A day at the beach

I had the best weekend! The boys and I had a day at the beach. We went to Lewes DE and spent the day at Broadkill beach - a dog friendly beach that was mostly deserted and beautiful.



Hurley especially loved the beach! He got to run after his ball and jump in the waves. He is still mama's boy though and wasn't happy until he was sitting on my lap!





I guess it was the best vantage point to watch the people and dogs walk by.

Bailey had the entire beach blanket to himself. Although he didn't like the water as much as Hurley he still enjoyed sniffing the shells, sand, crabs, water, rocks, seagulls, seaweed,....




After the beach - a quick drive over to Rehobeth for dinner was followed up by a sunset walk on the boardwalk. It was a beautiful evening.








I'm so glad I got to go to the beach! I hope to make it back there again soon!

Garter Love!

I just finished a new shawl!

It's the Multnomah shawl:



Stats:
Pattern: Multnomah by Kate Flagg
Yarn: fingering weight Louet base dyed by Sarah and I!
Needles: Size US 6
Mods: none

This is a awesome mindless knit - especially the garter stitch part because there's absolutely no purling! You don't really have to look at what you're doing until you reach the feather and fan section.






This was such a quick and easy knit - I may have to knit another one!

NOLA

I'm back in New Orleans for work this week. It's hot and muggy and rainy and sunny all at the same time.

I just love the architecture and style of this city. I had the opportunity to take a co worker around the French quarter for the first time and see their reaction. It was like reliving my first trip.

Here are some pics for your enjoyment.

Handspun makes it better

Long overdo knitting update! I haven't been knitting much but I have finished a few things lately. I think almost everything I've been knitting lately has been with handspun. Will I ever be able to knit with regular yarn again!?


Most recently I knit this hat:



Stats:
Pattern: Wurm by katushika
Yarn: Handspun dyed by Woolgatherings
Needles: Size 4 and 6 US
Mods: Knit 2 purl rows and 7 knit rows instead of 5 and 4 and only knit 6 repeats.


I also finished this shawl:




Stats:
Pattern: Annis by Suzanna IC
Yarn: My hand-dyed handspun yarn
Needles: Size 9 and 10 US
Mods: none

Earlier this year I knit these socks:






Stats:
Pattern: Plain socks
Yarn: Fat Cat hand spun
Needles: Size 2 US


The one non hand spun item I finished are these Trekking socks:




Stats:
Pattern: plain socks
Yarn: Trekking
Needles: Size 2 US


I'm thinking about designing a shawl for this contest. I guess I have to get spinning in order to be ready in time!

Eggplant and flowers

But not at the same time!

I tried an amazingly good recipe the other day that I wanted to share with you. It's an eggplant parm recipe from Martha Stewart

I think it came out really well!



It's also relatively healthy since it's baked and not fried but still tastes just as yummy. "
I only used one eggplant instead of 2 and had MORE than enough to fill a 9x13" pan.

I couldn't resist taking some pics of my flowers too. They are all bursting at the moment!






Have a great week!!

Day trips

It's been a while but I still wanted to share of the fun day trips I went on recently. My friend Nicol was in town for a visit and we went EVERYWHERE! After picking her up from the airport in DC - headed to Alexandria for dinner and ice cream.


We ate at the Fish Market and it was fun to sit up on their balcony and look over the activities on the street below. After dinner we drove home via DC and stopped at the monuments. It's always amazing to see the monuments at night all lit up! Please excuse the crappy cell phone pics!





The next day we headed to Philly!

We walked around South Street and I had a cheesesteak at Jim's - my favorite!




After South street - we headed to center city and saw the Liberty Bell and Independence hall.





Finally - we went to Manayunk for dinner - such a cute little town!



Next up was Baltimore - I took Nic to see my favorite parts of Baltimore - Inner Harbor, Fells Point, Camden, Hampden and everything in between!



Sunday was DC! We headed down early to get tickets for the DCDuck tour. We bummed around China town, saw a Nationals game and saw more monuments and landmarks.




It was a busy but fun filled weekend!

Hello!

It's been a long time since I've posted! I've been busy! Went to Sheep and Wool, spent time with friends, worked, slept ate, etc etc etc.

Thanks for all the kind words about John. It was a long road. Watching him go through cancer for the last three years was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but it has made me stronger.

Meanwhile, life goes on...

I have been doing some running! I did two 5Ks last month! Can you believe it!?!



I ran the first one in 38 minutes and the second in 42. I was trying to take it easy on the second one since I kind of hurt my knee on the first one. I ran the second one with Jolene and she is doing so great! She joined a running club and everything!

My friends have been just awesome in general - I don't know what I would have done without them. My friend Sarah stayed at my place for two weeks and kept me laughing. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world for having such great friends. Sarah, Jolene, Erin and Coleen - you are my sisters for life!

John

My husband John passed away on April 18th after battling cancer for almost 3 years. He was surrounded by friends and family and went very peacefully and without any pain. Thanks to everyone for all the love and support!







You will be missed!

John wanted donations to be made to Stand up to Cancer.

Project 365 - March!

Third month of Project 365 down! I am enjoying this so much and am so thankful for all the wonderful photos I've taken as a result of this project.

Here are my photos for March:



There's no start or stop time for this project - if the mood strikes you - start taking pictures too! You can post to flickr or the 365 project website. I'm doing both!

I'm looking forward to more - I'm a quarter of the way to 365!

Simon's 1st birthday

My nephew Simon turned 1 year old on Saturday! I can't believe how time flies! I knit him a birthday vest:



Stats:
Pattern: Merino 5 Baby - Toddler Vest by Crystal Palace Yarns
Yarn: Interlacements Dyers Choice - worsted weight
Needles: size 8
Mods: I only did 5 rows of ribbing on the neck and arms instead of 10.

I like the buttons on the shoulder for easy on/off on a wiggly toddler too!



I ended up buying a complete outfit with a second vest - so I could put my vest on the outfit instead. I think it looks cute!





Simon had a fun birthday party too - here is eating his birthday cake.



Happy birthday Simon!

Olympic knitting done!

I finally finished knitting my Olympic sweater! I wove in the ends on Saturday and didn't get a chance to take pictures until today. i love how it came out.

There's nothing like a handspun sweater!



Stats:
Pattern: Sweetgum Duncan by Meghan McFarlane
Yarn: My own Handspun from the following dyers:
-Pigeonroof Studios
-Dragonfly fibers
-Wool Gatherings
-Fat Cat
-Yarn Wench
-Hello Yarn
-Rhinebeck Mystery fiber
Needles: Size 9 US
Mods: I didn't knit the bottom ribbing the same way - instead I did about 4 inches




I especially love the neck of this sweater...



It was so much fun knitting with my own handspun and blending the colors. I'm thrilled with how it came out and can't wait to spin more!!!