I'm Baaaaack!

I have been away for awhile. Got busy with some major home improvement projects over the Spring and Summer. I cannot believe how long it has been since I have posted! So much has happened I wouldn't even know where to begin catching up.
One item of interest that I must mention is the birth of my beautiful Grandgirl Jenna. She was born in July and is absolutely amazingly gorgeous. I cannot say how much I love being a Grammie to now 2 precious itty bitties.

They are simply precious. I know most Grandparents think their Grandchildren are wonderful but you cannot imagine these two.I can just sit and stare at them and never get tired of their facial expressions and now that Riley speaks so well I cannot wait to hear what he will say next.



I am not going to spend a lot of time trying to catch up with all that has gone on since my last post. Not much to say in the way of knitting - once Spring got here in '07 I put down the needles and picked up paint brushes and painted nearly every square inch of the house inside and out. With my darling hubby's help we got it all done and got the baseboards all replaced. It was grueling work but we managed and it was fun I have to admit. I have yet to re-tile the kitchen back splash and I am going to tile my kitchen counters in lieu of replacing them.
I am currently working on a new blankie for Jenna doll - you may remember the big bad baby blanket from Stitch N' Bitch By Debbie Stoller. I made her the original one in yellow using JoJoLand Bloom but failed to give Daddy and Mommy washing instructions like a silly girl. Well , they washed it in the washing machine and threw it in the dryer not knowing any better and it being 59% wool , you got it, it felted. It was a fun knit so I don't mind in the least whipping up another one. I am doing this one in pretty pink JoJoLand for the sweet doll baby. I hope to have it finished soon and will post pics.
Gotta go for now - will try to stay current and keep posting regularly. C'ya - Jules

All tied up and baby hat

I mentioned this to Dan awhile back and ever since he has been asking me for it. So I made him a tie using the Patons soy/wool. I used a pattern I found in Punk Knits By Share and Bam Ross. It is a great little knitting book I found at the library and I highly recommend it. There are several items in there that I intend to make. The tie was a fun , quick knit and Dan loves it ~ in fact , he wore it to work today. It is all done in garter stitch and had increasing and decreasing so it was good practice for me. No matter how small the project I always learn something new. This made me realize that when you do your increases or decreases you want to do it 3 or 4 stitches from the edge so you don't leave an obvious pattern line (unless that is what you want to do).


I also made a hat to go with the Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono that was previously blogged- I am going to call it Awesomely cute hat because it turned out so well.
The hat pattern was a generic one I found on the internet and I added the pom pom and the crocheted edging. Of course it is made with the Peaches and Creme 100% cotton in the same color as the kimono. I am currently working on another kimono- playing around with the sizing and making it a little bigger than the other one so Jenna can wear it when she is a little bigger towards the Fall/ Winter. She will be born in July and won't need a bunch of warm clothes so hopefully this new kimono will get some wear when the weather is chilly and she is bigger. We'll see if it works out- Will show some progress on it as it comes along.

This is not knitting related but wanted to share this little girls picture with you. She has nested in our yard on 11 eggs. It is going to be fun watching the miracle of life right in our own front yard. I will try to post pics of her and the babies when they hatch.



C'ya- Jules

Awww- it's a baby! Knitter I mean-

One Friday I got the awesome experience of having my first knitting student. This is Melissa-She is my friend and I fondly think of her as my daughter in love. I have been sharing with her some of my knitting and talking to her about knitting ever since I started a few months ago. Little by little I could see her getting more interested until the one day she really sat down with me and started looking through some of the knitting books that I have checked out from the library. She saw some things that interested her and I told her to let me know when she was ready to learn- well she got ready quickly and got some supplies and is happily joining the knitting world.She is very enthusiastic and will no doubt do many great things once she masters the techniques.It's a little difficult to watch her struggle through her first dropped stitches, adding stitches unknowingly and trying to figure out where this strange stitch came from but it is something we all have to go through at first to get to the good stuff. I being fairly new to knitting myself know all too well the pitfalls you have at first and the heart wrenching agony of having to rip out stitches that you for hours put on those needles. The patience pays off though and I am beginning to realize that for myself. The thrill she got from her first swatch all lopsided with uneven stitches and all brought me back to my first endeavor- what a mess it was but I will cherish it always - it was my knitting first baby step and it tells me where I have been and how far I have come. I made sure to tell Melissa to save hers so she can look back someday and smile thinking about her beginning of her beautiful journey she is undertaking in knitting. Good Luck Mels - Love ya and keep on knitting! C'ya - Jules

It's hard to say Goodbye

It's bittersweet because I SO enjoyed knitting this little gem BUT...
I am so very pleased to announce that my Poppy is complete!
It was a long day on Sunday putting the finishing touches on it but I made it. Phewww! I really wanted to get it done so I can move on to other things with a clear mind.Drum roll-I am so excited how well it came out- as I was knitting the armholes I was worrying that the sleeves were not going to fit- I had a little trouble when knitting them in the beginning- as I pinned them in to get ready to sew them I was pleasantly surprised to see that they fit perfectly. I was jumping for joy as I happily sewed them in place.

The top of the front is knitted in two sections believe it or not- the Noro yarn blended nearly perfect and you can barely tell that it was done separately . I couldn't do that again if I tried-
The crocheted edging around the neckline gave me a little trouble- it was a bit wobbly for me and wouldn't lay right - I ripped it about 4 times before it suited me. Then moved on to the bottom edging- again I ripped it several times before finally calling it good enough. I was extremely picky with the details since this was my first sweater and I want to make a good impression with it. Oh and by the way - it fits me perfectly- I would have enclosed a photo of me modeling but don't have anyone around to snap a pic. It was fun and I cannot wait to start another one- I think I may wait until Fall when the weather gets chilly to cast on my second. In the meantime I have lots of things to keep me knitting. I have that new Granddaughter coming in July and I need to get really busy knitting for her. There just isn't enough hours in the day for me to accomplish everything I want to do. It is fun trying though. C'ya real soon- Jules

Poppies, Poppies, Poppies

That is exactly what I am thinking about this weekend (other than Easter and cooking) - I have gotten both sleeves completed and they are fabulous! I want to wear them as is but will wait to finish it. By that time the weather may have warmed up and it will have to wait until next Fall but I sure could have used it the past few days- it got crazy cold here and even snowed! But before I get to Poppy pics take a look at this -

This just oozes Spring to me. We love coloring Easter eggs every year and have so much more fun now that we have Riley to share the fun with us~~

I don't know who had more fun - Riley or his Grampie .Grampie rushed home from work just to take part.


Here is my Poppy so far-sleeves-DONE!


I am doing the body of the sweater in elann collection. It is Peruvian Sierra Aran 80% Wool and 20% Alpaca in Mulberry.It is luscious yarn and oh so soft. It is so very reasonably priced that I am thinking of getting more of it to make hubby's sweater that I am planning. Take a look at elann.com they have some great prices. I love the layout of their site where they have the fiber content right there for you and you don't have to click around to find it.
This pattern really allows for your own personal touch by having you place rows of color and garter ridges randomly where you see fit. I am having a blast choosing color from the Noro Silk Garden that I used on the sleeves to place the color rows. It is letting me be me! Love it -


Everyone have a Happy Easter! C'ya - Jules