sherriknits

We started our day earlier than usual because it was our Sunday to serve bulletins.  The little imp was a little off target today, he had to be constantly reminded to actually give them to people rather than stand there staring at anyone who stopped in front of him.  He was sleeping so soundly when we woke him up that he apparently never really arrived.  That’s ok, I have off days, too.  He did get to go help with the candy bags for new visitors again today and was more with it.  Dad told me to go look at the graduate clipboard, we’ll be honoring those soon who graduate…and guess who had put his name on the list. I don’t think anyone will believe he’s graduating from high school, though.

We had another shower for the bride today.  It was held at the groom’s apartment so we didn’t have to move things over there later.  Here’s the pre-shower prep.

I got sent to Walmart 30 minutes before the shower because they didn’t have a ladle, but otherwise these girls had it all together.

This is one side of the room…I didn’t get a good picture the other direction because I always manage to get someone really looking awful so I won’t show them. 

We had a game where they had the bride go in the other room and then everyone had to write down everything she was wearing.  This ended up bringing ridiculous laughter because the girl who won is a friend who all their growing up years, has been momentarily mistaken for our girl.  They have the same build and often the same hairstyle.  Well, look how she came dressed to the shower today!

Couldn’t have planned that one better!  And as an aside, these girls will be auntie to the same baby once the wedding takes place so they’re family by marriage.

Before opening gifts, our #1 daughter wanted to pray for her sister.  She started to thank everyone for coming to share in the joy of the upcoming marriage and to bless her sister.  She broke down crying and it was some time before she was able to go on.  Lots of tears wiped away all over the room.  As a mom, I cannot tell you how blessed I was.

Here was a particularly hysterical moment when the bride opened some knives and thought she heard the giver say they were really good ones.  She turned and said, “They’re really good knives?”  The giver said something on the order of she hoped so.  Bride said, “oh, I thought you said they were really good” and the whole room exploded in laughter.  She was so embarrassed, but she handled it well.

And then…as soon as the shower cleared out, several of us started making flowers for the wedding.  I’ll tell you more later about how we’re going to use them.

These were taken when we were still fresh. Below is my stuff before I got going.  I shared the table with the girl who was assembling all of the flowers and I was cutting leaves and gluing them to wire.  We made over 100 and they had 2-3 leaves on each one.  I am a little sick of green right now.  We had a lot of fun, though.

We took a little break for the girls to practice getting the bride into her dress..it’s a big deal.  We won’t talk about what I had to go through to get the dress to the apartment today. She neglected to ask me to get it from it’s current home when it could have been done easily.  But, we got it there and the girls managed to get it on her.  I don’t think the shrug looked quite right with it and am going to encourage her to just use it for something else…and I’m ok with it.

Then we must have worked on flowers for another hour when I decided we needed to eat.  The mama-to-be called the local pizza parlor to order delivery and somewhere along the way, we started falling apart and the poor girl could barely talk, she desperately wanted to tell the clerk on the phone that we weren’t all drunk because the lady had to keep waiting for her to pull herself together.  (I guess it was a day for falling apart all over the place!)  Here she is after the phone call:

and

This is the groom’s mom sharing the couch with her and she is never going to let this girl forget how silly she looked running into the room waving her hands through the air trying to get my attention as I was running from the room to the little girl’s room because it had all gotten so ridiculous. 

And then…the pizza order was wrong, instead of half and half, we got everything mixed together into one.  And I about fell over when the bill was $25 for one large pizza! (next time, we ask)  So, one of the girls called the pizza parlor and told them the order was wrong and they brought us another and let us keep the one we had.  Almost $30 for 2 pizzas felt a little bit better.

I am so exhausted and I’m sure I could have told the events much better if I’d waited until tomorrow but it’s going to be a VERY serious get- things- done day after we do the blogiversary drawing.  Depending on what’s going on, I’ll post as soon as I can.  I plan to sleep in and then we’ll see how much of the day we have to do what we need to do.  But for now, this tired mama is going to crawl up the stairs to bed…and I hope and pray I don’t wake up at 3 or 4 like I’ve been doing!

