Thirty-one is done! with a Blanket!

I had a birthday over the weekend - hello thirty-two! It was a good day, low-key in the morning and busy in the afternoon visiting with family on both sides (since it also was Father's Day). I have some new toys, new treats and new clothes... and most importantly I have my health, my family and my friends.

I am very excited to also have a rather large project finished. When my brother and sister-in-law told us they were engaged I knew right away I wanted to make them a blanket. I asked for their color preferences but didn't offer any pattern choices. I had hoped I would have it finished in time for their wedding, or Christmas 2009, or when they moved into their new house, or their house warming party... yeah, that didn't happen. But, one week before their first anniversary, it's done!!

It's the "Moderne Log Cabin" pattern from the first Mason-Dixon Knitting book. The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash. I really did enjoy the pattern - it was not difficult, but it does take its toll on you - that's an awful lot of garter stitch - an as blankets grow, they get heavy, so I couldn't take it out to SnB. The end result is wonderful squishy goodness. And they both were quite pleased -

It fits! :) They are too cute. Much love and happiness for them for all the future years of their marriage!

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.