If your e-mail program doesn't allow you to click on the above link, just copy and paste the address into your web browser's address (or URL) location.

Please visit Vince's site anytime. You can go there to check in on the him and his family, read the updated journal entries and send him encouraging messages by signing the Guestbook. When you register with CaringBridge and sign his guestbook, you will automatically receive e-mail notifications each time his journal is updated. Or, you can subscribe to receive these notifications even before you sign the guestbook. (Of course, you can unsubscribe from these e-mail updates at any time.)

See you at the site! Thanks for your faithful and unceasing prayers!!

Taking a break

2008-10-31T06:38:00.000-07:00

I am putting this blog on hold for a while. We found out last week my wonderful, loving, strong husband has cancer. We are gearing up for the fight. If you pray please add us to your prayer list.

New Socks!

2008-09-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

I am wearing new socks today...

New socks are fun but these really make me happy. They are so bright and psychedelic. Wool dye on acid. I normally hate the pooling that hand dyed yarn can produce but this I embraced and love.

They are pretty from all angles.

A close up blurry detail shot of the pattern:

But they are best peaking out from under my jeans...

Pattern : Wollmeise Sock by Monica Jines located free on the Loopy Ewe Website

Yarn: Woolmeise Wellemsittichvogelfeder also purchased at the Loopy Ewe.

Needles: US #1 Magic Loop

Mods: I knit the pattern into a point at the top of the foot rather than all the way down to the toe. I got tired of it and wanted a quick finish.

New socks. It's going to be a good day today.

Least you think I am all work and no play...

2008-09-09T08:13:00.001-07:00

So I do still knit for myself too...Here's proof.

Ok not this one. This sweater should have been in the previous post because it was a commissioned job but it was for my mother-in-law. It was her Birthday present from her husband. Doesn't she look beautiful?!

Pattern: Bed Jacket by Joan McGowan-Michael in Knitting Lingerie Style
Size: 39
Yarn: Sublime, cashmere merino silk dk in shade: 0011
Mods: I knit the sleeves 1.5 inches longer. I used size 7 needles rather than the 9 that the pattern called for so I knit the 43.5 size and came out with a 39/40 for her measurements.

The closure was purchased from Art for Hair.

I would highly recommend this etsy seller. They went out of their way to mail this overnight while the hurricane was approaching Florida so we would get it in time for the Birthday party. Above and beyond service in addition to a very cute sweater adornment.

Summer of socks flew by but I did get two more pair done:

Pattern: ??? Made up from another pattern I saw but don't remember where.

Row #1 P,K,P,K,P

Row #2 P, K3,P

Repeat

Yarn: STR Raven Clan, Rook-y

Detail shot:

Summer of Socks #3

Pattern: Uzume by Momma Monkey Designs. Gigi Silva

Yarn: Schaffer Yarn, Anne

Detail shot: Color is accurate in top picture.

Summer of Socks #4

Pattern:

Yarn: Wollmeise color: Wellensittichvogelfeder (Don't worry I can't say it either)

Blurry Detail shot:

Now for WIPs:

Silver Belle

Peplum and one 1/2 of bodice done. Still love this sweater but it is very hot to have a lap of wool in the summer. Will continue once the temperature drops a little.

Detail shot:

Don't you love all those wondering cables???

Color is more accurate in this picture:

Summer sweater (that got displaced by all the production work this summer)

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie

Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Teddy Bear

Back, Left front and one sleeve done. I may tear out the left front and re knit in the larger size. It looks very small to be going around my 42" front. I know the button bands are large but I don't think they are large enough! I made the sleeves extra long so they hit at my knuckles rather than my wrists.

Detail shot: Color more accurate in top picture.

I think I have a cable fetish right now.

Production knitting is kicking my butt

2008-09-09T07:34:00.000-07:00

I haven't gotten much done other than paid jobs plus the constant knitting is starting to wear on my hands, elbows and shoulders. Is there such a thing as knitting elbow?

Here is an update on my Production knitting so far:

Production job #1 in July. This is the Simple Raglan by Blue Sky Alpaca in Skinny Cotton. This was made for a shop sample for Knit New London in New Hampshire. Size med. (36-38) is modeled by my mother-in-law.

Back view:

It fit her so nice she wanted to keep it.

Secret production job # 2 July/August:

The pattern and details will be available later this fall through Blue Sky Alpaca. Won't tell you more than that....sorry.

Production knitting #3

Look familiar? Yep, Simple Raglan (again) in Skinny Cotton (again) This time size Small (32-34).

Sleeve detail:

More Fo and Summer of Socks

2008-06-30T09:16:00.000-07:00

Another finished sweater:

Pattern: Sleeveless Wrap Sweater from Blue Sky Alpacas
size: 34 (It is a little big on Z)
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Cotton in Glacier
Mods: While knitting the waist band and skirt it has you do a short row every 4 rows. On the 5th row it doesn't say to pick up the wrapped stitch but you need to do that or it shows on the skirt. Otherwise knit to pattern.
Began June 23, done June 28.

Summer of Socks has begun. I have my first pr. done:

Pattern: My version of the Twisted Rib.

Yarn: Plymouth Happy Feet. I threw the band away and forgot to record the colorway. They are navy, burgundy and olive green.

This was my first toe up sock. I won't show close ups of the heel. I need some work on the short row heel. I choose toe up because I wanted to use all the yarn and make the longest socks possible. They grew quite a bit after blocking but they are the softest socks I own to date!

FO Catch Up

2008-06-26T06:37:00.000-07:00

I have two new finished sweaters to show off.

Pattern: Bed Jacket from Knitting Lingerie Style by Joan McGowan-Michael.
Size: I knit 39 in a slightly larger gauge to get a 42 bust.
Yarn: Cascade Sierra (80% cotton, 20% wool) 7 skeins in ivory
Modifications: Other than the gauge, I knit the sleeves to 16.5 inches, 3 inches longer so the flare fell mid arm rather than right above the elbow. No other modifications.

This is the best sleeve seaming I have ever done.

The next sweater is my first paid production knitting job. This is a sample made for Blue Sky Alpaca yarn Company modeled by Z.

