Here's a picture of 2007's fireworks. I'm hoping Easthampton's fireworks don't get rained out this year.

Not sure if I like this as much as Windows Live Writer (the only Microsoft product I really enjoy and find super easy to use...)

Let’s pretend I haven’t been completely ignoring the blog with pictures.

January 2008’s Rockin’ Sock Club sock - (yeah, I’m over a year behind!)

Did not love the pattern, but that’s mostly the fault of the heel. I don’t love short row heels, because short rows drive me insane. They never come out as perfectly as I want them too.

And a February Lady Sweater knit in Dream in Color Classy. Let’s ignore the pasty, tired face, okay?

Oh, and there’s A LOT of birds in my neighborhood. They wake me up EVERY morning at 4:30 (thanks birds! :P) Here’s the cardinal…before all the leaves came in. (Yay leaves)

I’m going to try to be better at updating. March was a bad month, and April and May totally flew by. In fact, with all the rain we’ve been getting, I’m pretty sure it is still April!

Once again, I have lapsed in updating, but….eh, I have no real excuse. Here’s the collection of projects I have finished in the time since my last post -

Beaded Edge Scarf from Filatura di Crosa Superior Crochet

I really loved this project. The crochet was a nice, nearly immediate gratification kind of project. A nice departure from my knitting of late. It’s crocheted in Filatura di Crosa Superior, color 34. The beads are size 6/0 hot pink lined AB beads. I LOVE them! I wish there were more on the scarf. I have MAYBE a quarter of a tube left, so it does use quite a few. The toughest part of this project was the foundation single crochet that you begin with. The good thing about crochet, especially with a slightly fuzzy yarn like this, is that I can kind of fudge it, so I seem like I know what I’m doing. :)

This project took just about a week to finish. The edging was a bit fiddly, but totally worth it. Superior is so incredibly light that you need the beads on the edging to give it some weight to assist with the drape.

Next FO is one that was a “secret” project. Even though Anna doesn’t read my blog, I wanted to make sure she didn’t see it before her birthday,  which was Friday. Years ago when I made a knitted babe from the book of the same, Anna commented that it looked like Mr. Burns in the Springfield Files episode of The Simpsons. Basically, Mr. Burns looks like an alien and wanders around the woods saying “I bring you peace. I bring you love.” because he has had so many medical procedures done to keep himself alive. It’s amusing. Anyway, I give you…Mr. Burns.

He’s not perfect, but she appreciated him anyway. His hospital gown was created from an old white t-shirt. And his face and hair from felt…which, incidentally, Valley Fabrics does not carry, but they do have some pretty fantastic fabrics, so I will be going back in the very near future!

Finally, I was taken by the Berroco KnitBits pattern from Friday, March 13th. It’s a crocheted beret called Phannie. It was a great pattern…super easy and super quick. I’ve also fallen in love with Berroco Pure Merino DK. If I could get away with throwing it in the dryer, it would totally become a blanket I’ve been thinking about crocheting for a long time. My mom inherited a crocheted blanket when my grandparents passed away, and Ed LOVES it, but I haven’t been able to find a suitable fill-in for the (surprisingly nice) acrylic the original was made in. So, the search continues….

Anyway, the beret….I’ve never looked good in hats. I just don’t have a hat-head, and I’m not hip enough to pull off the look. Here, my friends, it me in a hat, forever immortalized on the internet. It’s a shame it’s not a good look for me because I can’t say enough good things about the pattern!

At least I only “wasted” a few hours on the pattern, and found out I love the yarn, so it’s not a loss or anything. And, I guess if I have a cold enough head next winter, I’ll be all set. :)

Since last night, I’ve been working on warping my rigid heddle loom and started weaving this morning. I have a harder time sitting down to the rigid heddle than to sitting down to knit or crochet (and someday I’ll find time to sit down to the spinning wheel I’ve had for a couple months, but that’s another post :))

Anyway, there was a valance in the latest issue of Handwoven (March/April 2009) worked in 8/2 unmercerized cotton. It’s a fantastic little valance, so I’ve started it in a natural color for the half bath (yes…start with the smallest window in the house!). It’s a little time-consuming because of how it’s done, but I think I like the way that it’s coming out so far.

So, first things first….Sunday morning, I was in the kitchen at the sink and saw these birds out of the corner of my eye and they scared the crap out of me! I am not a fan of birds and they were just chilling out on the deck. We’ve had a lot of tiny birds in the yard this winter, and they were especially vocal Sunday morning, but these two…these two were just plain creepy.

See…CREEPY!

Anyway, as promised I’ve got a few more projects to show off. First, Loppem from Norah Gaughan Vol. 3. I started this project two days before the wedding. I took it on the honeymoon and then all sorts of stuff got in the way of finishing it. I think it looks better in person. I’m a little too pasty (partly the camera and party --- okay, mostly, real life), my hair was a little too long, so it had to go up, and my camera is stinky at capturing red. so you’ll just have to trust me, that it does, in fact look better in person.

It’s knit in Berroco Palace, which is a blend of wool and silk. It’s quite lovely. I did knit longer than the recommended 9 inches though --- to 12 inches before the underarm. I knew if I followed the patter there is would not hit me in a good spot! Finding buttons for this was really tough. We have LOADS of buttons, but it’s never quite what I’m looking for.

