My Knitting Garden

Family Vacation

2012-01-13T17:35:00.000-08:00

Now the weather in the Bay Area looks like winter I thought I would post some picture of our summer vacation. I am almost finished with a cape I started a couple of years ago, just need to sew in the last few yarns and then block. Finally the weather is cool enough that I will be able to wear it!

This past August our family traveled to Florida to visit Walt Disney World. Now not being a native of Florida the weather is a bit different than here in the Bay area of California, hot and humid, with afternoon thundershowers, was pretty much the forecast for our entire vacation. Here are just a few pictures from our trip.

Our first full day we had lunch at "Sci-Fi Dine In Theater" at Hollywood Studio. Fun experience as you watch sci-fi movies from the 50's, the food was ok, nothing special. I am glad we tried it.

After spending a day at one of the WDW water parks, Blizzard Beach, we had dinner reservations at one of our favorite restaurants at WDW, The Brown Derby, back at Hollywood Studios. We had made special reservations for the Fantasmc! Meal Package, where you eat at one of three restaurants and get special seating at the Fantasmc!. Wow, we had no idea what we were in for! The host took us to our table, but we were a little concerned as he walked passed all the normal seating and took us to a private room. Turns out this was "The Bamboo Room", where we were one of three parties. The waiter was absolutely wonderful, we were treated like royalty the entire meal. This had to be the highlight of our trip! The "special" seating at the show, well, let's just say the show was nice, but dinner was way better!

After a day on the road to visit a couple of Florida beaches, we stopped at the best ice cream shop at WDW, "Beaches and Cream!" Butter Pecan Sundae, yep I ate it all.Dinner with Chip ... or is that Dale? Another of our favorite Restaurants, The Garden Grill, at "The Land" in Epcot. The coolest thing about this restaurant is that it rotates as you eat. The menu is family style with turkey, steak, fish, salad, veggies, and potatoes, plus dessert. And it's all you can eat! Mickey and Pluto are dressed up in their finest farmer outfits.
One of our days to the Magic Kingdom park, I booked a special tour, Keys to the Kingdom, but because you have to be 16 to be able to go on the tour, only John and Tyler were able to go. Lauren and I took advantage of the early arrival by booking a breakfast at the castle, with Belle, Ariel, Cinderella, and Snow White. While the boys spent almost 5 hours on their tour, going behind the scenes of several attractions and employee areas (and getting lunch), we had breakfast and then had some mom and daughter time bonding on the rides throughout Magic Kingdom. This photo was taken before the park was opened, we were able to get in because of our tour and breakfast reservations. Absolutely so cool to see Main Street empty!

We spent a little over a week in WDW, I always enjoy my Disney vacations, but it is always nice to return home to my own bed!

Sweet Baby Hoodie in 49er Colors

2012-01-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

Last year my friend welcomed a new baby into her family, Julian, born on February 14. I couldn't decide what to make him...finally came up with a sweater with the colors loosely based on the 49'er football team.

Hook: 5.0 mm (H)

Yarn: Bernat Satin Sport Solids in black for trim

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solids, Heathers & Twists in Cranberry

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solids, Heathers & Twists in white for stripes

I used trying to use colors that would represent the team colors. Red with white stripes and then trimmed in black. I also always use washable yarn when doing baby clothes, just so it's easier on the parents!

I changed the HDC to 4 Rows of DC in the Red Yarn, and 2 Rows of SC in the White Yarn. I still had a lot of trouble with the hood, not sure if it is due to reading the pattern incorrectly or it just doesn’t work correctly. I found this to be pretty easy to crochet and fast, it’s the seaming that takes some time. Well worth it, love the way it turned out and looking forward to seeing Julian in soon!

A Happy New Year!

2012-01-05T14:15:00.000-08:00

My, my, my has it really been over a year since I update this blog!!! Apparently it has! Time to get back at it. Where do I start? I don't even know!

Let's start with family...

Here we are on Christmas Day after we got home from Sunday Services. Lauren played the flute and John sang a solo. We had a lovely day with my mom, our friend, Tracy and her twins. Later that night we join another family for dinner at Benihana's Restaurant, we had a blast. I think I could make this a new holiday tradition!

Now life is back to our normal schedule with school, work, and church activities. Maybe I will post a few recaps of our adventures last year as I get back into this blogging effort. We did have a busy year!

Knitting and Crocheting
I was able to fit in some knitting and crochet projects. So let's start with one project I did for my friend's mom last spring.

Pattern: Homespun Shawl by Solutia

Yarn Lion Brand Homespun

Colorway: delft
I can't remember how much yarn I used. I completed the pattern as written, then crocheted a border around it to give it a more finished look.

I am not a big fan of knitting or crocheting with homespun, but I will say it washes up very well is is always super soft. I really liked this pattern and have plenty of homespun that I could probably make another one is a different color!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T09:37:00.000-08:00

May each of you have a very blessed Christmas!

A Blanket & A Baby Sweater

2010-08-31T14:58:00.000-07:00

I am been very neglectful of my blog! Summer has been extremely busy, and it's hard to believe we are already on the last day of August. This summer has been filled many church activities, traveling, family concerns, school preparations, and me spending most of it being sick. Thankfully I seem to have recovered for the time being. I have been trying to get in some projects this summer and just finished two crocheted ones, so that my husband could take them with him when his visits his family. (His brother has been quite ill and we have been quite concerned for him for the last several months.) I finished a blanket for John to take to his brother and a baby sweater that is for our great nephew, due to arrive in September. Both projects were a bit challenging because this was the first time I really used a pattern to crochet from.

Mitch's Blanket is crocheted from the Lion Brand website, called the New Wave Blanket. The blanket uses the Lion Brand Homespun yarn, which is not really the easiest to crochet with, but is worth the trouble because it washes up so soft and warm. I didn't make it quite as long as the original pattern due to getting it done for John to take with him today. I also just did a simple half double crochet border since I wasn't all that fond of the one in the pattern. Today I started another one using the yarn I had left over for my daughter, she wants it exactly the same.

The blanket is actually twice the length as you see in this chair. Close up the stitch pattern:

Close up of the border:
The baby jacket is one from Bernat.com, as well as a free take home pattern near their yarn at Micheal's Craft Stores. It's called the Sweet Baby Hoodie, and there are a dozen of wonderful ones on Ravelry to give you lots of ideas of how it will look when finished. I used bernat baby jacquard yarn and found this to be quite easy to crochet with. It also washes up just as nicely as the homespun. The pattern on the other hand could use some cleaning up, lots of strange instructions that I think were actually written wrong, thankfully I figured out a few things and was able to get through it without too much trouble. I did change a few things, adjusted the number of buttons, and opted to not do a contrasting border, rather I just did a simple single crochet to give it a nice finish. I also did it in the largest size of 24 mo., just so the baby can wear it a bit longer.

I am anxious to see each person reaction this week when they receive their gifts!

Summer Begins

2010-06-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

I have been very busy and not be able to update my blog at all! We just returned this past Sunday from a 9 day tour through Boston, New York, Gettysburg, Washington D.C., and Williamsburg/Jamestown area. We went full force for 9 days straight, from early morning to late night. My whole family joined a school group, where we got 9 days of American History from a Christian perspective. Just as soon as I can get some pictures I will post a few. I am still trying to get myself together, feeling somewhat jet lagged and completely overwhelmed with all we did and saw!

Before we left I finished up a few projects that I had been working on, knowing I probably won't be doing much knitting for a bit.

This blanket was for a friend, sort of a Modern Log design from the Mason-Dixon Knitting book. I used Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick. I washed and dried it before I gave it to her and looked even better. She loved it.
I tried a new crochet stitch with this baby blanket and loved the way it turned out! The picture actually shows a strong pattern with the variegated yarn, but it much more subtle looking in person. This year was wonderful to work with Bernat soft and chunky ombre. It is also washable and looked even better after I washed and dried it in the dryer. The pattern stitch is from this pattern with some modifications. No hood, and three rounds of single crochet stitches around the edges. Will definitely make this again. I finished this just before we left. Unfortunately I lost it on our boat tour of the New York Harbor so I am working on another. I wanted a phone cover for my new phone, worked great, so anxious to get a new one finished. (This picture is before I put the button and loop on.)

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

Having a cold on Mother's Day certainly put a little damper on how we celebrated the day. After our morning church service I requested lunch at Red Lobster. Thankfully, although it was busy, we were seated right away and enjoyed a nice lunch as a family. We came home and I took a nap, apparently a very long nap! I received a very nice surprise from my family.

While I took a nap with Lily, they went on errand and I woke up to these surprises. First was a poem that Lauren wrote herself just for me. She said she worked on all week and then typed it up and put it together. Her brother helped her get all the words spelled correctly. I will be getting this framed just as soon as possible!

A bouquet of Pink Roses:

And box of See's candy and a gift certificate to use later. It's my favorite candy, always reminds me of my grandmother Dorothy, there was never a holiday or special occasion we didn't have a box of See's to enjoy. Whenever Grandma took us shopping we always stopped at the See's candy store for a special treat.

Lily hanging out with me while I wait for dinner. John fixed a simple dinner since we had a nice lunch out. It was a nice day and I am very thankful for my family making me feel special even thought I didn't feel all that great!

Spring Ladies Tea

2010-05-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

This week I have been busy with preparations for our annual Ladies Tea at our church. The theme this year is based on the Plaza Hotel in New York City in the 1920's, with an art deco decor. My job was to make little chocolate butterflies to decorate the cupcakes, bake 200 mini scones, prepare bookmark favors, and set up a table that I will host on Saturday. I also put together favors for the guests at my table. The set up was beautiful as usual!

Scones, my absolute favorite recipe. I made two kinds, Cranberry Cinnamon and Chocolate Chip. Received a lot of compliments!
Cupcakes topped with Pastry Pride, gold edible glitter, and chocolate butterflies. Pastry Pride is a stabilized whipped cream, great for topping cupcakes, light and creamy.
The dessert table with a variety of very delicious desserts.
For my favors I filled tiny take out boxes with candies introduced in the 1920's, Bit-O-Honey, Butterfingers, fruit flavored Lifesavers, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I also got a great deal on the candles at Walmart, put a black ribbon with sparkly pink, silver, white and black flowers to dress them up. The lady who put the tea together provided the bookmarks, I just added the ribbon.
My table set up:

The lovely set up to look like the Plaza of New York.

Various Tables set up:

I forgot to take photos of the sandwich plate, but it was all really good! It was a lovely day for a tea.

Celebrating Our Anniversary

2010-04-28T09:50:00.001-07:00

Tuesday we celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. Our first stop was at the mall where I got to pick out a new teddy bear from Build-A-Bear. I had a coupon for a "free animal" because I have the same birthday month as "Paulette Courfur" (I haven't any idea who this bunny character is). I also had a coupon for my other bear, it was her birthday too, so we also got to pick out a free accessory.

My new bear is a Happy Hugs Bear named "Caroline". We also had a $10 coupon so we were able to get a outfit and shoes for her. (They even had a special for purchasing shoes & outfit!) The backpack was our free accessory! Great way to shop at BABW, coupons, specials, and gift certificates!
Later we dropped the kids off at home so they could finish up their school work, while J and I went to Ikea. We found a few things and got some ideas for updating a few items in the kitchen. Later J and I headed to our Anniversary dinner at "The Melting Pot" in San Mateo. We had never been there and tried their "Big Night Out" Special. It certainly was a unique experience and I definitely want to try it again.

First course was "Feng Shui Cheese Fondue." Served with an assortment of bread, veggies, and apples.

Second course featured "Lettuce Wraps."Our main entree had quite a variety to try. Shrimp, steak, pot stickers, ahi tuna, pork, chicken, all marinated with a unique flavor. They even had a variety of dips, and batter to use if wanted even more flavor. The best part of the meal was definitely dessert. We choose to try a different one than was featured, good choice! Cookies N Cream Marshmallow Dream, dark chocolate and marshmallow cream with crushed oreos. Served with Bananas, strawberries, marshmallows covered in crushed graham crackers and crushed oreos, a mini cheese cake, rice krispie treats, brownies and pound cake. We ended up taking part of this home to enjoy later!

A wonderful way to celebrate a wonderful day!

Birthday Fun

2010-04-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

Last week I also celebrated my birthday on Friday. A pretty simple day, but quite enjoyable. It started with breakfast served in bed by my daughter. She brought me Cocoa Krispies, hot tea, a rose from my garden, and my teddy bear, who just happens to share my birthday. (She was my gift last year.)

I love pink...

We had originally planned to go out for dinner to Benihana but opted for lunch instead. It was very nice, not too busy, and a little less expensive. The kids weren't all that impressed, oh well, it was different. After lunch we headed over to Dick's Bakery and picked up a cake to have with dinner. Love their Burnt Almond Cake! We ended the day BBQ'ing burgers and watching a movie. Thanks to family for giving me a nice day to enjoy!

John joined us for lunch at Benihana's...

The chef is cooking our meal of chicken, shrimp, and steak...The day before, our friend's daughter K spent the day with us. She and L had a great time coloring, playing and entertaining Lily our dog. Blowing Bubbles for Lily...
Dressed as fairies...
Lily was so tired she curled up in her bag (actually Lauren's ballet bag) and went to sleep early! She must have been there for a good two hours before we put her in her crate for the night!

No More Braces

2010-04-15T23:52:00.000-07:00

A big day for T he got his braces off! He was very quiet about it, and didn't really seem too excited. I dropped him off at the orthodontist, they said he would be done in about an hour, so I ran a couple of errands. When I got back he was all done and the staff made a big deal about having his braces removed, took his picture, gave him a bottle of sparking cider, and a package of goodies (that he wasn't supposed to have with braces on). They joked and said he hardly smiled until now!

In the car on the way to lunch after his appointment.
He requested California Pizza Kitchen for lunch so we stopped there on the way home. My friend's daughter spent the day with and got to celebrate with Tyler.

T, K, and Me...
K and L enjoying their time together...

