Imagine Knit

Come see my new site

2011-05-18T09:49:00.002-05:00

I've moved the blog visit me here http://knitmenow.wordpress.com

Rant

2011-01-28T10:55:00.000-06:00

So lately I am running into a lot of women issues. Not the actual people or my issues with them, as I am one. More how we are treated and how we sometimes allow ourselves to be treated. Building a house is a prime example of a time when men feel they can treat women as idiots. I am so tired of men not talking to me about an issue in the house but willingly talking to my husband about it. My brain doesn't work with numbers as well or fast as some guys but explain what you are doing or show me what size things are and I will be able to get the gist of it. Why can't guys just treat me like I have a brain in my head? This has been driving me crazy lately. They also look amazed when I am able to do something in the house. I am capable of work and am relatively smart. Why can't I figure out how to put in some click and lock flooring? I know how to use a saw as well as the next person. Granted my recent foray into this resulted in a 3 hour frustrating day with some help from the hubby to finally get it going. But I did do it so don't look so surprised when I come back the next day to finish myself!

I am a labor nurse as some of you might know. I am sick of asking someone how they are going to feed their baby and them saying, " I'm going to try to breastfeed." Why undercut yourself before you even start? I know breastfeeding isn't easy and it is scary with a new little person but women! Be confident in your ability to feed your child! You have the equipment and there are so many resources out there to help you.

Not everyone is able to breastfeed I get that, but I think there is so much to be said for just deciding that is what you are going to do and doing it. Don't say you're going to "try" say, "Yes I am going to breastfeed. " Say it loud say it proud.

Also the current obsession with every women I meet to add some kind of stuff to do with breastfeeding is just ridiculous! Why are you all pumping and bottling? What is that all about? Why are you using nipple shields and why is it so important for the guys to give a bottle? I had a patient the other day who's baby was nursing fine and the dad was pressuring his wife to quit nursing because the baby cried at the breast. Well cripes! He was hungry! So she wanted to pump so he could give a bottle. Women be a little selfish for once. Men get all kinds of advantages in this life this is one thing they can't do. Don't let them take it away from you. It is so special and important to you and your baby.

OK I am done. Sorry to all you I might offend but this is my blog so I get to say what I want, Right?

Knit on with confidence and hope through all crisis ~ Elizabeth Zimmerman

I'm Baaaaaack

2011-01-14T19:55:00.000-06:00

So the end of 2010 was a little hectic. As you might see from the header pic, we were living in the camper until the beginning of December. I finally was able to get DH to let us stay in a hotel for a few days and once that happened we never did go back into the camper. Thank goodness! I don't know if you have heard but men with Finnish bloodlines can be a bit stubborn. I can say this since we are both Finn although it goes way back to great grandparents for the both of us. I like to lurk around the Finns on Ravelry sometimes just to see if we have similar tastes:) I think we often do.

We have now gone from this...

To this! Yes actual progress on the house as in there is one. Yay!

Actually this might even be an older picture since I see we don't have a front door in that picture and we definately have one now.

I am in the paint color, tile, carpet picking stage and it is tough to decide on such permanent things. If I was the only one with an opinion I think it might be easier too but DH likes to have a say in colors so... Enough said.

To take the edge off, I knitted up some mousies to go into our house in hopes any real mice would not want to join them.

This is Miss M's mouse, I don't think she has named her.

Pattern: Marisol the Knitted Mouse
Ravelry link here

This is Noley's mouse he dubbed Squeeky.

Ravlery link here
There's more knitting where that came from and hopefully I will now get back on the band wagon and blog more. Hope you are all enjoying the new year. Happy Knitting!

House

2010-09-15T13:00:00.001-05:00

House, originally uploaded by ImagineKnit.

Yes we might just get one! Things have begun on our little homestead. Thank goodness because it is getting cold and momma doesn't want to live in the camper all winter.

I feel like listing some things I miss today so I can appreciate them when I get them again..

I miss...

a room of my own where I can shut the door
space and warmth to lay on the floor and hang out with the kids
plumbing
running water
a shower whenever I want
the ability to have company over
my sewing machine
all the yarn in the storage unit
the internet at home
TV (yes I know I shouldn't miss that but I do)
Not feeling stressed out all the time

What do you miss in your life right now?

Summer

2010-08-27T15:43:00.001-05:00

Summer, originally uploaded by ImagineKnit.

Still out here in limbo coming to the coffee shop for a little computer break and so the kids can play. Picked up this sweater again for KD. Hope to actually get past the sleeves at some point.

The first of the colds hit out house and more specifically me. Just trying to hang on till school starts. Our closing didn't happen this week due to no fault of our own which makes it all even more frustrating. We are SO past ready to start this house that I could cry. Hopefully this next week we can get that done and call in the troops to start. Some day it will be worth it, right now it is just hard to wait.

If anyone is coming up the Duluth way for a visit and wants to meet up shoot me an email, I could stand some knitting nights and this coffee house is popular and close to where I live. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Blogless Senja

2010-08-16T12:48:00.001-05:00

Mitts 4 M, originally uploaded by ImagineKnit.

This summer has been a flurry of moves (3 to be exact) with big house planning and frustrating turns of event. Nothing major has gone wrong but building a house is not for the faint of heart. All that said our new space promises to be just what we want and hopefully well thought out for our family.

Knitting has been taking place and this picture is the only proof I have of that. Mittens for Miss M which I bound off the tips today and still have the thumb to do. That said I am not sure if I will finish them as she seems ambivilent about them and so am I. They are cute but some of the stranding was pulled a little tight and I am not in love with them. The Hedgie on the front is cute though. Maybe another try at this is the way to go. I am at the local coffee house for a little computer time and the kids are hounding me for stuff. I will have to run just leaving a little note out here to say I am still alive. Hope your summers are all great! Come on school!

Exploring

2010-06-03T21:25:00.001-05:00

Mother's day 2010
We went out to the breakwater in Two Harbors, MN for a little fishing. We didn't catch any but it was a fun outing to explore the big lake (Lake Superior).

I found some inspiration there too. Took this picture to save in my mind the color combination for a yarn colorway someday.

Of course when you go to the lake you have to throw stones in.

I was really a fun day and my kiddos are getting so big. It is such a bittersweet feeling watching them grow and change. I am so happy they are healthy and smart and inquisitive and... well you get the picture.

I have done some knitting too. The Lacy Baktus was just the thing for this yarn I have been hanging on to for a few years. It is a cashmere, silk and wool blend in a color I don't usually choose for myself. It's called Spun by Artio which is not cataloged on Ravelry and I won it in a blog contest. But I had made up my mind to use it for me and the baktus seemed like a perfect project for such a soft yarn. You have to knit something to go next to your skin with that kind of fiber blend. It would be wrong not to:)

I think it turned out all right and I have 2.5 skeins left to make a hat for the winter. Hmmmm off to Ravelry to find a pattern!

What I did on my Spring Break

2010-04-09T09:07:00.006-05:00

Went for a walk with good friends.Explored hollow logs.

Found interesting tree formations.

Went knitting at a friends house.

Explored the local aquarium. Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth, MN
Saw divers feed the fish in the tank.
Tried to get a good picture of the river otter.
Looked at beautiful art inside.

Played in the tree house.

Got a little obsessed with the boats showing how locks work.

Learned about huge dinosaur fish.

Watched a ship go through the canal.

Welcomed back some old friends.
By Senja

I'm Alive!

2010-03-26T14:42:00.006-06:00

Really I am I just stopped blogging for a bit there. Once in a while it all gets to be too much to keep up with and I take a break. The blog is the first to go. But there has been lots of things happening here. First off, we are moving!
About 2 months ago we heard the neighbors were moving. Since they are the only neighbors we have left that we like OK and we have talked about moving for quite a while now it was just the push we needed to get our house on the market. Lo and behold the house sold in less than 2 weeks! Yikes. Now BDiddy and I have no permanent plans yet beyond we are moving to the next town over to be living the the school district we have our kids in and slightly closer to our work. I will update you all when we have something to tell until then we are packing and planning for a summer full of transitions.Knitting wise I made a hat for my cousins baby, finished a shawl and am now working on a sweater for me.
Here are some pictures:This 3rd picture is the most accurate for color, I used my own Knit Me Now Sport-a-licious in Apple Tree and finished with Knit Picks Gloss sock in Cocoa since I ran out of my yarn at the end:( I like how it looks though with the brown solid on the edge it kind of grounds it for me. The pattern is Verdaia (Ravelry link) which was the first shawl pattern I saw and almost immediately cast on. I love it but I think next time I will use a solid or semi-solid because I seem to want a shawl in a solid more. Pretty easy pattern and well written. Good beginner pattern if you ask me.This is the baby hat I made for my cousin's baby. Another pattern I saw and cast on for right away. The pattern is Ella Rose's Pixie Bonnet you can find it here. The yarn is Araucania Atcama in a blue/ purple color. Very soft and I see it is discontinued now, too bad. It was pretty nice to knit with. I love the little button I found for this bonnet a little pink gem. Hope all of you are knitting away and looking forward to spring!

Araucania Atacama

Kid Crafts

2010-02-05T11:54:00.004-06:00

Kids crafting has been on my mind lately, I think because I do lots and lots of crafting in my head and in my home. I was inspired by a few blogs out there which embrace the artist in each child. So here is our latest craft adventure.

Home made flags for the snow fort or castle. Easy Peasy.

Take some fabric , cut it to size, roll around one end of along dowel, staple or glue to the end and ta-da! Flags for all. Try it.

I thought you might like to see my kids eating dinner in their fort the other night too. They asked and I thought, "Why not?

Don't they look like they are having fun?

What do you mean I disappeared?

2010-01-13T12:03:00.005-06:00

I'm sure it has nothing to do with this!

My Christmas Present from my hubby yes it is a floor loom and yes it is mine!

All Mine!!! Wahhhhhaaaa haaaaa haaaa!
Sorry evil laughter suppressed now:)

I have been immersed in how to work this puppy and despite the fact that this is the ugliest saddest looking project I am not afraid to show you what we have managed to weave here.

My KD worked for like 20 minutes last night all by himself on the last half of the woven project shown, he was thrilled with it. I was thrilled to hear him upstairs thumping and bumping away on the loom.

I see many more evenings of artistic expression coming out of this for the whole family. Any links to weaving instructions out there you know about would be greatly appreciated also.

There is lots of inspiration hanging around in my craft area now too. Like this

and this

Looking forward to using up some of the stash especially the things I can't think up a good use for. Hoping to make this cabinet a little emptier this year.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year with many fun and healthy days ahead.

Silver Scarf

2009-12-29T15:00:00.002-06:00

Silver Scarf, originally uploaded by ImagineKnit.

Once in a while a project comes along and just speaks to you. This was one of them. I saw the pattern on Ravelry and instantly thought, Brita!

My middle sister has had a rough couple of years but this last year has I think been one of her best, she got married to a great guy finished school and worked in Alaska for the Forest Service.

The pattern is Drifted Pearls and you can find it on Ravelry. I thought the pattern was pretty well written but I did need to go down many needle sizes to get the look I wanted and it stated you needed 2 sizes of needles but not when to switch to the other size ( just used one size). Other than that not bad. I love the yarn I used which was British Mohair, Mohair Silk in granite. I got it from DBNY.com which if you don't want your stash to grow huge do NOT get on their mailing list!

I think Brita loved it, she wore it all day after I gave it to her:)

Hope you had a Happy Holiday!

XOXO
Senja

Once a Month Cooking (a review)

2009-12-12T15:24:00.007-06:00

A little while ago I got this cook book. The idea of cooking once a month and having meals for dinner every night was really intriguing to me. So the other day I jumped in and tried a 2 week cycle from the cook book.
Since my son has been staying away from wheat lately due to tummy aches I thought I should try the Gluten Free Two Week cycle.
Here is a pic of the process. I followed the plan by shopping one day and cooking the next. I really liked the fact that this lays out all the steps for you with tips, pantry items needed and a grocery list. The next day I did the cooking. That went really well, I started around 9am and endied at 1:30pm. Some of the meals we have tried and liked include Chicken l'orange, meatloaf and I can't wait to try Slow Cooker Chicken with Artichokes and Olives. A few things have not been a hit with the family but I can see that it would be easy to swap out another meal in its place.

