Finished Projects

I have been occupying my time on weekends by attending Swim Meets with MG. I can barely swim myself, but MG swims like a fish. She decided that she wanted to learn to swim and she has taken to it. She has said that she wanted to try out for the swim team. Wellll, swim team starts the end of September and we at the Marshall house have some pretty important things going on the end of September (harvest) and I didn't push the issue at home. Enter school swim lessons at which she announces, "I want to try out for swim team" and they tell her that she can join, anyway, she loves it, GCM tells me that he "did" archery and I get to do swim team - not a problems for me, as it provides lots of opportunity for knitting. I finished....Clapotis for Maureen, started in the spring, March, April, May




And I finished the Brioche Hat using my friend Ellen's handspun yarn.




I finished my "All Shawl" (Doris Chan) using a single skein of hand dyed sock yarn. I would have liked to put more on the bottom so that it is lacier and closer to what the pattern called for.


Huge thank you to Lori Nicoli for taking the pictures for me, she is an awesome person and an awesome photographer.

In case you are wondering, the glasses are from Target Optical, believe it or not, $99, purchased in 5 minutes flat. I lurve them and get lots of compliments on them (that is nice).

November 4th, 2008

I want to get this in before the election results start to come in. I was raised in a Democratic family and married a Republican. I don't agree with everything the Republicans support and I don't believe in everything the Democrats support. I have not yet had the opportunity to support a candidate, rather usually I find myself voting against a candidate rather than FOR a candidate and this year is no exception. I hope and pray that whomever wins does the right thing, steers this country to self-sufficiency, brings this military campaign to an equitable solution, fixes our health care system, brings our troups home triumphantly and with the respect and praise they deserve, provides opportunities for all citizens to be productive active members of our world, allows folks to enjoy the fruits of their labor. We are an innovative, resourceful nation, I fear whomever wins will need us to remember that and act upon it. God Bless America - Heaven knows we need it.

The February Lady Sweater

She is done. Thank you Lor-raine on Ravelry (Lori for you non-Ravelry) for the awesome pictures. My normal body double (Julia Roberts) was busy, so I had to model the sweater myself...9 skeins of Cotton Fleece (80% cotton, 20% wool). I made the xxl size, #6 Knitpicks chrome plated. I am not too crazy about the neckline, I think it is a little saggy, but perhaps I used the wrong cast-on. I used long tail. I bought the yarn at www.littleknits.com, it was a second because they said the color was a little off from the card, I didn't have the card to compare it to, so that didn't bother me, it was about 1/2 price making the yarn for this sweater about $40! Yippee! I received 2 unsolicited compliments on the sweater before I even got home! I did put the buttonholes in, but until I find the "perfect" buttons, I plan to use a dpn or cable needle as a closure, I think it is fitting.

An advertisement for Ravelry. If you are a knitter, get thee immediately to Ravelry.com and get thyself on the waiting list. While you are waiting, think hard about your log-in name, they are about 2-3 weeks behind. Ravelry is a blast. Want to see how many versions the February Lady sweater are done? Go to the pattern tab, type in February Lady and search = pages and pages of sweaters, if you click the yarn tab you will see all the yarns that folks used to make the sweaters. Want to see how many designs Brooklyntweed has listed on Ravelry? Go to the people tab and type in Brooklyntweed, you can search for patterns, download patterns into your ravelry library, there are free patterns and patterns for sale. It is awesome, however, beware, if you think blogs are a time suck, Ravelry is a HUGE time suck, but it is fun, fun, fun....

An update on the kitten. It was fading fast this afternoon, but my big, burly, Grumpy Farmer husband stuffed the helpless kitten into the front of his shirt to warm it and got it to eat some very watered down cows milk until I could get home with the milk replacer. He/she is sleeping and I am feeding it every hour about 8cc's of replacer and it seems to be improving, the recouperative powers of little bodies. As I type this, it is inside the front of my shirt twitching in its sleep and even growling a little bit. For now, all is well with the world. I hope yours are as safe as this baby kitten.

