Birthday Bowling

What a wonderful way to celebrate a birthday, bowling with your dearest friends. I sucked btw, and as evidenced above Linda kicked some serious ass. Anthony also wasn't on his best game which was some consolation, given how competitive we are with each other. It was a great party and I am so lucky to have so many great friends who could come. Many pictures of said friends to follow.
me

Brad, Anthony and Claire

Liz and her friend Layne (I think that was her name)
Eric's ass, which I did not kick btw despite my bet. He let me off the hook and I didn't have to lick his feet despite my defeat. Ha ha. What a good friend.
Mariah, knitter extraordinaire.
Linda (bowling goddess) and her hubbie Wes. (not a bowling god- her words, not mine).
My BIL and SIL Ron and Laura.



Heather, Anthony and Ed (I just noticed Anthony is giving the shocker. Nice. I can't take him anywhere)
Jess and Raven
Alyx, promoting goddess
Chris (Beef) and Eric.

New WIPs

Today I cast on the beaded eyelet shawl, the one Leanne is teaching in her class. Unfortunately I am unable to take the class since my kids have ice skating at that time, so I am winging it. I think I have it figured out. It is a really fun pattern, and a first for me to use beads in knitting. I can't wait to finish it so I can block it! Note the invading kitty paw...they always manage to work their way into my viewfinder!
I used silver iris beads w/ He's a Pirate yarn by Mary Kay. I think they coordinate nicely.
And also another jawbreaker was started this past weekend. I am using a bulky cotton from Over the Rainbow yarn (an ebay seller) in the blueberry colorway. It is knitting up much more quickly than the last one. (If you can't beat them, use the kitties as models).
This is the sock I started the previous weekend while camping and fishing at Heart Lake near Yampa, CO. I am using knit picks sock memories in Fly Fishing, which I thought was fitting given our activities. The stitch pattern is Stansfield #10 from Sensational Socks. I forgot how to do the Turkish cast on and didn't have the tutorial w/ me so I am doing them top down. They are a little bit roomier than I would like but I am hoping that is due in part to me trying them on repeatedly as I work. If not they may end up as a gift for someone w/ a wider foot.

Welcome to Blog world Maddie!

My dd Maddie now has a blog, and I must say it is pretty entertaining! She not only is a talented knitter but quite the writer as well. So I encourage you all to give it a read, you never know, she might be the next Yarn Harlot. Well, not that I want my daughter to be a harlot...but you get the idea.

And in this corner of the world...

Yay!! The jawbreaker is done! I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I used yarn I bought on ebay, a worsted weight and knit in on size 8s.
I love the cute button I bought at Hobby Lobby, I think it goes nicely with the colors. I plan on giving it to my best friend Linda because the colors are more "her" than me. I started a new one w/ a bulky weight cotton in blues and purples. It is knitting up pretty fast so soon we can wear our matching sweaters out on the town together.
And in other news, my 5yo had surgery this Friday to repair a hernia. He did amazingly well, just a bit of nausea from the anesthesia, but once he was home he was back to his normal little 5yo self (mayhem and destruction). While he was under the nurses took it upon themselves to dress up the his otter blueberry. How cute.


They even gave him a band-aid so he has a matching owie. Awww...the staff was amazing, especially the anesthesiologist who was from Children's. Anthony was in awe of her magic coloring book.
Here he is on the mend with his sister. Aren't they cute on their laptops? You can't see the screens, but they are both playing the same game. Perfect way to while away a rainy Sunday. A rainy Sunday that was my Birthday. Happy Birthday to me! I had a nice relaxing day hanging out with the kids. The real festivities will be next Sat. when we celebrate with our friends. I hope 34 is a good year.

Tattoos and Teddy Bears

So instead of meeting with the Arvada Knitters this Tues. I went and got me some new ink!!! Is this cool or what? I am in love with my new tattoo! It is on my left shoulder and not too big, but just big enough. This is my third tattoo, but my first that can be seen if I choose, well I suppose if I wore a backless shirt you could see my dragon, but I don't. My good friend Mariah's boyfriend Jim did it for me at Bound by Design. I highly recommend him if you are thinking of getting a tattoo.
And on to more cuddly matters. I finally finished the teddy bear for my bf's dd's 3rd birthday. On time in fact...well I was binding off the sleeve of the sweater mere minutes before leaving for the party. He is a cutie! I am pretty happy with how he turned out despite the pattern difficulties. I really have no idea how that head was supposed to go together but I did my best to figure it out. I did trim a bit extra after felting him. The pattern (in Knitted Toys by Fiona somethingorother) didn't call for felting, but I wanted him to be a bit more durable and hopefully pill less since he is merino.
And here he is in his snappy bright pink and sparkly sweater. I guess he should be a she, but I always think of teddies as boys. He will just be a metrosexual teddy bear I guess.

