30 Years?

It doesn't seem possible, but evidently it's true! I graduated from high school in 1983 and Saturday night I attended my 30th Class Reunion!  Crazy! I had a great time catching up with classmates I hadn't seen in years as well as having some laughs with friends I am still close to.

Here I am with my elementary school classmates Damon, Tod, and David.  It was fun reminiscing about all our high jinx from sneaking off school property during recess to go to the corner store to buy candy, to hanging out at Debbie's house which was across the street and smoking on lunch break. (We only did that a couple times before getting caught! LOL) It was a fun time!

What did you do this weekend?

A Random Catch Up

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I last posted. There has been lots going on in my life, so here's a quick post of some of the random things I've been up to.

I was late planting my flowers and garden this year :-(  My hangers and deck planters are finally nicely filled out.  My garden is doing pretty well too, except that my corn didn't come up this year and my zucchini plants have that powdery/mildewy thing again this year.  I made sure they were plenty spread out and only water in the morning.  I'm wondering now if I have diseased soil?  I don't know, but my peas, green beans, cucumbers, carrots and tomatoes are doing great.  I should be picking cukes by the end of the week!

The dogs have been into all kinds of trouble this year.  Neal had a growth removed from his foot and it has been an EPIC battle to keep his foot clean and dry.  We've been to the vet 4 times in 10 days between him pulling his bandage off, sneaking out of the house and walking into the lake, etc and so forth.  Stitches come out Tuesday!  Yippee!

Emma has found all kinds of goose poop to roll in, even though we clean it up every. darn. day.  But little white dogs who roll in goose poop and then wish to sleep on my bed at night get baths before bedtime.  She's not impressed, but she sure smells better!

Tom took off the week of July 4th and we had a Staycation.  After years of wishing we had a jet ski, we finally caved this year and bought one.  We're having lots of fun with it :-)

My favorite little munchkin came to spend a couple days at Auntie Dianne's :-)  She is so much fun!  She's 17 months old and a busy, curious little girl.  We played ball, bubbles, side walk chalk, walked the dogs, climb on everything, and played by the lake.  She's not the only one slept well at night!

I was summoned for Jury Duty for the month of July.  So far my name has not been pulled to sit on a case, but I go again next week for selection again.

Chandler and I have also been visiting colleges he'd like to consider applying to.  Last week we went to Stonehill College and Boston University.  Tomorrow we're going to University of Vermont.  He still has 8 more schools on his "potential" list, so we'll be spending a lot of quality time together in the car.

I have managed to get some knitting in too.  I'm working on a Chelsea Market Hat.  I really like the pattern so far.

I started Tiberius from the Cookie A June sock club.

And I finished Dumbledore's Christmas Stockings.  I used Socks That Rock lightweight in a millend that I had in my stash.  I'm really happy with them.  This is definitely a raven color way and I did have some dye come off on my fingers while I was knitting them.  They'll need a vinegar bath before I wear them, but that's not a big deal.  The fit is great on these and I expect they'll get a lot of wear!

They are also my first finished pair of socks for the 26 Pair Plunge.  I fell really short last year on the plunge, only completing 13 pairs of socks, but I'm going to try it again.  It's only 2 pairs of socks a month plus a couple.  Totally doable, right?

The Summer of Socks Begins!

It's time for Summer of Socks!  I look forward to this every year and usually I'm chomping at the bit, ready to go on Memorial Day.  In the past though, the SOS has followed the calendar and not started until June 21st.  This year though, the wonderful moderators decided to adjust the KAL to run from Memorial Day until Labor Day.  I love that because to me, these two holidays mark the beginning and end of summer.  It's a No Pressure year too, which I love.  Knit anything you want, including WiP's, and it counts!  Perfect!

So I'm continuing on my quest to keep up with the 2 sock clubs I joined this year.  I recently finished Petrosinella which was the Rockin Sock Club March shipment.  This pattern was a little hard on my hands and I had to take regular breaks from it, but it was worth plugging along and finishing them.

They started with a pretty picot edge and then followed by a lace and cable pattern.

The heel flap is eye of the partridge which I hadn't done in a while.  I think it's quite pretty in this variegated yarn. Then I love how the cable lines up to split and half of it runs along the side of the foot.

It ended with my favorite wedge toe.

So March is done and May's kit is here and next to be wound and cast on.

I also finished one of the patterns from the April Cookie A club.  This pattern is Tulip Socks.  I substituted Hazel Knits Artisan sock yarn in the color Pink Ribbon for these.  The club yarn is a gorgeous lavender from Dream in Color Everlasting sock, but I think that tulips and pink just go together.  I'm going to use the lavender yarn for the other club pattern.

These were pretty straight forward and an easy knit.  The one thing that really stood out on these was the toe.  The instep had more stitches than the foot so with a little clever decrease in just the right place the 2 purl stitches on the sides of the instep become a frame for the toe.  I love little details like this!

The June shipment arrived last Monday, so in my quest to keep up I'm going to cast on one of the June patterns with the club yarn, then go back and do some of the old kits that are still waiting to be knit.

Happy Summer of Socks!