My brush with Greatness

Just to prove that I DID go to knitting camp and not just fantasized about it, I present the following photo's as proof that I was truly amoung some of the Greatest minds in traditional knitting.

The Goddess and Me


Joyce Williams (Author, Latvian Dreams, Armenian Knitting) and me



Joyce is truly one of the humblest people I have ever met, she creates these amazing designs and says things like, "Oh, I just added a few short rows here in the front and left off an entire 1/12th of the pattern, but other than that...."

Amy Deitjen and me

Amy is one of the quickest witted, funniest people I have ever met. I don't know who her comedienne hero's are, but they had better be happy that she is in central Wisconsin, their job would be in jeopardy. And knows her stuff? Amy knows her STUFF, any cast on, any cast off, amazing.

These 3 ladies along with the remaining staff from Schoolhouse press are as normal as can be, despite the fact that to those of us who have been to Knitting Camp, they are Rock Stars.

It is almost time....

I am competing in the Ravelympics. I finished my Mr. Greenjeans (knitty.com) for the WIP Wrestling and I've started my February Lady Sweater, I dont' know if I'll finish it, but I'm going to try.

On the home front, DS18 (how did he get to be 18) leaves for U of I on Tuesday. My mom and I will take him down, but he took his "stuff" down on Thursday. Here he is exhibiting his best imitation of a studious student. It is as if my heart is being ripped from my body to think of him going away, but I have given him all the tools I can and it is now time for him to make his own way in life. I hope I have done my job. There will be 2 boxes of kleenex in the car on Tuesday, be sure.

DS#3 doesn't get to make the blog very often, so since I'm on a family "bent", I'll post his picture. He will turn 3 on 8/25.



To round out the family theme of this entry, I present DD#2, she was a flower girl in June for her cousin (thank you Katie) and she was lovely. She'll be in therapy over the shoes, but if that is all she's in therapy for, I'm lucky.

Knitting Camp 2008

It has been a week since I returned to "real life" after knitting camp. Have I finished any of my camp projects? No, but for me it wasn't about finishing. It was about learning how to do things I didn't know how to do or was afraid of. I learned about trapping for Armenian knitting and colorwork, I learned that Brioche in the round can kick my butt multiple times, I learned that unspun icelandic is really, really wooly and fun to work with, I learned about i-cord of all types, I learned about uploading EZ Knitting Glossary to my i-pod (still a work in progress). I am asked by those who are interested, what is knitting camp like? Well, first of all you have to pick someone who's work you really, really admire, someone who in your wildest fantasies could be your mentor, and then imagine sitting at their feet for 4 days.
Meg Swanson, Amy Dietjen and Joyce Williams are rockstars of the knitting world. Quietly knitting away in their central WI homes, writing, publishing, editing books that are important books to be written researching and documenting old techniques and figuring out how to recreate techniques who's usage and history is fading. Really important books that may never be on the top ten list because they might not be "trendy", yet books that need to be written. Elizabeth Zimmermann before them and now they spread the word about circular sweater constructions, Elizabeth's EPS system, garter stitch garments. Perhaps not the trendiest items/garments, yet, interesting to knit, wearable, practical garments with ingenious construction techniques. Their colorwork is traditional, yet absolutely breathtaking. Pictures can't capture the true beauty of the colorwork documents. To touch them in real life and in fact to wear them (as I wore the Aran Cardigan-even in grey, I loved it) is an honor. I hope that some of the genius rubbed off on me, time will tell. Meg, Amy and Joyce as I said before are truly rockstars, yet, a more unpretentious, down to earth, helpful, friendly 3 ladies, I have never met. Truly an honor to be in their company. In the morning, Meg would teach, demonstrating techniques, illustrating by knitting on camera projected to 4 tv's placed throughout the room, if you have a question, you simply ask it and it is answered. If you need help with something, simply pop to the back of the room and Joyce and Amy will be more than helpful. After lunch, show and tell occurred, where campers showed what they had made either in an EZ sytle or otherwise. Camp 2 was one talented group of knitters. At 3pm, class ended and we knit in the classroom and then dinner at a local WI establishment. WI is really a neat place. Kind of organic, healthy, interesting place.

