Going to the Chapel

My baby sister, Annie, got married today!  It was a beautiful day for her and I am so happy for her and her husband Bill.  I thought I would share a few of the pictures that I took today.

This is my dad escorting Annie to the alter.  They took turns crying :-)

The minister was fantastic and truly shared in the joy of the day.

"I have a couple questions to ask both of you"  The minister said.

May I present Mr. & Mrs. William Griswold!

The Wedding Party....

Annie was a beautiful bride!

The Bride's Siblings... from left to right, my sister Jenn, brother Mike, new brother-in-law Bill, my sister Annie, and me.

The meal was a pig roast and my step-mother made a apron for my sister and a bib for Bill.  Too funny!

This was their first dance.

It was a great day shared with plenty of family to wish them well.  They're off to head up the coast of Maine for their honeymoon.  When they return it will be closing time on their new home!  So many happy beginnings!

Congratulations Annie and Bill!  I love you little sis!

Ten on Tuesday

10 Books You Would Recommend to a Friend

This is the perfect week for this topic for me! My friends and I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the newest Stephanie Plum book and it is on the shelves today!  I'm also in a Book Group with many of my friends and neighbors.  Were a large group of about 20 and have quite a mix of personalities, so we have read a variety of books.  Some I've liked, some I've loved, some I've hated, some I just plain gave up on because they did nothing for me, and some surprised me.  Here are some of the books that I would love to share with you!

1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.  This book has a little bit of everything.  It's a love story, coming of age, it's a period piece, it's an adventure, has a villain and a hero.
2. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. As well as being a great story, I learned a fair bit about ancient Chinese culture.  I still shudder when I think about foot binding!
3. Fortune's Rocks by Anita Shreve. I've read almost all of her books and I think this one is my favorite.  Plus it's setting is not far from where I live so that intrigued me as well.
4. Midwives by Chris Bohjalian.  I was so drawn into this story told from the viewpoint of a 14 year old girl.  I loved it.  The I read the author bio and realized it was written by a man!  Unbelievable.  This story has stayed with me for years!
5. Very Valentine and it's sequel, Brava Valentine by Adriana Trigiani. This is another author that I love.  She writes great character driven books.  I always find them enjoyable.
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Steig Larsson.  If you like intrigue and mystery, read the whole series.  Fantastic.  It's also a great series to listen to.
7. The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  I want to be Skeeter when I grow up! I thought it was a great insight into the roles that the maids have in these households. This story may have taken place in the south, but it is true world-wide.
8. 1000 White Women: The Journals of May Dodd.  This was a book that surprised me.  It was a Book Club book that I never would have read on my own.  It grabbed me from the beginning and I couldn't put it down.
9. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.  Great story of what you can do if you really want to.  Plus Bill Bryson is hilariously funny in how he tells a story.
10. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult.  I'll read pretty much anything she writes. Bonus, she's a local NH author.  But this story, WOW!  Could you forgive the unforgivable if it could possibly save your child's life?

So there's my list.  I hope you find something on it that intrigues you.  If you do and you like it, please let me know!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to download Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich and continue the debate with my girlfriends....  Joe or Ranger? And are you a Cupcake or a Babe?

Happy reading and Happy Tuesday!

Game 7

Guess what my Bruins loving hockey family is doing tonight?



That's right, we're glued to the TV!  Let's Go Bruins!!!

Ten on Tuesday

10 Favorite Love Songs

This week's list is 10 Favorite Love Songs. What a great topic as we head into Wedding Season!  I was lucky enough to be able to host my little sister's wedding in 2008.  This is probably my favorite picture of Jenn and Mitch from that day :-)

My baby sister is getting married June 26, and Tom and I will be celebrating our 26th Anniversary on the 28th.  Love is in the air here!

Here are some of my favorite songs, in no particular order....


1. Elton John - Something About the Way you Look Tonight


2. Bon Jovi - You Had Me from Hello


3. Michael Buble - The Way you Look Tonight


4. Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It for You

5.  Bryan White - You're Still Beautiful to Me


6. Lonestar - Amazed


7. Peter Frampton - Baby I Love Your Way


8. Goo Goo Dolls - Iris


9. Paul McCartney - Maybe I'm Amazed


10. Louie Armstrong - What a Wonderful World


Thanks Carole for a great topic! 

What are your favorite love songs?

Cast On Fever

Spoiler Alert! Cookie A June Club yarn and pattern are below!

I've cast on 3 new socks in the last couple weeks.  I can't seem to help myself and there are a few more socks, a shawl, and infinity scarf that I'm itching to cast on too. So let me show you what I couldn't resist!

