Decisions Decisions...

I fell in love with and bought two skeins of this Madelinetosh Pashmina Worsted in the Mansfield Garden Party colorway at my LYS last December. The bright shots of pink & gold, and subtle transitions of lavender, blue and sage was something I just could not resist.

This yarn screamed Spring Cowl to me. I hemmed and hawed, printed and swatched, over and over again. I finally settled on this Tiny Flowers Cowl. Funky stitches like this Risotto Stitch blend all of the colors into a calm, non-stripey product. Several projects I started looked like clown barf where some colors pooled while others striped. Not. Cool.

Now the decision making part: I bought TWO skeins, remember?

I have used slightly more than half the yarn. I added the second skein about three rounds ago. Should I stop here, add the edging and pray I have enough for a pair of fingerless mitts to match? Or, do I continue in pattern and make the cowl much wider?

 I slipped all the stitches onto waste yarn and tried it on. I LOVE IT. And decided to continue in pattern for the wider cowl. Oh my gosh I love this cowl.

I have another project close to completion that I plan to finish first, but will hopefully get back to this today. We have more snow coming here in bright, sun-shiney MN so I should have some time on my hands before shoveling later today.

Later Knitters!

M

Family Day Sunday

Today's Family Plans didn't exactly pan out, but I'm trying to get over it.

We had planned on all 4 of us going to see a movie together yesterday (Wizard of OZ remake, my uber fave!), but a trip into work for Victor and some time at the driving range for Cruz made our movie time frame too narrow. Today was going great until I read some comments on one of my daughter's FB posts. She is all about giving all the parenting credit to her Dad, and leaves me standing there with an empty heart, as if I have no part in her life. Without going into the details, lets just say I'm the Bad Cop Parent, and my husband gets to be the Good Cop Parent. Those of you with older teens or adult children will understand where she and I "are at" in our relationship. Regardless, it makes me feel like crap, she knows it, and will ruthlessly use it against me at every turn because she knows it hurts. Gotta love 18 year old girls...

Moving on!

I finished a Baby Chalice Blanket as a favor for a friend. She has many, many friends with babies on the way, so I thought I would offer to help. I love knitting with cotton, and as a Mom, washing (and bleaching) a cotton item is so very convenient. I enjoyed making this project very much.

My Hawaiian Twist socks have been calling me, so I picked them up again last night after I laid out the blanket to dry. I finished the leg last night, and worked the heel flap and heel this morning. They're absolutely yummy and I can't wait until I can wear them!

I fully understand how self-striping yarn works and that this sock would be best knit with an afterthought heel so that the striping looks "right".

I hate that about hand knit socks.

I like to see what the yarn does. That's art, "Perfect" socks can be duplicated, and I'm not interested in that.

Thanks for visiting!

Later Knitters!

M

Crisp Sunday Wake-UP

I woke this morning to one of the most beautiful things Minnesota weather can provide: Hoarfrost.

I took the picture of the cardinal from inside the house because the crab tree is so close to the front door. He would have bailed.

We spent all day yesterday at my son's wrestling tournament. He took 4th place in his 120lb weight class. He did not advance to the State Wrestling tournament, but as a freshman I think he learned a lot and will be much more prepared next year.

As my kids get older I constantly find myself stepping back and looking at my kids from "outside" my role as their Mom. This is much easier to do when my kids are with other kids in a public/social setting. What I appreciate most about my two children is that they are not afraid or embarrased to acknowlege the love their Grandma, Aunts and Uncles have for them in a public place. Hugs and kisses are the norm and they EAT. IT. UP.

This is my son after receiving his 4th place medal yesterday. He walked straight over and shared his reward with his Dad. Love them!

And a snap of our boy on the podium.

I will post more knitting stuff later today! I knit a lot while at the tournament!

Later Knitters!

M

Bright Spot.

Today is a beautifully snowy Friday.

I, however, had to drive 34 miles to work in it. Totally CRAPTASTIC.

The bright spot of my day is that I get to go home to this, my order from Three Irish girls. I ordered two skeins of each color from the Knitters for Newtown benefit offer. I think in the works are hats for the men in my life and socks for the ladies.

My heart started to pound...

Then skipped a beat...

Once I got a peek I GIGGLED.

Love the sweet & simple shamrock stamp!

And then this: yummy, yummy, yummy.