Projects, I started a Brioche hat, an Armenian hat and a Bavarian Twisted hat. The Brioche has almost defeated me on several occassions, but i am still at it. I will conquer it! The Bavarian Twisted is fun, I will finish that and the Armenian, I scrapped, I want to make a hat with a skull on it and I didn't have a chart at camp, so I used the sample to learn how Joyce traps. I also bought enough unspun icelandic in brick red and chocolate brown for a bog sweater (I think) and I also bought enough Quebequoise for an aran cardigan, again in red. I am again having a red fetish. I didn't even knit on my little Russian Prime sweater, oh well, next year.....



I made some (actually a lot)new friends, Ellen and Thi from St. Louis, Kim from ....I don't remember, Shelli from Seattle, Kathy, Robin and Leanne from Denver, Sandy from IA, Eileen from Madison, Sara and re-acquainted with my Camp 1 roomie, Jen, Karen and Toni from CA, Devittles from New York city. Wow, that is a lot of new friends! Good times! I spent a long time talking to Michelle Swansen, she was a treasure, and we have kids the same age, so the talking was easy. Re-entry was hard, but I did survive. I can't wait until next year. Keeping my fingers crossed that I get in.

My Latest Obsession

I am not a computer expert, I don't play one on TV. It is all K2Karen's fault. At knitting camp, she told about how she uploaded her copy of Knitting Glossary onto her I-pod so she always had EZ & Meg at her fingertips. She put some instructions in her blog (July entry) and I HAD to do it too. Go to www.handbrake.com, download the free software, select the appropriate pre-set (mine is Low-Rez Ipod) Hit the Browse button in the "Source Box" and choose the Video-TS, hit the drop-down box for Title and you should notice 4 selections (my Glossary seems to have 4 different parts) Select Box 1 and then Start at Chapter 1, end at Chapter 2 (they are introduction)Browse the destination file to save the Chapters of the DVD where you want them. I didn't change anything else. Once you get each Chapter set up, you can select "Add to Queue". At first I uploaded the files one at a time and then I got braver and put 4 into the Queue. Sometimes the uploads went quickly, some took more than an hour. At this writing, Chapters 77 and 78 didn't upload, but I'll try them again. The chapters are then saved as chapters.(chapters 1) I had to open each one individually (they will automatically open into Itunes) and get the titles for each chapter. Then you have to delete the item from itunes (steady, you'll get it back there), go back to the source, right click on the title of the chapter and re-name it (I-cord Cast-on) and double click on it which will pull it back into i-tunes. I will list the chapters here when I am done in case anyone wants to do the same with their own PERSONAL copy of Knitting Glossary. This project is taking longer than I expected. Some of the upper chapters (90's) are taking 1+ hours per to upload. I know it will be worth it, but it is tedious

Oh Goodness!

I can't believe it has been 2 months since I posted last. Spring kept me busy in my gardens. I planted the front triangle with roses, hydrangeas, coral bells, hosta's and some really neat ground hugging evergreen plant. I am watering, watering, watering. The hydrangea's keep wilting on me. I don't think it has rained since I put the bed in. Oh, well, it will be beautiful next year or the next. I also planted what I call my "Fairy Garden" in the back under the remaining apple tree. DS#1 repainted the flamingo and I dug an ice cream chair from the barn, I also put a bird feeder on an old porch post over there for a platform bird feeder. I planted some creeping thyme and some other low growing "carpet" type perennial over there. I put in a russian sage, spirea, hydrangea (it must be the year of hydrangea's). it will look good when it fills in as well. I have also planted the "divorce garden" with herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and annuals, it really looks lush and I also bought some patio furniture to put out there and some unfortunate umbrella's, as my friend Sandy says, "Umbrella's just don't work in the country" and she is right. Even closed, they fall over, I've used my old friend duct tape already and I haven't had them more than a week, oh, well, it's only money, right?

