My new hero....

Thanks to Sister Diane for sharing this picture from Allison Hoffman!

A few weeks ago I attended my cousin's wedding in Hawaii.  It was an elegant and touching celebration, with a bunch of fun sprinkled throughout.  To this day I'm still amazed by how gorgeous Stella is.  All right, I confess, I'm a little envious too.  I mean, look at her?  Who wouldn't be?

There was a special special photographer just for the guests during the reception.  This picture should give an idea of the mood of the occasion (I'm the one red, on the left).

Oh what fun we had!

Our friends Elaine and Craig just welcomed their first baby into the world. So cute!

Sweater so far

The pattern is a take off of Pink by Wendy Bernard. I added the cable down the front; most likely I'll do something similar to the sleeves.  The raglan sweater is knit top-down, in the round (read: no seams!).  Yarn is Malabrigo Merino Worsted in the Stonechat colorway.  (It is s SOOOOO soft. I kept petting it as I knit.)


I'm hoping to finish this in another couple of weekends.  The weather has turned and I can't wait to wear it!

Rows and Columns

Oooo.  It's been a while.  I've been knitting but haven't had time to put up pictures.  Here are 2 of the most recent projects.  The bunny is a gift, and the hat is unclaimed.  I made it on a whim to try a new technique.  Isn't it cool how the colors came out?  In knitting, it's easy to make rows of changing colors but columns are harder.  This "knit-one-below" technique I used on the hat allows me to make columns with relative ease.  Neat, eh?

But now I'm done,  I'm not sure what to do with the hat.  I'll probably donate it. 

Ruffles

About 3 weeks ago I had to fly to Florida for work.  The 7+hours-each-way flight gave me plenty of time to knit. Prior to the trip, I had restarted a pair of socks I first tried to make 3 years ago.  Back then I didn't have the best of instructions and I messed up several times before finally putting it aside. But I never gave up. Recently I decided to try again, this time armed with a better understanding of socks and a good technique book. This trip provided the necessary opportunity to focus.

Result? Hee hee.  I learned lots and had lots of fun making up the pattern as I went.  Maybe I'll wear it out to dinner next time.  I mean, who doesn't love a bit of frilly ruffles on their feet?

Finally, a picture!

I finished Sandy's cardigan a while back but finally I have a picture to show!

Sandy looks so naturally cute!

Quick one to share

Work, work, chores, chores, Tim, Moose, and perhaps knitting.  My life in 9 short words.

Did I mention last time that the cardigan was finished?  Sandy promised me a picture when the weather becomes bearable for the wearing of a wool sweater.  I must say it looked nicer off the needles than on the needles.

Now I'm making myself a pair of toe-up socks.  I tried on the first sock last week and, boy, it's too big (again!). While I love the colors of the yarn, I'm not so happy with my gauge.  Oh well, I'm not ripping this sucker out again.  I'll plow through and give it to the first person whose feet fits.  This pair taught me a lot and I (think) I will be ok letting it go.

And one more for the road (I did not make this):

From Mochimochi Land
http://mochimochiland.com/2011/07/simons-family-photo-crew/

Time proves elusive once again

One of my favorite quotes is by John Lithgow.  He said "Time sneaks up on you like a windshield on a bug."

Two whole months zips by in the blink of an eye, and yet I never seem to quite grasp this reality.  Can someone please make people quantum mechanical?  Then it'll be natural for us to be in two states at once. No more having to decide between chores and knitting, walking Moose or relaxing with Tim at home. Yes? Please??

Back on Earth, some knitting updates. I am still, yes STILL! working on Sandy's cardigan. I'm almost done with the second sleeve, and next I need to block and sew the pieces together. A few more weekends...sigh.

My knitting time has been relegated to a few hours on weekends, and I spend a lot of that trying to figure out where I left off.  Not very efficient, and I'm so tired of this project. But the dogmatic finisher in me plows on.  I will do a happy dance the day the cardigan is DONE!

I am also knitting a creature.  Sometimes I want to keep my hands busy, but I need to pay attention to something other than the pattern. So brainless projects like dish towels or creatures come in handy.  I've cast off a dish cloth already.  Wanna see?

Creature needs a name!

Dish cloth

Oh, and some pictures of past sweaters.  They were Christmas gifts, and finally I got to upload them.

Mike, my Father-in-Law

Francine, my Mother-in-Law

Lastly, my brother a new baby girl.  Everyone in my family is going nuts over her, and the women have lost control at stores buying every girly outfit ever made. Melanie is a cutie though, and her baby powers are immense.  Behold!

http://eliandjen.blogspot.com/2011/05/mikey-holding-melanie.html

The dryer just buzzed; back to work...

Wow

Is it really April? Did I blink one too many times yesterday? What happened?!?!

This seeming-time-warp is marked by my progress on Sandy's cardigan.  I started the project 2 months ago and it is still not done.  I've worked on it fairly steadily almost every night, but man, it iss slugging along and I so want it to be done.

So here it is so far.  Back, left side, and most of the right side are done (picture was taken last week and I've progressed).  Now I have to power through the sleeves then sew it all together.  Then I will do a little happy dance!