Morning Glory

Just a few photos of the Morning Glory finished last week. I love this pattern even more than before!

I will definitely knit this again...I've had the yarn for it since last year.

a quick yarn

See what a spinning lesson did?

My heart is happy I love my yarn!

This is a photo of the fiber from Funky Carolina's Etsy shop

Beth is great and I really enjoyed the day. Some goodies even came home with me!

This skein is approx. 220 yards. I really experimented with this as it is my first yarn with a lesson or two.

Here is a photo of one of my other new loves - The Namaste Malibu bag. It is a fabulous bag and I like it so much more than my Lexie Barnes Lady B. There are more photos of the bag on my flickr account.

More Lemon Cake!

Sort of lemon cake. Not the lemon cake of my dreams, but the man who brought it for me is! Hubs knows how Wendy's lemon cake tart made my mouth water and he dug up a little something to help. I've avoided making a whole cake because then someone needs to eat the whole cake...I am weak!

Bugg and I kept an early appointment to have her prom dress altered. After the seamstress pinned it, she tried on a different dress and it was THE dress. I could try to explain, but let me just show you

This is just a quick photo, but the 'white' areas are rows of rhinestones - beautiful!

Must run now - only 10 rows left on the Briar Rose Morning Glory! This means photos will be coming soon!

Sweet Sweet Georgia

Ravelry is truly a work of art...and I really need to donate in order to being showing my appreciation! It amazes me that I can want something, post ISO (in search of) on a message board, and have knitters respond offering to solve my need... ok, WANT.

For instance, I ran across the Sweet Georgia message board last week. Man I've wanted to see, feel, possess some of this yarn for so long. I began casually searching for it about 18 months ago - seriously! Die hard knitters probably know about this yarn and the limited availability. Word is, 'Georgia' took a hiatus from dying, but is said to be slowly returning. Anyway, the discussion thread was 'Where to get more Sweet Georgia' - my reply was to the nature of hey, I have found my FIRST Sweet Georgia yet.

This is where those fantastic Ravelry-ers come to your rescue. Gravityvp sent me a Ravel-gram offering up some of her stash - Thank you, Rebecca! Soon, my very own Sweet, Sweet Georgia will arrive. It may not be knit up immediately, but it will do fine to just sit and be until I bring myself to cast-on.

Thanks to Ravelry, much stash has flown out the door. In my quest to find the perfect knitting bag, I've fallen hopelessly in love with the Namaste Malibu bag. It holds a ton of stuff. The color is perfect and this may be the perfect knit bag for me. Whenever Bugg walks by it, she tries to take it for her own - don't worry, Pink and me - we're stickin' tight!

Another favorite of mine - Etsy proved fruitful this week as well. One of my favorite shops - Home Made Originals listed this adorable Ipod case. Bugg's nano fits perfectly!

My collection of recycled sweaters has grown with the intention of making something(s) special and that is one of my goals for this year-we'll see how that goes.

Just like lemon cake

With the holidays behind me, I finally placed an order with Dame Candle Company which arrived yesterday (Thank you, Wendy!) The scents are the best thing going, but there is a pitfall...

I promptly popped a Lemon Cake soy tart into my tart warmer and it only took a few minutes for the smell of lemon cake to make it's way through the entire house. Lemon Cake is my favorite dessert and the aroma was so convincing that I thought Hubs had put something into bake.

So, the pitfall? The candles and tarts smell so good that I am convinced there are calories in there somewhere.

I am determined to try all 52 (seems like there are that many) scents, but don't know if I will be able to budge off of the Lemon Cake!

A most outstanding opportunity to support those undergoing cancer treatment is developing.

I've organized a donation drive to benefit The Hope Lodge in Grand Rapids. Chris was kind enough to donate a ton of Sonoma and many knitters have agreed to design and knit squares to make the blanket. (I am so excited...)

How does the opportunity to own your very own custom designed and knit blanket made of Briar Rose Sonoma grab you? Just by donating to the American Cancer Society cause we have established, the blanket could go home with you or one of your friends.

The link to donate went up yesterday and if you make a donation, your name could be pulled in a random drawing and you could have the FINISHED Briar Rose blanket!

Visit the blog where progress and updates are posted or you can visit the donation site directly here at the American Cancer Society.

Get your family and friends involved - everyone can participate to support those dealing with cancer treatment.

Enough already

Come on, man - lighten up already, we're freezing down here!

Obviously, these photos have been taken from the safety of my own home. I would love to say we're nice and toasty, but everything feels cold!

That heater my brother put up on the enclosed deck must burn dollars - our heating bill for last month was.....$985.00.

How else would you want to spend a cool grand? I can think of a few ways. Just another reason (on the already long list) to move to a more temperate climate ***Honey, are you reading?***

It's been brought to my attention that my cover has been blown and some of the peeps at my last place of employment (Hub's current place of employment) read my blog.