Back to Blogging & Lily

2010-03-04T14:25:00.000-08:00

It is time for me to get back into blogging. I haven't been that busy that I don't have time to blog, just lazy and post more on Facebook than I do on here. It's now April and I can see the last post was in January! Let's do a little recap, the main intent of this blog was to show off my knitting, great idea, but I am not knitting quite as fast as I would like to show off my projects. I don't just knit, I have other hobbies, baking, cake decorating, scrapbooking, crafts, sewing, so I could add those projects in a post or two in the future. I have plenty of activities I could tell you about church, my family, the new dog, vacations, why not include those every now and then! Let's start with our newest addition to the family, Lily.Lily was our Christmas present, sort of. My cousin C was foster caring for her and I took an interest in her when C wrote about her on her Facebook page. At Thanksgiving we met her in person, which only made me want to take her home even more. Now just to let you know from a previous experience from having a dog years ago, DH wasn't all that fond of taking in little Lily. After much discussion and email conversations with C, DH decided to let us adopt Lily. C kept her until after Christmas when we returned home from a 3 week trip to visit family in Kentucky. Lily joined our family on January 6. Overall Lily is pretty well adjusted, still has some habits we need to train out of her, like jumping on the table, chewing up pencils and stealing stuffed animals. The best guess is that she is a Chihuahua mixed breed, probably some dachshund, and she was probably born around June/July, so almost a year old.

I am still knitting and crocheting...working on several projects for myself and for my "Purls of Grace" ministry. Recently sewed a dress for my daughter for Easter, and found I still do love to sew. Just harder to travel with sewing, it's just not portable like knitting and crocheting.

Another busy week ahead, spending the day tomorrow with my Aunt K and my cousin J, we will eat and shop and shop and eat, can't wait. Then Thursday is another full day as son T finally gets his braces off, while I babysit one of my favorite girls! I will try and do better at keeping this updated, and post some more pictures!

Friday Fun!

2010-01-22T09:34:00.000-08:00

A very nice blogger and knitter offer to help me with my new little puppy ( that's another blog entry for another day!) on Raverly. While visiting her blog this morning, I saw her post on "Friday Fill-In." Play along, copy and paste to your blog and fill in the blanks. Leave a comment with a link to your blog so we can read yours! (Ok I cut and pasted a previous Friday, but go to the Friday Fill in Blog and get the current one!)

1. Right now, I’m feeling content.
2. Right here with my family is where I want to be.
3. How does one train a puppy?
4. My "Blessings Binder" from Flylady keeps me on track.
5. Please don’t whine.
6. My family and friends (and knowing I am God's child) fills me with joy.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to knitting while watching a movie with my family, tomorrow my plans include spending time with company and using my Cricut to make cards and Sunday, I want to wish my friend a very happy birthday when I surprise her with a cake!

Now to get back to decorating my cake!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-07T11:14:00.001-08:00

Welcome 2010! Wishing everyone lots of blessings in the is New Year!

Happy Holidays

2009-11-28T12:57:00.000-08:00

Our family enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving and now are gearing up for the Christmas season. I am trying to finish up my capelet so I can take it with me on our family vacation in a few weeks. I am also working on a few Christmas gifts (one of which is crocheted, so Brenda's friend thought of you!) I will show the after the the gifts are given out, so you will just have to wait for pictures!

If you live in our area check out our church activities at www.foxworthy.org, that is where we will be for the next couple of weeks!

Happy Knitting AND crocheting! Sandi

Two Finished Projects!

2009-10-16T17:45:00.000-07:00

I (finally!) have two finished projects to show off!

I actually finished this project back in May, and just now getting around to taking a photo of it. My Poncho has had quite the adventure over the past 3 years. The pattern was one of four in a brochure I picked up at a craft store. I knitted the child size poncho for my daughter and wanted to try one of the ladies ponchos. I was pretty new to knitting, but wanted to try it as a project for the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics back in 2006. I did finish it, but it just didn't seem right, the neck opening was too large, and the edges rolled. The fun fur was terrible to crochet with on the edges. So instead of wearing it, the poncho just sat until I decided to completely frog it (the knitter's term for ripping it out!), and started all over...a couple more times. I loved the pattern and the yarn and really wanted to try it again. A few more attempts, but it sat again for over a year!

I attempted it again back in November, trying out a couple of different stitch patterns, and finally settling on a seed stitch pattern. I decided to not use the fun fur on the edges, and carefully followed for gauge and proper pattern dimensions. I used the yarn suggested in the original pattern, Lion Brand Chenille, lovely yarn to hold in your hands, but a bear to knit with . Chenille yarn does not have any stretch, and it hard to move along the needles, especially metal. I switched to my Denise needles and it was a little better.

Besides changing the stockinette stitch to a seed stitch I also left off the fun fur. In order to have the edge give a bit to make seaming easier I cast on and off very loosely. After seaming both panels together I did a single crochet around the edge twice to give it a very sturdy finish. I am glad that it took me so long to get it just right, because I really like the way my poncho turned out!

My other project I finished recently was another EZ baby sweater. This one was knitted using Caron Simply soft (Smoky Blue color) and Bernat Simply Soft (Banana color). I kept this simple only adding in a few rows of yellow, then accenting it with yellow buttons. It really didn't take me long to knit it, just didn't do much of it over the summer. Once you get the hang of this pattern, it really does knit up fast. This sweater will be donated to our knitting ministry.
I am making great progress on my caplet, so far pretty easy to knit. With stitch markers in place it easy put in increases.

On the other hand my February sweater is not going as well. I completely started over, taking out the first part and getting a brand new skein of yarn! The increases were giving me a hard time on this one, for some reason having a hard time remember which side it which. I eventually figured out the button holes, but will have to do them all over again when I get to them again!

The Good and The Bad

2009-10-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple of tough weeks here for, a little of both that good and the bad. I am trying to keep up our daily and somewhat normal routines, but there have been a variety of interruptions, or um...opportunities that have come along and created a bit of chaos to that routine. While some of that chaos is truly good; friends visiting from out of state, a camping weekend with our church family, teaching both at church and home, spending time with friends. The bad has been mingled in there with family issues, loss of a loved ones, friends (and family) dealing with crisis, and just the pure exhaustion of learning to balance it all.

This week is somewhat calmer, with our routine a bit more, well, routine. Our to-do list is long, but a family vacation is not far off. For one week we can just relax, play, and be silly together.

Think Pink

2009-09-28T17:33:00.000-07:00

This month we are going to think pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Recently my dear aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer and started her journey through surgery and cancer treatments. Her name is added to a list of friends who are already have battled or are continuing their battle with this horrible disease.

Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the breast. It is considered a heterogeneous disease—differing by individual, age group, and even the kinds of cells within the tumors themselves. Obviously no woman wants to receive this diagnosis, but hearing the words “breast cancer” doesn’t always mean an end. It can be the beginning of learning how to fight, getting the facts, and finding hope.

Women in the United States get breast cancer more than any other type of cancer except for skin cancer. It is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in women.

Each year it is estimated that nearly 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die. Approximately 1,700 men will also be diagnosed with breast cancer and 450 will die each year. The evaluation of men with breast masses is similar to that in women, including mammography.

From "What is Breast Cancer?" at the National Breast Cancer Foundation Website.

During this month I want to take some time to honor those who have had to deal with breast cancer. If you would like to honor them you can leave their name in the comment box and will add it to our list on in the side bar. If you want to learn more about breast cancer or want to help, there are few links listed. If you have any other links you would like me to add, let me know.

Busy, busy, busy!

2009-09-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

I do have some projects to get posted, just need to get photos! It's been quite busy here with school, church, and cakes. For knitting I have been mainly working on my capelet, and was going along quite well...but alas, too many stitches and some mistakes noticed after several rows of knitting. I took about half of what I had done out, and now reworking that section. Worth the trouble, I probably could have adjust it, but I would know the mistakes were there!

Knit-In Hem

2009-08-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

I tackled the first new technique with my capelet called the knit-in hem. I was able to find a tutorial explaining how it is done, just so I was sure of what I was doing. The pattern didn't call for a invisible/provincial cast on, but the tutorial example does use one. Either way the method works well, but I would opt use the invisible cast one next time. It would save a lot of time picking up stitches as directed in the pattern, and give it the strength and body it needs at the collar area.

This photo shows where I have picked up the necessary stitches from the cast on row (yellow needle). The markers are on there to keep track of my stitch count. I now have three needles in which to knit the hem with. Very similar to the three-needle bind-off, just that you aren't binding off to the finish the hem in this case. Close up of picked up stitches ready to be used for the knit-in hem. I didn't feel it necessary to add the lace yarn to the picked up stitches, and only used the green yarn at this step.Completed knit-in hem, which is actually the top of the capelet and beginning of the capelet's collar. It was a little cumbersome at first but I did get the hang of it. I like how it turned out, very even and forms into the neckline very nicely.
Close-up of the right side of hem:Close up of wrong side of hem. At this point I have already knitted and placed markets to be begin the body of the capelet.

The next main portion of the pattern is basic knit and purl stitches, with a couple of different increase stitches along the way. As the main body of the capelet is formed, then I can decide exactly how I want to finish the edges and the collar.

Glamour Capelet

2009-08-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

I don't know what intrigued me about this pattern, because when you first look at it, glamour isn't a word that I would use to describe it. But it just kept calling my name and I finally bought the pattern. Ravelry was a great place to start looking at color options, and how others might have adapted the pattern.

At the beginning of summer I purchased several skeins Wool of the Andes Kettled Dyed Yarn (Ivy Color) through knitpicks.com, with the hopes of using it for a different pattern, but it was the wrong gauge. I also purchased Shimmer Hand Dyed Lace Yarn (bayou color) , a variegated yarn of brown, greens and teal blues. When combined with the WOTA yarn, the effect is a very pretty heathery color scheme. This turned out to be the right combination to use with this pattern.It's only in the very beginning stages, only a few rows into the neck portion. There are two new techniques with this pattern I am not all that sure about, the "knit-in hem collar" and "short-row knitting." Also I am not all that sure I like the ribbed collar, it seems rather bulky for my taste, so I may redesign it. It will certainly be a learn as I go pattern!

And now back to knitting...Adult February Sweater

2009-08-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Up first is a project I started a few months ago, the Adult February Sweater.

This is NOT my sweater, it's Pamela's the pattern's designer.

This is the baby sweater I did a few months ago. Great pattern, really do want to make another!

I really did enjoy knitting the Baby version...ok, once I got it figured out!, and really wanted to give this adult pattern a try. This pattern is based on one from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter Almanac, a popular book amongst knitters of all ages and skill levels. Elizabeth's original pattern is actually titled "Baby Sweater on Two Needles", since the entire sweater was designed to be knit on one pair of circular knitting needles. Now it's more commonly known in knitting circles as the "February Baby Sweater," because in the Elizabeth's book the pattern is written under the February Chapter that features a variety of knitted baby items.

Some very clever knitters figured out from Elizabeth's vague pattern (also known as pithy directions) how to actually knit the entire sweater without any seams. Which would, of course, now require two sets of circular needles because the sleeves are now knit in the round, with no side seams. Now if you are completely confused, don't worry so it seems are most knitters when it comes to this pattern. However, once you understand the pattern and the modifications you will be surprised how easy it really is to knit! Ravely has a forum that can give you plenty of help if you are willing to try it. I spent several hours reading and asking questions in order to get my first February Sweater finished!

Now another clever knitter modified the pattern for us ladies, also becoming a very popular pattern in the knitting community. Pamela Wynne of flintknits, describes the pattern as "a swingy lace cardigan, ...lovely based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's classic "Baby Sweater on Two Needles..." There are plenty of beautiful examples on Ravely.com to look at, showing a variety of yarn variations. The pattern has recently been modified and updated, and can be found at the above link or on the Raverly pattern database. One Ravely member posted she saw a mom and baby at the Stitches West Convention wearing match sweaters!

For this pattern I decided to use the Malabrigo Yarn I purchased back in February at Stitches West. If you haven't knit with this yarn, try at least one pattern with it. It's soft and smooth, and fairly easy to knit with. Because it is wool, it's not the best to knit with in the summer. It's definitely not wash and wear, or you will have a felted doll sweater if you aren't careful! Have no doubt that this sweater will keep me warm in the winter!

Beautiful Malabrigo Yarn in Marine Blue:

The beginning of my sweater...

As from the photo you can see I didn't get very far. I got stuck on the button holes and had to put it aside. Between the frustration of the button holes, and the heat, I decided to just wait.

I choose to use my knitpick's harmony option needles with this yarn, absolutely wonderful wooden needles to work with, as well as beautiful! Realizing I didn't have enough yarn to make the complete sweater I need to order two more skeins. I was able to find a company that had this particular color (Webs was out of stock), unfortunately the dye lots don't match, but I am not going to let that bother me. I will mix up the lots on the lace part so you won't notice the shade difference as much.

When I purchased the extra skeins I also bought these beautiful buttons to match. I opted to only do three buttons at the top and let the rest just hang open. At this point I think I am glad because the buttonholes are getting the best of me right now!

I have several other projects that I am working on, that I will post on later. A few of them are in my project que at Raverly, but I need to get photo and update the progress. I have a beautiful cape that I started, a blanket I need to get finished, and a baby sweater that just has few rows left to go!

Happy Knitting!

P.S. Decided to try out a more of a seasonal theme, celebrating the start of the new school year!

Summer Recap

2009-08-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

Before I get to the knitting projects, I will give you a little recap to our summer.

An early Father's Day dinner at Black Angus. John and the kids left on Father's Day for camp, so we enjoyed a nice family dinner together the night before.

John, Tyler and Lauren enjoyed a week of Scholarship camp up near Yosemite National Park at Sugar Pine Christian Camp. I spent the week watching movies, knitting, getting out to a movie, and trying to not be to bored while they were away.

Lauren and John at the waterfalls near the camp...

Vacation Bible School immediately followed. I taught the Kindergarten class, while John helped in the opening sessions and music classes. Tyler assisted the music director, and Lauren enjoyed being a student in the pre-teen class. We left the Friday after we put as much away in my class as possible and spent the 4th of July weekend with friends. Thankfully we all got to sleep in while we were there!

The kids and I had an opportunity to attend the Christian Home Educator's of California Convention soon after. We traveled with friends to Long Beach for the three day weekend of workshops, encouraging speakers, and lots of shopping for curriculum.

We stopped at a beach before we settled in for the weekend at the convention.

Lauren smiles from inside a huge Yucca Tree: Tyler at the shore of the Pacific Ocean, on the rocks of the tide pool.

With a little break in between summer events, we enjoyed a trip to the San Fransisco to celebrate Tyler's birthday a little early since he would be on choir tour. Breakfast at the famous Cliff House Bistro (love the popovers), and then for some fun at the Exploratorium.

Tyler on tour performing in one of the skits. On this particular night he got a surprise visit from his aunt who drove to Oceanside to see him sing!