Pattern: Fitted Tank

Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton in Fawn - 3 skeins

Size: Small

Mods: None, knit as written

I had a little trouble with the neckline. You bind off the neck stitches, pick up stitches along the neck edge and then bind them off on the purl row. Essentially you have two bind off rows next to each other. The neck edge bind off doesn't cover the bind off stitches on the inside. It took 5 tries but I finally got one that looked OK and a good blocking also helped. If I were making this for myself, I would crochet the neckline and sleeves rather than the pick up and bind off the pattern calls for.

More production knitting happening this week. Pictures to follow when finished.

What Happened to May?

2008-06-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

This is a picture heavy post to catch up on the month of May that imploded on me.

The weather for the Tulip Festival turned out nicer than predicted. Cold but not rainy. We sat under sleeping bags and watched the parade.

The tulips were a little behind but a few beds were in full bloom. Pella is so beautiful this time of year!

We spent the evening at my parents helping my Uncle celebrate his 60th Birthday. Did you know it takes 4 brothers to grill hot dogs?

We had a bit of a family crisis the middle of the month that sucked time and energy, soccer started for two children, and Vince had a business conference for a few days. He was home one day and the next we left for San Diego, California to visit his sister, Sheryl and nephew, Johnny.

We sat on the front patio and enjoyed the sun every morning for breakfast.

We ate as much authentic Mexican food as we could pack in in 4 days.

We walked the beach by Hotel Del.

Visited Balboa Park.

Had a nice Sunday brunch at Seaport Village.

Walked along the San Diego Marina. These kites were HUGE.

We got lost on the upper levels of Horton Plaza.

Watched the seals at La Jolla.

And generally just enjoyed each other. It has been 2 years since we have seen these silly people and that is WAY TOO long.

We are now back in cool, rainy Minnesota. This is the final few days of school. We are busy with graduation for Filip, out exchange student. He will depart on in less than two weeks...but we aren't talking about that right now. It makes us too sad.

Dear Iowa

2008-05-02T07:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Iowa,

This weekend I will be traveling down to Pella with my van full of kids for the annual Tulip Festival. You know I love this festival. Each year growing up and residing as an adult I would not miss. I was an avid attender. I didn't just go to my obligatory one or two parades. No. I went to all 6...afternoon and evening for three days! I set aside money for the "must eats" at the booths and grazed from one to the next with anticipation and relish. We camped on blankets and have "our spot" on the city square. We take pictures each year in front of the tulip beds. I have cultivated this love in my children so that, even now living in Minnesota, we travel down with anticipation and excitement each year.

So this is my one request...I respectively ask for you to provide better weather. 53 degrees with 25 mph winds and thunderstorms isn't exactly parade watching weather. I'm not some whiny tourist rolling in on a bus for a few hours. I am a native, born and bred in Pella and have attended every year for oh, I don't know... say 42 YEARS! I really don't think this is to much to ask. We will be arriving this evening and I expect the weather report to improve immensely by the time we arrive.

Note to Minnesota: The only reason I am even considering going down to Pella is because you are forecasting a high of 36 with a rain/snow mix on Saturday. There is much you can do to endear me further to my new State of residence. I am loyal to my State of birth but a couple of 70-80 degree days could turn my love faster than a harlot.

Knitting for Peace

2008-04-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

Last Fall, my friend Dana, (who CAN knit but says she can't) took me along to Shepherd's Choice to launch their Knit for Peace. We knit 40+ sweaters and 70+ hats and shipped them to Hungry. Dana flew there and distributed them in a small gypsy village. We were invited back yesterday to show pictures from Dana's trip and hang out with one of my favorite yarn shop owners, Kathy.

While we were there Dana and I may have made a few purchases:

Kathy specializes in yarns with natural fibers along with her own hand spun, hand dyed yarn. I brought home enough of this to make Tubey. Mine will be mostly red with just have a couple of brown stripes across the bust and elbows. I really don't want to be striping my midsection. This is Fibra-natura Heaven. It is 50% wool and 50% silk and feels wonderful!

I try not to purchase pattern books or magazines unless there is at least three patterns I want to knit. This Knitters had more than three but here are a few favorites:

Sorry for the poor pictures...cheapo camera and it's a dark, gray day here.

Dana bought the book: Knitting Lingerie Style and Cascade Sierra for the Bed Jacket. She SAYS she can't knit (but I know she can) so I offered to knit it for her. She does so much for our family and helps with the kids if we head out of town on school days, I am glad to do it for her.

The neat thing about this yarn is that Kathy makes her own handmade soaps and lotions so her store smells so good when you walk in. This morning I got the yarn out of the bags to take pictures and it smells SO wonderful. I keep holding up and smelling it. I hope it continues while I knit the sweaters!

While I was gone all day yesterday my WONDERFUL husband was doing this:

See that beautiful tile back splash? We had some slate picked out but once everything was done it was just too much color. So it has been unfinished for a few months. Saturday we went to the tile store and looked again and found this. It is perfect. While I was at Shepherd's Choice he sent me a text message and asked if he could use the scraps for a back splash for the stove. Of course I said YES! I came home to this:

It really brightens up the wall that has dark cabinets, black appliances and dark purple paint. Perfect. Just perfect.

Did you notice our bears? This is one of my favorites. He is carrying a bottle of wine on his back.

But this one is the best:

Momma and Papa bear having a wine and cheese picnic. It couldn't fit us any better.

Inside Easter

2008-03-24T06:41:00.001-07:00

We had to have our Easter egg hunt in the house this year because our back yard looked like this:

The kids were quite concerned we would call it off but we have too much fun to do that so we improvised:

It is a little hard to hide 204 eggs inside but Vince did a great job.

The kids hunted with gusto... because Vince hid 20 - $1 coins in some of the eggs. Nothing motivates teens like money! the littles enjoyed hunting for the candy filled eggs.

Filip thought this was just plain silly but after it started he got into it!

Each child could hunt til they got 22/23 eggs. Then they settled in corners and opened.

The money got pretty spread around.

Even 16 year-olds have fun with it.

Afterwards we had to clear the driveway to get to church. Filip loves to run the snow blower. It really wasn't that cold but the snow was really coming down! I had to get a picture of him blowing snow in shorts.

At least we didn't have to worry about the squirrels stealing the eggs this year.

http://yarnmomof8.blogspot.com/2007/04/chocolate-robbers.html

WIP Update

2008-03-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy last couple of months. Vince had a nice little 4 day holiday in the hospital due to a Super Staph infection. We have been hockey-ing through the Regional and State tournaments and the season ends tonight with the All-Star game. I made a quick trip down to my mom's to help start cleaning out my grandmother's house. We had three Birthdays in March including our exchange student who had his first cultural experience of a Surprise Birthday Party. All of these (except Vince's hospital stay) were fun so I am not complaining.

