A little break from knitting

I took a little break from knitting last week to create some SuperHero capes for a toddler birthday party.  The little one, who turned 2 years old, is just crazy about the Avengers.  So, in lieu of "goody bags" (which are hard to fill with things for 2 year olds!) his mom decided SuperHero capes the kids could take home would be fun.  She came to me for help and I was glad to oblige.  Some felt, velcro, foam stars and glow-in-the-dark fabric paint later and we have these

I had such fun making these and I think the kids had fun wearing them.  I even made one for the Grandma (her request, she didn't want to be left out of the fun)!

Back to knitting for next week!

Laura

Whew! It's been awhile!

My goodness....trying to get myself focused on my knitting because I have realized just how therapeutic it is for me.  I spent most of the last 6 months working furiously on The Great American Aran Afghan as a wedding gift for my niece.

I am going to try and give a weekly update on what I'm working on!

Talk to you soon!

Laura

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I haven't posted in forever...things have been VERY busy...but I have a new computer and I've been knitting a bunch so hopefully I can back on track with the blogging. Our news for the new year is that my husband is going to be deployed to Iraq in June...I'm going to try to get back in the habit of blogging on a regular basis so he will have a way to keep up with the news of us here at home while he's away...



One of the fun things we've done the past few months was attend the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the church my brother and I grew up in. It's Calvary United Protestant Church in Park Forest, IL and we had a wonderful weekend with our parents reminiscing with old friends.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with their families!!!! My New Year's resolution is to blog on a regular basis! Wish me luck!!

Laura

Another Finished Project!

I finished something!!! This is my finished Mystery Shawl 7. I'm not as good at wonderful creative pictures as some people are. I absolutely love this pattern and the way it turned out. It doesn't have a home yet...don't know if it will be leaving this home yet! As I said in my last post, I'm currently knitting lots of lace so hopefully there will be more pictures like this throughout the summer.

I heard from my Target in Sock Wars 3. She recieved her socks and was most gracious. A lot of us had problems with the pattern and of course, her socks were too big, but she loved the yarn and colors. One of my goals with the swaps and wars and KALs is to meet new people who share a passion for knitting and make new friends and I achieved that goal with Sock Wars (despite the negativity that is rampant on the boards).

What's going on in my life besides knitting, you ask? I'm still trying to stick to WeightWatchers and have a great group of online gals who are very supportive (and like to knit, go figure!). I need to get more active...I tell myself that today's the day, every morning and by the time the kid's are in bed at night I'm saying, "tomorrow's the day"...

I keep telling my DH he just needs to win the lottery so I can stay home, take care of the house, myself and knit...oh well...

'Til next time!

Laura

Stash and Projects

I've been roaming around on Ravelry and it's very addictive! My knitting buddy, Holly, warned me and I foolishly went and roamed anyway! It did get me motivated to log some of my stash and WIP's though.

I was signed up for Sock Wars 3 and just mailed off my first pair of socks to my target yesterday...I, of course, neglected to take a picture of them so we'll have to wait and she if she posts a picture once she recieves them. Once she gets her socks she has to package up the socks she was working on and send them to me to finish for her target. As long as I haven't recieved any socks from my "assassin" I'm still alive and can continue to knit socks. I haven't heard a thing from my assassin so I'm assuming I'm still safe!

I'm also participating in several lace shawl KALs...here's some pics of the works in progress. The Lace Mystery shawl has only had one clue released and it looks like this:


I'm using Jaggerspun Zephyr 2/18 in Daffodil with gold lined clear size 8 beads.

I'm also working on the Mystic Light KAL. It uses fingering weight, which is much different to knit a shawl with than lace weight, but I love the way it's turning out...I'm currently on Clue 3 and the pattern has 5 clue total. I'm using Koigu in a burnt orange colorway (It's supposed to remind you of fire).

My third work in progress is the Slow-Bee Mystery Shawl. It calls for 3000 yds of laceweight yarn and 3000 beads...I'm using Jaggerspun Zephyr 2/24 (I was hoping to keep it from being a queen size blanket!) and I'm not sure I like the fabric I'm getting, but here's a look...I'm only about 1/3 way through the first clue.

That's what I've been up to! I'm going to log projects and stash on Ravelry now too, so if you want you can check me out there...I'm Lknits.

'Til next time!

Laura

It's Been A LONG time

Okay, okay...I admit it...I've been extremely lax in posting. Things have been very busy...we built a new house and moved in. We moved on Thanksgiving Day 2007 and had dinner for the family (12 people) on Saturday...not bad if I do say so myself.

I also changed jobs and I don't have the internet access during the day that I used to have so that has slowed me down too. DS#1 lacerated his spleen in January and spent several days in Riley Children's Hospital

I've become addicted to lace and lace mystery shawls. My first lace project was the Swallowtail Shawl from Interweave Knits (see pic). I gave the shawl to my sister-in-law for her birthday. I also finished "Swan Lake" from Pink Lemon Twist.

The other KAL's I have on the needles currently are The Mystery Shawl 2008, Mystic Waters, Mystic Light, and Spring Mystery Shawl. The new ones starting soon are Casablanca, Goddess Knits Anniversary Shawl, Slow-Bee Mystery and Slow-Bee Mystery 2.

I will try to be better about blogging and I will find DS#1's digital camera and get some pictures of my WIPs and post soon.

Now I'm going to make a cup of tea, enjoy my very quiet house (all the "boys" are out for the evening) and knit!

See you next time! Laura

More Bragging

DH just finished his two weeks of Annual Training with the Indiana National Guard. He is a helicopter pilot and today is Armed Services Day. This weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Indy 500) the National Guard had their helicopters on display. We spent yesterday wandering around the track, watching qualifications and hanging out with the guys and their "birds." It was very nice to be walking around the Speedway with DH in his flightsuit and having people come up to him and thank him for his service to his country. People do support our troops! If they only knew he was also a firefighter too! DD calls him the "ultimate do-gooder!" and we are very proud that he is!

Part of our day yesterday was spent watching the qualifications runs for the Indy 500. Alex Barron qualified to start in the 9th row. Being up close and personal with these machines makes you really appreciate what it takes to run this race...220 miles an hour is amazing to watch!

On the knitting front, I struggled all week with some socks...I finished one, the second one came out nothing like the first so I ended up frogging them both...I've got some better sock yarn and a different pattern that I will be trying sometime soon...In the meantime, I relaxed and got rid of my sock frustration by working on the Lady Eleanor shawl I am making for myself!

Until next time!

Laura