I Was Knit Together In My Mother's Womb

You won't want to skim this post!

Two blogging buddies made my day with nominating me for  the "You Make My Day" Award, which is making its way around daily, making everyone's day, it seems. (Can you say that three times fast?)

                           

Kat, from the Michigan branch of my knitting family tree. I am already counting down the days until  July, when I will see her again, and we make our trek to ThreadBear to meet up with all the other knitting cousins... Laura, Sarah, Sharon, Dirty Sue, Susan and  Ewe-niss, just to name a few.  I love Kat. And I loved her from the first day we met.

And the other nominator was

Amanda, the most incredible sweater knitter I know. She is an inspiration to me. I love her designs, and her modifications, and her willingness to go where few other sweater-knitters dare go.

Of course, the story goes that once bestowed this blogging honor, one must pass it on to several others. No doubt, Kat and Amanda are truly bloggers that make my day. As are Lisa and Monique and Carole, and Liz and Chris and Marisol, and Elizabeth and Debby and Denise and Dorothy and Beth, and Kathy B and Teyani and Vicki and Dana and Li and Stacey and Kim. Wanda and Emily and Susan.... I could go on and on.

Seriously, if you read my blog, you are an inspiration to me. You are the ones that help me to share the unutterable, to get out of bed to tell you something funny.  I think of you daily, and want all of you to come to my house to knit. I love our emails and I love your comments. And so,

How could I nominate just a few of you? You ALL make my day! And I thank you!

So here's the deal. Because from time to time, I just feel like blessing someone, I'm giving away something. If you read my blog, leave a comment. I will draw a name on Monday morning, Feb. 4th. ( I did not choose this day because it's National Dump Your Significant Jerk Day, although, you deserve a prize if you do...let me know.)

And since I've been having such fun making Kimonos, I will make you a Kimono of your own...a fun and bright Kimono for you to lounge around in.

Contest starts......

NOW! 

I'm making Kimonos! And is it ever fun!  Using the Amy Butler Kimono pattern from "In Stitches".

 

The construction was so simple, and it's easy to modify the size and length. I feel very cool and hip when I wear it!

The sweater for baby Joy is finished...

Of course it was cute enough on it's own, but I had to add a bit more cuteness with this little flower:

Again, this pattern was in the Louisa Harding "Enchanted Garden" book, and I modified the heck out of it, knitting with CottonEase from the stash, eliminating the intarsia flowers and adding stripes to the sleeves.

This weekend was all about the food. Lots of good good food, and friendship.

Thursday night, dinner at our house with friends.

Friday night, dinner at a new local restaurant with some other friends.

Saturday night, Jon, Lisa and Carol came for dinner. Then we visited and knitted the evening away while eating cake, sprinkled with nut dust.(which in itself was pretty funny. never mind.)

Sunday we had a huge breakfast with Katie and Ray at a local diner, and then I came home and took a two hour nap!  Even the nap was delicious.

  Last week, Julie tagged me for a book meme... to share what I'm reading right now. I must confess, I delayed writing this post, because I knew I would have some books coming that I will be reading within a few days, which I thought may be more "appealing" to the world of blog readers.   What is on my list of books to read?

       

   

      

I  either have these books, or they are ordered and on their way. Most of them are made known to me by my daughter Meghan.  One of the  most intimate things we share is our love of literature. My favorite moments ever are of she and I reading together. Very often, Meghan will call me at some odd hour, when I least expect it, and read to me from a book. We have laughed ourselves silly or cried together as she reads  "just one more thing, Mom." I love to hear her voice sharing some words that she knows I will understand. I always take her recommendations, because she knows exactly what I like to read. And of course, one of my secret delights about knowing I will be recovering from surgery is the anticipation of reading some of the books she has recommended. And then calling her to read something back to her.

But, to get back to my confession, I will tell you the truth about what I'm reading right now. I am reading my Bible. From the Paul's letter to the Philippians. One of my goals is to become more deliberate in my spiritual growth. As I seek to become the woman God wants me to be, I know that I can only do that with the best self-help book I've ever read. I have some things to deal with, some places to uncover, some bondage to be freed from, and this is the only way I know that makes sense.

So, I leave you with the passage I just read this morning...

"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret to being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

That is what I'm reading today. That is what I am trying to live today.

What are YOU reading????

Brag on Your Husband Day.