I have been getting some knitting done:

This is the beginning of the Silver Belle by Vogue Knitting. The yarn is Lana Grossa Numero Uno Tweed. The second picture is more accurate of the color but it is still a little darker like the upper left corner.

Aren't all those cables so pretty? Just don't look too closely, there are a few mistakes, I mean creative nuances. This sweater will take me a while. I can't seem to watch TV and do cables at the same time. I have to find time when I can focus on it... and with this full house, well, I hope to have it done for next fall.

Next up...socks:

These are hand dyed Opal yarn bought from my mom's shop. Love the colors. Pattern made up as I went along. A couple inches down the foot on sock #1.

When I packed up for the State hockey tournament this past weekend I forgot to pack knitting so I HAD to visit the local yarn shop and buy something to get me through the weekend. This is Bo Peep's Not Just for Socks yarn in the Old Rose colorway. This is more of a sport weight yarn so they will be really warm, thick socks. I got the leg done of my first sock while sitting by the pool and before and after games.

Noro Entrelac socks. This is the new Noro Krayon sock yarn. I am not into the big stripes so I found this pattern. It really shows off the yarn well. First sock done and second sock started. The yarn is really thin in some places and I had to repair my first sock already after trying it on and the yarn broke. That made me a little wary and these have sat for a few months. I have had a rash of blow outs on my knitted socks and I am so tired of fixing them...especially when you are darning before you have even worn them once!

But it is really pretty.

And finally a finished product.

This is the Danca scarf in Noro Silk Garden. This yarn was bought with a friend over a year ago so I could teach her how to do entrelac. We sat in my living room for a couple of hours and she left with the beginning triangles and first row done. A couple of weeks ago she came with the bag, handed it to me and said she was never going to knit it any further so I finished it for her. Now to weave in the ends and block it so she can wear it.

I also finished the Drops Jacket but I will post pictures of it later. I only have my 6 year old to take the pictures right now and I am sure that won't work. So I'll end with a token cute kid picture:

Whew.

2008-01-04T07:21:00.000-08:00

Has it really been over a month since I have posted? Where has the time gone?

I have a sock update: Twisted Rib socks
Pattern: Well, I read on the Yarn Harlot's site that she took a rib pattern and every few rows off set it by one stitch. So this is a 2 x 2 rib alternating one stitch every 6th row.
Yarn: Araucania Ranco Multy in color #306. Love, love, love this yarn. The colors were so varied and random that my kids named it "yarn puke". But knitted up, the colors are beautiful together.

I usually throw all my knitted socks in a lingerie bag and then hang them to dry. These were almost ruined by doing this. They got slightly felted...hence the fuzzy look. I have learned my lesson with Araucania. ALL hand wash from now on.

Twisted Rib #2
Pattern: Same as above
Yarn: Araucania Ranco Multy in color # 310.
These socks are darker than the picture shows and more black/purple/ green than blue. Again Love the yarn and love the color. I made these two pattern repeats longer than the first pair and still have quite a bit of yarn left over.

Blurry close up of the stitch pattern. You get a better idea of how many colors are in the yarn.

Z's Neon Short socks

Pattern: Padded Footlettes from Interweave's Favorite Socks

Yarn: Opal Yarns: Neon. This yarn is beyond neon. The picture doesn't do it justice, seriously, you need sunglasses while you knit this. Z loves them.

Close up of the heal detail. This is a very cute pattern on the foot. I only knit one ply on the foot instead of the two that the pattern calls for. We wanted socks not slippers.

And a little Christmas gift for me:

Noro sock yarn. In the #188 color way.

You can go see the stripes here:http://knittingfever.com/knitpatterns.asp?manu=Noro&yarn=Kureyon+Sock&prodid=5930&prodtype=yarn&detail=yes

I have read about it, some love Noro and some hate it. It is scratchy right now but reports are that is softens up after it's first wash. I have Lady Eleanore made from Noro and love it so I am excited to give this sock yarn a try. I am not really into big striped knee socks so I am waiting to see what others are doing with it as far as patterns go.

I do like the purples and greens. Again the yarn is darker than the picture.

And some more Araucania. This time in purple, dark blue and deep rose. My camera wants to make everything blue today. See that little bit of pink? It is really a deep rose color. The rest of the yarn is deep navy and purple. Color #302. No plans for this yarn yet. I may just pet it for a while.

I have been knitting

2007-11-21T06:02:00.000-08:00

It may seem like the construction and kids took over this blog and it did briefly but I have been knitting between loads of laundry. I have finished the clapotis. Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb in the Safari colorway. I used 3 skeins by eliminating one increase and one decrease section of the pattern. I love how it turned out with an animal print color mix. I can tell this is going to be one of my new favorites.

Made M a pr. of purple socks out of Jitterbug yarn.

Started and finished (but not blocked) my sister-in-laws Christmas present. It is made from Handmaiden Sea Silk in the rose garden colorway. Beautiful yarn and pattern but will be better when blocked. The weather has been so gloomy lately so the color quality of the picture is poor, sorry.

I can post a picture because I know she doesn't read here.

I am still working on the MS3 and hoping to get it done for a Christmas present. No pictures because this person does read the blog. I have two socks on progress, one for Z and one for A. I am motivated to get them done so I can make another pair for myself. I love knitting for the kids but I also love putting on the socks when completed and their feet are too small for me to do try-ons.

I started a dark red sweater for myself for Christmas but I am not sure I am going to keep going with it. I am right on for gauge, making the size my bust calls for but I have this haunting feeling that it is going to be too tight and not look good one me. Part of this may be the pattern I have chosen. I love the look but will it look as good on a size 14 waist as it does on the model? I have not had good much with making sweaters for myself. I usually look like a balloon in them...making a big body look even bigger. I admit that I have only made 3 sweaters so far but I have been less than pleased with all of them. I want to keep trying though. I know the style that would look good on me but can't find a pattern for it. I guess I need to design it myself....

So there has been a lot of knitting going on in this house.

Mondays and Thursdays are laundry days.

