Where did the summer go?

OK, so how did it get to be Labor Day weekend?

We have been spending a lot of time practicing our "raspberry" skills with and without tongue.

I spent a chunk of the day loading a bunch of my stash yarn into ravelry.  Most of it is for trade/sell.  If anything looks appealing, please let me know!

I've done some knitting on London's Christmas stocking and my Clapotis.  I am delusional and think I will have my Clapotis done in time to wear to a wedding on Saturday night.  Exactly one week away.  I am less than half way through part 2.  Yes, I know I am delusional.  But somehow I think it will be accomplished.  I feel like I am channeling the Yarn Harlot and her delusional deadline knitting.  :)

Happy and safe Labor Day!!

Pictures!

Hello!

Here are the promised pictures! :)

This is my son's EZ Baby Surprise Jacket.  I fibonachi striped some Cascade 220 Superwash.  He also has a crocheted stroller blanket that shares three of these colors.

This is the start of the Itty Bitty Hats Sailboat Hat.  Very cute.

Close up of my Clapotis.  I love, love, love this yarn.  Blue Moon Fiber Arts' Seduction in Puck's Mischeif.  YUM.

London's Christmas Stocking.  I have been working on this.

London's Log Cabin Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting.  This isn't part of my WIP Wrestling, but I thought I would take a pic as long as I was updating my WIPs.
Alright, back to knitting Christmas Trees and watching all of those naked, wet bodies . . . I mean men's swimming.

Ravelympics: Day 2

So I'm sure you have heard about the Ravelympics.  The oh so wonderful Ravelry is featuring a fun knit-along.  Each participant chooses their project and their team and works on their project during the Olympics.  So, I have decided to attack my WIPs.  

My event: Wrestling with WIPs  

My Team: Hopelessly Overcommitted

I have chosen many projects.  Although I am not planning on finishing all of them, I would like to make some serious progress.

1. Everlasting Bagstopper

My first project is the Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty.  This is a birthday present for my dad.  Two days late already.  Well, actually I wrapped it up for him while it was still on the needles and then took it back to finish it.  I decided to knit the handles, but I goofed.  They are all lopsided.  I have been looking around Ravelry to get some more ideas.  Why didn't I do that first???  Anyhow I have an idea of how to fix.  I am still going to consider it done.  Maybe it will just be done again when I add handles and finish it again.  heeheehee

Goal: Finish

Status: Done!

Medal: Gold!!

2. Fiber Trends Felted Clogs

I am finishing a pair for myself.  One is all done and the second is started.  

Goal: Finish

3. Moss and Cable Stitch Bag

I have to finish knitting one handle and then assemble it all.  

Goal: Finish

4.Clapotis

This is a very long shot.  I have a lot to do.  I have just started the dropping stitches section.

Goal: make some progress

5. Victorian Beaded Scarf

This is a long shot.  It is less than half done.

Goal: make some progress

6. Sailboat Hat

I am about half way done with the actual hat.  I have not started the sail boat yet.

Goal: Finish

7. London's Christmas Stocking

I am taking a class for this.  There are three classes all together.  I went to the first one, missed the second one because I was sick, and the third class is coming up.  My goal is to knit as far as I can.  If I get stuck then I will put it aside and wait for the class.  But, if I know what I am doing then I want to finish it.  Then, at the class I can learn how to duplicate stitch his name on the top of it.

Goal: knit until I get stuck or finish all but duplicate stitch

8.London's Baby Surprise Jacket

I have more than half of the sweater knitting done.  Also, it will need to be seamed up and buttons sewn on.  This will probably fit him for the fall so the pressure is on!

Goal: Finish

I intended to upload all of the photos of my WIPs that I took this morning.  Unfortunately, as usual I can't find the camera cord.  Where does this thing go?  It is always missing.  I swear.   So, I'm going to post this and hopefully I will be editing it later with pics.

I think I'm in LOVE!!!

Have you heard about Twist Collective?  It is an Internet magazine that is going about everything in a totally new way.  Revolutionary!  Go check it out.  You will not be disappointed!

I am completely and totally in love with Linden by Veronik Avery.  It is a beautifully swingy cardigan with a cabled edge.  GORGEOUS!!  Love it!  Love it!  Love it!  I have already queued it on Ravelry.

 

Rough Week

Hello.  

It has been a rough week.  

Last Wednesday night while I was making bottles, the dog wanted to go out.  So, I turned and ran right into the highchair.  Man, I saw stars!  My two smallest toes jammed into my foot.  Then, while limping around, I have come down with the colds of all colds.  It is awful.  So, I am going to go back to nursing my cold and my foot and hoping that the baby doesn't catch my cold.  

