Christmas gifts

Brendan got an lmax computer and a Jayhawk as big as he is!
Showing his lmax to cousin Charlie.
Enjoying Operation.

Snow for Christmas

Brendan had lots of fun shoveling and playing in the snow in Wichita. These were taken a week ago when Wichita got about 6 inches.

Back home from the holidays

The holidays were nice for the family, and my son certainly made out very well! We're all back home now with no plans to leave again any time soon. I'm mired in morning sickness, which these days, doesn't let up much, if at all, each day. Ick. Tomorow will be the start of week 8. The baby is about the size of a small bean, I've read. And, looks more like an alien than anything. :) No promises on when photos from the holidays will be posted.

Brendan photos

Just a couple of photos of Brendan from early in December. Nothing else today.

Feather and Fan Stole

I'm using Elsebeth Lavold's silky wool for this stole. I already love the look and can't wait till I can block it so the pattern really stands out.

Kyoto beginnings

This is the start of Kyoto, from knitty. I decided to use a dark blue for the sash and a light blue for the body. The yarn is Berocco's cotton twist.

More progress on Josephine

This is more progress on Josephine. The back is complete and this photos is of the completed right front and the start of the left front. It appears that I have enough yarn, so keep your fingers crossed.

Ambrosia's Jacket

I knitted this jacket for my girlfriend's daughter Ambrosia. Brendan was nice enough to model it for the photo.

Halloween parade!

Brendan and friends in their Halloween finest!

Jumping in the leaves

Hemlock Ring Blanket, Josephine, Falling In Love updates

I've got 10 more rows to go till the Hemlock Ring Blanket is complete. Photos will need to wait till after bindoff, as the blanket is scrunched up on my needles. Each row has 400+ stitches on them now, so each row is painstakingly long. I understand the bindoff takes a LOT more yarn than the other rows, too, so I expect that to take a long time. When it's done, it'll be Brendan's. Can't wait to see it off the needles! I'll share a photo when I take one.

I'm also continuing with Josephine and Falling In Love. I've completed the back of Josephine and am on the right front. I'm still working on the first sock for Falling in Love.

Hemlock Ring KAL

I hope to cast on as soon as I get either Josephine or the knee-hi's far enough along.

Falling in Love socks progress

I set these socks aside over the weekend to make some progress on Josephine, but picked them up again last night and today. They are just about at the beginning of the meatiest part of my calf. The one sock looks great so far and I can't wait to see them done. I think I've got the right skirt for them, but still need to find the right shoes (probably a sexy, black clog of some sort) and the right top. Funny, creating an outfit around the socks, huh? :)

Progress on Josephine

I've set aside the socks for the Labor Day weekend to make some progress on Josephine. She's reached 22 inches in length and is ready for the armhole shaping. I can't believe I've only used 4 skeins so far!!!

Swim lessons for 4 year olds

Brendan's preschool/preK classes had swim lessons this in June of this year. That's his best friend Nathan next to him. The teacher is showing them how to kick.
Here, the teacher was taking the kids one by one and encouraging them to float on their stomachs and backs and kick and even move their arms for strokes. Brendan loved that part, as you can see. :)
This was the last day of lessons, and the whole class got to go down the slide. They were all a bit hesitant at first, but it only took one of them to go down one time and they were all waiting in line. I was so lucky to be there every day of the 2 weeks!

Black and white photos

I love these photos. The colors were funky, so I changed them to black and white and presto! They look pretty good! I plan to make a collage of Ambrosia's photos for her mom. Not sure what I'll do with the rest.

Falling in love kneehi lace socks

The foot is complete. I'm beginning to add the lace and cable pattern to the back now.
Closeup of the lace and cable pattern. This pattern is an adaptation of Anniken Allis's Falling In Love Socks. I am making them knee-hi's.

July photo

Couldn't resist sharing this photo from early July this year.

California State Fair

Bumper cars!
The baby pigs are sooooo warm! And squirmy!
Watching the Forest Service's puppet show.

Brendan begins karate

The past few weeks we've been taking Brendan to karate class Thursday nights. Much to his pleasure, he even received his white belt!
He is very excited to be a karate student, but not always excited about participating the entire class.

