Strike one...

I have finally broken my first resolution...but for a very good reason. I am teaching a Block of the Month quilt at work so I had to begin a new project. I love making quilts and this one is no exception. It is a Thimbleberries quilt.
It will be my 4th Thimbleberries quilt...and probably should be my last since the colors are all very similiar! I need to break out of my color box and use something different. I have finished two blocks and am eager to keep going. I am also stitching away on the needlework piece I mentioned in a previous post. I am not going to do anything else until it is done.
I am going to "Help" night at my LYS this week so I can get some assistance on finishing more of my knitting projects. Stay tuned...

Keeping resolutions...

I have been very good at keeping my resolutions. I have not started a new project...yet. I am finishing some old things, but most of my time has been spent cleaning! I have sorted and organized until I can't stand it anymore, but I have to keep going. I need to simplify my life...all of my "stuff" is beginning to suffocate me! I will post photos of my finishing soon. Now it's off to more cleaning...

Happy New Year

Another year over and another just begun...a fresh start...my first New Year's resolution is the same as always...I will not begin a new project until I finish an old one! I have four unfinished knitting projects, I have too numerous to count unfinished needlework and sewing projects. I promise I am not going to cheat this year...I'm serious.

My next resolution is to finish cleaning my basement (where the above unfinished projects live). Some of those UFO's are going to be donated or sold or gifted to others!

Now on to the New Year...

A Day of Magic...

Ahhh, another Christmas Day is over. My middle son proclaimed it the best Christmas ever! (He does that every year and I will be very disappointed when it stops!) We had dinner with my hubby's family at his brother's house. Lots of laughs...great food and a little ping-pong thrown in for good measure. It is so much fun now that the children are grown up...they are almost all adults and so entertaining. We don't get to see all of them very often since they are out-of-towners now.

I received some very special gifts, but my favorite was the having all of my children home. In spite of being raised by me, they are lovely people! It was fun to sit back and watch as they gave each other gifts...not necessarily expensive...but purchased with love. My youngest son gave his oldest brother a poster right off his bedroom wall because he knew his brother wanted it! I was touched by that.

I hope everyone out there in cyberland had a joyous Christmas...I sure did.
Now on to my New Year's resolutions...

All is Calm...

I just got home from picking my daughter up at the airport. Now all of the chicks are back in the nest. (The college boys arrived on Friday night). I should be able to sleep soundly tonight...if it weren't for the chicks coming and going all night...and every light left on in the house, but I won't complain because all is calm...

One Major Gift Gifted...

Today was my stitching group's annual Christmas luncheon. We meet at someone's house and each person brings one part of the meal. My contribution was Lemon Meringue Pie...yummy! We also choose one person's name (the year before) and make something special for them. My gift was a snowman quilt. Here it is: The snowmen are machine embroidered and are a collection from
Embroidery Library. I designed the quilt squares using EQ5. I am going to be writing up the instructions for the quilt after Christmas to use as a class. It works up very quickly because each square is 15 inches. I feel like I had been working on this project forever! One gift down...how many more to go? I have officially begun my Christmas shopping today. I know, I can hear all of the gasps...don't worry I'll get it done...I work best under pressure! I must say I can't wait to get back to my knitting...

Christmas is in the air...

It's beginning to feel like Christmas here at the homestead. I have been a very busy elf...sewing like crazy for other people! I have finished a pillow for a friend and have a stocking waiting next to the sewing machine. I am also whipping up a quilt for a gift. It's very cute...with embroidered (by machine) snowmen...I will have photos as soon as it's complete. I have had two sewing machines working...one for embroidering and one for sewing...my hubby refers to it as "the sweat shop"! He's not too far off! Stay tuned...

Giving Thanks...

I have so much to be thankful for...my husband and children, my parents and sisters and brother, my friends...I could go on all day! Here is my side of the family on Turkey Day. We had twenty at the dinner table! My youngest sister and her gang didn't come because of the weather...we were supposed to get up to two feet of lake effect snow. Of course, it didn't materialize and we were sad that they weren't with us. It was a lot of work, but worth every minute.
As you can imagine, there has been no knitting going on here! I have been plugging away at the cross-stitch piece from Brightneedle, but I don't think I can show you because it hasn't been published yet. Now it is on to Christmas. My Christmas elf did quite a bit of decorating before he headed back to college(#2 son). He has always been the mover and shaker in the decorating department. All I have to do is shop...which I love to do if I know what to buy! I am collecting wish lists from all of the kids and off I go...

Quilting weekend

My friends and I had a wonderful, restful weekend. Here is a photo of us with our mystery projects almost finished. We went to a lovely bed and breakfast in Port Byron, NY called the Lavender Patch. We sewed all day Saturday and then went out to dinner in Skaneateles, NY. Of course, we stopped at the local yarn and quilt shops on the way! Now it's on to Thanksgiving preparations. My children will be arriving beginning tonight. I am so looking forward to their visits. My parents and brother and sisters and their families are supposed to be arriving on Thursday, but the weather looks terrible. We'll have to see how it goes.

Snow, snow, snow

Winter has arrived in a small area of Western NY. We live near Lake Erie and this morning we awoke to a foot of snow! It's beautiful...if you don't have to drive in it! I had to be at work at 8:00 a.m...it was awful. There was a huge plow off the road. I've never seen that before! Yesterday the temperature was in the 60's so we have really had a big change. I am going away for the weekend with my quilt group. Hopefully we will not run into more snow! I am planning a mystery quilt for them. I'll post photos next week. Have a great weekend.

