Selfie Saturday...and yarn!

In preparation for last weekend's Woolapalooza, I went back to read my recap post from 2013. I'm really glad I did that, because I had set a goal for myself last year and then completely forgotten about it...lol! Anyway, what I proposed last year was this, 

"I think it will be my goal next year to get as many pictures with old and new friends as humanly possible! It'll be like an extra WIP (Work In Progress) for the next Palooza!" 

Since I still thought it sounded like a good plan, off I set, ready for Selfie-palooza 2014.

Now, up until last Saturday, I hadn't taken many selfies. Well, I've taken a couple, but they've usually been so goofy that I just deleted them immediately. I don't have as many selfie skillz as I have knitting skillz...still, I gave it a shot! I took horizontal selfies...

...and vertical selfies.

There were shots that were off center...

...some that were heavy duty...

...and some that were simply angelic!

There were photos with new friends...

...and photos with young friends...

...and photos with friends that I wish I saw more often!

There was even one selfie that was faceless...just yarn that we were purchasing at the same time! (Sometimes, when friends are shy, you do what you have to do!)

In short (too late, I know), there were lots of selfies last Saturday! And, speaking of yarn, there was a bit of that too! There was yarn for a bulky sweater KAL...

...and yarn for socks and Barbie clothes...

...and yarn for two, count 'em TWO shawl knitalongs!

Most of us had our "three bags full" of yarn by the time we left. Heck! This photo was taken well before we were even close to leaving!

I think the CKW gals went just a little crazy at the Fiber Show...lol! 

On our feet for hours, we did sit down occasionally...

...finally stopping for some knitting time at the end of the day.

Eventually, a couple of hours later than usual (I think ours were nearly the last cars on the parking lawn this year), we finally headed home. Here's my haul, for the record:

Pictured above are a pink sweater; grey and blue, sport-weight, snow-shoveling socks with contrast for heels and toes; various Barbie clothes and regular socks; a Brickless KAL shawl; and several pair of Knit-Lights, light-up knitting needles. Why light-up needles? Well, why not!?!

What do you think? Did I do ok? Did we have enough fun? I think yes! Thanks for stopping by to check out the start to our summer knitting fun, and Knit in Good Health! 

PS - I should be knitting in good health for several years with my current stash...lol!

PPS - I'm wearing the Gemini I was hoping to wear last year, and I love it!

All Hail the Queen!

On Saturday, I made an outrageous claim about my post-palooza blog post. I said, "Updates (and photos of the new stuff, I hope) on Wednesday!" I don't know what I was thinking...well, yes I do. I was thinking, "I am Super-Blogger!," which means that it would be no problem to sort through dozens of photos, writing up something fun and fibery before Wednesday morning. But I was wrong, so very wrong. Even with the long weekend, I was so very, very wrong. But I did write a consolation post, and this is it. :)

All Hail the Queen! Queen Elsa, that is...in knitted form.

But watch out! She can be a cold one! Brrr!

This topsy-turvy-type doll was a fun knit, and I think Peanut will love her! The pattern is written in pieces, and flat...so I made some changes. True to form, I will probably make more changes when I get around to knitting Anna, because how can I knit one and not the other?

Whew! It was a busy weekend! On top of finishing this doll, I used up all of Saturday at woolapalooza, Dollface took me Painting With a Twist on Sunday (Mother's Day Gift - thanks, Dollface!), which was super-fun, but didn't involve any blogging at all...

...and on Monday, I played a little catch-up with some home stuff, and Mr. Pretty and I took a nice, long walk! What I'd really like now is a nap, but back I fly to Super-Blogger-Land, where I can hopefully get something done with those photos before Saturday! Were you at Woolapalooza this year? No? Well, here's one photo to tide you over until Saturday:

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

It's That Time Again...

Memorial Day weekend - the unofficial start of summer. A time to remember. A time to appreciate the past. A time to look toward the future and know that all we have, and all we can be, is the result of what has been and who has gone before. Wherever you are, I hope that you are treasuring family and friends, and making memories of each moment...memories to treasure for years to come. 

As the blog goes live today, I am with my knitting group, making memories of yet another Wool-A-Palooza! Each year we carpool our way to the Great Lakes Fiber Show, where we walk and shop and laugh and knit, come sunshine or rain. I am obviously writing this in advance, but I have my fingers crossed for sunshine! :) And I'm hoping to wear the Gemini that I didn't quite finish in time for last year's Wool-a-palooza. It's done now, and has even been worn a time or two (or 50)...yay! 

Gosh! I need a better picture of this!

Have I knit the yarn or spun the fiber I bought last year? Nope. Will that stop me from buying more this year? Nopey-nope!

Updates (and photos of the new stuff, I hope) on Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by, and I hope I get to see you if you're going to Wool-a-palooza too!

Knit in Good Health!

Patience Achieved...finally!

Not really. But I did finish the socks!

OMGosh! I love the OMG Heel on my Patience, the 4th fruit socks!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope that you have happy feet, and handknit socks. :)

Knit in Good Health!

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Whatever Pretty Wants

Earlier in the week, I posted a photo very similar to this on my Facebook page:

I captioned it, "Who says curiosity is for cats? My neighbor dogs have their share!," and a friend commented, "They are looking out the window thinking 'Good Grief, she is bringing more yarn into that house...where does it all go?' LOL" We all had a good laugh at that, didn't we? Yeah...well, on Thursday, this stuff showed up at Knit Night:

100% "vintage" acrylic yarn in three large, blue plastic bags accompanied one of my favorite knitters into the church library, and we all squealed with delight as we poured it onto the table and started sorting! 