Lauren begins horse riding lessons. A break from dance, she decides to try out horse riding. Here she is leading the horse, "Barbie" to the riding area. At her first lesson she learned to go and get the horse, put on the bridle and saddle, and even got to learn how to walk and direct the horse where to go. She loved it, and was so excited to go back.
Unfortunately after we welcomed her brother home from his first choir tour, she ended up on the hospital last Monday with a emergency appendectomy. She spent her last week of summer recovering, no swimming, no horse riding, but lots of movies! On Saturday, John and Tyler got out to do some BMX type biking and that ended poorly with John having a broken elbow and Tyler a very sore wrist. Both were also scraped up pretty badly. I am over my horrible cold, and everyone else is recovering!

Now our "fall" begins as we get our school year underway. John and I are busy preparing for Awana at our church. We don't have a lot planned other than our normal routine of school and church activities. A camping trip in October, and then maybe a trip out to Kentucky for the holidays.

It has been a very eventful summer, wonder what the next few months hold for us!?
Hopefully lots of knitting for me!

Redecorating

2009-08-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

It's time for me to update my blog, in more ways that one!

Not sure if I will keep this, but like the fact I can update it with the seasons using these free templates.

On the homefront...

The appendectomy patient is recovering quite well, and will have another work of summer before she begins her schoolwork.

The high school student started today with school by sitting down with me and preparing notebooks and lesson plans.

The broken elbow biker is still in a lot of pain, but managed to get to work and will be home later.

The blogger lady is going to fix up a chicken, rice and cheese casserole for dinner, then meet some of her friends for dinner.

I promise to get pictures posted this week of current knitting projects. I do have a couple I can't wait to finish, and many more waiting to jump on those needles! Probably time to think about what to knit or crochet for Christmas!

Bikes and Elbows

2009-08-16T19:42:00.001-07:00

While Lauren was at home recuperating, John and Tyler decided to head out and do a little BMX type of bike riding. Sure we will stay home and they can enjoy some dad and some time. Fast forward to this afternoon, after a trip the urgent care after a miserable night of pain in John's elbow. His elbow has a break, and now he is resting. Knitting...not sure when I will get those updates posted. Stayed tuned, I will get them up before too long....I hope.

Quick Little Update....

2009-08-14T00:19:00.001-07:00

I hear there are a few people out there anxious to have me update this blog!

No knitting news...just that we had a little emergency with Lauren this past week. After and emergency appendectomy on Monday night, Lauren come home Tuesday afternoon, and has been recovering at home. And so are the rest of us.

Newest Member of the Family

2009-07-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

Meet Dexter.Dexter is a Siamese Delta Tail Fighting Fish. We are still trying to figure out how often to feed him. The box that the aquarium came in says to feed it 2 to 3 times a week, the package of food that also come in the box says "feed your betta 2 to 3 times a day." We finally found that most websites suggest once a day, with one day off. And that they like a variety of food, so I guess I need to look for freeze dried brine shrimp.

We also read that Dexter might like a cave or something to hide behind so he can have privacy and to rest. Of course we also learned that it can't be sharp or scratchy because it might tear his fins. And I thought dogs and cats were a high maintenance animals, the more I keep reading about Betta's, maybe a goldfish would be better.

Lauren is happy and getting to know her new friend. Did have to explain you can't carry him around the house, he needs to stay in his "home base" in the kitchen.

Changes...

2009-07-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

I am considering tweaking my blog a bit, instead of focusing on knitting changing it to more of a family focus. I have been so busy of late, and it not of the knitting variety, so have little show in the way of knitting progress. Have plenty to blog about other stuff! Vacations, family, Vacation Bible School, fish, homeschooling, and a little knitting can be thrown in!

If you have any suggestions on new templates, leave a comment!

Working On...

2009-06-01T21:35:00.001-07:00

Another EZ Baby Sweater for the Community Pregnancy Center. This one is a pretty smoky blue and soft yellow stripes.

A modified Modern Log Cabin Blanket. This one is with homespun yarn, and based on a pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting.

And continuing to work on a crocheted baby blanket, Granny square style. I am not very fast at crocheting so this one is taking me some time! It not done yet, I have some more rows to do so it will be a nice sized baby blanket.

My first "February Baby Sweater"

2009-06-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

It took me several tries to get this going, but I got through it and can't wait to make another! I found that using stitch markers helped me keep track of the lace pattern better. Working on the sleeves came from lots of help from the EZ group on Raverly! I was able to knit the sweater in the round, which was not quite as hard as I had expected. I did miss putting in the button holes, so just used small buttons, (directions were a little hazy on how where to put the button holes, but I finally figured it out!) I love the color, hope little Adrian loves it as much as I do! (It's actually a lot me brick red than this picture.)

Toddler Fun Fur Poncho

2009-06-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

My friend's granddaughter turned one the other day and I (with the help of my daughter) created a fun poncho for her. I used one strand each of dark pink and light pink fun fur with one strand of dark brown yarn. Adding the brown yarn made knitting with the fun fur a lot easier. I think it's a bit wild for my taste, but I am pretty sure little Elli will like it, or at least her grandmother!

Happy Birthday Elli!

No pictures yes, just a short update!

2009-05-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

I still haven't got any pictures to post, so you will have to wait just little longer. I am working on a little poncho for my friend's granddaughter, but ran out of fun fur. Fortunately I was able to find one skein on Raverly so I can finish it up soon her birthday is next week!

I have been feeling quite poorly of late, and no I don't believe it's the swine flu, but people do ask, some sarcastically, but others I ask so seriously! I haven't had much energy for much last few days, and even today still don't quite feel myself.

We are slowing transiting to summer, certain activities at church are taking a break for the summer time, while we begin to prepare for others like camp and Vacation Bible School. Our family continues school throughout the summer, but work around our summer activities.

I do hope to get a lot of knitting, have a lot of projects that need to be finished and new ones that I need to get swatch and started. No promises on when I will post pictures, but I will try to get some before too long!

Family Update

2009-05-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday, here in the Bay Area it's sunny and cool, warming up as the morning speeds along. I have neglected keeping you updated on my blog and reading your blogs, and it time to sit down and do a little of both!

Our family has been busy of late, seems to always happen this time of year. Holidays, birthdays, anniversary, church events, and every day life just seems to overwhelm our schedule. We celebrate Easter with family and friends, and had full weekend of celebrating our risen Savior. Then it was time to purchase a new van, which took another full weekend sorting through our options and costs. We settle on a particular van, and were able to purchase it right away in early April.

DH has been through three rounds of layoff's, the last one coming right on my birthday in April. Again God took care of us and John's job is secure for the time being. Later that night we celebrate all of God's blessings with friends at the most wonderful restaurant at Santana Row in San Jose, Maggianos. Because it was spring break for most of the students around here, it was quite packed, thankfully I had booked our reservations the week before. My favorite part of dinner was the creme brulee we had for dessert, can't think of a better way to end the day!

Then it was time to celebrate our anniversary! Yes, April is a busy month! We dropped the kids off for Vacation Bible School training (they were helpers this year), and we enjoyed a quite evening at home with dinner, a movie, and a new Wii game. The following night we dropped the kids off where our DS attends for Awana, and we enjoyed a very nice dinner at Macaroni Grill. Not quite as nice as Maggianos, but one of our favorite Italian restaurants to get out to every now and then, and both the food and the atmosphere were just right to celebrate 18 years of marriage.

And if that wasn't enough, John's parents arrived from Kentucky soon after and we had a full schedule of activities while they were here. I had the privilege of making them a wedding cake. We enjoyed the week with John's parents, and then Sunday said goodbye to them as they prepare for their first cruise. Between all of that we also had our annual Ladies Tea at our church. I was busy with preparations for that, but managed to finish everything and still spend plenty of time with my in-laws. Now it's time to prepare for our annual Awana Awards night this coming Sunday, and then we have the summer off from teaching on Sunday Evening.

We will not really wrap up school, since we just continue schooling through the summer, but final grades and reports are due in June and I need to work on getting those finished. Then summer will be here and it will be time for camp, vacation Bible school, and other summer activities. Makes me wonder if we ever slow down!

I am squeezing in knitting when I can. I did finish the February Sweater, and started a few more projects. I am looking forward to knitting between lessons, running errands and getting the house picked up. When I can I will post pictures of what I have been working on, (if you are part of Raverly, you can see a few things a started. I do need to update pictures there too!)

Even though our lives are very busy, we are very blessed. I enjoyed a lovely day with my family yesterday as we celebrate Mother's Day with lunch at Panera (yes, I really wanted to eat there!) a movie, then finished the evening off at Famous Dave's (not my favorite, but I know my family enjoys it!). Then I was able to sit and just knit until I fell asleep in my favorite chair!

Hope all of you who are mothers enjoyed a day of rest, and the rest of you treated your mother with lots of love!

I better get this posted and catch up on what my blogger friends have been up to!

Yep, I am still trying to knit

2009-03-30T17:03:00.001-07:00

Between cakes and chocolate I am managing to get in my knitting and now crocheting. I am trying to get my February Sweater going...again. I was getting ready to work on sleeves and realized I left out an increase row. After frogging back to the correct number of stitches, which was back quite a bit, I am back on track and starting the lace pattern after completing the yoke.
I started a new project at our church's knitting ministry the other night, a simple crocheted blanket to put with the EZ sweater I finished a few weeks ago. I am using the left over yarn from the baby sweater so it will match nicely.
Thanks Carole! She is a great teacher!

Baby Booties and Hat

2009-03-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

I wanted to learn how to make booties and found a great crochet pattern. They turned out well, and so did the little hat. The booties were very easy to make once I figured out the directions...still a little new at reading crochet instructions. These are going to the donation basket at church.

EZ Baby Sweater: Raspberries and Cream

2009-03-07T15:08:00.000-08:00

All finished! Left off the last two knit rows, replaced it with one row of single crochet and one row of picot stitch around the jacket. Added one row of single crochet and one row of picot stitch on sleeve edge.

Stitches West 2009 Recap

2009-03-02T10:13:00.001-08:00

I attended my first Stitches West Knitting Expo last week - me and hundreds of other knitters - it was truly amazing to see so many knitters. I arrived in time to check in at the registration desk, get a feel for what was going on and then spent the rest of my time trying to find the room for my class. Fortunately I eventually found it and got settled in for my 3 hour class on learning how to cable.

My first class, "Cables Untangled" was taught by Melissa Leapman who presented our class in a manner that made everyone feel at ease and confident to get started. First, we learned how to read those, often intimidating, knitting charts and got a feel for understanding how to use them for cabling. With our first swatch in hand, she walked us through our first cable chart. My first several attempts were quite pathetic, but Melissa was very patience with all of us who were struggling and gave us plenty of time to get the hang of it. When I got home, I actually took out what we did in class, and knitted it all over again, which I found very helpful.

Here is what my first cable swatch sampler:

Three different types of cables:
In the green I actually did one of the cables wrong. It's towards the bottom, I think I was supposed to move the cable needle to the back, but instead I moved it to the front.Our second swatch was a little more challenging, but my first attempt in class come out better than I anticipated. Again, I decided to start it over but using a different yarn that I had picked out for class. It took me a few attempts to get it started, and I had to go back and redo a few places. This one I really have to concentrate on because you have to remember not only where place the cable needle, but when to purl and when to knit along the way. I think I will keep doing this pattern and make it into a scarf. Melissa suggested using a wool blend of yarn rather than the yarn many of us were using in class, acrylic blends. Her opinion was that wool blends give a more defined detail and bring out the cable appearance. I personally found it easier, because my yarn wasn't splitting.

Here is our second cable project done in rowan soft baby. I took me several repeats to see what the pattern was supposed to look like.

Close up of cable pattern:We skipped one project #3, which I think I am grateful for, since after she explained it briefly I am not sure I would have understood how to do it. Instead we skipped to our final swatch, where we added a second color of yarn. Very cool, and actually seemed a lot easier than the first two. However I am not going to keep this swatch and will take it out (if I haven't already done so by the time I get this posted!) and use the yarn for my original projects. When Melissa was explaining that this project was basically a form of fair isle knitting. She added that she doesn't put that in the class description because she felt if she did she would scare away potential students telling people they would be learning to cable with two colors at the same time!

Fair Isle and Cables all together:
This is the back of my swatch. One thing we had to learn was how to make the yarn go across properly. These stitch are called floats, and in order for the fabric not to curl, you have to make very loose floats. As you can tell I am still learning to make the floats with less tension.On Saturday I did a 6 Hour class with Gwen Bortner on how to adapt a published pattern. We learned how to properly swatch and check our gauge so we can make a published pattern fit as we want it too. After several exercises on how to recalculate gauge, adjusting the numbers we were able to see how we could take just about any pattern and tweak it to give an almost perfect fit. There was so much we went over I can't even begin to explain it.

If you ever get a chance to take a class taught by Gwen invest in it. This particular class covered a lot of ground in 6 hours. On her website I see that she also offers this class broken down into small classes of 1 or 3 hours, focusing only on certain topics for each one. However taking the 6 hour class will give you the complete picture of using gauge, preparing swatches, proper measurements, understanding the math of knitting, and how to really make a garment fit, etc. It's like a puzzle that now all neatly fits together on how to adapt a published pattern. No pictures of this class, but in the future I hope to be able to show that I did using her methods.

The market place was OK for me. There was plenty of beautiful yarns, and other items out there for sale. I am not all that familiar with yarn companies, especially ones that spin and dye their own yarn and sell as their own label. I am more of a Lion Brand Yarn or Knit Picks type yarn person. There was yarn that was absolutely gorgeous, soft to touch, beautiful colorways and plenty of delightful textures. However, most of these to-die-for-yarns were quite expensive, especially when you need several skeins to make a project. There were places that had bins of yarns, that were prepackaged, but even they were too expensive for me, even with the sale price. For me, this is not my one and only hobby, so I just couldn't see spending that kind of money on yarn.

So even though Thursday was preview night, and only open to students, I didn't stay long. I guess I didn't really know what I was looking at or for. I did purchase some yarn from Webs because I wanted to get some nice yarn for my swatch for Saturday's class. I have ordered from before and most the yarn was in my price range. By Saturday I was interested in giving the market another chance. Despite that it was a lot more crowded, I did find a few things I knew I could use. I also felt a lot more confident that I could purchase yarn that I would/could use for the many patterns that I accumulated from what I learning in my class!

I ended up purchasing several nice yarns from Webs. Their prices were more in my price range and as always most yarn can be discounted when you purchase a certain amount.

Malabrigo Worsted in Marine Blue:

Valley Yarns Stockbridge in Chocolate Brown:

Valley Yarns Springfield in blue:

Plymouth Silk Merino in Pink:

As we were getting settled and set up for our Saturday class, one lady pulled out her handy caddy and set it up in her work space. Turns out they were being sold at the Market place, but I must have missed them on Thursday. They had did have a nice two for one special, and I thought they would be very useful for me since I take my knitting with me to a variety of places.