New Sweater

Here is my most recent knitting project. I am using the Ann Budd book that I talked about in a previous post. I LOVE the yarn. It is Manos del Uruguay and it is yummy! I just love the subtle color variations. I am having a little trouble getting the look that I want. I wanted to have a horizontal line where the garter stitch is that looks like the vertical purl rows and I can't seem to make it happen so I'm stalled right now. I haven't had time to go to the yarn shop for help. I'm trying to imitate a sweater I saw in an upscale boutique when I was out of town. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

The Champions

Here they are...the Varsity Cross Country Champs from the WNY Msgr Martin league. They had a perfect season! They are all bundled up because it was a very cold day...at least it didn't rain. Now on to the state meet.

There is not much knitting, sewing or crafting of any type going on here. I have been working too many hours and I just don't have the energy. I did stitch about 50 cross stitches in a new piece that is going to be an online class from Brightneedle. It is very sweet but all stitched over one thread. Ugh! The needlework guild that I am in is their test group. We are stitching it before it goes out to the public to make sure there is enough thread and the instructions are good.

My friends from long ago...

Last month I went to my college reunion. My 25th college reunion. 25 years...how could it possibly be that long ago? Here are some of my close friends who made it back for the reunion. I haven't seen or spoken to them for over 5 years and it was just like we had seen each other yesterday. Sharing each other's dreams, plans, tears and fears for 4 years probably has something to do with it! We have vowed to get together at least once a year now and already have tentative plans for a trip to NYC.

More rain...

I don't think the weather here could get any worse. It has been raining for days with no end in sight. There is a winter storm warning for the higher elevations. There could be 3-5 inches of snow accumulation. Ugh! I find this time of year to be a downer. I have always told my husband I should have been a bear...hibernating until spring sounds like a good idea to me. I just seem to slow way down, I need more sleep than usual and I start eating all of the wrong foods (which is probably why I slow down!)

I haven't completely finished the entrelac bag...I wasn't happy with the way my handles turned out so I am going to do some fiddling. Here is a photo...I'm sure you can see how great it will be when it's all together.
Carrying this bag will really cheer me up!
I am also knitting a new sweater using the prettiest bright pink yarn...it had subtle color changes and it is yummy. I am kind of designing my own thing using The Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Designs by Ann Budd. Of course, I am getting help from my favorite teachers at my favorite LYS! I will photograph my progress when I have some natural light...and the rain stops!

October already?

How did this happen? Where has September gone? The weather still says "summer" here in Western NY, but the trees are beginning to turn color and the days are getting shorter so I know "sweater weather" is just around the corner! My turtlenecks and wool sweaters are all ready to go.
Not much is happening on the knitting front. I am working on the "Lots of Choices" top from The Knit Stitch book. It's fun to knit, but I just don't seem to have much time or energy to work on it. I have begun the felting process for the entrelac bag...oh I'm so nervous on how it will turn out. Stay tuned...

Entrelac progress...

I just thought I would update my progress on the Felted Entrelac Bag. I expect I will have some quality knitting time tomorrow watching the Buffalo Bills in their season opener. Hopefully I will be doing some felting next week!

A Finished Project...

I have finished the Wallaby Sweater (except for blocking).
It was a fun one to do, but I will never do striped sleeves again! The way this is done is...you knit in the round until you get to the placket then you go back and forth. Consequently I couldn't carry the light blue yarn, I had to start a new piece for each row. I used a cotton blend yarn that I had in my stash. I want to make this again soon in a nice wool in one color!

I am furiously knitting the entrelac bag. My family thinks it is very ugly...I keep telling them that it will look completely different when it is felted. Stay tuned!

Tomorrow I begin another knitting class. It is the Lots-of-Choices Top from The Knit Stitch book by Sally Melville. This is a great book with lots of nice projects in it.

Son #3 goes back to school tomorrow. A new school year always makes me a little sad, but I guess we are both ready to get into a routine again. I have some major housecleaning to do and lots of projects to keep me busy.

Phew...

We delivered son #2 to college on Saturday. It was a whirlwind trip...very emotional for me. This proves I am aging! Now I only have one child at home. Lucky him, he gets my undivided attention!! He starts school on Sept. 7th so he is trying to get his summer reading done (a procrastinator like his mother!).

We visited our daughter in Boston after the college drop. She is very busy getting ready to move to a new apartment and she just got a great promotion at work that is keeping her hopping. The visit was too short, but I got a chance to go to Paper Source and Beadworks!

I was able to get some quality knitting done on the Wallaby Sweater while I was in the car. Unfortunately I had to rip out large portions...twice. I will post photos soon because I plan on finishing it this week.

Never a dull moment...

Things are so hectic around here. Son #1 is back at college in Burlington, VT. Right now I am getting son #2 ready to go this weekend with a small change in plans...he is now going to Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. It was his first choice and he was wait listed there. They called last week to let him know he was in if he still wanted to go there. Yikes, all of our plans have changed. He is very happy, but his older brother was disappointed that they wouldn't be at the same school!

There's not much time for sewing or knitting. I did sneak a few minutes yesterday to make myself some earrings and finish a bracelet that I had in process. I need to do something creative every once in a while or I really go crazy! The Baby Surprise Sweater is off the needles and just needs to be sewn...I will do that in the car this weekend. I should be able to get some quality knitting done while we are driving to New England.

You can tell that summer is coming to an end...

You can tell that Summer is coming to an end when:
1. The days get shorter.
2. The weather gets cooler.
3. The checkbook is empty after back-to-school shopping.
4. My kids start to drive me crazy!!!
My oldest son, aged 21 (some might call him an adult even), cannot put a roll of toilet paper on the holder. Now, you think he might know how because he first went into another bathroom (passing by the cupboard where we keep the extra rolls) and took the toilet paper off that holder, but no...the roll is sitting on the counter! Augghhhhh!!!

I feel much better now...in another week I will be so lonely.