Hiatus

I've been on a bit of a knitting hiatus the past two weeks. No particular reason, just busy doing other things. Here's a brief update of things we've been doing:

• Little girl graduated from preschool last week. She was so excited the night before graduation she couldn't sleep.
• Baby girl has been sleeping through the night pretty consistently.
• This means I have more energy during the day, and I have been trying to exercise every day during nap time.
• The weather has been beautiful and we've been outside a lot.
• Baby girl is getting more and more brave at the playground.
• Little boy runs everywhere, no matter how hot it is.
• I'm almost done with my Lelah top, but progress is slow.
• My top secret project is starting to take shape.

I hope to have a more coherent, knitting related post for you soon!

Happy knitting!

It's Raining, It's Pouring

On Saturday, we went up to the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival. Although it was raining when we left, the weather people said it would only be cloudy in New Hampshire. Umm, not so much. It wasn't even just raining. IT WAS POURING! We were in and out of the festival grounds in 30 minutes. We saw some sheep, and some rabbits, and left.

Although, I did buy one skein of yarn for my top secret project.

Moral of the story? Leave the family at home, and go to the Sheep and Wool Festival by myself.

I don't mind getting wet.

P.S. Shawnee is having a giveaway on her blog. 101 One Yard Wonders. My favorite knitting series applied to my new sewing machine! What could be better????

Final Pictures

Here are some pictures of Gail after I unpinned her yesterday.

I totally wore the shawl all day today, even though it's almost 80 degrees, just so people could tell me how great it looks.

Productivity

Most days, I feel like a work a lot without actually getting a lot done. Laundry, dishes, kids....these chores seem to fill up most of my day, but rarely leave me feeling productive. Today, was not that kind of day.

No, I didn't hang up flip flops. But apparently, Little Boy did.

I spent the morning blocking Gail. I'm sure I was quite a sight, kneeling on the bed in my nightgown, pinning away. I found this a lot easier to block than my last lace shawl. I think the pattern with center lines helped, plus I used my new lace blocking wires that I received for Christmas. I LOVE the way blocking alters the lace to the perfect shape. I feel so smart and accomplished!

Last week, I got a new sewing machine. Today, I made a valence for the front door. It's not quite as wide as it probably should be, but this is my first sewing project ever done without my mom nearby. (Somewhere, generations of Tellefsens and Jorgensens are breathing sighs of relief. I belong with them.)

A blocked shawl, a new valence, dishes, two loads of laundry, and a trip to the library. One productive day.

Yarn

I never really thought I'd become so fascinated by yarn. I have a hard time passing it up in a store. I'm on a budget though, and I rarely fare well if I buy yarn without a project in mind, so that helps me keep my fascination from an addiction. (I don't deny having a knitting addiciton. But I'm not addicted to yarn. I know, because I went to a fiber related festival last week and didn't buy any yarn.)

I really loved knitting with the Baby Alpaca yarn I used for the cool hat (see previous post). And I really enjoyed knitting with the sock yarn I bought from Rainbow Stitches. The 100% silk I used for the Oriel lace scarf was quite nice. But, honestly, although these stand out, I'm also pretty darn happy knitting away with Patons Wool. For me, the yarn fascination is in the feel of it before I bring it home, and appreciating it for just being yarn. Once a project is started though, I'm usually far more interested in what the yarn will become. As long as it doesn't hurt my minds to knit with it, I'm pretty happy.

I'm easy like that.

The Cool Hat

Today's post is supposed to document the current life of a finished project. Before Christmas, I finished this hat:

You remember, the cool hat. The super cool hat. The hat that made me more likable and more popular just by putting it on. Alas, I am not meant to be cool. I brought the hat to my parents' house for the holidays, unpacked it when we returned home, and then, it just disappeared. I was pretty sad about, but kept hoping it would turn up. And you know what? In March, it showed up! It turns out the hat had hidden in a pile of hand-me-downs and wound up with spring small children clothes in a box in the basement. I was so excited! And, it was a cold day, so I wore the hat out to run errands. I got home, carried in my packages, and ran around getting dinner ready.

I haven't seen the hat since.

I'm just not meant to be cool.