My kids have been less and less adventurous with their food lately and this is a great way for us to try new things. All the mixed meals go into the freezer until you are ready to make. The only thing I need to do is decide what to make and take it out in the morning so it is thawed. Some things I have thawed quickly right before cooking. Also the 2 week supply fit in my regular fridge freezer. You store everything in ziplock bags and if you are careful you could easily wash out the bags and reuse them, or use some non-disposable containers in their place.

I love this so far and hope to try it again with a whole month cycle after the holidays. With our busy schedule and my lack of love for cooking this is a wonderful solution to our nightly dillemma, "What's for dinner?"

Enjoying my children

2009-12-12T15:10:00.005-06:00

The other night found us cuddled up on the couch watching a play put on by our 3 munchkins.

The general chaos of the show was a lot of fun to watch.
This was my favorite part of the show, Miss M and KD doing a news cast. Sooooo Funny and Cute!
Some socks I was making for Dad that are now going to be mine. My dad is getting mittens instead.

Wow how did the time get away from me? Lots of cooking and baking going on here lately. Next posting will talk about my new dinner plans:)

The Flu

2009-11-24T16:20:00.001-06:00

The Flu hit our house last week. Well really it hit Noley and me, everyone else was fine. Which means I now am playing catch up this week with bill paying, house cleaning, laundry and blog pictures. Unfortunately I can't find the camera!

Back soon with pictures. Just letting you know we are still here.

Avoidence is the only way to go

2009-11-03T11:08:00.005-06:00

Yes I am avoiding housework to blog. Who doesn't do that right? Thank you for enabling me bloggy friends:)

Halloween came and went without a hitch although I was sure the only picture I was going to get of my kiddos would look like this.Luckily I caught them at one stop and they all stood still for a picture. I present a witch, a WWI Flying Ace and Batman.They had a great time and the candy isn't all gone yet so I can't ask for much more.

I had a small photo shoot today with my newest finished project, I present the Double Duty Cowl.

Double duty because this is the right side.
This is the "wrong" side.
The thing is Freaking reversible! I love how this turned out and it is made with my Knit Me Now Chunky yarn. Unfortunately I don't have any of this out there right now. I love the color, the size, the buttons. Yeah I love it all. Thanks for stopping by, hugs.

Weekends are for...

2009-10-26T07:55:00.003-06:00

Dyeing yarn, knitting, cleaning the house, having friends over (big and small), and picking a winner.

Congrats Rani!
The slightly hysterical edge to your entry helped me feel less gulity about all the stuff I have going on the needles. Noley picked your name up off the floor when I tossed everyones' name up in the air because I couldn't decide. DH declined to help.

It was really fun to hear what you all have going on the needles. Thanks for the entries!

Progress, of a sort.

2009-10-13T11:07:00.007-05:00

It's time to out myself as a chronic project starter. I am going to list the things that I am currently carrying around in my knitting bag. Even carrying back and forth to and from work!
Below is the start of the Side Slip Cloche. I now have to join this and pick up around the top to form the hat. I was all fired up about this project and now it hasn't been touched for a month I'm sure.
Nolan's sweater, finally picked back up and sleeves started. Still not very far on those:(

Socks that were to be for KD now for Noley. Too small for KD unless I decide to rip them out and restart. Not decided on that yet.

Sweater for Miss M, just need to start sleeves and begin the raglan decreases.
These are not all the projects I have started and are hiding in my house either, just the ones I am hauling around with me. It's a sickness I know.

I decided all this confessing means you all should confess too! So in order for good participation a contest is in order.

Here's the contest for you all. How many projects do you have started and in progress right now? Including those tucked away somewhere in your house that you mean to pick up again. What is the easiest thing for you to knit and the hardest? The person who has the best answer as decided by my DH will get this lovely project bag, made by me. If a skein of yarn or some other goody happens to fall into the bag don't be surprised! Batman is running loose in my house and he might find something for me to pass along to the lucky winner.

Good Luck!
Contest will end Tuesday October 20th.

Fall Projects

2009-10-02T13:37:00.007-05:00

Fall has hit hard here in Northern Minnesota, the leaves are changing the frost came and my tomatoes did not get red. I had to pick them all after a freeze the other night killed off the plants and was searching around the Internet for something to do with this many green tomatoes.
I found this recipe for green tomato pickles and thought I should try it.
Here is the mixed veggies before canning.

The finished product, since I have not tried them I can't tell you if they are good. I'm not likely to either for a bit because I need to get the vinegar smell out of my nose first.
I have been knitting too, this is a cowl I started with a stitch pattern from one of my books. I wish the color of the yarn showed up better in this picture, it is more black with just hints of green in it. I dyed it myself but it does not have a name. The cowl looks like it will be reversible.
I may decide to post a pattern if you all would like. Maybe once its done and has a proper photo shoot. I have other things to show you but blogger is not letting me upload anymore pictures today. I'll have to save them for another day. What are you working on?

Hedgie for Teen

2009-09-21T11:23:00.001-05:00

Niece, originally uploaded by ImagineKnit.

Here is the hedgehog I promised to my niece for her birthday. She saw one I made for my little 3 year old nephew and wanted one in a really bad way. This is a great little project but it is really weird the first time you knit it. There are a lot of strings and it looks like you are not making anything that might resemble a hedgehog, but follow the directions and it does work.
Pattern: Huggable Hedgehog by Fiber Trends
Yarn: Nature Spun worsted, too lazy to go look up the color name right now.

Time it took, about 2 days.

Hope you all had a great summer and are enjoying moving into Fall.

Enjoying Summer

2009-08-31T09:26:00.004-05:00

We took a bike ride to the park the other day.

The kids enjoyed running the bases.

Playing on the slide.

Spinning on this.

We are heading home here, you can see how far we went. At the end of the road in this picture is our road to turn onto. The kids did great!

This is my latest project likely to become some socks I set aside half done. I have not gotten many pairs done for a while.

I have done some dyeing recently and now am feeling the mojo again. Hope to get some updates in the shop soon.

Until next time.

What the?

2009-08-25T21:11:00.002-05:00

Where did a whole month go? I promise I have not fallen off the face of the earth just the blogosphere. More soon.

Hedgehogs, shawls and socks to come. Now to go take some pictures.

Summer

2009-07-27T10:27:00.004-05:00

Last weekend found us driving to northern Wisconsin towards Bayfield. We went to Blue Vista Farm which if you are in the area is definitely worth a visit. They have a beautiful view from their barn which my pictures just couldn't do justice to.

We picked blueberries as big as grapes. They have organic berries also.

They have raspberries there too. We like to do the pick your own with the kids, they enjoy picking and eating their share of the berries.

The kids ran through the garden, isn't it beautiful?

I just had to have a picture of this flower, hollyhocks such deep color.

We stopped in Bayfield at a park by the harbor and Noley played on his alligator or piranha depending on which boy you asked:)

The big kids played Tarzan while swinging on a great line there. (I kind of want one for our house)

On the way home we stopped at a beach on Lake Superior, the kids took advantage of this and got wet and sandy.

I think my fingerless mitts fit right into this trip. The purple is very blueberry like, they are almost done now and I hope to finish them today. Hope your summer is going great! Ravelry link here.

Happy fun family summer times to you all!

Seamless Sweater

2009-07-01T20:57:00.005-05:00

This sweater was the most fun knit I have done in a while. The seamless knitting, seed stitch edging and the color work was so much fun, I see another one of these in my future.

Pattern:

Vormorgun Létt-Lopavesti (Ravelry link)

Yarn: Bartlett yarns Fisherman 2 ply mostly heather Jade color

Needle: US 5 and 7 Denise Needles

I will love to wear this in the colder weather!

As you can see Miss M is feeling much better thanks to all for your thoughts while she was sick and your well wishes. She is back to my cuddley M.

He was not sick a minute and was making dirt angles tonight in the driveway.

As always I am grateful for my happy family. Happy happy summer.

Mittens in June?

2009-06-25T22:45:00.003-05:00

So I know it is the middle of summer and about 80 degrees and humid lately but I have been knitting mittens for KD. I got a big stash of Cascade 220 when a local shop went out of business recently and these colors just spoke to KD.
I apologize for the bad picture I took it with the phone because the hubby is out of town again. With the camera.
I am not a lover of mitten knitting but I think I found the cure, 2 color knitting! These Matrix Mitts fly off the needles. I love following the pattern and watching it come to life. Weird I know. The best part is I think I can get a couple pair of mitts and a hat out of all that yarn, love it!

We had a rough week last week with Miss M getting Lyme's after our camping trip and ending up in the hospital for a couple of nights. No worries she is back to her usual self already and should be just fine. Not the greatest start to our summer but we'll manage.

I am hankering to bake bread this weekend and cook some of the veggies from my CSA. Bok-Choy and Napa Cabbage are over taking my fridge! Seriously anyone have a good recipe for both or even just one? Maybe I'll try hit up the local farmers markets this weekend, the kids would like that. Hope all is well you all, take care!

Annual Camping Trip

2009-06-16T15:06:00.006-05:00

Our yearly trip camping was last weekend. We chose to go to Northern Minnesota just south of the BWCAW.

The scenery is gorgeous.

Lots of wildlife to be seen, this is a turkey vulture.

The lakes are like nowhere else on Earth.

Kids enjoy the touristy things like taking pictures.

We had art class one day and make tie dyed shirts.

Our campground on Crescent Lake was pretty nice but super buggy!
Just a bad time of the year to camp because of the bugs. Good thing I brought other things to do, Miss M and I painted our nails one evening while the guys fished.

Noley shot things with his sticks.

Our highlight was a Momma Moose and her 2 babies eating at a lake. We stopped and watched them 3 times this day. They had lots of viewers and didn't seem to think much of the fuss.

Very little knitting was done but that is alright, sometimes you gotta take some time off. Hope your summers are getting off to a good start.

The End is in Sight, Will I Survive the Summer?

2009-06-04T20:11:00.005-05:00

The end of the school year was today for my kiddos. Where has the time gone?

I went on a field trip Tuesday to the roller rink with Miss M and her class. Talk about a flash from the past. How many of you held hands for the first time on the roller rink? There was some fun activities while we were there, Miss M tried the hula hooping on skates and did pretty good!

Then we went to a local park for lunch. I can't imagine what the locals thought when 2 buses full of first graders pulled up. No kids were lost or hurt so we went from there to the OmniMax theater to see Mysteries of the Great Lakes. It was pretty good I thought, but it was mostly just fun to go with her class and enjoy the end of the year.

That night we went camping for a night. It was a beautiful night.We stayed in our pop-up camper in this field. It was pretty fun but BFing Cold! (don't ask what the BF stands for its not PC) I think it got down into the 30's that night and our heater is broken on the camper. I guarantee it won't stay broken too long.

The next day was beautiful though 60-70's with a slight wind and hardly a cloud in the sky. The older kids had school so Noley and I got to hang out there alone. We played a game.

I knitted on Noley's sweater.

Noley blew bubbles.

WE searched for and found some treasure.

We found some pretty rocks to take pictures of.

The field was used for haying so there were rock piles all around and in the field, big ones we could climb up on, so we did.

A fun end to the school year for all, I promise a FO for next blog post. The seamless sweater is done it just needs the right pictures taken.

Last but not least, it was KD's birthday last weekend and he turned 9, I thought you should see his new legos. Jealous? Oh come on you know you are!