And thank you all who have participated in the contest!

Technorati Tags: blogiversary, knitting, shower, friends, wedding

The next few months will probably be what today was….wedding prep.  We didn’t accomplish too terribly much today but sometimes even if it’s just looking for something and finding out it isn’t carried is necessary.  Ever try to find a little boy’s brown suit?

The little imp, the bride, and I went to Oly for almost the whole day…but before we left, I got a text message on my phone and you know what it was?  An ultrasound picture of my grandbaby.  I have to say, I went nuts.  What a fun, fun thing.  Then if that wasn’t good enough, they were on their way home from their appointment as we headed out of town so we stopped partway and got to watch the movie of the ultrasound.  To see that little sweet pea moving all around was nothing short of thrilling.  Baby is due in late August and she is 11 weeks, 4 days into it.  Gosh, I’m dying to get knitting.

I want to thank everyone for their kind comments on the horrific bombing in Baghdad.  That boy, as ornery as he is, is a treasure and right now I am feeling pretty emotional about him.  I’m glad he lives in a safe place and is surrounded by people who love him.  On our way out of town, I got him a Happy Meal and told him he needed to eat the nuggets before he could have fries.  He is horrible about foods and we have been trying to get him to eat more meat…even in this form.  Well, he told me he had finished but I knew by the tone of his voice that he was being sneaky.  Sure enough, I found the nuggets all sans breading and under a book on the console.  Sooo, I told him to finish them again..and after he said they were done, we were stopping to wait for big sis and her video camera so I got out and looked and guess where they were this time…in the door handle. grrrrrrrrr   I did win the battle but man I get tired of that one.  But how I love him.

Here he is at his best at church yesterday.  We were doing bulletins and he was asked to help with the candy for visitors.

I’ve never had the nerve to take a flash picture but there’s enough commotion going on right at that moment that I just did.  Sadly, there was no one for him to give a bag to this time but he had his day in the sun and that’s all that matters.

And I did manage to get one of the cuffs done more to my liking…but not sure how this could happen, i lost the pink so didn’t get the 2nd one started.  How does that happen anyway?

I am going to be glad to be done with these colors.  My mom likes them, though, so that’s all that matters.  I didn’t notice until I saw the picture that I left off a row! oh wellllllllll…………

We have a busy few weeks coming up.  We were going to therapy today but the therapist got sick so we go in 2 weeks.  We have a dress fitting next Monday.  Then we will be heading off for a fundraiser at Grandma and Grandpa’s in Oregon.  We probably won’t really stay, too much to do.  Then the next week we have therapy again (uh oh, I just this second realized no we won’t, that’s the 3 day weekend and I bet the OT didn’t even think of that!) and then we have a fitting for orthotics for the little imp.  I dread it.  Just being honest.

We did something we never, never do.  We went to a matinee this afternoon, too.  We saw 27 Dresses.  I wish they’d leave out the bad language, it added nothing to the movie but thankfully there wasn’t much of it.  What a cute movie otherwise! 

And now, off to bed.  Thanks again for your kind words.  Tonight I just needed to ramble on and it’s just because that pain is running through my mind and I just needed to get myself out of hiding.  I’m not sure how this works that friends out in the cyber world can make such a difference in my life but I’m thankful it happens.  Blessings to all and thanks for being there.

Technorati Tags: Baby, Event, FO!, Imp, Knitting, Wedding

I hope this evening finds you feeling expectant for the year to come.  I am really contemplating what I would like to see this next year look like.  I’d like to think that I will do a better job of prioritizing what is important to me:  people.  I’ve always been one who had time for people.  I know that part of my difficulty now is that I am trying to run a business and it cuts into my time, but even still, it’s too easy to get caught up in everything else and not have time for what’s important. 

