I'm a Godmother!!!

Remember Lily? I am so excited to announce that I am now officially her Godmother! My very first godchild! As soon as I accepted the invitation, I searched for the perfect booties and cap to knit for her Christening. And here they are...

These are Saartje's Booties. These were so amazingly easy to knit up, even for a newbie like me it took a mere few days. I'm sure an experienced knitter could very easily whip them up in a matter of hours. They were so easy and fun! The hardest part was deciding which buttons to use! I paired them up with this cap...

It's a simple lacy scalloped cap. It was my first attempt at any kind of hat and my first attempt at anything scallopy or even lacy!!! I never dreamed it would be as easy as it was and it turned out unbelievably beautiful!! Everyone commented on how beautiful it was! Admittedly, I did frog it at least 4 or 5 times until I had it figured out. Once I got the hang of it though, it was not difficult at all! I had it done in no time. This cap paired with the booties was the perfect gift for Lily's Christening! The cap was almost too small for her sweet 6 month head, but it still looked adorable! I'm going to make her another one a bit bigger for the winter!

My First Socks!!!

I'm so proud!!! I look at these socks that fit my feet so perfectly and I cannot believe that I actually made them! If I had known knitting was so easy and satisfying, I would have taken the plunge many, many years ago!! I immediately began my next pair of socks as soon as I finished this pair and I intend to have a pair in progress at all times. Sock knitting is so satisfying for many reasons...the two main ones for me are it's a quick project that doesn't take forever to finish and they are so portable. Just pop the knitting bag into your purse and away you go. It makes sitting at traffic lights or stuck in traffic actually enjoyable. Bring on that long red light or traffic jam!!

Since this was my first sock attempt, I used the simplest pattern I could find. And it was perfect! Unfortunately, the web link isn't working anymore, so I can't post it here. Turning the heel (my first one!!) was so exciting! I immediately put the sock on my foot and was amazed that it was actually starting to look like a real sock! I finished the first sock while in the car on the way to PA for the weekend. I was so proud I sent the pic to a bunch of my friends who all reminded me that I now needed to make another sock or one of my feet would feel left out. Oh yeah....

It took me a bit to get going on that second sock. Apparently, I came down with a case of "Second Sock Syndrome". But once I got over that hump, I finished my first pair of socks in no time! I was totally amazed that the yarn dye pattern was exactly the same on the second sock except I misjudged the measurement for the toe reduction round, so my second sock has a red tip on the toe!! I seriously considered ripping out some rows to fix it, but then decided I’ll keep it as a reminder for next time to measure more carefully!

I so heart these socks! They will be forever special!

Happy Birthday, Tai Shan!!

Yesterday was Tai Shan's 4th birthday!! He's now a teenager in panda years! His birthday cake was a frozen treat of water, bamboo, shredded beets, and beet juice, which took 2 weeks to make! Tai Shan is very special because he was born at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC. He is the first panda cub (Giant Panda, actually) born at the National Zoo who has survived for more than a few days and only the third to survive in the United States.
Giant Pandas are on the endangered list of the World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Animals. There are only about 1,600 left in the world, with most of them living in China. They actually survive longer in zoos than they do in the wild. They could live to be 35 years old. Tai Shan's parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian are on a ten year loan from China and are part of a research, conservation, and breeding program aimed to preserve Giant Pandas. They are supposed to return to China next year. Tai Shan was supposed to return to China after he turned 2, but they extended his stay until this year, which made me very happy. So far, no plans have been made for his return.

I have been following Tai Shan on the zoo's pandacam since the day he was born. He was the cutest thing ever to watch! He lived exclusively with his mom, Mei Xiang and separate from his dad, Tian Tian, who was in the yard next door and rarely even noticed his family. Now, when you tune into the cam, it's difficult to tell who you are watching. The pandas are sometimes all together and sometimes separated, depending on what's going on, breeding times, etc. Mei Xiang just finished going through her ovulation period. We all watched hopefully to see if she would produce another baby. It's very interesting. The pandas go through a pseudopregnancy after mating. We don't know whether or not they really are pregnant until the end. Unfortunately, Mei Xiang was not pregnant this year. Oh well....maybe next year!

Update ~ Rescue Plant Mission

Ok...so, I'm still trying. I've been called "The Fountain of Eternal Hope" many, many times in my lifetime for many different reasons. When I first started this plant rescue, my DH asked me how long do I plan on leaving this pot of dirt sitting around?

He even attempted to insinuate the thought of only one mere month! The nerve!! Knowing me like he does, I was totally shocked that he would even dare ask me that question. He knows when it comes to plants, my "Fountain of Eternal Hope" is just that - eternal!
Here's why...