I can't wait to get home tonight and get it all wound into balls.


I won't start anything for a week or so. I promised Dee I would help with a baby gift. Dee is at THAT age, where everyone in her life is either pregnant or has a new baby. I offered to help by knitting a Chalice Blanket for her, because committing to knitting 23 rows per day for the next 6 weeks is just too much pressure and takes all the fun out of knitting something special for a friend.

This is how far I knit yesterday as I waited for my hair appointment. I am using Bernat Handicrafter Cotton in Hot Green. Very fun for someone who hasn't had a baby in 15 years!

Big weekend of wrestling for my son tomorrow. Good luck to you, young fella. I sure Love you a lot.

Later Knitters!

M



Duh.

A couple things happened this weekend that made me laugh.

#1: My friend...the DOCTOR...that has a PHD, did this:

Good thing it was a home made stitch marker. She had to cut it off the sock and redo the wire and crimp beads. Silly girl. I love her MORE because she does things like this.

#2 was me. My daughter called these 'ghetto stitch markers'. I started her Calorimetry headband in the car and found myself with two open cans of pop, but no stitch markers. I was forced to improvise.

The weather driving back from Madison was nasty. Not a horrible drive, but required close attention. Claire drove the whole way and we arrived home safely not long after lunch.

During the extended drive home I was able to finish the above mentioned Calorimetry headband for her. I think its absolutely adorable.

I also have a sneak peek at the Hawaiian Twist Socks I started...

More soon! Taking pictures with my phone makes for super easy blogging!

Later Knitters!

M

On a Dinner Plate?...Really?

Yikes! One week and so much to catch up on! Sheesh!

Claire and I are currently in Madison visiting the Vet Tech program at MATC. Weather permitting, we will be back home tomorrow.

Below are pictures of the Ichigo Tam I finished for my Mom. This is the first Tam I have ever made, thus the first hand knit item I have ever blocked on a dinner plate. It blocked out perfect, go figure.

My Mom was pretty excited about the hat, her surgery, notsomuch.

I only used half the skein of the Perfectly Posh Sport, so I knit a hat for Dee with the rest. Its called Etoile Hat. She loves it.

Dee brought me along to her knit group last night, and I finished the hat there. I enjoyed it very much. I don't have a knit group like that at home so I had a very nice time.

Dee bought me a skein of yarn from Knot Just Knits on a trip to Chicago last June. Yes, I started the socks right away, yes they made me crazy, YES I finally finished them! NO I will never make another pair again.
 

I bought yarn for two projects this weekend:

For Me: Trinity Scarf in February Dream in Color. I love the deep, dark pinks and tinges of black...

For Claire: Calorimetry in Berroco Flicker.

She picked out a beachy, seafoam color with a sweet little button!

One more project!

Dee bought me ANOTHER yummy skein of yarn this past week. She went to her Madison Knitters Guild meeting and listened to Sharon from Three Irish Girls speak, and bought this skein there.

It is called Hawaii 5-0 in the Finley Fingering base, and is absolutely freaking delicious!

I started a pair of Toasty Twist Socks that I will call Hawaiian Twist Socks. Oh my!

Whew! I know that was a lot, but thanks for visiting!

Later Knitters!

M

Rainy/Sleety/Snowy Sunday

Two days in a row? Can you handle this?

 

I fully intend to finish and block this Ichigo Tam for my Mom today. I take her in for some minor surgery tomorrow and would like her to have something fun to wear when she comes out of anethstesia. It was quick to knit and a very pretty pattern, but I have to say I'm not fond of passing slipped stitches over on such a short circular needle (too many stitches to control on DPNs. It was making ladders on the corners.). It was tight and awkward. I'm wondering if it would look similar if the (Sl1, K2, PSSO) was changed to a (YF K2 YB)...I might try a swatch with my left over yarn.

I cast on the lace edge for my All About Love Shawl. It is a 7 stitch wide, 4 row repeat pattern. After I knit about 140 repeats, I will pick up 225-230 stitches for the regular pattern of the shawl and truly get started. I'm not usually this patient, but I love, love, love how this lacy edging blocks out.

Looks like a dicey weather day here in MN. After a dusting of snow around 4:30 this morning, we now have freezing rain and are looking forward (?) to anywhere from 3-9 inches of snow over the next 24 hours. yipee.

Later knitters!
M