sheep in the city

Camp Wannaknitknit

Oh what fun it is to hang out with friends and do nothing but knit all weekend. Just imagine. That's totally how the weekend went. We stayed in a little cabin:

Hold the phone...not that little! This was a little cabin that the owners had built for their grandkids to play in. It was so cute though, and totally didn't look that small until you had a normal size person out by it! Our cabin was gorgeous and it made for the perfect atmosphere to be comfy and relaxed.

This was the view off the porch...nothing much out there but trees and mountains. And rumors of bears. Just the week before there was a bear on the porch of the cabin, and I have to say that I was both glad and a little disappointed that we didn't spot one. What a great story that would have been! More tomorrow on what was knit and what was in those goodie bags I've been hinting about!

So much to talk about, so little time...

There is a definite plus side to rearranging everything in your house. All of a sudden you find that you have containers for yarn that you never thought of before. The big shabby cabinet above used to live in the dining room with antique baby plates and cups in it. I needed the space, so I packed up the antiques and thought, "why not put yarn in there? Duh!" I'm so glad that I did, I just love the antique look, but now it's filled with yarny goodness. Of course, no space can go wasted, so I've got more yarn in the buckets on top of the cabinet. Click here for a close-up!

I picked up these cute little sheepy guys a few weeks ago at Colorful Yarns. One is for needles and the other is to be added to my growing sheep coffee mug collection. The needle jar is already being put to good use housing all my wooden straight needles. The pottery is handmade by a local artist and I do love supporting local artists!

This weekend is going to be fun, fun, fun! Some of the knitting girls and I are heading for the mountains and our version of knitting camp, known to those around here as Camp Wannaknitknit. This is the third year in a row that we've done this, and it's truly one of the highlights of the year for me. There is going to be nothing but lots of knitting and laughter. We've outdone ourselves this year on the goodie-bags. This tradition all started the first year when I decided to make party favors for everyone. So, I made little zippered notions bags and votive candles for all the attendants. Then, the second year, Cynthia asked me, "what are we going to make this year?" To which I replied, "what's this we business you speak of?" So I did have more help with things the second year. Well...the planning began months in advance for the goodies this year. All will be revealed after the weekend is over. (I don't want to ruin the surprise after all!) I'll be internet-free from Thursday through Sunday...which means no Ravelry, no email, no blog...nothing but knit! I'm hoping to buckle down and finish a few things that are so close to being done. Cross your fingers for me folks. AND...I think that I may have been bitten by a sock bug because I have the overwhelming urge to cast on a sock...weird huh? This probably is due in large part to the amount of time that I have been spending on Ravelry looking at super cute pictures of finished socks. Alrighty...have a great weekend everyone!

I love it all!

No time to chat...but can I just say that I love it all!

...and so does Jesse!!

**edited to add**
This is the Avalon set from Furniture Row. I love that place. It's where I have purchased most of the furniture in my house. (if you click on the link and then scroll over the place where it says 3 piece room group, you'll see the color that I bought) I just love one stop shopping!

Up in the air...

That's what my life feels like these days. Everything is a little off balance. My parents have put their house on the market, so I've been spending a lot of time over there helping them with odd jobs. My roommate moved out at the end of June, and my friend Genia is moving in with me at the start of August. (yay Genia! I can't wait!) She and I just bought a whole new living room set of furniture last Sunday, which I'm super excited about. But...I had to get rid of all the old stuff and then I started moving things upstairs and to the basement and all over the place...so now the living room isn't the only room in disrepair. Everything is out of place. Genia and I will be steaming the carpet tonight to get the place ready for the furniture to be delivered on Friday. Oh....and I haven't mentioned it...but my sister and her family are selling their townhouse and buying a bigger place in preparation for...wait for it...a new baby! This will make niece or nephew #3. They started using one half of my garage as a temporary storage unit, which is fine...but just means one more part of my house that is in disarray. Have I ever mentioned that I don't really like chaos? Things are going to wind down here soon, I know that, but for the time being the knitting and blogging are going to be a bit sporadic. (Ummm, are you thinking that they've already been sporadic, so how much more sporadic can they get?! I am?!) Hopefully things will calm down after this weekend when my house is back to normal.

Mmmm...lemondrops. My drink of choice these days. (I think I've had like 4 of them in my lifetime...but still, go with me here!) Although this one was a little too martini-ish and not enough candy-ish. I had dinner with my mom the other night and did a little furniture arranging/planning. Thus, the picture above.

One thing that I am totally excited about though...is that Cynthia is coming to town! Yay! One week and my S.Y.T.Y.C.D.-watching friend (that's So You Think You Can Dance, for those that don't watch this show. And why aren't you watching it?!) will be here in the flesh. We don't have to discuss who should get voted off by IMing each other...we can have a real life conversation about it! (maybe even watch it together...can that fit into the schedule Cynth?)