I'll be back soon with some exciting new stash acquisitions!

Itty Bitty Football Hat

Another Itty Bitty hat.  Oh, how I LOVE these hats!!  Susan B. Anderson is awesome, awesome, awesome.  This is London in his coming home outfit on the day he left the hospital.  I also made the Upside Down Daisy hat in case he was a she.  Once he was a little bit bigger and the hat was just a tiny bit big on him, he would turn his head and the hat would stay still but his head would move inside of the hat.  It was very funny to watch!  Then eventually the ear flap would end up over his face and he would whimper until we fixed it for him.  Too cute!  

London's first tooth made an appearance on Monday.  Where does the time go?

Home again, home again, ziggity zig!

I'm back!  

Man, California is VERY different from New York.  I loved it and brought back a little piece of California with me.  

I attended a MAGNIFICENT training and will be starting a private practice as a Life Coach!  I'm very excited!  I met many amazing people, learned in an honoring environment, and reconnected with a part of myself that I have not seen in a long time.  Perfection!  

With all that being said, it is also wonderful to be home.

A Very Long Six Days

Bright and early tomorrow morning I will be going to California to attend a training.  I will be gone for six whole days.  This is a very long time when you are the mother of a seven month old.  I am a little excited and very anxious.  My husband and my parents will be taking excellent care of London.  I know that.  It is still hard to leave him.

What is EZ's quote about knitting through everything?  That will be my plan!  I'll get through it, with lots of knitting to show for it!  

My Lucky Day

I won a contest on Irish Girlie Knits blog!!  I am thrilled, thrilled, thrilled!  She asked readers to comment on their favorite things.  Go check out her very beautiful February Lady made in Socks That Rock heavyweight.  I am loving this sweater!

Something else I love is Susan B Anderson's Itty Bitty Hats.  I made several for my baby while I was pregnant.  In fact, his hospital pic is in the red and white candy cane striped hat.  The nurses oohed and ahhed over London's fashion sense.  I highly recommend these patterns for easy, quick, gorgeous hats that get tons of compliments.

Happy Friday!

Remember me?

Well, it has been a year.  Exactly.  There has been a couple of changes in my life.  Just a couple.  But, those couple of changes have been completely life changing.

The most significant change is the birth of my son.

I can not begin to put into words what joy, purpose, meaning, gratitude, and contentment he brings to our lives every day.  London was born December 9th.  He is a wonderful blend of his father and I.  He has a tremendous sense of humor and is often entertaining us.  He is sweet and loves to snuggle.  And his parents are completely and totally in love with him!

Upon returning from maternity leave I accepted a promotion.  My OB/GYN literally asked me if I was crazy.  Yup.  I am.  Certifiable.  This particular position was exactly what I wanted and had been waiting for for several years.  Unfortunately, the timing was awful.  After four months or trying to juggle it all, I looked into some part time options and decided that 16-20 hours a week is manageable for my family at this time in our lives.  This week is my very first week working part-time and it is WONDERFUL!  I will also be going to a week long training next week in San Diego and starting my private practice.  My long term goal is to have my private practice and be able to work it around the needs of my family.  It is a huge leap of faith.  Exciting and frightening all at the same time.

My husband also started a new job in April.  His new job is everything he could possibly hope it would be.  He never gets called at home.  He has evenings, weekends, and holidays off.  He is in a virtually stress-free environment.  The company values its employees and makes sure that they know it.  The commute is a little longer and the pay is a little less.  But, the trade off is well worth it!  The change in my husband has been astronomical.

Everything has come together and we know how very, very fortunate we are.

Even though I haven't been blogging, I have been knitting.  I'll take some time over the next few blog posts to update you on my knitting.   That is, if anyone is still around! :)

Never at my Knit Knite!

Check this out!

This is just fabulous, but you would never find them at my Knit Knite unless you brought them!

Recent Stash Enhancement

I went to Saratoga Needle Arts on Thursday after work to find yarn for a baby blanket. I have been coveting the Ripple Crocheted Afghan and asked my niece if she would make one for the baby. In trade, I am making the flowers for her Noni bag that she has been dreading making. I think I made out ahead and she thinks she made out ahead!

I wanted the blanket to be gender neutral, not too light in color, and washable. I plan on using this blanket for the stroller, car seat, etc. I decided on Cascade 220 Superwash and I got two skeins of each color. I'm hoping there might even be enough left over to make a complimentary garment or accessory.


Sitting next to the Cascade 220 was some fabulous Art Yarns. I don't think I have ever seen it in person and just couldn't leave it there. I got a free modular scarf pattern to knit this up with.




