It started last year at Rhinebeck.  Mom and I have a tradition of going together, having lunch with knitting friends, then Dad comes over later in the afternoon to look around at the yarns, the finished knits and his (mine too) favorite the people watching. Last year he saw a pair of mittens that where lined, I think he said that they where alpaca (just thinking of alpaca makes me all itchy), and not as densely knit as he would have liked. He told me that he once had a pair of lined mittens, and they where the best ever. And he hasn’t been able to find a pair like it since.

We walked around some more, looked at some other booths. Talked about how alpaca seemed to be all over the place that year (it was 2008 and it was freaking everywhere). We talked more about the mittens, cause I love knitting for my Dad. He understands handwashing. Man even gave me a lecture about it when I was a teenager and I was doing laundry. He had already received many pairs of socks from me and kept talking about those mittens. (Holy Crap! I just realized that I’ve knit my father 4.freaking.pairs.of socks!!)

We talked some more about those mittens, about whether or not he wanted them to be plain or have a fair isle pattern. What colors would be nice, and most importantly what to line them with. And I stupidly said, I would knit him a pair for his birthday. However I didn’t specify which birthday. (Thinking back I think it was the one a few weeks before that Rhinebeck…. but its 4 freaking mittens. So it’s really like 2 presents right? He did get a book this year too, and a really cool pirate knife with a retractable blade which I bet my mom is LOVING right now. haha)

When my parents visited that April my Dad did see my fiddlehead mittens and I asked him if he would like a pair like those. He liked the pattern, but wanted something different. Luckily I had just borrowed magnificent mittens by Anna Zilboorg from the library (it was out of print, but its coming back in print soon!! I just can’t remember when) after flipping through the book, and commenting on how silly the sleeve bell things seem. (I get how they would keep your arms warm but if you where doing something in the snow wouldn’t snow get in them? And yes, they look a wee bit silly and I don’t need much help in that department.) Daddy mentioned that he really liked the pattern from Chapter 5 pattern 1. And I being the glutton for punishment that I am, decided to change them up a bit.

pattern stats:
pattern: Magnificent Mittens – Chapter 5, Pattern 1 by Anna Zilboorg (rav link)
size: to fit 8.5″ hand
yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino less than one skein of 00227 (dark brown contrast color) and 00229 (light heather gray) and .25 Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere 2-ply in mahogany for the lining (I know right? they are niiiice!)
needles: US 4 / 3.5 mm
Started July 31 2009
Completed October 7 2009
raveled here.
notes: mashed Adrian’s fiddlehead mittens with the magnificent mittens pattern that my father picked out. I wanted a thumb gore (think that’s what they are called) but didn’t want to have to figure it out. To make the numbers work I added four extra stitches to the sides. (The column of stitches that run up both sides of the mitten is usually 1mc, 1cc, 1mc. Mine are 2mc, 1cc, 2mc) The fair isle patterning for the thumb is from the fiddlehead chart. I started the first mitten July 31 finished the second Aug 8, it took the pressure of his birthday coming up to get me to start and finish the second mitten, then line both of them.

Daddy really likes his mittens, and I was happy to give them to him in person when the kids and I traveled up for our long Rhinebeck weekend visit. I don’t think Dad knows that I took that picture of him wearing his mittens at Rhinebeck with my phone. He did however keep mentioning how nice they where to have since it was chilly. Which I was happy to hear, however it’s going to be a loooong time before I knit another pair like this. Don’t worry Mom, not that long. Don’t worry about Dad either, there will always be handknits in his future. He would really like a vest next. Cute huh?

Recently I finished a pair of owl mittens for Allysa to match her thorpe hat I just finished for her. Once I saw thea’s I had to knit a pair. While I was taking Allysa’s picture this afternoon she kept saying “Happy Mittens! Happy Mittens!” I think she’s happy with them.

~remember click on any pic in this post to embiggin~

pattern stats:
Pattern: Give a Hoot by Jocelyn Tunney
size: smaller, to fit a 5 year old hands.
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm for the ribbing and US 7 / 4.5 mm for the rest.
yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted 12 yards in little lovely and 46 yards in Roanoke.
Started October 22 2009
Completed October 26 2009
raveled here.
notes: I prefer a looong cuff on my mittens, so it will stay under a sleeve. I didn’t add any length to this cuff, it was already long enough. Also cast on and knit one row with the pink to help tie it together with her hat. Knitting these mittens at a denser gauge gave me just the right size for Allysa’s little hands with a bit of room to grow. I know lots of other knitters have said this but I love the thumbs on these! I didn’t add buttons because I didn’t have any that where small enough, instead I used some of the pink to make little french knots for eyes.

