Matt and Brandi's Shower

We helped celebrate Matt and Brandi's currently percolating little one last weekend. We were thrilled to see them. Turns out Matt is learning to knit, has even been to a SnB in Chicago. Here is Matt's second scarf, it's in black cotton, it's hard to see but he is knitting and purling in squares, quite spiff. I tried to not talk about knitting too much. Hopefully he will get a Ravelry account soon, before Baby arrives.

There were several shower games. I rocked the identify lines from famous children's books game. Yeah. The men folk were good sports and attempted to tie their shoes with balloons in their shirts. Of course this morphed into a somehow super hero themed photo op. Makes sense, carrying a baby is a heroic task.

When we found out they were having a girl I knew that Pink Mini Hedgie had to go to Matt and Brandi. There was much oohing and ahhing. I know Pink Mini Hedgie is going to a good home.

We had a great time. Brandi looks amazing with her big beautiful belly. We are looking forward to meeting Baby. :-)

Happy 4th of July

A Happy and Safe 4th of July to all who celebrate. We are keeping close to home this year will grill out later.

I've been knitting quite a bit but not blogging. Booo! Thought I would post a few pictures of my recent FO's that I have not shared here.



The second Micro Hedgie ended up with a rainbow bottom. I refused to pay more for shipping then for the actual yarn so I stash dived. Also went for the big nose this time.

Lizard Ridge

I'm a bit obsessed with kitchen cotton dishcloths at the moment. All are plain old Sugar and Cream cotton in various colorways.

Five Point Star

I'm currently working on a Chinese Waves dishcloth, oh it's fun. I have yarn and patterns for a few more.



I officially gave the Tank to E. It's just too snug for me to wear out and about, but it's delightful on E. It was a fun pattern and knit. I was walking the don't want to run out of yarn line and make it snug but not too snug line. Oh well. It's a cute summer tank.

For now I continue to obsess about dishcloths and have some cotton coming in the next few days for a final summer sweater of 09. I'm excited.

Oh and I have an Adam Lambert inspired Hedgie all felted up and waiting for hand painted eyes to arrive from Suncatcher Eyes. He is a glittery, fuzzy ball of fun.

Knit Knite FO's WIP's and Mind Blowing Yarn Pr0n

I brought my camera to Knit Knite again, I hope no one minds, seriously I won't post pics and am more then happy to remove pics if anyone wants. No worries. Liz shows off her skein of wonder from Knitters Connection. FYI I can't remember the details on all of the yarn, only that everything was fab. Please feel free to comment yarn details.


What's this our first FO of the evening. Julane's amazing Fountain Pen Shawl in Knit Pick's Gloss lace weight.

We have a Hedgie sighting. Cath's WIP Hedgie. CUTE! I attempted to start a Hedgie that evening but did not get past the tummy. Too much gabbing and wrangling E.


Lone skein of some super funky yarn from Liz's Knitters Connection goodie bag. The lighter bits are SUPER soft. Our first thought was what kind of Hedgie would this make.


It was a two Lace FO evening. Liz's Meadow Flowers shawl for her Mom in Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud. It's filmy and just plain yummy.


It's sock time. Cath's socks in Knit Picks Essential kettle dye sock yarn. Yum!


Brandy's Knitters Connection spoils. Brier Rose and oh shoot I can't remember for a cabled vest for her son. Both are fab.

Warning Extreme Sock Yarn Pr0n Ahead

Brandy's Mini Mochi sock yarn by Crystal Palace Yarns. OMFG it's amazing in person. Super soft and the color, oh the color. This is new and oh so amazing. You know you want to see it knitted up. Admit it.




It's a modified Sidestream by Cat Bordhi and the color in person is mind blowing. I think I need a moment.



Prepare for extreme cute. Ruth's mohair Guinea Pig is coming along nicely. Oh it's so little and cute and fuzzy.



Kristie's felted entrelarc bag is cruising right along. It's so colorful and awesome.



More socks, and a pretty spiff lawn chair. Karla is rocking two at a time socks. Very nice.


K and her first hat, ever. This hat rocks.



This hat rocks so hard it gets a back view pic too. Proud Liz looks on at her knitting apprentice.




Kim won yarn and a signed copy of 2 at a time socks! The yarn just sings Fall, it's so pretty and soft in person.


We took the party inside when the skies started to threaten rain, which turned into a deluge while many of us were driving home. Thankfully everyone got home safe and sound.

Jackie and I both wore our Calla tanks. I had to knit Calla after seeing Jackie's in person. Jackie's is true to pattern and mine is a bit modified. Both are awesome.

Thanks for another fun evening Ladies.

Happy Father's Day

Dad, Sue, Great Grandpa Bill and Aunt Allison came over yesterday for a visit. GGBill, Grandma Sue, Aunt Allison and E went to the zoo to see the baby elephant, the moose and several other animals. Dad and Dave went to buy a swing set for the backyard. H and I stayed home, he is a bit under the weather, but thankfully perking up.


Gramps brought a firetruck for H-Man. H is obsessed with firetrucks, firefighters and fire stations. The firetruck was a huge hit.