I have always wanted some kind of shawl pin, but most I have seen are so expensive for my taste. I found these very simple ones at the Gita Maria Booth and decided to get two. Guess I should finish one of my shawls now so I can start putting them to use. She also has beautiful jewelry and I would have loved to get a pair of earrings, but decided that I could add that to my wish list for another time.
Over all I am very glad I choose to attend Stitches West. My classes were definitely worth it, and I feel I got some very helpful and useful information. My son asked if I would attend again, and after thinking about it, I said yes. Not really for the market place, but definitely for the classes.

Stitches West 2009

2009-02-23T17:44:00.000-08:00

Stitches West Knitting Expo 2009 will be here in Santa Clara this Thursday, and I decided to try it out this year. Back in November when I decided to take a few classes, many of the classes were already full. I was able to register for two classes.

My first one is a three hour class on learning how to cable with Melissa Leapman. There are a lot of patterns out there that have cables in them, so it's time to learn.

My second is called "Adaptations-Customizing a Published Pattern." with Gwen Bortner. Class description: The pattern is just what you were looking for except for a few changes. A different yarn, maybe a different stitch pattern, change the sleeve length or make a different neck line. Gain hands-on experience converting a published pattern to meet your design ideals.
I am always seeing patterns that I like, but want to change something about it, and this sounded like the perfect class for me.

With this being my first Knitting Expo I am not sure what to expect. I understand that the market place is huge and to be prepared to be overwhelmed. I don't really plan on buying much, but I do want to get some nice yarn to use for my class on Saturday. Fortunately because I have a class on Thursday afternoon, I will be able to attend the Market place preview after my class. Then on Friday it's open to anyone who wants to attend the Expo but not enrolled in a class.

I crocheted my first pair of baby booties, so very cute. I am working on a matching hat, when I get it finished I will post pictures of both the hat and booties.

Off to prepare for Stitches!

Baby Blankets

2009-02-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

I planned a day for the youth girls from our church to come over to work on the rag baby blankets. The squares were all cut and just needed to be sewn together. Three girls from our church's youth group were able to come over. Only one would go near the sewing machine. The other one would only piece the squares together and pin them. The third girl enjoyed the cookies and chips. We did get one blanket completely put together, and get the seams cut. We also were able to piece and pin together two more blankets. I also prepared three other blankets to be sewn that are not the rag quilt style.

I am still quite new at teaching and working with teenagers, especially girls. I still need to perfect how to best direct them with a project. Having started just teaching them on Sunday Mornings, I also have a lot to learn about directing them in general!

Even though I might not have kept them on task the entire time, we did have a good time and we did complete one blanket!

Two more rag blankets to sew together, plus three more quilt baby blankets. Lauren is also working on her own rag quilt blanket to donate to the Community Pregnancy Center. So by the time we are done we should have 6 finished baby blankets. Plus the one we will be doing Friday night with my Awana Girls (3rd through 6th graders), it will be done in Awana colors, red, blue, green and yellow. I am almost done with the EZ sweater, it is turning out so cute. I can't wait to see all the project finished and donated to the center!

Raspberry and Cream EZ Baby Sweater

2009-02-13T15:23:00.000-08:00

My second EZ sweater and I am getting more comfortable knitting it. I decided to add in some stripes and really like how it is starting to look. Thank goodness for the DVD on showing how to knit this, it has been a big help.

Cupcakes and More Projects

2009-02-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

I had wanted to do dozen of cupcakes when I starting putting together my plans for my Purls of Grace Ministry. Well, I got three done, and I am not sure I will be knitting anymore. I much prefer the ones you bake and then enjoy later! I did enjoy crocheting the flowers on the top, they are very cute! (I just found that my daughter gave the pink icing one to her friend's mom for her birthday!)

These cupcakes were all knitting using the Little Cotton Rabbits Pattern. I made a mistake on my first one, and missed a row, so my icing is flat instead in the reserve stockinette stitch.

Now I am on to other projects! I have been working mainly on my poncho, but wanted to go ahead and start a baby sweater for charity. I am using the yarn that I had purchased for the cupcakes.

Using the Raspberry colored yarn as my main color and pink for the stripes, this is the Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Surprise Jacket. I have the DVD with her daughter Meg Swanson showing how to knit it, which for me, helps out a lot on how to knit this sweater correctly.

I have been working on this poncho for a while. I am much happier with the way it is turning out this time. I am currently on the second panel. The original pattern has a black fun fur trim, I am not sure if I will do that or will see how much extra yarn I have and do a crocheted border to give it a different finish.When I introduced our newest addition to my Purls of Grace Ministry, "Joyful Stitches" I demonstrated rag blankets. Lauren has been doing most of the sewing of the squares and we should be finished soon. The representative from the Community Pregnancy Center is coming to our church this Sunday and I want to have it ready to give to her along with a couple of the crocheted hats that a friend did for the ministry.

I was thrilled when the youth girls at my church wanted to help me with the blankets, I have plenty of fabric for several!

Friday update

2009-01-30T23:07:00.000-08:00

It's been an interesting week...

on call for two days for jury duty, with one afternoon in the courtroom, fortunately I was dismissed.

waiting all week to find out to find out if DH was still employed. Notice was given last week that lay off were coming, thankfully he is still employed, a big sign of relief for our family.

trying to pull everything together for my "Purls of Grace" knitting ministry event on Thursday.

reading up on how to do rag quilts, trying to find all the stuff I need for the demonstration on Thursday night. Trying to figure out how much flannel to buy, what colors, to use, how to back them, then trying to get the "barbie" sewing machine to work for the demonstration. (Lauren was my demonstrator for the evening, she was very excited to sew the squares together.)

trying to homeschool two active children, who find that the computer (or just about anything else!) is so much more interesting than their homework.

trying to knit cupcakes for Thursday's party.

Getting cupcakes baked and frosted for Thursday's party. A funny conversation with my daughter regarding cupcakes:

Me: Lauren can you help me with the cupcakes?

Lauren: (Looking a little concerned): I am not sure I can knit, and purl, and do that fancy stuff with them. But I ....

Me: (Realizing she talking about the knitted ones, and not the baking ones!) I interrupt her and say: Oh I don't mean those cupcakes, I mean these cupcakes (pointing to the box of baking mix.)

Lauren: Oh, good, those are lot easier!

I have photos that I will post later of the cupcakes. It's been a long week and tomorrow I have plenty to keep me just as busy as this week was!

Knitting for the new year

2009-01-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

Back before Christmas I posted that I saw Starbuck's had Yarn Wreaths on display for Christmas. I also posted I started working on my very own. Marcia even did one herself! However with the rush of the holiday season, I never did get it finished. I do plan to get it done, once we get a little more settled into our routine.

What I did get was an actual wreath from Starbucks! My DH had went into one of our many Starbucks during the holidays and before he left, he went back and asked he could have one after the holidays. It just happened that the person he spoke with said she was the store decorator and asked him for his contact information so she could all him after the holidays. Last week she gave us a call and he came home with this...It's actually the large wreath that sat on one of the display counters. He came home with this wreath on a stand and the box it was standing on, plus the large ball of yarn with the dove on top of it, and it's box for it to stand on. I am not going to take it off the wreath off it's stand just yet, just pack it away as is for now. I am going to use the large ball of yarn in a few weeks for a display at my next knit-a-long at church.

Ok, for the cupcakes, my first didn't come out very well...I had trouble with the two patterns I tried using. I found another pattern from Little Cotton Rabbit, Julie's cupcakes are also adorable, and so are all of her sweet little knitted rabbit, flowers, and a variety of other knitted toys. Her cupcakes are knitted flat and then carefully stitched together. Click on the photo and it will show you more of her sweet styles of cupcakes
I will see how my next attempt is at knitting cupcakes, and hopefully get a few pictures posted for you.

On my cake blog I am asking for help to choose a design for a cake this month. Stop by and take a look and vote for which design you like best!

Happy Knitting!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-05T16:12:00.000-08:00

Blessings to all my friends and family in this new year!

Dreamin' of Cupcakes

2008-12-30T16:50:00.000-08:00

In January our knitting ministry at my church celebrates their first birthday, which got me to thinking about cakes and cupcakes. that got me to thinking about the idea to try my hand at knitting a cupcake, thanks to Ravelry there is no shortage of patterns for all kinds of creative cupcakes. I spent last night trying to find the "perfect" one for me to try, and this one was the cupcake that caught my eye.

My favorite part of this cupcake pattern is the lining. However I want to put a flower on the top since that is something I like to make for my real cupcakes. I found these crochet ones, the ones with the leaves are my favorite so far. (you should be able to click on any picture and have it take you directly to the pattern.)

I went to Micheal's to get some yarn and was disappointed to see that even though the sale just started most of the yarn was sold out, and the displays were quite bare. Several other ladies there was also disappointed, one even said it was this way before Christmas and was surprised they would have a sale with nothing for customers to buy! I was able to find a large skein of brown, and several different colors that would look nice as icing, flowers and cupcake liners. I am pretty sure I have the right size needles and hooks.

I am not quite sure how I will use these at our next Knit-A-long in January, but thinking on the lines of using them as door prizes. We will have a birthday party theme for our January KAL, and hopefully can encourage more ladies to attend.

I also saw this and REALLY want to make one, guess this will go on my list of projects. Always more patterns to try and not enough time to actually get them done!

Tulip Skirt

2008-12-29T11:30:00.000-08:00

This morning I finished up Lauren's Tulip Skirt. (For members of Raverly, there are more details of what I did differently than the pattern.) I knitted it slightly bigger around and much longer than the orginal pattern. I used Caron Simply Soft Brites yarn, one of my favorite yarns to knit with. Inexpensive, soft and washable.

Front of Skirt: (well, really there is no front and back since it all knit in the round.)
Side view:
Back View:

After Christmas Cookies

2008-12-28T17:54:00.001-08:00

Lauren had a friend over after church this afternoon. They had fun painting cookies, and baking one of my favorites, Chocolate Truffle cookies. (Here is the recipe, I only use a little bit of tiny chocolate chips, the regular ones are way too big for a delicate cookies. I also use a cookie scoop and make tiny cookies, just dipping the top in the sprinkles. Otherwise you have sprinkles that burn on the bottom. They are really rich so tiny cookies are best!)

Today I also got most of the Christmas decorations sorted, packed and ready to either give away or put back in the attic. I know if I don't get them down now, I will get lazy and not get them done until the end of January!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T11:17:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! Have a blessed Holiday!

Mary's Boy Child

Mary's boy child Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day.
And man will live for evermore because of Christmas Day.
Long time ago in Bethlehem so the Holy Bible said Mary's boy child Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day.
Hark now hear the angels sing a king was born today And man will live for evermore because of Christmas Day.
Mary's boy child Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day. While shepherds watch their flocks by night, they see a bright new shining star, they hear a choir sing a song, the music seemed to come from afar.
Hark, now hear the angels sing, a king was born today, And man will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day.
Oh a moment still worth was a glow, all the bells rang out there were tears of joy and laughter, people shouted "let everyone know, there is hope for all to find peace".
Now Joseph and his wife, Mary, came to Bethlehem that night, they found no place to bear her child, not a single room was in sight. And then they found a little nook in a stable all forlorn, and in a manger cold and dark, Mary's little boy was born.
Hark, now hear the angels sing, a king was born today, And man will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day.

Away in the Manger

2008-12-23T14:06:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite parts of Christmas has always been the nativity scene that we put up at Christmas time growing up. When I got married, that didn't change and we got a small one for our first Christmas. Now I have a variety of ones. If I could I would have a dozen more, but I don't have any room...sorry no pun intended there...for any more! My dream nativity is the Willow Tree one, but until then I will enjoy the ones I already have.

The Large Nativity in the background of this first picture is a paper one from the 1940's, it is exactly like the one I had as a child. My mom gave me ours, but it was in such poor shape, I wanted to get another to replace it. Ebay had quite a few of them a few years back and they weren't very hard to get at all, now it's nearly impossible to find a good one that isn't terribly expensive. I love the look of it, the style of illustration is one of my absolute favorites. The pastel colored one is from my late grandmother, she even dated it with the year she gave it to me. The other is an ornament I found a few years ago.

The metal nativity is from Old Town San Diego, next to it is my nativity from our first trip to Hawaii, made from a coconut, the metal one with the paper backing is another one of my favorites, the others are ones I have either collected or been given. The nativity below this picture is another one I picked up at an after Christmas sale. Next to it on the left, is an adorable ornament I received as a gift, it's one I want to try and make to give as a gift some day!

This nativity (picture below) has a very unique story with it that took place about 8 years ago. The kids were still pretty young, making the whole experience even more exciting to them. Not long after Thanksgiving we started getting small packages in the mail with each one containing one figure from a nativity set,coloring pages or an activity sheet and a hymn or story to go along with the certain figure. I kept a record of each package and the date we received it and put it in a folder. On Christmas Eve., the doorbell rang and there was our friends and their children standing there. As soon as we opened the door the youngest was holding the manager with baby Jesus, and everyone singing "Away in the Manger." (Not having the folder right in front of me, I don't remember if they sent the stable part later on or when they arrived that night.) Needless to say, this one has the best story behind it.

This nativity was what we picked out for our first Christmas after we were married. When we first purchased it we used the large stable two pictures up, then I found the smaller one and began using it with our Advent Candle Wreath.
I also have a Precious Moments Christmas Nativity set, but it's in our display case in our hallway. I usually take it out, but right now I can't get to it. My mom is responsible for that one, giving me a portion of it each year. I am not a big fan of precious moments, but have to say I really like this set, and keep it out on display all year long. We also have the Little People Nativity, which is favorite of my daughter. I use it for church when I am teaching with the younger children, so it often out all year long as well.

In addition to my nativity sets, I have variety of nativity ornaments that I have collected over the years, plus a variety of artwork that I have kept over the years from the children. Definitely my favorite part of Christmas are Nativities!

Christmas is almost here...

2008-12-22T22:03:00.000-08:00

...and I am pretty much ready, even if they house isn't.

I did go out today for groceries, not too bad at Trader Joe's three days before Christmas. Then later I went to Walmart, got a parking spot right away. It wasn't terribly crowded as I have seen in the past. When I went to check out, they still have the garden center open, one person finishing at the check-out and I didn't have to wait in line at all. I didn't get anything for Christmas, unless you count the cute pajamas I got for Lauren that were a holiday theme.

