vacation...

I just got back from a trip to visit my in-laws in Florida for a week.  Spending a week with an 11 month old in the warm weather is somewhat tricky.  Harrison is a crawling maniac right now, but it was hard to let him crawl around the pool area and even inside where the "evil", lizard-eating miniature dachshund, Abby, lives. The beach with a baby is not very relaxing/enjoyable, either...  Trying to keep him from eating the sand, keeping his hat on and staying out of the sun was exhausting!  He did really LOVE the pool.  He loved to splash and kick and, man, did he look cute:

I am working on a new pattern Sweetness by Tin Can Knits.  I am not sure what I am doing with the cowl, but I bought some beautiful Berroco Weekend Yarn and I thought this would be a perfect knit.  I love the lightness of the yarn... but it does split a bit.  I chose to do the cowl in one color and am really loving it... It just doesn't seem to be growing at all!  Does this ever happen to you? You knit and knit and then measure and the project never gets longer?!?!?!?!  It is soooooo annoying!  I am getting slightly bored with the pattern, so I decided to cast on some socks too... Keep it interesting.

I went to the local yarn shop, Love-2-Knit searching for the perfect sock yarn.  I chose Tanis Lavalee's Business Casual pattern because I love the look of the faux argyle.  It looked so interesting and fun to knit!  I also desperately wanted to try out Tanis' yarn for the first time and I had seen it at the store.  Unfortunately, they were in short supply and had no sock yarn because Tanis recently had a baby...  I mean, what kind of an excuse is that?!?!?!?!  The lovely co-owner, Gayle, invited me to their open knit events... oh how I wishI could go sit with a bunch of other knitters and knit...  I wonder if my baby monitor would connect down the street...  (JUST KIDDING!!!)  Anyway, Gayle led me to another beautiful sock yarn Sweet Georgia... and it is lovely.  I convinced myself that when I got to the end of the first skein for "Sweetness", that I could cast on my socks.  The pattern is so easy to follow and just complicated enough to keep my interest.  I love the yarn texture and I think I love the way the color is wrapping around the pattern... It sort of twists up the leg... You see what I mean?

I think I might have liked it better if the colors evenly mixed throughout... what do you think?  Harrison will give me another 15 minutes or so before he wakes up from his nap... Maybe I can get through another round on the socks... or should I finish Sweetness first? UGH!

Happy Knitting!

baby joel

 My sister had a baby in April.  Baby Joel is beautiful! He has blue eyes and blond hair just like his auntie!  He sleeps a lot and loves to snuggle.  It's hard to knit a lot with all these boys around, but somehow, I managed something!

Joel Allen born April 4, 2013

Baby Joel and Auntie <3

 

Me holding Joel and my sister with my son, Harrison

I knit this beautiful blue blanket for Joel and it is perfect for his car seat.  This Berroco DK yarn was wonderful to knit with.  I loved this pattern and will definitely be making another one. 

I am working on a secret cowl for my mom.  I will post some pictures of that soon.  Until then...

Happy Knitting

pinterest projects

One of the benefits of having an infant is all the time you spend bonding with that baby while nursing... Actually, for me, it's more of an awesome time to spend browsing Pinterest and catching up on Facebook and Words with Friends!  (Thank God for my iphone!)  I have pinned so many projects that I have been looking forward to doing and this week, I got crafty craftier than usual!

I painted the inside of these mason jars blue and bought hydrangeas to decorate my guest room:

I am working on this cool painting project with a blank canvas and some Elmer's glue... it's not painted yet, still waiting on the glue to completely harden:

And the most exciting project is my new wreath!!!  It started out with just a foam wreath that I covered in ribbon:

 

Then I cut up strips of ribbon:

 

And I attached it to the foam with pushpins:

It looks kind of Christmas-y... but I totally LOVE it!  

Can you tell that I am a well rested mama?  Well that's because my darling baby slept from 8:30 last night until 6:00 this morning!  He was such a good boy and I feel great!  Maybe I'll finish my socks tonight!

Happy Knitting!

well look who's back!

I cannot believe that it has been so long since I have last posted but I have been SOOOO busy making things...

I made a baby sweater...

I made a blanket...

and I started (and almost finished) these socks...

But there is something even more important I made...

Harrison Kyle was born on June 25, 2012 and weighed in at 8 pounds 8 ounces and 21 inches long.  He is a total love... when he's not crying!  My life has been turned upside down and I am currently staying home with this little boy for the 2012-13 school year... and I am coming back to the blogging/knitting world!

He's a super cutie, huh?

Speaking of crying... I gotta go!

Happy Knitting!!!!! <3

a new project?

I am looking for a new project.  I am sick of making things for the Fall Fair (which is coming up on November 18th and 19th!!!!)  I have had enough of dishtowels, felted bags, hats, etc.  I need something for me!  (Yes I know that sounds selfish- and quite frankly, I don't care! 

I finally picked up my old cabled blanket and have gone through another skein- but somehow I feel like that project is more of a winter, knit by the fire kind of knit... so I need a new one.

So this morning, when I was catching up on my google reader blogs, I came across the perfect pattern and MAN do I hope I win!!!

And let's not forget the beautiful yarn picture... it is so yummy looking!  (I can't be the only one out there who gets thrills from beautiful yarn shots, right?  RIGHT?!?!?!?!?!)

Well, the fact of the matter is, I need that yarn and I need a selfish pattern for me! 

Check out the giveaway!  Wish me luck and cross your fingers!!!

Happy Knitting!

where i've been

I was so looking forward to this post.  I was waiting until the perfect time.  And then, life knocked me off my happy feet.  I was looking forward to explaining whose head this was for:

 

I was narrowing down the project this yarn was for:

I was dreaming of my new life with my amazing husband and new baby when a miscarriage knocked me down.  I was 12 weeks pregnant and still cannot believe this is happening to me/us/me.  Picking up the computer and blogging was the last thing I thought I could do- too depressing and too hard.  But somehow, my knitting has almost helped in the healing process.  It's a quiet, meditative thing to do that has given me the time to myself that I needed.  

I know that soon enough, a little baby will be wearing that adorable hat, wrapped in some beautiful yellow blankie.  

(Sorry for the sadness... I hope you understand)

Happy Knitting.

another test knit

I have been doing some test knitting for Mishellee Zaharis of Haute Knit Designs and am in love with her work!  I made her Kourtney shirt, then test knit her Ursula, and now I am pleased to show you my test knit for Whitney.  It is such a cute, top down sweater with a diagonal ribbed edging and 3-quarter length sleeves.  I am working on those sleeves now but wanted to share with you my pictures.  This yarn...  AHHHHH so beautiful and soft and amazing!!!  I think I'll have a skein left... what to do?!?!?!

 Yarn:  Cascade Yarns Lana D'Oro

Happy Knitting!!!