First is the Boysenberry YO sock from the April shipment of the Cookie A Sock Club.  I like this pattern because it is easy to memorize so I can work on it just about anywhere.  The first sock is done and the second has been cast on.

The next project is Stricken which is the June pattern for the Knit Sock Love KAL.  This one requires a lot of concentration for me.  I've completed the traveling panels and I'm ready to begin a very detailed motif where every row of the chart is different. I'm going to need my sticky notes to use on the chart now or else I will be lost!

The third cast on is the June Cookie A Sock Club pattern. This pattern is Orange Pekoe and I really love it!  I'm not really a big fan of the color orange but the club yarn is from Hazel Knits and nobody does orange like Wendee does.  This color is called Oh my Darling. Great name for a great color!

The second June pattern for Cookie's Club is called Jubilee and I have the perfect yarn in my stash for it.  It's even a Hazel Knits yarn!  I really need to finish at least one of these projects first though before I cast that one on.

I'm also itching to cast on a few other projects because of some groups I follow on Ravelry.  I'd love to cast on Tesserae in a Hazel Knits yarn, Marrowstone Shawl in a Miss Babs yarn, Summer Wind with the IGK group, and Unisex Slip Sock with my May STR club yarn, to name just a few.

What are you itching make this summer?

Ten on Tuesday

 10 Ways to Beat Insomnia

I haven't posted for 10 on Tuesday for the last couple weeks because, well, embarrassingly I forgot that it was Tuesday!  This week's topic though really caught my attention because I do suffer from insomnia from time to time and it's frustrating as H E double hockey sticks.  I'm hoping there will be lots of great tips shared because I could use some new tricks to try.  Here are a few of my tips.....

1. Advil PM.  I know some people say it leaves them feeling sluggish the next day.  If I take it before midnight I'm usually OK the next day.
2. Mind numbing TV.  I do have a TV in my bedroom.  I know the "experts" advise against it, but sometimes it's just white noise.  If I've been awake in the middle of the night for more than an hour, a little bad TV can take my mind off of whatever is on my mind so that I can quiet it and drop back to sleep.
3. Fan. Sometimes it's white noise, sometimes it's a necessary cooling device.  (I'm in my mid-40's.  Need I say more?)
4. No caffeine after lunch. This can be a tough one because caffeine is often an additive in places you wouldn't expect it.
5. No liquids after dinner.  You know, to reduce the middle of the night bathroom trips.
6. Kick the dog off the bed. The big one takes up too much space, the little one prefers to sleep under the covers, which makes me hot because she also likes to snuggle, and lick the bottom of my feet.  I blame my husband.  He's the softie who let them on the bed in the first place!

Now I'm out of ideas.  I actually bought some Sleepy Time Tea to try, so maybe I should call this #7, but my sister-in-law told me the only thing that did for her was wake her up more often to pee!  Counter-productive, so I've been hesitant to try it.

What do you do to combat Insomnia?  I'd love to hear your ideas! 

Don't Go Breaking my Heart.....

.... I couldn't if I tried!

Sorry, I couldn't help myself  :-)

I have a finished pair of socks to show you!  These are Breaking Hearts by Cristi Brockway who my Ravelry friends probably know as Turtlegirl76.  She is one of the moderators of the Socks That Rawk! Group.  This group does quarterly knit-a-longs and Cristi's pattern was chosen for Quarter 2.  I also follow Cristi's Blog and have occasional email chats with her.  When her pattern was chosen, I emailed her to congratulate her and asked if there were any colors of STR that she would love to see her pattern knit up in.  Cristi emailed me back that she had looked at my STR stash that I have on Ravelry and she thought that Watermelon Tourmaline would be great.  Awesome!  No need for me to anguish over which color to choose AND I had been looking for just the right pattern to showcase that colorway.

So let's start at the beginning.  This sock starts with a twisted garter cuff which was a new technique for me.  It took a couple tries to be sure I was doing it right, but I got it.

Then the pattern moves on to a patterned ribbing and some slipped stitches.  The slipped stitches are used to make the heart motif which I think is very clever.

The heel flap is patterned which then allows the heart motif to break and border both the heel and the instep.  You can also see in this picture that Cristi moved the gusset decreases to the bottom of the foot.  That does 2 things.  1st, it doesn't interrupt the breaking hearts. 2nd, it adjusts the fit of the gusset to feel like it is cupping your heel.

There are2 options for the toe.  I chose to continue the pattern on the toe, but you can do a traditional stockinette wedge toe if you prefer.

Here's the finished pair!  Click to embigen!

I thought this was a great pattern.  It was simple but has plenty of interest and it works great with hand-painted yarns! It was also well written and includes both written instructions and charts. Thanks Cristi for the pattern and the color suggestion!