What am I knitting? Well, I am working on an EZ Pie are Square shawl in my 50% Merino, 50% Angora Fairy Hare. I am into the last ball. I want to get it to the edging part so that I can get help with it at knitting camp. I completed a Mobeius with help from Beth Rosene at Quilters Garden and need to start another one before I forget how to do the cast-on, perhaps tonight. I'd like to make a baby bog so that I can learn to graft garter and put in an afterthought pocket while at camp, but I don't know if I have time. I am also getting around to making a massage appointment in Marshfield, during camp so that I can get a good massage, but I can't decide what day/time to get it. Actually, Saturday night might be good, I don't want to miss Friday night Wisconsin fish fry! Back to knitting, I'd also like to whip up a pair of EZ magic mittens, I could learn to graft garter on those, too.

Tomorrow I am off to a B&B in Algonquin with my friend Lynn and her son, Antonio. The kids are taking a "manners class" on Wednesday and we are taking a restful night in the B&B for some R&R. I've never stayed in a B&B, mostly 'cause I kind of live IN one, but this will be a new experience for MG and I and we'll get to have some "Mommy-time". Pictures later

His Senior Prom

Friday, May 2, 2008 was JLM's Senior Prom. Where did the years go? The kids were all decked out in their finery and paraded in the decorated HS gym to the delight of parents, grandparents and etc. His date was Heather who is completing her first year at Monmouth College. As you can see she is a lovely girl on the outside and inside as well (as far as I can tell). We got to meet her parents and both sets of grandparents. I persuaded JLM to take a nice picture with MG , but I had to take it fast before the "bunny ears" entered the scene.

On Sunday, MG made her First Holy Communion. I completed her bolero at 1am on Sunday morning. I don't really have a good picture of it (yet), and it isn't that exciting anyway, but it is my 2nd finished garment and it fits her beautifully. She gets cold in the summer in restaurants and the like due to the low airconditioning, so I hope she will get some good wear out of it. It is made from Berroco Comfort yarn (which is Acrylic, but a really NICE Acrylic), DK weight, US 4 needles. From the Summer 2005 issue of Interweave, purchased at Wild Fibers, Galena, IL the first weekend in April. started April 13, completed May 4. Hat tip to Wild Fibers for finding the pattern for me, it was exactly what I wanted.

The Handsomest Couple at Prom

The best looking couple at Marquette Prom, 2008. Even if I do say so myself, that is one handsome boy and Hattie isn't bad either. (Love you Hattie)

Clapotis #1 = Finis!

Started 3/31/08, completed 4/13/08 Thanks to a long weekend in Galena Clapotis is done. I love it. While I would not have selected this colorway for myself, it is perfect for me, it will go with anything! I love it.! MG models.

ANOTHER yarn crawl!!!

More of the ladies in the Tuesday knitting group planned an outing to Champaign to visit . We departed Jeremiah Joes coffee shop at 8:30 a.m. following Marge's directions we made our way to Champaign. Marge's daugter, Becky hosted us for coffee at her home. Becky and evidently Marge are incredibly talented artists. Becky exhibits at Parkland College and she had 2 of Marge's watercolors hanging in her stairway. Becky laid a luscious fuit and coffee cake snack out for us, we toured her garden. I want THIS... After touring the garden and Becky's award winning dollhouses,we proceeded to Needleworks. WOW! It takes us 2.5 hours get there, but it is definitely a destination yarn shop. They carry needlepoint, some cross stitch and yarn, yarn, yarn..nice yarn and a good amount of it. I bought 3 skeins of the Cotton Noro, 5 skeins of another Noro for a secret project and 3 skeins of a cotton Araucana yarn for yet another Cl*p for me, me, me...We had lunch at the Courier Cafe for lunch. I recommend the milkshakes (I had chocolate)and the sweet potato chips. The turkey club was enormous, more than enough for even a big eater. I had the Rueben, loved it. Yummy. Then off we went to Prairie Gardens garden center for a tiptoe through the tulips. I bought 4 cactus for my summer cactus garden. I don't even know the common names for these cacti, so I won't embarass myself, but when I get it planted, I will post a picture. We arrived home about 6:30, it was a long day, but we had many laughs and it was great fun!