While I consider myself a fairly competent social hostess, I'm seriously lacking in the food selection, prep and presentation areas. I was somehow able to pull off two meals, outside, with help of course. This was a big accomplishment for me.



Dad and Dave put the swing set together. H has not played on it yet, he ended up in bed sleeping since he was not feeling well. E was thrilled with the new swing set.


Allison was most impressed with my new tank top. We even matched. Thankfully H seems to be perking up today. Dave is sleeping. We have no major plans, just a nice quiet Father's Day at home.

Modified Calla

I finished my modified Calla tank at Knit Knite tonight. I love this sweater. I love the yarn, the color, which I was not thrilled about at first, the snug but not tight fit and the mods. I'm proud of myself for tweaking the already lovely pattern a bit to fit my needs. I even had yarn leftover.

Knit Knit was awesome tonight. We had a potluck, everything was so yummy. I put on my new tank after it was finished and walked back out to the group to much praise, that's such a great feeling. Everyone needs some encouragement every now and then. So thank you ladies.

Matt meets Urban Decay

I HAD to share this video of my buddy Matt. It's classic, wacky Matt in full on Matt mode.

Swallowtail Shawl

Check out the magic that is blocking lace. Take a wet blob of knitting, some pins, some time to dry and MAGIC!




E loves to unblock my lace knitting, she takes it very seriously removing each and sticking it back in the pin cushion.



This is an Evelyn Clark Swallowtail shawl knitted on size 6 needles in fingering weight handpaint generously given to me by the lovely Holly of Hollyarns way back in 2007.

2007 was a challenging year for our family. I found solace in my knitting during a dark time. I attempted to knit several lace shawls with Holly's beautiful handpaint. Nothing worked. I crashed and burned through several patterns. Much like how I was feeling through much of 2007. Continued trail and failure. In the end I put the yarn back in the stash.

I thankfully said goodbye and good riddance to 2007 and welcomed 2008, things calmed down. A new normal was established and the yarn sat in the stash. 2008 proved to be blissfully boring.

2009 came and brought new knitting and new knitting friends. And still the yarn sat.

Until May of 2009 when I decided I was ready for another lace project. I brought out the yarn, tossed the needle stash and printed up the Swallowtail pattern, which is a freebie btw. After a few tries with the cast on I got started and the knitting went great.

Until just before the swallowtail lace. I had two small mistakes. To tink or not to tink. Knit Knit Buddy Kristie encouraged me to just keep going, it's ok no one will see the mistakes. I kept going.

As I knit I thought about 2007. I thought long and I thought hard. Then the first row of the swallowtail chart pretty much kicked my a**. Again, to tink or not to tink. I left the errors and did not tink. I pushed forward knowing the shawl was riddled with errors, much like 2007.

I continued to knit through the swallowtail chart and on to the first of two edge charts. Continued errors. At this point I wanted to finish the shawl so I could revel in the magic that is lace blocking.

I finished the pattern and blocked it into a beautiful, filmy shawl. The errors are still there but you really can't seem them unless they are pointed out or the observer is an experienced lace knitter. The yarn is gorgeous, the colors vibrant and earthy.

The shawl is beautiful, it has it's imperfections but overall it's beautiful. Working on that shawl helped me see that 2007, despite the darkness was beautiful as well. There was beauty, and there was support, and there was joy, and there was growth mixed in with the hurt, and the guilt, and the loss.

And you know what I even have a bit of yarn left over to be incorporated into a future project. For now it's with my leftover sock yarn bits and makes me smile.

It's Knitting Time

I'm still here. I'm still obsessed with Adam Lambert, he's just so dreamy and gives a great interview. Sigh.

On to knitting. I have a few FO's to share.


Little old school Cotton Ease vest for the H-Man to rock. H Man rocks the sweater vests. Love it on him.


We are attempting to fine tune the care and feeding of E's curls by following the Curly Girl hair care method. I knitted her a Little Night Cap, slumber cap out of stash Berroco Cotton Twist. It even fits me. The idea is you wear the cap at night to help protect the curls. There is an elastic head band knitted into the brim. E loves this cap.




I've really been in an Adam Lambert created fog lately. How could I not blog about my completed Green Gable sweater. I love this sweater. It's my first official top down sweater attempt in ages. Love the stash Cotton Ease even if the color is a bit bright for my personal clothing choices.



E helped me do a little backyard photo shoot with the sweater. The complete set is on facebook. I feel so good in this sweater.

On the needles. Lets see still need to order some Mango Fun Fur for the little Hedgie. I have an Evelyn Clark Swallow Tail shawl on the needles in some fab fingering weight yarn from the lovely Holly of Hollyarns. I won the yarn nearly two years ago and am just now ready to knit it up. It's a lovely hand paint in greens and blues. I'm on the 13th of 14 budding lace repeats before the swallow tail repeats. Loving this knit.

I have more green Cotton Ease from stash destined to become a Calla tank. The plan is to pound through the shawl before casting on Calla.

Otherwise things are good. I still have not blogged Mother's Day weekend and the Singing Angel excitement. I had a great weekend.