Our sermon at church yesterday was about the 2 degree difference that can change our lives in order to reach the big goals we have.  One step at a time.  I instantly knew of a few things I wanted to apply that to.  What’s really funny is that I stopped at Starbucks on the way to church (a miracle, I had time!) and was talking to my friend who was working.   She asked me what my New Year’s Resolution was and I told her I have learned not to set myself up for failure so I wasn’t setting any this year.  This 2 degree change really spoke to me, though….I can make a little change at a time. 

On the knitting front, I got a super fast project finished and I love them.  Fuzzy Feet!

Don’t let the cuteness of this cat fool you,  She is a pill.  I can’t poke my feet out from under the covers or they get attacked.  She likes to stick her nose 1/2 inch from your nose, but don’t try to pet her, she’s mean.  She loves to be outside at night, even when she’s been injured by who knows what and has to wear a cast.  You just don’t tell her what to do.  lol  However, she’s sleeping respectfuly next to my fuzzy feet and she isn’t giving you the evil eye, she was just walking up when I rudely flashed my camera.  She didn’t bat an eye.

I did what  I saw others doing on Ravelry  and put them on before I set them to dry so they shaped to my feet.  I also closed the toe with a fun technique the Diplady told me about that was in Knitting Daily…it really works!  I don’t mind the kitchener stitch at all, but this technique accomplishes the very same thing using a knitting needle instead. 

Here they are before felting.

And last but not least.

The little imp is having fun tonight.

He got these bracelets literally 5 minutes ago.  A friend was taking these out to the church for the youth church to use for the party there and thought about the little imp on the way.  He loves these.

And here’s the last look at him this year…pizza face and all wishing you a very happy New Year!

God bless you.  I really look forward to the year ahead and getting to know you all better.

edited to add:  I really messed up my blog big time tonight. I decided to give myself a new look and in the process upgraded wordpress…I ended up with a bunch of mumbo jumbo at the top of the page.  The tech support person fixed it for me but then the whole blog was gone and only my parent directory showed.  He had to restore a back up file so I lost the later comments and have to repost this but since I had done it on ecto, I still had it.  ugh ,  Happy New Year, great start, eh?

I pray you had a wonderful day filled with all you hoped it would be.

This Christmas, we were filled with a sense of gratitude for people and for God’s goodness in our lives.   It’s been a very interesting season leading up to today.  Even Sunday at church people were commenting on how difficult it was to get into the commercial side of things because of the storm.  We drove to Olympia after church and I haven’t really seen that highway in the daylight since the storm and I felt emotionally whipped after the trip.  It is just so shocking.  We’re not really stuck in the whole thing to the point that we can’t enjoy each other but as we continue to marvel…we really did go through something!  (and came out whole for the most part!)

It was an interesting week since I last posted.  The theater work was really affecting business in a huge way.  They had our street blocked off for several weeks and the last week especially, it was nearly impossible to find parking but we know in the long run, it will be a good thing.  Last Friday, they made good on their promise….

See the marquis reader board?  It’s still giving trouble, but they did get it running.  It will have the time and temperature along with whatever message they want running.

About an hour later, we were treated to this:

What was so cool was that there were quite a few people on the street clapping and whistling as it came to life.  It was pretty cool!  For our little town, this is a pretty exciting thing.  It is going to be fun to see the interior and I hear there is to be a little coffee shop opening soon in one of the front little shop areas.  We’ll get to have some big-name concerts here, evidently it’s something that can be done when bands come to the casino an hour away.  I don’t know how many I’ll go to, but I’ll get to watch the loading and unloading.

Moving along….

Our family always gets together with the extended family and the store crew (including some employees who retired 15 years ago) for a big breakfast.  The cafe we go to is closed on Christmas Eve, but they open to serve us and we get to order anything we want.  We put in our order a week ahead and we get seating with place cards and grouped by families.  I forgot to get my camera out, but we did have fun.

