ROARRRRRRRRR

This guy turned out pretty cool and I got to learn a few new knitting techniques. This was a lot of fun to knit. I got the pattern from She Knits Shizknits blog. He has 2 brothers that I'm going to knit too.


Mr. Stegs

And I'll probably knit up a few more sets for nephews and his September 2002 birthday buddies. But I have to confess, I've committed a Yarn Snob sin...I bought jumbo skeins of acrylic yarn from Michael's to do it. I know I know it's bad, but I just couldn't resist $2.49 for all that yarn, it's not going to be worn and it needs to be durable and washable. I'm just trying to justify myself. I may regret it later, who knows what it will feel like in my hands.

Memorial Day Weekend - WIP

Last week was my Friday off, so I ended up with a 4 day weekend ... whoohooo, and all I had planned was knit, knit, knit. Well that and enjoy our front patio and the nice ocean breeze. Jack played out front and I knitted away, it was a perfect weekend! Oh I also did a bit of cooking. I made a chicken pot pie for my friend who just had a baby, actually made 2, one stayed home. I'll post that recipe too, it's Mike's favorite. Back to knitting. I'm coming along pretty well with my Klaralund Sweater, pretty close to having one arm completed. I also worked on a dinosaur for Jack. I'll post pictures of that when I complete it tomorrow.

Klara Arm #1

Finally the back is completed for Jack's sweater in Regata. I'll start the front this week.

Completed Back

I knitted up this hat real quick for a friends baby, the shower is in a couple weeks, so I took advantage of the long weekend and got it out of the way. I was going to use the Peruvian Baby Cashmere from Ellan that I had used for the other, but I didn't have enough yarns, so I paired it with some left over Peruvian Silk in Purple and I turned out really cute...I think so anyway!

Baby Hat

Meet the future Klara...

Here's my stash of Noro Silk Garden for the Klaralund Sweater Knitalong. This is the start of the sleeve, I thought I was starting the back...oops! Shouldn't do these things when I'm tired and taking drugs (didn't I learn better with the mimosa's??)...anyway, it's all good. I really love how this is knitting up, but I'm not too impressed with the actual yarn. It's really stiff, I expected it to be a bit smoother with the high silk and mohair content, and there is lots of vegetation that I'm having to pull out. Also I've come across two knots already. I read some reviews I guess this is pretty common, a little frustrating for the cost of the yarn. So glad I didn't pay full retail! Gotta love e-bay!! But the colorway is to die for and I really like the sweater!!


my noro stash

Introducing Arleigh's Summer Swing Top!

I have to brag. I think this turned out GREAT!! I'm so pleased with this. The yarn was wonderful to work with. The pattern was pretty easy to follow. I'm sure my difficulties were just my lack of knitting experience. But hey, I can't knit scarves forever! I live in Southern California for heaven's sake! And I've never been into following the rules, if I'm in to something I jump in with both feet!

Anyway, I tried it on Jack, he wouldn't let me take a picture (what's up with that? Isn't he too young to realize I put him in a girls shirt??) but it's going to look great on Arleigh. I wish her birthday wasn't so far away (August). I intended on making it a gift when I started found the pattern and yarn, I honestly thought it would take me a lot longer. Well she may just have to get it earlier:) I've always been like that, when I get a really cool gift for someone I just can't stand it and always give it ealier. Dh and I were terrible for years, we always opened Christmas gifts early!

I still need to block it so the hem doesn't curl so much. But overall I'd call this a success!


Summer Swing Top

Close Up

Lucious Spinach Artichoke Dip

I've been meaning to post this new recipe I tried on Mothers Day. It was really yummy and very easy. I did substitute fresh spinach for frozen, but that was the only change. I always like to use fresh over frozen veggies when I can. Hope you enjoy it!

Luscious Spinach Artichoke Dip

Ingredients
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

Directions
1 Preheat oven to 370 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2 In a 1-quart casserole dish, combine artichoke hearts, sour cream, mayonnaise, cream cheese, garlic and frozen spinach. Mix well.
3 Bake covered for 25 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

Jack's Sweater in Agadir

Can you say ribbit? Ugh I've now had to rip it back twice. Needless to say I'm getting a bit frustrated!! This is still the back and I'm just starting the decreases for the arms.

not much progress

Klaralund Knitalong

Come knit with me :) I just got my yarn, Noro Silk Garden #39 LOVE it love it love it. Will post pictures later.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/klaralund_knitalong/

Lesson Mimosa's and Knitting are not a good idea for beginning knitters...

