Feb 11th, 2008 by Esther |
It’s been WAY too long since I’ve picked up a lace project…Hiawatha scarred me a bit - lol…so, I finally decided to take the plunge and start on the Frost, Flowers and Leaves Shawl from A Gathering of Lace Book. I’ve loved this shawl since I purchased the book 3 years ago but never had the “gumption” to actually give it a go. Becky and I decided to go for it - we haven’t knit a shawl together since the STS which was quite a while ago.
The cast-on was HORRENDOUS - it was a circular cast-on (that part was ok) but then you had to transfer 8 lonely stitches onto four dpns and I’m using Zephyr Wool/Silk blend lace yarn which is beautiful but VERY slippery - I thought I was about to lose my mind trying to manipulate those 2 sts per dpn - it was insane. So, Becky suggested I knit flat for the first 16 rows then seam up - that was the ticket for me! Thank GOD.
This is the progress so far, hard to really see anything since it’s all bunched up now on size 20″ circulars:
It’s a fun knit now that I’m past the eye-twitching start…but I anticipate this will be a “long” knit…will need something smaller to finish inbetween for sure.
Feb 5th, 2008 by Esther |
My dad’s results came back from the biopsy and he is CANCER FREE!!! The overwhelming feeling of joy and relief is more than I could muster writing about at first so it took me a couple of days - we’ve all been enjoying the relief and happiness and thank God every moment.
On the flip side - things aren’t that great with Titi. My grandma is at her chemo today and was just put on an oxygen tank as the chemo has seriously affected her ability to breath on her own - this will depress her greatly as she’s always been so independent and sassy and having to roll an oxygen tank around everywhere she goes will be quite a blow to her but she’s being a trooper…3 more treatments to go before they rescan her liver and we know “what’s really going on”…so please keep her in your thoughts/prayers…
Today is SUPER TUESDAY! And I’m excited about this election season for the first time in a very LONG time! I don’t like to get into politics on a blog - but I’ve got my fingers crossed big time for Barack Obama…whoever you choose to support - it’s all good - just do your part and vote…it’s important.
I’m off my soap box now and on to knitting…no pictures yet but I’ve got some stuff on the needles and I intend to start the FFL shawl soon as soon as the lace yarn arrives…I’ve loved that shawl forever but never had the gumption to start - I saw it again and thought I’d give it a go - would be a wonderful heirloom piece to give to my daughter one day.
Anyway, must work - hope everyone has a great day!
Jan 25th, 2008 by Esther |
My dad had his prostate surgery - he’s home recuperating and we’re all waiting for his pathology report to come back so we can take that ‘deep breath’…since the surgery we’ve all gotten horrible chest colds and my son now has strep and an ear infection so we’re all just a big ol’ mess to say the least….
However, on a positive note, I finally got my Christmas gift from my bosses (one of my gifts from them - they are wonderful guys - honestly the best bosses a girl could have) and they gave me a give certificate back in December to order this and I did and there was the wait list from hell and I just got it look:
It’s the Amazon Kindle - an electronic reading device - that is totally wireless and can upload books/blogs/newspapers or yes even PATTERNS from anywhere you can get a cell phone signal - no monthly fees, no contracts - it’s fabulous - take a look at the demo and all the info HERE
Don’t get me wrong, I own hundreds and hundreds of books and I love to read real books, love the feel and the texture and the act of flipping pages, but this kindle is also a fantastic gadget and it’s so portable and easy and liberating that I’m just giddy with happiness….
My boss loved it so much he got one too and he’s been reading on it like a demon ever since 
Jan 14th, 2008 by Esther |
Here’s a pic of the recipient of the Estella hat modeling it for me
This weekend was spent knitting up another square for the Lizard Afghan and crocheting some more on the “one big granny square aghan” and not much else… (pictures coming soon)
Jan 8th, 2008 by Esther |
Happy New Year to Everyone!!
I’m back to work this week - had a nice time off at home with the kids and it was productive. Finished a pair of socks for a dear friend and a hat for the daughter of an other dear friend. Hope to have some pics of each of them modeling their news things soon but until then here they are:
The hat was from a pattern called “Estella” here is the pattern picture (blue hat) my version is the one next to it in red and orange (colors chosen by my friend’s daughter):
Front and Top:
I used one ball each of Rowan Cashsoft in red and pumpkin and size 8 circulars and DPNS. It was a fun knit.
Now, as for the socks, the pattern was a simple anklet sock but I used Cascade Fixation for the first time and THAT was interesting. I love the “feel” of socks knit with fixation but the actual “knitting” with fixation was a bit of a challenge I have to admit - I wasn’t loving that part too much at all. I was going to knit a more intricate pattern but after 3 frogged attempts due to the issues with the stretchiness of the yarn I opted out and decided to go for something simple:
Nothing mind shattering but they are simple and I think will be very “comfy” for the recipient (I hope!). News: Yeah! She liked them look: Becky’s Socks
Anyhoo, off to work…hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and I wish you all a wonderful 2008.
Dec 20th, 2007 by Esther |
We just got back from our yearly trip to Disney/Universal/Islands of Adventure and this time we included Sea World - it was great - kids had fun but now I’m back at work and under the gun with only a handful of days to get it all done before the Christmas holidays.
I’ll be off until January 7th (YIPPIEE) enjoying some much needed time off from work - home with the kids enjoying the holidays with them.
I wish you all the happiest of holidays - and a very happy and healthy new year filled with the love of all your family and friends.
I leave you now with one of my favorite pictures from our trip:
Dec 4th, 2007 by Esther |
I love the Christmas holidays. I love how happy the kids get, especially Danny who absolutely, 1000000% believes in Santa Claus and lives, breathes and enjoys all things Christmas the entire month. Not to mention, he’s probably written Santa at least 50 letters…”Exhibit A” - Danny writing letter #50 this weekend:
This weekend we decorated these little foam christmas trees together which of course was fun, but what made it even better was that I received this adorable little handmade “Knitting Thistleonian”
…
from this lovely lady isn’t she precious??? I’m in love! Too cute and of course the knitting swatch is in my favorite “pink” color…what more could I ask for??? Go check out her site, she has a beautiful blog and she’s such an amazing artist…
On the knitting front, I’m working on a pair of socks as a yearly xmas gift exchange I do with a certain dear friend so I can’t post any pictures of that WIP. I have another WIP that I need to start up again but I’ll post pics of that later today or tomorrow if I don’t fall asleep on my couch again when I get home from work - so hard to stay awake these days
Nov 26th, 2007 by Esther |
So turkey day is over..the long weekend was nice. Great to actually have some time to sleep seems like I never get enough of that anymore.
We finished putting up the tree. Usually we put up about four different Christmas village collections, animated figures, music boxes, you name it, however this year we are hoping to use some of our holiday vacation time to finally finish painting our living/dining room so we decide against putting up all our wares.
The cat doesn’t seem to mind a bit…she’s happy with just the tree - just as it is - just the right amount of space for her underneath:
Oh and of course we have to have stockings…
Other than that - nothing but movie watching and a little bit of knitting and some napping…all in all a good weekend I must say.