We had a crazy day at the shop.  I am closed on Mondays so my shop was not hopping although I did have several people pop in for last minute gifts.  For the most part, I gift wrapped in my family’s business and had a great time.  By 3 when we closed, I was really tired, but it was so much fun laughing and being silly when we were all getting pretty ready to be done.

We then go to my sister’s house for our big extended family gathering.  Poor number 1 son had a breakdown with his van on the way there so dinner was delayed while his girlfriend’s dad came to get them and take them home to our jeep.  We were only 10 miles away at my sister’s but her daddy was close enough to come help.  (we did get the van home today and it wasn’t as bad as we thought although the thing is on it’s last legs)

We got to come home and relax for about 2 hours before we headed to church.  Candlelight service is something we all look forward to every year.  We sing carols and have a brief message that is very low-key and personal.  Hubby only had had to schedule the music but actually got to sit with the family.  I was late getting to my seat because I went to find my friend who works in the office and we had a very special time of talking with each other.  The church has gone through some tough times that has divided family members and her family was especially affected, but we have definitely deepened our friendship over the past year and a half and we had a very positive time of talking and laughing together until we realized the service had started and my family was wondering where in the world I had disappeared to!

We have one little imp who evidently enjoys putting on his tux at least once a week so one big sis decided he needed to wear the jacket with his jeans to church on Christmas eve. 

The picture is dark but the smile is real.  One of the pastors took this picture at the candlelight service.  Notice the raw nose, he’s really been struggling with a whopping cold … owee.  He’s not very happy to blow the nose these days, it hurts.

I think hubby and I got to bed around 1 a.m. after we got home from church.

This morning, we woke up to the closest thing we see to a white Christmas.  It was kind of a fun touch.   

It was a little harder getting everyone together this year and we have come to the realization that life as we know it is going to be different now.  With one daughter married, one to be married and a son who will be married sometime in the near future, they have other places to go and other people who have become more of their focus. 

Most of us were together this morning and the little imp got a huge surprise.

A cell phone! Big sis has been trying to talk me into this for 2 years and we finally decided it was something to try.  The main reason we got this is to teach him responsibility…keeping ahold of it, keeping it charged, learning to call people, interacting a little more with others….then on top of that, he is a wanderer and with his phone we hope we won’t panic so much if we lose sight of him for a minute.  We know it won’t be a babysitter, but I can’t tell you the stressful times he has put us through.  Adding him to our family plan was pretty cheap.  And yes, we have all had several calls from him today but he received one call from one of our pastors and as he walked by the doorway on the phone and daddy asked him who he was talking to, he took the phone away from his mouth and in a stage whisper said, “it’s Pastor Rick!!!!”  He was pretty tickled.  We had anything that could cost us a lot of money blocked (texting, downloads, etc) and they assured us he could not call overseas.  I had a long talk with his case manager from Dept. of Developmental Disabilities and both she and our former case mgr. said they’ve seen families do this for kids who are a lot more involved than he is but for the same reason.  I’ll let you know if we made the right choice.  lol

And now to the knitting part, after I show you one of my gifts:

I know the lighting isn’t good, but can you see the knitting needles and yarn?  This is from hubby.  Here’s the front of the mug:

Can you read that on the inside rim?

Here’s another hint:

Yep, a week ago Saturday, we found out we’re going to be grandparents!  This is my wild knitting over the past week when I didn’t really have time.  These are Saartje’s booties and I’ve wanted to make them for quite some time.  They take very little time, I think it takes almost as much time to weave in the ends.  I tried the in the round version but wasn’t wild about knitting a row, purling a row and opted to do the original version.  Quite fun!!!

Here’s the inside of the little basket hubby put together for me

The new mommy really wants lots of hats. 

Baby isn’t due until the end of August so there is lots of knitting time from here to there but it’s going to be quite the year for us…another wedding and entry into the grandparent club!

