Baaaaa...

I still don't know "What does the fox say?," but I do know that Old McDonald had a farm, and the sheep on his farm went around "with a baa baa here, and a baa baa there..." etc., etc., etc. I also know that if you knit a sheep hat, it will not say, "Baaaa..."

But everyone who sees the hat will say, "Awwww! That is so cute!"

They will even "Awww!" at it's little, sheepy butt!

And if you knit 4 sheep hats, 

and photograph them in various locations throughout the day,

people will say, "What's up with Pretty? Is she always like that?!?"

To which my friends would answer, "Yes. Yes, she is," with a heavy sigh here, and a heavy sigh there, etc. Not to worry, I'll just distract them all with a picture of my new Grand-puppy...

I hope your day is full of fun and friends who love you, because you really cannot ask for much more. Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

No Socks Today...

As I typed that title, the very sad "No Dogs Allowed" chorus popped into my head, and I was sad for poor Snoopy all over again! I am not sad for me, however...I needed a bit of a palette cleanser after all the socks I have knit lately. I will probably cast on some socks soon, and I have other projects I could certainly cast on any time now (like the KAL Brickless shawl that I am not currently KAL-ing) but for now, I have reverted to the hexipuffs! Remember the hexipuffs?

That crazy project where I plan to knit 400 tiny hexagonal puffs, then connect them at the corners to create a coverlet...that's the one. It is still crazy. I am still crazy for doing it! I have let the puffs slide for the past few months, but just yesterday I realized that I am up to 150 hexipuffs, so...YAY! My newest hexipuffs have been sometimes fun...

sometimes dyed with Kool-aide (these still smell fruity!)...

sometimes they make me think of Reese Peanut Butter Cups...

and sometimes they are mix-n-match, with the yarns!

So. Many. Hexipuffs. I love each one! 

I started this crazy-puff project in January of 2013, and 6 months into 2014, I am on target for finishing all the puffs in 4 years. We will see what happens when it's time to put them together! lol! Crazy Puffs, indeed!

Do you have any crazy knitting projects? I'd love to hear about them! I feel like we'll all be less crazy if we share our crazy plans! ;o)

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Socks and More Socks? Yep, and a doll blanket!

Looks like a pattern. Socks and a Sweater...Socks and a Bracelet...Socks and More Socks! But I think this is the last of my "Socks" posts, at least for awhile. There's a limit to how many socks any knitter can knit (or even just finish up) in a week's time, after all! Even though my friends say that I am a fast knitter, it still takes me a week or longer to knit the average pair of socks (women's medium, or so), but little socks do go much quicker! Like these little socks (maybe they are slippers?) for Peanut...they took about three days.

I realized, as I was working the heel on sock #2, that I had totally messed up the OMG Heel on sock #1, making it rather "pointy" for a heel...

Eventually it was all good. Turns out that it takes about 2.5-3 hours for me to untie all the knots, un-weave-in the ends, pick out a sewn bind off, rip back the sock to the beginning of the heel, and re-knit said heel, plus 24 rounds of sock and bind off again. Oh, and then weave in those ends...again. Still, it was good, and at the end of knit night (on Thursday), I was ready to post a third pair of stripey socks to the blog this week! Yay!

I do still have to add the non-skid to the bottoms of them, but all the knitting is done, and this makes me happy. =D Now, while I wait for the non-skid to dry, I guess I'll do some work on the Doll Blanket I started on Friday. 

Wanna hear the story? Of course you do. 

On our last visit, as we were packing up, Peanut asked what we were knitting (just like she asked when we made a kitty toy at my house). I asked her what she thought it should be, and she decided that Anna and Elsa needed a blanket, and that's what it should be. This sounded reasonable, so I told her that I would take it home and finish the blanket, and then send it to her from my house in Ohio, and she seemed satisfied. 

Then she said, "You know what else?"

"What?"

"You can knit me a Belle doll, and then send it to me, too."

It was so matter-of-fact. So innocent. So adorable! But first things first...when I finish the blanket, then I'll start planning the Belle doll. Maybe along the way I'll cast on another pair of socks? I do seem to be obsessed with socks lately!

Thanks for stopping by to hear the stories of more socks...and a doll blanket! What are you knitting this weekend? Whatever it is, I hope that you will Knit in Good Health!

Socks and a Bracelet? I Suppose So...

So, last Thursday, one of the gals in our knitting group offered to teach us the art of braided jewelry (with or without BEADS!) called Kumihimo, which I had never heard of. I think I declared at some point that I just really don't need any more hobbies, but I watched Connieb125 and Mikki522 with some interest all evening. Still, I did not have a burning desire to play with string and beads and braids...I don't even wear jewelry usually! Besides, I had these socks to knit on...

At the end of knitting, Connieb125 mentioned that she had some extra disks...did anyone want to take one? Pretty? "No thanks," said I, just before I took one. Doomed. I was doomed from the start. And over the weekend, I made this:

I have absolutely no resolve. I am the poster child for the dangers of peer pressure (as it relates to craft addictions, anyway). I may or may not have bought more beads since Thursday...and a small bead spinner (it was on clearance!)...and maybe some crimp ends. Yeah, I have no resolve whatsoever, and now I also have about a ga-jillion new craft supplies. 

