Goodbye 2016

Just thought I'd do a quick year in review.  I don't know how accurate my memory is for what I finished in terms of cross stitch, but if the list to the right on my blog is correct, I just had one finish.  This is the Yellow Submarine by Blackbird Designs.  I hope to stitch all of the Beatles inspired designs, but at the rate I'm going, that might take a while!

As for knitting, I do think it's taken over.

I was ambitious yesterday and got out all the handknits I knitted this year.  The top pic shows everything (except for one thing that I will show below).  The list of accessories is as follows (trying to go from left to right more or less): Void Shawl by Melanie Berg, Pioneer Girl Shawl by Susan B. Anderson, Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West, Leftie Shawl by Martina Behm, Palindrome Scarf, Serena Shawl (Quince & Co.), Flying Geese Cowl (Quince & Co.), and the Turn a Square hat by Jared Flood.  The garments are (from top to bottom): Stopover by MJ Mucklestone, Cruden vest by Ysolda Teague, Vika pullover by Veronik Avery, Vanora pullover by Michele Wang, Ondawa by Michele Wang, and the Right Angle sweater (Pom Pom Quarterly).

Yesterday I finished the Mawson hat by Jared Flood.  You can see it on the father type's head above.  I used Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in the marled Caribou color for it.  It's not blocked yet, but it looks nice!

Oh!  There's one more thing I finished this year and neglected to include.  It's because it was a Christmas present for the girl child and she has it now.

Pretty, right?  (both girl and cowl....)  I used Stone Wool Cormo in the Ozark 2 color.  (Ignore the two cans of Pledge in the background.....  Grrrr....)

I wish everyone a happy, healthy, prosperous, loving 2017!

Into the void....

So I have a finish.  It's the Void Shawl by Melanie Berg.  I used Woolfolk Far in (I think) color number 8.

It turned out smaller than the pattern said, but I'm not surprised.  I tend to be a tight knitter.  (Although sometimes I'm a loose knitter.  Very confusing!)

See the small amount of yarn sitting next to the shawl?  That's how much I had left of the last skein when I finished.  Whew!

It's getting cold, and I'm not ready for it.  Neither is Mia.  She tends to stay on the heating duct a lot these days.  She did deign to get into her winter bed finally.  After I put a plastic bag (sans the loopy handles, which were cut for safety) into her bed.  Today she hasn't been into it again.  Sigh.

This is a short post.  Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

Thanksgiving weekend finish

My Vika pullover is finished!  Yay me!

I'm very happy with it.  I used Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in the meteorite color.  Here I am attempting a selfie.  Eww.

It seems to have been a while since I last posted.  Thanksgiving crept up on me, but that's what weekend it is here in the US.

I'll just post pictures of our celebrations so far and let the pictures speak for themselves.

OK, that last one I have to say something.  The three of us just happened to all be wearing black mocknecks or turtlenecks.  So we had to take a pic.  I can't decide if we're channeling the Beatles (aka With the Beatles record cover) or Andy Warhol.

Mia is not overjoyed about Thanksgiving.  She never likes a break from routine, which this is.  Poor thing.

I hope everyone who celebrates is enjoying Thanksgiving weekend.

Not that Vika.....

First, I have to show another picture of my Serena Shawl, hot off the blocking mats.

I do love this shawl!

Next, I will show you Vika -- the pullover, not the tennis player (yes, both Serena and Vika are tennis players, as well as a shawl and a pullover.  lol!).  I've finished the back of Vika and have started the front.

I love knitting cables, and these simpler cables are good practice for improving my cabling!  Vika is a Brooklyn Tweed pattern by Veronik Avery from the BT Fall 2016 collection.  I'm using the color of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter shown on the female model, Meteorite.  I love all the flecks of color in the yarn!

We've been having a fairly quiet fall, very pleasant.  Didn't go to Rhinebeck this year, sadly, but that's ok -- it was fun to see all the pictures on Instagram this weekend.  Btw, if you don't do Instagram, you should!  I love it!  I'm margaretsamplerlover there if you are interested.

Thanks for stopping by and saying hi.  Hope everyone has a lovely week.

Not that Serena.....

Thought I'd squeeze in another blog post since I've just finished blocking a certain shawl I was knitting.  It's the Serena Shawl by Paulina Poplolek for Quince & Co.

I used Quince & Co Piper in the Pampa color way -- I love this color!!!  I am one of those people who finds lace knitting a bit intimidating.  But Quince & Co. patterns are wonderful.  They provide both written instructions and charts for the lace knitting.  Makes all the difference in the world for me since I prefer charts.  Endless lines of written instructions just aren't for me.

I also got the model that I stitched for Needlework Press back!  It's Mary McAllister, and I still love her!

She is already hanging on the wall of the sewing room.  Yay!

Let's see, what else has happened?  Well, I went into NYC and Purl Soho for a book signing by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed.  He was signing his book "Woolens," which is just a wonderful book!  I was so thrilled to meet Jared.

More recently, the boy child and I went into NYC and met the girl child at the cinema to see this.

We had a great time.

Father type, meanwhile, was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for his Google vacation trip of the year.  Look at that view!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  Have a great week!

(Did you get the title of my blog post?  :D  Been using that hash tag on instagram.)

Happy birthday

 Happy birthday to my sweet, amazing, wonderful father type.  It's late in the day, but he saw my instagram post, so all is good.

On his college graduation day.  I still remember that belt!

Love you, my darling.

September?!?!??!!!!

I know everyone is saying it, but OMG!  I can't believe it's September!  I heard the first school bus go by last week and just couldn't believe it.  Time is going too quickly!  Anyway, this is going to be a summary of what's been going on.  I don't even know what the last thing was that I talked about here!

First off, here is my finished Vanora sweater.  It's a pattern from the Brooklyn Tweed Ganseys collection, designed by Michele Wang.  I used Brooklyn Tweed Loft in the Fossil color.  And I love it!  What with my gauge and the size I knitted, it ended up being the perfect size!

Another thing that happened is that the boys got haircuts!

Their hair has grown since, but they are still looking good!

Various other things have happened, but probably the main one was going to Maine with my sister and her family and my father and stepmother.  I'll just show some pictures of our time there.

And no, the little tiny kitten isn't ours.  It's my sister's family's new kitten, Aladdin.  He's so cute!

The boy child ended up turning right around the following week after our vacation and going back up to Maine (albeit a different part of Maine) with his good friend.  Here they are before they took off.

Later on during August, the father type treated the two kids to a concert down in Coney Island.  I think they had a good time!

(The makeup on the girl child was done at the concert.  Very interesting!)

Needless to say, Mia is happiest when we are all home.

Thanks for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week.  Or month, as the case may be.  :D

Happy birthday to my amazing daughter

Happy birthday to my amazing, wonderful, thoughtful, caring, giving, kind, beautiful daughter. I've loved watching you become the person you are. Love you, bunny.