As I was finishing this post, we got a call from #2 daughter and her fiance.  We had told the kids we were cutting back this year.  Our immediate family is now 9 people when you add the extras…and since we are not the main focus of their lives any more, we need to do things a little differently.  We have a tradition of giving pjs to the kids to wear on Christmas day and anyone who is hanging out here has to wear jammies on Christmas day.  We gave them to the kids before breakfast yesterday.  Today they got house socks (no, I didn’t knit them ~sad to say) and little Starbucks or Blockbuster gift cards and some money as well as their Christmas stockings filled with candy.  We had hung the tree with little Christmas buckets and put the money in those so when they opened their little gifts, we also gave those to them.  Well, the fiance was having his time with his family when we did that and then when he arrived, #1 son threw the little pail to him, it hit the floor and the lid popped off so the little bride handed it to him and said there was nothing in it so he wouldn’t be embarrassed looking.  It wasn’t until this evening as they were driving to his house that he thought it would have made sense if there was candy in it and when he opened it, he saw $$$.  They were embarrassed but laughing when they called.  She said she was so grateful for everything she got and was just fine with it all but now they felt terrible for not noticing or acknowledging it. Isn’t it funny how you think back to the things you said assuming they would know what you meant?  (like pooling $$$ and giftcards for something)  We just figured they could put their money together and get something or use it themselves but at this age, they usually want something that they appreciate the help getting there.  We’re all laughing now and I called the other kids to see if they had noticed there was anything in the pail.  I can only imagine how strange those two thought that was to be handed a silly little thing like that.  lol

The kids will be here soon for the exchange between themselves and games.  We’ve had our naps and are gearing up for the final round.  I haven’t even figured out if I’ll open my shop tomorrow.  (the nice thing about having it located inside my family’s business is if I’m not there, they’ll help out and call me if they need help).

My most sincere wishes for a very meaningful Christmas for you all!

It’s been a busy few days…hmm, I guess I wouldn’t be the only one saying that! 

Monday night I got exactly 1 hour of sleep…from about 5:15 a.m. to 6:15.  I had to get up Tuesday morning and be at the county courthouse at 8:15 for jury selection!  I had considered calling and begging to be let off, but from the stories I have hard, it didn’t seem like it would be worth the trouble.  Needless to say, I was exhausted.  I was #39 so I really thought it was highly unlikely I’d be picked.  The judge asked if anyone had a reason that it would be a hardship to serve for 3 days.  A number of us raised our hands.  He went one by one and asked us what our reasons were.  The week before Christmas when you were already forced to be closed last week because of the storm was not a valid reason.  I do understand, who does want to serve right now.  Well, turns out I knew one of the witnessess, too…in fact, he is my sister’s brother-in-law.  So, even though the judge didn’t release me, the attorneys didn’t want me but when they were naming the jurors, they got to #38 as the 12th juror and then they needed one more since one would be an alternate.  It took him forever to name the 13th name and most of us were holding our breaths…but he jumped over me and the fellow next to me and named the next lady who I thought looked like she’d faint.  Sorry to say I was glad to leave.

When I got to my shop, I was shocked to find this….

Take a day off and go to jury duty and they make major progress on the theater!  It was a constant source of my attention today, too.  I am so excited to see it lit up!

I had to take a walk to the bank today and while I was out, the heavens opened and there was rain like you wouldn’t believe.  My pants were soaked in no time at all. 

As I was running back to work, I was really pondering what it was going to take to put life back into me.  The teller at the bank told me that across the board, everyone seems to be struggling with getting into the holiday spirit since the storm.  I cannot tell you how many people have said they had bare trees in their living rooms.  It’s weird how it has affected the community as a whole.

Anyway, I was thinking about it and when I blew back into my shop, a dear friend was waiting for me.  She had brought me a gift and I literally lost my breath and got choked up when I saw what she gave me.