Back from Florida!!!

Ahh...the joys of knitting on the beach. Here I am in the FL keys working on my Florida socks. It was so tranquil, I highly recommend it.
The socks in progress on top of my son's sand castle.
If further proof is needed that I obsessed well then here ya go.
90 min waits are no problem when you can knit. Thanks Nicole for the cute little bag, it was very useful.

And here are the finished socks. I knit them entirely on vacation and therefore they are the FL socks, the colors also remind me of the landscape. I used MaryKay's gorgeous Red Rocks yarn. Just gorgeous!

Proof Christie knows me well

So Christie was right, I have no self restraint. I did end up buying a few things at Estes. Like this lovely roving...ooh so pretty.

Here it is up close.This was the only yarn I bought, a lovely mohair that will be some sort of pretty sweater.
This is a soy silk/ Merino blend I bought from Lambspun that I am planning on spinning into sock yarn. Won't those be pretty!
I love this roving. The seller had samples knit up from the spun yarn which I think was a great idea. So nice to see what the finished project would look like. I never would have bought this color if it weren't for the sample. It really is gorgeous knit up, far prettier than the other colors I leaned towards.
Up close.

This stuff is super funky! It is sooo soft and has pretty metallic thread in it! Now I just need to take a spinning class and buy a wheel, because this drop spindle way of doing things is awfully slow and I have acquired quite a bit of roving.

Greetings From Sunny Florida

Well Estes was fabulous (I'll have to blog more about all the lovely roving I purchased there later...Christy was right about my inability to restrain myself). But on to the present, I am in lovely Fl. The Keys, Islamorada to be exact. I did find a yarn store in Key West and must go there since my dd broke her Denise needle. (that is the 2nd one that has now broken). I am also eager to show them my fish and beach themed markers. I also managed to get some beach knitting in today, ah nothing like knitting under the shade of a palm tree. Pictures will come when I return. Until then happy knitting.

Knit Knacks is my new home

Have I mentioned that I am in total and complete love with this store? I could wax on poetic regarding my new love interest but the honest truth is that it is before noon on a Sunday and my fingers and brain are having enough trouble with coordination in order to type never mind producing meaningful witty prose. So instead I will just post a bunch of pictures. Arvada Knitters at Knit Knack this past Tuesday.

Leanne is deep in thought, over what remains a mystery. I think Christie is cackling about my thrifty ways.
Beautiful yarn made by Mary Kay and named Sheep in the City after Stacie's blog. Stacie bought them all. I need to hang out with her more, she makes me look sensible in my spending. I did purchase 5 skeins of Mary Kay's yarn which I will post pictures of later. It is luscious.
Leanne taking a picture of me. We are so silly.

The front of Knit Knacks on Sat at the festival in Olde Town Arvada. Geri had a nice little sale going on and I somehow resisted.

Oooh Alpacas! They are getting sheared this week and the owners are bringing the fleece to the Wool Festival in Estes this coming weekend.
Isn't he cute? They had a pet parade and contest and hula boy won my vote. Aww.

Oh the joy a ball winder can bring! The kids got me a gc to Joanne's for Mother's day and I ordered this lovely ball winder. I can't express what pleasure I derived from the simple act of winding balls of yarn. So much in fact that I spent the next week winding my stash into pretty little yarn cakes. Ooh and I also decided on a pattern for the lovely purple mohair blend yarn from Los Vigiles. The Belle Epoque from Knitty will be a perfect match for the gorgeous fiber. Now I just have to buy three more skeins when I see them at the Estes Wool Festival.

Here is the finished feather and fan scarf blocking on my couch. I used Knit Picks Shimmer in Morning Mist. I am really pleased with how it turned out and my mom (the recipient) likes it as well.



I was going to post pics of the finished socks, but pretty much they look like the one I already posted, except now there are two of them. I am almost done with the Rowan denim mock turtle neck. I am hoping to finish it tonight! Hooray for FOs! Pictures from Arvada Knitters coming soon!