Cool shoes

Both my older girls were promoted in June - one from elementary school and one from middle school - so we needed new shoes appropriate for this special ceremony. Behold what came home with us for both of them!! Aren't they the cutest??

btw we did get other shoes that went with their dresses :o)

2nd shell progress

AHHH, the easy days of summer. This past weekend we went to the beach - Twin Lakes beach - and our dog came with us. What a great time!! This trip has an extra added bonus of being approximately 45 minutes away and my dh loves to drive. Some great knitting time to be had.


The progress on DD#2's shell - I am knitting this one in the round - I really like that except for the 1 inch of garter on the bottom there are no purl rows to deal with!! First ball of yarn complete 4 1/2" of shirt done! YAHOO!!

End of School Year treats

The end of the school year is always VERY, VERY busy!! A friend of mine calls it May "hem" and I have to totally agree with her! All the class presentations, rehearsals, recitals, special shows, volunteer breakfasts etc., etc., etc. It just becomes a whirlwind of activity. The kids love it -- they love to perform for us and my in-laws and we think they are great. Sometimes, though I wish everything would be more spread out so it didn't feel so rushed. Oh well....we always have a fun time too. We always make end of year treats for each classroom and this year we tried our hand at some chocolate!


The 4 year old helping. We didn't have "real" molds so we just used mini muffin pans. We poured the chocolate in (just a little) and then sprinkled crushed peppermint on top. Then we put them in the freezer for a little while. I was worried that we would have trouble popping them out of the pans, but that was not the case. We just turned them over and dropped them on the counter and all the little chocolates came out of the pan. Pretty slick. We just HAD to try them out - you know, to protect all our friends from eating something yucky - and they were pretty good. There were no extras to bring home after that last day of school so I think all the kids and teachers thought they were yummy too :o)

End of year baseball cake for my 9yo.

This one was made truly on the fly. We had so many events leading up to this last game that I really didn't have much time. I made the cakes the night before and frosted them about 20 minutes before leaving. I think it shows that I was really rushed - not the best job I've ever done. The boys really liked it so I guess that's what counts, but next year I think I'll give myself more time to do the job right.

One Done, One Started

The Eros Shell is done! This is a very easy knit, but because of the thread like quality of the yarn, it seems to take forever!

I really like the way it looks and fits. I am planning on wearing it with a black skirt for both my daughters promotions this Thursday. Will I really be the mother of a high schooler and also a middle schooler?? They were just tiny a moment ago!

Eros Drifters Shell from Plymouth

Started: 7/24/08

Finished: 6/6/09

Many other projects made in this time period as well :o)

Needles: US 6 (collar and bottom inch) and US 7 (for the rest)

Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Eros Drifter's Italian Collection

Color: #4796 blue/green

Lot: #165

Gifted: To Me!

Mods: I elongated the length of this shell from 13" to 15" from armpit to bottom bringing the total length to 21 1/2". If I were to do this again for myself I would add another 2" to the bottom. It fits fine, but I like my shirts a little on the long side.

DD#2 picked out this yarn and I must say it is quite festive.

The top of the balls to give an appropriate look at the colors.

The start. This is what it looked like on June 6th. One June 7th it had an unfortunate accident with the dog. She dragged it outside and rolled around on it. Then she so thoughtfully brought it back inside for me. "Nice Doggie" - do you hear the sarcasm!! Anyway, thankfully she did not chew on my needles and it was frogged and re-cast on and now looks very similar to the photo above minus a row or two. Both my daughter and I very much like the way it is knitting up - so very colorful, but very different from mine. The yarn I used had very long color runs and that's where the stripes came in. Hers is just random bits of color so the pattern is an all over one. I can't wait to knit a bit more to see how it's really going to look :o).

9 patch squares

I have always wanted to know how to quilt. I read a few quilting blogs and buy quilting magazines quite frequently, but the "idea" of actually making one has been intimidating to say the least. For a while now I have been reading Amanda Jean's blog. She makes such lovely quilts and lots of them - I have been really envious of what she can do! Well....a little while back she started a quilt-a-long. Just make one 9 patch square a day and you will have a completed quilt by the end of summer. That sounded like something I could do. We were supposed to use scraps but I don't have enough. What I did have were a bunch a fat quarters that I had picked up some time ago (not even on sale!!!) that I really liked - I checked and it appears that I have enough!

Here are sqares 10 & 11. I love them!
Here are all 11 together. Now, true to my form, I have not been making one a day. I think the group is somewhere in their 40ths blocks and I only have 11. But these 11 squares are great for me. I never thought I'd be able to make even these!!

Here is a close up of one of the squares that shows the fabric more clearly. I just cut out enough fabric for the next 11 squares and hopefully in the next couple of days I will be able to sew them up also!! Some of the corners don't line up, and some of the squares are bigger than others, and before I realized which way to press the seams I pressed them open - but I think this will be a great experience! I am looking forward to completing the next 11 squares!

Cross stitch progress

I think it's very easy to tell which is the before and which is the after shot!

I am trying to do at least an hour each evening before I go to bed. Sometimes I even get two hours in, but sometimes I don't get any time at all! I am aiming to have this finished for Christmas this year. Then I will start the next one.......hmmm......7 people in this family......one

stocking per year......I guess my evenings are full for the next 6 1/2 years!!! :o)

Not a bad proposition since I am enjoying this so very much. What I am not enjoying so much - all of the end of year events that having 5 active children bring to our days and evenings. AAHHH!! Only 8 more school days to go and then blessed summer time!