These are the Bohus Blue Shimmer Cuffs she made at a retreat last year and I have loved them from the minute I saw them.  Her daughter was able to take the same class this past October and it just made me want to get into a class even more.   

I borrowed her picture from Ravelry, but she borrowed my camera and my hands to take the picture so I hope she doesn’t mind. 

All afternoon, I felt so warm and encouraged that she would ever consider giving me such a treasure.  I struggled for about 30 seconds to accept them and I felt like crying happy tears because it meant so much to me but she said that they really aren’t her colors and she wanted me to have them so I tried to graciously accept them. 

I had an appointment this afternoon and all through it, the person I was meeting with was trying to figure out if they were part of my sweater or what, she thought they were soooo beautiful.  I will treasure these forever and most of all, it will remind me of a caring friend and that we have much to be thankful for.

I had a friend tell me today that she talked with a lady who had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness and she has about one year to live and you know what she said?  ‘08 is going to be the best year yet!

Imagine if we just decided that’s how it would be in spite of what we had going on.  I know I’m going to consider this a lot.

I hope everyone is getting done all that needs done!

The recovery continues.  You know, it is really interesting when you go through what we have gone through.  One one hand, there is huge gratitude that we are ok, there was very little loss of life (although the 2 deaths here were tragic and sobering).  On the other hand, the emotion is overwhelming.  I continue to hear incredible stories, most of the things I hear are positive…but it wears on you.  I fight feeling sad for the loss of our tree…our only one and the memories of our kids climbing in it.  #1 son once was up in it (wasn’t supposed to be) and fell off, his foot caught in it and he was hanging upside down.  Big sis was babysitting and heard him yelling, but thought he was just playing.  They’ve laughed over that for years. 

I am just so tired.  I find so many people are having a terrible time getting their decorating and their shopping started or done.  That’s me, too. 

I got a call today about wreaths being given for free by a company out of town who had a surplus, they brought them here (and I heard they were BEAUTIFUL) to share the blessing.  I heard several options of how to get reimbursed for food lost.  Some friends of ours told hubby yesterday that they haven’t gotten their power yet because a tree tore the box off their house.  They thought when the trucks came to their area to fix the lines that they would automatically fix that, too.  No.  They had to call an electrician (and they were far down the list).  Hubby called some men in the church who could help.  I don’t think they did the electrical work but they did help with generators.  The little kids in that home were coughing and getting sick from the dampness.

But look what I saw the other day.

The way I heard it, a construction company owner felt God told him to tarp people’s homes who lost their roofs (rooves?) for free.  He hired some extra help and started in.  Then Home Depot heard about it and started supplying the tarps.  This just happens to be my grandma’s old home! 

I was really intrigued by this trailer I have driven by several times.

Gosh, I hope no one was living in it.  The whole trailer park is a mess but I saw a sign that says it is going to become a mini storage.

Now…off that subject and on to what has been happening here.  We got a chance to do a little wedding prep the other day.  The bride #2 has been spending a lot of time on the Paper Source website and we got a chance to visit one of their stores on Monday.

This is in Bellevue.  I wish hubby and I could go stay up there for a couple of nights.  The streets are so cute with their Christmas decorations and we had a great time although it was a really rushed trip.  Here’s that cute girl after we finished shopping.

Last night was knit night and it was an interesting evening.  We had to call the police because one dear friend had some guy try to open her car door when she got there.  Then we noticed groups of rowdy young adults all over and heard clanging metal in the alleyway.  As soon as I made the call, that all stopped.  What’s going on around here?  It just feels so weird since the storm.

Remember the fair isle socks I have shown you the past 2 times we’ve met?  Look at the latest ones!

I tell you, this girl is talented.  These are not self-striping socks…she does this herself!  She even makes up part of the design as she goes.  When I took them to take a picture of them, one of the ladies whispered to me that they’d fit her!  I had to say if they were smaller, I’d be tempted to ‘borrow’ them.  (just kidding, friend!)  Is she talented or what?  These 3 pairs of socks she has knit have been probably my most favorite.