I have a plant like the pic above. It was spectacular for a long time. Then after awhile it stopped growing. We all thought it just totally gave up. Being in denial, I kept watering the dirt anyway. One day, lo and behold, it started sprouting again! That was when I learned about plants that become dormant for a brief period.

Ok...so, maybe African Violets may not be one of those plants, but who knows what those roots are doing under that dirt! I removed the leaves that were dead, but I was careful to keep the roots under the soil. I know it doesn't look like much yet, but we'll see!! I still have hope....

Dizzy Sheep

I so heart Dizzy Sheep!! Not only do they have great daily deals, but I love reading the crazy daily shenanigans!! One of my friends introduced me to Dizzy Sheep a few months ago when this yarn was the deal of the day.


At that time, I didn’t realize it was a daily deal. I dilly-dallied trying to decide on a color – there were so many good ones to choose from. It wasn’t until the next morning that I finally made that very difficult decision. Not only did I decide on a color, but I figured out what sweater I wanted to make with the yarn! I was so excited with my decisions and was finally ready to make the purchase! You could imagine my dismay when I went to the website and the deal was gone!!! I watched every day for months. Finally, that yarn came back. As soon as I saw it, I logged in and ordered the yarn – colorway: Durfee

After a few days, I received an email from the Dizzy Sheep stating they were a skein short of what I wanted. The Dizzy Sheep representative gave me a couple of options (ugh! More decisions!) and I opted to wait for the next dye lot to get all the skeins. I had other projects in progress, so I wasn’t in a hurry. Dizzy Sheep was so nice and felt so bad making me wait, they gave me a 15% discount on my next purchase. I was happy. This is not over….

NEXT, I get an email from Dizzy Sheep saying the yarn company is not making anymore of that color after all!! I could either take what they have or cancel the order. I decided to take what they had thinking if I don’t have enough, I’ll make the sleeves shorter or won’t add the cowl to the neck. Again, because of all the craziness happening, Dizzy Sheep made sure to keep me happy by not charging me the shipping fee! Not only that….they shipped it immediately and I received that yarn in 2 days!! I so heart Dizzy Sheep!

Seeing Stars

I've been on a star kick. Not only because they are so awesome looking, but because they are so easy and fast to make. I've had to make a bunch of baby blankets in record time. This one is my favorite so far. It took about two weeks, but might have taken less time if I didn't play around with the border so much (deciding which one to use, getting it to look just right, etc. etc.) and if the yarn cooperated more. It kept wanting to split and I had to slow myself down. My hands did not like that one bit!!!



The next picture was my first star. It only took about 10 days to make, but would have taken less time had I not run out of yarn!!! This has five colors and I personally think it would have been better with only three colors. It looks much better in person. Everyone at the shower ahh'ed and ooohh'ed over it and the mother actually considered naming her baby "Star"!!

Here is the one I've recently started, but I missed the deadline, so it's in my "on hold for now" pile. I love the colors I've chosen. The third is a varigated blue, green, aqua combination that is stunning. I'm not sure if I like the way the different types of yarn look together though, so I may end up changing my mind going forward with the exact colors I've picked on this one.

And finally, a dishcloth I made for Brittani. Again, it looks better in person. This was my first attempt at a yarn over and what a friend recently told me is called a "short row", which I know the knitters out there might be saying, "But that's so easy!!" To me, I was proud that I achieved a new knitting stitch and technique no matter how easy. Oh and I was doing the yarn over wrong for the first wedge. Leave it to me to do that!

Amazing!

I'm knitting this sock...
It's my first sock! The yarn is Berroco Sox, a self-patterning yarn. It so amazes me how the pattern evolves! How in the world did they dye it to do this? The sock pattern I picked is very simple and perfect for a newbie knitter. The yarn pattern is what keeps my attention. I love seeing what emerges as I knit.

I was so proud of finishing my first sock that I texted a pic of it to a bunch of my friends! The most popular response: Now you have to make another one. Seriously - almost everyone said that!

I was very pleased to see the mate to my first sock had the same red band at the top. I really, really love that red band and was hoping it would happen that way. Little did I know the same exact pattern would continue as well!! Does this always happen or is it beginner's luck? So cool!!!

Jeremiah!

Well, this is no bullfrog....but I'll consider him a friend of mine!

If you look very closely near the flowers, under the leaves there is a frog. I named him Jeremiah. He's living in the planter on our front porch!! I'm not sure if he's there to stay or just visiting. I'm pretty sure his original home is the nearby pond, but he's welcome to stay as long as he'd like!

I love living in the country!

Rescue Plant Mission

Look at this poor thing....


