Reunited and it feels soooo good!


What a great day! It's been several months (almost a year!) since we've all been together and we've had an addition since then. It was awesome to be together again and to meet Ellery! I held her and she didn't cry, that makes her good in my book (she was good before, but she's really cemented in there now). Had a great lunch and then hpped into Vulcan's Rest where I bought:

Yeah, I've been fasting for a while so I went a little crazy. The book is fabulous, I want to make a good number of the things within. The yarn I bought is cotton, made in Chile. I'm making a tube top from the book (don't worry..I'll put straps on it). Also got some pretty stitch markers because they make knitting just a little more fancy.

Are bluebonnets a fiber?

I mean, they're the state flower and all...

Actually I can work a little craft talk in here. We have a lot of blankets for Ellery. And most of them are ones that special people made. We try to rotate them out frequently but really there are many more than we can ever use. The one she is sitting on in this picture (see! a connection! yay for me!) is actually a sheet. My sister's best friend that goes with us every July 4th made it out of really light material. I never realized how handy it would be. Babies do not need heavy blankets every minute. I mean, here we are in Texas springtime. Carting around a bulky blanket in her bag is useless but this lightweight one takes up no room and still serves the purpose of something for her to sit on, cover up for nursing, wrap her for a nap in the stroller, etc. These are the things you don't know until you actually have a baby.



In other news, I had decided to make my sister's new baby due in August a hat like Ellery's. I was planning on this because 1) see above note on blankets 2) it was fun to knit and 3) it doesn't take a long time. Then I got an email from my sister that said

message from the new baby: Aunt Brandy, will you please knit me a BLUE blanket?

Now this was actually my sister's way of telling me she is having a boy! (Another one! They will be almost exactly two years apart. Start praying for her now.) But of course the note also made me wonder if maybe she wants a blanket. Then, when I was in Texas last week she told me how she puts the one I made Magnus in his crib every night.

So I'll be looking for a quick blanket pattern I think.

happiness


The excuse for getting to post this here is that I made the little white sweater Pierce is wearing, but the real reason is that I've never seen my brother happier. never.

The Yarn Harlot came, and I missed her.

It was a sad story, let me tell you. She was in Pittsburgh AND Cleveland while I was at home and I failed to see her in either place because I was too busy. Shame on me. I did get some knitting done while at home though:
Sheldon Deux. A friend from elementary/middle/high school is having a baby soon so I whipped up a little turtle. You were right Brandy, I:turtle::Jen:sheep. Eat that, SATs. The baby should be coming soon, it's supposed to be a boy and his parents are very nervous/excited/sick of being pregnant. It's their first.
I meant to email you guys a family update but never got around to it so here's something brief: Mom is coming home from rehab today (!) and will be home until she is cleared to put more weight on her pelvis. When that happens, she might go back to the rehab center or she might get to stay home. Everyone else is doing fine, especially me since (thanks to you guys and the church) I don't have to worry about how to pay for all my travel I've been doing lately.
I'm coming down to Bmore for alumni weekend (April 20-22) and will be at church that Sunday.

The Yarn Harlot is Coming

Here!

To Denver!

....But I won't be here. We're flying to Houston Thursday morning, then driving to San Antonio. Then driving back to Houston on Saturday. Caleb flies back on Sunday and I fly back (by myself with Ellery) on Thursday.

I hope to give you more details on the belt this week. I want to scan in the picture of the pattern for you. Not making promises though.

Spring Break (and other forces of nature)


So this is how our Spring Break started...or rather didn't start. We decided to delay departure for a day because while Baltimore was getting two inches of this nasty ice pellet stuff, the mountains between here and home were getting six inches of honest to goodness snow. SNOW!!! IN MARCH!! It's SPRING people! Not that I was bitter about loosing a day at home or anything...and ok, so the drive on Saturday was beautiful and maybe it gave me a chance to grade a bunch of midterms that I didn't have to take home but...still, SPRING break.

I have terrible news to report. Not only did I engage in little to no knitting over break, I actually performed major unknitting that brought my total for the week to well below "no knitting" and into "subtotal knitting." And this, dear friends, leads me to an announcement. I give on the New Year's resolution. MUST. CAST. ON.

Before thou doest shame me, consider...I've finished all but three of the projects. One of the projects now looks like this because it sucked. That was the unknitting from break. We'll just sit on that a while. So no project here.


So, now I've finished all but two of the projects. TWO projects, that's as near to nothing as makes no odds in the world of knitting. Plus the orange thing has hit a point where I'm not sure what I want. Long sleeves, no sleeves, short sleeves...and I don't think the answer is coming anytime soon.


So, that just leaves the creamy cardi. It's done to the arm holes with a sleeve started and while I love it, it. is. like. dragging. through. mud. to. knit.


Thus, I now conclude the resolution DONE. I've learned my lesson about having a zillion things on needles and wasn't that the point. Don't we all feel better about ourselves, group hug! Thus, I'm casting on like a crazy woman - just watch me. Already finished a sock this week, next one cast on too. The picture makes it look a lot like the pheonix sock but it is different, really!


And the spinning...ah, I love spinning. No resolutions in sight!