I’m working on the most simple project and enjoying it very much…Dashing from Knitty.  I wanted to do something quick for hubby just to say I love you.  It’s crazy, at knit night I had to have help doing the cable, though.  My brain is just out on vacation or something.  The pattern is so simple and its really a fast knit.  I may make some Fetching mitts before I go back to any one of the zillion other projects I have in progress.

Dashing is exactly what I needed to get a little of the knitting mojo back.

I hope I don’t sound too down, I’m really not.  It’s just a very sobering time and I feel very introspective.  I think it’s good once in awhile to take a step back and consider what’s really important. 

Blessings to you all…thanks so much for the caring comments and emails.  It means a lot!

Isn’t it just the coolest thing when you need a little extra hug, one comes your way?  This is how mine came.

I am just having an emotional day and when I got my mail today…here was a day brightener just for me and I am so blessed by it.  Although I was told his name was Carebear but that he’d answer to any name, I choose to keep his original name so he won’t accidentally be confused. 

He comes from Liz who had fun inventing these little guys last year.  I have had so much fun getting to know her and am constantly amazed at her talent.  She has great wisdom for her years and I’m so glad for the day I landed on her blog.  I consider her a friend and have enjoyed following her ventures.  You have to go see her wedding veil she knit and her gauntlets she is designing for her brother.

Liz, Carebear will get good care and I know he will bring many smiles to me through his life.  It’s always so nice to know when someone cares.  :)  Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Hardly any pictures to show, though.

I finished my scarf just in time, it’s been colder and rainy.  I love it!  I’ll take a picture in natural light tomorrow.

I also was playing around with some of my Fly*dyed yarn and had some interesting results.  I thing they may end up being Spiral Coriolis from New Pathways.  I will *make* this yarn behave, though.  So far so good this time, I did the whirlpool toe and it’s looking good, not pooling. (no sock gets to live in my house if it pools anywhere but in the heel which often seems unavoidable)

Today was really exciting, though!  I got my Great American Afghan pattern book and the first yarn in to my shop.  It was supposed to be here yesterday but when it didn’t show with the UPS delivery of the day, I looked it up and it had “missed it’s connection” and spent a night in some unknown warehouse.  It was a little odd, though, because of 3 colors ordered only 1 was right so the correct ones will be here Monday along with the yarn for the next two squares.  For some odd reason, The Diplady and I thought we might need those extra colors but…the pattern is a bit more complicated than we bargained for.  Nothing we can’t manage, but we were both quiet at times while we counted, frogged, tinked…re-knit, frogged, you get the picture.  Square one was designed by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and it’s really cool, they all are.  It was fun to have company because The Diplady arrived just as I was ready to allow myself to start knitting.  I had to get my work done first.  She warned me to not get scared if I heard squealing tires as she jetted in after leaving work early.  lol

These were the best pictures I could get.

Of course you can’t see square 1 in either of these pictures and they don’t do the afghan justice anyway..but tomorrow I will post a picture of my own square.

I bought new headphones for my iPod tonight on our date night.  The cord split on my old ones but when I got my new headphones on my iPod, it appears I wasn’t using the iPod brand headphones anyway so now I am wondering where they are hiding.

Even though it stormed all the way home tonight, it was a great date night.  There are few things I look forward to and enjoy as much as sitting with the love of my life, reading and drinking coffee and talking on the drive.  We both feel the drive is the real date part but the comfort of having that quiet time together is really nice.

Pictures tomorrow! (I’m kind of kicking myself for not bringing it all home)

What is that mess of tangled yarn?  (well, I guess you can’t see the tangles, they are out of sight)…but I am learning a new method of two stranded knitting.  Lauri ever so patiently tried to teach me how to hold both yarns but I was getting quite the tangle and twist and we both got distracted helping another friend get pictures for Ravelry that I forgot to have her show me again.

