WIP Wednesday

I've spent the past two days nursing a nasty cold...for me to sit on the sofa and do nothing but knit and watch movies for 2 days is extremely rare. The good thing is it let me focus on several projects and get to a new point on my Mountain View Cardigan. I am knitting it in one piece (less seaming thank you very much). I finished the body of the sweater yesterday and have now cast on for the sleeves.

I also bound off on the jumper I'm making for Miss America - now she wants it to be strapless which I just don't think will fly but I'll weave in the ends and block it and see how she feels. Not worth taking a picture until it is on her body - it's a shapeless blob right now.

I just ordered yarn to make 3 more Wallabies - yes, I've been bitten by the bug and I promised my godsister a full set for her kids.

I Don't Know Why I Didn't Start This Sooner

Last May I won a contest on Lynne's blog and received all the materials to make this wonderful Cape May Bag. I just love the Amy Butler fabric.

I had every intention of making this last summer. I took the sewing machine to the Jersey Shore and it just sat there. Turns out it was a sewing project for our house down there which inspired me to pull this out and make it. I'm so glad I did! What a fun bag for the summer and the beach - thank you again Lynne!

This is the project that got me going for the bag. We just repainted our bathroom and I used our son's old sailing award flags to make a valance for the window. I used blanket tape for the rod pocket and sewed the flags to the tape. I think/hope it will look perfect in the bathroom.

Such An Honor

Imagine my surprise when I was doing my daily surf to find I had been nominated for The Beautiful Blogger Award by my knitting buddy, Jennifer (aka Major Knitter). Thank you Jennifer! Wow and
as I was saying to you that I was thinking of abandoning my blog but just can't bring myself to do it yet.









Now, here's the tricky part - I have to reveal 7 interesting things about myself as part of my "acceptance speech" - this comes at a time in my life where I am not feeling very interesting at all...but I'll give it a shot.

1. When I was 12 we moved from a gated community in NY to a farm in Virginia. I consider myself lucky to have had 2 different worlds as part of my life and experiences. It is why I know how to use a fingerbowl and which cutlery to use first at a fancy restaurant AND I know how to bale hay, pick corn and get a possum out of the henhouse.
2. I am not good with blood and when I cut myself I tend to get "woozy". We realized this when I was 6 or 7 and fell off of the milkbox (they are not stable to stand on I learned the hard way) and when I really cut my knee I got all woozy. Now I know the feeling and lie down right away. I can't give blood (I have tried) and the only time I did give blood and didn't pass out was when I was pregnant (mind over matter).
3. I can't stand the feeling of velvet. My mom recalls that even when I was little I couldn't touch it and was cranky when I had a velvet dress on. When Miss America was a baby and was given a velvet dress I'd somehow get it on her but when I had to pick her up I'd scoop her up underneath her dress so I wouldn't touch the velvet. My sisters all thought I was batty with this idiocincracy but my knitting sister realized her son has the same texture problem and was a bit more understanding. For this reason (and others) chenille is not a fiber I will knit with!
4. I'm one of 4 girls. I'm the eldest and my youngest sister is 9 years younger than me. It's almost a generation gap as I was out of the house and in college and working for a good part of her teenage years. My parents used me as the best cheap babysitter when they were little - I was paid 25 cents an hour.
5. I have battled with my weight for a good part of my life...from high school through college and my first working years I was 35+ pounds heavier than I am now. When I was 25 or 26 I buckled down, went to Weight Watchers and got the weight off...it fluctuates every now and then and sometimes it drives me crazy that I always will have to monitor what I eat (which is hard when you love to cook as much as I do).
6. I can stack firewood like a pro (this probably ties in with point #1) - when we lived on the farm we had a wood burning furnace and my dad got 40 cords of wood one fall. That was one big woodpile. Whenever we get firewood now, I'm in charge of stacking it - my DH likes to joke he as the best stacked wife who knows how to stack firewood.
7. I love my husband and children fiercely...don't ever put them down in my presence as I become a mother tiger.


Now, I after all this I get to pass the torch of the Beautiful Blogger and while there are so many bloggers I find worthy, I nominate my friend Kimberly.