A good time was had by all

I am so thankful, I spent last weekend with the most wonderful group of women. Most are/were quilt shop owners and they have been getting together for about 6 years. We sewed and watched movies and talked and laughed and poked fun at each other. It was a weekend to refill my well and that I did. Thank you so much Janettie for inviting me, thank you Maureen for your wonderful hospitality. I hope I behaved well enough to be invited back. My goal was to make the top for DS#1's graduation quilt and I accomplished that "barely", I spent most of the weekend with my arse parked on the couch in front of the tv knitting away on my Clapotis. I brought all the yarn for that and also for my Mr. Greenjeans. I thought I'd finish the Cl*p and get a good start on the Mr. Greenjeans and make the quilt top. I finished another ball on the Cla*p and the top, that was it. Before you accuse me of goofing off the whole day, it is true that on Saturday I ventured into Galena with some of the girls, but I found a pattern and yarn for the shrug that I want to make for DD#1's 1st Communion which should be sometime in May. My knitting que keeps re-arranging itself. I'm going to try and finish the Cla*p and then hit the shrug hard, hoping to finish that when I go to Paducah with Janette, along with the back of the graduation quilt. Turkey totem, don't fail me now....

Yarn Crawl - Chicago

On March 25, Knitting Homie, Cindi and I embarked on a Chi-town yarn crawl. We took the 9:20am train from Aurora, got off of the train in Downers Grove and walked to Knitche . Really nice shop, well worth the stop. The folks there were friendly and quirky and offered to wind our yarn, really nice yarn, some purchases were made, then back onto the train we hopped arriving at Union Station about 11:45. Next we hopped a cab and headed to Arcadia , In case we do it again, for future reference it was a $21 cab ride (it is WAY up North). We entered Arcadia at 12:05 (it had opened at noon). The lady (who I think was the owner/manager)greeted us. Her manner was bruske and Cindi and I both thought she was going to tell us that the store was closed or she was going to throw us out, but we were later to discover that this was simply her manner, she was helpful and friendly in a "city" kind of way. Some yarn was acquired, I bought Big Girl Knits at 40% and enough yarn to make a sweater for me. The owner/manager then helpfully gave us assistance in heading back downtown to The Melting Pot A $1.00 fare on the #22 Clark Street Bus transported us through several interesting ethnic neighborhoods and past the front of Wrigley Field and landed us within a block and a half of The Melting Pot where we proceeded to indulge in a lovely 4 course meal, Cheese fondue, salad, meat and of course DARK CHOCOLATE! I have to admit that until I tasted this chocolate fondue, I hadn't been too impressed with Dark Chocolate, but I am now a Dark Convert - Yummm, Lunch took 3 hours, it was heavenly. Next we caught a cab down to Knitwerks . It was my first experience of being "buzzed" into a store. It was a very nice shop, not huge, but the proprietress was friendly and helpful. They had a nice selection of really nice quality yarns and accessories. Despite my personal policy of usually purchasing something at every stop, I didn't see anything (despite the fact that ALL of the yarn in there was lovely)that desperately needed to go home with me, so I refrained. However, if I am again in the area, I will definitely stop, lovely yarns, really nice folks. We again asked for directions back to Loopy . Again we walked across the street and caught the #29 bus North ($2 fare this time) and got off at Balbo which was almost directly in front of Loopy. This is where the wheels fell off of my bus. I had been a super organizational freak, (yes, you who know me know how unusual this is for me) and I had made notecards with the names, addresses, phone numbers and business hours on index cards and then on the back of the card, wrote what I wanted to look for at each store. I was looking for 6 skeins of Dream in Color Classy for the Dream in Color KAL sponsored by The Loopy Ewe and I wanted to feel up the new Manos silk for a Clapotis 6 Skeins of Dream in Color was nowhere to be found, but at least I got to fondle it. I found the Manos Silk at Loopy, toyed with knitting it in Lorna's laces Black Pearl, but they only had 2 skeins and I would have rather had 3, and based on the staff recommendation, I purchased 4 skeins of Manos Silk in the Wildflowers Colorway I also purchased 4 skeins of a luscious black alpaca silk in ww for my BIL a lovely Koolhaas and a skein of something Noro for another hat. I passed up the brown and cream ribbon yarn that was 60% off, it was lovely, but I wasn't excited about knitting or wearing a brown/cream sweater. I loved the staff at Loopy, they were sassy and quirky and fun. I would go back to any of the shops again in a Chicago minute. We were lucky, we didn't have to walk too far before finding a taxi when we wanted one and we didn't have to wait too long for busses or trains, along with having good karma that day, we also had good CARma as on the way home we met a deer crossing the road up close and personal (i.e. we could see the whites of her eyes), but didn't hit it.

