wedding FAVORS /sick Stinky

These pralines from http://www.leahspralines.com/ New Orleans are the wedding favors.

The label will be personalized and they will be larger. New Orleans and pralines are special to us.We owned a time share there and shared wonderful family memories .One of our wildest New Years with the kids was celebrated in the French Quarter. The last time we were all there was a week before Katrina.

Poor Stinky got his shots Wednesday and has been sick ever since. I am waiting for the vet to call me back. Poor guy is in hiding , not eating and cries in pain when I pick him up. After I called this am he did come out and used the litter box and was looking out the window for a bit at the birds ( his normal activity) .So while I am waiting for them to call back he seems to have improved. I hate the thought if having to put in in his carrier and drive all that ways to further traumatize him. Tomorrow they are closed probably but will ask if I can wait now. DH said I shouldn't have taken him in for shots if he is an indoor cat but he does sneak out once in a while.

We took 3 pets in on Wed for a tune of $576 ! They want to clean 2 of the pugs teeth for over $ 500 each- not now .They make you feel guilty if you don't but that is an awful lot of $$$.

Molly needs to go on a diet (beside teeth cleaned ). I KNOW already.we both have to stop snacking. She ( and I ) are too fat and it is not healthy so when SHE barks and begs I will ignore her.

lace break- felted purse

A vacation was needed from lace work .

It was a nice break making an easy felted purse with bulky yarn that was part of a Sunday knitting class at 4 Corners Yarn Store in Narrowsburg, Ny. Anything is easy now after this summer's challenging lace marathon.

The colors ended up a little wild. My original plan was to make a conservative plain purse with the tweed black yarn but yesterday the idea came to make it longer so needed more yarn so added color from stash.

Now all rested up a d something actaully got finished so ready to get back to lace .

Hey, teach!

This new pattern posted in Knitty caught my eye. The name and style are adorable. No way can it can be started now but will put it in my queue......http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer08/PATTheyteach.html

dogs in wedding- hilarious

Carmella -the bride..
Buddy's outfit modeled by Carmela (adustable velcro will make it fit chubby Buddy)

My daughter is having her pug and Buddy in the wedding party , AUGUST 16TH. My step- grandchildren will walk them in the procession to the ceremony.

She is getting marrried right here on the river with no church so ideal for the dogs. My mother is somewhat shocked about the whole idea of having dogs in a ceremony with no priest . I love it!

lace present and future projects

These rubber holders have prevented lost stitches . They were only 25 cents at LYS. What a lace saver!
This came in mail this week to be used for Secret Stole 3 starting August 15th..Sarah's Yarns arrived only 3 days after order! This store is one of my favorites along with Knit Picks. The theme of this stole is pale colors so this is a pretty pale pink called Lady Slipper .. The beads match perfectly but might not show up. After I do a swatch we will see.. it may need some contrasting silver ones from stash.. but ..................

No time to start this until Goddess Mystery is done..

Clue 4 is taking forever and very challenging. 2 rows take one hour! Counting after each section makes it go slower but is much safer that way avoiding major mistakes.

crappy picture ----very hard to take pictures of circular shawls.

I was wondering how you wear a circular shawl? do you fold one end?

My goal is to get this done before August 15th but not sure if it will be feasible with wedding cleaning and details but will strive for it anyways.

The last clue seems complicated with making the border using dpn's or something .I will have to research this in all the past emails in group or over at Raverly

bridal shower

I am so proud of my kid

My best sister( who introduced me to knitting) ,daughter and mother= all the special women in my life.
Liz .....

Forest Canopy Shawl

Sat. was my daughter's family bridal shower. Family, friends and delicious Italian food made it a very special time. Yikes- only 3 more weeks and she gets married..

Secret of the Stole 3

I signed up for this...Secret Of the Stole. It starts August 15th...Hopefully godess mystery will be done by then. I am starting clue 4 out of 5 - but long long clues now. This theme is pale colors so I ordered pale pink yarn and beads from Sarah's yarns and my favorite bead place on ebay.http://myworld.ebay.com/jacksmommy2003/

wedding chores.... knitting cruise

The wedding will be one month from now. I am pooped from cleaning all day. Seems all I am doing is cleaning and gardening and then doing it all over again. This has been my only exercise. My house will be in great shape for this wedding probably will never ever be so good again. Nothing like a wedding at your house to get you motivated and cleaning. Last time our windows were cleaned were two years ago for my son's wedding. Who knows if they will ever all get cleaned again?

Still working on Goddess Knit Anniversary shawl Clue 3. Clue 5 is the last clue and looks really scary as you are doing an edging with live stitches some how. Still not sure if I will stop after this clue is done and go back to Slow Bee 1 .