I keep thinking of other mittens or fingerless mitts to knit, but my exhusbands wife is expecting a baby any day now and every baby needs a handknit sweater. I started yesterday even though I’ve known for months, I do hope that baby hasn’t been waiting for its sweater….

PS. phew 7m left of Monday!
PPS. I still have a bit of a cough but much better. yeah Carrie your right it takes forever to go away!
PPPS. I made pumpkin muffins with dark chocolate chips in them today. So.freaking.good. Since they are pumpkin and its dark chocolate they are good for me right??
PPPPS I just realized that I forgot to order that book for Dad…. crap.

Yes, we’re sick. We’re all sick, according to the kids pediatrician the kids have the swine flu. Anyone with these symptoms, (fever of 99.8 not higher, maybe lower), croupy cough, headache and runny noise they are calling it the swine flu. Not confirming it mind you, which makes me wonder if this whole swine flu thing is really bad as they are saying it is. The older kids got it first, and when Allysa starting showing symptoms I called in and asked (demanded, whichever) for tamiflu, she has asthma. She has a bit of a cough and so far hasn’t gotten as sick as the others, Kailey has a cough and runny nose. So far its been pretty mild, and they seem to better. I’ve been filling them with fluids and disinfecting every.thing. And yet, I still got sick.

The one thing they share.

Its pretty darn comforting though is to wrap myself up in a handknit worsted weight shawl (even if it has a bit of cat hair, oyi) with a hot tea, and cuddle with my littlest one. Even better when the shawl is full of memories of previous knits and knitting friends. The multicolored handspun was a prize from Gabby, the green was leftover from Bryce’s drive-thru sweater, and the dark purple is leftover from my February lady sweater. I still haven’t blocked it, so I’m sure it will grow a bit more when I do.

Started July 5 2009
Completed July 29 2009
pattern Feather and Fan comfort shawl.
yarns- Targee DK handspun from the Gabby Knitter, Dream in Color Classy in vino veritas, Queensland Collection Kathmandu DK in 433 foresty green.
needles- US 9 (5.5 mm)
raveled here.

The one freaking thing they share….

PS I’m completely aware that sweatpants and a pink corduroy jacket don’t “go” together.
PPS. I’ve been knitting away on my TTL’s mystery socks because I would really like to finish them before Socktoberfest is over.
PPPS. Not actually going anywhere lends itself to more knitting time. So does ignoring the mountain of laundry cause your sick.
PPPPS. Like my “new” reading glasses? (I say “new” because I’ve had them since August, it has become harder to read the computer screen and other things upclose….)

Why is it that re-entry from any sheep and wool festival is so hard? We make a long weekend out of the occasion since we spend it at my parents house and it gives us some extra time to visit. Especially since we won’t be going back up until Spring. Someone here has learned her lesson about driving 320 miles North during the winter months, there is a very high probability that one will be driving in a Nor’easter. And that’s no fun. I really enjoyed myself this year, there was one purchase that I had been planning for and stopped early. That would be the natural white merino from Greenwood Hill farm. Nothing can beat this stuff, its amazing and after a short convo with the owner not only is it because their sheep are pure breed merino’s its because of their diet too.

and of course a stop at creatively dyed for some sock yarn (like I *need* more), and Autumn house farms where I found the blue bulky for a really great price. Mom and I wondered the barns some more and I picked up some hand dyed roving, and then we met up with Karen and her husband for lunch.

pst, I knit up that little ear warmer real quick its raveled here.

