Way Cool Knits

This is my newest finished project. Its a scarf that was made from Rimu yarn I bought in South Carolina. It is 60% Merino Wool and 40 Possum from New Zealand.  I bought 50 gram skeins and used 2 1/2 so almost perfect.
I used size 7 needles and did a 3x3 rib pattern for approximately 80". Its so soft and its totally awesome! I hope the person I am giving it too thinks its as cool as I do. How many people can say there is New Zealand possum in the scarf they are wearing????

My Nemesis

 

Meet my knitting nightmare. Now I know it is a beautiful sweater, but OMG the errata attached to it is amazing!

I bought this pattern about 3 years ago in Springfield. My bff attempted to have me knit this bad boy in the round.  As most knitters know, new projects came up, time went by, bff did not have as much time as she used to to sit by my side and explain the whole knitting in the round theory and so it ended up in a lovely basket.

New resolution for 2013: "Finish what you start"

1st project:This lovely sweater.

1st problem: Where in the hell did we leave off?  You want me to do what with that area that sitting on waste yarn??? Why are all those stitch markers on this project?

2nd problem: Do I have it in me to rip out approximately 22" of already knitted sweater?? Answer: YES I DO! It was liberating and it was time to begin again.

Wait until you see what I have done....................

Baby Hat Dowry

My Boss Judy got married in August of this year. They are going to start trying to have a baby this Summer. I thought I would make Baby a hat dowry. This is Hat #1 also known as "the Marley Hat". They do not want your basic pink and blue baby stuff, so my goal is to make some awesome funky hats for this yet to be born baby. My goal is one hat a month. I gave this to them the beginning of December. Hat #2 is coming soon.

St. Louis Road Trip

So yesterday my bestest knitting friend Marie and I went to St. Louis to see my hero, otherwise known as the Yarn Harlot. We had a girly sleepover at my house the night before, set the GPS for cruise and left around 7:30 a.m. (merely because my bestest yarn friend Marie thinks she is a rooster and needs to be up before the sun comes up and makes so much noise in the morning that she woke up pretty much the rest of the household including but not limited to cats, dogs, kids and husbands). But I digress, it was a beautiful day and I was so excited my favorite yarn author was coming to an area I could actually drive to (considering she lives in Canada and I dont have a passport) . The drive was awesome, we got to go to a yarn shop, a Barnes and Noble and then to the church for the talk. I was a little put off by the fact that she was speaking in a church. Does the St. Louis Public Library not have a conference room, was there no Barnes and Noble that had enough room to house a room full of women with sharp needles? Oh well we survived, neither of us burst into flames when we walked through the church doors, and other than some mindless mother who decided it was a great idea to bring not 1, not 2, but 3 children all under the age of 7 to this event , Stephanie was awesome. She had us laughing out loud! I love knitting humor. The icing on this trip was that Marie and I got out picture posted on the Yarn Harlot's website because we had her sign our Kindle and Nook respectively! We are awesome and now we are famous.

Thank you Stephanie for a wonderful day and as soon as I get a passport, I am going to your house.

Old Age

Some people will age gracefully, some will not. What I am not sure about is how my mind is going to age. It seems after I turned 40 things started to go down hill. I started putting the jelly in the cupboard and the peanut butter in the fridge. I started wondering why I came into a room and what it was I needed. I have found myself in the shower wondering if I have washed my hair. Just yesterday I caught myself trying to use shower gel as shampoo.
I have found its best to write things down as they fall out of my head as soon as I leave a room.
Sometimes I think someone is stealing my stuff. My glasses go missing, my slippers get moved, and someone is constantly moving my stuff to different places in my room. No one in my family will admit to these acts, but I think they are trying to drive me crazy.
The only thing I can think to do is wear a lanyard with a notebook and a pencil attached to it along with a note that has my name, phone number and address on it. If I get lost someone is bound to return me to my rightful owner.

Toddlers v. Teenagers

To all the parents of toddlers who are at their wits end with potty training, tantrums, and sleepless nights, just you wait.

To all the parents of teenagers who are at their wits end with loud music, missed curfews, smart mouths, and know it all attitudes, God help us.

I always thought when my kids were little, that is when I would be needed as a parent the most. Man was I wrong. Teenagers need more guidance, more attention, more love, more patience and more tough love than any toddler I have ever seen.

Letting go of our toddlers hurts like nothing I have ever experienced. When I took my son to preschool the first day, I was crying so hard in the parking lot, I couldn't go in the front door.

When I picked him up on this 17th birthday because he almost got arrested, I was crying so hard I couldn't even look at him. Boy how times change.

Letting go of our teenagers is thank god, less painful and more liberating. I want my kids to go, I want them to experience life, I want them to travel and see things before they get stuck in the "real" world. So when I tell you "I cant wait for you to leave", I mean that in the nicest way possible, just please go somewhere cold so I can come visit.

The Gift

Now don't get me wrong, I have been given some totally awesome gifts in my life, but the quilt you see here was handmade by my friend Kathy. About a year ago, I admitted to myself that I would never be the quilter I wanted to be, but I had seen this quilt on the cover of a magazine and knew it was mine. I asked Kathy if I bought all the fabric would she do me the honor of making it as she is a gifted quilter as you can see for yourself. Throughout the next year I thought little about my quilt (well ok maybe I thought of it a few times!) but never said a word to her about it as I knew when it was done, I would be be told. She finished my quilt in August and even had her sister quilt it for me. I was presented with my quilt and it was love a first sight. I cannot ever say enough thanks to this truly remarkable woman who made this quilt. I get teary eyed whenever I look at it as it is a thing of beauty and was made for me by a woman I love. I wish there were words better than "thank you" that I could say to her to express how much I appreciate all the time and energy Kathy put into this quilt. My last wish is to be buried with my quilt as I want to sit up in heaven wrapped in it and knit for eternity! xxoxoxo my dear friend Kathy.