Dear Iowa

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.