Knitting up a Storm

Not a hurricane, just a storm!  And while Lee has been down here, I've gotten a lot done.

First, this is the baby blanket that I had been knitting for most of August. Actually, it took me exactly 21 days to finish it, but I don't think I knit on anything else at all (maybe 4 rows on a certain sweater I wasn't supposed to be knitting on).  It's bigger than a normal baby blanket - I haven't measured it but it's bigger.  It's soft, pale pink and very nice.  The pattern is Estonian Lullaby by Fiber Trends.  The baby will love it . . . or else!

This is the To Eyre Shawl that I've been trying to knit for myself all summer.  This is made with Cascade Eco Duo which is 70% undyed baby alpaca and 30% undyed merino wool.  It's soft and it's gorgeous and I love the shades of gray that form the stripes.  The pattern is To Eyre by Carol Sunday.

And it doesn't hurt that it looks good and will keep my shoulders warm when there is a chill in the air.

These are the Hedgehogs before felting.  The pink one is for the new baby, Briana.  She was born on Monday the 5th even though her mom was scheduled for a C-section on Monday the 12th.  The yellow one is for her big brother Taylor - big brothers should get gifts too.  The red, gray and black one is for someone else, a surprise.  The pattern is another Fiber Trends Pattern - Huggable Hedgehog.

This is them felted and stuffed.  This first round of stuffing is to help them dry so it will have to be removed to dry out or it will mildew.  They will get eyes and noses when they are dry and then they'll be restuffed with fresh stuffing and their little bottoms sewed up.  I'll finish them tomorrow if they are dry.

This is going to be a very sweet little baby hat.  This yarn is Be Sweet Bambino Taffy which is 70% organically grown cotton and 30% bamboo.  It's soft and a bit shiny and silky because of the bamboo.  The cool thing about this is that the ball has five different colors of yarn in it.  Each color has enough to knit about a fifth of the hat and then the next color is tied on - so the hat will be striped with pink on the bottom then burgundy, then black, navy and light blue.  It's going to be adorable.

And this is going to be a little baby cardigan.  It's called Hello Baby and was written by Susan B. Anderson.  It just needs sleeves and a button band.  Oh yeah, and it's supposed to have a matching hat . . . all this has to be delivered by Friday for it's ride up to the new parents.

New Old Room

Girl Far From Home is Far From Home and all moved into her new, but very old, room.  I think the building that these dorm rooms are in is the second or third oldest building on campus.

This is the old steam radiator - not absolutely sure, but I think it's still in use.

Girl's room is off a hallway that runs behind these stairs.  That makes it a bit quieter because it is off the main hall.  This is a gorgeous old building.

This is Girl, with her stuff mostly in the room but not all unpacked and put away.  You can see how tall the ceilings are in this picture and how big the window she likes to sit in is - well, how tall anyway.

The window behind the head of her bed.  It looks out onto a small driveway across which is another building - think it has laundry and other facility things in it.

 This is the view - out past the building (the dumpster is temporary).

This is the window - remember that the Girl standing doesn't come half way up it - that sill is 14" deep at least  and the window is tall enough for her to sit completely in the frame with it open.

The Marilyn wall.

Marilyn above her dresser - that's a full sized poster and the top of it is higher than I can reach standing on top of the dresser.

The TV, DVD player, mirror and some makeup on her dresser.

Names on the door - must know who is in here!

The outside of the building.

More of the quad.

The hat building at the end of her dorm building - love the hat building.

Let's just see

how far I can get on these Hedgehogs since I have no Internet, apparently for the entire long weekend.

Happy Birthday Mom

 It was Mom's 16 1/2 Birthday and we tried to make it a nice one.  We started out at the beauty parlor, although we do that every Tuesday.  And Mindy made her even prettier than she is already.

 Then we headed over to the doctor's office for a weekly poke and prod and all the nurses sang her Happy Birthday.  Then it was off to her favorite restaurant for a bit of a Brunch.

Then we went to see if she won at BiMart (didn't) and then up to White House Yarns for some yarn.  Mom needed red and white and blue to finish up a Christmas gift (so we son't say exactly what it is for).  Gail thought Mom deserved a bag of yarn for a Birthday present - so she gave Mom the yarn.  I also bought yarn and needles but it wasn't my birthday so I didn't get them for free.
A few more errands, a few more presents and then it was home for a nap.
When the guys got home from work we all went out for a Birthday Dinner topped off with a piece of Birthday Cake for Mom.

It isn't everyday that Mom turns 16 1/2 - just every Birthday.

Hope you had a good time mom

Happy Birthday Mom!

Yesterday, today and tomorrow . . . Just keep celebrating cuz you deserve it!

Guess what . . .

I finished the baby blanket and it is gorgeous. I will post pictures when we get home and I can spread it out. Meanwhile I have started something new - guess what it is!

And let me leave you with another of Girl Far From Home's Marilyn posters. This one I had to stand on the dresser and reach as high as I could reach to put up. (Thank goodness for 3M's new Command poster hanging strips!)

First Things First

Marilyn is moved in, Girl will settle in soon.

New Pattern Available!

There is a new pattern available on the upper right side of this blog.  This one is not free - but it only costs a dollar.  This is a pattern that Girl Far From Home designed, knit and wrote up as a birthday present for me.  She's selling it to help with spending money for while she's in college Far From Home.  We've just added it to my Ravelry pattern store in case anyone is interested.  These little fish can be as small as an inch and a half or as big as several inches long depending on the yarn and needles used.  They are knit pretty much in one piece with no seams (which is how I like to knit things!)

Another Knit Along

And this time, it's a Family Affair!

Girl Far From Home is obsessed with Marilyn Monroe - obsessed I tell you!  

So last winter, Dena found this pattern:

It's called Marilyn Monroe Illusion and it's by Steve Plummer of Woolly Thoughts who does a lot of mathematical and optical illusion knitting and then creates patterns for much of what he creates.  When Dena found it she showed me and I bought the pattern.  I didn't show Girl Far From Home right away because I thought it would make a great surprise.  

Then I read a story about a wedding shawl.  The mother of the groom started one half of it and had family members on her side knit on that half.  She talked the sister of the bride into learning to knit and starting the other side and having the bride's family knit on that half.  Then the mother of the groom grafted the two halves together for the bride to wear to the wedding - a handmade gift of love made by both families.  I thought that was a terrific idea and it led to a plan to knit a blanket instead of a wall hanging and having everyone in the family knit a block (or several) - Mom, me, Girl Far From Home, Crazy Celtic Cousin and Aunt Dena.  

I did run the idea by Dena before I bought the yarn . . .

Girl Far From Home goes back to Far From Home this weekend so today we went out and bought the yarn.  She thought about going with Andy Warhol colors but these are what she ended up with.

Purple and lime green

Blue and peach

Blue and lime green

And purple and peach

There is still blue and purple but since both are dark, I'm not sure how well the illusion will show up so we aren't going to knit these two together.  

We think we have enough yarn for 12 Marilyns.  Each one is supposed to be 16" by 16" which would make for a 48" x 60" blanket.

So, Everyone shout out your color choices!