WIP Wednesday

I've had a little furry of activity over the last couple of weeks and I have some FO's that I'll show you tomorrow.  I also had a serious case of startitis this weekend.  So let me show the what I've cast on.

First is the Lissajous socks by Cookie A for the Knit Sock Love KAL.  Today was the last day to cast on for this pattern's KAL.  I picked some Miss Babs that I had in the stash.  I love the color in the skein, but I'm not loving the start of this sock so far.  The pattern shows better in the picture than it does in real life.  I may frog these, but for now I'm going to continue on and see if I like it better once a get an inch or two done. Stay tuned!

This is the Clepsydra Mitten.  So far, so good!  I really like how it's coming out so far.  I'm using some trusty Cascade 220.

The third project I cast on is the Irish Hiking Hat. This will probably be a gift.  I picked it because I wanted an easy project to  throw in my bag for when I'm out and about.  I forgot to factor in the  decreasing light at this time of year though and am finding this color to be hard to work on in low light situations.  The yarn is Harrisville Tweed, which is a local NH company.

I have two more projects lined up, wound and ready to go too.  I'll show you those later once I've actually started them.

What's on your needles right now?

Ten on Tuesday

10 Favorite Musicals

This week's topic is favorite musicals.  I immediately started thinking of the handful of Broadway Musicals I've seen and knew that there was no way I would get to ten.  But really, is it only theater productions that count as musicals?  What about movies?  So I've decided to include both.  Here are ten that I have enjoyed!

1.  Wicked.  Hated the book, loved the musical.  I actually saw this in London while on vacation with Tom.

2. Phantom of the Opera.  I saw this show in Boston.  All I Ask of You is my favorite song from this show.

3. Mama Mia!  Such a fun show!  If you haven't seen it and get the opportunity, GO!  Here's a clip from the official show site http://ppc.broadway.com/shows/mamma-mia/video/145061/show-clip-mamma-mia-dancing-queen-montage/

4.  The Producers.  I saw this in NY on Broadway.  I've seen the movie too, the one with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, but I prefer the live production.  Enjoy a little "Springtime for Hiltler" :-)

5. The Wizard of Oz.  A classic that I still enjoy.  I can never skip over it when it's on TV.                 

6. Grease.  Oh John Travolta, how I love thee :-)

7. The Sound of Music.  Tom and I visited Austria in 2006.  It was a work thing for him with very little actual work and lots and lots of fun.  The last day that we were there we actually went on "The Sound of Music Tour"  Super fun and the tour guide was just silly enough to get everyone on board the bus to sing along to the soundtrack.  I wish I had a picture to show you of the two of us in front of the gazebo from the song I am 16 Going on 17, but all the pictures are on Tom's computer.

8. My Fair Lady.  This was the first play that I ever saw and was a big girls day out with my mother.

9. Moulin Rouge.  Here's a little medley for you of songs from the movie.

10. Beauty and the Beast. This was the first movie that we took our oldest son to.  I love it as much now as I did when it first came out :-)

What are some of the musicals you've enjoyed?

Ten on Tuesday

10 Things I am Thankful For

This week as we all prepared to celebrate Thanksgiving, we were asked to think about the things that we are thankful for.  I know I live a very blesssed life, so in no particular order here are some of the things that i am thankful for.

1. My Husband.  Tom and I have been married for 26 years and I am thankful to have him for my partner.  He tells me he loves me every day, I can see how much he loves our boys, and he works hard for our family so that we can have everything that we need. He also works hard to be a good example of what a strong, good, caring and responsible man is for our sons.

2. Matthew, who is son #1.  I honestly don't know if I know another person on this earth who has the kind and open heart of my first born son.  He has such a gift for caring and kindness and is so steadfast in his core beliefs, that he amazes me.  He continues to grow into wonderful man.  I am proud to be his mother.

