I was going to write something profound about the past 10 years, but I struggled making this collage and now I forgot what I was going to write. So, here is the last 10 years summed up by 10 photos. Maybe later I can write something better :)
2000 - Owen and I got engaged
2001 - We graduated college
2002 - We got married
2003 - We bought our first home
2004 to 2008 - Our life BH (Before Hazel)
2009 - We had our baby Hazel
A last minute gift idea for the grandparents. Hazel helped us make these totally adorable handprint ornaments!
I rolled out some Crayola air dry clay and used Hazel's hand to make an impression in the clay. I used a can to cut out a perfect circle, then waited a few days for them to dry. I painted the handprint with watered down pink acrylic paint, then some glitter glue to seal the handprint. Owen helped out by making the paper piece that we spray glued onto the back of it. After it all dried we used clear acrylic sealant to preserve the whole thing! I think they turned out really cute.
I'm not lyrically talented, so we found the poem on this site!
I've been a busy little knitter! I thought I was all done with shopping for presents, and then I went to this new yarn shop that opened last weekend (Make One), and since then I've been inspired to make more stuff with the yarn I bought! I am working on a cowl for a friend's birthday, but it is after Christmas, so it's not critical knitting right now.
There is one F.O. that failed. I made one of those slippers that the Yarn Harlot was raving about, because I thought it would be a fast knit. Well, the 90 minutes turned into 2 days because I *could not get gauge*. When I got stitch gauge, my row gauge was totally off and I ended up ripping back a few times to get the correct measurement. I only made one slipper and when I felted it, it looked like a freaking baked potato, I kid you not. It was pitiful. Also, it didn't fit my foot. I brought it to knit night and my friend whose name also happens to be Rachel took it to fix it and make it look good so she could give it to her mom, who coincidentally only has one foot! I call that serendipity! I still plan on making another slipper, but maybe a darker yarn would felt better.
These are the same fingerless mitts that are in my previous fo post, using the left over yarn from those mitts, but these are shorter.
Roving from Susan's Kitchen that I spun up and plied with a thread of beads! It is very pretty in person. I am giving this to my mom, but she may end up asking me to knit something up for her.
Duet by Linda Wilgus, from the Winter Knitty
Yarn is Cascade Rustic
This is for my sister in law. I'm giving it to her as a scarf, I don't know if it's stretchy enough to wear as a hat. The linen is making it stiff. A note for people using this yarn. It bleeds dye like crazy! So wash wash wash, and use vinegar to help set the dye.
A Simple Yet Effective shawl, out of some of my handspun (Everything but the kitchen sink is in this shawl, even some beads). This is for Owen's grandmother!
Gee, somehow I wish I lived in Seattle, so that I could go on the yarn train to Portland! Oh well, it's just as fun to meet the gals at the station!
Sorry for the lack of posting. I have had a few health problems for all of November and this first half of December. Mostly a never-ending sinus infection with 2 colds on top of that, then the most recent cold travelled to my lungs and made my asthma flare up :( I'm on my second round of anti-biotics for the sinus infection and a round of Prednisone for the asthma. If you have ever been on Pred, then you probably know it's like Speed. Be ware if you call me on the phone, I may just talk your ear off!
Then there was the issue with my bum thumb - de quervain's tenosynovitis - trigger finger -- whatever you want to call it, my hand has been in pain since September. I finally went to the doctor and she told me to take ibuprofen, wear a thumb brace and then do hand exercises until it didn't hurt anymore. Well, the pain didn't go away, so I went in again. They told me there wasn't anything more they could do and so I was referred to a hand specialist who fixed me up in 5 minutes with a lovely cortisone shot! Knitting is sure a heck of a lot easier when your hand is not hurting all the time!
So, now that I can knit without pain, here are some things I knitted up the last two weeks!
Neck scarf using a merino/angora handspun made with fur from my friend's rabbit Fast Feet
pattern: Stash by Donyale Grant
two crochet bracelets for my friend's daughters, no pattern, just made it up as I went along.
Hat for my friends' son. SW Merino/Angora. no pattern.
Twilight mitts for my friend Jen for Christmas. Alice Mitts by Nancy Fry
A low-key bday for Owen this year. We had a fondue dinner on Friday night! Saturday, his actual bday, after he took Hazel to Gymboree (while I was at a spin-in) we had lunch with my mom at Red Robin. After lunch she baby snatched Hazel and the two of us went to see the new A Christmas Carol movie. I liked this version. Of course, I think it is probably scary for smaller children, and I'm surprised that Disney would make it scary! But, it is my favorite Christmas story so I was expecting it to be creepy. The animation was so realistic, I forgot that it was animation some times.
For his present, he got this Blendtec blender. Tonight we made Tortilla Soup
It was the smoothest soup I've ever had! A little too much jalepeno though, but it was only 2 servings and we have enough ingredients for a couple more soups. At least they will be fresh each time:)
I also promised to make him a hat and I proposed a few I thought he would like, but he found this one online all by himself - Habitat by Jared Flood. Of course, it would have a million cables. Did I mention the yarn is a charcoal gray (almost black). Yes, I love him that much :)
Do you have an iPhone or iPod Touch? Are you a spinner? If so, you NEED the iSpin Toolkit app! There are so many great features in this handy, user-friendly app. Each tool on this app has instructions on how to use it, what the calculation is for and why it is helpful to use it while you are spinning.
My favorite feature is the WPI gauge. I have yet to find one that is so easy to use, and there is even a chart with the standardized yarn weight to compare your yarn to!
Another great feature on this app is the calculators, there are 13!! With all of the calculators, it will be easy to replicate your yarn if you run out and need to spin more! The calculator I can see myself using ALL THE TIME will be the niddy noddy calculator (it even remembers your niddy noddy length!) It is so convenient to have!
With all of the great features of this app and having it handy on my iPod Touch I can see myself becoming a better spinner!!
Hazel loves going for her nightly swim. The pools here are gorgeous! she also likes getting dipped in the hot tub
Went to the palm springs street fair tonight and found some spinners! too bad i left my turkish delight at the hotel and lucky there was an extra spindle in the booth. hi to leslie of lollyarn!
Hazel got a national park passport book and her first cancellation stamp today (they even had a tortoise regional stamp)
Made it safely to California. Can't wait to see what this place looks like in the daytime. Our suite is so nice and it even has a kitchen.
Hazel was such a good traveler that we got complimented on how quiet she was on the plane!
Sitting at the airport waiting to board an airplane to go to sunny palm springs! I couldn't believe that I got on the free wifi. Every other time I've been here I only got the paid access wifi and was very p.o'd. I'll try to update with pix messages this week!
My little Sweet Pea had a fun time trick-or-treating. She got loads of candy (8 pieces), too bad she doesn't know what it is, or that it's yummy. Her little pumpkin bucket overflowed with snickers and kit kats (yay, my favorites) :)
