For the Love of Knit

Forever and 8 days

That's how long it has been since I posted last.  Sheesh.  I'm not even sure where to begin.  Maybe with something fun:  In late February we took a trip to Minnesota to go to the Mall of America.  I found a really reasonable hotel and off we went.  The kids had a good time.  They are growing so fast and I know that these little trips with Mom and Dad are soon going to be few and far between (and "few" might even seem like a whole bunch at some point ... c'est la vie).  Anyway, though we made very few actual purchases (seriously, does anybody really buy anything at the Mall of America or are they, like we, so bedazzled by the enormity of it all that you can't focus on any real "shopping"?!), it was lots of fun.

 

 

We also went to Mass at the St. Paul Cathedral.  It's just so beautiful and breathtaking.  Though, that said, the jury is still out for me insofar as Cathedrals.  It's almost too overwhelming for me, I think.  The echo, the enormity, the awesome statues and art and architecture.  I really think I do better in a strictly spiritual sense of the word in a small, cozy chapel.  But, regardless, I was glad for the opportunity to take the kids to the Cathedral so that they could experience it for themselves.  (to my sister ~ I know, we should have come to see you!!)

I took part in a toy swap over at Ravelry, which was tons of fun.  I am of course late in acknowledging my gratefulness for a terrific swap partner -- here at my blog, anyway.  I was paired with slightlyfoxed, and had the opportunity to try my hand at making a gnome, as that was one of the things she mentioned that she liked.  He turned out really cute, I think:

And, from my partner, I received this great package:

Thanks again, Darcy, for a great swap! 

And, in the midst of all of this there has been basketball, of course, and concerts and events and Lent and Easter and ... a lot! 

Oh, and other knitting (this is a knitting blog, right?  sheesh.)  I finished the little baby sweater for one of the attorneys at the office where I work.  I used Lion Brand Cotton Ease and I think it turned out really cute:

Poor lighting.  Cute sweater.

Anyway, I hope this finds you well.  Be back soon (sooner than forever and 8 days, for sure).

Finished, finally!

I finally finished my Otto!  I gave him a little scarf, too.

   

And, I also made the Tom Teddy Bear from Ala & Ela.  I just gave him away on Saturday to friends of ours who just had their first baby.  The Mom is a teddy bear collector, so I thought this little guy would be a nice addition.  They also decorated the nursery with teddy bears.

   

I also made the blanket that Mr. Teddy Bear is sitting/standing on for them.  Too cute.

Finally, I have made my to Ravelry!  You can find me there as "suzannakt".  I would add a link to my sidebar, but I have forgotten how to do it.  Ugh.  Norma gave me a tutorial to try, but I haven't been able to do that as of yet.  Soon, hopefully.

This is the second Tembo Elephant I have made from the Safari Friends pattern by Knitting at Knoon.  I love this pattern.  It's knit in the round, which makes it fun since there are no seams to sew.  I also love his cute little round bottom.  This particular little elephant will be a baby gift for one of my husband's co-workers.

     

I also sewed a baby blanket for them.  My kitty thought he would help:

Today we cleaned up all of the Christmas decorations -- finally!  This month has brought some new challenges, so I was thankful for the time today to do some cleaning and organizing.  My house finally feels like my own again!

I am working on a teddy bear pattern by Ala & Ela, and hopefully will have it done by tomorrow.  If so, pictures then!

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord ...

...and let perpetual light shine upon him. 

May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed,

through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

 

May flights of angels lead you to your rest, Charles.

My father-in-law passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, January 6, 2009 at the age of 72.  He had gone into the hospital on December 28 with shortness of breath and, unfortunately, it got progressively worse, to the point of having to be on a ventilator.  Sigh ... we miss him.  He and my mother-in-law were married for 56 years.  56 years!  What an amazing achievement, especially in our society today where the sanctity of marriage is often forgotten.  We are grateful for the gifts and talents and love he shared with us on this side of eternity. 

