May 30, 2005

"Shine-y" Blankie

I've been working on this baby blanket in Knitpicks Shine since about last weekend, but haven't had enough time to post. As you can see, I wasn't too good at getting a photo of it either! Hopefully I'll do better next time. I'm using the Cables and Lace Baby Blanket pattern, and I really like it! There's a lot of variation in doing the pattern so I haven't gotten bored... which for me is a major factor in determining my success with a project. I'm hoping that I can manage to have it done in July, but seeing as it's taken me 9 or 10 days to get this far, I don't know how successful I'll be! But now that summer is here I'll be spending lots of time sitting by the pool... which provides even more time for knitting! It'll be too cold for me to actually get myself in the water until nearly July. I don't know how my kids can stand it this cold now, but aside from their telltale blue lips, they seem to be immune!

Happy Knitting...

May 17, 2005

Shine!

I just got my first order of Knitpicks Shine in the mail today. As you can see, I'm still just casting on, but it's often the cast-on row that will make or break a yarn for me. I LOVE this yarn! So soft and smooth and feels very yummy. This one is going to become a baby blanket for my son's daycare teacher, who is expecting her second baby. I love this bright color, and I hope it's neutral enough; the gender of the baby is a surprise!

Progress...

I've been at it a week and I still have a huge heap of yarn that needs balling. I found both ends, thank goodness, and I've been rolling and rolling, sometimes only 6 inches at a time before it gets twisted up again. Boy, I sure hope that by the time I'm done balling this yarn that I'm not too sick of it to knit with it. Sigh...

May 10, 2005

Rest, My Friend...

Today I received some very sad news. My dear friend and caregiver for my children, "Mr. Donald," has passed away after a very long illness. He is the friend for whom I knitted the Chemo Hat, but sadly, he never received it. My own procrastination kept me from finishing it quickly enough and getting it in the mail. And yet, I knew in the end that I made it more for me than for him... I mean what can you do when there's nothing left to do? I knit.

Mr. Donald loved "his" kids. And they loved him. He had a kind and wonderful way with toddlers. He treated them like smart little people who can think, rather than kids who don't have a clue, so why bother actually trying to teach them. He will be missed, and I am forever grateful that he came into my children's lives.

What a Mess!!

Well, my big yarn hanks got the better of me! I started trying to wind the first one, and before I knew it, it slid into a giant blop! on the floor! Man, it will take weeks to wind up this mess. I hope I don't lose patience with it... I still want to knit something wonderful with my yarn. Wish me luck!

Alison's Poncho Reborn

Last October I quit working on a poncho for my co-worker, Alison. I did not like it, and I just couldn't bring myself to work on it as the winter blues were setting in. It was the cable I didn't like that was going down the front and back, so instead of just frogging back to the turtleneck part, what do I do? Why start over, of course!! :-) I love starting new projects much better than frogging old ones, and this was one project where I could afford to do that, so I did. I did save the old piece of the other poncho, just in case I need the yarn, but we'll see. I think I bought enough yarn, but my good buddy is 6'2"--and yes, she used to play women's basketball! (She'll hate it that I said that!) Anyway, I'm enjoying it more this time... must be because it's not winter anymore. So far, so good! Maybe she'll actually get to wear it by next fall. That's my goal, anyway.

What a busy couple of days in my knitting world! Thanks for reading.

May 9, 2005

Maryland Sheep and Wool!

What a fun day! It was my first time at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, and hopefully not my last! My friend Steve took me there while DH watched the kids... so it was a nice Mother's Day treat! When we first arrived we must have looked pretty lost and confused, because a man came up to us and gave us a copy of the event book. (He and his wife apparently had an extra.) Thanks to Steve for spending the day with me and for taking a lot of these photos!

Steve and I arrived hungry and the yummy smells in the air were too much! Some of the vendors were set up in these art deco looking trolley shack type things... or at least they're made to look that way! Anyway, I thought the building was cool to look at and as you can see, not a cloud was in the sky!

Steve and I got a good little chuckle over this sign... He found it hard to imagine eating lamb at a sheep and wool festival. I found it rather ironic in a twisted way myself, but that didn't stop me!

Yummy! I honor the lamb who gave his life for this masterpiece as I devoured every last morsel!

Isn't he cute?

It's amazing how small they look without all that hair!

Music filled the air from just about every corner! This woman was playing some lovely Celtic sounding music on her harp.

This lady was fun to watch! While she played hammer dulcimer, her foot operated a pedal that was hooked into a bunch of clogging dog puppets. Her "Rover Dance" theater attracted big crowds.

Finishing with a flourish!

This beautiful rug was haning inside one of the exhibit halls. Can you believe this is the only photo we managed to take with actual yarn in it? I gotta be a better correspondent next year!

I never thought I'd be so interested in sheep as I was at the festival. Seeing them there and seeing the yarns and fleeces in evvery stage made me realize all the work that goes into what I get to enjoy about knitting!

This one enjoys a scratch behind the ears so much that she's actually smiling! Can you belive it?

More sheep...

Aren't these babies sweet?

This guy's got some serious horns!

This one looks like it's trying to tell us something!!

And finally, here is the yarn that I got! It's actually darker than the photo shows, even without flash! The blue is a deep, rich denim blue. I think I am going to enjoy making something from this!

And this one looks like it's also in the denim family, only the faded variety. Are you sensing a theme here? Haha. I love to wear denim year round and for just about everything. I'm going love having stuff made with these colors to remind me of my wonderful day at the festival!