Look Who's 20!

My baby boy is 20! How did that happen? He is officially older than me now. Not sure how that happened, but it does.

Every year on their birthdays, I wake the kids telling them about the day they were born. I really pour on the drama. They roll over in bed, with a very audible groan, and cover their heads. They humor me - such good kids. I try to make it a little more dramatic every year. It really is difficult to do this without laughing my head off at their reactions. This year I decided to do something different - I would tell him about the day he was conceived! Ha! He didn't see that coming! He's been dreading it all week! This morning when I woke him, I told him it was time. Groan.....cover head....roll over.... Then I told him all this crap about Star Wars, midi-chlorians, cabbage patches and our love that made this little creature grow. So I spared him the true facts that no kid wants to hear - no matter how old you are!

I love you buddy! You have really added so much to our lives. I am so glad we found you in that cabbage patch!

Can you see? Down this aisle at AC Moore? A rare site indeed.
No, not silk flowers or candles.

It's a man in a utili-kilt!

He was more than willing to pose for us! His wife was singing the praises of his kilt. Apparently he had recently been singing the praises of it too! So much cooler and breezier. I imagine it would be. My nephew who is in the Army has one. Haven't seen a picture of him in it yet. Anxious to see one of America's finest wearing a kilt!

How Do You Protect Your Yarn?

Apparently my yarn stash is protected by the love seat gargoyle. If you don't have one, you really should look into getting one. Yes, they are high maintenance, but your yarn is protected.
You have to weigh the pros and cons yourself.

Her shift must be over. Now she's just sitting near the yarn - no long on duty.
Are you ready for this? I don't think you are, but I'll share anyway.

This sweet little thing is a Cuban Tree Frog. My sister sent this picture to me from Florida. All I can say is GROSS! These suckers are between 3 and 5 1/2 inches. I know because I just looked it up. Can you imagine? When we were kids, my Mom's baby brother dropped a small tree frog on my sister's head and she screamed like she was dying. Just imagine if this had plopped on her head! She'd probably still be screaming!

Late Birthday Gifts and Other Neat Things

Things have been hectic around here lately, as usual. But in the middle of all that, I was surprised with a late birthday present that came on a day when I could really, really use a pick-me-up.

My Ravelry buddy sent me some beautiful yarn. (She keeps my stash well fed!) She also sent Franklin Habit's book to me which informed me that a well fed stash is a happy stash. So, without further ado, here are the stash enhancements.

She drove over an hour to pick up this beautiful yarn for me! It is some sort of wool mix, about 200 yards. I really want to make something pretty out of it, but it is screaming that it is hardy too. Any suggestions?

It looks sort of gray, but is actually a brown color. The lighting outside was not cooperative.

Here's some sock yarn that she dyed. I love the color. It definitely looked different outside than it did inside - once again, lighting did not cooperate, so I don't think I captured the true color. Sock yarn is always appreciated and I love the way she dyes it.

But knitting isn't the only activity around these parts. My sister was cleaning out her fabric stash and sent this kit to me a few years ago. A couple of weeks ago while I was cleaning my stash, I found it. I really liked the entire kit, but I didn't want to follow the directions 100%. It had a couple of printed panels that were supposed to be sewn into the hanging. I decided to use those for something else, added some of my own stash, picked Rs brain for some ideas on how to tie it all together and came up with this:

I really like the way it turned out. I'm anxious to start quilting it.

Alas, knitting and quilting aren't the only things around here though! I have been spinning! Well, I have been attempting to spin! :) R had some silk caps that she wanted me to learn with. The draw on those suckers is soooooooooooooo long that it made for an easy first time. I really enjoyed it! I have to wash it and then maybe dye it. I have no idea what to do with it. Part of me just wants to stare at it and say, "Gee, I really did make this!"

Now it's on to knit, quilt and spin! What a life!

So Much Going On!

How do I go from weeks of nothing exciting going on to being totally overwhelmed by everything? As you can see by the pictures, I finished a pair of socks. These worked up quickly. I've always picked out a pattern and went with it. This time I spiced things up a bit. I took the generic sock pattern I always use, same number cast on and same needle size. Then I found a cuff I really liked from the Sensational Socks book. I decided to use an Eye of Partridge Heel instead of my usual. Voila! I had some pretty neat looking socks that weren't too difficult to knit. R says in no time I'll be coming up with my own patterns, but I'm not so sure about that. One thing at a time!

My nephew is home from Iraq! Yes! We are so happy that he is home safely. I'm sure he is even happier to be home!

R decided that I needed to learn how to spin, so she taught me the other night. She has some silk caps that she wanted me to try. They have a very long draw, so that made it so much easier to use than wool. However the silk sticks to everything! If your hands are rough - forget it! Luckily mine weren't too bad.

We decided it was time to clean out the fabric stash. Man oh man! What a mess! It looks like a fabric store exploded in my bedroom. Quite a bit of what we found belongs to R. Remind me never to take her to another fabric store.....ever.....again.....as long as she is alive! I found a kit for a quilted wall hanging that my sister gave to me while she was cleaning out her stash some time back. So, I've been working on that too. I've really enjoyed working on it!

Oh, R got her first notice that she might be called for jury duty. Poor kid! She's 22, so technically she's not a kid, but she's still my kid and entirely too young to have to go! I don't think the county court system agrees with me though. We'll just have to pray that her number won't come up.

Well, that's about all the news that's fit to print at the minute. When I'm finished piecing the wall hanging I'll share a picture. Meanwhile I have to find something else to knit! Gotta keep busy!