It even comes with a little Darth Vader:)

From the Backseat

2009-06-01T15:46:00.002-05:00

Miss M: Mom I wish chickens never went poop.
Mom: Well everybody poops (origional response I know)
Miss M: Yeah but I wish chickens didn't go potty all over the chicken coop, it's gross.
Mom: I know
Miss M: You can't potty train a chicken can you?
Mom: (attempting to not laugh out loud)

Just In Time For Spring

2009-05-26T09:45:00.002-05:00

Finally a finished object. This sweater was finished a little while ago and has had frequent wearing already. I love the warm cosy feel of this knit and it keeps the chill off in those early spring days of Minnesota.
I used about 11 skeins of Lambs Pride Bulky yarn in Silver Grey. The pattern is from Rebecca Magazine number 30 I believe. Easy pattern to memorize and great result. I think I would plan more button holes for another one as there is one button at the throat of the sweater. It would be nice to be able to close it up a little more but all in all it is a great sweater.

The parting shot:)

Since we finally have nice weather, Saturday night we played a game of Bocce ball in the yard.

Watched the chickens in their new run.

Played with the poor neglected cat.

Admired spring.

And raked weeds out of the new raised bed gardens.

I love Spring.

Works in Progress

2009-05-12T10:46:00.004-05:00

Starting off with the knitting, this is my seamless sweater which has fairly flown off the needles. I am at the exciting sleeve and color work part but have not had any free time to sit and knit on it lately:(
You will see my Mother's day present on top of the sweater, it is a new Blackberry Storm. Very cool and unexpected. I am in love with all the gadgets, plus now I can post to the blog even if I'm not home! This work in progress is the bunnies we got at the local Chicken Swap. A Chicken Swap is like a flea market with animals. We now have one Holland Lop which is the black and white bunny, Oreo. The other is a Jersey Woolly which is the grey fluffy one Miss M named her Fluffy, of course.KD is very proud of the bunnies and has been pretty good about checking on them along with Miss M. I made the cage last week while B was out of town for work. It isn't the prettiest thing but it does the job.

I also dyed yarn like a mad woman last week and have a load going to Yarn Harbor as well as a bunch to snap photos of and post on Etsy.

The ones above go in the shop, the ones below are going to YH.
Last but not least my 3 most important WIP, KD, Miss M and Noley.

2009-05-04T09:04:00.003-05:00

So sorry for disappearing on you all. We had a busy week last week and it ended yesterday with Miss M's 7th Birthday. I can't believe I am old enough to have a 7 year old child but she doesn't lie and she definitely knows how old she is. I am very proud her in every way and think she is the most beautiful child anyone could have. But I am her mother and that goes without saying. She is smart, sweet, sensitive, moody, loving, quick tempered (um I think that comes from me) and growing too fast for her momma. I am blessed in so many ways but this child has always challenged and taught me so much. I love you sweetie I hope your birthday was a good one.

I won't bore you with all the craziness around here with work stuff and trips out of town but want to tell you about knitting progress and plans for good crafty things to come.

Today is clean house day along with dye yarn day. I am woefully behind on an order for Yarn Harbor and must work on that today, also the Etsy shop has been neglected lately. I need to play with colors and come up with some new colorways. I am bringing back the DK weight Peace Fleece because I feel the Worsted is sometimes a bit bulky for some projects. So I should get some of that dyed as well. This means I better get off here and get working.

Noley is coughing up a storm today and has a slight fever so I will juggle keeping him in the house and occupied with all that. Plus the drapes have had no work done lately since I packed it all away for a Pampered Chef party the other week and haven't pulled it out again. So my week off of work sounds like it has its work cut out for it already. Off to get it all done!

Work Mascot

2009-04-25T21:27:00.005-05:00

I was checking rooms at work last night and found this little one patiently waiting for her babe to show. Sitting alone on the bed she was knitting a hand dyed hat for her baby to be. Funny that she didn't call out or let us know she was there.

In all seriousness this was made as a joke to hang out at the nurses' station with us. I have a request from one of our residents for her own office mascot.
Pattern: Womb from Knitty
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky, pink
about 0.25 of a skein used.

I love this!

I have been making a sweater for myself also but it isn't too exciting to look at. Here's a preview.

Have a good rest of the weekend mine has been busy with work and a birthday party at the movies.

Spring has(Finally) Sprung

2009-04-15T10:47:00.004-05:00

This little knit is for a baby of a coworker. Spring is definitely the time for new babies! We have bee fairly bursting with mom's and new babes at work. I had to nicely tell some mom's to clear out of their rooms as soon as possible the other day because we were out of labor rooms! I think the hat probably has too much pink for a boy hat though, that was the original intention. Oh well! I'll gift it to one of the other girls expecting at work and find some other yarn for the boy.

The family went for a hike in the local state park last Saturday while I was at work. It looks like fun and finally no snow!!

My living room looks like this right now, I have been sewing drapes for the basement and breakfast nook but it is turning into a bigger job than I bargained for. Hopefully I can get it done this weekend.

Of course I had to throw in a picture of the kids with the eggs they dyed. KD didn't want to be in this pic but Noley and Miss M were more than happy to oblige me.

I'll leave you with the kiddo's notes for E.B.

Enjoy!

The perils of living in Minnesota

2009-03-31T09:43:00.002-06:00

Yesterday there was almost no snow on the ground. Today... We are supposed to get around 10 inches today and tonight.

The birds are swarming to the feeder, I think this is a pine grossbeak.

This is one of the smaller woodpeckers, Downey? I'm too lazy to go look it up.

At least my Silver sweater is blocking Finally!!

Stay warm and cozy out there!

Introducing Ike

2009-03-25T15:44:00.002-06:00

This is Ike, my youngest child's' lovey. He came from a clearance sale at a local department store. When I got him I thought he would be a cute toy for all my kids, so we have 3 Ike's. Noley has bonded to this toy doggie to the point that Ike now goes on the potty first, sleeps with him every night and jumps on top of Noley daily while he tells me in a tolerant voice, "Mom! Ike's jumping me again!".

Ike made the long trip to Florida with us and saw all the wonders of Disney World with Noley.
He waited in the car some days and rode in the backpack others. Noley is in love with this puppy to the point that I have started to almost think of the puppy as real. Maybe I need to knit him a sweater to stay warm:)
The best part of this funny little love affair Noley has with his Ike is watching him use his imagination daily. He talks to the puppy, uses him to try to get out of stuff, plays kitchen, cars and many other games. The day he grows out of this puppy will be a sad one for me. Luckily I have a few more years to watch my Noley grow up. He is a sweet funny little guy who likes to make you laugh. Thank you Ike for showing me more of Noley's personality than I would have known you could.

Crafty Time of Year

2009-03-09T07:54:00.005-06:00

This time of year is tough for me, the long days of cold weather and darkness start to wear away at my psyche. I got the urge to have a warm blanket for sitting on the couch knitting and watching TV under. This is my first attempt at a quilt since Miss M was a baby about 6 years ago. I think it turned out OK. I have been enjoying it in my cold basement already for a week. I used a soft green fabric for the back, I forgot what kind of fabric it would be called. I would describe it as a corduroy without the lines in it.

I also made these socks for Noley. I used stash yarn for this project and hope to make another pair for KD. He asked for some too. Noley likes these and even wore them once already!

Pattern: Basic socks from Knitter Book of Handy Patterns

Yarn: Smart got on clearance years ago

Needles: US2 &3 DPN

Lately Noley has been saying this phrase a lot, " You don't do that forever, ever, now!" He is getting very independent. I feel bad for him today, he is throwing up, hopefully it will be a one day thing, I have plans for tomorrow.

Disney World in Pictures

2009-03-02T09:15:00.008-06:00

I found so many cool little things to take pictures of on this trip, here are some of my favorites.

We had a magical time!

Ike had fun too! Woof!

Technical Difficulty

2009-02-27T09:41:00.002-06:00

We got back from Disney World Tuesday but when I got home my main computer is broken. It has crashed in the blue screen won't boot up kind of way. So Pictures will be slow in coming until I figure out how to load them on the laptop that B tends to hog when he's home. We had a great time, the kids rode lots of rides and we saw all 4 parks in 4 days. Note to anyone going to DW soon, don't go to all 4 parks in 4 days. It is exhausting! Oh well it was fun while it lasted. I started a pair of ribbed socks on the trip and last night picked up my silver sweater again. I have 2 sleeves and a collar left, then all I have left is the sewing together. I will blog again I promise sorry there isn't anything more interesting to write about. Blog with you all soon!

A Lump of Coal

2009-02-03T08:58:00.002-06:00

I made this bag from the Interweave Knits mag. It's the Dumpling Bag by Sharon Dreyfuss. This is a great quick knit for a gift. I used Lamb's Pride Burly Spun in Charcoal.

I found some shell rings at a local crafts store. I think they look pretty good.

I have made these mittens from Elizabeth Zimmerman's book, Knitting Around. They are the Mitered Mittens. I used a garter stitch bottom edge instead of the i-cord edging. The only problem is one has no blue in it at all so it is a little boring. I have enough Noro Kueryon left over to make another mitten so I think I will . I'll have a 3 mitten set in case one gets lost. Then the only thing left is the thumbs. The pattern calls for an after thought thumb so I need to get up the nerve to cut into these to make that.
On the home front, we are planning to go to Florida soon to visit Walt Disney World. The kids are really excited of course, I am going to be excited once I get on the plane:) I have a bazillion things to plan and pack for that so I better get going.

Noley says, "Cheese!"

Winter Doings

2009-01-23T10:42:00.002-06:00

We have recently put up a bird feeder by our breakfast nook window. It took a couple of days for the Red Poles to find it but now we are burning through the bird seed. The kids love being able to see them up close and I love that I can get good pictures of one of my favorite little Minnesota birds. I always know they are Red Poles by their big red dot on the top of their heads.

A few weeks ago I took a weekend trip to visit my Mom and Dad. They don't live in my childhood home anymore, (haven't for years really) but it is still nice to visit them in their cosy old remodeled house. It has a lot of features I love, like the wood burning stove in the kitchen.

They use it for baking, cooking and heating the kitchen. There is a regular modern stove in the kitchen too so they have the choice. My dad has become the house cook in the last few years and he likes how the wood stove cooks.

Noley was loving up Tillie, my mom's Golden Retriever. She is a newer addition to the house and is still a puppy. They had fun together.

I knit up these mitts for my manager since she mentioned that she had trouble finding mittens that fit her. It was a quick knit that I improvised as I went. I think she liked them.

My sweater is coming along although lately I have not knitted on it much. just taking a little break until the knitting mojo comes back. Keep on staying warm out there and Knit on!

Late Post of the Holiday Break

2009-01-09T09:20:00.003-06:00

Our Holidays were a mix of work (me), driving to see family, lazy days at home, quiet family time and fun.

I had to work Christmas this year which means we spend our holiday home with our kids then go to see B's family after. Our home celebration is very quiet even with 3 kids. I need to think up some more traditions for us that works into me being gone part of the time.

The kids spent their time off of school playing outside in the snow. I heard that we have gotten a record amount of snow for this time of year here.

Miss M helping Noley.

KD sitting in a nest of snow.

Of course when home and bored with everything there is the requisite fort building out of couch cushions. Miss M took this pic of the boys.

I have been doing some yarn dyeing and knitting. There are lots of new yarns in the shop. I updated it yesterday. I am knitting a sweater out of a Rebecca magazine I think it is the fall 2005 issue. It will be a long jacket like sweater. I really like how it is turning out and it feels like it is going really fast. Bulky yarn will do that to a person.

So I am back on the blogging, sorry it took so long to get this posted. I must have been enjoying my holiday break too much:)

Baby It's Cold Outside!

2008-12-12T08:52:00.002-06:00

My new hat is done just in time for the really cold weather to get here. This morning it was -16F. This is the Amanda Hat made with Malabrigo in Brillante. Needles were size 9 circular and dpns.

I love everything about this, it covers my ears, its soft and cushy, and of course warm!

Plus it only took me 2 days to make. It is a free Ravelry download so all the more reason to get on there if you aren't already!

Hope you are all staying warm!

