SPRING BREAK

We took a trip to the zoo with a friend.

We all loved the shark petting area.

Okay, maybe not the sharks so much as

they seemed to try and avoid us.

Here are the girls having fun -- even if it was barely 50

and cloudy.
The Rhinos were cool.

And look - Spring has sprung here in Indiana.

Finished Projects

Okay, I know I am lacking in my blogging.

But I am knitting.

A friend asked could I attempt to make a USA opening ceremony hat.

Well here is the prototype.

I learned a lot and will make adjustments.

But it wasn't too bad for a first attempt at fair isle.

Another view. Mara has claimed it as her own.
I have also completed a baby blanket for an as yet unborn little boy.
He is due to arrive in May and this will be waiting.

Brooke named it "Cookie Monster Blankie"

because it truly is Cookie Monster blue.

Wishing You Well

I figured I had better wish everyone

a Happy St. Patrick's Day.Seeing that I am proudly 1/8 Irish.

(Thanks to my Grandpa Caffrey and his clan!)

Latest Knitted Item

Here is one of my latest projects. Wrist warmers that match

her hat.

And here she is in the hat and the wrist warmers

at the ball game at Conseco.
On the left are her 2 buds - Ben & Michael.

Some Olympic Spirit Knitting

So as the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics in Vancouver were on the horizon

my dear son asked for a scarf that looked like the Canadian Flag.

Um..sure...dear.

Well a little web search for a knitted Maple leaf pattern began.

And whalaaa!

The Canadian Flag Scarf.

I also made a pair of wrist warmers to match my daughter's Jayne hat.

I will post them tomorrow and a photo of my gray sweater that is

warm and wonderful.

A Fun Weekend Was Had By All!!

Okay things are backwards, but we will start with the good news...

COLTS WIN!

My sister & I were blessed with free tickets from our

sister-in-law. We went and cheered the Colts to victory.

Here we are happily in our seats -- see all those people above us!
And now moving on to even more good news:
Earlier in the weekend we had a great celebration for my Mom's 75th birthday.

Here she is with all her kids!

And the glowing buttons say "Jane Rocks Happy 75th Birthday"
I bet you guessed Jane is my Mom.
Here she is with her cake. It was a fun day and visited with friends and family!


Oh and my sweater is done and I wore it -- will wear it again and get a picture.

Photos of my Newest Creations

Here it is -- the felted beer bottle cozies!

I made 3 to give away to some special people.

Since this only took about 1 hour to knit and about 30 mins in the washer...

and scrap yarn...I can see that I will be making many more.

This was the prototype - so I think I will make them a bit wider -- they fit my

hand comfortably but I can see needing wider ones for guys.

WHO OUT THERE WANTS ONE??

Oh and I finished this last week. And sorry but it is all mine.
It is warm and soft and easy as pie -- just take 2 different balls of
self striping yarn and switch them every 2 rows of this 1x1 rib.
I love it and got yarn to make a hat soon -- won't match quite like this but close.

Cool Item

So in my knitting life I am busy making a nice grey (or is it gray?) V-neck pull over sweater. I am 2/3 done with one sleeve and just have the other sleeve and collar ribbing to go before I am done. I hope to wear it on Friday or Saturday.

But as a break last night I quickly knit up some 100% wool in a striped pattern then promptly felted it (in a front loading washer no less) - some say this can't be done. It looks great.... and with some cutting and sewing I will make ....... (imagine a drum roll right here).....

Beer bottle cozies!

I have to cut and sew then I will get a picture. I promised these to a couple people and I think I can get at least 4 out of my felted wool strip.....

Photos to come!

The New Year....

Here are a couple of things keeping my busy in 2010.

This scarf is made with sock yarn -- so more for pretty than warmth.

So no rush to get it done right now. I picked up this lovely yarn in Alexandria this past fall.

Here is my newest project.

A gray Vneck sweater knit from the top down.
This is a new technique for me.

I am loving it so far. It will be nice and warm -- I am hoping to finish it in a week or 2.

Holiday Dragon....

Doesn't everyone have a Holiday Dragon?

Joe made this in 3D art class. He has been

hanging around here for awhile - but when the kids put the hat on him

I knew right where he should go.

This guy is papermache and his tail is just as long as his body but it

is hidden under the tree.

Merry Christmas!

I Can't Blieve I've Made 2 of These....

Sometime last year I made Brooke here first "Jayne" hat.

(If you are a Firefly fan you understand this.)

And she wore it a lot - was easy to spot in a crowd.

But the yarn was cheap & not quite the right colors.

