Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Just for Smiles

A couple of cute pictures. This is actually a cake...sorry couldn't find the website where I first saw it.



And one cute one of Shaun the Sheep. He now has his own show in the UK.




Keep smiling and Happy Knitting! Sandi

Monday, May 28, 2007

In Honor...

Of those who have given there lives so that we all my enjoy our freedoms here in the United States of America.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

We had a great time at Legoland and sight seeing in San Diego. I got a couple pictures of spinning wheels that I think some of my knitter friends might enjoy. They were taken while we were visiting Old Town San Diego on Mother's Day.




I didn't really do a lot of knitting on our trip, even though I took several projects. I haven't really sat down to do much knitting since we got back. I am currently working on Lauren's blanket since it's just simply knitting 10x10 inch squares and I don't feel much like having to think about what I am knitting.

One reason that I haven't been working on my knitting is that we are busy with preparations for our upcoming Awana Awards Night tomorrow night. The children had a dance recital today at a local retirement home, since we couldn't stay to watch them we ran errands and worked on Awana prep. Then after tomorrow night we are finished with Awana until next fall.

Next week is a busy week also. I finish up my spring Bible Study, the kids have their last week of dance classes, with a big recital on Saturday (always nice to see our schedule start to free up!). I still have a couple of things to finish for the recital this week. I am also helping out a friend who is preparing for a big graduation party on Saturday. And we still have some schoolwork to finish up this week! Whew, I need to sit down and knit too much to think about right now!

Have a good week ahead everyone, I might not be posting much this next week.

Happy Knitting! Sandi

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Happy Mother's Day!

Our family is off to celebrate Mother's Day in San Diego because we have discount tickets for homeschool days at Legoland in Carlsbad, CA for Friday and Monday. At this point, we haven't quite decided what to do for the two days in between, maybe the beach, or a trip into San Diego. It will be nice to just get away for a few days to not have to worry about recitals, awards ceremonies or lesson plans. I will be packing a couple knitting projects, a book or two to read and of course my computer!

Happy Mother's Day to all friends out there, don't forget to enjoy your day and let your family treat you like a queen. I found a lovely poem for Mother's Day, that isn't really about mothers but rather about family, without them I couldn't be a mother or a mom. Thanks so my family for all they do for me and having the awesome privilege of being a Mom.

Happy Mother's Day!



The Family
By Mary Loberg

The family is like a garden
with joy for all to share,
With tender, growing blossoms
that thrive on love
and care, And when
the flowers are gathered
for a very special day,
They make a bright and beautiful
happiness bouquet.

Poem from this webpage

Saturday, May 5, 2007

All Finished! Booga Bag!!

Ok, here is it is! Yeah, I finished my first Boogo Bag! I learned a few new techniques with this.
1. How to pick up stitches (used on the bottom)
2. Knit in the round
3. Make an I Cord (I used 6 stitches on this one for a thicker cord)
4. How to knit an applied I Cord Bind off.
5. How to felt...and refelt...shape and put it all together!













































And a couple of other projects. First the yellow dishcloth from my Monthly KAL ... humms looks like it might be something of the flowers variety. The pink cloth is the beginning of a ballet slipper dishcloth to give as a gift to the one of the dance teachers.


















And my latest project, a tank top for me in LB Ribbon yarn.
This is the back panel of the top:


















Close up of stitch pattern:

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Re..Felting...First Experience....

As I was checking whether my bag was dry I noticed I didn't like the way the I-Cord binding had felted...or lack there of. I carefully "unfelted" by cutting the fibers that were causing the binding to roll into the outside of the bag. Part of the edging felted just fine, but most of it felted in a big roll. I also tried to "fix" the crease where it felted to it's self. It was easier to fix the edge than my crease.

Realizing that with refelting the edge...this would cause the rest of the bag to felt more. Humm, so I decided it was worth the risk of more shrinkage to fix the edging I wasn't pleased with. Yes, it did felt a lot more, but mostly in how tall it was, and a bit in the width. It's drying again. Even thought it did turn out smaller, I am happier with the way it looks, much more like it's supposed look after felting properly.

Ok, here are the new dimensions, with before felting in parenthesis...

6" wide x 11" long (Bottom of Bag measured 8"x13")
9 1/2" Tall (Bag was 18" Tall, big change here)
Strap 66" (About 78")

Updated Photos:

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

First Felting Experience

I felted my booga bag yesterday, first time I have ever felted a knitting project. I watched it very carefully on advice from a couple of knitters on the knitter's forum (knithelp.com) and it took only about 10 minutes or so. I kept checking it so I am not all the sure exact time, but it didn't take long. My only problem was that when I shaped it on the box I noticed one area that felted on it's self together, as well as some parts of the I cord edging felted a bit funky. Next time I will be more careful to make sure it not bunched up in the pillow case. I must say that the smell of that wool was awful! Glad it doesn't smell that way when it's dry!

After it dries completely I will post the measurements. Here is a picture I took yesterday after I shaped it on the box. My kids think it looks like the Cat's Hat from "Cat in the Hat!" I am going to see if I have some fabric and try to line it.