Bright and Cheery Socks

2008-12-09T09:12:00.003-06:00

My new WIP makes me smile even on the greyest December day.

My knitting bag matches them too.

These are Jaywalkers in Knit Me Now yarn, Sock Love. Color is Fire and Ice, I love that they are striping the way I had hoped!

Oh and the last post had a picture of my son's bag he was taking to Grandpa and Grandma's. I forgot to mention in case you couldn't see that he packed his knitting and half way there asked me if he could knit:)

I love that!

A Handmade Christmas

2008-12-02T09:38:00.009-06:00

This is the pile of stuff my son had packed to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Do you see what I see? We had a great Holiday weekend with Thanksgiving on Thursday, Christmas on Friday and a Birthday party on Saturday. I am with my little sister when she suggested we do Christmas in January next time we are together on Thanksgiving only.

My sister loved her new hat. See this posting about it. .

My dad's vest is finally done! It fits and he loved it.

When I look at these pictures the song, "I'm too Sexy" runs through my head:)

In case you want details here they are: Pattern is mine made up as I went. Yarn is Cascade 220 in Midnight heather used I think about 4 skeins, needles sixe 7 US circular. Size about 36 inch chest.

I made most of the gifts this year, these aprons were for my nieces. They also got baking related items. Cookie mix, cake mix, wooden spoons, you get the picture.
These 2 are for my nephews W and T:)

My little sis also made a bunch of stuff. Noley got a "guy". He has been sleeping with it which is always the true gauge of whether a kid likes something or not. If they can't go the night without it near them they love it.
T got one of these for his birthday because it is so darn cute! I got an order from my nieces for one each once they saw this:)
The Birthday party was for the 2 boys who are 3 weeks apart. We went the easy way out with a DQ cake and a pool party. Here they are with their helicopters from Auntie B.

Noley is a little fish and loved the water.

T is a daredevil and went down this slide over and over again face first then backwards. No Fear!

All in all it was a good time if a little hectic. Looking forward to a quieter Christmas at home and a visit to the other Grandma and Grandpa right after.

In case you need a last minute gift for a fellow knitter or someone just learning, I have these knitting kits in my shop. Maybe some of you would like to check them out.

Here is hoping you all had the best holiday weekend too! And a low stress, happy, fun Christmas to come.

It's All About The Blues

2008-11-20T13:08:00.002-06:00

I made this hat for my sister by her request. It is the Snowboarder Hat that Rocks you can find the pattern here. I do love free patterns and since this is made with bulky yarn it was fast! Sis bought the yarn which was super soft and squishy. Plymouth Yarn, Baby Alpaca Grande Hand Dye, used 1.25 skeins in the Turquoise color. I am also working on these socks. The Waving Lace Socks from Interweave Press Favorite Socks. A close up of the lace detail. I like socks with a pattern they go faster for me I think than plain knit ones.

The big Thanksgiving holiday is coming up soon and I have to finish the sweater for my dad. I'm off to get working on that. Keep on knitting!

Stripey Hat

2008-11-12T07:55:00.003-06:00

Easy quick project for KD. Raveled here. It was a stash busting project that I brought on the trip. I finished it the week I got back on a night shift at work.

I was KD's idea to put the long blue tassel on the end with a pom pom. I am thinking of lining it with a little fleece so its even warmer and won't let the wind blow through. Probably my gauge is a little off but I love the end result and it fits.

Here's a shot of my trick or treaters, a mad scientist, black cat and Darth Vader were hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa.

That's Miss M's poncho I made a while back. I blogged about it here.

I have Dad's Vest on the needles and am almost done. I should be finishing it up soon. Talk to you all soon!

All Dressed Up

2008-11-06T13:46:00.008-06:00

My Brother In Law got married right before my trip and I managed to snap a few pictures of the kids in their finery.

Insert this conversation into this picture.

Me: KD go stand by your sister. Get Closer! Noley come on get in the picture honey. Miss M smile. KD get closer to your sister!!
KD: I don't want to stand by her!
Me: OK Noley get in between them. I'll give you a sucker.
Miss M: (smiles nicely)
KD: I'm not standing by her!
Noley runs away.

These are the best of the pictures minus one I am using for Christmas cards.

Here is a picture of the Pimlico shrug. I thought it was way too big but it served its purpose for the wedding. I felted it just the other day, which would have been fine except there was a small issue with my timer not being set right and it got felted too much. It fits me but not as well as I would like. One of my sisters is going to get it I think.

Note the folded up sleeves and the fact that this "shrug" goes down to my butt. Yikes! I mean I knew it was big when I was knitting it but was in complete denial since I was in such a time crunch. I plan to make it again with smaller needles and possibly finer yarn.

I have a hat for KD and a scarf to show you next time, along with pictures of the felted Pimlico shrug. Talk to you all soon!

Home again, Home again...

2008-10-26T20:54:00.011-06:00

Jiggity, Jig.

My trip in pictures, there just aren't the words to say how absolutely perfect this trip was. I really didn't want to come home.

Horseback riding on the beach.

We stopped here to rest our legs, it was like an oasis.

My favorite night out for dinner at Blu. Eating on the beach with my girls, I felt like I was in a movie. (My sister on the left, me on the right)

Cabarete, Dominican Republic

Common entertainment there (no chickens were hurt, they have spur covers)
A Street in Puerta Plata

Our balcony

Our boys Fabio and Alex, they are the activity guys at the resort.

We were sad to leave them, they were great guys and we got to know them pretty well. I hope they have the good lives they were striving for.

Lots of pictures to inspire new yarn colors too.

Knitting content will return next posting I promise. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

And Done.

2008-10-09T16:32:00.003-05:00

I am officially out of time to pack for the trip. I leave to the Cities tomorrow for my BIL's wedding on Saturday. My shrug is still on the needles but I have less than 2 inches left of the ribbing around the collar so I think I can finish. There are 504 stitches in each round though. The potential to not finish is there but I plan on wearing it on Saturday and have no backup. It Will Be Done.

In the last two weeks I worked 24 hours, went to a class to get CEU's for my license, did a lot of laundry, ran kids to the dentist, bought a gift for the wedding, packed myself for the big trip and still have to pack my kiddo's. Yikes! I have a pedicure appt tonight and I think it is well deserved. Plus it is a gift certificate from the hubby for Valentines day. I know that is in February, I needed to find just the right time to go:)

Fall is here and our leaves have peaked already but it is my favorite season. I hope your Fall is going well. I'll leave you with a picture of my kidlets enjoying a fall hike since neither I or my house is fit to be seen right now.

The Pimlico shrug will have a photo shoot when I get back.

Pimlico Shrug

2008-09-22T08:18:00.003-05:00

There is progress on the Pimlico Shrug which is good since I have to wear it on Oct 11th. I like this pattern, it is easy to memorize. We'll see how I feel when I get to the ribbing. There is a lot of ribbing. Here's a picture of Noley and Saunaknitters baby playing cars. It was too cute to not share. They love playing with each other.

I'm off to knit and pack and go to many, many appointments today. My yarns are now at Yarn Harbor if you're interested. Thanks for the tips on airline travel and knitting. I will pack accordingly.

Misc Things and An Award!

2008-09-15T08:23:00.005-05:00

I have so many things to update you on and no pictures:(

School started right after Labor day and my kiddos went off to 3rd and 1st grade. Getting back into the routine of school wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. 3rd grade is more homework and less free time for me than I thought. KD isn't into telling me much about what goes on at school. So that means I have to hound him about homework and reading assignments and all kinds of of forms ect to fill out. Yikes!

I feel like I am in school again sometimes.

Miss M loves school and is super smart so it isn't hard for her, unlike her brother who struggles a bit more. She has a harder time with the social aspects of it being a sweet sensitive soul who has her feelings hurt easily. We have had one call from the teacher already just to talk about a bad day. She was hit in the mouth accidentally and someone was messing with her water bottle on the same day. Bummer.

Nolan enjoys not having the older kids around and having Momma to himself:)

On the knitting front the Pimlico Shrug (ravelry link) coming along. Luckily it is knit on size 8 needles and has a eyelet pattern which is easy to memorize. I only have until Oct 11th so I am starting to feel the crunch.

Did I mention that I leave for a week in the Dominican Republic right after the wedding? No kids, no hubby just my mom, sister, and cousin. The reality of this trip is starting to sink in. But I think it will not feel real until I get on the plane. I haven't taken an airplane since KD was a baby so around 7 years ago. Yikes! Any tips about what can and can't get through security?

The best news of all is my recent yarn order from the LYS in Duluth. I will officially have my dyed yarns in her shop this week or next, depending on how quickly I can get the rest of the stuff dyed. Local knitters check me out at Yarn Harbor in the Woodland area. Hopefully this is the start of a regular thing for me since the Etsy orders and few and far between. I am happy to have any orders though. I started this blog on a whim and the Etsy shop was the same. Just dove in head first and d#*^ the consequences.

Last but not least:

I was honored with the Arte y Pico award by Guinifer of Halfway Down the Stairs. I don't know what is nicer her comment on my dyeing or my cute kids. Thank you Guinifer!

Here are the rules that I pasted from Guinifer's blog.

1.) Show the award. Link back to the blog that gave you the award.

2) Pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award because of creativity, design, interesting material, and contributions to the blogger community, no matter of language, and link to them.

3) Leave comments on the blogs to let them know you've given them an award.

4) Show the link to the Arte y Pico blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) Show these rules.

I decided to chose some local gals who I follow since there are many, many blogs I like.

Too Much Yarn is Christine who is the queen of many socks and has a serious sock yarn obsession.

One Knitter's Notebook Wendy knits great stuff for her kids and hubby, plus she is my first bloggy friend I met in real life.

Vegan Craftastic Kala just got married and knits all vegan fibers. Love her knits.

HollyKnitlightly Holly is really close to me and a Finn! Who doesn't love that? Plus she knits cute sweaters for herself.

Nova Made Ok Nova isn't local but she inspires me to try whatever craft I want because she does and makes coool stuff for her little boy.

Later Dudes!

He Makes Me Proud

2008-08-26T15:16:00.002-05:00

I taught KD how to knit yesterday. He woke me up this morning to ask if he could knit. Ummm... Yeah!
He is head over heels in love with it!

Knitting progress here, my dad's sweater is coming along, I fixed the problem and am almost ready to divide it for armholes and the neck edge. I am starting to be done with this so I better get moving on it. Hopefully by Christmas I can give this to him:)

What are you all up to? Knitting on as usual.

Last Summer Fling (spoiler alert Woolgirl sock club at the bottom)

2008-08-20T22:45:00.003-05:00

Our last hurrah and we just got back. B had some work to do in Brainerd, MN so we packed up the kids and went to the water park at the hotel there. If you want a fun place to stay try The Lodge. Woodsy themed hotel a little hokey but has a fun water park. The kids loved it.

Miss M would not let me take her picture, KD had a blast there and went down the tube slide many times all by himself. He was wearing a life jacket but he was still super proud.

I am feeling guilty that there is little knitting content to show here, but I do have yarn. My Woolgirl sock club package came this week and this is by far my favorite of the installments. Great package and good color, plus 2 patterns for socks! I can chose my favorite, awesome. Here's a picture.

I am plugging along on my dad's sweater and it is finally getting somewhere but I have hit a snag. There is a mistake in the pattern and I should just rip back but I have tried to knit back a couple times.

It. Is. Not. Working.

I will get up the nerve to just rip it back soon but I can't face it. I will probably start another pair of socks first. Gotta take the edge off you know?

Later Dudes.

PS. Go to Fibreholic for a fun blog contest.

Boundary Waters Bliss

2008-08-14T11:24:00.005-05:00

In case you think I have given up knitting all together, here is a picture of my latest project. I am using the Yarn Harlot's sock recipe from one of her books. Webs was having a sale one a grab bag of Regia sock yarns, so Saunaknitter (Ravelry link) and I split the bag of 10. This is one of the colors I got.

