Another quick update

The girls finished the school year a few weeks ago. Mira will enter 4th grade in the fall and Arianna will be starting middle school.

We have been keeping busy with trips, visiting friends, and sunny days spent swimming at the beach whenever the weather allows. (sadly today will not be a beach day- rain, rain, rain!)

There were a few days spent in the mountains of Switzerland with some evening moments on the porch knitting Brighton.

Not a bad view to knit by.

And Brighton has been growing bigger each day.

It’s turning out quite nicely.

Also made a little skirt for Mira from the book sew what! SKIRTS. There are some very cute patterns in here and the authors give clear instructions for making any size. I’ll have to try one for me next. I love wearing skirts in the summer.

I made it to go with this little top

but I pulled her away from friends to try on the skirt so there was no way I was going to convince her to find the top to wear too. Some other time.

New stuff coming

A few months back WordPress, my host, changed how things are done as far as posting and uploading videos and pics.

I CAN’T GET IT!

Most people love the new formatting so I’m sure it’s just me. I’m not trying to bash WordPress at all. It worked great for me for a long time but it’s time to move onward and upward.

So, a new site will be up and going on August 1 (fingers crossed). Watch here for the launch announcement and some fun new stuff happening by the beginning of September.

I’m still knitting, more and more these days. It’s the perfect thing for me to do at the beach while the girls play. Brighton is even moving along at a chipper little pace. It only took me 7″ to get the hang of the pattern - not sure what the mental block was on this one.

Oh, and I just got a new computer, a Mac. Love it but need to learn so much more about it!

I have been checking in on everyone and all of your fabulous projects. I’m jealous and inspired to do so much more.

Happy knitting!

S……….L……………O……………..W Progress

Brighton’s not looking so bright these days. Too much concentration for evening tv knitting or social knitting.

Funny thing is I can’t wait to finish it and use it. Someone come light a fire under me!

Anny Blatt baby sweater Pain d’epice is crawling along, too.

This is one of the backs in seed stitch. The sweater is double layered. The inside will be blue in stockinette stitch.

Should be fabulous - when it’s done!

Kids are wrapping up school this week. Arianna will be graduating from 5th grade on Thursday! Next year she will be off to Middle School which is totally unbelievable. She can’t wait after visiting the middle school last week; meeting teachers, seeing lockers…. all of the ‘big’ stuff. We got her set up with a proper desk of her own a few weeks ago. She picked it out from IKEA and is so happy!

The rest of this week will be spent gathering last minute school stuff, baking school party treats (what to make? and ideas??) and trying to keep motivated during our endless rainy days.

Knitting, maybe.

Hopefully.

And the Award Goes To……

Moi! For possibly being the worst blogger last month.

Spring / summer hit here about 4 weeks ago and I just can’t spend time indoors when the weather first turns nice for the year. Every day has been around 70 and sunny. And despite gobs of sunscreen, I already have a heck of a tan going! I have planted just about all of my summer ‘garden’ and will hopefully get that finished up next week. I’ll take pictures when it’s all in.

And we’ve been off to other places as well. Honestly, I can’t remember if I mentioned the trip to Venice. Photos are here. We then went back to Italy to meet up with Andy at the end of a business trip in Bologna. Wow, fabulous city! The food is to die for. Really, a few weeks there and I would probably eat myself to death!

This shames our local meat market. And this was a smaller one and only a partial picture.

Plus there was fresh pasta everywhere.

Next time we drive to Italy I’m throwing a cooler in the trunk!

We only spent one night/day in Bologna, then headed to Florence. Very nice but I preferred Bologna- more quaint, not as touristy. And oh yes, we stopped at the Ferrari museum in between.

From here it was on to a hotel in Tuscany. I would just like to go on record saying that yes, Tuscany is everything you have imagined and then some! OMG! It’s heaven on earth!

Our hotel.

View from our room.

It was tough to leave but there was more to see. Can you guess where we went next?

Here’s a hint.

Just a short 20-30 minute drive away was the tiny little town of Pisa. I was surprised to see that the tower was really about all this town has going. Very small town, and you can see the tower above all else approaching from the county road.

This sight seeing isn’t always easy!

