Look what I did…
Yesterday, Suzie and I took the girls and went to Paducah for what seems to be our semi annual shopping trip:) We went this time with the sole purpose of finding great fabric deals and lots of them and I think we succeeded. Our first stop was The Guild LLC on Broadway which we’ve been in before and I think it’s a wonderful place. The people are very nice, the selection is very nice and not only do they have fabric, they have all manner of crafty things. Yarn, needles, quilting supplies, sewing supplies, pattern books and magazines, and lots of fun things are offered there. They seemed to have more of a selection of yarn last year when we went, but they did still have some. It seemed to me like they had more fabric this year too, but I may just be remembering wrong. So, I didn’t need any yarn because I have plenty, but I was able to find some fabric that I love! I could have found many knick nacks and other things I wanted, but I refrained from looking at them (I didn’t want to have to resist anything, although I did resist a knitting book). The things I purchased there were:
1. 2 Ribbons of Social Concern pink and white Breast Cancer Awareness FQ’s
2. 3/4 yd Martha’s Vineyard Watercolor fabric (the desserts on white) – this I could not pass up it is so cute!
3. 1/2 yd each of 2 1912 He Loves Me II fabric by Jackie Robinson – these are the blue with daisies and the yellow/blue/green plaid. They are going to be turned into a fabric box (hopefully) from Amy Butler’s book In Stitches.
After the fun time we had at the Guild, we went to the park and ate a picnic lunch and nearly got attacked by ducks (the geese decided to come see what the fuss was about when we were leaving). The ducks were very curious about what we had to eat, so we threw them a few crackers and one came right up to Taylor’s feet under the table and grabbed at her shoes. She didn’t seem to notice, but I moved her anyway. I didn’t get a picture of that one, but here are some ducky friends:)
When we left the park we headed to Hancock’s of Paducah where we spent a good part of our afternoon! We sorted through the 4.98 a yd bolt ends table and I found some of the things that I had been wanting to order…not at full price – Yay!! Then we began going around the store and I found some more great stuff and got some great deals. Here they are:
Amy Butler Fabric: This is what I wanted!
1. 1/2 yd army and lime green print from the Belle line
2. 1 1/8 yd pink with large cream flowers from Lotus line
3. 3/4 yd brown with pink dots from Lotus line
4. 1/2 yd blue with gray, yellow, and white print from Lotus line
5. 3/8 yd pink pattern from Lotus line
6. 7/8 yd light blue floral pattern from Lotus line
7. 1/2 yd Chocolate with pink and white pattern from Lotus line
Alexander Henry Fabric: These are to make a dress for Taylor. I love anything with ballerinas…
1. 1/2 yd “ballet slippers”
2. 1 yd “royal ballet”
Other Fabric:
1. 5/8 yd Bleeker Street by Michele D’Amore (aqua and olive floral) – this one is gorgeous:)
2. 1 yd Kimono Art 2 by M’Liss Rae Hawley (periwinkle and green flowers) this one has a vintage look to it and is so cute.
3. 1 yd Tulip Garden 2706 by Ro Gregg (khaki and gold dragonflies) – probably will end up as a bag lining
4. 1 yd Tickled Pink by Robyn Randolph (light blue with rose colored flowers)
5. 2/3 yd Girlfriends “Nuala” by Jennifer Paganelli for Free Spirit (coral with magenta birds)
6. 3/8 yd white material (I don’t know what this is, but I got it for 22cents, couldn’t not get it)
7. 5/8 yd light blue flannel…I’ll never have too much solid colored flannel:)
After all the fabric fun we went to Hobby Lobby and I found a few ribbons and supplies that I needed…but no yarn (see how good I was!). Then we stopped in Old Navy and Gap for the sales and found some more great deals on clothes for the kids and even found a shirt for Kody (that he wore today, I can’t believe he actually likes something I bought!!) and a sweater for myself. It was a wonderful day of shopping and completely wore me out.