This was the project I brought into the woods with me for last weekend's camping trip.

We go on this trip every year my girlfriends and I, it ranges from 2- 7 people each year but the core group has always stayed the same. I think this was the 8th year we have been doing this but I'm not sure. The first night there we were greeted by 2 deer, one was a buck with the velvet still on his antlers.

We enjoyed the best meal we can make in the BWCAW of steaks and mashed potatoes. Then went to bed late due to a malfunctioning bear rope, *#!&%*.The next day we were going to move camp but decided on a day trip to the back bay area nearby. Good thing we didn't move since at the end of the 2nd portage there was this.
A huge swamp of carpet-like floating grass and weeds interspersed with muck up to your thighs. We turned around and went back the way we came. We stopped at a sand beach for a little swimming instead.
It was heavenly. So was the sunset that night.
The hot bev's are always good too, I had to have a shot of ours waiting to be mixed up. Hot cocoa and tea were the most popular request.
Of course there were things to do like dishes and firewood getting, but it is all spread out through the days so it doesn't feel like you work all the time.
Every night we had a swim by of a beaver who's lodge was across the way from us. It was fun to watch them build their lodge and hear them "talk" to each other.
Our way out was easy going but a bit hot. The lake was like glass. It makes it hard to come home when it is like this.

Only one night of a quick rain and sunny warm days that weren't too hot. Good times were had by all.

Going Camping

2008-08-06T12:57:00.003-05:00

I off to the BWCA for the annual "girls" camping trip. Bringing some socks to knit on, will update when I am back!

Finn Fest And Other Fun Stuff

2008-08-04T10:36:00.007-05:00

2 Weekends to blog about.

The other weekend my little sis came to see me. She is knitting a sock here.

My folks came over to go the Finn Fest 2008 in Duluth. Here are the little boys with Papa.
Our first stop was in the flax spinning room. Very cool demo. This woman is cracking off the hulls for the finer fiber underneath.
These ladies are spinning the flax into linen.
We went down to the Marketplace and suddenly there was a bunch of Secret Service guys all over the place. The President of Finland was there! I didn't get close enough to shake her hand but here she is. She is the lady with the reddish hair to the right.

Obviously I am a Finn, so it was fun to go see the stuff and people watch. I never knew there were so many suomalianen in the area. I kept thinking I knew everyone because most everyone looked familiar.

Sunday we went out with the family on B's new boat to fish and swim. Noley was in seventh heaven. He loves fish and the water.

Here is a shot of KD before he was upset about not catching as many fish as the rest of us.Miss M caught this big Northern. She was so proud!

B went to the Quetico last week and here are a few of his pics. I love this picture.

My Brother with his big Northern.B is home again tired and grubby but he had fun camping.While he was gone I dyed these. I will get them in the shop soon.Plus I went and picked these!Happy knitting and enjoy the rest of the summer.

All Alone

2008-08-02T22:14:00.002-05:00

My hubby and the kids are away. Hubby has the camera. What to do with myself? Hmmmm. Knit and sew and dye yarn of course! Updates when the camera comes back from its trip to the Quetico with B. Until then you'll find me enjoying the short lived silence. I'm only a little lonely...

Back From Vacation

2008-07-22T11:15:00.005-05:00

This is a picture heavy post sorry!

It's that time of the year again. Time to load up the camper and truck for a camping trip.

We headed up to Ely, MN and drove up the Echo Trail. The road is only good for a short while and then looks a lot like this.Then it turns to dirt.We got to the very small camp ground area. Literally this is all the space we had there. (Roasting marshmallows here.)Did a little fishing. This is Noley's first ride in a boat, he did pretty good. Two days were really windy so we headed to town for some time at the park in town. I can't remember the last time I saw one of these jungle gyms. The kids were all about it.
We made a requisite stop at the International Wolf Center. This is just one of the big wolves.
The highlight is that they have puppies! We got to see them for a program they have there aimed at desensitizing them to human contact.That wore out Noley who fell asleep eating a Oreo.
The last day brought a false sense of security with a sunny day to start then slowly disintegrated into thunderstorms and hail.

On the third round of hail we decided to go home the next day.

We did have a beautiful sunset that night though.

Our last stop on they way home was at an underground mine tour. KD thought this was the cats meow. I quote, "Mom, do they still have mines like that? I think I might want to do that when I grow up."

Home again, playing catch up with house stuff and kid needs. Happy summer!

Mosaic Game

2008-07-07T17:30:00.002-05:00

mosaic game, originally uploaded by ImagineKnit

Hamn on Senja, 2. Shrimp Scampi, 3. White-tailed Deer Fawn, 4. Mangosteen, 5. matt damon, 6. Paris, l'amour..., 7. coffee and chocolate mousse cake, 8. Latte from Broadway Cafe, 9. Untitled, 10. Happiness, 11. Let me care for you, 12. Imagine - the Community of Knitting

Rani had this on her blog the other day

Here's what you do:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The questions:

1. What is your first name? Senja
2. What is your favorite food? Shrimp
3. What high school did you go to? Deer River
4. What is your favorite color? Purple
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Matt Damon
6. Dream vacation? Paris
7. Favorite dessert? Chocolate
8. Favorite drink? Cafe Latte
9.What you want to be when you grow up? a Midwife
10. What do you love most in life? Children
11. One Word to describe you? Caring
12. Your flickr name. ImagineKnit

Have a good week!

Summer Fun

2008-07-05T16:18:00.002-05:00

There is a little knitting happening here. This is the start of my dad's birthday present. It is already late but he won't care. It's just a little preview since I have not gotten a good picture of the project yet. It will be a sweater vest. We went to Art in the Park last week and the kids had a blast!
Here is Noley loving up Miss M. They have been good buds lately.

And of course a shot of all three. Wish I had more to show for how long I have been absent but summer is busy and I would rather enjoy it than stress about blogging. I'll be back soon. Hope your summers are going great too!

Just checking in

2008-06-29T22:59:00.003-05:00

Busy days around the house. I can't believe its almost the 4th of July. I have a knitting project in the works but since it is a birthday present, I'm not showing it yet. I have a bunch of yarns to dye up too, hopefully I will have some time this week to get to that. Last week I had a special order from Germany! My first one and international too!!

The kids are busy and growing but I have little to say tonight. I promise there will be more next blog posting. Until then Knit On!

This is War!

2008-06-18T20:58:00.003-05:00

Attention masked bandits! This is your one and only warning, cease and desist your raiding of my compost bin this instant. Any more late night snacks will be met with a 22 and a bat. You have been warned.

In the Garden

2008-06-09T19:30:00.005-05:00

In the garden there grew... Forget Me Not's and Bleeding Hearts.
A cowl of lace and wool.

Despite the fact that it is June, it has felt like April here for too long. I still felt like knitting winter things last week so I whipped up this cowl. Of course I am a total follower since everyone and their mother has knit one of these. Oh well it was fun and quick.

Specs:
My pattern using a stitch pattern from an old pamphlet of my grandma's.
Yarn is mine also, Knit Me Now Yarn - Warm Woolly in Choke Cherry.
Size 10 1/2 circular needles used.

I am thinking of making up some fingerless mitts too since I have about 1/2 a skein of yarn left over. We will see. I love how this turned out and it was a skein I just couldn't let go.

Up next a birthday gift for my dad and a market bag for shopping. Hope you are all having warmer weather than me! Knit On!

Finally Summer!

2008-06-02T17:29:00.004-05:00

May is a big birthday month for us. So the little bit of blogging will get blamed on doing stuff for that. Here is Miss M's big day. KD's party.
Yesterday was finally a nice day and we had a sleep over for KD's Bday. Somehow that turned into this.
The kids had a super great time!

I tried my hand at crock pot dyeing too. That was pretty fun but I will have to go for some other colors, these are not my personal favorites.
I am trying to get some spring cleaning and a few stash busting projects done so hopefully I will have some knitting to post soon. Get out and enjoy the warm weather if you have some! Maybe take a drive.

Free Scarf Pattern

2008-05-23T15:40:00.005-05:00

I was talking the other day with my sister and a cousin about my grandma. She is in her 80's and has lived alone for the last 15 plus years since my grandpa died of a heart attack. She is the mother of 6 and grandma to close to 25 plus now great-grand kids. She manages to send the great-grand kids birthday cards and some money still. Grandma walks almost everyday and still does lots of gardening. I missed a fun weekend helping her out with spring clean up and projects around her house. So I thought I should make her something, plus I don't see her as much as I should. What do you make someone who doesn't need much?

A scarf, of course! This summery scarf can be thrown on over a blouse to dress it up or keep you warm on those cooler nights in the spring. Since I thought up the pattern myself I thought I would offer it to you all, free.

Grandma's Scarf

Gauge is about 4sts to in and 3 rows per inch on size 10 US needles.

Yarn is Rowan Natural Silk Aran 2 balls
50g, 71 yards
Color Natural and Flax.

Cast on 25 sts.

Work 2 rows garter stitch.

Pattern repeat

(RS)Row 1- K2 *(YO, K2Tog, K2) repeat from * to last to stitches, K2

(WS)Row 2 and all even rows K2, Purl to last 2 sts, K2

(RS)Row 3- K across

Row 5- K2 *(K2, YO, K2Tog) repeat from * to last 2 stitches K2

Row 7- Knit across

Row 8- As for WS of work like Row 2

Repeat these 8 pattern stitches until desired length.
End with 2 rows Knit.

I changed colors after about 4 repeats because I had 2 skeins of different colors.

I hope you like the pattern, its nothing fancy but I thought it was a fun quick knit. Enjoy!

Uninspired

2008-05-20T23:27:00.002-05:00

OK I realize somehow the month got away from me and there is no blogging. This post is simply an attempt to get myself back on that horse, so to speak. I've been working on another soaker for Noley and a scarf for my grandma. I kind of made up the pattern so if it is cute enough I will make it available here. I think there has just been too many nice days lately to want to sit and write about stuff.

We have big plans for the weekend squashed between my working Sat and Sun. Maybe I'll find some good blog fodder then. Until next time, Knit on!

Family, Hiking and (of course) Knitting

2008-05-08T12:25:00.006-05:00

This is a picture heavy post, Sorry! I got busy and didn't blog for a while.

Here is what we have been up to.

I don't know how I got to the place where this little one is now 6. We had a party for her last Friday with her friends. She had a good time. She is growing up so fast it makes me proud and sad all at the same time.

Sunday we went for a hike with out good friends, Saunaknitter(Ravelry) and her family. Here are some of my favorite pictures.
Our boys had a good time, mine are on the left.
The stream at the bottom of the climb. Miss M needed a hand across by Saunaknitter.
The view from the top of the climb.
Brothers.

This is us plus one, Saunaknitter's baby is our godson so we had him the picture with us. He is a real cutie.

I made a quick trip this week to see my sisters, because my one sister is going to work in Alaska this summer for the USFS. She will be living on a boat and flying by helicopter out to work. Cool huh?

Somehow I got no pictures of her while I was there. Sorry!

I did get a picture of my cousin's made up pattern. It is a scarf which you tie a knot in and looks like this.

This is what it looks like laid out on a table. You loop it around your neck and tie a knot with the 2 ends through the hole. The knot holds the scarf on then. It is really a cute idea, don't you think?Yes I have done a little knitting. I made a soaker for Noley with my worsted weight yarn. I think it turned out pretty cute and we are testing it today.
Hope you are all well, Knit On!

Spring Socks

2008-04-30T18:51:00.003-05:00

Just in the nick of time, my plain stockinette stitch socks are done.

Yarn was Imagine Knit Sock Yarn in "Longing for Spring"

100% Superwash Merino Wool

Fingering weight

Needles Knit Picks nickle plated sock needles

Size 2 and 1

Pattern was from The Knitters Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd.

A slipped stitched heel flap is very pretty in this I think.

They're not blocked but they are done. Whew! I love how these turned out and they are super comfy, soft and hug my feet. On to something new!

