I said I would show...

...and here they are. This was my big project for the holidays. The kids school had their Christmas show, and i volunteered to help with costuming. I started on Thanksgiving eve with these leafy headbands and bracelets for the bigger kids(4th & 5th grades). The materials were pretty much on sale at that time, so I started here.
The 24 sets of collars and bracers, done for the 2nd & 3rd grades, was started the day after Thanksgiving, after getting up on Black Friday, to stand in line for over an hour to buy felt, felt felt, and more felt. Oh yea, and some gold material for these. Who knew that was such a big day at the fabric stores! It was a good thing the skirts didn't have to be all the same color, I never would have made it.
Here was the big projects- 25 poodle/felt skirts and Elvis. In a sick way, this was quite fun to do. The skirts were the most time consuming- each skirt took 2-3 hours, and it was kind of hard to think of designs to put on the skirts. The design had to be kind of simple, but I wanted something kind of colorful (and no way could I have done them all as poodles...seamstress does not survive on poodle alone). Each design was stitched down for fear of bored little girls picking and pulling them off on stage(you might laugh, but the attention span of a five year old is only rivaled by that of a gnat!).

Elvis was something else. I didn't get the boys measurements until 3 days before the show. I got the suit pretty much done ( I would gave liked to have done more embellishments, but flat ran out of time)for dress rehearsal, just had to finish the buckle for the show. It might have been a little on the tight side, but was good enough for the show.

When we gave the suit to the young man, he took it off to try on. we waited and waited. Finally we sent someone in to get him, and all we got in return was "He's not coming out".

No, wait. I need to know if there's a problem. "Go tell him to come out here".

"He's not coming out!"

I follow him to where the kid is hiding, "Come on out, I need to know if there's a problem...."

Poor thing, when he finally came out- all the girls started giggling. The Moms all seem to have the knowing laugh (Yea, we remember who Elvis is...). He looked good for an Elvis impersonator...during the show, it was even funnier. The crowd howled! As the young man gained confidence, he began posing in Elvis type antics. A good time was had by all.

In the spring, the school is planning on doing "The Tale of Three Trees". My husband has requested that I NOT help with the costumes. We'll see. When the kids told the teacher what Daddy said, she just laughed and walked away.

Long Time No See...

Wow, it's been 2 months since I last posted. Things have changed so much. My good friend moved away. We've started another year of Girls Scouts, and this year both girls are active (I'm leading the younger girls Daisy Troop). The younger girl is in the school Christmas production, so I volunteered to help with costuming. This Holiday weekend, I will spend my time sewing poodle skirts for her class participation in the show, and accessories for the other kids. Pretty busy.

Work is still there, but greatly reduced. Just after I last posted in August, my company went through a major downsizing (work force cut in half). Now last Thursday, they further cut the ranks when they decided to close a division that was loosing money. Now we number 12. Where my job wasn't very demanding this time last year, it has bulked up considerably. Although today is somewhat quiet, I haven't been completely handed the reins of the customer service job which I will inherit going forward. I feel so bad, right now I am looking for things to do to stay busy, and just the other day we laid off several good people who had lots to do, but we had to let go to secure company funding. I know this is just the lull before the storm, and next week will be somewhat crazy. It's just very quiet here.

ENOUGH DOOM AND GLOOM!

You can see from the picture above, I have been a little busy knitting. Here is the Jack-O-Lantern, waiting for his head to be attached. I am having a little trouble with the face. When I first did the head, it looked too small to have a face added to it. I made a taller head, that to look at, looks like a nice pumpkin, but when you place that pumpkin on the body, it's way too big. So I struggle with the idea of adding the facial features, and attaching to body.

You might notice I am in the process of working one of the Holiday Gnomes - red body, white hat. I couldn't find the yarn recommended for the beard, so I got another novelty yarn, bit not sue I like it. DH thinks it's great. This guy now has his arms, but is waiting for me to finish his legs. I actually have one in white with blue hat/mittens/boots, and another one green with grey hat/one mitten/no boots yet. They are kind of fun to knit, and DD2 loves to play with them (she's named them already). I will try to squeeze these in a little this weekend, as we need to finish to send out to to their new homes. I will make a few for our home too, just they can wait a little before need to work on those. I have other things more preasing....like lots of poodle skirts. Why did I think this wold be a fun project to take on? What was I thinking?

Wish me luck.

Hello, My Friend, Hello.

Clue one done.

You can't really see it but there are beads on this piece. I tried not to get caught up in this craze, but more and more of the shawls out there are incorporating them into the design...so I finally gave in and decided to give it a try.

I do think the beading part is a little fussy, but I think it would go alot easier if I would just break down and spend the $2 to get the beading needles....

I am still pluggng away on the summer lace sampler from BadCat designs... no picutre right at the moment, but will post something soon.

