For the love of all that is good and HOLE-y!

I have been working on dwindling the unfinished objects I have seemed to accumulate over the past year. Included in that is my hubby's sweater. I have slacked on it, I'll admit. So when I got home from knitting group last Wednesday, I decided to get it out and start working on it.

Here is what I was greeted with. I can only imagine it's yarn karma giving me the finger:

See the dark speck on the left stripe?

Here it is closer

Even closer...

Sonovabeesting. How does this type of thing happen? I'm so torked! Any advice on how to fix this is requested. I really don't want to frog to the spot as this baby is knit on size 2 needles, but if that's the only way to fix it, I'll do it. Please help Obi Wan, you're my only hope...

Secret Swap Partner Received Gift

I am part of an 'Office' themed secret swap on Ravelry. DH mailed off the package Monday and my swap partner received the gift today & it was reported to me that she loved it. Yeah! Now I can post pics of what I sent. Here they are:

Here is the entire gift right before it went in the box.

'Office' related paraphernalia.

Stitch markers. They are silver beads
(the reflected light makes them look like glass).
I scored them at a yard sale,
along with lots of other beads, for only 25 CENTS!Sprinkles the cat crocheted by a friend.
I traded her 'Toast' for it. Sprinkles with her new collar.

Hand knit bag...

with lovely lining & snap closure.
(This was a hard one to include as I wanted to keep it.)

Yes, you did see two pink hanks of yarn. It is Rowan Summer Tweed. My sister found 'the motherload' at a thrift store. Apparently, one of her LYS went out of business & gave all yarn to the thrift shop. Saved TONS on that trip. Can I get a 'Yeah' for thrift stores?!?

Why is this so cute?

How I spent my afternoon...

I got a phone call from my son's after school provider. Apparently, while he was sitting at a table alone, he removed a band-aid from his elbow and stuck it in his ear. Really, really, really far into his ear.

Hence our field trip to LincCare.

The doctors and nurses are very nice there and took said band-aid out of his ear. The doctor asked the young lad his age. My son said, "Six, I'm six." The doctor replied (with his hand on my son's head and looking straight into his eyes), "I'm going to speak to you like my son. Don't do that again, it's expensive to take out."

You've got to love six.

Jamming in the Truck

And this is what you do when returning home from the apple orchard & Corey Hart's "I Wear My Sunglasses at Night" is on the radio:

Night at the Roxbury anyone?

How to Spend a Tuesday Evening

This is what you do on a Tuesday evening when you have an empty oatmeal container:

Affordable Sock Blockers

I made a couple pairs of affordable sock blockers today using place mats I purchased at Target for $1.99 apiece. Definitely an easy thing to do and something I will use religiously come sock weather.

Here are the place mats I purchased for CHEAP!

I began by tracing the pattern on the back of the place mat.

I trimmed the pattern and used dish washing liquid and
a scouring pad to wash the marker off of the back.

Here are a pair of socks modeling the new blockers.
Don't they look happy?

New Machine

To those of you who haven't heard, I got a new machine, then I had to take it back and get it fixed (bobbin winder was giving me attitude), & then I got it back again...

Bernina Bernette 82e

This is my new machine. It doesn't have a name yet. I love it. If I could, I would carry it with me as it's that great. However, unlike my old machine (nicknamed, "Hello Kitty", and that's not insulting it) this one is a bit heavier. I'm guessing...eleventy-billion pounds. Quite heavy.

I love it. I can open her up and she won't bounce across my table anymore. The button holes are divine. and YES, it has my beloved blanket stitch. I even have parts on order so I can free motion with this baby.

It's not a super huge hyped up machine (stop by my Mom's house for that) but I love it. I thank my Mom for going with me when I went looking for machines. She helped me think it through and knew exactly the type of stuff I would do with it.

You are more than welcome to schedule visits and see my new machine. I am also willing to take suggestions on names as the one my mom gave me wasn't terribly appropriate...

A Day at the Orchard

On Sunday, Hubby, son, & I decided to go to the orchard for apples & pumpkins. The orchard we usually go to was hit by a tornado last spring and the apples were pretty beat up. We still plan on getting more pumpkins from them, but hubby really wanted apples. I told him of a place I went to as a kid, Kimmel Orchard. It has definitely changed since my last visit 20+ years ago, but I still loved it. Below are pictures we took during our trip.

Sorry, there are a LOT of pictures...

this is who we took to the orchard

(and yes, that's toothpaste on his sleeve)

on the way to the orchard

picking his first apple of the season

Can you imagine what he's saying in this picture???

Want some?

This was his 3rd apple of the day.

What can I say, the boy loves apples!

The little guy told me to take a picture of 'the nature'.
Who was I to say, "no"?

Told me he couldn't go yet.
He was watching 'nature' and wasn't it awesome?

Flower for mommy.

Ol' blue eyes.

The look of 'loving the day'

Resting on Mommy's lap while waiting for the hay ride.

beautiful day, beautiful company

The little guy be-friended the farmer.

apple #4

Technically, I think this passes as 'fruit group' don't you?

more goodies

me = wine tasting
hubby = beer tasting

Toast is good...

I found a really cute pattern to solve my cold weather knitting needs. After diving through my stash, I came up with the perfect yarn, Berroco Pure Merino. Hubby got it for me as a Christmas Gift one year. The cost at the time was $7/ball. Trust me, you'll love paying that much for this stuff. It's super smooshy and wonderfully warm. Sadly, they are a gift for a swap partner so I won't be keeping them. I will be making another journey to the LYS or more of the yarn so I can make some for myself.

Pattern: Toast
Yarn: Berroco, Pure Merino
Color: Brown
Needles: sz 7 DPN
Cast on: 48
Knit: until you run out of yarn. 1 ball per arm.

Sorry I couldn't get a full-on shot.
I had to take the picture myself.

Destined for a pair of arms that enjoys
knitting outside when it's cold.