Hillbilly Birthday Party and Lightning Pants

2008-04-23T16:56:00.006-05:00

This weekend was Busy! It started out with a birthday party for my 2 nieces. The little one on the left and the medium sized one 3rd from the left are the birthday girls. This was a cupcake decorating station my sister in law had set up. Super fun! She also had crafts which I think the adults probably had the most fun doing. After that we went out to shoot guns. Really. My sister is going to Alaska this summer for a job in forestry, which meant she wanted to target shoot. The guys then had to go out and shoot too. My youngest sister and I decided that it looked like fun so out we went. There were mostly just 22's but my brother in law owns some bigger caliber handguns so we tried those out too. I shot a 9 millimeter and a 45, Yikes! They really pack a punch. We were joking that this was a hillbilly or redneck birthday party because of all the shooting:)

We got to see my mom's new puppy, Tillie. KD wanted a picture of himself holding her. She is a golden retriever.

Sunday my house looked like this.
In honor of this little one. So we had to quick drive back from my folks house (about 1.5 hours) and get ready for the shower. It worked out alright but Miss M is sick and so that added to our stress.

Today is finally a nice day and since I had to stay home from work to take care of Miss M I thought I better at least do a little of this.

I also made these pants for the boys.

I know its not knitting but I hope you will indulge my little foray into sewing as the boys really needed PJ pants and this fabric is too cute to not use.

Contest results are in and Saunaknitter won! Thanks for all the entries. Knitting updates next time.

Still Here

2008-04-16T13:55:00.003-05:00

After last Friday's blizzard, spring is starting to show its face around here. It is Northern Minnesota though so I expect more snow before long.

New updates to the shop today! I added some new lace yarn and if it gets a good response I will add more soon.
(Spoiler Alert! April don't scroll down!)

I am working on this February baby sweater for a friend. The yarn is Lilly Elite Cotton in Red. I love how this is looking. Girly but not your typical color. I still need to get buttons and knit about 2-4 more inches but it will be done soon.

Don't forget contest is still open until April 18th! Knit on!

Blog Anniversary

2008-04-09T08:12:00.008-05:00

What a difference a year makes!

Today is the day. The day I started the blog on a whim. I thought everyone else is doing it why not me? I had no idea what fun it would be. How nice bloggers and knitters are or where my life would be a year later. I have made some virtual friends and real friends through my blog. My family has grown and my yarn stash has expanded. I've planned more projects than I've finished and I started knitting socks! I once said I would never make socks:)

To celebrate this momentous occasion I am having a contest. It does require a little work on your part so be warned. I have a favorite blog entry from last year, I want to know what yours is. Tell me yours when you leave a comment and I will have some goodies for one of you. Oh and tell me your favorite colors too.

Contest will be open until April 18th.

Thank You all for your nice comments and encouragement this last year. It really does mean a lot to me. Knit On!

Thrifting

2008-03-31T16:21:00.005-06:00

Today I stopped at the thrift store with the kids after school. We found a few toys for KD.

A "Cow" for Noley. He thinks everything is a cow lately. He is sleeping next to it here.

Miss M found a doll and some other treasures. She said "I can't believe someone would get rid of this stuff!"

I found this wooden bowl.

This framed saying is now my new motto for life, I think.

My personal favorite find are these cute cups. I am in love with the cute birds on them!

Here's a shot of my sister with her new puppy, her last dog died recently she was very sad. He is a cutie and really good with the kids. The younger sister is in the background.

My youngest sisters kids are growing so fast and I thought they needed a picture on the blog. They are adorable aren't they?

KD got some great military stuff from his uncle (retired Marine). He wore it every chance he got all weekend.

I am distracting you from the knitting this week because I made some progress but nothing too exciting to show. There is a baby gift started for a friend who recently had a baby but I think she lurks around here so I won't post yet. I will post knitting again soon. Right now I have a upset tummy so I'm going to lay down. Happy knitting!

Excuses, Excuses

2008-03-28T15:07:00.003-06:00

The reason these aren't done,

and this isn't farther along,Is that I can't take my eyes off of him.
I went and took a shower, now he needs a bath. We are off to the Cities for a family visit tomorrow. We'll stop at my sister's house and let the kids play. My nephews are 5 and 2 so there is lots of fun for the cousins. The guys will no doubt surf the net for deals as usual. Naomi and I are hoping to check out the shop in town that has yarn. Then we'll head to the in-laws for the night.

I hope you all have a good weekend. I'll leave you with some pictures of our recent visitors.

This is to show how close to the house they were.

There were 8 in all.

Knit On!

Bloggy Friends Rule!

2008-03-26T15:34:00.004-06:00

I just got back from a great visit with Wendy of One Knitter's Notebook. She bought some sock yarn and asked that we meet up to deliver it. I gladly, if not a little nervously, agreed. Not that I thought she would be weird, well not weirder than me, but I did not know her from Adam. She turned out to be a super nice gal with great kids. My kids thought they were great too and both set of kidlets were asking if we would meet with them again by the time we left. Aren't knitters great!?!

No where else could you meet someone online and get together in person with very little concern that one of the people is some kind of axe murderer. Of course I felt like I had gotten to know her a little from reading her blog and probably she felt that way a little too. Sadly I am a bad blogger and didn't remember to take pictures. :(

Go check out her stuff she makes great hats!

I am cruising along on the socks for March and I picked up the Asymmetrical Cardigan again too. I hope to actually finish my March socks in March. We'll see, it is the 26th already.

Tonight I have a Pampered Chef party to go to and tomorrow work but the weekend looks pretty free. As always Knit On!

I will leave you with pictures of my sister and her friends socks. They are both making the Embossed Leaves socks with my dyed yarns. It's fun to see the yarns knit up, if you have some you're knitting send me a picture!

Getting a Little Stir Crazy

2008-03-20T07:56:00.006-06:00

I have a tendency to overwhelm myself with projects. Nothing is truer than craft projects. I was cleaning out my closet yesterday and realized how many things I have been planning to do that just don't get done. There is a LARGE pile of material in my room just waiting for the right time for me to sew it into something wonderful. There is a lot of yarn in there. Plus patterns for things I have never made. Lots and lots of knitting and sewing patterns not enough time. It is time to try to prioritize my crafts. Plus I added yarn dyeing to the list recently and that is slowly taking over the breakfast nook. It is getting overwhelming again!

I think it may just be this time of year for me. Today is the first day of spring but apparently Northern Minnesota did not get the memo. This is the temp today. The middle temp is the one from outside.

I realize it's not as cold as you gals in Canada but today it is just too cold for me. I am grateful that there is not as much snow here as there is in Kristen's neck of the woods. Go visit her for an idea of their unreal snowfall.

So to make some kind of dent in the material taking over my room, I plan to use these soon.

I am going to make Noley a pillow with this. I made one for KD when he was younger and he still uses it on trips.

I bought these last night at the local Wal*** You know that one big store which isn't my favorite. They do occasionally have good deals on fabric. The lightening fabric I think will be some kind of sleepwear for the boys. The monkey fabric is for my friend who is having a baby tomorrow! And the stripey stuff is to line a bag I made a long time ago.

To help with the Minnesota blahs, We made these the other day.

Wax paper, crayon art.

Miss M made the one in the middle. It's Minnesota! She was all proud.

These are KD's. He made, "C's not moons Mom". I cut out the Dinosaur for him. It was a fun quick project for the kids and uses up the old broken crayons lying around.

Have I told you of Noley's love of all things Little Einstein? He had some birthday money lying around, so we went and got him this from Target.

He loves it, he slept with it the first night:)

What did I do to help with the cabin fever?

I got new shoes.

PS. There are new shop updates! Go check it out!

Spring is Coming (I Think)

2008-03-15T12:41:00.007-06:00

We have finally gotten a few warm days here in Northern Minnesota, just in time for this sock I am working on.
My March sock for A Year in Socks. I dyed this skein specifically for the KAL, the assignment was to knit with some bright colors. This is called "Longing for Spring". The pattern is a simple stockinette stitch, I'm making it up a bit as I go.

Today is about 34 degrees F and the kids went out to enjoy the weather. KD thought sliding was really fun.
Noley wanted to slide all by himself.
They all worked on a fort.
KD got too warm in his jacket.

It was fun to watch them out there in the snow, Noley kept throwing snowballs and saying, "Oops! Sorry!"

My February sock reveal finally.

This is the Azure sock from Knitty Winter 2007. I liked this pattern alright but the heel was a bugger and I am still turning the heel on the second sock.

This is sock number 2 I hope to finish it this weekend.
On the Etsy shop news, I have put in an order with the manufacturer for the sock yarn base I have been using. More skeins are on their way and I hope to update the shop soon. I have been slowly getting sold out on sock yarn which is very nice for me. Thank you to all who have bought yarn or looked into the shop.

I have been tagged with a fun little task here from Rani.

Rules are:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

My weird facts:

1. My favorite color is eggplant purple, I like it so much that I have to tell myself to look at other color clothing or everything I wear would be that color.

2. I have never liked onions, I can eat something with a little onion in it but too much makes me feel sick.

3. I want to see the Eiffel Tower before I die.

4. The farthest I have traveled is to California, I have never been to the East coast.

5. I love to play Canasta and Blokus, you should try them!

6. I have a notoriously dirty mind, just ask my friends and family.

7. My ancestors are Finnish, all of them.

I tag

If you don't want to play I won't be offended if you want to play consider yourself tagged!

Second Sock Syndrome?

2008-03-09T10:42:00.003-06:00

OK so I have been avoiding this post because it means I have to admit I am not done with my February socks for A Year In Socks KAL. I obviously over stepped my abilities when picking that pattern. Plus a fall on the ice has given me a sore wrist which makes knitting a sometime fun, sometimes not so fun thing. I don't think it is SSS yet but I can see when there is a syndrome out there named that. I have already decided March's sock is a simple plain sock, perhaps the Yarn Harlot's standard recipe. I did dye a skein for myself for March. I call it Longing For Spring. I will post pictures next time. Just dropping a note here to say I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. I'm just ashamed to admit I haven't been knitting what I said I would:)

Knit On!

Happy Leap Day

2008-02-29T09:20:00.004-06:00

It's snowing again today and I need to go pack for a trip to Michigan this weekend. My cousin is getting married so we are off the UP (Upper Peninsula of Michigan). There is a contest here, to show your collections so here is mine. I have collect glass bottles since I was a teen. I found most in the junk pile out by my friends house or garage sales. They have been hauled all over with me since. Every once in a while BDiddy tries to get me to get rid of them but I love them. He is not the antique lover. The little blue one was given to me by my grandma so I can't get rid of that one for sure.

Three of these above were found out in the woods, I'm not sure how old they are but maybe from the 50's?

This little blue one was on my great grandma's shelf, I am named for her. I got it when she died its the only thing of hers I have. It makes me think of her and how pleased she was every time we saw her. She would say my name with her thick Finnish accent with such a happy tone and hug me tight. I wish I knew more about her. She came from Finland at age 16. I can't even imagine what that was like. I will have to ask my mom what she knows.

I will be bringing my Azure sock and the Asymmetrical Cardigan to work on in the car. The ride is about 4-5 hours so I should have plenty of time to knit. Have a good weekend!

Contest Winner and Stuff

2008-02-26T09:54:00.006-06:00

First things first the contest winner. By way of the totally high tech drawing from a hat, the winner is Ikkinlala. Congratulations! Send me an email with your info and this lovely is all yours. Plus a few surprises!

Here is my family having breakfast last Sunday. Look at Noley hamming it up:)

Here is me having breakfast last Sunday. Yeah I fed them first then I got to sit and drink my coffee, read a bit and just relax.

Outside it looked like this. Hoarfrost all over. See this post for a great explanation of what that is. Notice how one side of the trees is frosted but not the other? Cool.
OK I'm not the best photo taker but you get the idea, and I did take those last 2 while stopped at a light.