The a month ago or so she lost it at school - can you believe someone

didn't turn it into lost and found?

So I promised here a better one.

Much better yarn, colors and thickness.
She feels much happier sporting her nice new hat.

Now to make matching fingerless gloves for her.
Ahhh what a Mom won't do for her child!

Happy December

Sorry to not blog at all last month.

One thing I was doing was getting these 3 gifts done

for the holidays.

Can't wait to introduce these 3 to their new owners.

Are you prepared for the holidays?
I have mailed my cards. And I even wrapped a handful
of gifts today.
We still need to decorate inside and out.

Things That Keep Me From My Knitting

WHS Marching Band made it to Semi-State.

First time ever!

See they move so quickly I can't even get a good picture.

So we have been watching them March the last few weekends.

Then the youngest made it through to the championship game

of the fall soccer season for the U14 league.
Maroon looked great! Yes it is coed.

And WOOHOO they won! Here is M(with glasses) and the gang.

So all these things keep me away from my knitting and I am feeling
the Christmas crunch - so much to make so little time.
But here is a lovely gift coming along nicely.

Two Down One To Go.....

So the 2nd 16 year old in the house got her drivers license too!

Here she is getting ready to drive herself to band practice.

Sadly the van for the 2 of them to share died.

So now we have 4 drivers and just 2 cars.

The boys are looking for something but that is going slowly.

Here is my latest knitting on a reluctant model...

Yes a Harry Potter scarf ~ and I think my first finished Christmas gift!

Oh and luckily we have just about 3 years rest til this one starts driving!

Busy Time of Year

We are just finishing Cross country season, still in the middle of Marching Band season and Soccer season. I dream of the Saturday that we no one in the family has to be somewhere.

But our big news of the week is that Joe was interviewed by a friend for a magazine article and it came out yesterday.

Here is an online like to the magazine - scroll down to the bottom of the home page. There is my son's smiling face - the article is about service oriented kids. We are quite proud -- of course we were even before the article.
Check it out here.

Girls Getaway Weekend

National Book Festival

On the Mall in DC

Went for a long weekend with 2 friends

We had a blast. Saw lots of authors

Here is Judy Bloom - she had a big line for her signing!

Here we are Lisa, Me and Laurie
enjoying dinner.

And there was even a bit of time for knitting.

Weekends away with friends are a must.

We will begin planning for next year soon!

Milestones

It seems that when the kids are really little they

reach milestones all the time. First smile, first word, first steps - you get the idea.

Then as they get older the milestones are fewer and farther between.

Well yesterday a BIG Milestone was reached at our house.

Joe drove away - Alone!

Oh and remember driving a minivan is Cool.

He got his license the day before and took off for cross country practice today.

Do you see the smile on that boys face?!

He couldn't wait - although he did have to listen to a

"mandatory mom lecture" before he could go.

I told him they would kick me out of the club if I didn't give him the talk.

I am proud - and I am gonna secretly (okay maybe not so secretly) worry.

Also last night Brooke had a Milestone of her own - she (okay the whole WHS Marching Band)

was on TV. They were the band of the week.

Click here to see them.

They looked great and sounded wonderful.

She is there in the middle (her hair is pinned up) with the big smile.


Here you can see her blowing her cool Mellophone!

I'm quite the proud Mom.

Where has the time gone?

Finally I am blogging again -- I have missed it and I

can't really say why I haven't been around.

Here is a left over vacation photo from

Sausalito, CA visiting Mike and Mickey!

See the little girl with curly hair (3rd from left).

She is covered by the blanket I made for my

brother and his wife.

So that is one knitted project, and here is another....

can you guess what it is going to be??

Come on just guess.

It is for my niece for Christmas - she will be thrilled.

I will post another photo of a major family milestone tomorrow!!

More Vacation Fun

We went to Arches National Monument in Moab, Utah.

It was our 2nd time there. I really love this place.

We also saw the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

The are very different and therefore kind of cool.

This is the place that the cars and rocket cars race fast.

Spent some time on a Saturday morning at the Market in San Francisco.

Here are Mike and Mara and Tucker relaxing while the shoppers shop.


There was so much yummy produce here.

Didn't Everybody....

Drive way out west for summer vacation this year?

And visit their cousins at the Grand Canyon....
Check out the Hoover Dam....

Raft down the Merced River in Yosemite.....

Get a behind the scenes tour of Alcatraz...

If not you really missed out.

That is just some of what we did this summer.

It was great fun. Saw cousins, and Aunts and Uncles.

I will share more soon.

Oh there was only a touch of knitting.