Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Sprung

I have finished another Sprung. That's the name my friend M gave to my latest design. I love how quickly I can have one of these made (a day or two to crochet and a day to block) I am going to be teaching a class for this design at Knit Knack www.knitknack.biz on Friday; it will be fun to see what everyone picks to make it in. Here she is!

I put the finishing touches on the super delicious Fall accessory, and I have to say........WOW!!! I will post some pictures when I can. I wonder if they forgot I am making this for them?????

Remember what I said about shoes, they make me drool? Check these out:

I bought them with yarn money!!!! They are spectacular!

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Happy Birthday Gi Gi

We have just returned from my grandmother's 91st birthday celebration in Florida. It was so wonderful to see her again. My father's family tries to get together once a year for a family reunion/birthday celebration and it is so much fun! I was so thrilled to see everyone again, and it was too short. Such a short time in fact that I forgot to take any pictures of my grandmother until the end, and well, they weren't the best, so here is a photo from last year, when she was 90.

Isn't she the cutest! Special thanks to my Aunt Barbara and Aunt Lou for organizing and throwing an unbelievably comfortable and fun and intimate reunion. (Happy Birthday Aunt Lou, I love you - today is her real birthday!!)

In knitting news, I don't have much to report except that I am working on something for Fall that I can't wait to wear. It is an accessory that is so soft and luscious, I have to make one for myself! While I was knitting away on it on the plane, the man sitting next to me asked if he could touch it - now that is something I want to wear! I can't show you anything yet, but I will as soon as I can!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Thank You Arlene

Thank you Arlene for waiting almost a full 2 years for your sweater!
This is Arlene and her beautiful sweater:


I love the story of her sweater. About 2 years ago, I received a call from Arlene asking if I could help her finish a sweater that has taken years to complete. Obviously I said yes, and the next thing I know, Arlene is having some tea in my home with my children and we are chatting away about everything. A very easy person to like! Anyway, Arlene told me that her mother had the yarn and gave it to Arlene to see if she could make something with it. Well, Arlene didn't like the way the yarn split so her friend (I can't remember her name) finished the knitting part. When it came time to crochet the flowers, the pattern was European, so the crochet terms were a little different (dc in a European pattern is really our sc) so no one could make the flowers like in the picture, so I said I would crochet all 110 or so of them. Well, I couldn't do it, I paid my friend Diana to crochet the flowers, and I put them on the sweater.


Lots of hands to make one sweater - I think that is really cool.
Wear your sweater in good health, Arlene.

In other news, our home computer was taken over by two little boys hands and it crashed!!! I was without a computer for 3 days and it felt like 3 years! Thank goodness for the Geek Squad!

For Mother's Day I am foregoing my usual asking for something that sparkles, for a laptop of my OWN!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Yarn makes my mouth water

Have you ever had a physical reaction to something? I'm sure you have! When your scared and your heart races, or you smell something and your stomach growls? Well folks, I have a physical reaction to yarn, yep that's right, as weird as it sounds. When opening a new box of yarn, my mouth starts to water, I get goose bumps, and I have been known to get butterflies - no wait - is that my husband I'm talking about? No, it's yarn. Here's proof:


This my friends is silken straw, and it is so cool. I would like to design a top that would have an open stitch and could be worn over a tank. Stay tuned....

Is anybody ready for the Holidays? I am thinking of garments for the Holidays and check out this yarn for a little something (get your napkins ready, you don't want to drool on the yarn!)


I started to sample with this yarn, and let me tell you, it was so fantastic running through my fingers! The first yarn is Artyarns Ensemble (75% silk 25% cashmere) in color 272 and the second is Artyarns Beaded Mohair & Sequins (80% silk with glass beads & sequins 20% mohair) in color 149s (doesn't it look like snow?). I'm thinking cap sleeves, lace bottom........so much fun!!

Both will be crochet - I have a hankerin' to knit, though, and I have something in stash waiting for me. Have a great day!!!

PS - shoes also make my mouth water!!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

My Jars


Here are a few of my jars. My mother gave me a button jar for Christmas one year. It sat in my home for a while, then she gave me another and another. Now, I love to receive them. There is something that fascinates me about them. Maybe it is the fact that all those years ago, nothing was wasted! A person saved the buttons from a garment before throwing the garment away. How wasteful we seem today..... I love to look at all the buttons, see how many are matching (oddly enough it is usually 5 or 6) wonder who and what they belonged on. I think they look so pretty all mixed together. My mother remembers playing with her grandmother's button jar, and my children do as well, kind of amazing that something so simple can entertain for so long....

I forgot to give the link to one of my LYS where the pattern for the shawl will be available( I'm lucky enough to have 2 LYS!). It is www.knitknack.biz

I have 2 designs swimming in my brain right now. Tomorrow pictures of the yarn I would like to use!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Spring into something new!


Spring makes me think of new things! New blogs, new weather, new schedules, new sports activities, and new FO's! Here is the latest. I just finished the Eva's shawl from Ravelry, and I LOVED making crochet lace, I thought I would try my hand at it. Here is what I came up with. It doesn't have a name yet, but the pattern will be available at knitknack. The e-store will be up soon!!! Have a great day!