Well, we squealed with something...perhaps there was some delight in there, but also in the mix were shock, awe, dismay, and even a bit of disgust (what were we all thinking at the time? 60s avocado, 70s mustard, 80s neon pink-orange, 90s rose and country-blue...?). Still, even with all those mixed emotions, most of us managed to find a little bit of treasure to take home on Thursday night. Here is my humble haul, which was mostly baby yarn with a few fun colors of heavier yarn tossed on top:

What will my nosy, neighbor dogs think when I bring that in? What will Mr. Pretty think? I'm really not sure, so for now it's hiding in the trunk of the party car. Shhhh! I'll bring it in when no-one is looking...like at midnight...on a Tuesday. 

The truth of the matter is that I didn't need any more yarn. I certainly didn't need any more "vintage" acrylic yarn...but I was as helpless as a bootie-knitting grandmother can possibly be when I saw the fingering weight yarn in baby colors, and fun, variegated and solid yarns that reminded me a little bit of Dory and Nemo. As I added a few skeins of stripey yarns (good for toys), I began to hear that little voice in my head, the one I thought I had mostly stifled a few years back. But when I saw all that yarn on Thursday, I clearly heard it humming, and then singing, "Whatever Pretty wants, pretty gets, and little yarn, Little Pretty wants YOU!" So I simply reclined myself, and resigned myself to the yarn, filling a large, blue bag with "vintage" acrylic yarn to add to my already ample stash of the stuff. 

Anybody have any fabulous baby booties patterns to share with me? 

Thanks for stopping by, friends. 

Please don't judge...we all have our weaknesses...and Knit in Good Health!

Tiny Toes - Stripey Edition

Disclaimer: This post is not about Pretty toes. Still waiting patiently for the Pretty offspring to produce more Pretty grandchildren. But, while I wait, I am knitting for other people's grandchildren. :)

You already know about the stripey Lighthouse socks I knit a while back.

And you know that I had to knit a second pair, for a guy who likes socks. I've actually heard that he loves socks...has a thing for socks...has more socks than you can shake a stick at! Anyway, anyone that loves socks that much, should be knit for, right? Right. So...these!

But the more I knit on that second pair of socks, the more I did not want to separate the two...and in the end, I have decided to give the first pair of socks to his wife. :) And, since the two are hoping to grow their family, why not a pair of tiny stripes to round out the family? So...these!

And I think I am almost through all of the blue-and-white stripey yarn. :) What fun it was to knit!

Are you knitting for babies? What's your favorite baby knit?

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Still Learning Patience

I'd like to say that I grew up with a good handle on what it means to have patience. I'd like to say that, but it would be a lie, and I don't like to lie. 

I'd like to say that being married to a man in the military for 8 years, or that staying married to him for the next 19 years, has taught me something about patience but there's that lying thing again.

I'd like to say that my kids taught me patience as I tried to teach them patience. This may be closest to the truth, but it would still be a bit of an embellishment to what they might like to call "the real story" of how they grew up, so I won't say that either.

Has knitting taught me patience? Maybe. But, you know what's currently teaching me the most patience? Getting good pictures of these socks. The pattern is called...wait for it...PATIENCE! lol! I tried taking pictures on the cats (which they soooo appreciated - NOT)...this is sock 1, almost finished:

The yarn is very dark, and it is quite lovely, but boy! is it hard to get a good picture of! I suppose that I could try to keep the cats out of it, but even when I was trying to get a good shot outside, I had some trouble. I did some testing with just the toe of the second sock...nothing really captured it's essence.

Still, I pressed on, and then BAMMO! This is the shot that I love!

Of course, it doesn't show the first, finished sock at all, because this is just the toe of sock #2...still, THIS is the beauty of this sock yarn (the color is Olympic Forest)...I love it! And I love the pattern! And I am still trying to perfect the art of patience...sigh!

If you have patience, thank your mom. Even if you don't, thank your mom. If you can't thank your mom, whatever the reason, say a quick prayer of thanks that you've made it this far anyway...and find someone who helped you learn something about patience along the way to say "Thank you!" to. 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope I have not tried your patience today...

Knit in Good Health!!!

Stressed much?

Trying to eat right...hoping to lose a few pounds...but it's stressing me out. lol!

Every time I get stressed, it seems someone says in a sing-song-y way...

You know, "STRESSED," spelled backwards is "DESSERTS!" 

This doesn't help, but I can plainly see that it is true...and it leaves me wanting to try a little experiment...

--- Sad

--- Tense

--- Resentful

--- Embittered

--- Sulky

--- Surrounded

--- Exhausted

--- Discouraged

And backwards...?

--- Delicious

--- Edible
--- Sweet

--- Scrumptious
--- Enjoyable

--- Relishable
--- Tasty

--- Satisfying

I totally prefer that second list! So, if you're stressed, do your best to turn it around and have something sweet. Of course, if you're stressed about your weight, dessert may not be the way to go, but I bet a bite wouldn't hurt...much!

In closing, if you're stressed, you should have a cookie. Am I right?

Thanks for stopping by. Now brush off those cookie crumbs, and Knit in Good Health!

Petite Bride

Because the bridal season approaches...and because I know a great gal who will be the bride this summer, I did something silly. I knitted a tiny bride for her birthday.

A tiny bride, with a tiny, crocheted veil, and a tiny, french-knot bouquet. 

Perhaps, before the wedding, I should also knit her a tiny groom...or would that just be crazy?

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!