I Got an Award!!! (And a contest)

I was given a blog award for imagination! You can read about it here at A Day in the Life..... (and you can read about some fun kids, cool art projects, and other cool stuff too!) Thanks, Kristen! (Ravelry link).


RULES you must resend this to 5 bloggers and you must tell 5 things about your crafts you like the most...what inspires you to make home made gifts..

What inspires me:

1. I love that homemade gifts are personal. I've made them with a specific recipient in mind, and put a lot of myself into the project.

2. Nothing makes me feel better than knowing I've knitted something that is keeping my kids, family, and friends warm on a cold winter day.

3. To echo Kristen, a lot of prayers go into my knitting.

4. I like the tremendous sense of self-satisfaction I feel when I finish something.

5. I really like knitting. I really like finishing a project. Things I want to knit often don't correspond to something I want to wear. So, I give them away!!!

And now, to nominate others:

1. Moriah (who might not have time to respond - she's busy delivering babies on the L&D floor.)
2. Jen
3. The Yarn Harlot (because wouldn't it be cool if she checked out my little blog?)
4. Shawnee
5. And finally - YOU! Why do you like to make gifts for people?

Now, FYI - Sandra Singh is giving away a skein of malabrigo sock yarn. Go check it out!

Happy Knitting!

Goin' to the Chapel...

On Saturday, my best friend got married. We've been planning our weddings since we were young, and we have spent hours talking dresses, flowers, reception music, and every minute detail we could imagine. On Saturday, all of those little details were brought to life. The bride (obviously) was the most beautiful bride ever, on the inside and the out. I've stood up in a number of weddings, and never has a bride worked so hard to make everyone else feel so special. She selected personal gifts for her attendants, treated the children in the bridal party (3 of whom were mine) to special treats, and made sure everyone knew that she appreciated their love, support, and presence on such an important day. There were a million other personal touches - the groom's favorite color (orange) was represented in the attendant's bouquets, the bride carried her grandmother's rosary and a piece of lace from her great-grandmother, and the groom's mother (who passed away a few months ago), was represented by a bouquet of roses in what should have been her seat. The ceremony was perfectly lovely, and the reception was amazingly fun.

But none of that is really important. What is really important is this:

On Saturday, my best friend girl friend married her best friend....

for happily ever after.

FO Picture: Sun Hat

Here's a picture of the sunhat I made to match the Fiona Sundress. It's a little big on the baby, but she has some time to grow into it before summer.

I've tried a little spinning. It's not too pretty.

I've started a tank top for little girl. It's mostly stockinette, so will hopefully be done soon!

Tomorrow we're off to Buffalo for a wedding!

Current Score

Drop Spindle: 1 Dorothy: 0

Rematch scheduled during naptime.

Yarn Haul

Yesterday, I headed up to the NH Sheep and Wool Festival with baby girl in tow, while the Husband stayed home with the other kids. This way, I could browse to my heart's content without worrying about how things were going at home.

Here's what came home with me:


The pink is superwash wool meant for a February Baby Sweater for Baby Girl. The purple is just over a 1,000 yards of silk/merino laceweight. I have a few ideas for that one, but at the moment I'm leaning towards the Seaside Cottage Stole in the 101 Luxury One Skein Wonders book. Whatever it becomes, it has to wait for both the Celtic Knot Stole and the Oriel Lace Scarf to be finished. The white is also silk/merino lace - it's not meant for anything at the moment. It was just so soft and priced so reasonably that it jumped intom y basket!

You might notice the drop spindle and roving. This is something I've thought about giving a try since the first time I saw spinning done this way. Really, I want to learn how so that I have an excuse to buy some of the completely gorgeous handcarved spindles that I've seen. I found this spindle for $4, and the roving cost me $3. I thought $7 was a reasonable amount of money to spend on a potential new hobby.

Finally, the basket that it's all in - I bought that too. I LOVE IT! I especially love it filled with the yarn. Unfortunatly, it's not meant to be a knitting basket ('cause um, I have kids who would ruin the yarn and the basket.) Instead, it's going to be hanging on the kitchen wall, occasionally to be filled with chips, bread, and whatever else I can think of to use it!

Today I'm just chillin' with the kids - enjoying being their mommy! Happy Mother's Day to all you other mommies out there! And of course, Happy Knitting to you all!

Happy Feet - AGAIN!

The bonus part of having to sit and feed a baby who has a reasonable amount of head control is that it carves out a little knitting time each day as well. So, I've been plugging along on my faux fair isle socks, and FINALLY, after almost a year, they're finished!


I purposely didn't try to line up the stripes - for years all my socks were tie dyed, and I kind of liked that they didn't perfectly match. Looking at these socks though, I wish I'd given it a shot.

The pattern is from the book Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. It really is a great all-purpose pattern. Next time though, I won't make the leg 8" long - I think 6" would have been sufficient.
I can see that socks make excellent carrying around knitting, and am considering starting another pair - perhaps with some yarn I find this weekend?!?!?!

Happy Knitting!

Anticipation

I totally am hearing Carly Simon in my head right now.

Next Saturday is the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival, and I am SO EXCITED! Two years ago, I went for the first time. I brought the husband and three kids. They did enjoy the animals, the sheep shearing demonstrations, and the dog herding demonstrations. And then....well, they were done. I browsed the vendors for about an hour without them, but felt pressured to hurry. It was a fun day, but I left wishing I had more time to browse around. Also, as a festival novice, the yarn choices were overwhelming!

Last year, I brought some knitter friends (only of which is even potentially a serious knitter) and a list of potential projects. Again, I felt a little rushed. This year, I'm going by myself! (Although, I'm possibly bringing the baby, just because I'm a convenient food supply. She likes being outside, so I think it will be fine. And, if it's raining, she's staying home). I know my knitting time will be limited this year, but I'm developing a list of projects and yarns to look for while there. And you know what? I'm going to enjoy the sheep shearing demonstration all over again!

Will I see any of you there?