Just another 30 minutes was our final destination.

A hotel on the Mediterranian Sea. Wonderful way to wrap up the trip.

If you want to see all of the pictures you can go here.

Oh, and I did knit / have been knitting. Just not the bag I had planned. I need total silence for that pattern! Instead I started an Anny Blatt baby sweater for friends that just had a baby boy. Todays pics didn’t turn out, I’ll try again tomorrow. Lot’s of stockinette right now on little size 3 needles - loving it!

Photo shoot

Gosh this girl is going to be trouble in a few more years! She loves to look pretty, loves to dress up, and really loves when someone says she looks cute! Yikes.

Today we did a brief photo shoot to model the little green top. It looks so cute on her.

Close up of the arm and back ribbing.

And one more picture. Mira said this one “had to be added to show the pretty flowers and Steve (our cat).”

It was a quick and simple knit done on size 10 needles from the top down. I think the yarn is New Cotton by Lang but I need to look it up.

Later I went browsing patterns on Knitty since I hadn’t seen the new Spring 08 designs yet. I totally fell in love with Brighton and cast on in the evening. I have extra AArlan Valdivia yarn from a different project that I think will work perfectly. It’s 74% flax and 26% viskose and has some serious strength to it. Hopefully it will block well and show the lace pattern. Too lazy to try a swatch!

I had to rip out 4 rows already since I can’t follow something this “complicated” while watching a movie and drinking wine. Hopefully I won’t rip too much, the yarn doesn’t stand up to it very well.

Tomorrow I will have 6 hours on a train so I’m looking forward to getting most of it done. We’ll see how chatty the kids are.

Shrug

Today I wove in the ends to this little top for Mira.

She’s in her pj’s now so I’ll have to get a picture of her wearing it tomorrow. It’s my own make-up, quick and easy, knit with the fabulous Super by Needful Yarns. Correction: It’s knit in New Cotton by Lang! Oops. It fits her perfectly and looks springy. I’m so very ready for spring.

Just need to pick out the right button from my stash tonight. THEN it will be DONE!

Thanks for the encouragement from everyone in getting back into the knitting swing. I really forgot how much I need/crave/thrive on this daily habit of creativity and creation.

I added a few more patterns to my Patterns For Sale collection. You must check out the Anny Blatt books! I almost hate to see them go even though I have a copy of them saved for myself. Yes, they are that great!!!! The cover sweater (the one with the chicken) is one I made for my daughter since we used to own chickens. I’ll have to snap of pic of her wearing that tomorrow, too.

Thanks to those who placed orders. I’ll be off to Die Post first thing in the morning!

New things happening…

Dishcloth is done! It was fun to make and just the little knitting pick-me-up I needed. You can find the pattern on Knitting Memories’ blog.

My invite to Ravelry successfully came through, at last! Apparently I was first invited back in September and then again in December but I had never been able to locate the e-mail. I turned off spam blockers, checked the trash bins, etc, etc, but still couldn’t get it to arrive in my inbox. Well, 3 days sitting around sick with nothing else to do but hit the ‘refresh, send invite again’ button paid off. Looks like tons of fun once everything gets organized. Can’t wait to start on it!

You may remember me mentioning that I used to own a yarn shop. Not everything sold by the time we had to close the doors so I still have inventory left including patterns and, of course, YARN! I am desperate to clear the last of it out so now is your chance to get some great stuff and low prices. I would like to sell it the ‘old fashioned’ way to keep things simple for now. Therefore, I will not be able to take credit cards at this time and instead prefer a check in the mail. Hope you understand.

If you look at the top of this page, above the title photo, you will see a new tab called Patterns for Sale. Click on it to see what I have listed so far. This barely skims the surface of what I have but it takes time to sort and post and I had to start somewhere. Check daily to see new additions!

Dishcloth

True to my word I sat down Friday morning (took all of Thurs evening to decide on a pattern- such a huge decision!) to knit up the promised dishcloth. Both girls were sick with a nasty cold-cough-fever-achey thing so we decided to rent some movies off of iTunes to pass the time and I figured this would be the perfect time to sit, knit and keep an eye on them. (BTW, loved Meet the Robinsons!)