This week is freedom fest here and we were planning to go to the parade this morning, since Kristopher really loved it last year, but it was not a very pretty day when we woke up. It got better and we went to town this afternoon for a few things and stopped at the street fair. It wasn’t very exciting by the time we got there and there weren’t many people left around, but we did get to see the whole row of Corvettes. You could look under the hoods and they were really pretty. I forgot to take a picture:( Then Kristopher got to jump around in a couple of those big bouncy things that are full of air. He enjoyed that…Taylor was less than amused, but it was nap time and on the way home she fell asleep, so that I could write this post! Tomorrow I teach the one year old Sunday school class and I have to go figure out exactly what I want to do. Have a great day everyone!
Expensive Knives are sharper
…but that doesn’t mean they are safer. I’ve always heard/thought that if you had nice sharp knives that you would be safer than if you constantly used dull knives. I am going to have to disagree with this idea. Also for my birthday (and maybe they are just getting back at me because I didn’t post about them last time), I received a nice set of knives in a wood block by Anolon. I was so excited about them and they do truly cut better and it is so much easier to slice veggies and fingers. Yes, I said fingers! A few days ago, I caught the edge of one of my fingernails and thought wow these things cut really well, but yesterday I was slicing an aple for the kids to share and sliced the end of my thumb right off with it. Before you worry too much, it’s just a tiny little piece, though it really hurt and did scare me a little when it was bleeding and I couldn’t really tell how deep it went. So anyway, I do have a point…my experience so far with these *safe* sharp knives is not promising. I think I need to grow a few extra fingers so that I won’t be missing any! Kody asked yesterday if we needed to get our old knives back out for me to use (I didn’t cut myself once, well maybe a small little one, in the 6 years that we have had them). I’m just hoping that I will get used to having these, because they really are nice and make the cutting a lot easier, especially for hands that get sore quickly. I’ll spare you a picture of my finger, even though it doesn’t look that bad anymore, just a little spot…
Unfortunately, I had just started my June kit from BMFA Saturday night and was so excited about the Solstice Slip pattern. It was turning out so pretty and now I haven’t been able to work on it because of my thumb. I have been knitting a tiny bit, but I can only do easy knitting for a few rows before my thumb starts to throb. For the easy knitting I started a K2P2 rib sock with Claudia Hand Painted sock yarn in the Peppermint Mocha colorway. I love it and am going to make these my Christmas socks, assuming I am making the right size! In the loads of time that I am not knitting, I have been updating my ravelry account. I got my invitation on June 12th and had only been adding slowly, but in the last couple of days I’ve added a bunch of things:) If you are on there already and want to add me to your friends, my name is lovelyknitter! For those of you who aren’t knitters or crocheters, Ravelry is a new community still in beta testing where you can keep track of your yarn stash and projects that you are working on and that you ahve completed. It has a place to keep track of your needles and organize anything that you want to, almost! You can also talk to other people and find friends and see what other people are knitting. I think it’s a really neat place and am enjoying being a part so far.
Vacation Bible School at our church is in a couple of weeks and I am helping this year. I am not teaching per se, but will be in with the babies and one year olds of the other workers. So far I don’t have any helpers and the two year olds don’t have anyone yet either, so I may get to have both groups, if there aren’t that many. I’ve only heard of 3 in both classes so far. I just wanted to start small this year and maybe take on a bigger group next year. If the kids are able to I do plan to try a few fun activities, especially if I have Taylor or any other two year olds in there! Our meeting was last night and now I have a t-shirt iron on transfer to try to get on my shirt right. I hope it comes out nicely and that I don’t make a mess of it! It is going to be so much fun to be a part of VBS this year and I can’t wait! Our theme is from Joshua 1:9 – “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed: for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
I am so glad to love and worship a God who cares and answers prayer! A couple of friends have had some things going on for almost a year now and I know they’ve been praying and I have and I’m sure more people have been too and today those prayers were answered. He is with us wherever we go and He hears us and He answers us when the time is right. Thank you Father, for your faithfulness and love :)
Filed under News | Comment (1)Finally Uptown!
