That time that I got married!

We got married!  My boyfriend (since 2010) and I tied the knot on the 5th anniversary (5/14/15) of our first date, with our four boys, parents, siblings, grandparents, aunt, uncle, and a couple of great friends in attendance at the courthouse here in our area of PA.  It was an awesome day, perfectly sunny and clear outside, and a simple, easy ceremony followed by lunch for 20-some people at a local restaurant we'd recently been to and enjoyed.

 You've seen me write about my sister before, she basically was the one to introduce me to knitting and crocheting years and years ago.  We live too far apart now to get together very often, but almost 2 years ago, I had the idea to introduce her to Dan's best friend (they have known each other since Dan was born, as their parents had been friends for years!) Jason.  Fast forward to Summer 2015, and Sarah and Jason's wedding is quickly approaching!  To practice the paper flower making for their big day, they made me a lovely bouquet in my current favorite colors.  Aren't they gorgeous!?  If this was her "trial and error" piece, I'm excited to see her finished product!

To make this more knitting related, here's the wedding shawl I spent weeks sweating over!  It wasn't finished by wedding day, but I had it done and blocked in time to wear it to our reception 3 days later.  Yes, that moonbounce in the background is at our reception, and it was an awesome way to keep all the kids occupied and happy.

My shawl started out to be a Haruni, but I ended up doing a feather & fan border rather than the pattern's border due to lack of time.  I still think it turned out really nicely though.  That's my knitting girlfriend Amy with me in the picture :)

Our wedding reception was held at my parents' home (thank goodness for decent weather!!), and our teenage son decorated their driveway to welcome everyone to the party!

The next bride and groom, Sarah and Jason, at their wedding shower a few weeks ago.

Snow Day Knitting!

We're in the midst of a lovely snowstorm here in central PA!  All four kids got a snow day from school, and my college closed today as well.  Two of our neighbor's kids are hanging out here also, while their parents are on a quick road trip they couldn't postpone, so its a full & busy house right now.  I've always felt like a snow day was an excuse to be relaxed and lazy, so I'm knitting by the front window and catching up on some DVRd TV.

I'm working on my Templeton Mittens, aka Smooshy Mitts, knit from Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere.  The yarn is positively delicious!  This project is part of my 2015 UFO Crawl; the first one is totally done, and I'm slogging through the second one now.



SO close to being able to wear them!!

WIP Wednesday

Since finishing the Stripey Socks last week, I've successfully resisted the urge to cast on a new pair of socks, and instead picked up a pair from my 2015 UFO Crawl to work on.  The yarn is Online Supersocke from their Vintage line, and the pattern is Charade.  My sister adores Charade, and for a while there it was most definitely her go-to sock pattern.  I'd always liked the texture the slipped stitches create in the fabric, and when I bought this yarn on a weekend away with my boyfriend in 2012, it seemed perfect for my own Charades.  I'm knitting it magic loop (as always) on 2.25mm circs, and it's slow-going because it's 84 stitches around!!  I couldn't decide on a heel, so I put in a row of waste yarn, and will do an afterthought heel later.  This is the first sock of the pair, and I'm so looking forward to wearing this lovely blue-green color with jeans and clogs someday soon :)

2015 - FO socks!

Just a quickie entry before I head off to class this morning; I finished my Stripey Socks the other day, woohoo!  First project started and completed in 2015.

The yarn is KFI Indulgence 6ply, so they're nice and thick and cozy!  The afterthought heels are knit from KP Stroll Tonal in Blue Violet, and I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me at the time that the Stroll is a lighter weight yarn than the Indulgence.  They fit and feel nice though, so I won't worry too much about it!

Next up - picking up a project for my 2015 UFO Crawl...

2015 UFO Crawl

Happy New Year!!  2014 just flew by, it seems, with not nearly enough free time for knitting, in my opinion.  But as usual, I'm left with quite a few UnFinished Objects as the new year begins, and I'm itching to get them finished and off the needles!  I can’t even think of how many years now that I’ve been starting off the New Year with a UFO Crawl, but maybe one of these days I’ll actually finish the few projects that have been languishing on this list for far too long!

#1 - Log Cabin Blanket , in Vanna’s Choice. Started SIX years ago (Jan 2009!), I’m not sure this one is going to make it. I’ve recently learned to crochet, and I’m going a bit nuts with the granny squares and blanket ideas. I might be cannibalizing this poor blanket for its yarn, or possibly finishing it as a granny square rather than continuing to knit it.

#2 - KAL Cable Socks, in Colinette Jitterbug. Started 3/2010, these had fit issues from the beginning, but I adore how the yarn and the ribbing and the cables look together, so I’ve kept telling myself I’d do them justice one of these days.