It's a good thing that I don't mind being doomed (too much). Are you also doomed? Who is your master enabler? One of mine is surely Connieb125, and I love her for it!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit (and Craft) in Good Health!

Socks and a Sweater? Yes, please!

The Big Girl Sweater, she is finished!

I'm so excited about the lace fronts, designed to just hang around, looking pretty (which they do!), in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (Peach)...it is simply luscious!

This sweater turned out almost exactly as I had pictured it in my head, and it just doesn't get much better than that. The only thing that could possibly make it better is if I had a little Peanut here to try it on. That will happen in the near future (ummm, YAY!!!), but in the meantime, I also finished a pair of fairly Groovy Socks (part of a KAL with my local knitting group) in Knit Picks Felici (Foxglove colorway), so I know that I am gonna make it!

Socks AND a sweater finished this week. I am a knitting MANIAC! I hope you are getting things done in your knitting, too! What's the last knit you finished?

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Let it go, Pretty...

As you may have figured out, we spent this past weekend on the road to see Peanut, and bring her some knitted toys. 

Usually when we do this, I blog ahead a bit, so that I won't stress about getting back to work and getting a blog post ready for Wednesday morning. I thought I had done this before we left on Friday, but I checked yesterday, and it turns out that I didn't. That means that this post has been written hastily to get ready to post early today, and the photos are probably not edited and cropped to perfection (she says, as though perfection is something she achieves regularly, which it is NOT), and the text may be choppy or have some errors in it. But sometimes, you just have to Let it Go!, yanno?

So here's a brief synopsis of the fun we had, including our arrival,

walks with Mommy and Daddy (and the dogs)...

...to the playground!

Time on the swings...

She promised not to kick Pop Pop, but this looks a little suspicious...

To add to the fun, Uncle Snake and Aunt Dollface showed up for a day, on their way home from vacation. :) So there were walks and playtime with them, too!

Then more time on the playground,

reading Kindles with Pop Pop, 

and lots of playtime and singing with Elsa and Anna!

It was a great weekend, and I still have not quite recovered. :) But, there is work to be done, and life to be lived, so I'm just gonna Let it Go!, and try not to stress too much about anything. I think Elsa's advice is pretty good in most situations, don't you?

Whatever you might be stressing about, thank you for taking a moment to check out the blog today! Now, Let it Go!, and Knit in Good Health!

Sisters...Sisters...

There were never such devoted sisters as Anna and Elsa. Oh, I know they had their troubles, both before the coronation...

...and afterwards, and in that awful winter (that too many of us can relate to this year).

But in the end, they were devoted to each other, proving that true love can exist, even in a cold, cruel world. Now that I have finished knitting these sisters, Elsa, Anna, Sweetie and I are planning a trip to see Peanut and her parents. (Giant HAPPY FACES here!!!) I've told Anna that she doesn't need her cloak for this trip...it'll be pretty warm where Peanut lives...

But she says she's a little uncomfortable without it.

I suggested that she wear her coronation gown...

...as a bonus, all of her hair could be pulled up into a bun with that gown!

In the end, both of the girls are anxious to meet Peanut! I'm not sure who is more excited about the trip, them or me! Either way, I can barely wait to see her little face when I hand off my newest, topsy-turvy knits!

I wonder what Peanut will want to knit when I get there? There has been talk of dog sweaters for her pooches, and Barbie clothes, and a new pink sweater for her...your guess is as good as mine! What do you think will be my next knitting project?

Thanks for stopping by to see us, and Knit in Good Health!

Good Coverage for a Shower

I like to crochet or knit afghans as wedding and shower gifts. I've always liked to do that, but I really got to thinking about the whys and wherefores while I was working on this blanket in May...

Showers are full of promise for a beautiful wedding, weddings are a celebration of love, and the whole process is full of hearts and flowers, so I try to look for patterns that feature heart and/or flower motifs and patterns. This square, even down to the title "Summer Romance," is so perfect for a couple getting married in July...where has it been all my crocheting life?

Adding to the theme of lives joined together, I did my best to join these squares with continuous chains, 2 length-wise and 3 width-wise. I love the way that knitting and crochet take a single strand of yarn and work it over and under and around to create something new and useful...you can take a square or border apart, and you still have that single strand of plain yarn...but chained and woven together, you have an object of warmth and beauty, with love worked into each stitch.

And I love the way the border of this afghan, with tiny hearts all around and muted colors, brings all of the squares together into it's own unit. It is like the love between a man and woman, that starts raw and prime, as a single strand of yarn...but when that love is joined and worked together by the promises to honor, cherish, respect and protect one another, it draws the couple together in a common life-goal. It is the keeping of these vows, especially when times are tough, that protects and grows each individual, and also strengthens the couple's love bond. The border of this afghan is not boastful or flashy. It is humble and strong, and it will hold together the individual squares for years to come, enhancing their beauty.

All in all, an afghan is also a practical gift. Living in Ohio, you can always use an extra blanket around the house...and it's awful fun to snuggle up with the one you love under the covers!

So that's why I make afghans for weddings. 

What is the best wedding gift you have given or received?