Next project was done for the store. It’s the Stacked Rib Cardigan from the latest Knitscene in Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky. It took just about three weeks from start to finish. The pattern was great! Really easy to follow. I’ve never sewn in this particular kind of sleeve (square set-in I think…of some variation of it), but the directions gave a helpful tip for marker placement making finishing a breeze…or as breezy as finishing can be for me (it’s not my favorite task).

My only deviation from the pattern was that I did the button bands and collar before sewing in the sleeves (which I knit at the same time). I’m not a fan of sleeves flopping around and getting in the way. I also had trouble finding buttons for this one. I think I should give up knitting projects with buttons!

Here’s a sneak peek at what I’ve been working on recently. It’s blocking as I type this, so I’ll have more details tomorrow (as long as I can get some good pictures!)

Okay, I know, Christmas was two months ago, but I made some pretty great projects this year, and managed to get most of them done in time!

Here we have dad’s Cobblestone Pullover. I knit it in Cascade 220 Superwash, which grows A LOT when washed, but shrinks back down to size when tossed in the dryer.

And mom’s Quilted Diamond Vest. I really liked this pattern. I tried to take the “easy” way out and put the zipper in with the machine. Yeah – I know that never works, and it didn’t this time. I spent more time ripping out stitches than actually hand stitching the zipper in! This was done in Valley Yarns Berkshire. I’m really happy with how it turned out, and according to Mom, she gets compliments when she wears it. It was super easy too. The patterns becomes quite obvious when you’re working it, so I didn’t have to go back and look at the chart.

Here we have Anna’s Funky Monkey in Christmas colors. This one wasn’t done in time for Christmas, but the sweater and vest were. I’m really pleased with how he came out, and I think that Anna likes him too. He has a tail, but you can’t see him in this picture.

Here’s the Cabled Globe Ornament I did for a family friend. This was super easy! I started it on a Thursday night (after 9PM) and finished it before 5PM the next day. Granted, I did get out of work early that day because we had one of the many crazy snow storms we have had this season, but I was only home about two hours early.

I’m pretty pleased with my accomplishments for Christmas knitting. I’ve also finished my Loppem and even worn it to work once and finished the Stacked Rib Cardigan for work (pictures coming!). Now, I’m working on a secret project and trying my hand at some crochet…lace crochet, so it’s been a little nerve-wracking, but the first row is coming along.

(but not ketchup...I'm not much of a fan)

So, it has been brought to my attention, that I never shared honeymoon pictures. Yeah...stuff kind of got in the way of that, so here are a few of my favorites:

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. This was the view from our room. It was pretty awesome, but we did find ourselves missing Port Orleans French Quarter. It was incredible to take the boat over to the Magic Kingdom though!

Our ears :)

My home :)

Us and Goofy at Chef Mickey's

Ed and Donald - my two favorites :)

At Hoop Dee Doo Revue. I was exhausted and sick (and you can tell!). I had the worst cold I've had in a LONG time, and Ed was sniffling too, but we still had fun at the show!

We had a fantastic time! These aren't all of my favorites, but we were working with two different cameras, and these are the images I currently have access to. Everything else was taken with Ed's camera, and the pictures are on his computer, which is with him at work right now!

Anyway, a couple weeks after we got back, I dragged Ed to Mohegan Sun with me to see New Kids on the Block. That's right folks, I'm in my mid-twenties and I went to see New Kids on the Block. I was IN LOVE with them when I was younger, so this was a trip like 18 years in the making. And it was fantastic! :)

I'll update in a day or so with a catch-up of December (Christmas knitting), and my pictures of Loppem and maybe even an almost finished picture of the Berkshire Bulky Sweater.

So much has been going on...trying to heal...had to get through Christmas knitting...trying to survive the winter.

I actually don't hate Christmas knitting. I like giving knitted gifts, and I work better on a short timeline. I always have. I used to wait until the last minute to do most of my projects in school. Made for a pretty stressful situation, but I think it always came out better...I got excellent grades on everything anyway. Looking back on that, it probably would have been better if I had left more time, but can't go back now! Anyway, this Christmas, I knit my mom a vest, dad a sweater, Eddie a hat, and Anna a Funky Monkey. I don't have pictures at the moment. Didn't really have time to take them before they were given away. There are pictures sitting on my mom's camera. I just have to get them emailed to me and I can put them up and maybe go into a little more detail! :) Not everything was finished before Christmas either...

I'm having a really hard time this winter. Last winter I was cold. This winter...I'm basically a walking ice cube. I have to wear my jacket at my desk, and I've got a drawer full of those little disposable hand warmers. They are helping, but I'm so ready for winter to be done. Luckily, I received some warm sweaters for Christmas, which has helped too. We've also had an extaordinary amount of snow. I'm pretty sure this has happened because we own a house now and have to take care of the driveway and sidewalks. I think we've done a pretty good job...Ed doing most of the work. I can't wait for it all to melt. I think I have forgotten what my yard looks like. We only lived her a couple months before it started snowing. And let's not even start on the limited daylight. It's finally getting better. I keep having to push the timer later for the light we have it on. That's a great feeling. It's still dark when I wake up, which makes it really hard to get motivated, but it's also still light when I get home.

I'm working on a couple projects right now. One that can't be mentioned, just in case, and another one...a sweater for the store. It's a good pattern from the latest Knitscene in Berkshire Bulky. I'm liking it so far, but I'm not even half done. I just finish Loppem from Norah Gaughan Vol. 3. I'll have a picture soon.