2007-11-15T09:04:00.000-08:00

I ask the kids to bring down the laundry from their rooms. K, my oldest, comes up laughing to herself..."Mom, Your laundry room exploded." The pile is 1/2 way up my washer and to the door.

I had all the laundry caught up on Monday.

Construction is complete

2007-11-07T07:45:00.000-08:00

Well almost. We have a few (two notebook pages) of minor things to touch up or finish. Here are some pictures:

First a "before" picture. This was my little kitchen and behind me was my small dining room. We couldn't all sit down at once to eat. So aside from summer when we ate outside on the picnic tables each night, the last 18 months we have eaten in shifts. We fed the kids first and then Vince and I would sit down when there was room for us at the table.

This is my new Large kitchen. It has chip board counter tops and bar right now. The granite will be installed next week. Purple you say? Yes! Purple. Love, love, love it.

My new dining room table that my dad made for us. It was hard to get it all in the picture. It is 4 ft. x 12 ft. long. We can seat 16 around it and he built it in two pieces so we can separate it in the middle and seat 4 more for a total of 20 people. There is a bench he also made in the back to seat the "little butts". Yup, more purple in the curtains on a dark yellow wall.

My new pantries and desk area. See the gas fireplace in the kitchen? I am always cold so it feels cozy to turn it on in the morning while the kids are eating breakfast and getting ready for school. There are 8 bar stools that will allow seating at the bar (when it is installed next week.) Spiced pumpkin color on the wall.

New family room downstairs. Vince and I have a running joke. I got bright colors upstairs for my kitchen and he chose brown tan and tan for his room. He still says his room is better because what you can't see in this picture is the new flat screen hanging on the wall.

We love our new space.

Homecoming suit

2007-09-26T07:56:00.001-07:00

Filip got a new suit for the Homecoming dance.
He makes this suit look good.

The GQ pose:

He had multiple girls fighting for his invitation to the dance. We aren't telling his girlfriend back in Slovakia about that.

Bad Blogger

2007-09-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while...I have been a little preoccupied with ceramic tile, wood floors, window sizes, types of doors, kitchen cabinets...you get the picture. In the last three weeks my beautiful backyard has gone from this:

to this:

to this:

We are adding a two story addition that will be a new dining room on top and family room on the bottom. My current kitchen/dining room will be a glorious big, new kitchen. But in the mean time...they took out my kitchen on Monday. No sink, dishwasher, stove or microwave. The refrigerator remains plugged in by an extension cord. We do have a gas grill. Meal times are a little interesting right now.

We moved the picnic tables into the garage and we are temporarily using it to eat in. Does anyone else have a Harley in their dining room?

New family member

2007-09-07T08:11:00.001-07:00

I am very behind in posting this (since he has been here almost a month already) but we are now a family of 11...at least for the next 10 months. Filip came to live with us from Slovakia for a year. He is going to the local high school and trying really hard to make the hockey team. Other than living in Canada for a few years I know almost nothing about hockey but we are ready to learn. I think it has something to do with KNOWING someone on the ice that makes it more interesting.

Vince gave him a ride on the bike. We told him to look mean:

That's why he isn't smiling. It is a big change for him to go from having one brother in Slovakia to having 8 sibs in the US but all is going better than expected.
He isn't smiling here either. He isn't a fan of horses and didn't want his picture taken with one. We are enjoying pushing him out of his comfort zone. But really he does smile a lot... just not for the camera. It must be a Slovakian thing.

Last One's First Day

2007-09-06T11:02:00.001-07:00

Can you hear that? It is silence. My youngest is at his first day of school. He is afternoon only Kindergarten. This morning took FOREVER! He knew he would go to school after lunch so starting at 9:30 he asked me every 10 minutes if it was lunch time yet. This was his face when it was time to go to the bus stop:

The bus was on time but we were a few minutes early. He kept asking when the bus was coming:

At last...

I had to yell at him to turn for the camera:

I missed the face but caught the hand. I doubt he was looking at me anyway. His thoughts are all on school.

Loopy Goes Biker

2007-08-13T15:23:00.001-07:00

Loopy (from the Loopy Ewe: http://www.theloopyewe.com/) was a special guest on our bike trip. Here are a few pictures from his camera:

Loopy was very excited for his first trip to Sturgis. Here he is posing in front of a welcome sign.

He learned very quickly that you never, NEVER sit on someone's bike. Not even to pose for a cool picture.

He decided it was better to look from a distance.

It was hot and he wanted to sit down and have a cold one but, they ID everyone and Loopy left his wallet on the bike. Bummer.

After a day in Sturgis he packed up and headed to Dillon Colorado. From Dillon Loopy took in the mountains. His first stop was the Hoosier pass.

Loopy loved the mountain views.

He rode the cog train up to Pike's Peak.

And was impressed by the view of Colorado Springs from the top.

Always the tourist he needed a shot by the dated sign at the top of the peak.

He rode with us up Hwy 125 to Rand, CO. Loopy couldn't decide if this was a cabin made into a garage or a garage made into a cabin.

Loopy can't get enough of the mountain shots.

Don't worry. Loopy didn't get into trouble. He was just chatting with the local law.

A trip up to Loveland pass and back through the Eisenhower tunnel and Loopy was ready to head back to Minnesota.

He didn't stay long though. He was here one day to unpack and do laundry and he was off again. This time he traveled to the Iowa State Fair. The Bruxvoort brothers hold a family reunion and he thought it would be fun to camp at the fair for a night. He met lots of fun people and had amazing food. The Bruxvoort's are know for their good food.

Loopy traveled 3800 miles in 10 days. But he isn't done yet. Next week he will go with Karen, Vince and their 9 kids down to Omaha, NE to a State Park for 4 days. He can't wait to post more pictures when he gets back.

Finally home!

