Meet my new niece, Muffin!

R & R

This past weekend my husband and I had a little getaway on the North Shore (Lake Superior) and stayed at our favorite resort. The weather was perfect so we ventured out and did some snowshoeing and hiking on the Superior Hiking Trail. I feel like I'm in a different part of the world when I go there. It's simply breathtaking!
We also managed to sleep in, watch movies (uninterrupted), grill steaks, drink wine, surf the web and I was able to get a little knitting done. Simply divine!

Here is my progress on the skirt. I think this will be one of those projects I'll just have to pick up when I have some time, knit a row, then set down. It's really going to take a long time...

It felt like spring was in the air today. Lots of sloppy puddles everywhere and dirty snowbanks. Not so pretty. I can't wait to see spring flowers.
I've been working on a few fun "spring" patterns by Marie Mayhew- Easter eggs and chicks. I still need to felt and embellish them but here is a sneak peak:

He Strikes Again!

You would have thought this mommy would have learned her lesson. Markers in reach of an unsupervised budding artist is just not such a good idea. Here are the latest victims which all were defaced within 15 minutes:

The Piano

Train table (maybe he was adding some waves)

He's gotta thing for windowsCash register (also note the cheerios shoved in the credit card thingy)

At least it was his cooktop, not mine

Even poor Mickey got a makeover

(**Sigh** Again!)
At least the weapon was a washable Crayola marker and a purple dry erase marker which made it a little less dramatic for me.

On a happy note my yarn arrived!

I love, love, love this yarn. It is so soft and that makes me sooo happy. I was a little nervous about ordering something online that I have never touched. I do NOT like itchy, scratchy apparel. [Right Trace? ;-)] I want to kiss whoever invented the tagless shirts. So anyways I eagerly began the Fringed Skirt from Cables Untangled and if you had read my previous post you will also know that I have not attempted cables. After 7 rows (I don't even want to know how many hours), approximately 1,095 stitches I stopped. It just didn't look like the picture and I couldn't figure out what was going on. What I love about knitting is that if I get stuck on something I just put it down and come back to it after some time has passed and ta-da suddenly it comes to me. I did that with this skirt and realized I was reading the pattern wrong! Who invented this way of reading cable patterns? From right to left and then left to right with a repeat in between but don't include the first and last stitch? It...takes...my...full...concentration! I can't even chew gum while doing this pattern. So I frogged it and I've started over. But I will win. You may not see pictures until next year.

*Make it a great day!

A Whole lotta nothin...

Not a whole lot going on the needles lately. I've needed to play catch up with the checkbook so I have stayed out of my LYS. Trying to use the stash. I have been visiting the library often though. I've requested many knitting books and am really enjoying this one. I have never cabled yet but just the other day I decided to dive right in with the Fringed Skirt. Wish me luck. Lots of cables. I'm not very good at substituting yarn when it comes to patterns and the yarn Melissa calls for in this particular pattern is discontinued....ha! but not on ebay. Yipee. Got a good deal too:) It should be here within 5 days. Just hope I like the color.

I did manage to finish this drop stitch scarf. I used Dune by Trendsetter Yarns. Now just trying to figure out how to wear it and what to wear it with. Do you knit with an outfit in mind or do you go buy an outfit to coordinate with what you knit?



I have other legitimate excuses for not knitting lately. I've been busy planning my daughter's eighth birthday party:

spending more time digi scrapping, playing why's (that's his word for airplanes) with my son. By the way, I'm contemplating using this blog to share my scrapbook layouts since that is another hobby that consumes many of my precious after-kids-are-in-bed time.

February is a crazy busy month for me: {Heart} day, birthday, "I Love to Read" month at school, conferences, mini-vacation, Wednesday church, etc. I like it when March arrives.