Throwback Thursday

This was our camping vacation to Santa Barbara in August 2003.

This picture was taken at the Mission Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara is where Mike proposed to me in 1991 on Friday the 13th. We like to celebrate all Friday the 13ths, because for us, they're very lucky!

BooHoo!

Just to clear things up...

Yesterday was a snow day.

There was no snow.  None.

Only ice.

I think I might cry.

Ten for Tuesday...Snow Day Style!!

Ten Wishes for today's Snow Day!

1.  MORE SNOW

2.  And then...more snow!! (Really there's barely a trace out there so far...but lots of ICE so that's why there's a Snow Day.)

3.  I really need to get to the store today, I wish for a nice pocket of no snow for when I run to the store.

4.  I wish for a good movie on TV or Netflix.

5.  A nice chunk of time to knit something wonderful.

6.  A new project to start...or swatch.

7.  I really wish I don't eat too many of the cookies I made yesterday.

8.  I really hope Mike is at work and not still on the road.  Last I heard he was stuck in traffic before the Severn River Bridge.  Technically they don't get a Snow Day from work unless a State of Emergency is called.  

9.  I hope if knitting is cancelled tonight, it's rescheduled for Thursday instead.

10.  I wish it snows enough for tomorrow to be a Snow Day too!!

Joey Turns 19!

Happy Birthday Joey!!

Today my boy turns 19! Joey was such a fun baby...he was so squishy!!  Yes, he leaned out over the years but as a baby he was so rolly-polly!  We loved to squish him!  He has always had the best sense of humor and can always make me laugh.  Love this kid!

Throw Back Thursday

Throwing back to the 80's today!  

Me in a sweater I knit...a very 80's sweater I knit.  I still love feather and fan though...and disco.  What can I say?  Picture was taken in Debbie Giamanco's house, when I was her roomie.  Good times!

This was taken when I went to Mazatlan with Debbie G. and a couple other gals. It was a great trip...lots of laughs!

All the Knit, and Nothing but the Knit

I though I'd let you know what I've finished recently, what's on the needles and what's waiting in the wings...

 This is Wurm...Knit with my own hand dyed yarn.  Too band the picture is crap.  The green is much more kelly green.  I need a better camera.  Or maybe a camera that isn't my phone.  Or maybe learn to use the camera in my phone better.  Anyway...Wurm.

 This is an infinity cowl called Irish Mesh Cowl.  Quick and easy to knit.  Yarn is really lovely (picture below more true to the colors)...a silk and merino single ply blend.  I'm such a sucker for single ply at any gauge.

 Below is Nurmilintu.  It's an shawl.  I haven't blocked it yet, probably today.  I'll post another pic of it blocked and hopefully capture the color better.  The yarn is Madeline Tosh Merino Light in Tart.  Only the best and most beautiful shade of red in the whole wide world!  And a single ply.  Really lovely.  A lot of garter and totally reversible.

Mitts called Sprig in beautiful Malabrigo Arroyo in the Pocion colorway.  A quick knit, even with all the twisted rib.

 Justine wanted a cowl in this yarn.  She picked it out when we were in Jacksonville at A Stitch In Time. It's Malabrigo Worsted in the Molly colorway.  The pattern is Darkside Cowl.  Nice play on ribbing, don't you think?  It's very geometric and super squishy!  She loves it.

Here's what's on the needles:

February Lady Socks in a super fun colorway called Bollywood by Stitch Jones.  A joy to work and will be a blast to wear.  One sock down, one to go.

 I hand dyed this yarn too.  It's red, blue, some green and pink.  I'm making mitts called Aqua Mitts.  Big cable and ribbing.  Yum.

 More hand dyed yarn ala Brennee!  This was the first one I did in my recent delve back into the world of yarn dyeing. Just a vanilla sock but all those colors make it so much fun to knit up.  And NO POOLING AT ALL!!  Sweet!

 I got this lovely self-striping yarn at A Little Bit Sheepish in Berlin.  It has some sparkle in it...just a little bit which suits me perfect.  Vanilla again, but fun stripes to keep interest.  One down, one to go.  (Don't fret, I don't have second sock syndrome and all these socks will get finished.  I usually have 2-4 socks going at once.)

 This is a sweater I'm knitting, just barely.  I really need to get working on it.  There's no "deadline" just some of us working on the same sweater.  It's Meadow Road by Blue Peninsula.  I really love her stuff.

 My Ascalon shawl is on hold...ran out of yarn.  A lovely Raveller is sending me her leftovers, hopefully it will be enough to finish.  It's a huge shawl...the two skeins I used so far were 900 yards.  Again, picture sucks.  The color is more blue.  Yarn has some bamboo so it should drape quite nicely, important in a big shawl don't cha think?

