Summer Dress

I finished Justine's dress! So it's a little late in Summer...but it'll be hot for a lot longer.

She picked out the pattern and fabric. She dug around in her closet and pulled out this cute shrug to wear with it!
She said, "Oooh! I can also wear it with white leggings when the weather cools off!"

Finland

Mike found the yarn shop in Neuletikki, Finland! (Not sure if this is the one I got info from on Ravelry or not.)

Ooooh! Two skeins?! Maybe. This man knows his way around a yarn shop, so I'm sure whatever he selects, I'll love!

He went for a run down this lovely path. Wish I was there, too. heavy sigh

Happy B-day Justine!

Justine turned 12 today! She had fun hanging out with her best buds.

I have one year, then there will be three teens in the house. Eek!

Life at home.

Tough life...relaxing on the cool floor.

Sunset

Photographer extraordinaire.

Thermis

Well, here we are again...Friday morning and me. And my early morning pattern purchase, too.

Meet Thermis by Kristen Patay. The latest in my newest addiction of cowls. I hope my mom sees this post, up to a couple days ago, she didn't know what a cowl was. I never thought I'd have use for one, living in Florida. But it gets cold here in NE Florida...really, it does. Ok, not Wisconsin cold or even northern Arizona cold, but cold nonetheless. Freezing in fact, ice on cars and lawns...teen temps over night sometimes. I love it! I live for it! And I complain about it, especially when I'm on my bike going 18 mph and my eyes are watering so much I can't see. It's easier to take while running because the body warms faster, but getting out the door to start the run is tough in our version of cold weather. Anyway, back to cowls. They're quite nice to wear, you don't get the bulk of a scarf and your neck stays toasty warm. They don't take much yarn, so you can get some yummy stuff like, um...Malabrigo or Madeline Tosh DK (which is closer to worsted weight), and make a nice gift for someone (hate to mention it, but Christmas is coming)...or yourself!

So I'll be casting on Thermis today with a lovely cobalt blue Malabrigo, sewing velcro on band uniforms, watching for signs of Irene, doing laundry and probably tucking into a musical while I knit my little heart out.

It's gonna be a good day.

Got a cowl on your agenda today?

My Five Knitterly Things

I saw this on Zeneedle, one of my favorite blogs to read (and a "friend" on Raverly) and thought I'd take her suggestion and post My Five Knitterly Things (Thanks Margene):

1. My favorite things to knit - Right now my favorite things to knit are cowls, shawls, sweaters and socks. Last winter, I really came to love the feel of a circle of knitting around my cold neck, hence my love of cowls began.

2. My least favorite thing about knitting - Weaving in ends. At this moment, I have six projects that need ends woven in (and two of them are mitts!). I'll do it...but I won't like it.

3. My first finished object - Slippers. You know the ones, your grandmother probably knit them for you when you were a kid. They were knit flat then seamed up the back of the heel (I think.) I was quite proud of them and for a very long time they were my only finished object. I was knitting a lot, but not finishing anything (and nothing fit either). I've come a long way baby.

4. If I could take only one brand of yarn to my desert island, it would be - All yarns from Madeline Tosh (even ones that don't wind up so easily). I'm saying this on faith because I've really only used three of them...but they all look wonderful!

5. My current knitting obsession is - Lace. I've knit lace in socks, shawls, sweaters, cowls, etc. The change that occurs when lace is blocked is my favorite part. I'm always on the look out to start a new lace project and will have two or three going at once. Simple or complicated...I love it all!

What are your Five Knitterly Things? Reply with them, or post on your blog! I'd love to hear from you.

Camping Pi Shawl...done!

My Agua Caliente Camping Pi Shawl is done!

Before blocking...

Viola! After blocking...well, technically, while blocking. I think I used two million pins.

On the Needles

Yesterday I took the day off to be home with my sick kid. It was the second day of school and she felt sick. I know what you're thinking...she's nervous and doesn't want to go to school. Quite the opposite, she was crying because she couldn't go to school. Bless her little heart. She felt warm, but didn't have a temperature. She had "tummy troubles"...can't go to school with that! So we both stayed home. I felt so bad that she felt bad I just couldn't go to work. This is the part about working and being a mom that sucks. I want to be there for them when they need me, cuz that ain't gonna last for ever, huh?

Anyway, so home all day: I did the normal stuff you do when you find you're home and have time you didn't expect on your hands; laundry. Oh, and knitting.


I cast on for Xenia, but soon realized that the yarn I feel in love with is just too big (worsted not sport) to make it work. So I got a picture of it before frogging it. Look at that lovely braid!! I had no idea the pattern had you do that for the color changes...you can't tell from the picture. I'm going to Florida Fiber In with a friend so I'll look for a nice sport weight there and try again. I can' wait...sometimes I can be verrrrrry patient!

So now I have two colors of lovely Madeline Tosh DK to knit up! Oh the possibilities! I decided to make a cowl with one and mitts with another...for someone for Christmas, hopefully. It's called Greyhaven. I modified it a little just for sizing. It's a well written pattern, too. I have some leftover MTdk that will become another Christmas cowl. Why all these small projects, you ask? Well, I'm waiting for Sept. 1 to start my Six Socks in September challenge. I finished knitting my PI Camping shawl and need to block it. I have another shawl on the needles called Stravinsky too.

So what's on your needles?

Alaskan Honey Bee

Finally got a pic of my new Honey Bee Sweater. The yarn is a soft blend of merino and silk. Mom got it for me in Alaska a while ago and it took a while for me to find just the right pattern.

Even in this suppressing heat and humidity, I wore it! It was very comfy and cool, too!

Tangled Up

Having just been asked (read: nagged) to post on my blog, I decided to share this evening's activity with you. I just finished blocking a beautiful scarf I knit for someone who may or may not read my blog so naturally, I decided to wind up more yarn and start another project.

Cuz I just don't have enough projects going at this time...ahem.

I bought two skeins of Madeline Tosh DK for Xenia. It's the DK that's not single ply (like I used on my Minimalist Cardi), and the colors are a beautiful green and brown. The brown yarn got so twisted and knotted on my swift, I had to remove it and wind it by hand. You should have seen the mess, a HUGE tangle...also known as a cluster-fuckis-maximuckus. Well, let's just say this did not make me happy. In fact, it made me a raving lunatic! This yarn is expensive, you think it would wind easily (that's my logic anyway). Probably operator error, but I'm not willing to admit that yet. So it's the damn yarn's fault!

Luckily, Mike came to my rescue! He's patiently winding the entire skein for me. I really have no hope of doing this...the yarn is dark and well, my patience is thin (Twiggy thin!).

Hopefully it will be wound up in the next few days and I can cast on my Xenia.

(Donna: You would have been the only person on this planet besides Mike to tackle this huge mess...luckily, you don't have to.)

Um, the green skein wound with little difficulty...