I finally finished the Uptown Boot socks! I know I should have been done with these long ago, but they got to sit in time-out for awhile. I kept trying the first one on, the one that looked too small, and I finally decided that it was too small. So…I frogged it and made it a little bit longer…and then decided that it was still a tad small and looked stretched on my foot. That’s when I put the socks down (more like threw them) and didn’t pick them up again until this week because I knew the June kits had been shipped! I finished the one that I hadn’t messed up first so that I would know how long they really needed to be and then I ripped the first sock back for the second time to make it the correct length. I kitchenered the toes this morning and now I have a lovely soft pair of Silkie socks for the coming fall and winter:)
Pattern: Uptown Boot Socks from Favorite Socks (Interweave Press)
Yarn: Silkie Socks that Rock in the Walking on the Wild Tide Colorway (April’s Club)
Needles: Assorted (here meaning non-matching) Metal DP’s – size US2
And it’s really great that I finished these now, because this came on Thursday! This is my favorite kit of the three so far in the Rockin’ Sock Club. I love these colors and the pattern looks wonderful. I’ll probably be starting today unless I work on my other socks in progress which happen to be close to the same colors.
This one needs a mate: Cable Rib sock from Favorite Socks with Little Splash Yarn from Myrhhwood Farms. A very comfy sock…can’t wait to have 2!
Also wanted to show off one of my birthday presents that I really love! My birthday was the 19th and unfortunately Kody had to work until 11:30 so we didn’t get to have a nice dinner or anything. My great friend, Suzie, made me some brownies and ice cream though and took a silly picture of me… Thanks Suzie:] Anyway, the thing that I am so excited about it this Brookstone Digital Photo Album. I have been wanting something like this for at least a year maybe two now and it is great! It holds 500 pictures in 4 albums so you can show pictures to anyone you meet..haha. It is great though and hooks to anyones computer via USB and I hear that you can get a cord to hook it up to a tv in case you want to show family far away pictures and don’t want to carry 30 photo albums like I always try to do. I really like that I can take so many pictures with me all the time though and not just pick five to stick in my wallet:)
Last thing, for today, is another baby shower gift. These are for my friend Courtney who is going to have a baby girl in July. A cotton hat from Last Minute Knitted Gifts and two receiving blankets in two sizes. One is perfect for covering lower half of baby in the carseat and the other is better for wrapping a small babe. They both have a silky asian type print with flannel backing. I hope she enjoys them and that I make it to the shower later today. Kody’s on call, so I’ll have to wait and see!
Everyone have a joyous weekend and great week next week!
Filed under Creations, Knitting, News | Comment (0)Catch-up Post
I haven’t written in so long that there’s lots to tell! There are even a *few* FO’s! This won’t be a short post, so get ready to read (I hope anyway, I tried to write this post yesterday and got halfway through and Taylor pushed a button and deleted the whole thing! Obviously, I gave up on it then.) :)
First up is our new birdy! I think I told you we were getting a bird from Kody’s sister in my last post, and he was dropped off last week. We named him Nigel (the pelican in Finding Nemo). We all think the name fits him and now we are trying to teach him some cute little phrases and piratey things like “Love a duck” and “wind in the sails” and “don’t eat me“…so far he hasn’t picked them up, but he came with (from Sabrina’s house) “pretty bird”. So far he’s pretty good, but he has done some crazy screeching the last couple of days.
Speaking of our pets, I don’t think I ever showed my rabbit. My mom gave him to me for Christmas in 2001, because I have always wanted a bunny and I never got to have one as a child. I didn’t upload a picture of him this time, but I am planning to add a pets page to my site soon. So far we have a cat, Winnie; the cockatiel, Nigel; and the mini-lop, who will be known for now as Runny Babbit. When he lived with my mom for awhile she called him Honey Bunny, but we haven’t been calling him that. His name may change sometime, but for now Runny Babbit it is.
We’ll keep with the animal news a little bit longer, since I keep thinking of more! A couple of days ago we had a tree frog visitor**. Kody caught him on the porch while he and the kids were cleaning the sand off. We think he must have been trying to catch the many bugs that were flying around the light, since it was evening. The kids loved watching him and he was really cute. We have many tree frogs around here and they sing us to sleep. I didn’t get any sleep when we first moved here almost 3 years ago becasue of all the frogs, crickets and the creek right outside the bedroom, but I have since gotten used to them and would probably have trouble sleeping without all the nighttime noises. Oh yeah, we also have a few owls that get really close to the house. They don’t bother me, but they do make a really funny sound before they start hooting that I had never heard before. Really interesting stuff!