Hmmm... I had saved an entire post as a draft, and it's gone. Like my Latvian Mittens, gone.

I have to take a moment to brag on my husband.  Not only does he find my coffee cup when I've lost it, and not only does he  gather up my many pairs of shoes that are laying around the house, but he also builds the most incredible things.

So today is Brag on Your Husband Day.

JR and I put our collective minds together, talked and sketched for months, and JR was able to take what was in our imaginations and build a media and book storage unit for our TV room.  He did it with his own brain and hands!

I'm so proud of my husband. I got up extra early this morning just to look at it. He is making me wait to load the shelves until the finish is extra hard, which is very difficult for me to do. The doors are a pair of antique shutters, with their original finish, which JR was able to incorporate into the design.  He is so awesome.

Another of the baby sweater projects is nearing completion.

  I'm using some CottonEase that I had in my stash, and sort of winging it, using a base pattern from the Louisa Harding book.

Build a Sweater?  Almost done with the back, after deciding that my first attempt was one big swatch. I cast on again. Since it will have a drawstring, it needed more swing in the bottom half than what I had done in the original attempt.

  And as soon as I finish that baby sweater, I'll be starting this cardigan from Garnstudio designs:

Actually, I really need to talk about the fact that I have lots of unfinished projects. Particularly three sweaters, which I really like,  but have set aside. What is it with all of our projects on hold? I guess it's just the way it is with us....always something new to fall in love with.

For the Love of Spongebob

Update on Augie's Birthday!  We spent Saturday afternoon decorating his birthday cake.

With great precision    and planning,

We end up with     

A Spongebob Squarepants cake!  Augie was so proud. When every last bit was frosted, and every last bit of frosting was eaten,

      

In fact, it's a good think I had made an extra birthday cake, because Augie said,

"Mimi, I don't think we should eat my cake."  So we didn't. and this morning, when I went downstairs, two days after the birthday party, there was Spongebob, on the kitchen table, still smiling up at us, happy to be whole.

  ABC ALONG

A is for Augie.

Today is Augie's birthday. He's five years old, and he is my grandson. Augie is one of the most interesting and amusing little men I have ever known, and we love how he loves.

A is also for Apology. Which is what we had to do yesterday. It went like this:

JR and I called Augie yesterday morning to wish him a  Happy Birthday. The answering machine started, and we went on and on, saying "Happy Birthday, Auga Dog! We love you and we are so excited that you are five years old, and we can't wait to see you this weekend! Mimi is making a cake and you are going to decorate it however you want to, and on and on..... and on and on."

We hung up, and a few minutes later, Meghan called, to ask what in the world we were thinking???!!!! She had gone out to start the car, and Augie stood listening to JR and I going on and on and on. He waited at the door for his mother, quite determined that TODAY was his birthday because Mimi and Papa said it was, and he had full expectation of his party and gifts and the whole shebang. Yesterday.

No matter how she tried to convince him that we made a mistake, he was not swayed. Augie was angry. JR offered to talk to him, and Meghan said, "Oh, there's no talking to him right now."

We apologized. profusely. And called him again today to wish him the real Happy Birthday!

I heard something today as I was sitting at my desk. A co-worker complimented our UPS guy on his "snappy lederhosen."  Which was the funniest thing I have heard in a long time. Snappy Lederhosen! Although, in actuality, they were more like snappy gaiters.

Kat is making some snappy socks.

And Emily and I are preparing to send the invites for a very special May Day Sock Celebration.

Usually, during my lunch hour at work, if I'm not running errands, I find myself in the most comfortable chair in one of my favorite offices. And I knit.

   

Last night, I stayed after work, and went to a women's event called "Death by Chocolate."

ANOTHER near death experience! Over two thousand women gathered to eat as much chocolate as we could in thirty minutes. I kept up with the best of them.

While I was waiting for the feasting  to begin, I did some knitting, and some reading, and then I cleaned up around my desk. Look what I found!

On January 8th, I made a decision to be more deliberate and wise about the food choices I was making. My intention was to write down everything I eat each day.

You see an entry at 7:00 am, and another at 11:30 am. That is the first and last thing I wrote for the week.  Trust me, I've eaten since then.  You will never see an entry entitled "Death by Starvation" on this blog.

I think I had a near death experience

And I have Denise to blame. 