#3 - Charade Socks, in Online Supersock. Started 3/2013, and knitted from yarn purchased while away for a birthday weekend with my sweetheart the previous Fall, the first sock is stuck at the heel turn. Apparently I lost interest.

#4 - Cashmere Smooshy Mitts, in Smooshy Cashmere sock yarn. Started 10/2013, the first one is done and lovely, and the second one is around halfway there. Hopefully I’ll get them done before the weather warms up so they can be put to good use. I’m writing this on 1/9/15, and it was about 10* here today!

#5 - Dillon’s Socks, in Paton’s Kroy Stripes. Started 3/2014, I’ve got to get these done before my teenager outgrows them!

#6 - Granny Square Blanket, in Lion Tweed Stripes. Started 11/2014, this is my first crochet project! It’s going to be six granny squares, each one made of 3 balls of yarn, then seamed together 2x3. I’ve got 3 squares done, the 4th is close to done, and I need to buy yarn for the final 2 squares.

2014 Year in Review

Happy end of December, hope everyone has had a lovely holiday season!  It's been pretty great here at our house, and as I usually do leading up to the end of the year, I've had knitting plans on my mind.  Time for a year in review, and dreaming about next year.  Usually my knitting dreams involve far more "spare time" than I could ever hope to carve out of our lives, and of course this year is no different.  I'm certainly not the only one who dreams big when it comes to crafting time :)

So this year, I've completed:
- 5 pairs of socks (every member of my family, except my 16yr old got a pair.  His are a WIP)
- 2 hats
- 2 cowls
- 1 scarf
- 1 baby blankie
- 1 baby jacket
- 1 pair fingerless mitts
- 1 Advent calendar

It doesn't feel like I've gotten as much done this year as in years past, but that's likely just because my knitting to-do list is longer than ever!

I started learning to crochet this year!  I always said that I just needed the right project to make me dive in and just learn already, and I figured it out - it was a blanket made of 6 huge granny squares that I just had to make for Dan.  It's about halfway finished now, and I think I started on it right after Halloween.

The finished project that I'm most proud of for 2014 has got to be my Advent Calendar!  It's been in my queue for at least five years!  After knitting 24 socks (4 color variations of 6 different colorwork patterns, 2 of which I made up), I crocheted hanging loops on each sock, then made a long chain stitched "garland" to hold them all.  They hung nicely around the doorway between our living room and dining room, but next year I'm going to see how they look/fit on the stairway railing.  I've gotten quite a few requests for custom sets!  Not sure I'd do well with that, but we shall see.

If you'd like to see pictures of all my 2014 projects, please visit my Ravelry projects page.

Happy knitting!

Hello from our NEW HOME!

Hey Blogland, long time no see!  I've been rather invisible these last few months, as we were preparing to move house, from Central Maryland about 75 miles north to SE Pennsylvania, in a small town called Red Lion, which is a suburb of York city.  All six of us are under the same roof at long last!!  We're super excited to be here; Dan brought up the idea of us moving to the York PA area almost a year ago, and we have been working hard towards this goal ever since then.  The "big boys", Dillon (15) and Lucas (11) are mostly happy with the move - not thrilled to have to change schools, or that they're sharing a bedroom after having their own for so long, but since it's a really big bedroom, and we let them put the xBox in there, it's OK for now.  The "little guys", Nathaniel (8) and Nikolas (6) are totally thrilled to have us living closer to them - which was the main reason for landing here in PA, to be close enough to be involved with them on more than just a "weekend Dad" basis.  They live with their mom in York, and spend most weekends with us.  

We got the keys at the end of June, and officially moved in on the 4th of July.  The timing worked out nicely as we'd planned months ago for the 6th-13th as our vacation week, so we moved on a Friday, then the following Wednesday left for 4 days at our favorite vacation spot, Chincoteague Island, VA.  It's feeling like a bit of a whirlwhind, but we all seem to be settling in nicely.  Dillon and Lucas will be registering for school this week, D for 10th grade at the high school, and L for 6th grade at the intermediate school.  We visited the local library today, and have gone to the splash pad nearby a few times as well.  My day was made yesterday when our new washer and dryer were delivered!

A few recent pictures of our cutie boys:

 

And my recent knitting; I've been rather monogamous in working on Lucas' Regia stripey ribbed socks.  He picked this yarn out last July when we were on vacation, and I got them started then, but neglected to rib the instep, which made them far too narrow for Lucas' foot.  They got frogged and restarted a month or so ago, and they're fitting him much better now.  Two visits to the laundromat last week, plus many hours in the car to the beach have gotten me up past the heel turn on the first sock.  He's offering opinions on the sock, which makes me think he'll actually wear them when they're done.  Nathaniel, who is next in line when Lucas outgrows clothing, has already told Luke that he can't wait for these socks to be handed down, haha!

Happy Knitting!  I'm off to find myself a knitting group in my new area :)