Chic Knits Bucket Hat

My first bucket hat. I fell in love with this pattern. The first pix is the "before" felting". It was quick to knit and fun to make. The felting went fast. I have a XS size head and I used a 1 gallon paint can for shaping. It really worked well. The pix of me is crappy and makes me look old (my age probably). I am almost finished with number 2. This one is made from Cascade 220 yarn, persimmon tweed.

I'll take a picture of someone cute and young in it.

Wicked, again

It's that time of year again. Exactly 1 year ago we made the trek to Chicago to see Wicked. It was just as great as I remembered. The weather was a little cold, not as bad as last year.

Didn't take any knitting, but did take a credit card! We went to Dick's Last Resort on Friday and Maggiano's on Saturday before the play. Lots of shopping. This years trip included 4 moms and daughters. All us Mom's are OR nurses. The teens are Kayla and Kirstin. The older girls are Jill and Molly. We got along so well and had so much fun!

OH! A neat bonus was having Erica hang out with us too! She is sooooo sweet!

Steph's gift

Too bad I don't know how to rotate pix.

The shower is over, the hat was completed around midnight the night before! I don't know how big of a hit it was with Stephanie, but I took the set to work with me Saturday morning and my co-workers loved it! Even Jim the unit-secretary was impressed. He had been teasing me about being a knitting gramma, but when he saw the cute hat and sweater, he said it was "awesome" and he took back his snarky remarks. LOL.

The third picture is of my beautiful grandbabies learning to knit. Just kidding, but isn't it a gorgeous painting, I know I should give credit, but I don't know who the artist is.

On call this weekend, 1 call down and who knows how many to go. We are off to the park in town for an art show/humane society thingy. Eloise is going along. .l.

Sunday as usual

Well here it is Sunday again! I am on call, but nothing exciting since Friday. The weather is dreary, but I got some homework done, including sealing the grout on my newly remodeled 1/2 bath (guest bathroom) formerly known as the "Recording Studio". I had it totally renovated, new sink, floor, paint, mirror and lighting. It's rockin now! OH I also scraped paint off the garage door trim, FUN! Too bad it's a rainy cold day, can't paint it.
I did get knitting done! The Dream in Color Classy, Tulips baby sweater is done. It is beautiful (I think). Hope Steph likes it. What do you think of my new hair color? DARK. Like my soul. Just kidding. But it sure is dark.
Oh and what is with the dog being dressed most of the time? When I see her shirtless, she looks naked. Of course Kirstin has some sweater patterns/yarn picked out for her.

Tulip Baby Sweater in progress 8-11-07

Tulip Baby Sweater in progress 8-11-07
Originally uploaded by Patticake's.

Here is an update of the Tulips baby sweater! I had a little bit of a hard time figuring out the attached I cord binding, but once I got it, I got it! Sleeves will be done as soon as I feel like knitting again. I have worked 6 out of the last 7 days! Wow. Need a break! We may go to Birch Run and start school shopping today, but Kirstin declared an eyebrow emergency and needs to get a wax job before she is seen in public!

The Sisters, sweater August 2007 015

The Sisters, sweater August 2007 015
Originally uploaded by Patticake's.

Hi! This is those cutie little yorkie sisters, Eloise and Lydia!
Kirstin babysat 2 days for Lydia and loved every minute of it!
We have spent time lately watching dog shows on tv, like Cesar and that british lady, like the Nanny

Vacation

Check out the little gladware bowls for my twin cakes of sock yarn. It holds enough to knit a pair of socks and saves on tangles. I drilled a hole in the top and fed the yarn through! It can't get away from me now.

The pink slide is from the Science Museum in Nashville. It is the "colorectal slide" and it made farting noises as the kids slid out. They loved it. It's part of an exhibit on how the body works, really cute idea.

The pix if me and the kids with Kate is at Beachhaven Winery in Clarksville KY, where we attended Jazz on the lawn. And of course tasted a little wine. Kate loved the raspberry one, so we got that one. To me it tasted like raspberry vinagrette salad dressing, hmmmm. It was crowded, but so fun. Of course there was live jazz band and musicians playing.

I've been working on the Tulips baby sweater and it's almost done, the body is done, just now starting on the border and the sleeves. It's gorgeous and it's going really fast.

This is what we have been up to lately! The photos of Ash are of her first "haircut" at the Beauty Shop. Kate will wait until she's home in Michigan if she can to get her hair done by "Deann" at "A Cut Above" in Farwell. She's been our hairdresser for about 20 years! She must have been a baby when she started because she looks too young to have been at it for that long! Thanks Deann. The knitting is "Tulips" Dream in color baby sweater and socks for Kate made with Zitron, Life Style sock yarn. Cannon will have a pair too! Check out the bubble king! The kids had a riot making giant bubbles on their last visit home.