And Spinning class.  Being on a quest for improved health, quite some time ago, I shared that I had started going to the gym. And watching "The Biggest Loser" in marathon fashion, while I'm sitting on the sofa knitting.

Denise took me to a spinning class (NOT the kind that produces yarn) on Saturday morning. I honestly thought I was going to have a heart attack and they would have to call paramedics and my next of kin.

The way I see it, I am having foot surgery in six weeks. I have six weeks to get into a "bonus health" situation since I won't be able to work out while I'm on crutches. So I decided that I will go to spinning class again this Saturday. And I'll go to the gym as per usual this week. (If I can get off the couch to get into the car because my lower body is so sore I can hardly sit on the toilet, let alone get in an out of my car an extra time each day.)

 

I got a new camera!  Oh, I do love this little camera, my Canon Powershot Elph. I'm trying to figure it all out, and here are the results so far...

 

This is a the second baby sweater. Isn't the picot edged rib sweet?

 

JR is taking a nap...oh, look! He's wearing the socks I made for him!

New Book.

New Yarn.

I'm a happy girl. Other than the fact that my butt really hurts.

I really looked forward to my evening last night. JR took Ben to Liberty, and throughout the day, I daydreamed about knitting, watching episodes of Oprah (and not every sport imaginable in HD) and knitting.  And some solitude. Just Being Alone With God Solitude.

I spent the greater part of the night on the phone with Kodak.

Still trying to solve camera software issues.

So here I go again... let's see if this works...

DO YOU SEE A PICTURE HERE?

Time to exchange the camera. I've made my decision.

It's been interesting reading all of your blogs and your New Year's Goals and Resolutions. There is some good stuff out there! I haven't given it much thought really, until this past week. After a couple of incredible learning opportunities , I have decided that I do need to address some goals for the year ahead.

In the spiritual/emotional/relational realm, it is my desire to use time in solitude with God to begin a transformation. I want to be more deliberate in my life. Not letting any opportunities to improve  pass me by. I want to learn to see each situation as ordained, and learn from even the challenging ones. For Christmas, Meghan gave me a journal and two pages of questions that she would like me to answer, as I can, about my life... what wisdom I can share, my regrets and my successes.  Those questions you always wished you could have asked if you had "one more day." I want to answer them. If anyone is interested in that list, I'd be glad to share it. Perhaps I'll even share some of my answers here.

Knitting Goals?

To finish my first sweater design  ( I can't believe I'm saying that! This is a huge deal for me !)

And, of course, more deliberate knitting. Always in search of the perfect fit garment, I will continue to knit and re-knit, in the interest of all of us who cannot fit into the perfect size "whatever."

And other random goals?

To have my foot surgery

To watch every episode of "Daria" that I can find.

Two of the books I got before vacation are baby related. I couldn't resist, but then, this is a practical purchase because we always need a sweet baby gift don't we?

 

The first is a Louisa Harding's "Enchanted Garden" book. So stinking adorable, with sweaters with names like "Jam Sandwich " and "Tweexel."  The second book is equally enchanting.

"Little Sublime Handknit Book."  The pictures of the babies alone are just delicious. I do find it hard to read the patterns. Not because they are ill-written, but because the text is a very soft gray color on white. Regardless, this sweater, called "Sunday Lunch"  is the first of three sweaters that I am knitting for new babies.  I worked it in Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK, which I just could not resist. It is lovely, lovely yarn.

  And the close-up...

    Isn't it cute?

Interesting things are developing with my "Build a Sweater." I am sooooo glad to be back at it!

After working the rows of modified feather and fan, I changed to a simple eyelet mesh.    There will be a draw sting that will thread through the last row of eyelets, which is just above my natural waistline ( the smallest part on our torsos, so say Stacey and Clinton). From there, I have changed to seed stitch, and started a series of increases that will take me up to the armhole shaping.  I know that the original pattern is a linen stitch bodice, and after much thought, I decide to go with a seed stitch since the linen stitch uses more yarn.

   

   

I couldn't be more pleased....I am not, however, that pleased with my new camera...a Kodak M883. I'm having the hardest time getting decent pictures. The jury is still out on it. I've had  problems with not only the camera, but the software...even after getting support. So instead of getting all caught up on my blog reading, I'm dealing with my camera issues.

That's my whine for the day. Could I have some cheese with that?