2007-08-13T11:53:00.001-07:00

It has been while since I have been home and longer since I have posted here. We left August 2nd for our 8 day trip on the motorcycle. We decided to trailer the bikes rather than ride them out so we could maximize our riding time. Our first stop was at our friend's "cabin" in the Black Hills. This was like no cabin I have ever stayed at! The place was so beautiful complete with a view of Mount Rushmore out the kitchen window. Here we are relaxing on the deck and grilling steaks:

The next day we rode an hour to Sturgis. It was Pre-Sturgis weekend so a few of the attractions weren't open yet but there were plenty of vendors and we got our shopping done. The crowds wouldn't come in for a day or two yet so parking and moving around were quite easy:

Saturday we loaded up the trailer and drove most of the day to Dillon, Colorado. Dillon would be our central point in which we would ride in 4 different directions the next 4 days. It was around 4:00 pm when we got to the hotel and we unloaded the bikes:

Sunday morning we started out with sunshine and went to an outdoor amphitheatre for a community church service. We couldn't help but be awe struck and worship when surrounded by this??:

We took off to tour Breckenridge but got rained on shortly after arriving and had to make it a short day:

The dark clouds rolled in and we got poured on as we were heading back to the hotel. As we headed into Dillon we thought it had snowed! Everything was covered in white. It wasn't snow. It was hail! We were glad we missed the hail, it would have hurt on the bike.

When we were heading back on the Dillon Dam Road we rounded a corner and a car was flashing it's lights at us. We slowed down and came around the next bend and rocks had slid off the mountain. Vince was leading so he was weaving through the rocks and we heard a large crack. Right in front of us a large rock rolled across both lanes and crashed against the guard rail. It missed our front tire by only a few feet. If it would have hit us, we would have laid the bike down causing damage to the bike or worse - injury to us. We stopped and took pictures and later went back to get the rock:

It is now in my flower garden.

It rained again Tuesday so we took the cars and went to Pikes Peak on the cog train:

At the top Vince went out on the cliff to have a better view (He is the orange jacket):

I stayed firmly on the solid ground:

Wednesday was very rainy and cold (again) but we did get out a few hours on the bike. When it got really wet we went back and walked around Breckenridge in the rain and shopped for souvenirs.

Thursday we finally had sun. It was cool but promised to get warmer as the day progressed. We found highway 125 and had a beautiful ride though the bull moose the locals said was living there was hiding from us. We stopped in Rand, CO and had fun with the local shop owner before turning around and heading to the Rocky Mountain National Park.

It was such a nice day we didn't stop for any meals. We got snacks while filling up with gas and kept riding. We ended up in Loveland pass and went through the Eisenhower tunnel on the way back to the hotel. We biked 9.5 hours that day. I was a little (a LOT) saddle sore by the end of the day:

Hwy 125:

Thursday morning we left Dillon at 4:30 am and drove all day (minus and hour for breakfast and 1/2 hour for dinner) and got home at 1:10 am Friday morning. If my calculations are right that is 19.5 hours in the car with the time change. Way, way WAY too long.

Friday we picked up the kids, picked up our exchange student, Filip, and unpacked. Saturday I took the 3 oldest girls and drove down to Iowa for the State Fair. The first Saturday of the fair is my family reunion. My dad has 5 brothers and 4 of them camp at the fair. We have cousins all over and it is the one time of the year that we get together:

In past years we have had 45-50. This year there were 38. (7 of the missing were mine!) There were 3 new babies to pass around. It was very hot but we had a great time. Being with family is always a special time.

MS3 Clue 2 complete!

2007-07-23T11:18:00.001-07:00

Clue # 2 is done! I actually finished clue 2 at 10:30 pm last night but it was too dark for pictures. I didn't want to quit knitting so you are also seeing 10 rows of clue 3. Clue 4 was released last Friday. I started two clues behind and this is where I remain. The stole should be 22 inches wide and right now mine is 22 inches wide and 20 inches long. I know there are a couple of beads missing on the left hand side but I am going to wait until later to see if I want to sew them on or just never point it out to anyone. I really doubt anyone will ever notice but me.

Can you see what looks like a Japanese dragon? No one knows the theme yet but I keep seeing a dragon face.

Here is a fuzzy close up of the bead work:

Can you see the little green, purple and blue shiny dots? They show up so nicely in person.

My cousin left a comment about not having "any idea what a clue is". Here is an explanation for all the non-knitting readers: The Mystery Stole #3 is a list group at Yahoo that 6700 women from around the world have signed up for. We were given suggestions for yarn and beads and a small swatch to knit. No one knows what we are knitting other than it is a lace stole. Each Friday Melanie, the designer, e-mails a pdf. file with a small piece of the pattern in chart form, usually about 50 rows. We all knit like mad and then sit back and look to see what we have made. There are many guesses as to the theme of the stole but so far no hints from Melanie.
This KAL (knit-a-long) has gotten unusual media attention because of the numbers that have signed up. Melanie was interviewed by USA today and mid August there will be an article about the group. There have also been links to various other small town papers. We are a bunch of knitting lemmings and the outside world finds this a little strange.

And I will leave you today with a Birthday picture. A. turned 14 last week. You can tell by the picture he was VERY excited for his Birthday. (He is the one they are trying to make smile)

I guess when you are a 14 year old boy it is a hassle to have a Birthday picture taken. (Note: only 8 of these children are mine.) More and more neighborhood kids show up everyday. We love the activity and wouldn't have it any other way!

New toy and MS3 Clue #1

2007-07-15T18:02:00.001-07:00

We got a new toy a couple of weeks ago. A friend gave us this mini bike because it needed a lot of work and wasn't running. This afternoon we had a small engine guy from church come over and he helped us get the mini chopper going. It is still missing some pieces but it is ride-able. After a few minutes of instruction:

We are a motorcycle family....
F takes a spin.

Z gets into the action...

She asked to go with us to Sturgis - on this bike...um, no.

The bike will hold up to 300 lbs. so even Vince (who is no where near 300 lbs!) gets a turn...

And lastly, I take a spin...

Vince was heard mumbling "You'll never get your mom off that thing."

On a knitting note: I started the MS3 on Tuesday evening and finished clue #1 on Friday night. I pinned it out to check for errors and forgot to take the picture before taking out the blocking pins. So here is the unpinned version. I am currently on row 115. More pictures to follow... after another spin around the neighborhood on the bike.

MS 3

2007-07-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

I joined very late. The 1st and 2nd clues were out already and sign-ups closed on Friday at midnight. I joined Friday afternoon. I spent the weekend looking at the different yarn suggestions on the internet and by Monday night had an idea of color and yarn type I wanted. I decided to see what the LYS had because if I ordered it would be another couple of days before the yarn arrived.

Below is my start. I am on row 37 of chart A:

The yarn is Misti Alpaca in navy (I wanted black but they didn't have it). Can you see the beads? There are three under my thumb and then every inch up the sides. They are minuscule and I am all thumbs while trying to get them on. I would be going faster if I didn't use the beads but I like the little bit (very little bit) of flash this adds.