It was a good lunch even though my pot pie kinda sucked. Way too many peas. Some how we missed the meet up again this year, I had it in my head that it was at 1, not 12. Yeah, next year cause I missed seeing bunches of people. Mom and I wondered around some more before Dad came over, I purchased some amazing Cormo from Foxhill farm, which I had no clue was in Lee, 15 min from my parents. I can’t wait to knit with it! We saw Kim at the big sock, both mom and I knit for a bit on it. (Kim will be at stitches east too with the big sock, booth # 526)

We walked around some more and saw the sheepies,

Before we made our last purchases of the day and went home

The kids and I stayed till Tuesday morning before coming home to PA. Boy did I miss sleeping in my bed, and drinking real coffee from a coffee maker not freeze dried astronaut coffee (love you Dad, just not your coffee so much). Its good to be home even though the kids are sick with possibly the swine flu. I sort of disagree with our Dr, since he just read their complaints and said anyone with these complaints they are calling it the swine flu. Their fevers having gone over 100.4 and they have this horrible croupy cough that sounds like bronchitis. I’m pushing liquids like crazy, and am starting to sound like my mother more and more.
Since the kids are sick and we are holed up in our house there has been more knitting,

Allysa’s thorpe, rav link and owl mitts for her too rav link.

the more I knit with this awesome stuff, malabrigo, the more I want a sweater out of it….. even though it will pill like mad..

For the past two-ish months I’ve been spinning, quite a bit. First it was because the 3oz of merino that I dyed with leftover Easter egg dye was sitting there waiting for me to finish it and it has been sitting for a long time. Finally I found the gumption to finish it. Then I wound those singles into a center pull ball and 2-plied it.

never doing that again. It was a major pain. However, from the 6oz of fiber I ended up with two hanks and a total of 303 yards of light-ish worsted yarn in a blinding bright colors. I started a pair of socks awhile ago with the first finished hank, but I’m not sure about them. I might rip it out and work a pair of kid mittens.

Then there was a braid of superwash merino from Sakina needles in the jam sandwich colorway that hopped onto my wheel while I was in between projects and wanted to start my Daddy’s mittens but didn’t really want to….which I have started, finished the outside shells. Put them down to wait for the yarn for linings, now I just have to well, start the linings… anyway….

I truly love how this yarn came out. It was amazing to spin, the fiber was so soft. I’m not sure what I’m going to knit with it, mittens? hat? a cowl? I have 135 yards of worsted weight, navajo plied. (which by the way I’m so happy with how my plies came out!) Then the kids and I started talking about mittens, Bryce said he didn’t really want thrummed mittens anymore and I asked him if I could spin the fiber that we dyed and then make him mittens from that yarn. I was ecstatic when he said yes. Strange when you become a parent that the things that make you incredibly happy are so small.

This almost a DK weight 165 yards and also navajo plied. I love love love how this one came out. It makes me so happy, I want to try to replicate the fiber so I can spin more. Wouldn’t these colors make a fantastic pair of socks? I think this yarn is going to make a fab pair of mittens.

Then because I had to order new yarn for the lining of Daddy’s mittens ( I didn’t like the yarn I ordered the first time, it was a plain grey, and it looked crappy with the tan and dark brown) I started something else to spin…. I grabbed a 4oz braid of Enchanted knoll farm superwash merino in “she sells she sells” from the fiber drawer

and ended up with 165 yards of sport weight again with the navajo plied, its so pretty and soft. Makes me think of ice cream. I have absolutely love how it came out, but have no idea’s on what to use it for.

In the end of 5 weeks of spinning and plying I have a basket of my handspun that makes me feel so very happy.

even if I can’t take a decent picture of it….

can you believe Monday I will have had my wheel for a year? It hardly seems like it.

PS. I dyed more roving to spin, I can’t wait to start on it. But should work on either Daddy’s mittens or Allysa’s sweater for school……
PPS I’m almost done with all my dentist appointments, Thursday I had the implants put it, and holy crap they hurt so much that day, but then today and yesterday I’ve been ok. Then again I haven’t really had any food you would have to chew…. I have to go back to get one crown replaced because the dentist didn’t like how it looked and sent it back to the lab. Then he’ll adjust them all and then I’ll be done.
PPPS sugar free pudding sucks. I bought it by accident, didn’t realize it was sugar free till I ate some and it icky.
PPPPS School starts here in 10 days, part of me is sad that summer is over and the other part of me can’t wait. There is also the part that feels bad that Allysa missed her kindergarten orientation because Kailey was sick.
PPPPPS Can you tell that the dentist gave me painkillers? Even though I only seem to need them at night, they seem to mess with my body the next day too.

poor neglected blog. I’m sorry I’ve left you for so long, I realize that its only been 3 weeks since my last post but it feels like its been forever for me. There has been some traveling, mostly back and forth from my ex’s to pick up the older kids and bring them to their practices or games and then back. It feels like I’m spending a lifetime in the van driving the mom taxi, I keep telling myself its not going to get worse, but it so is with middle school in 2 years for Corra, yikes! I’m still trying to convince Mike that the van would look so much cooler if it had flames. He’s not buying it. Anyway, the kids, Mike and I went up to Western Mass to visit my parents a few weeks ago for my family birthday party. (There is some FO pictures at the end of this post, and there will be more knitting and spinning! posts later.)