Wouldn’t you know it, about 3/4 of the way through my dishcloth I started getting that nasty feeling in my lungs and within a few more hours was totally laid out with the same thing. Yuk!

The entire weekend was spent lying down, coughing and moaning through the pain, with the girls by my side doing the same Saturday, and my dear husband catering to our every need. It’s now Monday afternoon and after having slept in until 11 today I’m beginning to come around. Thankfully the girls are both fine and even made it to school. My brain still isn’t fully functional and everytime I look at the dishcloth pattern I feel totally overwhelmed. I WANT to finish it but it seems like such a big job. Of course I’ve also been staring at my empty water glass for the last 15 minutes wondering how that’s going to get resolved.

Maybe I’ll just go back to bed. Another 14 hours of sleep should do the trick!

It’s a coffee cup. I’ll link the pattern as soon as I remember how.

You never know…

I thought that coming home from my trip back home with 5 (yes FIVE) suitcases crammed waaaaaaaaay beyond the airplane weight limit with yarn, yarn, fabulous YARN plus 4 carry-ons that I could barely lift crammed again, with yarn, would inspire me to make tons of new stuff.

Sadly, just the opposite has happened.

I still haven’t been able to bring myself to unpacking any of these.

Sooooo many memories.

I love it here and wouldn’t trade it for the world, but sometimes I still mourn what I left behind.

Anyhow, tonight I have vowed to knit a washcloth. Little secret? I don’t like knitting washcloths, at all! Why, I don’t know, I just don’t. But my very first project as a new knit student umpteen years ago was a washcloth (2 washcloths, actually) and that’s what hooked me in to knitting and led me on to everything else.

Hopefully tonight’s washcloth will re-inspire me and lead me into the next chapter in my fabulous knitting life.

We’ll see.

And just so you don’t think I’m sitting, pining for the past under a rock somewhere ( because I’m certainly not! ) we just took a trip to Venice last week and I have started posting the first of tons of pictures at the family blog site www.yodelaiho.wordpress.com

And I joined a newbie running group to lose the rest of my unnecessary weight (so far, very good!) I will even be running a 5k on May Day - can’t wait. Thank you neighbor - fellow American - marathoner - excellent friend Mark for starting this group. LOVE IT, even though we get rained on most days

For now, buona notte ( I totally want to learn Italian now! ) , good night.

Tomorrow I will show off my washcloth!!

I’m ready for it!

Disappearing Act

Sorry to have vanished for a few weeks, but I took a trip back home to visit family and friends. Even though I am most likely half a world away from everyone who reads this blog I just couldn’t take a chance with the “Hey I’m going away and my apartment will be empty for a few weeks…” post. Ya just never know who is watching what and waiting for an opportunity to present itself.

And on that note, a sincere appology to anyone who may have caught the VERY inappropriate comment posted yesterday. It was a bit of spam that slipped through the security here. I love WordPress as my blog host and tons of spam has been diverted, this was the first sneeky one that got through. Hope no one with sensitive eyes saw it.

SO…
The trip back to Michigan and Wisconsin was great, although you all could have been a little more accomadating with the weather! Good grief!!!! Snow and more snow topped off with an ice storm covered up by another 8 inches of snow!!! I had enough driving to do as it was, crummy weather didn’t really need to be the icing on the cake. But it was fun to catch up with family and friends and be back where everything is in English and a trip to the grocery store doesn’t lead to a stress headache. Oh and how I have missed Barnes and Noble!!! I could have devoured everything there and would have bought up half of the store if suitcase space had permitted.

But there was yarn to bring back, and patterns and books from the knitting shop that I had owned that closed down last fall. It was so hard to see everything “left over” since it brought back all of the happy memories of owning my own knitting shop and of all of the wonderful people I met there over those years. Yet it’s fun to see some of it again and to have a bit to knit with (I do hope to sell of some of it and will post photos of the yarn and patterns in the following weeks - super low prices, it just has to move on!) It also gives me renewed inspiration to continue pattern work and designing so that makes me happy.

For now I’m off to bed. Jet lag is not my friend.

Happy knitting - I look forward to catching up on your blogs!