This may be a Christmas gift, I am not sure yet. I know my Mother and Mother-in-law both read this...maybe they will forget about it by Christmas if I decide to keep it.

New Drivers

2007-07-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

We have two new drivers in our house. K and M took Driver's Ed the same time since their Birthdays are three weeks apart. They could have taken Driver's Ed last fall but we waited and enrolled them in the first summer session. They attempted the test last Friday and M passed but K didn't which lead to many tears in the car on the way home. K is an honor roll student and I think she over stressed the test. M passed with the max number wrong available to pass but he is a boy and proud that he squeaked by the first time. So Tuesday we drove back to the DVS and K passed with flying colors. They turn 16 in late Oct and early Nov. but they need to have their permits for 6 months so they will attempt their driving test right after the New Year.

My husband is polling parents: Did you have rules for the first year of driving?
Things like cell phone off, no food or drinks in the car, no friends...?
We are formulating and wondering how to enforce these for safe, undistracted driving. Did you know they have new software now that will track where the car has been and how fast the car was going? It is very cool for parents of teenagers but also very expensive.

Oh, and we also have a 14, 13, and 12 yr. old so in three years we will have three additional drivers. I wonder what our car insurance bill will look like by then??!

Painting and knitting

2007-07-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of painting and a little knitting going on this last week. Since getting the house painted we have since painted our new shed to match the house, painted the interior of the front door and landing, painted the wall in the living room with new windows, and painted the hallway upstairs with the first coat. I still need to put the living room back together and paint the second coat on the upstairs hallway and do two coats of the downstairs hallway. This is all because we live in a split entry. Once you start with the front door, you have to paint 2/3 of the house to be at a place where it blends.

When I sit down for dinner and can't get up again, I knit. I cast on for my first Clapotis...yes, I am a clappy virgin. (Sounds kinky doesn't it?) I bought 3 skeins of Lion and Lamb in the Safari. I am loving the "animal print" pooling. I am almost done with my first skein. Since I only bought 3 skeins and the pattern called for 4 I eliminated one of the increase and decrease sections.
I also cast on another pr. of Monkeys last night in Regia. I'm not sure of the colorway but it has blues, and browns. So far no funky pooling. I must admit after working with the Handmaiden Sea Wool, Regia feels like I am knitting with steel wool. I am just spoiled. This winter my feet won't care. They will just be happy wearing pretty socks.

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July! Me? After breakfast at Caribou and a nice ride around Lake Minnetonka on the Harley, we painted all day. We were too tired to go out and find a seat for the fireworks so hubby fired off a few in our backyard.

Monkeys in the Roses

2007-06-28T08:13:00.000-07:00

Done! Sockapalooza sock Pal socks are done.

Monkey Socks

Size 1 Magic Loop

Fleece Artist Handmaiden Sea Wool in Amethyst

I did my usual slip stitch heel and toe rather than the pattern's. Love the yarn and the pattern. I made these for myself as a test knit on size two needles and actually like the fabric of the size 1 better.

I frogged the Coupling socks because they were too loose. Right now I am suffering from anxiety because I have NOTHING on the needles. The Sea Wool in Moss has been cast on twice and frogged. It really wants to be Embossed Leaves socks. I don't think I can fight it anymore...

not much knitting...

2007-06-27T16:20:00.001-07:00

There hasn't been much knitting going on in this house lately. Too much activity outside. Last week our house went from this:

Tan and red to this:

Green with cream. The red front door remained but is now a few shades more terra-cotta-y. What you can't tell from the pictures is how much better the house looks. There are a couple of trim boards and two windows that still need to be replaced because they were rotted but the rest of the house looks awesome.

As for knitting:

I plan on finishing the toe of my second sockapalooza Pal's socks tonight - pictures soon.

I started a second pair of socks but they are just past the rib so boring to look at right now.

I also finished the terra-cotta tank but it is in the frog pile. A little large and very unflattering - no pictures of that one!! I need to do something with a little more negative ease. I am a curvy girl but not that big. Really, it was just gross.

Monkey 1 and Monkey 2

2007-06-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

OK I need to admit I am a "once a week" blogger. I do have an excuse though...we have been really busy outside with all the nice weather. Late Friday afternoon my parents called and said they were packing the car and were coming up for the weekend to help us with some projects. They live 4.5 hours away so they got up here 11:30 p.m. Friday night. (I cleaned like mad while they were driving up!) We hugged at the door and promptly tucked them in bed.

Saturday the guys worked on this:
It is our new storage shed (or small house). Before Vince and my dad started on it it just was studs (the walls and the guys) They added the roof, some shingles and all the siding and trim. A lot accomplished in just one day and a few hours between showers on Sunday afternoon.

While the guys were busy hammering, my mom and I were busy planting. We worked on the long bed along the back fence. Before we started it was mostly weeds and sucker trees. We cut, mowed, planted, spread and watered. It looks so much better now!
View one:
View two from the other end:

And a little color:

It is a little sparse but I hope to fill it in in the next few years. Perennial beds need to age a little to really look nice I think.

I did get a little knitting done. On Friday night while waiting for my parents to arrive, I finished my 1st. pr. of Monkey socks.

Do you notice that the first sock (one the left) has a lot lighter cuff than the second? It is pretty obvious in real life. I wound the skein on a center pull ball and knit from the center so this yarn would have been on the outside of the skein. I hope this is due to uneven dying of hand-dyed rather then the yarn fading. I don't mind the variation but I am using this yarn for the Sockapalooza 4 pal and don't want it to happen to hers. I love the colors in the socks and the yarn is wonderful to work with. It is Fleece Artist Handmaiden Sea Wool.

This is the color Amethyst that I got for the Sock Pal:

Beautiful purple, lavender, blue and deep rose. I went down one needle size for the sock pal since her feet are a little smaller than mine. I cast one yesterday and got a little ways (4.5 lace repeats) last night. Here is the sock so far:

No pooling and I like the fabric even more with the smaller needle size.

And finally, I haven't posted a picture of my drop stitch wrap:

And a close up:

I am unsure. I like the yarn , like the color, like the feel of the wrap but I am just not in love with it. I think it is more that I am not a wrap type person. I don't think I know how to wear them well. I am a scarf person. I have ton of scarves... not the winter scarves but the dressier scarves. I tuck them under the colors of my jackets for a flash of color, wrap them around my neck to dress up a t-shirt, under my jean jacket to dress up jeans... you get the picture. But I don't know how to wear a wrap/stole. I can see already that I love my lady E as a large scarf and not a stole. It works that way - being big and artsy. This one doesn't. So any ideas? How can a scarf person wear this wrap?

