What a Week!

There almost aren't even words to sum up the past week - things have been a little wacky, but a lot of fun! It's official - my brother is married, and I have a sister! I am so happy for them - you know the scene in "Muppets Take Manhattan" at the end, where Piggy & Kermit get married and the penguins are flipping about? That's how I feel - they got married! Yay! It was a beautiful ceremony and a beautiful reception - we may have been poured on at the rehearsal dinner (at the Place) but no one let it get their spirits down. And the weather held out for Saturday, so that was all good.

(That's Caroline (the bride's sister), Virginia (my new sister-in-law), Dan (the groom), Matt (my baby brother) and Katherine.
Three of us on Team VA (members of the not-really-bridesmaids, but essentially that's what we were) ended up in purple dresses, the same shade of purple! It was part of the color scheme so it was a good choice!


Lorelai was there for the ceremony and a little bit of the reception. She was pretty good - once she warmed up she just wanted to run around and say Hi to people.


Handmade Crackers were part of the reception - when I went up to visit Dan & VA, Amy and I helped make them. It was kind of funny to look around the wedding reception and see everyone with these silly hats, but they did work with everyone's outfit (though mine didn't really stay on with my up-do).


That's me and my favorite uncle. He's fantastic. This picture also gives a better picture of the dress, but the best part (in my opinion) was the back:

The look totally worked - the dress, the up-do, and the jewelry (made by Jennsquared) - my uncle kept saying I had the look of a 1930s or 1940s Chanel advertisement - exactly what I didn't know I was trying for!

It was a great event, and now we're still trying to adjust to the boring and the mundane. I knit a dachshund last week:

The pattern is by Rebecca Danger - she and I have emailed a bit on this pattern (there was a pdf sizing error that was not a big deal but she's got that great attention to detail and wanted to make it right) and I've been stalking following her on all the other social network things - love love love!
Lorelai seems to like him as well:




Though maybe she just wanted her picture taken. She's big into mugging for the camera lately.

That's my new favorite picture of her.
And this one is totally a flash forward to when she's seven...

The time is flying.

Birthday Nutshell

So now, I'm 30 plus 1. As my dad said to me on Saturday, having birthdays is much better than the alternative you know. Thanks dad. :) It was a really good birthday - I got to do a little bit of everything! And there's stuff to look forward to - like U2!!!! - September 20 cannot get here soon enough!

On Saturday I also went to a shower for a fellow knitter - it was such a nice event and how cool it was to be able to pull out the knitting and NO ONE thinks twice about it?! And to not be the only one knitting?! Good times!

I just wish I had taken more photos! I had a lot of fun knitting up a hat and puppet for the new baby.


I wish I could have stayed longer (these gals are a lot of fun to hang out with!) but I *had* to come home so we could head out for birthday dinner at Cafe Goodfellas - fantastic!

I was gifted gift certificates to the LYSs around here so I'll be project planning soon. I was also gifted a skein of Hudson Valley (Martha's Vineyard) Fiber Farm Yarn:

It's not so red, more raspberry-ish, but soft and gorgeous!

And yarn arrived in the mail! Adding to my sock yarn stash, Schaefer Yarn "Nichole" in Indigo, Sage and Bluebell:


And my "payment" from Lorna's Laces - yarn to make Sundog for Lorelai - Island Blue and Iris Garden.


I finished a pair of socks - Yarn Harlot's basic sock recipe, j.knits "Florida" colorway:

I really love how it knit up - I was a bit unsure about the skein - it was so bright!

Today, I got a birthday gift from Betsy - small sock appropriate stitch markers - for the decreases and "yo's" - I'm looking at doing "Ishbel" so they will also be so handy for that!! Thank you!


I can feel the multiple projects creeping up on me again - I have so many ideas and it's hard to get those stitches I picture in my head to the actual fabric! I think summer is good for that, the slate is clean for the moment - even if the nutshell is cluttered!

Crayola Joy

Color me excited, my baby used crayons!

We had a little playdate at our house yesterday. I pulled out crayons and paper for the older little girl who was coming over, but the Lorax was taken with them. So I put her at the table and she sat and colored for 20 minutes! She did it again in the afternoon! I feel like now we have some better options when we go out to a restaurant or something - bring on the crayons! She doesn't eat them! Currently our eating out with the Lorax is limited to the local diner, where the food is good and almost more importantly quick!

Later that afternoon.....

I finished the Necco Wafer from the Spring 2009 Twist Collective. It's adorable! And again, this was a knit where I was in contact with the designer and Carol was awesome! Most of the yarn was from the stash. Betsy kindly passed along the teal yarn for the body - the colors are so awesome! The sweater is great, but you wouldn't know it from the model.

She was in no mood to wear the sweater or pose for photos. Oh well. A hug and some kisses and eventually we get a sorta smile.

(love that my camera has a digital display that can flip around so she can see herself!)

I made the 18 month size, and it's big on Lorelai. She's 50th percentile for height / 25-30th percentile for weight, so I guess it's not too surprising. Better too big than too small. Hopefully I'll remember to try it on her before she outgrows it!

Someone left a comment asking about Jackson. He's here and doing fine. Tolerating Lorelai's attention (she's big into identifying his eyes / ears / nose / tail and petting him). Tolerating me...

I may be declaring my own "Doggie Knitting" month - have you seen this: Tofu the Gentle Dachshund - LOVE!!! I also have a knit dachshund kit, the sausage dogs pattern to do, the pileable pups in progress.... Hmm, ideas.

At SnB last night WifeMomKnitter and CostumeChick and I were talking about doing a sweater knit along. Maybe not all doing the same pattern, but all knitting a sweater at the same time. Given that I seem to be churning out sweaters lately (where did my sock mojo go?) I want to put it out there that I would be in! I've got yarn to do: Mr.Greenjeans, Snow White, Basic Black, Brown Betty, at least two different sweaters for Lorelai... and probably one or two more if I really sat down with my stash and my queue!