I so feel like calling and reporting this to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Plants! The only thing stopping me is I know it was not intentional. This little sad sop was given to my mother-in-law as a party favor thank you for attending a baby shower. It was in a beautiful decorative tea pot. I'm sure it was nestled tightly in a box amongst a million other African Violets (yes, it really is an African Violet) on their way to a loving home. I could tell from the leaves it's been crushed, maybe sitting in a cold car overnight or watered improperly. Somehow abused!! So sad!

If you've ever been to my house, you know how much I love plants and African Violets are a favorite. I have 5 of them - had 6, but gave one up to my daughter when she moved to her own apartment. I also have a leaf. This lonely guy has been just a leaf for about a year now.



You can actually grow new African Violets by taking a leaf, placing it in water until roots form and then plant it. I've done this before very successfully. I'm not sure what happened here. I keep seeing leaves trying to come up in the soil, but then they go away. Maybe I scare them because I usually get excited and shout, "I see leaves!!! Leaves are coming!!"

So when my mother-in-law saw the condition of her party favor, she passed it on to me thinking I could nurse it back to health. We'll see if I can get it to look like this...

Meet Lily

This precious angel was born May 6, 2009. I got to meet her this past weekend! It's been a really long time since I held a 3-day old tiny, tiny baby - she weighed in at only 5 lbs., 5 oz. Lily was born over 3 weeks early (due May 31). She was excited to make her way into the world and into my heart. I got to hold her almost all day on Saturday while at my gram's 90 year-old birthday party. It was so hard to give her back to her mommy (my cousin). I was trying to figure out a way to sneak her into my purse and bring her home with me. I need to get a bigger purse!! It always amazes me how much noise a newborn could sleep through. We were in a houseful of people and Lily barely opened her eyes. And even then, I think she was dreaming. What in the world could she be dreaming about??? They say babies don't really smile until they are much older, but I saw Lily smile! It was when I told her I love her!!

Finally!!!

I know it's because I live much farther north than where I work (DC), but for weeks now, everyday on my way home I have been so jealous of all the flower gardens I see bursting with beautiful flowers while my garden remained dormant of color except for green (not that I don't love green)!! Finally!!! Things are coming alive! The rain of the last week or so has finally awoken my sleeping beauties!! Ok...well, there were also daffodils a week or two ago and I loved them, but most of them are gone now. I love my garden and always look forward to keeping it beautiful. I especially love deadheading!!! That's my favorite part! The best thing about my garden is it's set up so that once one flower is saying goodbye for the season, another is saying hello!!

Heel Turned!!!

I wasn't sure I'd be able to do this on my own. As I was knitting the heel flap, I was at my in-laws for the weekend and for some reason, knittinghelp.com was not available. So, I googled "heel flap" and found some other sites that were helpful. I also came across some stitches that were new to me, so this entire section was a challenge ~one that I loved, I must say!!! Turning the heel was so fun and exciting! Once I finished I was so excited, I ran to my husband while exclaiming, "Look! Look! I have a heel!!!" Yeah ~ he's used to my weirdness. I tried it on to get the full effect!! Ahhh...I'm so proud!!! Now for the gusset..............

Addicted Already!

I learned how to knit years ago, but I set it aside because I didn't really know what I wanted to make. It wasn't until recently, when a friend introduced me to Ravely that I decided to pick it up again and discovered a whole new world out there!!! I crocheted forever and thought I was the only fiber lover in existence. I've crocheted a few things, but mostly afghans and all made with acrylic yarn!!!! UGH!! Little did I know what I was missing all these years!! Afghans and crocheting were just the tip of the iceberg!!! And, OMG, the yarn I've been missing out on!!! Malabrigo is to die for!!!

My latest (most addicting) knitting project right now is a pair of socks. I love watching the colors change and it's really going much quicker than I thought it would! I can't wait for lunch and after work, getting on the Metro so I could do nothing else but knit my time away!! Oh so relaxing and calming!

Anyway, here is the start of my first pair of socks...

Happy Earth Day!!!

I'm actually really surprised Earth Day began in 1970. Although I was a very young tot way back in 1970, I don't remember learning about it until way later in my life - maybe high school?? I can't pinpoint the time it really began being important to me, but for years now I've always made sure to contribute in my own little way to help celebrate the Earth and to do what I can to save it. Of course, I recycle as much as possible and I always try to be conscious of being Earth friendly every day, but I really love doing something extra special on Earth Day. This year, I did two things. On Saturday, I told my husband I wanted to plant a tree in honor of Earth Day. He said, "Ok!" Little did I know he already bought one! Since Sunday officially began "Earth Week", we spent part of our day planting this tree...it's a red Dogwood - my favorite!!









I also needed a new water bottle cozy, so I crocheted one using an all-natural yarn (Noro - made from nature) and added a vine design to it....