Anyone reading this have a good rhubarb dessert recipe? Vince loves it and it isn't my favorite . I find myself with rhubarb and don't know what to do with it. Help?

I'm back...

2007-05-26T05:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry to be gone for so long.... We went on our vacation. It wasn't Paris, it was a cruise.

Long story short - Paris got too expensive too fast because we procrastinated on buying the plane tickets so we ended up with a last minute cruise deal to the Bahamas.

It was my first cruise and most likely my last. The weather didn't co-operate so we ended up on the boat all but one of our 5 days. We were let off in Nassau to shop but the days scheduled to be on the beach were cancelled due to swells that made disembarking impossible. The last night the ship rocked so badly I got sick and I have never gotten sea sick before.

My husband assures me this is rare and that it usually isn't like this but next time I just want a hotel, with a bed that doesn't move, on the beach, so that when the weather breaks we can make a run for it and snorkel.

Since Saturday was our First Anniversary I got these:

In case you can't count them all - 5 dozen roses. 5!! Yep, He loves me... and it was awesome getting 5 days alone with him even if we were stuck on a boat.

What a week!

2007-05-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

We went down to my parent's house last weekend for Tulip Time in Pella, IA. It was a good time to reconnect with friends and let the kids run around with old classmates. We were on our way home Sunday night and got a call from our neighbor that a storm had gone through that morning and had taken a tree down in our yard. An hour later we came home to this:

The bad part was that it hit our power line on the way down and pulled the electrical box off the side of the house. See the flash mark on the side of the house?!? (Just to the right of the two gray boxes still attached)

The tree destroyed our fence, took out another section farther down, and lifted, moved and bent our new awning on the porch. My husband is building a storage shed and the winds took down one of the walls he had just put up the day before we left.

A great neighbor loaned us a generator so we could keep the freezer and refrigerator working so no food loss which was wonderful. But the worst part?...No power for 3 days and then no Internet for almost a week! Do you realize how much you can't do without the Internet?! Sheesh, I felt like such a dope. Always going to the computer and then realizing I can't do that until the Internet is back up.

So, no pictures of yarn today but I started a pair of Monkey socks to try out the Handmaiden Sea Wool and the yarn is just as nice knitted up as it feels in the skein. It is my first pr. of Monkey socks (free pattern by Cookie A. at knitty.com) and I really like the pattern. Easy enough to be my first pair of lace socks and it goes fast with a 12 row repeat. I have my first leg done and am ready to do the heal flap. Cookie A does such a great job with socks! Pictures soon.

More FO

2007-05-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

I finished my drop stitch scarf and my Lady Eleanore last night. I am off to my mom's for the weekend and will use her steamer and blocking board for the large pieces. It is nice to have a mom with yarn shop in her basement. she has all the cool toys. Pictures on Monday...promise.

I smoked my neighbor because I just gotta be me.

2007-05-03T10:13:00.000-07:00

Type out the sentence you end up with, in the subject line and post it as a comment.

Pick the month you were born:
January------I kicked
February-----I loved
March---------I smoked
April-----------I dry humped
May-----------I choked on
June----------I murdered
July-----------I did the Macarena with
August-------I had lunch with
September---I danced with
October------I sang to
November----I yelled at
December----I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a Mexican
6-------a gangster
7-------my cell phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18---- ---a spoon
19-------myself
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an ipod
29-------a permanent marker
30-------a llama
31-------A homeless guy

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White--------because I'm cool like that.
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink----------because I'm NOT a homosexual.
Red----------because the voices told me to.
Blue----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want.
Green--------because I just gotta be me.
Purple--------because I'm cool.
Gray----------because I was drunk.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars.
Orange-------because I just don't like people.
Brown--------because I was high.
Other---------because I'm a ninja.
None----------because I can't control myself.

Now type out the sentence you made, and post it to my comments! Copy this to your blog. Let's play!

I'm in trouble...

2007-05-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

I got this in the mail yesterday from Knit Purl http://www.knit-purl.com/Products/Product.php?Product_ID=404 and I am So in LOVE! It is Fleece Artist Handmaiden Sea Wool. The picture doesn't show it's shiny yarnness.

A close up, anyone?

I have a cheap-o camera so the colors are a little dull here. But trust me, it is amazing. I think my yarn pal for Sockapalooza deserves some Sea Wool yumminess. After all, isn't it the Sockapaloozer's way - to spoil your sock pal? She deserves nothing less. I will need to go get her a different color however. She seems to favor the reds and purples...and (cough) you need to order two skeins for free shipping....I'm in trouble.

Meanwhile I am getting to the end of my drop stitch wrap for the Paris sweater. It looks like a big scarf right now because (obviously) the dropped stitches some at the end. Again the colors don't show real well here but it is a very pretty soft green, with bits of pink and lavender and a gold thread. I am not much of a pastel girl but it looks fantastic with the Paris sweater.

A close up...

So pretty. It will look even better in a sidewalk cafe' on the streets of Paris!

Paris sweater FO

2007-04-26T06:30:00.000-07:00

Remember this?
It is now the FO: Paris sweater

I am calling it the Paris sweater because I made it for the Paris trip and used three different patterns combined to make it. The lace on the bottom is from the Knit N Style - June 06 - Pattern #15. I duplicated two rows for the sleeves. The body is a modified version of the Shapely Tee from White Lies. The neck shaping and finishing is my own. It ended up too big so I had to pull it in a little with some crochet. I haven't blocked it yet so hoping some of the puckering of the neck will smooth out.

The drop stitch wrap is about 8" done. A picture of it to follow at a later date.

While taking pictures guess who wanted HIS picture taken? (Notice his Target gift card now on my sweater - he calls it his credit card) And no I haven't taken the Christmas lights off my deck yet.

And then the Jr. Highers wanted in on the game...

The middle one in gray isn't mine. She is a good friend that comes in frequently for food before (and after) school. We just keep collecting kids at our house...

Spring

2007-04-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning to this:

And with another 2-4" expected today, I decided to make this:

I am ready to sit and knit while X is does this:

He is a huge Thomas the Train fan. Welcome to Spring in Minnesota...

