a spring day

Had a spontaneous photo shoot the other day.  We were lying in the grass and enjoying the sunshine, and I had only my phone to take these pics.  I hope you feel the warmth.

Flying on my knees.

Fresh mint for tea!

Dandelion seed showers

One of my all-time favorite pictures.  As my dear friend put it: Beautiful sunshine, beautiful laundry, beautiful girls.  :)

Don't you love it when toddlers cut their bangs?  I sure do.....not.  She's lucky she has such a cute face. 

I am one blessed mother, am I not?  A happy Mother's Day to all you mamas and mamas at heart out there.  Grace and peace to you.

cog(knit)o ergo sum

So, I really have been knitting alot lately.  As in actual knitting.  Me.  And I am so excited about it.  I  love to relax and knit in the evenings when the kids are down.  As in, sleeping.  I want to share a few of the things that I have been working on, mainly so you believe me. 

The baby bib.  Don't worry, it's meant for a gift and not for personal use.  :)  This pattern is from Mason Dixon Knitting.  A hilarious, fun book with stories and patterns.  

Hey check out that buttonhole!! :

You would think, truly, that I could rotate this picture properly.  But I can't.  I can knit that super cute bib, buttonhole and all, but I cannot get it aligned properly.  It's keepin me humble.  

So, my next "big"  project was a scarf.  My knitting mentor (KM, as I'll refer to her), or so she has become whether she likes it or not, has been so wonderful to give me the patterns, help me choose the right yarns, etc...  And she also makes herself available basically anytime for my "issues".  I might stalk her a little bit.   I love it when I bring her a mistake (which has only happened like 2...or 50 times) and she just smiles and says, "Hey!  OK!  Wow!  Well!  So....I'm just trying to see what you actually did here."  :)  She does nothing to let on that she wonders how I could be making up brand new mistakes in an ancient craft.   She is just so sweet.  And patient.  Anyway, here is my first scarf.  This is a beautiful, soft wool and this was a great exercise in knitting and purling. 

My next project was a hat.  This would be my first time using circular needles, or "knitting in the round".  This hat called for the use of the circulars, and then switching to four double pointed needles.  If all that lingo makes me sound professional and expert and all that...good.  :)  I'm not, but I don't mind being perceived that way.  So, this hat was going to be for the husband.  He is a big hat wearer, for about 5 months out of the year.  Also a lover of all things wool. 

When I told him I was making him a hat, he was a little hesitant.

Something like, "Um, maybe you should make one for yourself first."  (So sweet of him to put me first.)  "But, no", I said, "this one is for you.  And you will love it."  So, when I showed him the hat at this point here, he was truly in shock.  After a moment of stunned silence, he said something like," Wow!  It's like a real hat!  I kind of thought it would be flimsy or holey, but it's awesome!  How did you do that? My expectations are exceeded!"

To which I probably responded with something like, " Yes, honey.  It's real.  I really wanted to do a fake one, and even though holes are very tempting, I just thought I'd stick with a real, actual hat.  And it sounds like your faith in my abilities...astounding!"  (We are never sarcastic).

Connor models the hat, halfway done.  That ribbing will fold up to be a cuff.  It's obviously big on him, but he'll have his own, soon enough.  I guess I should be starting Christmas presents now.  Hmmmmm.

So, I finished!  In time for this post.  Here is the final product.  I was hoping to get a shot of it on my husband's handsome head, but that may have to come later. He loves it even more, now that it's done. 

Again with the sideways picture.  All done, laying flat.

With the bottom rolled up.

Now, I'm working on my own.  I had enough of this great yarn left to start my own, and I'm using a great red to finish it out.  If I could just get myself to bang out more than one blog a month, I'll post the picture.  (How do people do this every single day?  They're probably the same people who shower every day and sweep the floors every day, and all that jazz.)

Yay! One of my favorite places.  On my way to Thursday night knitting circle. 

The local section of the fabulous inventory.  Does there exist a knitter that is not yarn-obsessed?  Amazon is great and all, but to hold these skeins in your hands...bliss.  I should have taken more photos of the rest of the shop, and our busy hands but....I just didn't.

Leaving the knitting circle.  This is definitely a stalker shot.  If my KM (inside right there) ever pressed charges against me, this would be a very incriminating photo.  I just thought I'd capture the beauty once more as I drove by....slowly...at night....on the deserted street.  

 

 

 

Friends and fellow knitters, on a more serious note, please read and pass along the following.  I recently saw this link on a blog I follow.  

Knit for Japan!

These wonderful human beings are collecting knit hats for Japan.  The deadline is in July, I believe, and the address is listed.  Let's remember the people who press on there, long after their plight has faded from the mass media.  All sizes welcome.  Socks and scarves, too.

peace

road trip to florida, part five: down south

I'm so glad that we were able to make it down to Coral Springs to visit with some of my besties...

Some of my all-time besties.  I love these ladies.

Pool time.  (it was a little chilly)

E. finds a turtle in the pool!

I really loved these shots.

My boys were a little obsessed with this game while we were there.  These two were so cute working together.

Movie time.  (Read: Time when the big people get to actually talk.)  :)

Elliot inspired a little spontaneous swing time when he saw a rope hanging (pretty high) from the tree in the backyard.

Brave E. likes that idea.

Hayden takes a turn.

Later that week, we went back down to Boca Raton to meet up with Blair's mom, brother and two grandmas.  Also, some of my favorite people in the world. 

I know these are a little blurry, but they are still treasures to me.  Great Grandma Carol is just so sweet and Novah immediately snuggled right up to her to read books and look at dolls.  These Grandmas hadn't seen the kids in about two years, so we had alot of catching up to do. 

Grandma Jayme had some sweet cuddle time with baby Gil.  :)

Uncle Jake!  Sorry, the only good pic we got was mid-chew.  He took a break from his tennis to hang out with the kids.  They loved him!

Hanging by the pool.

Sweet Great Grandma Shirley.  (These ladies do NOT look like grandmas and great-grandmas!  Really!)  She had some special time with the little ones as well.  I love this lady!

And a little nod to my alma mater, while passing by. 

I know this picture does it little justice, but this was the night before the "supermoon" when the moon was pretty full.  Every night while we were in FL, we had these gorgeous, clear skies with breathtaking sunsets and moon rises.  I had to pause to let it soak in.  

This may have been the first time, since moving away that I actually really enjoyed Florida, in a sense.  Because I feel so removed, I was able to look past the commercialism and consumerism (and, uh, even partake a tiny bit) and enjoy the broad, wide open skies.  The horizon line.  Something we don't have in the mountains.  I found myself stopping all the time and just taking in the landscape.  It was lovely.  And that brings me to the beach, the next post in my series....stay tuned!