The Slow Bee must done by October so I can take it on my Knitting Cruise . My final payment for that was mailed today. The 5 day Norwegian Cruise to New England and Canada is sponsored by the Embraceable Ewe Yarn Shop located in Hamburg, Ny. Erin runs the summer knitting camp in Bradford , Pa. I skipped camp this summer because of the wedding, My sister still went and loved it . Next year I will be there!
























hamburg , Ny.

Lace knitting is addictive but these shawls take forever to finish and therefore not much else is accomplished for months . I signed up for Secret Stole group but will wait till one of these ufo 's are done.

pooped from the party

Goddess Anniversary Mystery -circular shawl makes it hard to take photos without falling off needles

* need to put longer cable on Harmonys before last row which is an increase row.

setting up the deck before party ..we ended up with 40 people!

two of my knitting friends ( both seated)
My daughter setting up the drinks.

After all the work with the party combined with this humid weather- I have no energy this week. I have to force myself to water the plants , make the beds and the rest.. so last few days not to much has been accomplished besides the everyday stuff. Knitting has been working on Goddess Mystery Anniversary Shawl but that is starting to become slightly overwhleming and I can only do it if I can concentrate ..so after each row is done breaks are taken doing something else.

The last two clues are huge! I am only on clue 3 row 16 but will plug along on that this am.DH left for golf so I am staying in my PJ's and just knitting. I really want to return to Slow Bee Mystery 1 which was put down after clue 3..
I am debating whether to get back to Slow Bee after this Goddess clue is done .. This goes against my personality which eats one food at a time on my plate so feel like I should be doing one project at a time let along with all the other ufo's!



I did get this done yesterday. These were worn around the house most of the day to break so they wont give me blisters on day of the wedding.. yeah ...The socks wont be worn then!!

happy 4th of July

Not too much knitting will get done this weekend. Our 4th celebration will be tomorrow the 5th. Our house is the ideal spot for viewing the fireworks as they are put off directly across the river from our deck. Now it is an annual tradition to have a big party .Every year it gets bigger and bigger and is a blast! But- now must get busy cooking, cleaning and setting up. I did all the shopping..and spent mucho $$$$

My daughter is coming from Albany and will help me like she always does. Oh I love this kid! There is an appointment with the caterer for the wedding today a..The numbers are a possible 146 for the wedding but many people have not RSVP 'ed but they still have time

happy happy happy

hard to get a photo of how pretty it is

Usually when I knit something there are mistakes always that torment or what is not right about it.Very few projects make me feel proud to be a knitter. Mostly they make me realize how improvement is needed. But this new Forest Canopy is a milestone My confidence has gone up a notch and some knitting skills have clicked with this. After blocking it yesterday I was waltzing around the house with it just so happy with the results! It is the prettiest project ever .What a happy feeling!

2nd Forest Canopy

Blocking does wonders....
finally... one project done


I am addicted..to lace..At 2 am this lovely shawl was finished after a marathon day of knitting. Dh does not get it.. Even with only 5 hours of sleep my thoughts were on blocking this right away this am. Can you believe only one skein fo Knit Picks Gloss was needed for this?. This yarn was lovely to knit with and very reasonably priced!



I was not sure where to place beads so I only added them on the border. 2ndtime around the pattern is making more sense and reading the knitting skills are improving.



Now must return to SLow Bee and Goodess Mystery Kals

final fitting and wedding details

I am off to Albany this am to spend 2 days with my daughter.Tomorrow is the final fitting for her wedding dress.My dress may be altered if she can .The top is a bit too big but maybe a super xxxx padded will do the trick?
Other plans have to be discussed. My daughter and I are planners and list makers.WE have this long email list where is we think of something even minute we add it to the growing list.I have my separate list going about the house itself where the wedding will take place.The Boy and I have been busy cleaning , gardening and sprucing up the place. Next week we meet with the dj and caterers. It is getting closer to August 16th!

little bit of lace

clue 2 done of Goddess Anniversary Shawl .The picture does not show how pretty it really is because of being circular and can't spread out till I stitch to longer needle. Looks like a big hole there?
another Forest Canopy started

another gap on left? Thank goodness for blocking!

lace lunatic

Can you believe I have 3 different lace shawl projects going on at same time? Am I crazy???
Here is Stinky on my Slow Bee 1 after clue 3 done. I got up to answer phone and came back to find him sleeping on it. This one has not been worked on this week. I will get to it but need to get the other ones going first. I will finish this because It is so pretty but not really a slow bee - it takes forever to do one row. The second Clue for Goddess Knits Anniversary shawl is half done. This one moves much faster and easier to do with no purling and no beads. Another Forest Canopy in Knit Picks Bare Gloss started for some reason this week too...




see the beads in this photos....
Peaky likes to sleep on top of Molly. This is a one pug bed but she just piles on...
These pets and their sleeping habits keep me laughing...

