From The Mouth of Babes

Two really good ones this week

The Setup: Hubby has started his homeschooling efforts full scale this month. From what we've read, everyting is a learning experienc, and you must be prepared and patient to answer your little one's questions.

[I overheard this exchange in the kitchen while working in my home office]

Adachi: Daddy, why is it called a GRAND mother?

Dad: .....

Adachi (5yo): Why is it GRAND in front of the mother part?

Dad: Well...It has to do with their wisdom. They have so much wisdom that they are GRAND mothers

Mizan (3yo): NOOOOOO Dadeeeee...that's not right!!

Adachi: Let's ask mommy. She'll know. She's the smartest one in the house!

*sigh* So young and brilliant. (snicker)


The Setup: Pre-teeth brushing exchange between the girls and I (we always have some doozies standing around the sink)

Adachi: Mommy...I think that if everyone in the world was just like me, this world would be -

Mizan: Perfect!!

Adachi: Um, no Meezee. Um..Mommy, if all the people in the world were like me, they would be -

Mizan: Onterrugent (Intelligent)!

By this point Adachi and I have collapsed in happy giggle fits at the adoration of a little sister.

Goodness me! They do just make it all worth it, don't they!

Can I Get a Hoo Rah!

The Girlfriend Swing Coat is off the needles. I'm slightly off my 10-day deadline, but factor in a sudden cold virus, and, well, life, and I'd say it's none too shabby.

This is Tahki Cotton Classic Color Yarn (if you'd like more details, sing out in the comments). I took a chance and added some ruffling to the sleeves. This minor pattern modification nearly did me in though because I finished the crochet edging on the front panels with about 2 1/2 inches of yarn to spare (sheesh).



Still needs some darling buttons (and a few hours to dry a'course).
Up next, some mittens for the cutest little boys you'd ever want to meet!

Thanks to those of you who cheered me on and sent me super knit vibes! MWAH! I'm thinking of all you, dearest readers and willing that your week will be a fantastic one. And if it is, tell me about it; I do love a good story ;)

Giant Girl Doll - A Must See

I found this when blog hopping today. Don't some people just have the most fascinating professions?

Travel Tales

(A recurring feature)

Last week's work trip included a brief stop in the northern 'burbs of Illinois for a visit to HQ. Much of it went something like this - "Hello there! Yep! I still work here! Good to see you again too...uh...ummm...you hard worker you!!"

From IL, I drove up and over to a client visit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Now I must admit, I'm rather taken with the (not so) mythical Midwest charm. Even the NON-knitters up in the Midwest are Just. Plain. Nice. And don't get me started on the knitters - oy!

So of course, I expected sweetness and light from all those I would come across in the section of Wisconsin I went to visit. However, I must share with you some of the, um, UNexpected things I ran into during my travel to The Cheese (and Badger) State:

Heading north on I-94, I stopped at a HUGE Wal-Mart-esque grocery megastore called Woodman's Markets. Aisle after aisle of all you'd expect in a grocery store, and friendly looking shoppers to boot! All the modern conveniences you'd expect too of course, with one teeny tiny little exception. Woodman's does NOT accept credit cards. Not at all. Cash or Debit or leave. Can you imagine?! Now, I'm not sure I was surprised by this because of where I was exactly, but moreso that this major establishment, a chain I assume, could subsist on cash transactions only! Hats off to you Woodman's. Hellfire for us "pay ya later" fancy pants business types who can't function if the money's not coming from the expense account credit card. As a fine consolation to having to use my personal debit card though, I did manage to find fresh baked oatmeal raisin cookies. :urp: Who said that??!

Some other noteworthy sites along the route:

• The Bong Recreation Area seemed like it was worth a stop. I'll have to plug that into the itinerary some how on my next trip up that way.
• If you can't hit the Bong (Area, hee hee), travel just a couple more miles and rest a while at Mars Cheese Planet. Considering the inevitable allergy-induced coma I would have suffered, I decided to forgo this one too. I also tried to google "cheese + Wisconsin" to give you a link for this one, but I'll let you guess how that turned out.
• Downtown Milwaukee River Walk - no jokes here, this was FABulous for strolling & viewing at night time. I took myself out for a little walk/jog to enjoy the view, and was only a little thrown by the fact that there are points along the way where you're encouraged to run THROUGH the outdoor dining area of some nice looking eateries. I stopped shy of picking up a random water glass for refreshment, and apologized for any sweat flinging into salads, etc. You know, I'm not a complete heathen.

Great city that Milwaukee. Much more of a happening spot than I would have imagined too. I look forward to a trip back there, and I'll let you know what else I uncover.

Monogamy & Mojo

Tee Hee - that's a good one for any web search hits, eh?

Just a quick progress post. Apparently when I decide to work on just ONE project at a time, and I ask my darlings to send knitting vibes (and they do) mamamarce can git 'er done!

Here's the progress on Girlfriend Swing Coat as of today...

Needs sleeves and the big collar. I'm planning to do a ruffled or ribbed edge on the sleeves to give it a little flare...we'll see. Deadline stands at Thursday because next week starts crunch time for any holiday hand knits.