I baked cookies and Christmas treats most of the day on Saturday to hand out to friends at church on Sunday. A lot of work, but the cookies were beautiful after Lauren painted them. She sang a solo for the first time in the morning worship, then we had lunch with a family from church. During lunch we got a call that said Lauren didn't have to dance, it was too cold and wet to tap dance at the event in downtown San Jose. Kinda of relieved since everyone - except me - have all had colds. Lauren is almost over hers, but dad and Tyler's seem to be hanging on. It was nice to just sit, watch a movie and rest!

Today I mostly cleaned, Lauren had a friend over and they cleaned in her room, and I made john sit down and rest. Tyler still isn't feeling all the great, so helped a little and rested with Dad. I have pretty much all the gifts wrapped, with the exception of a couple little ones. We are planning to stay home Christmas Day and then visit family the next day. Other than just picking up around here, we are pretty much ready for Christmas.

What's Been Keeping Me Busy

2008-12-17T09:02:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activities. I traveled down south to the city of Santa Ana the first weekend in December, to volunteer at the Operation Chr istmas Child distribution center. It was a blessing to be able to be directly involved in helping to minister to children all over the world. As the staff remind us quite often when we are there, this often is the only gift that many of these children will receive.

Upon returning home, it was time to finished preparing for our big Christmas production at church. I had costumes to repair, a skirt to hem, and music to learn (yes, I was still working on learning the music to sing). With nightly rehearsals going late, it made for late mornings, and needless to say a difficult time getting up and getting school work done. After 6 performances, everyone who could, joined in to strike the set late Sunday night. Needless to say, Monday morning we all slept in.

I spent Monday and Tuesday preparing for our annual Ladies Christmas Party at church. The theme this year was "A Charlie Brown Christmas." I was responsible for the craft project and making prizes for one of the activities. It really was a very nice evening, and I also found out who my secret sister was. I was really surprised, I had no idea it was the pastor's wife!

Our craft was making Christmas Tree Ornaments using paper castings I made from my brown bag cookie molds. I spent late Monday night and most of Tuesday getting everything ready. ( I also molded Chocolate Snowmen that were the prizes for the snowman building contest.)

About half of the paper castings for the ornaments:Close-ups of paper castings:

Set up at church:
Here are a couple examples of our finished ornaments:
Each table was decorated with Charlie Brown and his very special tree.

Each table had to build a snowman, as you can see each one come out quite adorable. One even has a little cell phone in his hand. The ladies who's snowman was awarded first prize got to take home a chocolate snowman of their own.

First Place Snowman:
Second Place on the left, Third on Right:

Chocolate Snowman Prize. I used Wilton Candy Melts in my snowman brown bag cookie molds.
As for my knitting, I fit it in when I can. Right now mostly working on the tulip skirt and poncho, both have a simple pattern that I can do while relaxing or watching tv or a movie.

Yarn Christmas Wreath (Update)

2008-12-01T15:46:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving we stopped at Starbucks for afternoon treat and what did I find...yarn! Yarn balls on the Starbuck's decorations all over the store. Now my first thought was how could I get one of these, second was, could I make one, and the last was this has to go on my blog! Here is another photo from Flickr of one.

This morning I got to thinking I could make something similar, and picked up a few supplies at Micheal's. Apparently Micheal's is the place to be, there were dozens of people there this afternoon. Got to be those email coupons they are sending out!

Update! I did start my wreath, and we will post a picture later when I get a chance. I purchased simply soft caron yarn, autumn red and dark sage green - it was on sale, even better. I decided to use this yarn since I liked the color and it's thicker yarn. I bought one package of small foam balls, and medium, I didn't want them to be huge. Holiday ribbon was 50% off, so I picked up a pretty gold and holly print to compliment it. Instead of doing the entire wreath in yarn ball and ornaments, I picked a fake evergreen wreath (also on sale). After I finish up the balls of yarn, I will attach them some floral wire, put the ribbon on and it should be done! Keep you posted!

Thanksgiving Day is Coming...

2008-11-25T12:25:00.000-08:00

"Thanksgiving Day is coming, Thanksgiving Day is coming, Thanksgiving Day is coming...

And we will have a wonderful time."
(Preschool Choir Song)

My turkey is resting and thawing in the fridge. I have everything we need to complete the rest of the meal waiting for the big day. Scones in the freezer are ready for the oven for our Thanksgiving Breakfast. Still some housework to do before my mom and her husband arrive for Thanksgiving Dinner. I doubt this year there will be any Black Friday Shopping, don't really need anything and nothing out there I really want to get up at 4:00 in the morning for. We have friends in town coming over the day on Friday, much better way to spend the day that fighting the crowds down tiny shopping aisles.

I started the February sweater, but I am a bit stuck at the sleeves and trying to figure out the pithy directions in the book, and the advice on the zimmermanics ravelry group. Not only do I not really get EZ's directions, trying to figure out knitting sleeves in the round as an alternative is not helping either. I can't seem to wrap my brain around what I am supposed to do! So I will let it rest (my brain and my project!) and work on my other projects until I think more clearly.

Back to work, lots to finish before Thanksgiving day!

Country Cousins Blanket FO!

2008-11-20T14:27:00.000-08:00

Another project finished! Whew, glad that one is done.

Tuesday

2008-11-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

A busy couple of days. I think I have recovered from DD's first sleep-over birthday party and getting two cakes make over the weekend. Between homework and housework we are trying to help out at church this week collecting shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Our church is a collection/relay center, so we check in shoeboxes, count them and then box them up for the distribution center in Southern California. After they are processed in So. CA, they will be shipped to children around the world! We worked Monday for a couple of hours, even getting filmed by the local news station! Although I have yet to see the clip of us on the news, my friend did text me this early this morning to tell me she saw us!

I am so close to getting finished with the Country Cousins Blanket. The whip stitching seemed to take forever, and it wasn't going along very smoothly. After I stitched up a few blocks I realized I could baste all the squares together with some waste yarn. That helped but it still took some time to get it all stitched together. I decided not to whip stitch around the outside of the blanket instead working a picot stitch border to give it a little more flair. Hopefully I can get this project finished up before too long.

I forgot to write in a previous post that I was also working on a skirt for Lauren. I got stuck at one point, but finally got it figured out and now just trying to get it finished up. Even though the pattern calls for only one skein of yarn, I think I am going to get another one since I had few extra on the last decrease (I did say I got it figured out, but didn't say it was exactly as the pattern said! LOL) round. And I want to make it just a little bit longer than the pattern is written.

The other night I cast on the February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman. And just as soon as I get both the blanket and skirt done, I plan to cast on my holiday sweater.

Ravelry Link Corrected

2008-11-13T14:24:00.001-08:00

I was checking something and decided to click on my "Raverly" button, and wow that was not my profile! I don't live in Canada and I don't use that curse word! So I corrected it, and that is definitely my raverly profile. So sorry about that!!!

My user name isn't "Sandi", it's actually "pinkslippers" I love my pink slippers and usually have them on when I am knitting.

All Finished...Finally!

2008-11-12T14:17:00.001-08:00

Here it is, the EZ Baby Surprise Sweater. I am so glad that I am finally done with it, whew, this little sweater was a lot of work. Maybe the next one will be easier?!

The seaming of Lauren's Blanket is coming along, slowly...maybe by the end of this week!

Baby Sweater Progress

2008-11-08T00:02:00.000-08:00

I have been working mainly on the EZ Baby Sweater and making very good progress. I finished the body of it, and now knitting on the cuffs, and will finish it up with a simple collar. I need to get the buttons and then I can wrap it up! I hope to have it all finished by Saturday night so I can take it up to my friend at church.

I am trying to also finish up the country cousins blanket but I wasn't happy with the way my whip stitch was coming out. I want to get it all finished before Tuesday so I give it to Lauren for her birthday that day...she has been waiting for it for a long time!

I want to get these two projects finished so I can cast on another sweater. I have one more baby sweater to do (considering this sweater, but not sure at this point), and want to start my holiday sweater.

I still have two other WIP, my feather and fan shawl, and my poncho, I may pull them out so I can get them finished up also. The shawl is just time consuming and I can get tired of doing the pattern. The poncho, well, it just needs to be finished! The yarn is very soft and plush, and the color is very pretty, it's just I don't like knitting with the yarn. And I especially don't like crocheting fun fur on the border! But those two will just have to wait until I finish the EZ sweater and Country Cousin's blanket!

Country Jacket Sweater FO!

2008-10-31T13:56:00.004-07:00

I finished my first sweater this morning! Will probably have to be really cold outside to wear it, it's is definitely a jacket style sweater!

Not the greatest pictures, but they are proof I really did finish it! The color is a bit off in all the pictures, think rich navy blue and that is more the true color. I did end up putting in the dryer to finish it up, and it was fine.

Close up of collar:
Those tricky pockets:
And the sweater:

EZ does not mean Easy

2008-10-29T20:03:00.010-07:00

A little background on the EZ Baby Sweater that I am knitting. It's a famous baby sweater pattern in the world of knitters, Elizabeth Zimmerman is a master knitter, known to millions of knitters, and Elizabeth used to have her own show on PBS. However, I didn't know any of this when I took up the art of knitting.

One day while looking through the KnitHelp Forums of knitter's finished projects I saw a sweater that looked very familiar. I looked again and found a couple more, then realized that my son was given one just like it when he was born, at that time it was 12 years ago. I hadn't parted with it since it was something handmade. When both children grew out of it, the little sweater found a second life as a sweater to my daughter's Build-A-Bear...that was until I decided to find out more about this little knitted treasure.

After learning a little bit more about Elizabeth Zimmerman, Meg Swanson, and the world of Zimmermania, I purchased a couple of Elizabeth's books, and the EZ Baby Sweater pattern. After I tried to read the instructions and figure it out for myself I then decided to invest in the DVD that not only explained the pattern, but showed you how to knit. Wise choice, because for me, EZ in the pattern means Elizabeth Zimmerman and not EASY.

I have knitted, and frogged, and knitted and frogged, and well, you get the picture. My friend's baby maybe a toddler before I finish this. However, I finally got it and have been able to knit without too much trouble to this point. It does look rather odd as I knit. When people ask what I am knitting, I just smile and say a baby sweater, they either look really amazed or just confused. For the first couple weeks I was working on the sweater, I carried around the other one so I can see what I was doing. As well as show those who were dazed and confused by my project what is should look like when it was finished.

Here is the piece unfolded:

Here is it folded...Surprise! It actually is starting to look like a sweater!
I finished seaming and sewing in all the ends of my Country Jacket Sweater, washed it and set it it out to dry under a ceiling fan. I noticed the yarn was very bushy, not smooth and shiny as when I first knit it. I tested shaving it with my sweater shaver and even though it was time consuming, the results were good giving the yarn it's "new" look again. Because the yarn is so bulky, it may take a while to dry completely, then I can finish giving a complete shave and sew the buttons on. Then it will be considered a "Finished Objected." I will post pictures when I get it all done.

I started a skirt for my daughter, but got a little confused on one round of instructions, so it's just waiting until I can get back to it. I did get some help on Raverly to clarify what exactly the instructions mean. Other than that, the pattern isn't too hard, just a lot of stitches to keep track of!

Time Flies

2008-10-28T19:07:00.013-07:00

Where does the time go?

It seems that we were finishing up summer and preparing for our vacation, now it's a full schedule of school, holiday preparations, and family activities.

It looks like my blog needs to be updated! Blog time of late has been limited and I haven't really been keeping you posted on my latest projects. I have been knitting, although it's a lot of stopping and starting, but I did manage to finish one project and well on my way to getting two more done.

Country Sweater Jacket
My first sweater, which was started about two years ago, is almost complete. I loved the pattern when I first saw it and thought why not try it. Ok, maybe a bit ambitious for my first sweater, but I did learn quite few new techniques, button holes, sleeves, pockets, collars, seaming. I am not quite finished, a little bit of seaming left, weaving in the rest of the ends, and sew on the buttons. I will wash it and block it before I consider it complete.
.

The Fly Away Jacket that Flew the Coop
I had my fly away jacket seamed and had already started crocheting the edging, but I just wasn't lovin' it. And my DH keep saying it look like something that was left over from the 70's era. I decided to completely frog it. It now is a very happy reader's wrap based on this pattern and this one, just no pockets. Seed Stitch edging around the Stockinette Stitching. It's soft, cuddly, and very, very toasty.

I will do my best to get the photo albums updated, and keep you posted on what else I have on my needles, a baby surprise jacket and a skirt knit in the round. I am also casting on a new sweater project, can I finish it before the holidays?

Until the next post, happy knitting!

Florida Field Trip

2008-09-19T09:20:00.004-07:00

We took one day of our Walt Disney World Vacation to take a field trip to Kennedy Space Center. I put together a quick slide show. A few pictures don't have descriptions for since I can't remember what they were. The weather was a bit windy, but not bad for a day away from WDW. We choose a good day to visit.

Vacation Slideshow Part 1 (edited album)

2008-09-17T15:16:00.004-07:00

Hi,

It's been quite hectic here since we got back from our vacation. I put together a quick album, it's only part of our trip and only a few pictures. I will post more when I can!

I finished up putting in more pictures. None of these have our photos in them, so they are just of different places we went to at WDW. We spent one day at Kennedy Space Center and when I can I will have a photo album of our trip there.

Packing Up

2008-08-25T11:15:00.009-07:00

For our Family Vacation to...

Ok, I didn't get any of my WIP finished, even thought I did work on my sweater. Just too busy with school, church and getting ready for our vacation. We leave early Thursday for Florida. Our only concern now, isn't so much the heat, but the rain, as result of Fay. I got my haircut really short, I didn't even have to style it this morning, just combed it, let it dry and put the side up. I have a feeling it won't matter what I do between the rain and humid heat, it will be a wash and wear do for this trip!

I still have to finish up a few things to put in the children's carry ons for the plane, fix up Lauren's costume, and pick up a few last minute items. Overall I have everything, just need to get it packed up. We are having someone stay at the house so I have to make sure the house is picked and neat for her. We got a our tickets today for the Kennedy Space Center today and our entire Disney package over the weekend, so we are set. I just hope the rain doesn't soak us too much!

One of the first places we will visit at Walt Disney World, Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom Park. Friday we will celebrate DH birthday with lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern (not for a Character Meal, just a nice lunch) at Magic Kingdom. Depending on the weather we may take in a new park or just get our fill of magic on one park.

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Two Disqualifications

2008-08-11T17:40:00.002-07:00

Today I had to disqualify two of my WIP Wrestling knitting projects. One reason is that it is way to hot to knit mohair and trying to knit two large shawls isn't very realistic to be done by closing ceremonies. So I have disqualified the Feather and Fan Shawl and the Friendship Shawl.