It will take my "mad money" a while to recover, but I am looking forward to another yarn crawl!

I'm going to knit warshcloths

About 3 weeks ago, I started a top down raglan from the Barbara Walker book, Knitting from the Top Down, I wanted to make it a University of Illinois (Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in U of I blue and orange) color theme putting a ... sequence in orange (because I couldn't get enough of the blue yarn)Anyway, I practiced jogless jogs and of course got a funny spot in the boobular area where I changed skeins of the blue yarn. Ignoring the funny disappearing orange stitch directly over my left breasticle, I bravely knit on. I knit an entire sleeve, diligently marking the rows in a little orange book that I kept in my knitting bag, circling the row when I decreased so that the sleeves will turn out to be the same. I got to where I thought the bottom of the 1st sleeve should be and I had a bit of yarn left, rather than finish the sleeve, I transferred the stitches to a holder to await final adjustments when #2 sleeve was complete. I joined a new ball and carefully mirroring the 1st sleeve, I knit about 1/2 of the 2nd sleeve and decided to admire my handiwork. I looked at the front and there was only 1 set of increases, that is odd, there should be one on either side of the straight part....upon further examination, you all know what I did, I made the sleeves on the stitches that I was supposed to use for the FRONT AND BACK of the sweater!!!! Grrrr, not being a small girl, this involves a fair amount of knitting. My mother bless her soul said that she would chop it into tiny pieces and throw it away. She thinks that I have the patience to re-knit the sleeves. I don't know. The sweater is in time-out for a while. I did rip sleeve #2, but don't know if I have the heart to rip sleeve #1, quite yet. I suppose I would feel better if I picked up the proper sleeve and knit it for a while before I rip #1, I don't know. I'm going to knit warshcloths for a while...

Knitting Camp 2008

I'M IN! Meg Swanson's Knitting Camp 2008, Marshfield, WI, July 17-21! Hurray!!! I attended back in 2003 and I was so out of my league. Thos, folks KNIT! I am still out of my league, but the other campers were so very kind and welcoming, it was a really nice experience. I wonder if I can even finish my Baby Russian Prime which I began in July 2003, pictured above.

Hello to Sally Bridgewater, she was at the 2003 camp and is in my camp again this year, HI Sally! Looking forward to seeing you again!

What Year am I?

You Belong in 1975

Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all!

What Year Do You Belong In?

I seem to remember 1975...I would have been 11. Oh, the good old days.

Michael's Blanket

It started out as a vague idea, make a giant basic washcloth. Purchased 10 skeins of Tatami Tweed (Ginger) from The Yarn Exchange in DeKalb and start knitting, make the triange, make a straight, center section and then the decrease triangle. The little voices in my head started to go off when I reached the "straight" section, but I ignored (never ignore your little voice). Well much to DS17's delight, I have knitted DS2.5 a blanket in the shape of a stop sign-sort of. Oh, well, it was good mindless knitting, DS2.5 won't know the difference and it gives DS17 something else to laugh at me about. It will keep him warm and that's all I care about.
Specs: Knitpicks Options #11
Yarn: Tatami Tweed (doubled) 10 skeins (Ginger Colorway)
Started: 2/9/08
Finished: 2/20/08
Mods: Well, I think a square would have been sufficient. I knitted 4 skeins in the increase triangle, 2 skeins in the "straight" section and the remaining 4 skeins in the decreased triangle. Either make it more narrow or buy a LOT more yarn for the straight section. There is a LOT of knitting in a blanket. If I doubled a WW yarn again, I would prefer a larger needle, I was going for the thermal blanket look and I know this blanket will work well, the yarn would have gone much further if I had used at #15 or #17, but I didn't have one in the house when I started. I have a picture to post, but it is a horrible picture. Just imagine a giant orange washcloth. I enjoyed knitting it and it was a quick knit, about a week and a half.