Two Sweaters

Since TNNA finished this weekend I can post about one of my recent knits for Lorna's Laces. They sent me some beautiful Fisherman Wool in "Unnamed Grey Colorway" (really, that's what it said on the ball band! It was grey-blue-purple, quite nice!) and asked me to knit Dulce De Leche from the Spring 2009 Twist Collective.
I was a bit apprehensive at first - for the yarn companies I do prefer to knit child size stuff as they are quicker to turn out and the pattern has a lot of "at the same time..." so I was very careful about my notes. I even emailed the designer, Marnie, at one point and she was great! I am quite proud of this knit - it shows the yarn nicely, was a warm sweater - it was a little big on me in the chest area, but the rest of the shaping fit me well.



Over the weekend I was able to block out "A Little Something". I think maybe I should block out the front ribbing a bit more, but on the whole I am pleased with this - it took 2 skeins of yarn! Maybe a bit more (I started from a leftover ball, went through 1 ball and part of a 2nd ball)... gotta love that! It's knit small on larger needles and then you really really block it out.



(So pleased that my posture is in check for those photos!)

I've picked up the Necco Wafer hoodie for Lorelai, hoping to get that done in the next week or so. I've started the pile-able pups pattern. I've pulled out yarn for two Ysolda patterns... always looking at the next project!

Mail.

I love mail, who doesn't? Unless it's bills of course. I went through a really good stretch back in the spring where I think I got a package of some sort everyday for about a week! It's dried up some - swaps aren't happening until later, I've cancelled a bunch of magazines, I've tried to get my name off junk mail. I'm antsy though. Even though I'm in no rush or need of new yarn, I'm waiting for yarn "payment" from 4 different yarn jobs and I'm looking forward to the next IntentionYarns Club installment. With TNNA this weekend I don't expect to hear from 2 of those yarn companies until at least next week. Each day when the mail-person arrives in the little truck it's such a tease when I hear the truck idle at my mailbox, then when I rush outside thinking maybe there's a package in it, there's nothing nearly as exciting as a package. :)

Trolling etsy doesn't help me drool over potential packages either.

Measuring, Measuring.

I've been working away on A Little Something. Last night I worked on the armholes but think I may have to re-do that (something about the cast on for the extra stitches, I'm just not happy with it). Anyway:


And here's what happens when you try to measure your knitting with a wide awake toddler:



Trying to distract her:


These flowers are part of a different project - she loved taking them out and putting them into the pail. When she counts it's "Two. Two. Two. Two."


That was the calm before the storm. We had a very clingy, only-mama-will-do evening followed by a very little bit of dinner and going to be early. Hopefully today will be better.

Fruit Loop, with a side of Ham

This past week at SnB I was able to finish up the Fruit Loop by Pixie Purls, a handknit for Lorelai. I had bought the yarn (Ella Rae Baby Cotton) a while back at The Yarn Basket. It's a cotton-nylon blend that is quite soft and was pleasant while working. I made the size 2T in the hopes of getting a full summer of wear out of this, currently the Lorax is about 22lbs and ~31 inches tall. I think it turned out great and was pleased with some of these shots - she posed! She's been into making faces and sticking up her chin when the camera comes out, not sure why, but it's funny.


It's a knit I would do again - I would love to try the different "fruit" patterns. Next time I would think about doing a provisional cast on and making a hem as the bottom rolls and I couldn't get it to block all the way out (I was lazy about it and really it's fine as is).

The puppy is a perpetual favorite stuffed animal. The blue baby hairbrush is also a new favorite toy - it does nothing on her mini-mane, but she likes to brush her hair, my hair, hubby's hair, the dog & stuffies with it. Whatever. :)

I'm currently working on a test knit of "A Little Something" for Sam of "Shawl That Jazz" fame :) Mine is being done with Silky Wool in a dusty pink color. I think I've got about 8" done so far. She's great to work with - and I love the fact that I've met her! Photos soon!

It's not all cute.

This blog has a tendency to run toward the cuter side of life - there's a baby toddler (holy chickens, she's already 18 months old?!) and a dog and I just really like all that cute stuff. Always look on the bright side of life and all that jazz. Well, today my post is decidedly not cute (but if that's what you came for, don't worry - the cute abounds here in the nutshell, just need to finish up a few things first).

On Saturday we were eating breakfast and I looked over at my neighbor's house. On their rooftop was this huge avian mass:


Turkey vulture! Photo taken through the window, no flash, zoom @ 48X. I don't know if he was just resting or drying off or what, but that bird sat there in the sun for a good 45 minutes!

I've been knocked out by the allergies since Saturday afternoon - my eyes are killing me. And being surrounded by trees I'm getting all stuffed up just taking the Lorax outside. Ugh. Love the outdoors, but can't stand pollen - in terms of my well being. I do appreciate and respect pollen for what it has to go through in it's part in the cycle of life and all that. It was even part of my thesis project. Anyway.

A few years back a family friend asked me if I could knit slippers. Sure I could but I never did. It was never clear to me if they were for the person who was asking or if they were for a gift or what. Also no size / color preference was given. Important details if you ask me. We saw this person again a few weeks ago and I was again asked about slippers, and since they are coming over this weekend, I have been knitting slippers this week. Basic yarn (cascade 220 superwash in a nice shade of green, held double) and basic pattern.

Please to excuse the low quality iphone photo - it's very overcast outside.
Between the overcast and the mindless (though quick garter stitch) and a sugar low, I feel like I need a nap, but it's probably time to get the Lorax up instead. Onward.