As promised here is the start of my Asymmetrical Cardigan, finally. I love, love , love this. Malabrigo yarn in Vaa is so squishy and soft.

These are half done, by which I mean one sock is done and the other is started. I will probably not make my February deadline for A Year In Socks:(

Last, KD went skiing with BDiddy and did great! They went about 4 miles they said. He's such a cutie, KD wants to go skiing everyday now.

Thanks for playing the contest! Knit On!

It's Contest Time!

2008-02-22T14:08:00.005-06:00

OK February has been a slow month for blogging. I decided the best way to spice things up is to do what all bloggers love and have a contest. Drop me a note and tell me what you like to do to fight the mid winter blahs. I have been trying to get out skiing, playing basketball and thinking up crafts to do with the kids. I mostly just want to pitch it all lately and go on a vacation anywhere. Just get me out of the routine and recharge my batteries, you know?

I will have some yarn to send to the winner, my own hand dyed of course:) Put in your comments if you want sock or worsted weight. I will send sock if you don't put a preference. Oh and my friends and family are eligible for the contest too. I will draw a winner on Tuesday 2/26. Looking forward to hearing from you!

To top off my winter blahs, this little guy has been falling off of things and down the stairs a lot. Poor guy.

Keep warm and Knit On!

Candlelight Skiing

2008-02-16T20:39:00.003-06:00

Skiing in the moonlight, our paths lit by candles.

Snow creaks and crunches beneath my ski's,

The trees cast shadows over our trail making the world an icy still life.

Gliding through the woods towards the next golden light,

little bags of sunshine to light our way.

The exhiliration of swooping down the hills in the night, each turn in the trail

is like entering another world.

For a moment, time stops and nothing exists but you and me on our ski's.

Panic! at the YMCA

2008-02-13T17:14:00.004-06:00

Ok so another no picture post I know, but I just have to write this down. Tonight I am going to play basketball for the first time in years. I joined the 4 on 4 team at work sort of accidentally. I sent an email saying I was interested and I am signed up just like that. I don't know anyone on the team and haven't really played, not even a little, for a long time. BDiddy and I played HORSE last summer a couple times in the yard but that is it. I am nervous and scared. Yes I said it and I don't care who knows (why else would I put it on my blog right?). It's scary to think about meeting new people and then to play a team sport with them? Yikes! Plus I have to drag my chubby butt out there and haul it around on the court in front of people!

[Deep Breaths, Deep Breaths]

OK, I'll calm down. It's just a game, for fun and exercise. No pressure. If I embarress myself too much the first time, I'll just never go back. I mean what's the worst that can happen? Wait I take that back. I'm just tempting fate with that one.

I'm going to go work on my sock.

Edited to add:
It was bad, we got out butts kicked and I am WAY out of shape. I'm not sure if I want to keep going if it will be that embarrassing. The team we played were like 19-20 year olds. I am not. Enough said.

Quickly, Quickly

2008-02-11T23:06:00.000-06:00

You can see by the time of this post it is late. I have to work tomorrow, a 12 hour shift so I have to make it quick. Just a note to say I spent most of the day dyeing yarn so there is some new yarns in the shop, more to come. I dyed one that if I can't replicate I will have to keep it. It is too pretty to sell:)

Tomorrow I will be bringing my socks to work on in the slow times if there is any. They are coming along, I think I am to the heel of the first.

Quick kid story for you, Miss M was mad at me this weekend so she hollered up the stairs, "I'm going to go live at Madison's house!" We had a hard time not laughing too loud. Apparently my 5 year old is going on 15 already. Off to bed!

Twinkle

2008-02-07T15:54:00.000-06:00

This morning everything was covered in ice crystals. The kind that makes the whole world look like it's covered in diamonds. I wish there was a way to capture that feeling with a picture. I just don't have the camera skills to get it right. Here are my best shots.

A half an hour later the sun was behind the clouds and everything looked grey and bland again. I was glad to get a few pictures of the twinkle before it was gone.

Speaking of gone, my hat used to look like this.

It is now frogged:( It was too tight and I think I might need to rethink the edging, possibly to cable needs to be a different one too. Love this cable pattern though. I'll have to use it in something else if I can't make it work in the hat.

I made these socks for a friend at work who's due soon. She's having a girl and I think these will be perfect.

The green baby socks are for a coworkers new grandchild. She asked me to make him a pair when I showed her the first pair. I used a Regia self striping yarn for them. They turned out super cute, Noley needs a pair now.

My Febuary socks for A Year of Socks. They have been a fun knit so far. Next month I think I'm going to make a real simple sock though. Just plain knitting sounds good and relaxing to me.

I'm anxiously awaiting my yarn order so I can add to the Etsy shop. Supposed to be here tomorrow! I've got conferences tonight for Miss M and KD. Gotta run! Knit On.

Scatterbrain

2008-02-04T09:32:00.000-06:00

Oops! Got busy and now I have tons of things to update on. This post seems a little scattered but here goes.

I managed to get KD to pose with his hat on. He will wear it at home but not to school. Already I have kids that are embarressed of me. I think it looks really cute on him, and he says its nice and warm.

I had a visitor the other day. This Piliated Woodpecker hangs around our house year round, but with the cold weather I haven't seen him in a while. Not the greatest picture but you can see how big he really is.
I love these kinds of things in my yard, handmade kid stuff! KD made this one warm day last week.

I joined Rani's, Year of Socks. Crazy I know. I really have to get going on Febuary's sock. I am planning to make these. The Azure socks are just the thing.

Rani nominated me for a "You Make My Day" award. She also is having a little contest so go see what she's up to.

So to spread the love, check out these blogs.

I have to return the favor to Rani, I check her blog out often.

A Few Things To Say - she's back from Hiatus! and quilting!

A Friend To Knit With

Probably a ton of people nominated the Yarn Harlot, but I do love her writing and she's wicked funny.

Christine at Too Much Yarn is a super fast sock knitter too. (Oh she nominated me too! Gotta keep up with the blogs more.)

Yarn Hog gets a mention too, she knits stuff I love at a hugely fast pace. We are knitting a sweater in the same yarn and color right now.

Oh there are just too many to name! If I didn't mention you consider yourself mentioned. I love you all.

Last on the blog front I just have to say Thank You to all who have ordered my yarns or have even checked them out. I am so happy to be doing the dyeing on the side and it means so much that you like the yarns. More is coming, I am putting in orders today for more stock. Watch the Etsy shop for updates or check back here, I'll put a note in when I add to the store. Thank You again!

On my needles:

Assymetrical Cardigan

Hat in Malabrigo of my own design

Azure socks

Baby socks

Better get to work! Knit On!

Winter Knits

2008-01-27T12:14:00.001-06:00

So I promised pictures of finished objects last time. I added a couple of knits from last winter that I haven't blogged about in the past.

This hat and mitten set was made for KD last winter. Too bad he won't wear the mitts at all and the hat is getting too small.

So because those were too small, I made KD this Thorpe hat. I made it a little too big so it is slightly felted to fit. I couldn't get him to model it for me. Maybe he'll let me later.

Miss M got these mittens last winter but they were too big. She just recently has decide they fit a little better. The cuffs are knit in a mosaic pattern. That was a lot of fun to do, I should try that again in some other project.

These mittens are mine, I used Lamb's Pride worsted for them. I love them. Super warm. I can't remember the name of the pattern it is around here somewhere.

Since I liked my felted mittens so much I made these for Noley. I thought he might not wear them but he loves them! I could have left the thumb off though, he won't use that part. I did think they should be a little longer in the cuff area, so next time I'll have to remember that. This was an improvised pattern.

I dyed up the last of my wool supply the other day and put them up on Etsy if you're interested. Just a little picture to tempt you:)

I am loving the dyeing and 3 skeins are gone to happy knitters. I'll have to see how the sales go before I can convince BDiddy that this might be worth the time. I think it is of course but he needs a little more proof. My 3 favorites in the first batch sold right off the bat so I have to try to reproduce them. My current favorite is the Blue skein 2nd from the left. I call it Blueberry Pie. I know I can reproduce that one because I wrote down the formula. So I'll dye one up for me some other time. What kind of colors are your favorites? I like purples, blues and greens the most.

Well time to go do a little baking with Miss M for some Momma and Daughter time. Knit On!

Stir the Dye Pot

2008-01-24T09:09:00.000-06:00

What?!? You are wondering where I have been?

Yesterday you would have found me here.

I finally got time to dye up some yarn. Thank goodness for Thomas the Train who kept Noley occupied for a while. I would have had some big issues with out something to keep him busy.

The hardest part of dying yarns for me is waiting for the yarn to dry so I can wind it up into pretty skeins. Oh and parting with them will be hard too. So pretty, if I do say so myself.

Here are my finished projects. Now to figure out how to get good pictures of the yarn.

The green has less yellow than this picture, reminds me of a snake for some reason.

This is pretty close to the real thing. Deep purple with blues and teal.
I named this one Redwood Forest. This is a pretty accurate picture. This skein will be hard to part with, I named this color Chocolate Covered Cherries. Obviously in tribute to Valentines day.
Last but not least this skein is for my sister Naomi. She went to Mexico recently and asked for something with blues. I think I nailed it. I'm sending this off to her today.

The base yarn is Louet Gems superwash 100% merino wool. Each skein is approximately 420yards and 4oz of fingering weight sock yarn. It is super soft and squishy. Drop me an email if you must have one before I get them on Etsy:)

Next post: Pictures of KD's hat, Noley's mitts and the start of the Asymmetrical Cardigan!

Keeping my head above water

2008-01-18T07:59:00.000-06:00

Today is busy with 2 doctors appointments one for me and one for Noley. They are spread way apart in the day which means I will have to hang out in Duluth for most of the day. Bummer:) I am planning on hitting the library for some books on knitting and dyeing. Hopefully Noley cooperates with me and doesn't run off in the library, scream and yell, poop his pants, or pull books off the shelf. Yesterday we took a trip to Yarn Harbor after a different appt and he did OK until the lady who worked there asked me to move him from where he was playing nicely. She was worried he would pull over the button stand on himself even though he was only running his cars on the bottom of the stand which was a little like a hill to him. Anyway I picked him up and he had a fit so we had to go out. Next time I go to the yarn shops I am NOT taking him. He is too young to keep occupied for long. There is something about that store for him. It has lots of nooks and crannies for him to hide in and the last 2 times we were there he had a quiet moment in a corner that resulted in smelly pants. Who can blame him? We all like a little privacy.

There are entirely too many things on my list of things to do, knit, improve ect.
I have to start prioritizing. I am overwhelming myself with things to do and ways to be a better person. Focus. I will work on a realistic list of things for myself this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend it is going to be SUPER cold. Below zero readings with wind chills in the -60 ranges. Uggg. Bundle up out there! I will be knitting something warm and cozy for my kiddos on my breaks at work. I am making a Thorpe hat for KD instead of a felted hat. I think he wear this one more. Noley's hat needs to be reknit, I decided it was felted a little too much and didn't fit as well as I liked so Liam got it. It barely fits him! No more late night felting episodes for me! Stay warm this weekend and Knit On!

New Year New Look

2008-01-16T16:43:00.000-06:00

I decided I needed a new look. What do you think?

Fiberlicious Weekend

2008-01-14T08:58:00.000-06:00

This weekend BDiddy was out of town fishing. So Jess and I got together to wind yarn and knit. We got a little crazy and wound anything and everything that wasn't wound into a ball. I was up until about 2:00am! Here's Jess's loot.

A while back we got an obscene deal on a bunch of Bartlett yarns. Even now I wish I would have just bought all of the yarn they had that day it was such a good deal.

I did manage to finally finish my Embossed Leaves socks.
Yarn: Skacel Trekking XXL- 1 skein
Needles: Started with 1.5 US, 2.5mm steel needles, switched to Knit Picks DPN's after Christmas.
Started December 2007, finished January 2008.
Size Women's Medium

I once said I would never make socks.
Never say never.

