Me? A Teacher?

A couple days ago I popped into the new LYS while Kaitlyn was at the orthodontist. The first thing the owner said to me was that she needed to place another order for beaded stitch markers and pens that I had been selling in the shop for a couple of weeks. This was the first good news!

Then I pulled out the 2nd Baby Suprise Jacket that I am knitting for the shower next weekend. Before I knew it, she was asking me if I wanted to teach a class featuring this pattern! Me! Teaching a class?!?!? Hmmm....ok, I guess!

So we sat down and worked out the details. She wanted a morning and an evening series, each one consisting of 4 classes of 2 hours each. These will start mid-September. After talking some more, we thought a Kool Aid Dyeing class would be fun, so we have tentatively set up 2 Saturday afternoons for those (so the kidlets can come and play too, if they want)

By the time I left, I was committed to 2o hours of teaching time!

My 6th Pair of Felted Clogs

Jake's clogs before felting


Jake's clogs after felting

As promised, I knit these clogs (Pattern from Fibertends) for Jake during our trip to Florida last week. I started them on the flight down there, and finished them up in time to felt them before we came home. My BIL, SIL and nieces all thought it was amazing how they turned out. They were not familiar with the magic of felting and were not too thrilled with how they looked knit up, until they saw them come out of the washer.

They just fit him, so I am thinking I will need to knit him a new pair each year. This was the extra large child's size though, so the next pair will have to be felted a little less time so they are a little bigger. I could have taken these out a little bit earlier, but I guess I didn't realize how big my baby's feet have gotten!

Lookin' Out My Back Door

Caught this rainbow yesterday....unfortunately it was fading in the short time it took me to grab my camera. I have to say I feel very fortunate to have such beauty right outside my door. I truly am blessed to enjoy this pastoral scene whenever I look outside. Even without the rainbow it is beautiful.

Jacob's Clog Colors

my dyeing buddy

Jacob picked these Kool Aid colors from the samples I did a few months ago, and yesterday he helped me wind the yarn, helped with the dyeing, and will have made a big contribution to how they turn out! We just got done winding the yarn back into balls (with CoCo trying to grab the yarn winder as it spun around..silly kitty)

I will take the yarn with me on our trip to Florida, and hope that because this pair will be about 1/3 the size of the other 5 pairs I've knit, I can get them done on this trip. Maybe while I'm there so I can share the magic of felting with my sister-in-law and the kids.

Surprise!

Surprise!

I finished it last night. Pretty cool, huh?

Above (in the Almost Done post) is a picture of the Baby Surprise not too long before I finished it. It's still on the needles in that picture because I had to sew the shoulder seams before I could do the yellow I-Cord around the neck, fronts and bottom edges.

This sweater was knit with Lion Brand Microspun yarn, in Turquoise, Lime, Buttercup and Mango on size 6 needles. It is for our nephew and his wife who are expecting their first baby soon. Shower is Labor Day weekend (how appropriate!) The gender of the baby is unknown. I'm hoping these colors are unisex enough for them!

The pattern is an Elizabeth Zimmermann original, available from Schoolhouse Press. There is also an adult version, which I hope to someday knit for myself.

Almost Done

The blob, almost done

Kelly's Shower

Kelly really liked her afghan, and I checked it out against the new blue walls in their house after the shower, and it goes very nicely. She also got an afghan (crocheted) from Aunt Margaret, that was beautiful. Now they both have one to snuggle under, each made with lots of love.

But it wasn't the afghan that she said was her favorite gift from me (WHAT? After all those hours under that hot thing in 85 degree temperatures? HUH?) Nope, it was the "Forgiveness Cup" that I gave her, with a poem I had written to go along with it.

I had heard about the idea quite a few years ago, and had written my own poem and given it as shower gifts quite a few times. Then I lost the poem I wrote, and there weren't many wedding showers to go to, so it was kind of forgotten. But I remembered the idea again recently and wanted to give a Forgiveness Cup to Kelly and Brian.

Find a very special wine glass or goblet. I have found that Marshall's or TJ Maxx have some really interesting ones. You can even get one etched or engraved with "I'm sorry" or "Forgive me" or "Forgiveness Cup" if you'd like. I printed out the poem, rolled it like a scroll, and tied it onto the stem of the glass with silver ribbon.
Here is the poem I wrote to go along with it.

Forgiveness Cup

When you've had an argument or a fight
whether it is big or small...
When you're not talking to each other much
maybe not at all...
When you want everything to be fine,
you want to kiss and make up...
All it takes is for one of you
to use the Forgiveness Cup.
Reach for it, fill it up
present it as a token.
Your love will know what it means,
no words need to be spoken.
If your love drinks from the cup,
things are on the mend.
Share this way to forgiveness
for true love that never ends.

This gift got a round of applause from everyone there and I know Kelly and a few others got a little "misty". I love to give gifts like this that are special and sure to be remembered in years to come. Just thought I'd share. Feel free to use the idea and the poem if you'd like, or write your own for the special couple.

Interesting!

Huh????

Well, it's colorful, it's soft, and every row has come out with the right amount of stitches in it. Other than that, I don't know what to say about the Baby Surprise Jacket other than it's going to be a surprise to see how this thing turns out! I'm taking the word of many who have gone before me that it will indeed turn into a jacket/sweater if I fold it just the right way and make a few short seams.

I started this project less than 48 hours ago. I am hoping that I might finish it tomorrow if I'm diligent. I am so anxious to see how it turns out!

I will be adding a collar, and possibly some ribbed cuffs. I'll decide once I see it turn into something!

Kelly's Afghan

Here is a picture of Kelly's afghan. I'm just about done now...I'm going to go about 6 more inches I think. The first picture is a closeup of the stitch detail. The other photo is of most of the afghan so you get the bigger picture. I started this afghan 2 weeks ago.

This afghan(The Quick-Knit Throw free pattern from Lionbrand) is being knit with Homespun in Delft color, and the white is Red Heart Baby Clouds. Baby Clouds is very similar to Homespun, but a little heavier weight. It's knit on size 35 needles which has taken some getting used to, but it's coming together nicely and I hope it matches Kelly and Brian's living room.

close up detail

Afghan so far

August already?????

How can it be August?

I'm in disbelief....the summer is flying by and with all that will be happening this month, it will continue to do so.

Next Saturday is my niece's bridal shower. I am knitting for her an afghan in the colors of her new living room. She and her beloved bought a house a few months ago that was, to put it very mildly, a pig sty! They have worked so hard to bring this house from the dirty mess that it was left in, back into splendor. They have hauled out trash, scrubbed and cleaned disgusting messes that no one should have to deal with. But they are doing a great job and will have a very nice home to move into after their wedding.

The afghan is going quickly, and I'm sure I'll finish it in time. I'm anxious to get it done though, because it is getting heavy on the needles at this point, and also because it's been 85 degrees and having this thing in my lap is not a great mix with my hot flashes :-) I've taken a few pictures but they were with the old digital camera and I am having a hard time uploading them. Mike has the new camera with him this weekend on his canoe trip with the guys. I'll have to get more pix when he gets home so I can post them here.

In a couple weeks we will be heading to FL for a quick vacation before the kids go back to school on the 30th. We couldn't pass up the deal we got on airline tickets....$39 each way to Tampa! We have family down there so will stay at their house, swim and relax, go to Busch Gardens one day, etc. We are bringing 2 nieces and a nephew with us....should make for an interesting time.

Back to the afghan. I think I'd better crank up the a/c.