Last two days we stained our decks. My whole body is hurting..but the deck really looks good..

Knitter's Day out and KIP Day

Knit in Public at lys shop in Narrowsburg was fantastic. . It was filled with diverse knitters , food, drinks and Chris has rearranged the shop to make it more welcoming . She is young and full of energy and new ideas! I wish her much success with getting this shop going again. It has been practically dying last year and rumors of it closing have been floating around.. I don't do shrugs but signed up for her class on June 29th and will make it for a gift .

On Sept 19 I will be going here.http://www.knittersdayout.org/ I went the past 2 years with my sister who lives in Lancaster PA. It is a cheap weekend with 2 classes lunch and a vendors market.

On the front clue 3 of Slow Bee has one more row to go. Thinking of stopping and starting Goddess Knit Anniversary Shawl so I can follow along to just get started for first clue as this is a circular and sounds confusing.

Lace Panic

Yikes I planned to be done with Clue 3 by today before Clue 6 came out but I am still plugging along on it..The heat , serious house cleaning and today not feeling well has put me further behind. I know it is not a race but I really really want to have this shawl done so I can't start another one. Slow Bee 2 has started along with Goddess Knit free one. I am trying to look at each pattern and follow all the discussions so when I can start I will understand .
Tomorrow is Knit in Public Day at my local yarn shop in Narrowsburg Ny. I am looking forward to it. My spinning group is going to an alpaca farm to demonstrate . Unless I feel better -I am not going.

.

Too hot/ Bridal Shower

My D' Liz's Bridal Shower this past Sunday
Liz and I are on the left.

The Brides Maids I am hiding in the bedroom with Molly as I type this. This is the only room that has a make shift AC in it. Thanks goodness for the wireless router put in a few weeks ago so there is something to actually do in the bedroom along with knitting. But- the heat has made the Slow Bee Lace even slower. Hard to concentrate in this heat.



I actually cleaned all morning as the thought of the wedding being here in 2 months as started to hit me. 2 bathrooms took all morning long. The curtains, the walls, drawers etc were cleaned thoroughly. Then we replaced a screen that the dogs had ripped with pet screen. That took forever as I was the helper to DH. Now I am staying in this AC room for next few hours to recover and dry up.



Speaking of weddings. I went back to WW last night so the dress fits. I feel like I gained a lot but according to them only a pound so gotta get back on track. Not doing so good though as I bought one of their snack boxes last night and ate the whole thing already ( 12 points is 2 meals!) This heat makes salads look blah and chocolate tempting.



My D's bridal shower with her Albany friends was last Sunday. She was so beautiful that day. It is unbelievable how fast she has grown up into a mature and responsible women. To me- me is the perfect daughter and friend whom I love more than I could ever imagine possible.

on to clue 3!!!!

Clue 2 done!
Hard to spread out with my circular that is too short..longer one ordered!
Did find time to take all 4 pugs out today. Usually it is in shifts of 2 so one doesn't sneak away .
Can you see who is peaking out from inside screaming " Let me play too?"

Just completed Clue 2 of Slow Bee Mystery Shawl..Just in time for clue 5 to arrive.I am hoping only one more clue after this but looks like most of my yarn still on the cone. This lace is very addictive so I may have to alternate to to other mindless projects .Otherwise nothing gets done around here.

Books, ticks, clue 2 almost done Slow Bee

Ticks are invading us! Yuk

Buddy and Stinky share a bed..

Gave my hands a break and read an excellent book my daughter gave me.

http://www.amazon.com/Water-Elephants-Novel-Sara-Gruen/dp/1565124995

It was an easy read that held my attention. The story is thought provoking and made me think of my father and his condition at the nursing home. Sort of made me very sad but had a happy but unrealistic ending.

Damn we are getting invaded by ticks. The pugs go out and those ugly suckers are pouncing on them. These suckers disgust me and I found 2 crawling on me this week already. Of course, now I worry about Lyme Disease. ( I use Frontline each month faithfully but not sure how long it takes for it to kill them off when they first jump on them)

Clue 2 only has 4 more rows to go on Slow Bee Mystery. Then I am starting Design 1 for Clue 3 of slow Bee. Things are going a lot more smoother lace- wise this week. I don't know if these clues are easier or I have learned more.

Goddess's Knits Kal starts June 14 and Slow bee 2 in June but I can't see beyond this shawl.