On The Needles

This is a summer project I found on the net. I was trying to get to this project sooner, but better late then never. This is a lace sampler from BadCat Designs. I was browsing around and happened upon the project. Here you can see all of clue 1 and 3/4 of clue 2. Since this picture was taken, I have finished clue 3 and , oh, about 2/3 of the way through clue 3. I like this project. It's not real wide, but depending on how it blocks, I may end up using this as a scarf instead of a wrap/stole. The color is listed as Aloe, but I would call it a soft apple. A little color without being too powerful. dark enough to add a little color, but light enough to over dye if it's not quite right.


I had also strated the Mystic Meadow Stole, almost on time with everyone... but life has a way of getting on the way of things. It is wallowing, waiting for me to commence clue 2. You can't see as much detail as this pattern has. It's a lovely pattern, challanging yet not frustrating. I really like it. I want to get onto clue 2....maybe this weekend.

I have missed my knitting. I need that creative outlet, and for the last month this has been kind of put on the back burner. My company had to move out of it's building, and we didn't have as mcuh notice as most companies need. It was a lot of work for 2-3 weeks before the move, and 2-3 weeks after the move as well. Now with things kind of quieting down at work, I am hoping to get back to some knitting. I know I do have some sewing to take care of first (back to school is right around the corner). But soon.

Pony, Pony Everywhere, But Not A One to Ride

DD2 loves to take pictures, and what better subject then her ponies.



I never know what I'll find on the digital camera after it's sat out for a few days...



Careful of the rough-housing there... plenty of room for everyone...


Now hold still...say cheese!


Let's see, is this thing working?




Sparkle



Sparkle-Sparkle.




Sparkle-Sparkle at play....

DD2 at play.

Once A Month, Ready Or Not

Wow, it's already been a month since I last posted. The time has gotten away from me - with end of the school year, end of the (girl)scouting year, company moving, and the downpouring of KALs.... Something had to give, and unfortunately it was this. I don't even have lots of great pictures to show for it!

This is a little over half of the swatch for the Mystic Meadows stole swatch. It was a smaller piece of the yarn I wanted to use, and from the little bit I did, I think I'm going to really like this choice. i will cast on tonight for a little bit.

My back is acting up right now, so it's hard to do anything but sit and knit...not that I mind. I did want to start work on a dress for my younger daugther- a yellow dress for "Wear Yellow To School Day" (Wednesday). Since it's Monday now, I don't have much time, but the pattern isn't too complicated. I should be able to crawl on the floor and cut out the dress, and maybe even start some of the sewing as well. I have some yellow ginham in the stash that would work wonderfully for this project (I think I better hurry and use up some of this material...both girls are starting to get a bit big for the gingham look...if you know what I mean.

After the yellow dress, I need to think about the older daugther. We have a pirate fair we want to go to this weekend, and she's outgrown her outfit from last year. DD2 is all set with something from the costume bin, and husband just needed some pants. I have a new bodice I'm finishing (need to put grommets in),and some bloomers/bottoms(haven't decided just what yet). DD1 needs new bodice, new skirt, new shift...she just keeps growing. I guess this is what happenes when you feed them :oP

After the pirate fair, she'll be needing clothes anyway. Like I keep saying - she 's a growing kid. She wants to learn to sew, so I will enlist her help to sew some of the things (with proper supervision). She should be able to help with shorts/pants and simple shirts. At least to start out with. She helped some this last Sunday with pants for DH. they were a very simple design and she helped to sew much of them up. I'm hoping for a good summer.

May Day...May Day...

Things have been kind of up-side down for me the last few weeks. Nothing tragic, just screwy. to cope, I knit. I have been able to finish the monkey socks (shown here in progress) started around the time of the wedding back in March. I haven't worn these yet, I need to finish tucking in the loose ends.



I made my "Incrdible Hulk Business Socks". A shorter, sportier sock. Picture doesn't do justice to the great green color. I haven't worn these either, just haven't had the occassion.


I have been working on swatches for another KAL I want to participate in, but I'm not happy with first swatch. The gauage is a little big, and I knit loosely , so this might not be a good thing.


Here's the Swatch-In-Progress. The color doesn't show, but it is a soft apple green (I think the vendor called it Aloe Vera or something like that). I like the color. Soft enough to be almost nuetral, but still a little color...light enough to oveerdye if the color isn't quite what you want.



What's In Your Wallet?

Here's my bag that I carry my STUFF in everyday. I throw my knitting supplies I take to work with me. It makes me laugh to think about all the knitting "crap" I have in there.

Here's my bag that I carry my STUFF in everyday. I throw my knitting supplies I take to work with me. It makes me laugh to think about all the knitting "crap" I have in there. Yarn (about 8 balls of yarn), knitting nnedles (1/2 doz sets of Dbl pt needles, and several circulars), plus knitting/Lace book...all sorts of stuff. the good thing about it being knitting stuff, it ain't too heavy. Yarn is far more bulky then weighty.

Now as I look at the picture, I find it almost embarrassing to show the picture of the inside of my bag....dope!