Now back to Foliage hats, my dear, dear friend, Janette's daughter has asked for a hat like her moms only blue....Her wish is my command especially when she asked so nicely. I purchased a skein of Brown Sheep Worsted in the blue variegated colorway (I am such a sucker for variegated colorway)

I also got sidetracked with another attempt at a super quick beret AND mittens. I finished the beret and then started the mittens only to discover that I think I need 24 stitches for the ribbing instead of 28. I returned to a project at least 2 years old, Marguerite's Cozy in Cables Big Kids sweater. I had been supposed to be a test knitter so long ago and went great gangbusters on the body and stalled at the sleeves. I want to keep at it. It won't take long and I'd like to get it off of my UFO list.

What do I need to finish

CIC sweater
Foliage hat for Beth
Mittens to match my hat
I Love Gansey Socks
WW socks

What I want to start

University of Illinois Sweater for ME, ME, ME
WW Chevron Scarf from Boomerang
Poppy from Yarnplay

I need to knit more.....and perhaps faster...

Babette is finished!

I love it! Of course MBM christened it with a cut of the scissors, I think it is only in the outermost row of the border, I think I have a little more yarn that I can use and patch in a hole. The little monkey. I will have to keep a closer watch on him. I have started his blanket. It is orange I bought the yarn on Saturday at the yarn shop in DeKalb. I'm doubling it an using #11's, I wish I had a larger needle, but I don't so that is that. Had a delightful visit from my friend Janette. She was in WI and stopped by on her way home. I am thankful that she feels comfortable calling and dropping in/staying over with me with my messy house and chaotic children. We had a nice, nice visit. A couple items of note, she helped me finish most of my quilting UFO's and had expressed interest in one of them. I had that one quilted first with the intention of finishing it and sending it to her for Christmas and her Birthday (12/23-she and Jesus are close). Of course, I didn't finish it and it has sat partially bound since November. She arrived and picked it up and proceeded to work on the binding. I suspected that she would and on Sunday she finished the binding. She said, "Hey, look, the binding is done on this quilt." I said, "Good, because it is yours, Happy Birthday". Much hugging, and "you're the greatest-ing" commenced (from both sides). I don't have a pic of the finished quilt, but I do have a pick of my Janettie working on the binding of her own quilt. Hee, hee, I am so sneaky!.

Its been a long, long time...

I miss blogging, a number of reasons have prevented me from blogging, but I'm back and I'll try and catch y'all up.

I have been most prolifically (for me anyway) knitting away, several pairs of socks since I last typed and a couple of Folliage's, a Koolhaas, 2 more Chev's (Yes, I know, it is an obsession), 2 pretty neat scarves for my DD7 one of which is too "itchy" (Lambs Pride worsted) and the other that is just right (Joann's Sensational-yes, I KNOW, but it was close and soft enough), 3 pairs of gloves for DD7, a hat for DS2.5 and ....let me think, but anyway, you can tell it has been a while.



I have been thoroughly enjoying getting 1 day per week off from work, it is usualy Tuesdays and I have been taking it as a ME day, I send DS2.5 to the sitter and spend it doing things for me. Shopping, working out, massage, ear candling, but really the most fun is KNITTING! There is a local group that meets on Tues am (they also meet on Saturday afternoon) and I have been able to drop in with them I think 3 times now, a finer group of ladies I have yet to meet. A diverse background of strong, intelligent, talented women who welcome me warmly. So nice, such a treat for me.

I am trying to make 2008 the Year of Me. I need to recognize that the most important thing I can do for my family is take care of myself. I need to fill up my "Well", work out regularly, drink more water, get my chakra's aligned, whatever it takes. I'll post the progress.