Chocolate Robbers

2007-04-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

My husband's love language is gift giving. He takes so much pride in Christmas gifts. When we got married last year he made it very clear that the Christmas stockings and the Easter baskets were HIS responsibility. So Friday he stopped by Target on the way home and came in with 3 (THREE) bags of Easter candy for the kids....granted we have 8 kids but 3 bags!?! Sunday the alarm went off at 6:00 am so he could go out and pay out all the eggs before the kids got up.

While getting ready for church I looked out my bedroom window and saw a gray squirrel pick up and orange egg and roll it over and over in his paws trying to get it open. I ran upstairs and told the kids to look while running for the video camera. When I went outside on the deck he got it in his mouth and started running up the tree. He only got up about 5 ft. and it fell out of his mouth. When the egg hit the ground the egg popped open and the candy fell out. The squirrel was more interested in the egg than the candy and soon lost interest and left the candy laying by the tree.

The kids were concerned about their candy stash and were eager to go out and beat the squirrels to anymore of the eggs. I assured them that the squirrels aren't interested in the candy but just curious and so their candy was safe.

About a 1/2 hour later we sent them out for the hunt. The older ones got their allotment quickly and they helped the younger ones find their eggs.

While taking pictures we heard..."I found a 1/2 egg with a wrapper!", "Here's one! No wait, it is empty", "Another empty one!, Darn squirrels, they stole our candy.", "Here is an open one and M&Ms are all over the ground. Are they still good?"

All told I think we lost about 6-8 eggs to the squirrels. Considering we started out with 3 bags, I don't think the kids suffered much loss.

On the knitting front, Lady E is a little over 1/2 done.

Mom and Dad were up for the weekend and I took my mom on a mini yarn crawl on Saturday. I mentioned to Vince that I didn't have money so I would look and not buy. He handed me his card and said go get something pretty. I asked if I had a limit and he said, "I don't know. $100?"

I laughed and said something about not knowing what he was doing and he replied: "Yes, I do. I am making my wife happy." See why I love him?

We went to two shops and I ended up buying some Classic Elite Yarns Provence :

Gratuitous curious cat picture. Meet Cassy.

and Blue Heron Yarn Marshgrass:

for a wrap/shawl to go with the sweater. Vince has a business trip to Paris, France in May and he is taking me with his for our Anniversary. This will be my "sitting in an outdoor plaza, drinking a glass of wine" sweater. I'll post pictures after the trip.

Don't they look pretty together?!?

While taking pictures X thought he needed his picture taken too. I'll end this photo-heavy post with him. He has the best smile...

They all think I am crazy...

2007-03-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

NEVER say things like...."I love knitting this so much, I will be so sad when this is done" or "This is knitting up really fast!" Last night after finishing the 4th skein on Lady E. I was sitting back and just basking in her beauty when I noticed a problem. I had made a mistake 3 sections back. I pointed it out to DH and he watched in horror as I started frogging sections. All the while trying to talk me out of it...."Are you really sure you want to rip out all that work? No one will notice, Can't you just cut and paste, I mean, you know...cut and sew?" (He is such a computer guy), He was being very supportive all the while thinking I was out of my mind for ripping it out.

It really didn't bother me, it was only a couple of sections....

Until this morning. I took it upstairs in the kitchen and laid it out to show the kids (They are having almost as much fun watching her grow as I am.) I was explaining what I had done and stopped mid sentence.... another mistake! D++b. How could I have missed it?? I would stop and gaze at her so often how could I have NOT seen this?!?! It was on the 4th section. I missed a corner triangle. Three of the kids came around in horror as I again frogged 7 (7!) more sections to the missing triangle. They also were trying to talk me out of it. "We didn't notice until you showed us. Don't do it! No one will notice!!" I calmly explained to them that I would notice. I would always know it was there and it would diminish the finished object in my mind. I could tell by the looks on their faces they thought I was just as crazy as my husband did.

I frogged a total of three skeins of yarn between last night and this morning. I now have a total of 4 sections done. One skein down, 9 to go.... and I am still enjoying the knitting of Lady Eleanore.

Lady E

2007-03-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

I had a Birthday the beginning of this month. Thanks to Jeanne, mother-in-law, and Sheryl, sister-in-law, I had a little birthday cash to splurge. (When you have 8 children this is a rare occurrence) So I went over to Little Knits and got this:

I am making it into a Lady Eleanore stole. I know the Lady E is a very 2006 pattern but you remember I haven't been knitting for the last 15 years so I have a LOT of must-knit catching up to do! I saw this on some old(er) blog posts and fell in love. I got the yarn Friday night and by midnight I was done with my first skein. Saturday grew her another 1/2 skein and Sunday she was well into her third. Here she is so far - basking in the sun on my back deck:

And a close-up...

I love the colors, the Noro yarn even with it's leaves, sticks and other "natural" materials woven in. I enjoy the challenge of the abrupt color changes in the knots found in this yarn - so far only one per skein, knock on wood. I like the art of the color changes and matching one skein into another and making the color changes even. I love knitting entrelac. I find myself finishing a section and just sitting back and admiring her.

I consider myself crafty but not artsy. Lady E makes me feel like an artist. She is art and I am knitting her.

5 months of knitting

2007-03-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

In October my mom came up to visit and I found my knitting desire again. It had been gone for 15 years. I had foolishly sold all the yarn and needles at a garage sale 14-15 years ago because I had had a baby and didn't have time to knit anymore.

I took mom to a yarn shop here in MN and bought my first set of Magic Loop and a skein of sock yarn to try socks. I made these....

I finished them in a few days and went and got another skein, and another, and another. My girls saw them and asked for socks so I made these...

I made many more (15.5 pr. since October) but these are all in the clean laundry at this minute. I didn't want to rummage too far into the recesses of the girl's room to find more. It frustrates me to open their bedroom door these days. Now I know how my mother felt when she would walk by and just close my bedroom door when I was a teen.

I have one of these done...but the other is langishing on the needles.

Socks have been put aside for a bit as I finished Sahara and now am working on the Krista Tee. Pictures of them later.

Happy Birth-day Blog

2007-03-16T06:38:00.000-07:00

March 17 seems like a good day to birth a blog.

Welcome to the blog spot of 8 children and two cats. more to come....