On June 11th, MaryBeth, Jude, and I went to Ye Olde Yarn Shoppe and Gifts going out of business sale where everything was 50% off.

I picked up 5 skeins of Noro in each of these colors to make over sized Booga Bags. The purple, blue, and lime is for myself. The neutral beige and browns will be a Christmas present for my mother.

I have a shawl collared cardigan sweater that I started 2 Octobers ago. It is Debbie Bliss' Lara. I want to finish it and wear it this season. I saw the same pattern in infant and children sizes in a book that I bought at the sale and I bought this gender neutral color to go with it. If I have a girl and if I have enough left over, I will make another one in purple.




I also bought all of this cotton for a bunch of hats from Itty Bitty Baby Hats.





For all felting fanatics--Interweave magazine is putting out a special edition of their magazine which is all about felting. It will be out 7/17. I got a glimpse at it at my LYS but it was there only copy. Borders didn't have it yet. I am considering getting it through their website. I love Interweave and felting--how can it go wrong?

Garden

I have some more photos for you!!


I love how the daffodils are taking over one of our flower beds.











The raspberry plants are actually starting to produce. We were gifted them two years ago.











My husband has re-done our flowerbeds along our walkway. We bought pressure treated lumber which hasn't been installed yet because we need to borrow a saw that will cut all the way through them. He laid down this really cool recycled rubber mulch. It should last for years and years instead of having to be replaced every season. Plus it is good for the environment!





See the ceramic bunny? My mother-in-law gave me two that she made. Too cute!

Portia and Bentley want to remind you to take some time to sniff the flowers!

Lisa left a comment about my Chevron Scarf and picking colors. I looked at lots of scarves on blogs and flickr before making my choice. I found that light and dark combos seemed to work the best. The monsoon has a dark purple and dark green while the watermelon tourmaline has a light purple and a light green. Good luck!

WIP

OK, so after wrestling with my camera for a couple of weeks, I WON! :) Here are some pictures!


This is my Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I LOVE it!! It is STR Monsoon (the first month from this year's club) and Watermelon Tourmaline.


Who would think these colors would be so fabulous together??



In January I bought some Louet Flax and have been on the lookout for a knitted market bag. While at Wiawaka, I found one in Jude's Knitter's magazine and ran out and got one for myself. It's going on the "to be knit list".



On the same trip to Border's, I checked out the knitting books section and I just couldn't leave it behind. Movie is coming out VERY soon!




I went to my LYS today. I'll post my loot soon.

By the way, I just started my 17th week of pregnancy. It is going quickly! The baby is now the size of an avocado! :)

Anonymous Commenter

You answered your own question. That is exactly why my email address isn't on my blog. Which, ironically, is exactly what you did. You didn't leave your email address. Nor was I asking for your help or anyone elses'.

I hope you find peace and happiness because it sounds like you could use it.

Rockin' Sock Club!

My June installment has arrived!! I LOVE the yarn!!

Should I post details? I don't want to spoil it for anyone who is waiting for theirs but reads my blog. I don't think anyone is in it that comments regularly.

Let me know!

Under the weather

I have been fighting something. I had classic UTI symptoms, but the culture came back negative. So, who knows. I've been on an antibiotic since Monday morning and I am feeling better. I slept 14 hours last night and called in sick today. That has seemed to help. I HATE being sick! Alright, enouch kvetching. I'm gonna go veg on the couch and watch some tv.

Knitting Knirvana

OK, so the name of my blog is "Knitting Knirvana", but I think I actually found it. Knitting Knirvana that is. The weekend knitting retreat was just that, Knitting Knirana.



The site was Wiawaka. A beautiful parcel of land nestled on the southern tip of Lake George. If you know anything about Lake George, you know it is an absolutely gorgeous setting. Wiawaka has a long, rich history. The Trask family set up the property to be used as a vacation spot for women working in textile mills in Troy and Cohoes. These women normally wouldn't be able to afford a vacation. Perfect setting for a women's knitting retreat for so many reasons.



Katherine Wardle was our organizer. This woman is amazing. She carefully planned every gourmet meal and various refreshments. Her cooking is amazing! She is a professional Chocolatier and supplied endless amounts of chocolates that you would have thought were bought at Godiva. Katherine brought out two-triple layer lime chiffon cakes for MaryBeth and my birthdays complete with candles and singing. She thought of literally everything to make our experience the best it could possibly be. She even brought her own Ott Lites for us to use!