A tradition that my Grandmother started when I was little. Instead of sending out birthday presents throughout the year we gather once during the summer and all the kids under 18 get presents. There are cupcakes with the number candles that are used year after year after year. Frighting isn’t it? Look at the giant divot in Bryce’s number 8 candle.

and of course the pinata, which once its broken open my cousins fight over who gets to wear it as a hat. (sorry didn’t get a picture with David with Darth Vader on his head).

If we whine enough there are tractor rides, and if Uncle Bill brings his boat there is always tubing or water skiing (which I missed this year, Kailey was done by that point and very clingy)

But you want to watch a video don’t you?

that probably won’t work, cause I can never get it too, and today I just don’t feel like fighting with it to work. Linkage here.

A trip to my parents is never complete unless we visit the Goat farm and get lots of goat cheese to bring home.

Visits are never long enough, but my back can only take so many nights sleeping on the futon in the basement. Srsly, people if you don’t want your house guests to stay get a futon. (love you mom and dad. hmmm, bet you wonder why you get a pullout couch hehee j/k For some unknown reason Mike really wanted drive the whole way home.

So my in between socks where finished (I was already on the second sock, turned the heel too, since I left the other knitting’s extra yarn at home (crazy me thought I wouldn’t get that much knitting time ha!)) during the frigging 9 hour drive home.

stat’s:
Started June 30 2009
Completed July 21 2009
yarn- 256.2 yards  of sKnitches Syncopation Self-Striping in Ocrhard Stripe purchased from the sweet sheep.
needles- US 2 / 2.75 mm
pattern- CO 52 sts worked a longer k2, p2 cuff.
raveled here.

Mike drives a lot slower than I do.

PS. I started the mittens I promised Dad for his birthday last year. I have half of the last one to go. Then onto the linning.
PPS. That’s the only thing I’m actively knitting right now, because if I start something new I’ll never finish the mittens. Maybe that’s why I’ve been spinning like crazy….

I don’t know what it is about me and worsted or DK weight yarn, and lace shawls. I love it. Absolutely love it. I don’t know if its because they knit so much faster, or if its because they are so much warmer. Mostly I wear them bunched up under my jacket right under my chin in the winter time.  Sometimes even just over a t-shirt. Granted it might go quickly for me because I have yet to knit a ginormous shawl, and also *ahem* knit a lace shawl with real lace weight yarn, not fingering. However, I do love the heavier look of the yarn with the lace.

This yarn, omg do I love this yarn. All the colors, the blues, the purple, and a little bit of green in there too. Makes me wanna call up the yarn lounge in Richmond to order more. Sweater’s worth, cause its that frigging gorgeous. When I was down there last summer and picked up this yarn I had a feeling that it would be perfect for this shawl. I do have a little bit left over, less than half the ball. I think it will make a nice accent on a yoke sweater. Like the wave chart or something similar to that.

Loved knitting this shawl, after the first couple of rows the pattern became intuitive. When I first read the pattern and Susan had wrote that markers where not needed because you could see any problems quickly. I really did giggle and think oh, heck not me! But she was right, very right. When I made a mistake I knew right at the end of the row, that and markers just don’t work with this lace pattern. Great pattern. I’ve knit a few shawls, but this one was definitely easy and beautiful too. hmmm, I would enter it in the fair if I wasn’t going to be away this weekend!

raveled here.
Pattern: Forest Canopy Shawl by Susan Lawrence (rav link, also available here though the designers blog)
Yarn: 0.68 Plain & Fancy Sheep & Wool Co. Sport in blue variegated purchased at The Yarn Lounge in Richmond, Virginia
Needle: US 7 / 4.5 mm
Started April 7 2009
Completed April 22 2009
notes: added an extra repeat. I love a good shoulder shawl.

I might have started another shawl… a few days ago, I’m hoping this one will be ginormous. Some rows are threatening to kill me … even though right now I’m itching to start another sweater.

more on that one later, raved here.  cause I realized on Sunday that its this weekend that my family reunion is going on, and I have lots of laundry to get done. Not to mention it might help if I knew where the suitcases are. That, and might need to get ready before Thursday….. since I have to leave here on Friday….

