Start building the ark

That's what my dad used to say when it rained all day. Nonstop. For hours on end. With no end in sight.

Looks like I'll get to wear my scarf and mitt set after all. I love, love, love this yarn!! So pretty. I finished the first one Sunday night, started the second one yesterday. I wanted them to match, so I had to get another skein just in case. While there I bought the pink to make.....SOCKS!! Yes, I will try socks. Yes, I will.

March Postcard Swap

I have been remiss in posting pics of my cards from the Project Spectrum Postcard Swap. My pal was Barbara. We got these in the mail about a week ago. Aren't they beautiful? Two very special cards handmade by Barbara, one for me and one for Noey. Plus some pretty handmade butterfly stickers for Noey. Thank you Barbara!! I really appreciate all the time and thought that went into these, and I love that you included Noey! That's really special!

Special note to Tracey: Hi!! I got my Moda Dea yarn at Michael's some time ago. I need more too....I've seen it online at Joanns.com and knitting-warehouse.com. If I find it anywhere I'll let you know.

Noey's show was great!! She did so well. Her hat was a little too big and kept falling over her eyes, but that just made it cuter!
I'm just so proud of her!! I don't think I could've gone up on stage and performed in front of 5000 people when I was her age. Gosh, I couldn't do it now!

Life Goes On

Thank you all for your comments about my Circular Shrug. It is really cute, isn't it? Oh well, life goes on.

After this fiasco, I started thinking about all of my knitting projects. Were they going to be right for me? Is it realistic to finish them? Having so many WIP's was making me anxious, so I frogged a couple!

The red Cotton Ease Easy Raglan Pullover is no more. I also frogged the gray Wool Ease Vintage Bolero. While it was easy to frog the pullover.....I had started it a very long time ago, and my knitting skills were not so hot, I did have some pangs of regret over the Vintage Bolero. I had put a lot of work into that one.

So in keeping with my quest to alleviate my anxiety, I finished the Striping Scarf last night. This one was started a while back too, and has been sitting at the bottom of my knitting bag. It didn't take long to finish, and I immediately started a pair of Fingerless Mitts to match.

I don't know if I'll get any use out of this set anytime soon. Early in the week it was COLD!! I was wearing a scarf and mitts to work on Monday. By weeks end it was HOT!!! Over 80 degrees!

I just love the colors and the striping effect. It's hard to see, but there is a little pattern.
I used 2 skeins and a tiny bit of a third, of Moda Dea Sassy Stripes in Crayon.

I was all set to frog Klaralund. I had found a top down cardigan pattern to use the Silk Garden. But then I started looking at the colors, and how pretty it is, and I just couldn't bring myself to frog it.

So my current WIP's are:

1. Sitcom Chic - the body looks really good, I frogged the first sleeve.

2. Clapotis - got to the 7th dropped stitch before it got put on hold....still thinking about this one. Will I actually wear it?

3. Klaralund - it's safe for now!

4. Circular Afghan for my parents - lost my momentum on this one after Christmas was over.

5. Fingerless Mitts - should be done this weekend.

Whew! That's much more manageable. I don't have that anxious feeling hanging over me.

Tonight is Noey's dance recital. This will be her second recital, and last for a while. She's decided not to take dance this time around, because it "cuts into her playtime"...that's what she told me!
We had dress rehearsal yesterday afternoon. They are all so cute! It's really a big deal. The recital is at the Armstrong Theatre in Torrance. You have to stand in line for tickets, and they sell out fast. Fortunately I was able to talk my friend Lisa into standing in line for us (we happened to be in San Diego the weekend tickets went on sale) and we got great seats!

I'm bummed...

Well, the Circular Shrug is finished. I've worked pretty consistently on this since February 25. I haven't worked on anything else this whole past month, although I've desperately wanted to. Last night I finished up, seamed up the arms holes, tried her on.....too small!
Looks really cute on Mabel, doesn't it? Too bad it doesn't look good on me!! I'm so bummed. I put so much time and effort into this.

This is what it looked like before I seamed it. It was really an easy project to do; 26 rows of 2x2 rib on either side, and 22 inches of mock ribbing in the middle, just a tad tedious. And apparently I'm not so good with the calculations like I thought.
I'm not really sure where I should have made changes. I can't decide whether to frog it, give it to my niece, or save it for when I lose that weight!!

The back view with you know who! Mabel even looks good from the back!

In other knitting news, I started working on Sitcom Chic again (although my confidence has been shaken!) I took a good long look at the first sleeve and decided it wasn't up to par, so I frogged it and started over again.

And the really big news is one of my coworkers is pregnant, due in August! Yeah! I've been wanting to knit some baby clothes. She's having a girl, so I'm going to make the Baby Bolero from One Skein and a matching hat from AlterKnits. I bought some pale yellow Cotton Tots, not sure if it's what I really want.