So on Mother's day I took Jack's sweater to work on at my mom's house. Thought this will be perfect, sit around with the family knit a little, sip mimosa's.... NOT I haven't picked up the sweater since Sunday (I've been working on Arleigh's top since I have a deadline for that project) so it's time to start making decreases for the arm holes... and I notice that the SS part of the pattern in the section below is bigger than the one I'm working on. So I think, well I'm knew, so maybe the gauge of my stiches is just that uneven. It can't be that bad, right ... so I count, and let me tell you this yarn is hard to see, I felt like I was going cross eyed, but I count 16 rows, not 12. UGH. So rip-it I go through 2 whole sections of pattern work. YUK!! I won't make that mistake again. No consumption of adult beverages while I'm knitting until I can learn to handle my liquor AND my needles at the same time! I'm putting this down and will come back to it later when I'm not so frustrated!

WIP's

I started 2 new projects this weekend now that I have the needles required. The first is a Summer Swing Top for my neice Arleigh, I'm using Peruvian Baby Silk from Ellan. The pattern called for worsted weight, but I wasn't finding the colors or the texture I wanted, so I'm doubling the Baby Silk. It's so soft, and it's going to lay really nice for this pattern. The pattern is an intermediate skill level, and I'm really a beginner, but It's coming together. I had to practice what it called a Dpd (Double Purl Decrease), Which looks to be like a SSP (slip, slip, purl) with a slip over. It took a few tries but I was able to figure it out. I'm a little nervouse about the neck and shoulders but I have a while before I get there. Her birthday is in August, so I've got a little time.

The second project I started is sweater for Jack from a Pingouin pattern book, I'm using Katia Regata for the yarn. I got the pattern and yarn from Ellan. It's a bit hard to see in the picture, but I love the way the pattern looks, the textures are wonderful and this yarn is working nicely. It's a cotton blend, pretty easy to work with, and will make a nice sweater for a boy. I'm about 1/3 of the way done with the back, it's coming along quite fast.

So that's what I've got going now. I'll post pictures of my progress next week.

Sweater for Jack

Summer Swing Top for Arleigh

Talk about a UFO ... EEK

Ok, I finally dug this out and I swear I'm going to finish it this month!! My nephew turned 5 in January and I started this before he was born. I'm feeling major auntie guilt for letting this sit for so long. I can't find the thread I was quilting with, so I'll have to hit a fabric store this weekend and try to match the color. I actually don't have a lot left to do, maybe 1/4 of the quilting left, then the binding. As soon as I pulled this out Jack wanted to lay on it. Hopefully he won't become too attached before I give it to Blake. Guess I'll need to make one for him too. That's ok, I really love quilting.

Blake's quilt started over 5 years ago--check out the date!!!

I'll have to find a picture of the one I made for Hunter, Blake's older brother, I loved the way it turned out. I also have quite a few squares made for my grandmother before she left Oklahoma over 50 years ago. Her neighbors, well I guess that was what you'd call them, they were on a dairy farm, so the ladies from the surrounding farms, had all made squares for her to use to make a quilt to remember them by. Obviously she never got around to it. But what I'd really like to do is make a quilt for each of her children (3) to keep then pass down to one of their kids (my cousins), and of course one for myself, since it is my hard work!! ;p

My real challenge is how to fit it in between work, being a mommy, being a wife, and most importantly being a knitter ... Only kidding of course. But I'm so obsessed with knitting I don't know how I'm going to resist my knitting needles for a quilting needle. I'll let you know how it's going.

My Addi's are Here, My Addi's are Here!!!!

Yahooooooo my big addi turbo order is here all the way from Hong Kong!! I put together an order with some of the crafty mamas from my attachment parenting group so we could get a discount on these. We got them for just about 1/2 off retail and no shipping. A really good deal which allowed us to stock up for future projects. Even with all these sets, I'm sure I'll need more, but this is a good start. I'm so addicted to knitting!! At least I can start doing something with all that yarn I bought last month! LOL!