FO- Central Park Hoodie, Lisa version

My friend Lisa celebrated her 40th birthday in May and I wanted to make her something , so I went with this, the Central Park Hoodie.

My model, Emma, demonstrates the sportiness of the sweater.

Here's a view of the back cables. Someone needs to brush her hair. Ahem.

...and here's the hood. Lookin' good in the hood.

Sorry, that was cheesy.

Lisa & Sydney came over today to spend the day with us. The kids haven't seen Syd since last summer, so they had a bunch of catching up to do. She's 15, and has known the kids forever. They adore her, and so do I. I'll post a few pix tomorrow of them.

The good news is the sweater fit perfectly! Not bad, considering I guessed on the size. I should have made her model for me, but I didn't.

Happy Friday!

it's like Wild Kingdom over here

Emma's onto her second job of the summer...pet sitting a dwarf bunny.

'Shadow' has been in our house for 4 1/2 hours and already I have told her 127 times that she can't be touching and holding and walking the bunny all day long.

It's like talking to a wall.

Shadow is cute and small and doesn't make any noise. yet.

Guess who else likes the bunny? And I was worried about the terrier factor.

"oooo! That's not supposed to be in the house!"

"If I can just get my paws in thru here..."

Ben doesn't know what the heck it is, but he knows it's fun!

there's a monkey on my back

I have been working on these socks for two days and two hours. TWO DAYS. I can't even guess how many times I started and then frogged (ripped it apart) this sock. Knitting is supposed to be fun and non-stressful. HA! There was a large amount of stress going on here. No matter what I did, I couldn't make the pattern line up. I researched  on Ravelry, I tried contacting Cookie A. (author of said pattern), I tried putting down the needles and walking away. But I had monkey fever, and couldn't forget about it.

I bit the bullet and went to my LYS today and a very nice woman helped me figure out what I was doing wrong. I had a yarn over problem. It's fixed now, and I have 3 inches of sock to show for it! The color here is bad, because it's late and I didn't use my flash. The color is called 'fruit breeze' and I love it. Now that I know what the heck I'm doing :)

My pal Jan came over today after we met for coffee. My kids were extrememly entertaining and talkative. Emma led a tour of the house (even the furnace room) that most guests never get. A behind the scenes tour, if you will. Jan, my kids thought you were "funny, friendly, and had good taste" because you like Wipeout and tadpoles. You are welcome back anytime :)

Later!

wee lil' finished object

I'm all out of order with my fo's, but wanted to post a few pix before I forget.

Ruffled Dress from

Baby Knits by Lois Daykin

size: 3 months

yarn: baby Bamboo by Sirdar; 3 skeins

needles: 3 & 6 circs

doll: Emma's baby doll Alice

This is the back. I wanted to make this just because the ruffle was so darn cute.

Close up of the ruffle.

And a close up of the front.

I love the baby Bamboo yarn. It really feels so soft and cozy and the colors are lovely.

I made this dress for a friend who is about to pop any day now with her third child and first daughter. Little girl clothes are fun. She is a fellow knitter, so I know she will appreciate it.

I want to make a set of matching dresses for my nieces Olivia & Isabelle. They are coming for a visit soon and I will take their measurements so I make the right sizes.

I have to give a big thank you to my new friend Sue who was kind enough to offer a little help deciphering the pattern so that no one was harmed in the making of this dress!

Until tomorrow!

fourth weekend

This weekend was truly lovely...the kind that makes you glad to be alive. The weather was picture perfect. As if someone knew we wanted to have a pool party. So we did! All the grandparents gathered at the Snitgen's for our traditional 4th of July pool party and eat-a-thon. We kept things simple this year, dogs & brats, a few salads. Pie. Lots of pie. Pie from Grand Traverse Pie Company. If I ever doubted Bart loved me, I know he does now!

This is the response to "Give me a nice smile!"

Evan & Hans, my in-laws puppy.

Bart bought this ginormous beach ball and the kids had a great time trying to land on top of it. Even a few of the men tried it. I'm smarter than that. Especially when there is a camera lurking nearby. Thank you, NBC and 'WIPEOUT' for the gut busting laughs.

Emma & Grammy Cozy

Evan and sparkler. Bart bought a small box of fireworks, and they were totally underwhelming but fun for the kids. I think every year they get smaller and smaller. Fire, good!

The rest of the weekend was spent doing yard work and more yard work and a little painting of Emma's room. We got the first coat on, but it totally needs another coat. Phooey.

Hope you had a good weekend!

nuthin'

I got nothin' but a kid in a bag

some days are full and others, well...

menage-a-frog

Let me just say, I love nature and creatures in general. NOT a huge fan of snakes and spiders, but I tolerate everything else. But there has been some weird stuff going on around my yard.

This is our menage-a-frog, or as the kids call it, the 'triple stack'.

Why do we have 3 frogs glued together? Are they even frogs, or are they toads? Are they male or female? Where did they come from? Why won't they leave the poor frog in the middle alone? When will the madness end?

They have been floating like this since Saturday. Every once in awhile the one in the middle gives a feeble little kick (it's legs are longer). If you attempt to touch them or get near them, they chirp at you. Yes, chirp. I know, because I tried to pry them apart. I was only able to get the frog off the tummy of the middle frog. The big frog them promptly hopped into the bushes with the other one on it's back still.

The displaced frog has been 'crying' all night. He's probably calling all neighborhood frogs to take me down.

before they formed the triple stack, two of them did this-
strings and strings and strings of tadpoles. In the 48 hours since the strings appeared, the string part has disintegrated and the tadpoles are swmming all over. Millions of little black eyelash sizes flecks, which will soon be frogs. Or toads. Uh-oh.

Have you been outside lately? I don't know about you, but we have killer mosquitos in our yard. I am not exaggerating. When we were buzzing Evan last night, we had to take OFF! breaks several times. I spent a few hours pulling weeds and spreading mulch today and the little suckers were just brutal. Emma & Evan walked down to the river at my mom's house and they were both covered in welts.

Add mosquitos to the list of creatures I don't like!