sheep in the city

Family fun...

*this hat was knit with Tatamy Tweed in the Carnation Tweed colorway. The pattern is from the book Itty Bitty Hats.

Well, I survived the drive to Missouri to my family reunion...and I've been telling everyone that the most well-behaved "person" on the trip was my brothers dog Oreo. Seriously. That dog is so well trained, he didn't make one noise on the whole drive across Kansas. You would think he had been drugged, but no, he just loves to be in his kennel. The whole trip was a bit of a whirlwind. We drove all day on Friday, arrived in the evening, hung out with family on Saturday and Sunday, then drove home all day on Monday. This side of my family, my Dad's side, is rather large. He has 5 brothers and 1 sister. Adding them all up, I have 29 first cousins. More than half of them came. Of those 29 first cousins...about half of them now have children of their own, 37 kids to be exact. This was definitely a rowdy reunion with kids running around everywhere! Tons of fun.

*this is little Liam, just one of the grubby kids crawling around, getting all kinds of dirty...but having so much fun!*

While we were all gathered together, we took the opportunity to have a baby shower for my cousin who is adopting a little girl from Russia. The hat pictured above was knit for her special little girl, who if all things go well, should be here in a month or two! Another one of the really special times was on Sunday morning when my Dad preached a message and then all the family had a neat share time. Let's just say, many tears were shed. It was very special. I never get tired of hearing my Dad speak.

I did get to knit quite a bit on this trip. Yes, the picture above is my Sienna Cardigan...and that is the collar that I am knitting! That is the last thing that I have to do before setting in the sleeves and seaming up the sides. Am I excited...umm, yes, just a little! I can't wait for this sweater to be off the needles.

I didn't get a chance to visit any of my favorite knit shops in KC, but no trip would be complete without a little sheepy/knitting memento. This one was found in a unlikely place...a shoe store! Check out my new kicks. Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star Low Tops...with sheep on them! (click here for a close-up of the black sheep!) It seems like you can order these shoes directly through the converse website.

*Edited to add...you can also order them here from Zappos! Thanks Christy!

When I arrived home, there was a big box waiting for me, filled with knitterly goodness...I'll tell you all about it tomorrow!