Hey Marty! Didn't know you cared. Just know I'm thinking of you while you're working on that stuff I left for you in your 'file'. wink wink, we both knew....


Marty asked for photos of Bugg and FYS who attended the Sadie's Hawkins dance last night. Bugg, with a new fellow and FYS (Freshman) with a Senior girl...












Awwww



Want to see the dress?





This post seems a little long so I will end with a shot of this Briar Rose Grandma's Blessing that arrived last week. Let me warn you, the colors shown are no where near the richness of the actual hues. This skein sits on my desk and catches light from the window, I pick up the camera and snap a shot and it never captures the true beauty. Trust me, it is incredible.

Cupcakes anyone?

Oooh, I get hungry just thinking about this bag!

Cute, no?

I don't like the color brown very much and dug this yarn out of my stash. Knit Picks Wool of the Andes purchased for who knows what...it pleases me, even though it is (gulp) brown.

I managed to limp through the crochet edging, but will need to get the Crochet Doctor to make the wierd loopy thing to close it up. The thought to use a magnetic closure did occur to me, but overall, the loopy thing was more appealing.

The Norah Gaughn patterns like this have never really caught my attention, but after making this bag I will take another look into her work

Lots going on

The birthday celebration went off with a bang. FYS declaired that "him mom makes the best cherry-chip cake in the world". Many thanks to Betty Crocker for that little feat. Candles were in short supply, but a '1' was dug up and FYS was content that we think he is #1...



Bugg has been waiting patiently (not) to hear news of her college application status. Her first pick results rolled in today:










That little smile reflects a little of the excitement that was followed in an impromptu dance. She got in!


Fiber-y News:



Look it-





Lisa had a blog contest and I won a prize! Check out this pencil corriedale roving from Crown Mountain Farms. She also embellished this notebook with adorable ribbons. Both are favorites! Thank you Lisa, I love my prize and hope to spin well enough to do this incredible roving justice.





Morning Glory is halfway there. What a clever pattern. Let's hope the second half goes as quickly as the first!



Cupid shot an arrow when this cute little vest was found...yes, found. I did not knit it, but someone did and it is cute. It was also on sale at a price you could not make it for.

I am thinking this may need to become a somewhat modified pattern in the future.

But enough - I want to share about a new project that is near to my heart (and a lot more important than a sweater vest).

The desire to give back has descended upon me. It has been manifested in a donation drive to benefit The Hope Lodge. You can participate as soon as the donation links are established - until then, please visit the blogsite established for this effort for updates and don't forget to tell all of your friends. Truly gifted designers and knitters have been so willing to support this effort - their links are on the blog.

Today is a good day!

I blinked

Fifteen years ago, my life was changed forever with the arrival of my Favorite Youngest Son (FYS).

At 8lbs. 3ounces, he weigned in a pound heavier than his big brother and two pounds more than his sister, Bugg. He was born at 2:30AM and I knew that he was special.

His love for sleep was only surpassed by his love to eat, he can smile and melt my heart.

Everyone knows that he is a 'Momma's Boy' and his siblings think he is my favorite child.

As he matures into a young adult, his sense of humor and inclination toward compassion becomes apparent (and enjoyable).

He loves life and is carefree. I am thankful God has shared him.

He would kill me if he knew I posted this photo...

Happy 15th Birthday, you special boy!

Keep moving forward

The worst part of having a daughter who is about to graduate is the thought of scrapbooking. Seriously, scrapbooking does not run in my family and it apparently will not begin with my generation.

My friend, Jane, answered the call to help. We get together, she gives me ideas and sends me away with 'homework'. I come home, pile the stuff in my designated scrapbook area and grab my knitting needles. Just like real homework, I panic the night before we are meeting again in realization that the homework was never even started.

With today's snow keeping the kids home today, Bugg was roused early and we managed two pages - and they are 'finished' (are scrapbook pages EVER finished?) well before my next meeting with Jane.

Spending time with Bugg was fun. A couple of things are apparent to both of us: Our first attempt is adquate enough for us, we will not win any scrapbooking awards, and the talent to scrapbook has probably not started with Bugg. The quality of photos did not help at all. The pictures from this dance were taken with an old camera and all of the shots were orange-y and blurry.



We are not panicked, though. Most of our photos are digital and my new favorite website is Picaboo. With their help, it is pretty certain that the books will be finished in time.



Let me take a moment to thank God for giving me substancially more efficient fiber skills as opposed to paper skills. Whew! That was a close one.



The Chantal cardigan is coming right along - the back is finished and now there is more Fisherman's Rib coming...



Morning Glory is progressing more quickly.

I've determined it is not so smart to knit on this baby while trying to watch something interesting on television.