* * * * * *

Time marches on, I suppose, and so must we.  We did have a very lovely Christmas and for that I am exceedingly glad.  Here is a picture of me and my "babies" (we were pretty casual -- ha).

(Growing so fast, they are.)

I also wanted to share a picture of a gift my husband received from Cindy of Cafe ... Art.  She works with my husband and made handmade gifts for many people there, which is awesome.  This was painted by Cindy and I am continually amazed at her gifts and talents at such things.  Thank you very much for a treasured gift:

I made another SnoBuddy.  This is the medium-sized SnoBuddy and he is supposed to be a gift for someone, but with all that has happened in the last few weeks, the recipient has not yet received said SnoBuddy (ugh):

I hope that this finds you well and enjoying a new year.  2009!  Unbelievable.  I was scrambling at the end of 2008 to finish handmade gifts and told myself that in 2009 I would make one gift per month ... yeah, I wouldn't bet the ranch on that one either -- ha.

Snow day

 

Notice Mr. Scarecrow in the background?  Oops.  I'm thinking he is not properly dressed for the snow and ice we got last night and today.  It was a snow day today.  For me, too.  I don't really like admitting defeat to snow and ice, but regardless, it gave me an opportunity to finish a few Christmas presents.

Mittens for my daughter's best friend, Alycia.

 

I used the pattern from the Knitting for Peace book.  Three pairs of mittens later, I can say with confidence that I have the pattern mostly memorized.  They go very quickly, which is good, since I have at least two more pair to complete before Christmas.  The yarn I used was I Love This Wool from Hobby Lobby. It was really nice to work with and I will definitely use it again.  My son needs a new hat, so I have every intention of using the I Love This Wool for that purpose -- just as soon as I finish my Christmas knitting, that is.

The other Christmas presents I completed:

 

These are from the SnoBuddies pattern, which is a Knitting at Knoon pattern.  Aren't they adorable?!  The pattern is very well written and easy to follow.  I used Peruvia by Berrocco, which is what the pattern recommends.  The SnoBuddie on the right is a little taller because I was not paying attention.  Oops.  But SnoBuddies don't all have to be the same height, right?  :-) 

Seussical

This is Megan and McKayla as Gertrude McFuzz (Megan) and Mayzie LaBird (McKayla). It was fun and colorful and a joy to watch. And, it's always good to remember that "a person's a person, no matter how small." For knitting, I have some mittens in progress and another little baby sweater that I had forgotten I finished. For the mittens I am using yarn I purchased at an alpaca festival and they are wool/suri/mohair. A joy to knit with. I find little bits of alfalfa every now and again and that makes me smile. 

And here is a picture of the Debbie Bliss Baby Shrug I made for my co-worker to gift to a friend of theirs.  This was the first time I used this pattern and I liked it.  It was easy to follow and the pattern worked up relatively quickly (which is saying something for me because I haven't been able to master "quick" in relation to my knitting). 

Now for the details

I hope that everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday.  Ours was spent at home with family and we had more food than anyone could possibly eat in one day and lots of conversation, games and fun.  I am grateful and blessed.

I promised some details about my post, below.  Though you are right, Emily, in that it was photojournalism. I like that.  :-)

Picture number 1 is obvious ~ my kids.  We take pictures every fall for a Christmas card.  This year they were just pretending to enjoy themselves, which sometimes shows in the pictures with bored faces and gritted teeth.  Merry Christmas!  Ha.  Anyway, after it is all said and done, they are the ones breathing down my necks wondering when I am going to order the Christmas cards.  Cracks me up.

Pictures number 2 and 3 are of my girls as Gertrude McFuzz and Mayzie LaBird from Seussical the Musical.  We put it on at our school a few weeks ago and seriously, I know I am biased and everything, but they did a really remarkable job.  I don't mean just my girls, I mean the entire cast and crew.  Seriously, it was spectacular and I am so proud of all of them.  I'm going to try to post a few videos in another post sometime yet this weekend.  There are more pictures at my Flickr page.  