PS. My yard is a giant mudpit. See. I’m trying not to feel all panicky, tomorrow morning at 8am the big half rotted tree at the end of our drive is coming down. I wish I wasn’t going to be home for that.
PPS. I might have purchased some new yarn tonight for a new shawl. Yeah, when you use yarn from the stash you must replace the stash, three fold.

I need to get caught up on these FO’s let’s start with the socks, oldest finished one’s first.

-Muddy Nutkins for Diane. I picked up the yarn for these guys at the SOAR market this past Fall, when I showed it to Diane she was, well all over it! I knew then that’s what I would use for her Christmas present. They didn’t get done exactly on time for Christmas, or mailed exactly on time either, no I didn’t just mail them out last week either! I think I mailed them out after I finished them in March, along with goodies of course. She loves them and they fit!

(click to embiggen)
raveled here.
Pattern: Nutkin by Beth LaPensee
yarn: Pagewood Farm Denali Hand Dyed Sock Yarn in mississippi mud
needles: US 1½ / 2.5 mm
Started December 29 2008 and Completed March 1 2009
notes: Worked a picot cuff instead of a ribbed one, and worked a purl row on needles 2 & 3 before starting the toe decreases. Someday I’ll be knitting a pair of these for myself, the yarn was awesome to work with, the color beautiful and the pattern is very intuitive. These where hard to mail off, but the recipient is totally worth it!

-Vintage Monkey’s, oyi. I know these where started sometime in the Spring of ‘08. One sock was finished and then well, the other one wasn’t. It languished until the Spring of these year where I started it and finished it in a few days. I love the colors in this colorway, and how it all knit up. The yarn is a little bit soft, I’m wondering how the toes will wear.

raveled here.
Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.
yarn: Pigeonroof Studios KALYPSO sock yarn in vintage purchased from yarn4socks. (on sale btw, I love the reason’s they have for  sales)
needles: me thinks US 1 / 2.25 mm (but it might have been a 1.5, I don’t think so but might be.)
notes: I think the reason it took me so long to finish the second sock was monkey burnout, this was my third pair of monkeys. Even with that when I was finishing the second sock I thought “I really should start another pair of these….”

-Crabby McHappyCablepants, I ordered yarn from blue moon for a baby sweater and ya know, it cost the same to ship 3 hanks as it does 1. So… I ordered 3.. .and this just screamed to be knit quickly and into a pair of staggered cabled rib socks.

raveled here.
pattern: my own. My crazy notes are on my rav project page, maybe someday I’ll polish it up more… right… if your not on rav but what the notes so you can knit socks like these drop me a line and I’ll email you them.
yarn: .56 of a hank of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock – Mediumweight in Crabby McHappypants (hehheehee love this name! Makes me think of a nickname I have for Mike ; )
needles: US 2½ / 3.0 mm
Started May 2 2009
Completed May 7 2009
notes: these worked up very quickly on the 2.5’s, 5 days for a pair of socks! I do like the fabric that it created, its dense but not not too much so.

-socks on the go, these socks where mostly knit in the car, sometimes in the house when I had time to knit but not start a new project (I have to be able to knit a few rows when I start a new project or else I feel very cranky). I started these so I would have something to knit last year during Girl Scout camp. These took a little more than a year to knit.

raveled here.
pattern: plain vanilla sock, cast on 64sts worked as many k2, p2 for as I felt like then switched to straight stockinette for as long as I wanted then a short row heel, knit for length of foot then standard toe. Tis’ the way a traveling sock goes. Easy peasy.
yarn: Yarntini Variegated Sock in cosmopolitan purchased by Mike for me from yarn4socks.
needles: US 1 / 2.25 mm
Started June 17 2008
Completed June 22 2009

It hasn’t been a flurry of finished  knits over here, there has been plenty of casting on….

raveled here. Yarn was a gift from Carol a few years ago, she used all the colors from my blogspirit blog. I LOVE how this is knitting up! I was going to knit a plain stockinette sock, but after seeing how it knits up I might work something like outside in.

raveled here. Started these up the other night before my Dentist appointment, 1st of 5. Thrilled am I. So far I have had 2 appointments and the office has been either running right on time or early so I haven’t had a chance to knit there! I have a lot of dental work that has to be done, if I wouldn’t have put off going to the dentist for so long I wouldn’t have so much work, that and a lot of the work that I’ve had done by a previous dentist has to be redone. My new dentist gave me a mouthwash to use until a few months after all the work is done, mmm not so tasty.