Kimberly spends her summer in the same small town I do...we had met a few times but it really clicked when I ran into her and I had a crochet hook in my hand after helping another neighbor finish a sweater. She asked if I crocheted and I said no but I knit. Kimberly does both and she also designs GORGEOUS crochet patterns. From that moment I feel like I've found a new dear friend who I can talk to about everything and anything and who has a passion for fiber and understands my passion for knitting. She is beautiful inside and out and I wish we lived closer.


So, Kimberly, congrats you Beautiful Blogger - can't wait to see you soon.

A Special Day

Yesterday was a special one in our house as #1 Son was confirmed. We had a lovely day, a fascinating bishop, good friends and lots of fun.

Finishing Friday

I love the Finish or Frog It group on Ravelry that Jennifer started. It really pushes me sometimes to finish up a project on a Thursday so Friday I can proudly post what I've done. Last night I finished the hood and wove in all the ends so this morning I can present my first Wonderful Wallaby. I have a feeling it might be the first of many - you see my godsister has 3 kids and I think they all need Wallabies!

We have a busy weekend here - today is our 16th anniversary, tomorrow and Sunday we have baseball games and tomorrow afternoon our son gets confirmed. All good stuff which requires a busy morning of cleaning, etc. I know I'll get some knitting done during baseball but that will be it. Have a great weekend!

Fun to Knit

Yesterday I went to Jennifer's so she could show me how to work the pouch on the Wonderful Wallaby. Jennifer is a Wallaby wonder herself - she's made a ton of them. So after a quick instruction I got my pouch started. When I got home I knit it to the body and reached the point where I had to finish the sleeves. One sleeve down, one to go. This really is a fun knit.


I've also been working on this while at baseball games. It looks like a very long turtleneck but really will be a jumper for Miss America. The skirt part is mindless and before I know it I'll be knitting the straps.










I'm beginning to get cast-on-itis but am holding off to finish my Mountain View Cardigan - I'm almost done with the body and casting on sleeves should take care of my need to cast on something new.

Ravelry Enables My Obsession - Yet Again!

The other day I was on Ravelry and was checking out one of my favorite groups - The Destash & ISO Library. I've scored some good deals here and found a huge book destash and couldn't resist treating myself to a good bargain - 3 books and shipping for $39.

First was Knit One Below - this technique is fascinating and there is an adorable baby blanket that might be my next stash buster.

I've wanted Reversible Knits for a while now so I could learn double knitting.

Lastly, I know I've sworn off socks but I'm still intriqued and this seemed to be a good place to start. I had checked it out of the library and perused it a few weeks ago and when I saw I could get it for only $10 I figured it was a good addition to my library.

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day with lots of love and knitting!

When Webs Has a Sale

I go shopping! I can't resist when Cascade 220 is on sale...it is a wonderful workhorse yarn. I picked up this lovely colorway called Pacific which I think I'm going to make a Christina sweater with... got to love that you can make a sweater for $30!

You can see some Plymouth Encore (also on sale which I picked up for $15 to make a Wallaby).


Then I got some heathered black called Jet which I want to use to make a Monday Morning Cardigan.















Last is some Northhampton Bulky by Valley Yarns (not on sale but still affordable) to make a Shalom for Miss America.

Now Webs has new yarns on sale in May! I might be in trouble...there are some that I want to try.

The First of Many

I have to admit to my addiction in making this scarf...the Scrappy Lengthwise Scarf (Rav Link). I cast on using odd bits of skeins of Cascade 220, Brown Sheep Lambs Pride and other unknown worsted weight skeins. Putting the colors together was addicting!

I know I'll be making more of these - this one needs a good blocking and then it is done. Just in time for this HOT weather we have - it is hard to believe last week I was freezing at my son's baseball game (4 layers and no knitting it was so cold).

Now I think I'll work on my first Wonderful Wallaby - I cast on for a size 2 and it looked much too small...I'm hoping I have enough yarn for a size 4 and I'll start that.

Lots of teaching this week so I might be quiet for a few days...that and I'm in a funk - can't explain it but I just need to snap out of it.