My sister, Tiffany and my niece and nephew came to visit last week for 3 days. It was really fun to have them stay with us, but the kids were a little crazy by the end! They seemed to get along better than last time, so it was more fun for me too! Halo and Gabriel have May birthdays so we gave them their presents while they were here. I made Gabriel a wallet with trains, planes and automobiles and added a little money. He turned 2 years old and I didn’t really have any good ideas this year, but he seemed to enjoy the wallet.
I made several tutus and gave Halo, who turned 4, a “gift card” to Aunt Tabitha’s Tutu shop. She got to pick the color that she wanted and then I took her to buy artificial flowers and ribbon for the waistband. She picked out the lavender and yellow flowers herself and I love the way it turned out. The purple is beautiful with her dark skin and hair :) I hope she gets a lot of play and fun out of it, I know she wanted to wear it a lot when she was here.
Next up, I finished Taylor’s sweater…You know, the one I kept saying that I was knitting, but never showed a picture of. I bet you thought it didn’t really exist! But here it is:
Pattern: Bow Tied Bolero from Special Knits by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino – 55% Merino, 33% Microfiber, 12% Cashmere (2.5 balls for the 18-24 month size) color 600
My Thoughts: I really love the way it looks on Taylor. It fits her perfectly and will be so cute this fall and in the spring (I think it will still fit). I hated all the seaming and I’m not sure that those parts look that great, but overall the sweater is beautiful. I read a lot of reviews that said all the debbie bliss patterns were oversized, but Taylor mostly wears 12-18 and some 6-12’s and this 18-24 sweater fits great, so I don’t know. I have a bag with 7.5 balls of the cashmerino left, so I will definitely be doing a couple more patterns from this book for Taylor. The sweater still needs to be blocked so that it lays down better and doesn’t roll up at the bottom, but I really wanted to take the pictures and post about it…last week when it was done, oh well, here it is!
The Uptown Boot socks haven’t been finished yet, but I am hoping to get them done soon. The June kit will be arriving at the end of the month and I want to finish those and maybe another pair that are started before it gets here. I am also working on a little dolly dress and bloomers with some pretty lavender sportweight that should be done this weekend.
Taylor has had a fever this week and is on some medicine. Her throat was a little red too, but she isn’t too bad off, thankfully. We are supposed to travel for a wedding this weekend, and I was pretty worried that we might have had to cancel our trip if she was too sick. I think she will be perfectly fine by Friday though! Kristopher had his first dentist appointment this morning and he did great! I couldn’t believe it (with his teribble fear of doctors and the flouride thing at the Health department), but he went back by himself and had his teeth x-rayed and cleaned without any trouble at all. And guess what? He has 2 teeth that are a little loose, so we’ll be having all the fun that goes with losing teeth and having a holey mouth soon:) It’s so exciting! I really thought he had a cavity as well, but it turned out to be just a big spot of plaque – very good, we just need to brush better/more!
I’ve been having sort of a rough week. I don’t know what the problem has been, but one minute I just can’t take anymore of the kids and then the next I can’t imagine not having them or more. For the longest time I thought I didn’t want any kids EVER and then once I decided I did, I thought oh this is going to be the greatest time in the world. Don’t get me wrong, it is the greatest time and I get so excited about things (like losing teeth), but it’s just amazing to me that your kids can be so different from you that sometimes you won’t even get along with them. I’m just trying to get through this week without hurting too many feelings and without getting too many of mine hurt, because sometimes you just can’t take it personally, right? Here are my cute little (sometimes) troublemakers ready for church. I didn’t even make them pose, they just happened to be standing at the door like that and the camera was right next to me (it sure looks planned though)!
Please pray for our weekend – we need safe travel and peace for our visit! Have great week everyone!
**No tree frogs were harmed in the making of this blog entry!
Filed under Creations | Comment (0)