PS my yard is going to become a giant mud pit next week, no not from all the rain. Holy crap don’t get me started on the rain mmmk? We’re having “some” excavating work done, the driveway is going to be moved over a few feet so its not right up next to the house. That means the hillside needs to be graded back 8 feet, all the dirt from that is going to be moved into the back yard and graded down so its flat(er) and the “garage” is going, so no more pictures with that great brick background. Mike and his brother where busy today emptying out all the “keep” stuff.
PPS Emily Jane is moving right along,

I have to pick up another ball of Noro Chirimen, the sleeves must match, if they are a row or two off I’m ok with that, but the stripes must be the same.  My last ball didn’t have two repeats of the blue/grey so I need another ball if the cuffs are going to match. Also, I’m not sure about the sleeve length I do love it, but don’t know if I’ll love it while I’m wearing it. Still thinking of closures, crochet button loops and wood square buttons are up most on my mind.
PPPS I have red, yellow flags all over my front yard, along with white, blue and red spray painted lines marking all the underground utilities. I don’t know if it was the call before you dig that prompted the local water company to replace my curbside shut off today, but they replaced it this afternoon. I was planning on doing some laundry, and washing the floors but instead enjoyed some knitting time. The horror of it all.

yes, I’m giddy about a new yarn. Yes, I’m wondering about my current mental status too. But its great new yarn, and I was able to go to the yarn shop all by myself (I say that with so much pride in my head its strange). It was amazing, it was odd, it took me forever to make up my mind! I conned my SIL into watching my two youngest kids, while the older two where at their Dad’s so I could run away for a few hours and have some me time and run up to Stitch your Art out to hit up their anniversary sale (6 years, congrats!) . It was wonderful, it was awesome, it was really odd to be driving an empty mini van. Kept feeling like I was missing something important.

I came home with 6 balls of Noro chirimen, and an orphan ball of Jo Sharp silkroad aran tweed in a beautiful blackberry color, that’ll make a Christmas gift later, maybe. I’ve been wanting to knit a top down raglan with some kinda striping yarn, and since the chirimen was on sale, and it sounds like it would be great for chilly nights this summer and fall.  I’m calling it Emily Jane. Emily after the character in the trashy romance novel I’m reading and Jane because I think it sounds sweet with Emily (don’t you think so Mom?; )

I’m going to add a shawl collar/edge thing to it, I’ll share my notes when I’m done. I’m hoping I’ll have enough yarn. I think there is some magic way of figuring out how much yarn you need for a project but I have NO idea how its done. Maths elude me, among a great many things. This sweater in progress will be accompanying me to the dentist tomorrow, I’m very apprehensive, there is a lot of work to be done and I’m trying not to over think it. It needs to be done and I need to quit whining and worrying and just go do it.

Anyway, the knitting. I finished two baby sweaters last week for two mom’s who recently had baby boys.

more pictures on flickr starting here

Now, before you think I’m super speedy lil blue sweater (my rav project page)  was started back in May. While I was knitting it, I thought “why don’t I increase up to the larger size? ” The pattern I was using seamless yoked baby sweater is written for sport and I used worsted (Knit picks swish worsted in deep ocean on US size 7’s). And I ran out of yarn with just the sleeves to do so I put it down until I ordered more. The only reason it was picked back up was because I really wanted to finish and gift it before softball was done and over for the season. Since it was for Corra’s one coach and the lady who took over my brownie troup new baby boy. Well, it came out to be about a 2T/3T size, he’ll grow into it sooner or later! The second sweater, the BSJ (my rav progect page) is knit for a friend who just had a baby boy I need to hurry up and mail it before he grows out of it. I used US 5’s and a little less then a skien of STR medium weight in Iolite.

Tonight was Corra’s mother daugheter softball game. It was great fun, more fun than last year. The girls where cheating horribly thanks to their third base coach telling them to steal bases before the ball was pitched. Corra made the All-Star team so softball is going on a little bit longer for us this year. Bryce wanted to play flag football, I’m extremly greatful that it only last a month. Anyway, it was great fun having the softball coaches line up at home plate and letting the girls pelt them with water balloons! mahhahahhaaa.