Besides, since I learned that (a) I actually can knit faster with my left hand, (b) my wee ones can sit through a entire 2-hour movie in a theater, (c) the lighting in said theater is just enough to knit by, and (d) I have a super human delusion that just won't quit...I think I'll actually complete all the things on my To Be Knit List. Now of course I've completely jinxed any dim hope of that by even typing such farce.

Ah well.

Thanks for your good wishes!! I'm home again for the week, and loving it! Catch you 'round the blogsphere darlings.

Close Encounters

If you've been keeping up with our adventures for the last several weeks, you know that I've started meeting other fiber fanatics in person to knit and talk and just enjoy the fact that there are wonderfully normal, nice, talented people out there. And though you didn't know each other before that split second of "Oh! There you are!", you can still spend hours together bonding over your latest work in progress and throwing in some life chat to boot.

Last Friday, I met with Jennifer and Zoe. Jennifer found me through the Meetup group I started online, and then she started visiting my blog. Soon after that we started an email conversation (thanks to her reaching out to me) and found out that we have ALOT in common, including daughters that we're just plain crazy about! Zoe is Jen's oldest daughter, a doctor now living in Boston. Zoe was visiting south Florida to celebrate her little sister Chelsea's birthday (now 21 - Happy Birthday Chelsea!). Mom and daughters have all been knitting just a short time, but they are already hooked!

We spent some time in Barnes & Noble at City Place in downtown West Palm Beach. What I really loved was how open and warm they were to the girls. Now trust me when I tell you that taking 2 toddlers to a book store and asking them to sit quietly and play nice while mommy and her new friends knit and chat is quite the risky endeavor; but Adachi and Mizan were so taken with Jen and Zoe that they behaved remarkably well! They sat at the table with us like mini grown ups, they chatted us up and kept us laughing.

Zoe didn't pull out a knitting project at the table, but she made up for that by starting a log cabin blanket from the Mason-Dixon book that very weekend - a courageous undertaking for her, but she is well on her way!

Here's a shot of Zoe & Jen together - smiles and sunshine darlings, smiles and sunshine!

My sincere thanks to both of you for affirming my faith in the beauty of a coincidental connection.

Adachi & Mizan had a ball too, I took this shot of them on the way back to our car:

Off the needles this week...the commissioned knit is DONE! I finished the Renee sweater (a Berrocco pattern) and hubby shipped it off while I was on a plane to Chicago. I hope to have pictures of it modeled by the recipient to share with you soon.



Up next on the Knit List...The Girlfriend Swing Coat from Knit & Tonic. This one is for sweet little Raina and is WAY overdue. Don't get me started...

Click here for a close up of the yarn

Here's my progress so far



I have imposed my own 10 day deadline on this one so send me super stitch vibes!

Off to Milwaukee! MWAH!

Look After Them for Me, Will You?

This week's work jaunt takes me back up to Chicago and then to Milwaukee. Promises to be a great time of knitting (yes with another KH'er - the honorable Ms. Kelly K!), working with some people I actually do like quite a bit, and of course missing those 3 up there.

Send me some good travel vibes please and thank you. And, just by smiling at that photo of my 3 darlings, you'll be sharing some of your own love and light, which will undoubtedly help to keep them safe 'til I get home, so thanks!

MWAH!

I Fancy Myself a Writer

Warning to KH'ers who've read my blog over there - nothing new to see here, but so glad you came by anyway!

My dear and faithful readers, I thought you might want to know that someone else actually took the time to read and appreciate something that I wrote. Now, this post is in no way humble, so you'll have to forgive me this moment of immodesty.

I have recently started listening to a podcast called Cast-On, created by and starring Brenda Dayne. Fabulous ear candy, whether you knit or not. It's a great way to pass an hour. I want a podcast! Anyway....she's a former US resident now living in Wales and she podcasts every Friday about all manner of things. I have learned quite a bit about a variety of things; the wool industry in the UK, historical fashions, and natural fiber dyes made with common plants like onion skins to name just a few! Brenda also showcases eclectic music and features her listeners in their own audio editorials and comments.

A few weeks ago during a production glitch, she asked her listeners to create a caption for a photo posted on her show notes site. Here is that photo and my caption:

"And with that, Hector left the rest of the herd to pursue his dream to become the world's first hooved pastry chef. "

I actually thought that a photo of a sheep barreling down a lonesome highway was hilarious all by itself, but I decided to enter the contest anyway, and I wrote the first thing that came to me. (This photo is linked to the comments page, my caption is 20 up from the bottom)

Well in Episode 34 Brenda announced that I had won the caption contest! I was so blown away, and I found out completely by surprise! Babydill and FiberGirl over at the KH Forum wrote congrats on my blog over there. What a thrill!!! But get this...the prize? FREE! YARN!

...which arrived today and inspired this post. Here is a picture of my loot the yarn from Briar Rose Fibers. Four hundred yards of lovely possibilities in the colorway called Grandma's Blessing.

So for the first time ever, I won something for just writing a sentence. Not too shabby, eh?