Irish Coffee

I finished my Irish Coffee sweater just as the heat wave set in last weekend.  I really enjoyed knitting this sweater.  The yarn, Madelinetosh Vintage in the color Mourning Dove, is a dream to work with and the stitch definition is great too.

This sweater has some nice features.  It's knit from the top down so I was able to try it on as I went to make sure the fit was what I wanted.  I like the V notch at the neck line.  It feels like it opens the neckline a bit.

I moved the waist decreases up so that the narrowest part actually falls at my waist.  One of the curses of being "petite" is that everything needs to be altered.  I also added more increases for the hips so that it fits the way I wanted it to fit.

I also love the way the cables flow into the ribbing.  This cable is on the back as well as the front

So here it is completely finished being modeled by my lovely dining room chair.  This picture is also the best representation of the color.

Now that this is finished I'm itching to start another sweater!

Some Actual Knitting!

On Sunday I said that I would share some actual knitting with you tomorrow. And then... SHAZAM! The next thing I know, it's Thursday already!  Crazy!

Anyway, I finished a pair of socks at the end of April and just kept forgetting to post them.  This pattern is Ernie which was one of the patterns from the February Cookie A Club.  I used the club yarn for these which is Indigodragonfly MCN Sock, color way E Pluribus Nom Nom Nom.  This was the first time I had used it and I loved it.  It is crazy soft, has a beautiful loft and wonderful stitch definition.  If you get the opportunity to try this yarn, do it!  You won't be disappointed!

I've also been working on one of the April patterns from Cookie's Club. This is Tulip Socks.  I decided to use Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in the color Pink Ribbon, because to me, pink and tulips just go together.  I'm going to use the club yarn with the other pattern for April which I'll show you once I cast them on.  Truth be told though, I'm stalled on these right now.  I discovered that I dropped a stitch and need to fix that.  It's only a few rows back but I just haven't taken the time yet to fix it.

These socks have been getting my attention the most right now.  This pattern is Petrosinella from the March Rockin Sock Club kit.  I'm using the club yarn for these.  I love the look of the pattern, but this particular cable makes my hands tired so I have to take frequent breaks :-(  I've not had this problem before and I'm looking forward to these being done, and soon!

The last thing I'm knitting on is my Irish Coffee sweater.  Love love love this!  My LYS is having a UFO contest for May and I'm using that encouragement to get this finished!  I'm making mine hip length instead of tunic length.  I'm at the point where I need to try it on to see if I need one more set of increases or not before I start the ribbing.  Then it's on to the sleeves.  I still need to decide on sleeve length.  It was designed to be short sleeve, but I've always planned to do 3/4 length sleeves.  After reading through Fit to Flatter though I'm reconsidering and thinking maybe I should do elbow length.

I've always thought of this as a 3 season sweater which is why I've planned to make the sleeves longer. Tell me what you think though.  What's your favorite sleeve length?

Happy Thursday!  If I don't get back here before the weekend, I hope you have an enjoyable one :-)

My Handsome Boy

This weekend was Prom for my youngest son, Chandler.  He invited his friend Emma to be his guest.  They both looked fabulous and they had a great time :-)  We had a great day weather-wise too and got some beautiful pictures.

Here's a peek into his sense of humor too.  He'd had quite enough of the picture taking and decided he'd be goofy when I wanted a couple pictures of just him.  I'm not sure if I should title this The Jolie Leg, or I'm Too Sexy for this Tux!

And honestly, what's the point of having a fun car like this if you can't torture your kids with it and only let them drive it for something really special, like Prom!

I hope you had a great weekend too!  Tomorrow I have actual knitting to share!

Ten on Tuesday

Since Sunday was Mother's Day it is pretty fun to think about some of the TV mothers that I love.  When Carole sent this topic for today I thought it would be easy because it seems like we watch so much television, and there are so many channels to choose from, but...... how many of these shows have great mother figures?  I wish I was more like some of these characters, some are great examples of the mother I don't want to be, and some just plain make me laugh. So in no particular order, here are

10 Favorite TV Moms

1. Marion Cunningham - she was fun, witty, caring, and seriously... who doesn't love Mrs. C? (Happy Days)
2. Carol Brady - she was a hip mom. (The Brady Bunch)
3. Caroline Ingalls - a strong woman who was the true foundation of her family. (Little House on the Prairie)
4. Peg Bundy - she just made me laugh. (Married with Children)
5. Angela Rizzoli - Building a new life for herself and yet always there for her kids, even when they wish she wasn't! (Rizzoli & Isles)
6. Claire Dunphy - a modern mom if ever there was one. (Modern Family)
7. Claire Huxtable - she had it all and did it well. (The Cosby Show)
8. Jill Taylor - I admit that I identify with her.  3 sons who are all so different and a husband who is a little too handy around the house, although mine's not that bad :-) (Home Improvement)
9. Marie Barone - She is a god-awful mother-in-law and I thank my lucky stars every day that my own MIL is nothing like her! (Everybody Loves Raymond)
10. Evelyn Harper - She and her sons are so judgmental of each other!  So funny because there is definitely some truth in there :-) (Two and a Half Men)

Who is your favorite TV Mom?

Happy Tuesday!