Picture number 4 shows mittens I knitted for a friend of mine for her 18th birthday.  I used Patons wool and a pattern from the Knitting for Peace book.  (A great book, by the way, or at least I think so).    They knit up very quickly and the thumbs and I didn't even get into a shouting match, which is an accomplishment!

Picture number 5 shows an elephant from the Safari Friends pattern, which is a Knitting at Knoon pattern.  This little elephant is knit on dpns and took almost no time at all to knit.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take her (it was a shower gift for a new baby girl) photo in the day, so I'm left with this rather poor photo, but you get the idea.  If you like to knit toys and you like little elephants, giraffes, zebras or lions, I say get the pattern straightaway.  You will be glad you did.  I am soon casting on for another little elephant for a baby boy that is due in January.  For this elephant I used a Moda Dea wool/silk blend.  Adorable.

Picture number 6 is the Hare Girl, another pattern from Ala & Ela.  She, too, was fun to knit.  I had reservations about whether or not I would be able to recreate those cute little shoes, but it was easy!  

Picture number 7 is a little cardigan I am making out of Lion Brand's Cotton Ease.  The pattern is Tasia's Cardigan, which is a Cabin Fever pattern.  It's going very quickly!  The pattern is very well written and easy to follow, which I appreciate.

And, finally, the last picture is just a snapshot of one area of our basement after decorating for Christmas.  It gets a little crazy ~ or a lot...

I also forgot to mention that my husband and I took a trip to St. Louis in October for our anniversary.  We had a nice time, though neither of us feel compelled to go back to St. Louis anytime soon.  It was fine, but just not our favorite.  We did go to the Arch, of course, but both of us were too chicken to go up.  Go figure.  

Thanks for bearing with me!  Have a great weekend, all. 

    

Pictures now ...

details later!  I can't believe it has been this long since I last posted. Ugh!  Here's a pictorial of a few things that have been happening.  As I said, pictures now, details later:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm mad at myself for forgetting to take pictures of a pretty pink cabled baby hat and booties that I made and gifted to a co-worker at her baby shower yesterday.  Nertz!  So, anyway, despite the fact that I have not posted anything in forever, I have been doing some knitting.  I will provide details tomorrow.

 

 

Although he is not yet named, here is my funny little scamp hare:

This was knit from a pattern from Ala & Ela.  He was knit all in the round, which is great because then there is no seaming.  I think he will be a future baby gift. 

Thank you!

Thank you, Heatherly for a great swap package!  I love it all.  This Special Swap was all about summer fun and Heatherly sent me a great deal of fun in this package.  I'm a lucky girl.  Take a look!

Included in this package was some great sock yarn that she had purchased from someone through Etsy (I love Etsy, by the way ~ so much talent out there), some stationery, Bug Bites (I mean, of course, it's summer, right?!), a great book, which I did not have and will prove to be very helpful for me, as well as the other fun things pictured above.  I love it.  Thanks again, Heatherly!

I still have not yet finished my poor Otto.  Poor guy.  However, he is only one ear and one face away from being done:

soon, my little polar bear friend ~ soon.

I did make a little lamb from a fuzzy mitten pattern.  I set him next to St. Francis, the patron saint of animals.

(he's really not as big as he looks here!)

I'm working on another toy from a pattern I purchased from Ala & Ela.  I had some trouble with the foot at first, but Ela has been exceptionally helpful and patient with me and I think I finally got it!  He's headless right now, poor little guy, but he will have a head soon ~ hopefully after this weekend!

We are camping this weekend and I am looking forward to it.  The weather forecast sounds absolutely delightful.  I'm hoping to get some knitting done and also just to relax by the pool and spend some time playing games with the kids.  School starts next week and these moments of simplicity and enjoying each other's company will soon be few and far between.

Have a glorious holiday weekend, all!