What I can do is my four projects:

My country sweater needs to be seams and buttons sewn on.

My Flyaway Free Jacket, needs the crochet edging done and one button.

My poncho, needs the other panel knit, seams, and the fun fur crocheted around the edge.

And Lauren's blanket, just needs to be whipped stitched together.

Those will have to be done between school and cleaning the house. I am going to try and sell my curriculum that I don't need next week, and get the house nice and neat before we head out to Walt Disney World.

Let the Knitting Begin

2008-08-08T11:32:00.008-07:00

The Summer 2008 Olympics have officially been declared open in China which means that The Ravelympics have begun. Here is California the official time will be 8:00 (PST) when the opening ceremonies will be shown on TV. I am competing under the event "WIPs Wresting" and have several projects on my schedule to finish. Instead of starting a new project, my ravelympic goal is to finish 6 Works In Progress. (The complete list on my ravelry profile.)

Here are a few project that I have pictures of.

This is Lauren's blanket, basically all I need to do it whip stitch it together.

This is the before of my feather and fan shawl. At Christmas time I took it all out because it was too narrow and started it all over again. This will probably be the hardest WIP in to finish.

This is the back of my Country Jacket Sweater. I have already seamed the shoulders and in the process putting in the sleeves.

One Month and Counting

2008-07-28T14:59:00.004-07:00

It is one month until we leave for our vacation and I made a countdown calendar for our family to count it down. Got my pattern down for my Mickey Mouse Dishcloth and now we are working on fixing up Lauren's princess costume so we can take it with us.

Mickey is marking where Walt Disney World and Buzz is showing us where Kennedy Space Center is. The photo are just a few of the attractions and place will be visiting while we are on vacation!

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My "Mouse Shadow" Dishcloth

2008-07-23T21:40:00.019-07:00

This dishcloth is the reworked from the knitted one that I did last week. After I joined the ears to the face, I crocheted a row of single crochet stitches around the ears, thinking the ears were too small. I used a larger crochet hook on this one, and it was a bit easier. But I still wasn't completely happy with the final look.

For this dishcloth I changed both the size of hook and yarn (Lily's Sugar 'n Cream), since this is the yarn I will be using it for the rest of the dishcloths. After I finished this one, I started another and wrote the pattern down as I went, making a few changes as I did.

This is the one I am finally was pleased with. Below the photo, I included the pattern, it might be a bit hard to follow since I am not very experience at crocheting or writing crochet patterns. This one will work the best to take in my carry-on and on my trip to Walt Disney World. I only need to take a crochet hook, my yarn, and something to snip the yarn to work on this dishcloth.

Mouse Shadow Dishcloth

Materials:
Lily’s sugar and cream cotton yarn
Crochet Hook: Size J/10
One stitch marker (optional)
Tapestry needle

Directions:

Ears (Make 2)
Chain 4 and Sl st closed
Row 1: sc 8 stitches onto ring, Sl sl to close
Row 2: ch 1, (Counts as first sc) 2 sc into each (total of 16 stitches), Sl sti 1, (Do not turn)
Row 3: ch 2 (counts as first dc), 1 dc *1 dc, 2 dc*, until last stitch, end with 1 dc, Sl st,
Row 4: ch 2, 1 dc (counts as first dc), *1 dc, 2 dc*, leave an opening of 4 stitches.

(If you want larger ears, sc back around and adjust sc to keep circle flat.)

Secure stitch and leave enough yarn to use to join ear on large circle/face.

Large Circle/Face (Make 1)
Follow the same directions as for the ears, with the exception on Row 4, complete row, Sl st

Row 5: ch 2, (counts on first dc), 1 DC *1 DC, 1 DC, 2 DC*, until last stitch, 1 DC, slip stitch, chain 1.
Row 6: Extended single crochet (ESC), adjusting for tension as you work the stitches, some places you may need to crochet 2 ESC, slip last stitch, secure, and weave in yarn tail.

Join ears with yarn tail from ears, leaving about 4 stitches between the ears. I used the whipstitch, using the entire stitch to secure.

Note: You may need to adjust the number of increases in each row that will work best for your tension and yarn. Adjust as you go if needed.

You can also add to each piece an extra row of sc, adjust each stitch to keep circle flat. One the ears, ch 1 after your Sl st and turn (leave your opening on the ears), and sc around to the opening, secure and leave enough yarn to use to join ears. You can also add a row or sc to the large circle if you want, just adjust as you go.

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If The First Book Doesn't Help Enough

2008-07-20T15:49:00.007-07:00

Then go out and use your 40% coupon and purchase another crochet book.

I went back to Micheal's and decided to get another book I had looked at the other day. But as I was on my way to the register I noticed another interesting crochet book on the shelf. I looked through it, it had a lot more information and cost exactly the same. There is an entire section on crocheting in the round and making it flat. "The Crochet Answer Book" was what I needed in the first place and bought it instead.

Yesterday I finished the blue Mouse Shadow and took it with me to church to show it off. I was quite pleased that I attempted it with my very, very limited experience with crocheting. I got a few suggestions on how to improve upon it and several people wanted me to teach them how to do it. I didn't get it very flat, but it looks a lot better after I blocked it overnight.

I started another one in pink and it's starting to lay flatter and look more even in my stitches. Now that I have my new book, I learned how to work in a round, keeping . I keep working on the ears and have probably done this one in the picture a dozen times since yesterday. I am trying to get a nice curve on the bottom so I can attach it better. I am just about there, now I can remember how I did when I crochet the second one!

"It All Started With a Mouse"

2008-07-19T14:35:00.012-07:00

Yes, that is a famous quote by the ingenious Walt Disney. And this week my obsession has been because of that famous mouse. We finalized plans for our vacation to Walt Disney World and I, of course, must decide what project I can knit on the plane, in the park, waiting, at the hotel, by the pool, to name a few. I had several factors I needed to take into consideration.

First, it's going to be hot, knitting is no fun when you are sweating. So nothing large, in wool, or mohair, etc.

Second, limited space in my suitcase and my carry-on. Not to mention I have told my two children endless times we can't take very much and must travel light, so I should probably follow my own advice. I don't need to fill my suitcase half full with multiple skeins of yarn! (Must save room for souvenirs!)

Third, it needs to be compact, nothing complicated and not anything with a pattern that I have to follow too closely. And I don't want to drag my whole bag of knitting needles and accessories, just so I could lose most of it on the plan or at the park.

And it has to be something related to Disney. (And yes, this is a spoiler for my friends and family so be warned, yes you are getting dishclothes for Christmas and yes, it will be in the Disney theme.)

With all that in mind I tried to find a pattern for a dishcloth...good luck the copyright issues make is impossible to find such a thing. ( Mind you I forgot THE most important place to look until after I had already done a prototype, Raverly!) I went to bed earlier this week trying to figure out what I could do and that is when I got an idea.

Why not take Becka's flower power pattern and modify it to look like the famous Mickey Mouse Shadow? So the next morning, I got to work and this is what I finally come up with. This photo was taken as I was blocking it. The large circle curls terribly because of the stockinette stitch and I wanted to see if blocking it would help. (It didn't) I was quite impression with myself for figuring it out, but as all good designers, I wasn't completely satisfied with the final look.

The ears just didn't look quite right so I wanted to make adjustments to those, and I thought maybe there were just a bit too far apart. After I thinking it over, I decided to make a pattern. I used a Disney clipart picture that we have and adjusted it until I matched the size of the large circle. I wanted to keep the large circle pretty much the same as the center of the flower dishcloth. I set this pink mouse shadow aside to dry. (It however has been frogged and is looking forward to becoming a new and improved mouse shadow.)

And started this...

I adjusted the ear by making sure my longest rows equaled the same as my cast ons, that would even the circle shape out and give it a more rounded effect. That worked, and then I attempted to cast on the large circle. Once I got the correct number of cast ons, I got another set of needles and worked on the second ear. I attempted to attach the ear and add the middle cast ons. After a couple of attempts, I needed to adjust how I did the large circle. I found a better way to attach the ears and to cast on the correct number of stitches to do the large circle. But even that was difficult. Trying to knit the first row, I dropped a couple of cast on stitches, which couldn't be easily fixed. I tried do a seed stitch, but it didn't work either. I tried several more times, only discover in my last attempt I twisted my stitches. (So now it's just ears, but they are such nice ears!)
In order to complete this project, I have to actually get it to work, and then be able to do it on a plane, or in the park. I also need to use stitch markers, one to keep track of rows, but also to help with the large number of cast ons. (I can see it now, DH is trying to show my some major attraction at WDW and I yell at him "not now I am counting!" Not good, not good at all!) I also need to have some kind of cutter with me. Not to mention two sets of circular needles I have to keep track of. As cute as my project is, I don't see that it's going to be a great traveling project. Of course I can do them at home, with all my supplies in a quiet chair in the living room, but I really want to do something Disney related at WDW!

The other night I had taken my knitting with me to church and I learned that one of the ladies was also trying to do something similar to this a few months ago, except in crochet. Her sister is the one I did the castle cake for, and she was trying to make her something like I was for her sister, who loves anything mickey mouse related. That gave me a great idea! I had to learn to crochet and I had to learn to do a mouse shadow like that.

So with a new crochet book in hand, internet searching (again), and determination I set out to learn to crochet a mouse shadow. I finally was able to figure it out, with the help of a couple of books, and the internet! And this is what I have so far!
My only really issue is how to keep it from curling and not lying flat. I am not using a pattern, can't really understand crochet patterns yet, but figured out enough to make a foundation ring, and use a single crochet and double crochet stitch. I left a little bit of open space on the ears so I could sew them on the large circle . I am not finished with the large circle/face, still making adjustments as I go. But so far I am pleased with my efforts. It's likely that once I tweak it enough I will take this to WDW as my project. I don't need any stitch markers, just a crochet hook, some yarn, small cutter, and my pattern. Maybe a needle, but if I do any seaming that would be done in the hotel room or the plane. If you have any ideas or suggestions for either pattern, leave me a comment or email me through ravelry (link on the right).

Free Disney Tickers

100th Post

2008-06-02T11:29:00.003-07:00

It's my 100th post, and it not going to be all that exciting! School is wrapping up for us, but we still work on subjects throughout the summer. We have finished another year in Awana with an Awards Cermony and Dance with their annual Spring Dance Recital. I am continuing to prepare for Vacation Bible School and for our pastor's son's wedding this weekend. My big task is the wedding cake.

As for knitting, I am beginning to get back at my projects. I have several to finish, but just haven't had the time to sit down and get them done. My sweater needs to be seamed, as well as Lauren's blanket. My flyaway free jacket is coming along, started on the back panel but it's resting for the moment. I started a blanket for the wedding this Saturday, but not all the pleased with how it's turning out and considering redoing it and using a modified log cabin pattern from the Mason-Dixon Knitting Book. Also, I have tried unsuccessfully to start a prayer shawl for my ladies knitting group at church and finally settled on a pattern and yarn. Not all that thrilled with the yarn, but I have it and want to use it up. And there is still my feather and fan shawl, I am much happier with the changes I made, but it may mean it could be winter by the time I actually finish it!

Ok, not pictures for now, but I get some posted this week. Ok, I am lazy, I admit it. Taking a pictures requires me to get out the camera, get out the projects, then get the photos cleaned up and posted. Until I get some updated photos, you can take a look at my ravelry page. Until next time, Happy Knitting Everyone!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-10T20:59:00.005-07:00

I thought it would be nice to take a few minutes to share some special memories about my mom and how they are becoming memories for my children and I.

My mom taught me to sew, not an easy feat, but I did learn and now am teaching my own daughter the fine art of sewing. Amazingly I was able to not only sew a couple of dresses for her, but accomplished sewing her a Cinderella costume that she gladly wore to Disneyland several times!

My mom cooked and baked all the time. She passed down a lot of recipes that I am now cooking and baking for my own family. One of our favorites is the "Wedding Steak" recipe. All I remember is that I would ask for it by that name because mom had clipped it from a magazine and it had a drawing of a bride and groom at the top of the page. We are having that for our lunch today!

She endured reading (and listening) to my numerous books. Some of my favorite books I still have, "Rosie, The Horse Nobody Wanted, "Henny Penny", and "Little Bear." Today my daughter is sharing the my love for a series of books entitled "Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka," as she and read them together and snuggled.

Our house never lacked in a supply of crayons, markers, paper, glue and whatever else I could create a masterpiece with. My children do no suffer from a lack of art and craft supplies as I share mine with them, and have added more than any two children could possibly ever use! How did my mom ever decided what to keep and what to threw away?!

My mom must have played "Hi Ho Cherry Oh!" a hundred times or more, along with "CandyLand", and numerous rounds of "Uno." Our house does not lack in board games even in this new age of technology. We still have mine "Scrabble", "Bonkers" and "Chinese Checkers", plus dozen of the tried and true board games and lots of new ones! Even with a whole host of computer and electronic games, we still enjoy a good game of "Hi Ho Cherry Oh" or "Clue." And of course Uno, only this time it's with a dragon, prince or orger!

Happy Mother's Day to you all! Enjoy your special day!

Knitting Along

2008-03-31T23:01:00.002-07:00

Quick update on my knitting. I completed all the squares on the Lauren's blanket and it's ready to be stitched together. I also completed all the pieces for my Country Sweater Jacket. I am finishing up the pocket edgings, then I will need to piece together the front panels to the back panel, then add the collar before I attach the sleeves. And I should have my first sweater complete!

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

2008-03-22T15:43:00.006-07:00

When our family celebrates Easter it is a bittersweet celebration because as Christians we celebrate both his betrayal, his suffering, his death upon the cross and finally his miraculous resurrection. On Easter we will gather at church with family and friends rejoicing in all Christ did for us so that we could have eternal life with Him. I thought this BC comic was perfect reflection of how we should feel about Easter.

Easter blessing to each and every one of you!

"He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."
Romans 4: 25

4 WIP (Works in Progress)

2008-03-05T14:02:00.011-08:00

WIP #1 "Purls of Grace" Ministry Shawl

I was able to start my own project for my "Purls of Grace " this past Thursday. I decided to do a triangle shawl with some left over homespun yarn.

WIP #2 Window Pane Blanket
First strip of the Window Pane Blanket. This is going to be a wedding gift, and so far is pretty easy to knit up.

WIP #3 Country Jacket
I finished the left panel and need to figure out button placement before I start the right side panel.