Finished vest and more Josephine

This is Brendan's Classic Camel Vest. I still need to weave in some of the yarn ends and add the buttons, but it's essentially finished. Can't wait to see him wear it at his Uncle Matt's wedding in October!
This is my progress on Josephine from Knitty. I've added some detail to it, shown in the photo below. I had to adjust the pattern to fit the smaller size yarn I'm using, which left much bigger purl sections in between the cables than the pattern intended. I added twisting diamonds on either side of the center cable and am now adding some bobbles to the other purl sections. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Antique lace

My mom brought some lace that has been in the family for a very long time for me to see. Some of it is probably from the late 1800's. Some of the pieces we are sure were made by family. I forget now which ones, but they are all beautiful, whomever made them!

My mom's in town

No photo to go with this yet. My mom is in town and having lots of fun with Brendan! I'm not sure if this is a break for her from the difficulties of daily farm life, or if she might need a break after this visit! Brendan is very excited to have another playmate around and especially someone he can wake up in the morning who won't be grumpy at him for it! :) This morning, when I asked him if grandmama was awake, he said that he'd patted her arm and that she woke up. I smiled thinking how nice it is to be patted on the arm by such a nice little guy. Not too bad a way to be woken up, huh?

On a trip intended to end at the park yesterday, Brendan led his grandmama along the creek behind our house and never left it. lol! It's all about the journey, isn't it? :)

Josephine begins

I've cast on for Josephine from Knitty. This is one skein's worth of Kilcarra Aran Tweed. This is the lovely new wool that my FIL brought from his recent trip to Ireland (from County Donegal). It's difficult to tell from the photos, but this yarn is a lovely moss green tweed:

(http://lavenderyarns.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=66_56&products_id=211&osCsid=6e6).

I wasn't sure what to use it for, as it's new wool and a bit scratchy. I'd had Josephine in mind, but wasn't sure when I'd start it, or if there was a better pattern for the yarn out there until I watched "Big Fish" last weekend. Imagine my surprise when I realized that the character Josephine in the movie was wearing "Josephine" the sweater jacket! I must have overlooked this detail when I read the pattern at first. I took this as a sign that I needed to start the pattern! :)

I'm still working on my son's vest, and am working on the front right, the last piece before seaming and working the neckline. I'll post more photos of that in a day or two.

Vest for Brendan

This pattern was adjusted from the Camel vest from 'Men in Knits.' I am adjusting it for my 4 year old to wear to his uncle's rehearsal dinner in a couple of months! :) I'm using Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool on size 6 needles. I can tell it's going to be very lightweight.

Dragon wrist bands

I created this pattern from the dragon on some of my karate school's shirts. It looks better on the shirts, but still ok. I redid the pattern so that the dragon is about half the size. Hopefully that will look a bit better.

Bowling with four-year-olds!

Brendan's preschool and the preK kids went to the bowling alley this past Friday. The kids had a lot of fun and everyone was exhausted when it was all over, including me!

Score at Filati's awesome sale!

I scored all this fabulous yarn at Filati's this past weekend. Elsbeth Lavold, Cotton twist, Adrienne Vitadini, etc. I'm on a year-long yarn diet, but this is my one exception. Yarn IS joy! Giggling...

Brendan's hat and mittens set

I made this set for my son. He chose the color. Knitted with Patons Meloday. Hmmm...I seem to knit with it a lot, huh? :)

Baby girl jacket

Finished this hooded, baby girl's jacket last week. I used Patons Melody in a lovely purple. I added some "confetti" yarn to the cuffs and might add more to the hood, too.

Tile mosaic mounted!

The tile mosaic is now on the wall...but needs to be framed properly. If you have ideas, email me!!! See April 21, 2007 post for a close-up photo.

Recently completed knitting

The variegated halter top was knitted using all cotton yarn. The twirled halter top was knitted using a polar weight cotton/nylon yarn. The baby kimono was knitted using some of the acrylic yarn I inherited from my grandmother. No intended recipient, just wanted to knit a baby top. I'm in the process of finishing a purple hooded jacket for a baby using Patons Melody.