Friday the mail came and this was in it! My shipment from Hello Yarn. I managed to hold off with the experiments until Sunday.

I did 2 mini skeins for practice. Here they are before re-skeining.

After I re-skeined them.

I had to try it out a little too to see how it knit. Using a baby sock pattern, you can find the link to it here. The yarn is 100% Merino superwash wool in fingering weight. It is super soft!

These pictures are the closest to the real thing.

I think this is gonna be a lot of fun! I gotta head to the store for a scale today and get dyeing.

When you're too sick to knit

2008-01-07T08:44:00.000-06:00

This weekend I was supposed to work. I say supposed to, because I have been body slammed by the nastiest head cold of my life. So there was nothing going on for me this weekend except lying on the couch and feebly knitting on my socks. I was pretty sick yesterday when I put the knitting down and took a nap. There was some progress made (on the socks) but nothing too exciting to look at.

Since I was feeling so crappy, I decided to make a list of all the knitting I want to make and see how far behind I am.

1. Asymmetrical Cardigan with Malabrigo Vaa
2. Baby gift for 2 girls at work
3. Socks for my 3 kids
4. Felted hat for KD
5. Bee Fields Shawl by Knit Spot (started)
6. Mittens for Noley and KD (Noley's are half done)
7. Frost Jacket from Knitting Nature
8. More socks for me and BDiddy
9. Something pretty for myself with the yarn from Kristin
10. Something for my sister who reminded me that I hadn't made her anything for a long time.
11. Adult Surprise Jacket with Bartlett yarn (or Tomten?)

I could keep going but I better stop there. Those are just the things I have yarn for really. So I think I will have to put myself on a yarn diet. Until I have made at least one adult sized sweater I won't be able to buy any more.

This doesn't count the yarn I sent for to try my hand at dyeing. That is a project I didn't expect to be able to try but on our way home from Christmas BDiddy brought it up. He gave me permission to invest a little money and see if I could make a little money on the side. I was shocked that he thought that was a good idea. This is the guy who will occasionally say in a very sullen tone, "All you're going to do is knit for the rest of your life." I think he has a hard time seeing the usefulness of knitting because for some reason he doesn't wear any of the things I make for him. Anyway I got the OK and ran with it. Look for some experiments coming soon!

I am going to bypass some of the other projects on my list to start the cardigan. I've been wanting to start this for awhile and keep getting sidetracked. I've even swatched it out already and I almost never swatch. Wish me luck!

What I did on my Christmas vacation

2008-01-04T10:03:00.000-06:00

The craziness of the holidays are past and the new year has begun. Time to update the blogging world of my past few weeks. Has it really been since Dec. 18th? Of course there were trips to Grandma and Grandpa's house (both of them). Gifts were given and received. Some how I missed getting a picture of the SIL hat on the recipient. The niece and nephew enjoyed the slippers and hopefully will use them.

Every year my dad added to his list of things he would like us to knit for him. He was hinting not so subtly about what he might like and specifying the kind of fiber to use. We have to laugh at least he will wear what we (my sisters and I) make. I made him a scarf that he lost but that was years ago. Oh and a pair of wool socks in a bulky yarn a couple of years ago too. I don't count that in my sock making list because they were so bulky and seemed like cheating compared to "real" sock yarn.

Speaking of socks, my first Embossed Leaf sock is done! Here is the sock in progress.
Here is one finished sock. It fits perfectly. I was afraid it would be too small because of my size 10 shoe, but it is perfect.

So I need to cast on the other one to avoid the second sock syndrome. I don't think it will be a problem as I can't wait to wear these!

I made Noley a felted hat from a Fiber Trends pattern on my break. The name of the pattern is Felt Winter Hats. I plan to make one for KD too.
Below is the before felting and after felting picture.

I think it is so funny that it fits me before going in the wash. It turned out pretty cute don't you think. It might be the wearer though he is pretty cute:)

So what Christmas gifts what did you get that were really great? I was happy with everything I got. Even BDiddy did well and he often manages to wreck the surprise for me. I got a new polar fleece jacket and a nice undershirt for cross country skiing from him.

My mom and sister got me this and this! I love them! Ok the link for the ball winder may not be the exact one I got but you get the idea.

Last but not least KD and Miss M got me these for Christmas at the school gift shop. The frog is from KD. I don't know what it is for but I think it is to hold rings or maybe a candle holder? The glass tea light is from Miss M it is shaped like a mushroom I think. They were so proud that they picked them out themselves.

Hope you all had a good holiday and big plans for the New Year!

Birthday Loot

2007-12-18T11:48:00.000-06:00

Theron and Nolan's Birthday cake from last weekend. We had a joint party for them since they are only 3 weeks apart in age.

The 2 year old's eating cake, it was hard to get them in focus because they were so intent on getting to the cake. Nolan had blown out his candles before we even sang.

Me blowing out my candles. Jess made my cake. See the knitting needles? Its supposed to look like a ball of yarn with needles stuck into it. It was cute and super yummy. (The picture is blurry on purpose)
This is my loot:) My present from Brent and the kids is awesome! I can't wait to get this figured out and working.

The picture on the screen is real. Its better than my TV picture at home. I can't imagine how Christmas presents could get better than this.

Well unless it was all knitting related:)

In the last 10 days

2007-12-13T18:20:00.000-06:00

I have been busy and not feeling much like blogging (obviously). Here's a little of what I have been up to.

We dug ourselves out of some more snow.
I tried to get a good picture of the kids for a Christmas Picture.

These are not the one good picture I got.

Helped get this monster tree in the house. (BDiddy picked it out not me.) When he brought it home the conversation went something like this.
Me: What were you thinking that is Huge!
BDiddy: I didn't think it was that big.
Me: It's like 4 feet taller than you are.
BDiddy: It'll be fine.

I won't even tell you what we had to do to get it in the house. Seriously, why do we need such a big tree?

Helped the kids decorate it.

Finally got my Embossed Leaves Socks started the way I like them. I'm using some needles that my grandma gave me. I think they're steel size 1 (2.0mm) DPN's.

Finished My So Called Scarf.
Went to the local Christmas light extravaganza. Check it out here.
Saw Santa. Noley didn't like him up close.
Miss M didn't mind telling him just what she wanted. A Barbie makeover kit.

Working, planning a Birthday party for Noley, shopping for the rest of the gifts I needed and drowning myself in the craziness that is the Christmas season.

Oh and I won Kristin's blog contest so I have yummy new yarn coming my way!

Thanks Kristin! Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday season.

Winter is here! (and finished objects)

2007-12-03T11:38:00.000-06:00

This morning I was greeted with this gorgeous sunrise from my kitchen windows.
Here's a good shot of how much snow we got this weekend. The play center is covered with snow but I bet when the kiddos get home today they will be all over this.

I decided to post my SIL's hat because I think she doesn't lurk here. Hopefully not otherwise surprise Andrea! I used Patons Soy Wool Stripes for this in Nature Garden. The colors are not great in this picture, I could not get a good picture of the real colors for the life of me. I used a hat pattern out of Rebecca Fall 2005 which I picked up on clearance at a LYS in the Twin Cities.

This is a little better picture of the true colors. It also shows the decreases I used to change the top of this hat.

I caved and gave this to BDiddy when it got cold. I really like how this turned out and the manly colors were nice too. This is in Noro Kureyon, I forgot which colorway though. Lost the tag. Used the same pattern as the SIL hat, but could not figure out the bind off in the pattern so this is improvised. I think it is close to what I was supposed to do.
Last but not least my selfish post Christmas knitting. The Bee Fields Triangle Shawl from Knitspot.

The yarn is from White Willow on Etsy. I think I'm gonna love it!

Snow Day!

2007-12-01T11:35:00.000-06:00

We have a big snow storm coming our way today. They are predicting 8-16 inches of snow here before the weekend is over. The perfect kind of day to stay home, make brownies, coffee and knit on some lace. I started the Bee Fields Shawl last night. I'm excited. It is so nice to be working on something that has no deadline and is just for me. Selfish isn't it? Sometimes you need to be a little selfish to keep your sanity right? Here's to a little selfishness this holiday to keep the sanity at your house:)

BDiddy took the camera to take pictures of the kids ice fishing so I'll have to post pictures later. I have all my Christmas knitted gifts done! But sadly not all my other gifts bought. Next week I will have to brave the stores for the rest.

We went out to the kids school for a breakfast with Santa and then the kids could go shop with "elves" to get gifts on their own. It is a really cool idea and they loved going and getting their own gifts without our help. They even wrap them so no chance of seeing it accidently, but you have to tell the kids not to give it away. The other nice thing is most of the gifts were around 2-3 dollars and nothing was over $10.

In January Jess and I are going to start sweaters for ourselves. We have been talking about it for at least 2 years and decided once the holidays are over we'll get going on that. Anyone care to join us? I should think up some name for it and we could have a KAL. No certian pattern just one you like for yourself. Comment if you're in!

Updates from my life

2007-11-27T09:43:00.000-06:00

Today the headache is finally gone. After working since last Wednesday this is my first day off. Friday doesn't count I was sleeping most of it. I am taking today to snuggle with Noley. He is growing up so fast and I miss the little baby stage sometimes so much. Everyday is an adventure with him, he is such an easy boy and happy. His language skills have taken off recently so we are now listening to him yell, "Fruuuck!" (for truck). And he was playing with his toy phone," Hi, Whatcha doing?" His dad does that all the time.

The last Christmas gift is halfway done and I am loving this yarn! I am using Patons Soy Wool Stripes in Natural Garden. It has a beautiful sheen and the colors and very pretty. I hope Andrea likes it.

I have been wanting to start a new project but am holding myself back until all my obligations are finished. Well if we're being truthful I did start some socks but I have to rip them out and use smaller needles so they don't count.

Since I didn't have a Thanksgiving this year I'm looking forward to Christmas. Except for not having gifts for anyone yet! Yikes I gotta get on the ball! So just a couple more minutes on the couch snuggling Noley and I better go to town. Knit On!

Gifts, Crafts and Headaches

2007-11-25T17:29:00.000-06:00

The before and after of my nephew's slippers. He is 2 so I hope these will fit him OK.
I made this hat to sell at a craft sale and another one that I didn't take a picture of.

Yup that's me modeling it. I used some yarn my mom spun a long time ago, I think it turned out cute. Hopefully someone will like it and buy it.

I also made some jewelry. I am working on the SIL's Xmas gift and then I'm done with gifts. I think I will move on to socks and the shawl pattern I just got.

Today was a bad day, I worked with a migraine and still have a little residual headache hanging on. There is nothing fun about wearing sunglasses while I take care of a laboring mom. Thank goodness they were a good sport about it. I'm sure if nothing else they will remember me! Wish I could be wittier about this because it seems like it would be funny, but my brain is not working well. Knit on! Later.

Trip to Grandma's

2007-11-19T09:05:00.001-06:00

We went to visit my family this weekend after a very busy week for me of work, kids, house and so on. This guy is the reason for the family gathering. My nephew "Little" Tony (called that now only because his dad is "Big" Tony) is back safe from Iraq. He is a Marine and was doing patrolling near Falluja. Dangerous stuff.
We are all glad he is home safe. He was heading back to his home base soon so thus the trip to Mom and Dad's.

These days it's not a little gathering anymore. With each of us siblings having kids of our own its a little like being inside a zoo of kids full of sugar. The highlight for them is the hot tub.

The big boys played and played, here they are checking out the Lego site.
There are crazy jumping girls, and a fort was made in the kitchen with chairs.
There are babies who are soon 2 years old and probably shouldn't be called babies anymore. These two are 3 weeks apart, Theron on the right is older and my sisters boy.

At the end of the weekend, Noley was exhausted:) So was I!And I did a little bit of knitting too, mostly in the car. The slippers are waiting to be felted today, and the dishcloth is just because I needed a few more. One more Christmas gift to go!

Over the River...

2007-11-18T20:37:00.000-06:00

And through the woods. To Grandmother's house we go!

Details tomorrow.