Our Amazing Weekend.

A Wedding.

A 4th of July parade.
Some illegal fireworks.
Some people I may or may not be related to.

Government-sanctioned, legal and permitted fireworks.
It was a remarkable and magical weekend. Thanks mom and dad, Patty and Dan!
Congrats to S and P!!

Now We Are Six!

This little gal is almost seven and I am a little melancholy about the whole thing.

Six is a magical age.
She is wearing my third attempt for the perfect flower girl shrug for my sister's wedding. This one is in organic cotton - Sprout - in a bold fuchsia. I like it. It's very casual looking, but it's a picnic wedding and the girls will be wearing cotton sundresses. I'll post pictures of the big day soon.

If you want to see a gorgeous adult version, check out Wild Tomato's shrug for her sister's wedding.

Book Club anyone?

I am starting my second on-line book club at BookMama if anyone is interested!

I love my enabling bloggy friends!!

I DID IT! I ran out and bought up all my yummy pink yarn for my Central Park Hoodie. I cast on and am loving every minute of it!

Even when I had finished four inches on the back only to realize it was much too small and had to rip the whole thing out.

Even though I don't have a ball winder.

Even though I have a deadline to knit three Anthropologie-Inspired Capelets for my sisters big wedding day.

Even though it's 86 and humid and wool is outlawed until September.

Even though it would be much cheaper to find a new sweater at TJMax

Even though I already own TWO cabled hooded sweaters (both green) (both bought at TJMax).

Thanks ladies. I couldn't be happier!Cascade 220 Heathers
ps. June 20-21 is KIP (knit in public) day.

Should I be monogamous?

I have a pair of socks on the needles in my car, a baby sweater on my desk and I'm grabbing my checkbook as I head to my LYS for some Cascade 220 to start my Central Park Hoodie.
What do you think? How do you manage your knitting? Do you knit one project at a time? Two? What should I do? Just stick to the socks, then finish the baby sweater and reward myself with the sweater? Or should I throw caution to the wind and have as many knitting flings as I want?

Bad dog! Very Very BAD BAD DOG!

I took Leo outside with me this morning so he could frolic and play while I watered the garden. He has been so good lately. I let my guard down. I did not put on his shock collar. (I know . . . SHOCK COLLAR . . . cruel - Wait till you meet him).

He suddenly took off pell-mell after a fox with me on his heels yelling, "NO! LEO COME!" But instinct had taken over and off he flew through the thickest part of the woods. The fox disappeared as they usually do and Leo slowed down. I had almost caught up to him when I saw this look come over his face.

The look said, "This is it. This may be my only chance to explore this great wide world. I'm going for it!" And he turned and ran for it. Straight through the new development with all the mansions, manicured lawns, real estate agents and construction crews. Full-on run right down the middle of the street with me, now hysterically screaming (and realizing just how out-of-shape I am) chasing after him. I think I may have even been using some horribly foul language. In fact, I know I was using language that would make a sailor blush.

He, of course, heads straight for the highway and I start crying. Crying and cussing . . . and heaving. And good god, I've still got my pink pajamas on.

Guess what saved him?

Coyote poop.

Yup. He stopped to investigate a pile of coyote poop and I pounced on him. I almost killed him. I had to drag, scream and shout him all the way home and now he's in his kennel and I'm shaking and my legs are bleeding from my romp through the woods and it's all I can do not to hook that shock collar up to his wire kennel and just crank it up.

And now - my dog is afraid of me. . . the construction workers are too.

ps. Guinifer, he did get a hold of Loopy, but he sustained no lasting damage. Just dog slobber. I can live with that. He still has his arms and legs intact.

aaaaaaahhhh. US 3. Addi Turbo.

So fast. I love big sock yarn and big sock needles:Specs:
yarn: ATH (all things heather) colorway: Bucky
needles: US 3
pattern: plain old socks - no pattern

I knit that baby up while on our family vacation up north. I brought a friend with me - Mr. Loopy



Here he is at the mouth of the Kawishwi River which is one of the entrances to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. (The Loopy Ewe has a photo contest of places you take your Loopy).


Leo meets Loopy.


And a little extra special bonus for us - we've been selectively removing some flora in order to make room for more wild blueberries to thrive near our cabin. This year we will have quite a bumper crop of tiny little wild blueberries! These are the early blossoms. We'll be back in July to pick a few handfuls.

I am so jealous of all you who will be attending Sock Summit this year. Be sure to take loads of pictures!!

I've updated BookMama. If you get a chance - come on over for a visit!
ps. I had trouble with pictures on the BookMama post this morning.

Hello, FO in Malabrigo!

Ah spring. I can smell the lilacs even from the ugly asphalt parking lot of our local strip mall. It smells wonderful and fresh.
The crab apples are in full bloom.

I finished a little pink shrug, which is a proto-type for my sisters wedding. There are three flower girls - 2, 5 and 6. I tested out the pattern to see how difficult it would be to twiddle with size and yarn and needles.

And guess what. This is the easiest pattern!!!!! I used a US 10, a worsted weight yarn . . . achem . . . Malabriiiiigoooooooo with a darling colorway name of "Molly". The pattern is Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet by Julia Allen and it's free! You can also access the pattern through Ravelry.

And NOW I know what all the fuss about Malabrigo is about. I bought the stuff ages ago and found it wadded up in the bottom of my yarn bin. To be honest, when it was in it's coiled little skein, it felt scratchy and, other than the brilliant color, was unimpressive.

However, after knitting with it - I now understand the obsession. It's like knitting with cotton candy, but without the sticky fingers. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. And it makes a wonderful squooshy fabric.

PS. Those darling baby ducks belong to my daughter's first grade classroom. We took them home for one day just after they hatched and gave them their first swim. We also managed to keep the Prince-of-Poopness from eating any of them. I believe they are soon on their way to "the farm" which I choose to believe is a wonderful, happy place full on vegetarian duck lovers.

Baaaabies

Foster Babies


Bunny Baby


Sweater Baby

My very special stitch markers are from Glastonbury Glassworks. You may be familiar with the wife of this talented glass artist - Live and Let Learn!

If you like dogs . . . you might like this.

Girlie Socks

An FO!Sassy socks for my sassy girl. Pink and sparkles and picot - so girlie and sweet.

Specs:
Yarn: Berroco Sox Metallic (a bit scratchy)
Pattern: Leyburn Socks - heavily modified
Needles: US 1 1/2 or 2.5 mm
Modifications: (top down) CO 58 knit a picot cuff
Used the Leyburn pattern across the front of the sock and did a k2, p2 on the back of the sock so that it will fit a child for a longer time (a bit of stretch for room to grow). The beautiful stitch on the front is actually quite easy and it is so pretty! I absolutely LOVE this pattern.