Here's what's going on right now

Gonna just say, keeping busy! The kids suprised us by coming up about 5 days early! The cooler weather has been nice, but just a little breeze was actually helpful for the bubbles. Kirstin's socks are done, will post pix later! Puppy getting bigger but still has lots to learn! I've worked a ton the past few weeks, but will take it easy this week and enjoy the little ones and family!

Our New Little Girl

This is Eloise! She is now 9 weeks old. She is adorable. One floppy ear, that we hope will stand up, Yorkie Style, but a tiny bundle of energy that has really captured our hearts, especially Kirstin.

She loves to cuddle with Kirstin, and will climb up on Kirstin's back and go to sleep in that little curved in spot. The other little dog is Eloise's sister, Lydia, owned by my friend Pam.

The Sisters

Well, what do you think? Aren't these the sweetest little girls? My good friend, Pam, and I are adopting these little babies. The pix is at about 7 week old. Yorkie's. My baby girl, Kirstin, has a birthday coming up and isn't this just about the best gift? She has wanted one for a long time! Wish us luck!

Congratulations Melanie!

My niece, Melanie, graduated from SVSU today and is a Secondary Education School Teacher! We are so proud of her! She has a job already teaching in Saginaw Public School (Summer School). She is a wonderful sweet and intelligent girl and we all love her so much! Just look at her proud Mama! We had a picnic at a lovely park in Saginaw yesterday to celebrate. But it was soooo cold! We all huddled and shivered under whatever warm thing we could find to wrap up in. But is was a beautiful day all in all. The second picture is my Kirstin with her cousin Melanie. Of course Kirstin can't figure out why anyone would want to spend any more time in a school than necessary, especially as a teacher! LOL. Teenagers.

Yarn Swifting

Well, that sure makes a difference! After searching for an economical swift I found one on ebay! It was only $22.95 or so plus shipping and folds up small, easy to use! I had fun actually winding hte yarn. I need to estimate how to divide the skein better, but the second one went better. The yarn is Lisa Souza. One is Spumoni, aqua, lighter color and the other is Pink Ribbon or something like that. It sure looks different after you wind it into a ball.

Yes it has been way too long since my last post and this one will be short. Haven't actually done a lot of knitting lately. Work has been kind of busy and I actually have gotten called in 5 of the last 4 call days I've been one. Helps with the paycheck and yarn addiction!

Getting ready for the painter to come so have lots of things to remove from the walls and furniture to move.

Kirstin's Socks

Hi again! 2 posts in 2 days. Cannon and Ashlynn loved Pottery Barn Kids store in Nashville. Lots of furniture just their size and toys to play with. This is what I knit on the plane to and from Nashville. It is Lana Grossa 80% wool and 20% polyamide. No color name on the ball. It is 100 gram/ 420 m. I am using size 2 addi's and actually decided to decrease a little because they started a little wide. So they are now a total of 48 stitches around and Magic Loop toe-ups. Not sure if I am gonna start a pattern, but I probably will, lace or the Pomotamus type leg instead of plain ribbing.

Spring Break 2007

Spring Break. Here are Kate and I with the kids at the "Cheesecake Factory" restruarant in Nashville. This is such an awesome place to eat. Kirstin is here , but of course refuses to have any pictures taken.(teenagers) We flew in the day before Easter and I knit the whole flight! I had my addi turbo size 2 circular needles and had no trouble for bringing them on and using them on the planes! I started a pair of socks for Kirstin this time! She loves the yarn (mostly pinks). We hung out in and around Nashville Monday and Friday and ate out a lot! The kids are growing and doesn't Ashlynn look sweet in her glasses! She is getting so mature.
We flew home today and did lose one of
Kirstin's suitcases. Funny how we didn't change planes, but they lost some luggage, a lot of people's were lost or left in Detroit. Waiting for NWA right now to call and say they are coming to deliver the pesky thing. Wouldn't you know it? It had all the new stuff we bought, including $60 worth of TEA. Yes Tea. we got suckered in at "Teavana" http://www.teavana.com/ at the Mall at Green Hills in Nashville and before you knew it had 5 little bags (2-4oz) each of blended teas to brew at home. Pays to pay attention to prices on the container, some were $25/oz and up, yipes. Kind of got caught up. Good thing I couldn't find a yarn store, I'd probably maxed out a Visa.