 More socks.  These are the first pattern I've knit from my newly acquired book by Heather Zoppetti called Everyday Lace.  They are toe up and look like they might be on the big side (toe up socks have that effect, I think)...I'll keep an eye out for fit and may send this pair to the frog pond.  

 This is the second sweater in the shared sweaters I'm doing with my friend Teri.  I'm working on the back.  It's Pour Moi in Worsted.  Madelinetosh Vintage in Baltic.  Oh Holy Cow...this picture does not do this color justice.  It's a beautiful deep blue-teal.  The pattern is a simple cardigan with a soft shirt tail back.  

Now for the soon to be projects...

This is going to be a cowl!  The pattern is Abstract Leaves Cowl. The yarn is 100% mink and just look at those pretty beads!

 Another hat...why not?!  It's called Celandine Beanie.  I better have enough leftover for a pom-pom.  Still need to get those pom-pom makers.  Hat is knit from the top down...hello Emily Ocher!

These are the latest hand dyed by me.  I still need tons of practice but I'm getting there...and it's so much fun!

 And last but not least...I got this lovely stuff over the weekend.  My friend Cam and I went to an indy dyer trunk show at The Knot House in Frederick. Dragonfly Fibers had a ton of yarn there...in all weights and colors.  It was very hard to decide on a yarn to buy, hey, the budget only allows for a wee bit of yarn these days.  So I got this lace weight yarn called Nautilace in the Silver Fox colorway.  It's....wait for it....60% silk and 40% baby camel.  So yummy!  Anyway, as you can tell by it being already wound up, I wanted to cast on right away with Autumn Wave but the needle I need is on my Ascalon Shawl...crap!  That's ok, I have plenty to keep me busy till that's done, which will be longer since I'm waiting for that yarn from an angel in Colorado. Some of you might be thinking...just go out and buy another needle lady!...no, not gonna do that, um...no, not gonna.  No.

Hope you have plenty on the needles to keep YOU busy.  

If not, you can borrow one of mine.

About A Sweater

I woke up this morning, got out of bed...and I was cold.  Usually I wake up warm every morning.  I used to be REALLY warm in the morning, like a sweaty mess warm but I'm past a few milestones in the menopause adventure and luckily those days are behind me.  So, today...cold.  Might be because instead of my usual long-sleeved pj top, I had on a t-shirt with my flannel pants.  So I thought about grabbing my usual morning "sweater".  It's a shorty-robe type thingie that is made of super soft fleece-y type material my sister gave me for Christmas.  I love it and live in it from about 8pm to bedtime every day.  And I usually put it on in the mornings too...but I can't fit it under my coat for my early morning walk with Gracie.  The thought of having to take it off and wear just a t-shirt and my coat to fend off the cold morning made me shiver.  It's 23 degrees out there folks! And icy!  Sooooo...I grabbed my Dark and Stormy sweater instead. It fits beautifully under my coat for cold morning dog walkies.  Oh Dark and Stormy, how I love thee!!  You may be the perfect sweater.  Perfect for me because I modified the pattern to make you so. And the yarn is so nice, too.  Wool...but soft as can be, right up against my bare arms.  Cozy.  Here she is:

 I modified the back neck line, the shawl collar (I like mine long enough to lie flat so I'm not messing with it) and narrowed the button band and made smaller button holes...and made it longer.  Pattern calls for a shorter length, right about the belt line.

When I knew I wanted to make this sweater, I opened up a project for it on Ravelry, long before I had the yarn to make it.  Then I added any modifications I liked to the notes on the project page. I linked in the projects I liked (other knitter's projects, ideas, mods). It was so easy when I was ready to cast on to remember what I liked about the original and what I wanted to change.  Sometimes all the info on Ravelry can get me quite muddled and I can't remember where I saw this, or where the info was on that, you know.  It really helped to have the info right there to remind me and help me achieve a sweater to my liking. Quite a few of the ladies in my knit group had knit this so I really had a good look at some FOs in this pattern and knew exactly what I wanted to modify.  The buttons I got at G Street Fabrics in Rockville. Dolly helped me pick them out.  Ok, if you have Dolly helping you do anything, you know it's gonna be awesome!

The yarn is Heartland by Miss Babs in the Beach Glass colorway.  This yarn has held up over many wearings quite nicely.  It has pilled a little...easily fixed with a snip here and there.  Don't pull your pills people...snip them.

Anyway, I know it's been a while since I posted.  Thought I'd share this sweater with you.  I have many, many projects on the needles and a bunch to share.  I'll work on that and blog about it soon.  I should post again today with a Ten for Tuesday on my knitting projects.  I probably have close to ten on the needles.  At least that many spinning around in my head to cast on soon.  Please starteritis, keep yourself at bay till I cast off a few projects!