WIP #4 Feather and Fan Shawl
Slow progress, but I am pleased with the results so far. Sorry no updated picture today, just this one from before showing the pattern.

And now back to Knitting...

2008-02-20T11:25:00.002-08:00

For those of you wondering if I am still knitting, yes and no. I did get some knitting in over the holidays, but really didn't accomplish anything other than a few more flower power dishcloths. I have been busy with all kinds of things, kids, church, the house, Christmas clean-up, and our normal weekly activities, and the cakes...they have really interrupted my knitting!

Here is the latest on my current knitting projects. First is my country sweater. Before Christmas I finished the back, then realized I used the wrong size needles, took out the part that I knitted incorrectly, and redid it. Then I start the right front panel and after about 20 attempts I got the pocket in! Then Christmas happened and I put that aside. Not a good project to travel with.

My other project is my Feather and Fan Shawl. I was almost done, had about 1/4 of it left to do, but I just wasn't happy with how it was turning out. Mainly how badly it was curly on the edges and that it was not as wide as I had intended it to be. So one the way to a friends how, I spent most of our 3 and half hour drive taking it all out. Not easy to do with mohair! I did some experimenting and decided to change the cast on from a long tail to a knitted cast-on. I knitted two rows before I started the pattern. For the sides of the shawl I added 4 stitches on each side and started knitting in a garter stitch. I also added to the width by adding more pattern repeats. I am very pleased with how is has turned out so far. It's one I can take with me easily so far, once it gets longer it's not quite as convenient.

I started an afghan that will be given as a wedding gift in June. I am using this pattern from lionbrand.com, and choose the main color as Montana Sky and the "windowpane" as Sky Blue. I wanted to do an easy pattern with less expensive yarn (which was on sale, which was even better!). The pattern is all done in garter stitch and in long strips, so very easy to take with me.

I did start our Knitting ministry for church, but found that I and one other lady who actually knows how to knit. A few crochet, but they wanted to learn to knit also. I spent most of the first knit-a-long teaching, needless to say I was exhausted when I got home. Not sure how successful I was guess I will find out next week when we have our next knit-a-long! I did get a better idea of what I should be doing, so I am going to rework a few things and try them next week.

Thank you to everyone who has left a comment recently on this blog and my cake blog. I do appreciate all your kind words! Happy knitting everyone!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T10:17:00.003-08:00

"We Love Him, because He first Loved us."
1 John 4:19

Flower Power Dishclothes

2008-01-11T16:36:00.000-08:00

I made flower power dishcloths for all the ladies of my family and for several of my friends and gave them as Christmas presents. As promised I made an album of all of them. I still have a couple more pictures to put in the album, but need to figure out where I put them! Thanks again to Becka for all her help, everyone loved them!

We also made soap to go with their dishcloths!

Celebrate His Birth

2007-12-24T08:42:00.003-08:00

Christmas Blessings to all as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior!

Christmas is Almost Here...

2007-12-22T14:37:00.000-08:00

Whew it's been very busy the past month here. We finished up our Church Christmas programs (6 performances over three days!), dance performances, put away the school books for a few weeks, put lights, decorations, shopped, wrapped gifts, and shopped some more. I still have a few things I want to bake before Christmas day.

I have one more (or maybe two??) Christmas gifts to knit. I have also been working on my own sweater and learned how to put in a pocket! Ok, it took me about 5 times of frogging and reknitting it, but it was worth it. I am not sure what I will work on, if anything while we are out and about for the Holidays.

Today I finished up a cake I was asked to do on Thursday. I didn't have to decorate it, but it was still a lot of effort to just get it made and covered in fondant. I delivered it today and the person who ordered it put on her own cake top. If I get a pic I will post it in my cake blog.

I have a couple of gifts to wrap so I better then done before the kids are dropped off after spending some time with their friends.

Merry Christmas!

THE BEST Vacation Ever!

2007-12-02T18:53:00.001-08:00

I had the most awesome experience ever this past weekend! As we were leaving the OCC Distribution Center on Friday night I said that my feelings were like those expressed by a cartoon character in Disney's "The Incredibles" Movie.

..."Upon coming home, Helen stops Dash from toying with the power windows of National Supers Agent Rick Dicker's limousine. Dash then gets excited about how much fun that he had during the entire adventure and exclaims 'That was the best vacation ever! I love our family.' and throws himself backwards in the car seat!

As I left I told all my friends with me "This is the best Vacation Ever!" and threw my hand up in the air trying to imitate Dash. They all had a good laugh!

So it really wasn't a "vacation" in the sense of the word, but it was a time to spend with friends as we prepared shoe boxes for children around the world. We arrived after lunch on Thursday and went right to training. For the rest of the day, I and couple of other ladies worked in the presort area. There you take out all the money you can find, it's important not to leave any kind of money for the safety of the children who will be receiving their shoe boxes. As I would find out later it's one of the "quieter" areas to work in. What is nice is that you are allowed to take a break if you need to sit down or get a quick snack. Then you can come back and get right back to work.

On Friday they took us to a different area and we began working on inspecting the boxes for what they call "inappropriate" items. Those are all the no-no items that aren't supposed to be in the boxes. It was interesting to find out what is not allowed in boxes, mainly for safety of the children and because they don't want items to break or get damaged when the shoe boxes are sent out. Items that are removed, then sorted and given to different shelters in the area, so all the items go to someone in need. After we inspect all the items we pack the boxes up and add any filler items if the box isn't quite full. We do our best to keep the box as it was packed by the original person who is sending out the box. After it's packed we tape it up and it's then sent to be boxed up, the next time the boxes are opened, they will be in the hands of a child who most likely has never received such a gift.

On Saturday I did much of the same as Friday. I met quite few people from all over California. We would chat about how we all got involved in Operation Christmas Child, what great ideas we got from items packed in the boxes, and how exciting it was to be a part of volunteering. I wished we could have stayed longer! Sunday the center is closed, so our group drove home. We talked on the way home about all the great ideas we learned about and how could we implement them through out the year. I am so ready to go back next year. Really this was the best vacation ever for me!

When I got home I was surprised with a "snow covered" house. The kids and DH put up icicle lights on the front of the house and our nativity scene. It was very bright walking up to the door to drop off my suitcase! It looks very nice! (My DS just informed me DH fell off the ladder and onto the camel.) Now I need to get Christmas decorations down from the attic and start making the house look a little more festive!

It's now Monday and I woke up feeling just awful! Kind of puts a damper on my whole great weekend experience! Hopefully as the week moves along I will feel better and get back in a festive holiday spirit!

Operation Christmas Child

2007-11-28T10:24:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow morning I leave with a group of friends to volunteer for Operation Christmas Child. We are heading down to work at the processing center in Irvine, CA. Our church just finished collecting just over 15,000 boxes to be sent through the processing center and then to children around the world. This is my first time going to the processing center, and not really sure what we will be doing yet. I do know we will help in inspecting the shoeboxes, placing a gospel tract in it, and boxing the shoeboxes up to shipped out into the world. We will work Friday and Saturday, then return home Sunday. I am really looking forward to being able to go!

Since we are driving instead of flying down to Irvine, I plan to take a couple of small knitting projects. I am trying to finish up Christmas gifts and only have a few to go, so those would be easy to take with me. I hoping to get all our gifts mailed out next Monday, after Christmas I will post what they were!

I better get packed, we leave at 6 AM tomorrow!

An Early Christmas Gift For Me

2007-11-24T18:17:00.000-08:00

For several years I have gotten up early and headed out for those "Black Friday" shopping specials. Usually it was with a group of friends or with my SIL and nieces. Last year I got up long enough to take my son to Target, pick up a few things and then come back home. Really I didn't miss any of the shopping, probably more the experience of being with friends or family hunting out bargains. This year I hadn't planned on it at all. Most places were opening at an hour I preferred to be snug and warm in my bed. That was until I saw the Michael's Craft Store ad.

There isn't really much incentive for me to go out before the sun comes out, the dew on the grass is still frozen solid, and you have to wait to warm up the car long enough to see out the front window. Especially when you are going at the Black Friday alone. But I did my research and determined that this purchase would be worth the 5:15 wake up call, showered, dressed and arrived at the Michael's store (fortunately only 10 minutes from house!) at 5:50 a.m. I decided to not wait in the car and just get in line, even though there were only about 10 people already lined up. A wise choice on my part I would later discover. I waited quietly in line and listened to the others chat about where they had already been, one lady had been up since 3:30 am and Michael's was her third stop, she was heading to another store after she got what she wanted here. We watched as the employees got their registers ready and then the doors opened a few minutes before 6:00.

With ads in had we walked in and quickly asked where the hot product we were all waiting for was. The manager said "This is all we have right here." My heart sank a bit, but I decided to just get another line and see what would happen. A person in front of me must have decided not to get it and left, and fortunately I got one of the last three boxes. Ok, remember, I said that getting in line and not waiting in the car was a wise choice. A lot of people got out of their cars right before the store opened and got in line behind me, a costly mistake on their part. Many of them had come to get this hot product and were sorely disappointed when they saw the store only had about 10 of them. (I learned later some stores would only have as little as 3! )

I got the box, which was rather heavy and went and picked up an accessory item and tried to do some more shopping. However I failed to get a cart, which again proved to be a positive move on my part. The box was quite heavy and a lot of people were asking me where I got the item from and I was having to set down to look at stuff. Realizing that I shouldn't set down and shop..and that the coupon I had for the other items couldn't be used on my now prized possession, I decided to just get in line, pay for it, take it to the car and come back. I went to the car dropped off my new treasure and went back inside to shop. I checked my watch for the time, 6:15! Wow, all that happened in 15 minutes! So I went back and shopped, and returned home with by 7:00 with my new....

CRICIT COMPLETE KIT and DOODLECHARMS CARTRIDGE!!!!!!!

I never really was interested in the product until I recently watched a info commercial for it. Then I saw the ad for Michael's and the price, but still was bit skeptical. So I did a lot of reading about it and decided it was worth getting up at 5 am and getting myself and early Christmas gift.

As for knitting I didn't buy anything for knitting...well, unless you count the beads and bead kit so I could learn to make my own stitch markers! I am about half way done with my Christmas gifts. (Becka, I am on number 10!) As so as I finish up this post I am back to work on my knitting. I haven't even opened the new cricut since we were visiting friends and we have a busy Sunday.

Oh, and after I got back home, set my bags and box down, I went back to bed and slept until 9!

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-21T10:43:00.003-08:00

"So once in every year we throng
Upon a day apart,
To praise the Lord with feast and song
In thankfulness of heart."
Arthur Guiterman, The First Thanksgiving

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to His Holy Name!
Psalm 97:12

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

2007-11-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

It's beautiful Monday Morning here in California. It's also quite as I sit here and look outside, hearing an occasional car, lawn mower and plane. (We live under the flight path to the airport here.) The sky is clear and their is only a slight breeze, doesn't look much like a few days before Thanksgiving.

We have been so busy with so many things, it's nice to just sit here and enjoy a moment before the week's activities take over. Our church finishes it last day as a collection center for Operation Christmas Child. We have collected over 6,000 shoeboxes to send to children around the world who will not experience the joy of Christmas that so many of us are blessed to have here in the states. Our church is also getting ready for the upcoming "Drive Thru Living Nativity" and "Christmas Gift To San Jose" Program. (If you are in the area, come on by, it's free!). We are also wrapping up our last Awana club night before we take the month of December off. Beside church activities we have several dance performance scheduled during the holiday season.

I have been knitting when I can. Over the weekend I finished up the back of my Country Jacket Sweater. I would love to finish it up soon, but there are a few things I am not sure how to do. We have several Yarn Stores in the area, so I thought I could stop by one of them and get some help if I get really stuck. I have several Christmas Gifts to finish up and can work on those when I am waiting when I am out with the kids or at Christmas Rehearsal. I am close to finishing up my Feather and Fan Shawl with only two and half skeins of yarn left. I can't wait to get it all finished up with and use it, too!

With a our busy schedule we decided to just stay here for Thanksgiving. We were invited to join another family from church that we are really good friends to spend the day. My friend told me that we were having turkey, honey baked ham, shrimp, and BBQ'ed tuna! Plus a few favorite side dishes. My family has requested for me to bring Pretzel Salad, (the link is not my recipe, but a similar one), it's a long standing tradition from my side of the family. A dear friend of my parents served it one year and it was a requirement with holiday meals from then on. We serve it as a side dish not a dessert, why??, I don't know, just what they have always done! Over the years I have used different fruits and flavors, but usually strawberries it the one that is more requested one. I want to try making cookies with fondant frosting from the Cake Central Website, but only if I have time otherwise it might be just a simple cake or dessert that I can whip up quickly.

I have enjoyed my quiet morning long enough and it's time to get back to my responsibilities of being a mommy.

Holiday Postage Stamps

2007-11-05T14:55:00.000-08:00

My son pointed out that one of the new designs for the holiday postage stamps are knitted! He said they would be good ones for our Christmas cards. Here is the a picture of them from the USPS website. My thumb still hurts, but not nearly as much as the other day. I have it pretty covered with bandages to protect it. It's a great excuse, I mean, reason to get out of washing the dishes. I did manage to bake up several cake layers to use for Saturday and put in the freezer, and even did a little knitting and finished up one of my small projects. It's probably going to take while to heal, but at least it won't keep me from knitting, baking, and taking care of my family.

Ouch !

2007-11-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

I was up this morning in the middle of getting my chicken salad ready for sandwich for my friend's wedding reception. I was slicing up the chicken breasts to put in food processor, when I got my thumb, on my left hand, in the way of the knife meant to slice the chicken. At that point I wasn't sure what I had did, but I knew it HURT! And it started bleeding, I yelled that I think I might have cut off the tip of my finger, and thinking to myself I do not have time to go to the Urgent Care I am supposed to get these sandwiches made and help set up at the reception! We were able to check it and determined I only had sliced through the nail and just under it, about 3/4 of the way across the nail. I was in such a hurry to get the chicken salad made I got a little careless at using the sharp knife!

After I got the bleeding to stop and took a couple of pain relievers, John finished up the chicken salad for me and even got breakfast for us all. I was a couple of hours late getting to the church to help with the reception. I was able to help get the food ready, as long as I was careful. The reception was lovely and I am glad I didn't have to go get stitches instead of helping at out my friends!

It still hurts, but not nearly as much as earlier. I did discover I can't really knit, I really need to use my thumb to manipulate the left hand needle. I can type, I have gotten good at not using my thumb to push the space bar! I was just about finished with one of my smaller projects and was rather bummed it would have to wait! The knitting can wait, but I do have a lot to prepare for a birthday party on Saturday!