**yes that is my goofy Dad, "pretending" to knit. He's the last hold out in my family on learning to knit. We were at a staff lunch the pther day and I pulled out my knitting, someone asked him if he thought he'd ever be able to knit without looking at it, like me, and so he posed for this picture. What a goofball!**

In the best news ever category...my Dad is still going through Chemo therapy down at MD Anderson and he is responding very well to treatment! His PSA level has dropped 50% since he started and the last bone scan showed some "flaring" in the bone...which to a non-medical person means that the bone shows some re-growth...i.e. healing. That is great news!

The midnight knitters!

Kim, Michaele, and I all braved the crowds and teenagers and went to a midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on Tuesday night. It was an adventure. There were quidditch matches and people "flying" around on their brooms. They would tear down the stairs, across the front of the theater, and then go out the door. Of course everyone was cheering them on. (not us though, we were too busy knitting) My favorite moment of the 4.5 hours that we waited in the theater was when two boys, who I'd guess were supposed to be Harry and Draco, were fighting in the front. It was very amusing. Wands in hand, casting spells at each other. Speaking of wands...

Kim brought her own wand along. She has the exact replica of Sirius Black's wand. You can get one too! Being that there were only a handful of people our age in the theater, we all knew that it was going to be a long and loud wait. To a knitter though, having 4.5 hours of time to sit and knit and chat with friends is a great thing. Overall, I was happy and entertained with the movie, and that is what I care about when I go see a film. I want to be entertained. I'll definitely be going to see this one again soon.

On a random note...right away I noticed that we were all sporting our Lexie Barnes "Lady B" bags. So fun!

Jesse, you can love the Tilli Tomas...

...just don't love the Tilli Tomas. So, I received a skein of Tilli Tomas Disco Lights from Tiffany for my birthday last month. This got me to thinking, hmmm, I have wanted to make the Sahara top for a while now. Low and behold, look what shows up at the shop last weekend! How did that happen?! (wink, wink)

I bought the color called Hibiscus, and it's a gorgeous pink with a little orange thrown in. Perfect in my opinion. Guess who else has a fascination with this yarn? You guessed it, Jesse!

Right after I took this picture, I yanked the yarn out from under him so he wouldn't damage it. I mean, I love my cat, but he's not going to make a cat mat out of the 100% silk yarn I just bought! This yarn is going to go into the stash until I have some serious finishing done. It will be a reward to myself...actually finish a sweater and then I get to cast on with luxurious fibers. Ahem, we'll see how long I can stick to it!

I think I have a case of the Mondays.

Wanna see what I've been knitting on lately? I've been madly knitting on projects that are going to be class samples. Gotta get them done. Then I can get back to my sweater projects that I desperately want to get done...Ariann, Sienna Cardigan, and Jawbreaker, just to name a few.

These are the Baby Snugs from the company Pick Up Sticks. If you haven't seen their projects before...go check them out. So cute! The down-side to this pattern though, is that you knit 2 boots and then you have to knit 2 complete boot liners. Hmmm. 4 boots total. They will be super cute when they're done and after they do their duty as a class sample, they'll be a perfect Christmas gift for Alice!

Elizabeth Zimmerman's February Sweater. I was totally inspired by the version that Brooklyn Tweed knit up not too long ago. Simply gorgeous. I have been looking for a reason to knit with the Pakucho Organic cotton that recently came into the shop...this seems like the perfect pairing! If you haven't seen this yarn in person yet, let me tell you, it feels wonderful. Super soft and all in natural colors.

**Click on the picture for a closeup**
By now everyone has heard the buzz on the Mystery Stole 3. Here's my pathetic showing so far. I love the color I've chosen. I love my beads. I just haven't spent the time knitting it that I should. We are already 2 clues in and I haven't even knit through half of the first clue! Ahhh! Must get knitting on this!

Tune in tomorrow for an update on what happens when Jesse meets Tilli Tomas.

Do you have a needle gnome?

Because I do!! Check out the cuteness that Jeni got me for my birthday! I can't quit using them...it's like I'm finding projects that I have to use stitchmarkers for just so that I can use them! On Friday when she gave them to me...I totally told the group that I was knitting with that each little face had such personality. A bunch of them laughed...but it's true! Look at the little guy on the far right. Doesn't he look so worried?! It's almost like he's worried that I'll drop a stitch, or forget to increase. I haven't named them yet...but you know that I will!

Are you are wondering where you can get some of your very own?! Designs By Tami, that's where! She's got all kinds of fun stitchmarkers and knitting needles too!

Happy Birthday Liam!

My nephew turned 1 today! I can't believe it's already been a year. What a cutie. I'll leave you with some of my favorite pics!

Liam and Alice opening gifts in their matchy-matchy outfits. So cute! Big sister was a great helper with opening the gifts...wink wink.

Liam playing with the gift that I got him. A book of course...and he's doing exactly what he's supposed to! (of course, I told my sister that this means that he is a baby genius!)

Liam tore into his little cake and made a total mess. It was awesome!

This is probably my favorite picture that I took. He's sitting in this little blue tunnel, with the biggest grin on his face. What a cutie! Happy Birthday Liam!!