The women were a very interesting and diverse bunch! I knew three other women from Saratoga Needle Arts' classes--MaryBeth, Jude, and Kathy. I was also looking forward to finally meeting Diana. Diana was my first ever blog commenter and encouraged me to move over to Blogger and really exercise my blogging muscle. Diana came with her friend Susan. MaryBeth, Jude, Diana, Susan and I spent most of the weekend together. We ate, enjoyed the scenery, belted out LOTS of old songs, cast on, ripped out, and even managed a little knitting. We laughed, and laughed, and tried not to pee our pants! We completely clicked and had such a good time together.



Susan casted on 541 stitches for a shawl. Twice. She was knitting along and realized that she made a mistake and she was better off ripping out and starting over. We all gasped and tried to reason with her that there must be another way to fix the mistake. She very bravely calmed us all down and started the ripping. And the casting on. We have challenged her to wear the shawl at the next retreat in September.



Diana made several attempts to knit a sweater from Knitty. Her printer cut off half of the pattern. So she called Mr. Effer and asked for his assistance in reading the pattern to her. Poor Mr. Effer was promised many things for his cooperation and I think he was just completely excited and distracted. He read the pattern wrong. Diana finally gave up on it Saturday night and resorted to sock knitting. Another highlight of the weekend is when a great big grasshopper landed on Diana's chest and stared up at her. Diana SCREAMED! MaryBeth, Susan, and I died in hysterics while Jude bravely removed the grasshopper. Oh, and Diana has a broken foot and was on Loritab. She used great concentration watching an ant for about 10 minutes. Loritab is fun stuff!

Jude, MaryBeth, and I knitted on Clapotis. I also started a Chevron Scarf and MaryBeth started a sweater for my baby.

One of my highlights of the weekend is when we all went down to the dock to watch the fireworks. We had it on good authority (from Joe that works at Wiawaka) that their would be fireworks on Saturday night at 9:30pm. The entire retreat gathered on the dock to watch the marvelous display. Let's just say that at about 9:45 we decided that Joe was sadly mistaken and started making jokes about the fireworks that weren't. I decided that it was all a scam and Joe was probably stealing all of our yarn while we waited for the fireworks.

The next day, Jude, MaryBeth and I met at Ye Olde Yarn Shoppe in Schenectady. One of the women that works at the store was at the retreat and she told us that the store was closing and everything is 50% off. I picked up Noro Kuyeon for two Booga Bags, Classic Elite Cotton for four baby hats from Itty Bitty Hats, and some Debbie Bliss yarn and books for baby clothes. What a sale!

The weekend was absolutely fabulous from Friday to Monday. I strongly recommend going again in September. I've already paid my deposit!!

PS I actually have some photos, but my computer isn't recognizing my camera. Man, why can't we all just get along!!

Knitting Retreat!

I am heading out momentarily for my knitting retreat weekend. I am so unbelievably excited!! I have packed sooo much stuff. Sheets, blanket, pillow, clothes, knitting projects, magazines, books, towels, etc. I feel like I'm going for a week!

I'll give you all the details next week.

Emotional!

Yup, it is a new side effect of pregnancy. My emotions. Holy cow this is a roller coaster!

Thursday, I was so angry that I was literally shaking because of a VERY snarky and insulting email I received from someone that I work with. I called my supervisor in need of some advice on how to respond without sounding as furious as I felt. She offered me some great advice and then heaped on the compliments to convince me that this issue belongs to the other person, not me. I immediately turned into a weeping mess.

Friday, I had my second OB appointment. I heard the heartbeat. I can not even begin to put words to these emotions. I smiled as broad as my cheeks would let me while tears streamed down my face. My doctor said that she always loves to watch the mothers' faces at this moment, and mine did not disappoint.

Saturday, I was all upset with my husband and I can't even exactly figure out why. I just was. So, when I decided to tell him why I was upset with him and he tried to politely explain that it must be a misunderstanding because he did not see it the way I did. I burst into tears. I told him that I was really not this upset, it was the hormones, and left the room. He followed me, hugged me, and told me that this is supposed to be a happy time and I am doing a wonderful job managing pregnancy even though it is really difficult.

Sunday, I am thinking about the knitting retreat coming up and the Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn that hasn't arrived yet. I am going to make a clapotis with a friend and I am thinking about what I will do if it doesn't arrive in time. I decide to log in and see if there is any shipping information. I am ecstatic to read that it arrived in my town this morning, so I should have it tomorrow.

I feel like I need to wear a sign around my neck that says, "Please plan on my emotions being completely out of sync with whatever else is happening. I apologize and I know it is a complete and total over reaction."

Now, I totally tear up as I proofread this post. I keep telling myself--at least the nausea is gone! :)