3. Justin, who is son #2. He is the most self-confident of my boys and determined.  He will set a goal and work towards it with unfailing faith.  And yet he can shock me to my core with how sensitive he is and his willingness and ability to help someone in need.  I know he has that in him, but he doesn't like to show it to many people.  I am proud to be his mother too :-)


4. Chandler, who is son #3.  Someone once told me when I was pregnant with him, that the 3rd born is the family clown.  They were right.  He may not be outwardly and outright funny, but he has the best sense of humor, and at the most unsuspecting times.  He makes me laugh pretty much every day and appreciate life.  Again, I am a proud mom.

5. My siblings.  We don't spend as much time together as I'd like to, but I love them all dearly.

6. My parents. They have had some health issues over the past few years, but they are still with us.  I know someday they will be gone, but for now I am thankful to know that I can pick up the phone or drop by the house any time I want to.

7. My home. I don't even know how to describe it.  I live in a lovely house, I can't deny that, but to me it is so much more.  It's where the people I love are, and it is filled with things that were made for us by someone who loves us, or passed along to us by someone who loved us.  Together, it's home.

8. My dogs, Neal and Emma.  No one loves you like your dog :-)  Plus they are great companions!

9. My friends.  I have great friends. Some I have known forever, some for only a short time.  Each one is dear to me and I am a better and lucky person for what they share of themselves with me.

10. My knitting.  I am thankful that I have found a hobby that I enjoy so much.  It excites me and calms me at the same time.  Many of my friends I have met because of this shared passion.  And I can make cool stuff!

What are some of the things you are thankful for?

When a teenage boys asks

Sometimes it's great to be a fly on the wall.  My teenager likes to use Facebook to keep in touch with his friends.  Since he has played select/elite travel hockey for the last 5 seasons, and changed schools this year, his friends are truly scattered far and wide.  So, he loves Facebook for keeping up with everyone.  Being the good nosy mother I am, I pop onto his page from time to time just to keep an eye on things.  One day I stumbled upon a conversation he was having with a hockey buddy.  It went something like this...

Friend: Dude, remember those sick hats your mom made for us a couple years ago?
My kid: yeah
Friend: Do you think she would consider making me another one?
My kid: Probably.  I'll ask.

I ask you..... What do you do when a 15 year old boy asks if you will knit him a hat?  You make him a hat!!!

After a little back and forth, we decided on a new hat in his high school colors with an E on the back, because that is the other logo his school uses and he didn't know what his jersey number would be.

I mailed it off to him the end of last week.  High School try-outs began today around the state, so I hope this is a little good luck hat for him.  Good luck MAC! And to Chandler and all of his friends too. (There were a few nerves on display this morning when I dropped him at school with his gear.)

This is a personal pattern. My friend Kelly started it and I modified it a bit to make a little more sense to me.  I really should write it up, if for no other reason than to avoid the ripping and re-knitting I did tweaking it!

There's Alpacas over there!

Gosh it's been awhile since I last blogged! I'm not sure where the time went, but I certainly have been busy.  One of the things that I've done over the last few weeks is visit a local Alpaca farm!  Sallie's Fen Alpacas is only a 20 minute drive from my home.  I've seen some of their yarns in other local businesses but didn't realize they were located so close to me.  My neighbors Molly and Holly wanted to go and asked me to join them. Off we went on a crappy rainy day, but that didn't lessen our fun.

We met the boys, who were very curious about us.  Mostly I think they were looking to see if we had food buckets with us.

Then we went to the other side of the farm and met the girls and the babies.  Do you see that little one peeking around the big one?  She was so cute!

No food?  You're dead to me.

We were fascinated by the range of colors of their coats.

These girls weren't that interested in us as their feed trough had just been filled.

This girl really interested us with her mix of colors.  Her belly area was quite brown, her back is black, and yet her muzzle is white.  We asked if she was perhaps older and hence the white muzzle? Nope.  It's just her unique coloring.

This farm also does a lot of milling and processes fleece into commercially spun yarn.  It's quite an impressive set up, but we were not there at a good time to get a tour of that facility.  Perhaps next time.  They are having an open house Thanksgiving weekend.  We did go into their small shop though and did a little shopping.  I picked out this 4 ply worsted yarn.  There's only about 150 yds, but I think it will be enough for a pair of Maine Morning Mitts.

Do you have any ideas what I can do with 150 yds of worsted weight?