So tonight, I visited Philosopher’s Wool and watched their video and their method is really fun!  I’m just going to practice it on a small project and see what I come up with.

Gosh, my head is just full of thoughts tonight.  We went to a wonderful wedding tonight and saw old friends. 

The wedding was beautiful (in spite of the fact that the poor bride and groom both had the flu over the last 2 days…we’re talking sick!)  You sure couldn’t tell.  She just glowed.  I have watched her grow up.  When we first started going to our church, she was the cutest little girl with little french braids and big dark eyes.  Her mama and I have been friends for a long time…we did a Bible study years ago that started out being about 15 women and ended up after many months of being just the two of us.  We were friends before, but that just really cemented it.  She is a good friend and her children are beautiful. 

We visited with friends who have moved away and I just marvel at how touching it is to meet up with people and feel like you can just pick up where you left it and still feel a bond.  We’ve all walked different journeys and life has taught us a lot, has shaken up our thinking, hopefully making us better for it.  If we can’t learn from the hard stuff and let it shape character in our lives, then what’s it all about?  I hate to ever waste a hurt…but want to learn what I need to learn and move on to becoming that person I was created to be.

I feel like the theme of my day is appreciating who God has put in my life.  I had so much fun this afternoon at my shop with two good friends who I would never have built relationship with if I didn’t have the shop.  We took pictures for Ravelry and marveled at the excellent knitting.  I aspire to be anything close to these two.  But it’s not just that.  Isn’t it fun to get to know people and find that area that you share and build relationship from that?  I feel like my life is so rich with friends, good people.

And then there are the people I have met here.  It’s good.

My little imp was not interested in posing for a picture tonight.  He’s a teenager, what else can I say.  lol

I have so many busy days ahead and so much to do between now and then….gosh.  HELP!   I need to slow down, take a deep breath and take one thing at a time. 

I woke up to beautiful sunshine.  I knew it was supposed to rain today but it was so nice and dry out.  I turned on the news while getting ready for work and all I heard was … storm coming, if you have anything to do outside, get it done early; flood warnings; wind.  Living in the Pacific NW, it is believable.

We haven’t seen much wind yet, but rain we did.

In case that looks like blue sky…

I’m watching one of the last Mariners games…I hope  a certain person doesn’t have on her Mariners socks because we’re ahead!

Today was one of the most fun days at work.  It was busy all day (yea!) and I had 2 calls within minutes of each other from old friends who live out of town and were driving down and wanted to stop in.  Fun!  I also had some other friends stop in.  It was the kind of day I love having a business.

I did get started on my 2nd Lucky Lurker sock but didn’t get too much time to knit today….too much visiting. 

Last night #1 daughter and hubby asked if they could meet us at Johnny Rocket’s in Olympia.  They wanted milk shakes.  It was not the greatest of experiences but we had fun meeting them anyway. 

She and I ran to Best Buy and she got one of the new Nano iPods.  It’s really cute.  If you’ve been reading here for any amount of time, you may remember my horrible experience with my iPod and Circuit City.  Best Buy has an extended warrantee that if you have any problems at all, you bring it in to them and they replace it IN THE STORE ON THE SPOT!  Guess where I will shop from now on.

I am off to do some knitting and watch the rest of the game.

Before I leave, I’ll share the results of a quiz I took today:

You are a Knitter, with the capital K.You are never found without needles and yarn in hand. Your favorite place is the yarn shop and you can never seeme to leave without buying needles or wool or a pattern or those fantastic stich markers. Darn yarn fumes.Your stash of yarn is the kind that spills out of closets and is taking over the house. And it’s still growing. Beware of SABLE (Stash Aquisition Beyond Life Expectancy). You may need to bequeath yarn to people in your will.Knitting is a lifestyle for you, not just a hobby. You do it for fun, to make presents, or to cool off. We need more of your kind in the world. Go start a knitting club at your school or local coffeshop.
Take this quiz!