Welcome November

2007-11-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

Fall is here, the leaves are changing colors and the weather is getting colder. Last night our church had is first "Harvest Festival" and it was very successful. We have over 100 children attend with their families. Our friends from Tennessee arrived last night just before the festival was over, much to delight of many of their church friends! They will be here in California for the next two week visiting with us and others.

I come down with a nasty cold last week, and when I wasn't sleeping, I just sat. I did get in some knitting working on Christmas gifts. (Becka if you are reading this, I am on number 6!) I have several projects I want to get out and finish, but with company, a birthday party and as house to get cleaned up, not sure if I can get much of my own knitting in. Yesterday I started feeling a lot better!

Yes, we did feel the earthquake on Tuesday, we are pretty close to what they call the epicenter, but we are all fine. Probably the first time our kids have felt what a real 5.1 quake is like! I didn't live in San Jose at the time of the 1989 quake, but did experience quite a few smaller ones when living in Riverside while attending college. They only make me nervous now because I worry about the kids safety! I suppose if I had been around for 1989 I might be more unnerved by them. Thanks to Brenda for checking on us on Tuesday!

Say Hi if you stop by my blog. Always good to hear from my blogger friends and family! Happy knitting everyone!

Time to Get Organized

2007-10-22T13:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! Time to get organized or at least back to it!

I am all unpacked from our camping trip this weekend with our church. The weather was nice, with the exception of rain the first night. I did get in a little knitting on my shawl.

The holidays are coming upon us quickly. Although we don't celebrate Halloween, we have allowed our children to participate in their a Harvest Festival at a local church. They always enjoy the chance to dress up and participate in the games. They aren't big candy fans, so even thought we bring home lots of candy, they won't eat most of it. This year our church is hosting our own Harvest Festival with the theme shine "SHINE" at our church. We will have different booths with games and activities and of course candy and little toys. John and I will be helping with the Awana booth, Tyler will join the youth at their booth, while Lauren will get dressed up in her Snow White Costume and join her friends in all the activities.

So it will be time celebrate Lauren's birthday! This year she gets a big party because she is turing 10! Her birthday theme is Ratatouille. We have already been planning her party, and I had to call around asking about party supplies since they aren't easy to find. We were also fortunate to get some absolutely great deals at The Disney Store at our local mall, and today find all the rest of the party supplies on clearance, also at awesome prices! She has even picked out what kind of cake she wants, to look like a big wheel of cheese with the Ratatouille characters on it.

Then it will be time for Thanksgiving, and Christmas will soon follow! As of today it's only 63 days until Christmas! Yipes, it can't be that soon!

Here are a few of my favorite ways to get organized...

My Tickler File, that includes a folder for each us, files for church, school, home improvement (since we have been remodeling), and couple of others. I only keep the most important papers in it, the rest get filed in either their binders or files.

I also love my Moms Time Calendar. I first heard about it through the Flylady, but she created her own and now I get directly from the More Times Mom website. Almost time to get a new one! I like the big spaces to write everything them on them. I use a lot of stickers for it. I need to start putting in our newest appointments and time commitments. Don't let the price bother, this calendar is worth every penny!

I also use my Blessing Binder based on the Control Journal from the Flylady. I did purchase her premade one, and added a but of extras that I have gathers from other organization systems. (Organized Home, His Grace Works, and Busy Woman) I have just about everything in it, plus website information (you know all those website you have memberships to, log-in info, passwords you can't always remember!) and anything that I might need in a hurry. I also have a binder to keep our homeschool group info in. They help a lot!

Today I worked on printing new forms for my Christmas Blessing Binder. I started using one several years ago and over the years reworked it to fit best for me. I like the flyladys' idea of hers, but it just didn't contain all the info I needed. I love this website, Organized Home. com and they have a special Christmas section. Unfortunately I read on the message boards that the owner will be shutting them down soon due to health reasons, so if you are interested in it check out the message board for more information. She has a lot of free printable, lots of great ideas for preparing for the holidays and lots of other information! During the holidays it's always with me since it keeps track of everything from gift giving to food planning.

Now to go get organized!

Quick Hello to All

2007-10-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

I have been a little under-the-weather lately, as well as busy with school, dance classes, and all kinds of other activities. I am only knitting a little and mainly just my shawl. I did manage to pull together a cake on Monday for a friend's surprise birthday party. Friday we are off for a weekend camping trip with our church, and I hope to get some knitting done there. Depends on the weather and what the plans are...and how I feel. When we get back I need to catch up with several of my blogger friends so they don't think I've forgotten them!

I'm In!

2007-10-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

I got my invite today for Raverly Beta!

"Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration."

I first learned about it from Theresa of "Stitches of Grace" and put in my request a few weeks ago. It will be nice to have a central place for my knitting stuff once I figure out all the special features on the website.

If you haven't signed up for an invite, click on the link above and check it out.

Happy Knitting!

Knit in the Pink

2007-10-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few links to patterns and products for knitting in the pink.

Knitty Breast Cancer Special Issue
Several patterns to knit, my favorite is the heart scarf.

"Knit for the Cure"
A Purse pattern from DIY showing support of breast cancer awareness.

"Pink Ribbon Scarf"
A pretty pink scarf pattern using Lion Brand VelvetSpun.

Pink Ribbon Washcloth
Easy to knit washcloth with a ribbon motif in the middle.

Denise Needles Pink Kit
My favorite needles packaged with pink cords, with a portion of proceeds going to breast cancer research.

Serendipity Breast Cancer Knitting Needles
Wooden type needles with handcrafted breast cancer ribbon ends.

Happy Knitting!

Travel Tips

2007-10-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

We had a very interesting trip to Tennessee, our friend's daughter was married in Nashville. It was a beautiful ceremony and we enjoyed a lovely reception with our friends.

I did learn a few things on this particular trip:

1. Before leaving write on the calendar that you need to take in the other car so you aren't doing it 5 minutes before you are supposed to be heading to the airport. Also make sure you have everything on the packing list.

2. Continue to expect very long lines for security at the airport in San Jose, and at the Starbucks, but that Hot White Mocha is worth the wait.

3. When you get lunch at the airport, be sure to check that you got everything in your bag before sitting down. And that person carrying the small dog into the Burger King line will likely be on your plane...and sit right next to you.

4. Plane seating is very cramped and trying to watch a movie on your laptop will cause you to have to redo your knitting later on, even if you try to pick up those dropped stitches.

5. Use the restroom on the plane because for some reason they will be cleaning every available one when you arrive at the airport.

6. Before make hotel reservations, check with them to see if there is any major event happening. It can be quite unnerving when you arrive to your hotel with about 5o bikers hanging out in the front of the lobby, smoking and drinking beer.

7. Do not try to go to dinner in downtown Nashville on Saturday after 6:00 p.m., not only is there no parking, there are people everywhere, and many of the same bikers from the hotel.

8. Check everything in the hotel that it works before you are late and heading out the door the following morning to find the batteries and video tapes that should have been on the packing list. It can only takes one an hour to change rooms and dress for a wedding. Fortunately the room we moved into was much nicer and worth the effort.

9. Sunday afternoon most bikers must have to return to work.

10. There is a new tradition at weddings called the the unity sand ceremony. Practice ahead of time pouring the sand so your bride doesn't smack your hand for not doing it right in the middle of the actual ceremony.

11. Spending Monday and Tuesday with friends makes you miss them even more, but also makes your very thankful for the little bit of time you got to spend with them on this trip.

12. Cracker Barrel Restaurants are always a great place to relax,enjoy a great breakfast or lunch, especially now that the ones in Tennessee are no all smoke free. And there is always something you can find in their store to bring back home.

13. When they offer you the GPS unit, take it, we did a lot of "sightseeing." Even by the time you leave you still don't really know the roads that well, and you can easily miss the turn off for the airport.

14. Planes get delayed and waiting in an airport for your next flight gives one plenty of time to knit. I actually got tired of knitting, and didn't even take out my knitting on the plane. I just wanted to be home, see my kids and sleep in my own bed.

As much as I enjoy traveling and taking vacations, Dorothy was right there really is "no place like home."

Please Think Pink

2007-10-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

For the month of October my blog will be pink in honor of those who are fighting breast cancer and those who have lost loved ones to it. Since pink just happens to be my favorite color, this a perfect time of year to stock up on everything pink and help raise money for breast cancer awareness. I have lost two friends to breast cancer and have another who is going through more treatments to fight her cancer.

My first purchase is my Creative Zen MP3 player! I didn't really think I needed an MP3 player, but DH was nice enough to convince me to get one. I will use in when I am teaching Preschool Choir and Awana, and see there are several podcasts for knitting. First, I have to learn how to use it, which shouldn't be too hard since both kids have a simple MP3 player and can't wait to help mom out with hers.

For more information on breast cancer awareness, visit the Susan G. Komen website. Also visit Support the Cure, for information on purchase products that will give a portion of their sales for cancer research at City of Hope. On my list this year, tea pot, blender and travel mug at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, where coupons never expire and you can use as many as you want! Don't forget to check out Target, Walmart, Amazon, and other retailers for "Support the Cure" pink products.

Think Pink!

I Did It! I Knit This!

2007-09-27T09:47:00.001-07:00

I did it, I knitted a flower shaped dishcloth!!!! Becka has written a great pattern for them, which is a lot easier than another pattern I saw for this type of cloth. Thanks, Thanks, Thanks!!! I learned how to knit in a round on 2 circular needles, which is still a bit tricky, but I am getting the hang of it. Using the the variegated colored yarn I was able to see the stitches more easily than if I used a solid color. Still not all that sure I want to attempt taking this on the plane, but I am anxious to start another very soon!

Flower Power Dishcloth

2007-09-25T16:56:00.001-07:00

It's taken me two weeks, several emails to Becka (the Spoiled Knitter), and lots of frogging and reworking on my newest project the Flower Power Dishcloth. I have been wanting to try this pattern for a long time. I didn't have any problem knitting up the five petals, it was when I tried to join them together to work in round I ran into trouble. Becka to the rescue, and after trying it over and over, I finally got it to work today! I am knitting the swirly pattern for the center on this dishcloth. Not sure I want to take this on the plane, haven't quite got the hang of it knitting it, I have to really concentrate on it!

I found that I had to knit in all the ends right away, they were getting in my way and I was getting even more confused! Now that they are done, it makes the project a lot neater looking.

I am still working on my feather and fan shawl, and it seems the most reasonable project to take with me on the plane. It's lightweight, I can layout to use as a blanket while knit and I have the pattern memorized. (We are leaving to attend a wedding in Tennessee this weekend.)

Thanks for all the sweet comments on the knitting ministry. My kids helped pick out the name, and it was my DS who thought "Purls of Grace" was the perfect choice! I have the dates just about planned for our group to get started.

"Purls of Grace" Knitting Ministry (with update)

2007-09-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

Today was our Mini Retreat and the new Knitting Ministry was introduced, "Purls of Grace." During the time that the ladies as walked around to the various ministry tables I handed out information sheets and answered a lot of questions. The most common question was "Will you teach me to knit?" I had about 10 people sign up, which was a lot more than I expected. Several people commented that they didn't know how to knit, but knew how to crochet. I told them that they could come and welcome to crochet too!

I added a few more catalogs and books this morning before we started to my display. On the table is two shawls I knitted, and one I started to show the ladies what we would start with. I had a couple of other examples of yarn projects. The most asked about project...My Booga Bag! I must have explained it a dozen times. One of my friends loves my bag so much that I decided that I am going to give it to her tomorrow. She offered to pay for it, but I just can't bring myself to let her do that!

I still have the work out the details of day and time. I asked the ladies to write down when they would be able to come to the meetings and most of them wrote down evening. I am glad so many were interested in coming. I will let you know how it goes!

Updated 9/23/07

After I thought about I wrapped up the booga bag (in the picture) and gave it to my friend, she was so thrilled and couldn't believe it. I hadn't really used it and I knew she would really appreciate it. Better for her to be able to enjoy it and use it, than to sit in my closet. Plus I bought some Noro Yarn awhile back to make another!

Knitting Ministry

2007-09-18T22:32:00.000-07:00

When I first started knitting and really getting into it as a hobby I saw how many charities there were out there for knitters. I thought it would be great to start something like that at my church. A few weeks ago I was talking with the new Women's Ministry Director at our church and shared with her my idea for a knitting ministry, and she gave me the go-ahead to start one!

I did some research, jotted down some ideas and tried to figure out a plan of action. I didn't really want to just have a "knitting club" but rather wanted it to be a ministry with a purpose that could be benefit to our church and community. I also wanted it to be a time when other knitters (or those who want to learn) to be able to get together and fellowship while we knit our projects.

After we returned home from Disneyland I found out they wanted to highlight this new ministry at our next Mini-Retreat for Women's Ministries. At the retreat we fellowship, eat, have a time of Bible study, and learn about the various ministries in the church that we can be in involved with. That meant I had to finalize my mission statement and my plan!

This week I have been working on putting together my plan and writing up a simple mission's statement. I decided the best way to start is to do something very simple, knitting shawls. Based on the idea from the Prayer Shawl Ministry that was created 1998. My plan is teach new knitters the garter stitch, and depending on their comfort level, they can make a panel or a complete shawl. Those who are experienced knitters can choose their own pattern and yarn. We can even do some small lap type blankets, and triangle shaped shawls to add some variety. I just bought a bunch of yarn that was on sale at JoAnn's to help get people started. These shawls will go to those members of our church who are house bond or in need of some comfort. I hope to get a list so that if someone wants to make one for a specific person that can.

After that then I will see what other needs there might be within our church, maybe do blankets or other items for charity depending on the interest and skills of those who come. I haven't worked out all the details yet, dates, times. I am anxious to see if anyone is interested this Saturday and if we can get it going!

Two Projects

2007-09-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

Garterlac Dishcloth
A simpler version of entrelac using a garter stitch instead of stockinette. For this dishcloth I used SugarNCream Cotton Yarn.

I started this in the car on the way to Disneyland, and finished it up at home. I had to take it out several times before I got the hang of it and even one corner is still kind of funky. I do want to try again now that I understand how the pattern works.

Garter Drop Stitch Vest
Here is my finished Vest. It's doesn't have much shape to it and I am not all that happy with the way it looks on me. I think I will try it with a collared shirt and wear it as a vest when the weather cools. Knitted with Lion Brand Incredible Ribbon Yarn.

Disneyland Photos

2007-09-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

I put together a small slide show of our trip to Disneyland. These are only a few highlights of trip, we took a lot of photos!