The Party's Over!

***WARNING - Lots of pictures - No knitting content!***

What an exciting week we had! We celebrated Noey's birthday 3 times, and managed to pull off the Surpise party!!

On Thursday I went to Noey's class after lunch with donuts (her choice). We all sang Happy Birthday, and then Mrs. Gutierrez shooed them right back into the classroom! Well, that 5 minutes was exciting!

We had dinner at my parent's house Thursday night. Noey chose her favorite meal - Auntie Rae's Spaghetti and my mom made a delicious chocolate bear cake. It was soooo good.....I usually don't like cake, but this one was yummy!

My mom made this memory quilt for her. She used fabric from outfits that either she or I made for Noey. It's just beautiful, and so much fun to look at all the different fabrics and remember the clothing, including birthday outfits, her baptism dress, Easter dresses, etc.

I have been worrying about the Surprise party all week. It had been raining and rain was predicted for Saturday. Rain = NO JUMPER! But we woke up Saturday morning to beautiful blue skies! I was so excited and anxious I could hardly keep myself occupied until it was time to go. I couldn't even knit!!

I sat in the backseat with Noey on the ride over so I could catch her reaction on videotape. Sweet, innocent Noey didn't even think it was odd that I was back there with her!!

Noey was speechless when we pulled up and she saw the jumper! She had a huge grin on her face, but couldn't speak!! We opened the front door, and her friends yelled "Happy Birthday"! Her expression was priceless. She was so happy!

I had a craft for the girls, and we played one game, but they just wanted to jump, and jump, and jump!!

She's known Hannah (the tallest one standing) since she was 6 months old, Bailey (far right) since she was 2 years old, and Nicole (seated next to her) went to preschool with her. The two little ones on the left, Ava and Monica, are the younger sisters, whom we've known since they were born.
My mom got a Care Bears cake from Mayer's Bakery....it was a big hit! (although very sweet!)

I think the jumper was the best part. Noey wanted to spend all her time in it, and we had a hard time getting her out to go home!

Thank you all for your Birthday wishes! I read each one to Noey, and she was thrilled!!

Happy Birthday Noelle!

Six short years ago my beautiful baby girl was born!

Project Noelle

The countdown has begun!! Only 2 more days until the actual birthday, and 4 more days until the Surprise Party!
This is what I've been working on for the past week or so. (that and trying to get over this darn cold!)

This is so much fun!! I've been sneaking around, shopping while Noey is at school, hiding things all over the house! I can't wait to see Noey's face when we pull up at my parents' house and she sees the jumper!! Of course, my mom is going to get all the credit for the party! "Hey, grandma got me a jumper for my birthday!!"

I have been doing a little bit of knitting. My Circular Shrug is coming along....slowly. I have about 5 more inches of mock ribbing, then 5" of 2x2 rib, and then it's done!
In honor of Project Spectrum, I'm using my PINK knitting bag and wearing my PINK camouflage Converse!

I'm home sick today, so I'm hoping to get a lot more knitting done.

A Good Weekend for Knitting

Compared to last weekend, this weekend was pretty boring. When Noey suggested we go to McDonald's PlayPlace yesterday afternoon, I jumped at the chance. Now 2 years ago, before I started knitting, I would've dreaded it.....too crowded and loud for my taste. But now it's an opportunity to get in some uninterrupted knitting. (if you can stand the stares of the non-knitting public!) It's still crowded and noisy, but I was able to make a lot of progress on some Fingerless Mitts for moi. I'm using the rest of my Rowan Cork that my first secret pal, Karen, sent me. I really like the feel of this yarn, too bad it's been discontinued. I would like to make myself a matching scarf if I could find more of this color.

I finished the first one this morning in the church nursery. Joe is here today (which is highly unusual) so he's keeping Noey occupied. They're playing Dolphin and Nemo, while watching some car race, giving me some blogging time, and hopefully more knitting time this afternoon.

I'm into instant gratification lately. I just can't seem to stick with the big projects for long. I still have the Circular Shrug and Sitcom Chic (not to mention Klaralund, Clapotis, several other WIP's) waiting for me. I think I must be a slow knitter. I just can't whip out a sweater as fast as some of you.
I am working on all PINK this month for Project Spectrum. I'm not in the mood for Red, and I don't have much red in my stash anyway.

Project Spectrum has begun!

It's so fun cruising Blogland and seeing everyone's projects.

I have a feeling I'll be working on this one project for the whole month of March. Once again I have chosen a project that is very tedious! The good news is I learned the Mock Rib stitch. It's very easy, but took me a while to figure out!
My other project for this month is also shown in this picture. Noelle will be 6 in 14 days! I'm planning a small surprise party for her. It's been rather challenging making all the plans without her finding out......she's always with me!