My beautiful daughter

 This is Lindsay modeling the shawl I made for her with yarn we picked out in Boston.  I am thrilled that she likes it...and think that she looks awesome in it.  

Callum
Well, the most exciting, huge event in my recent life has occurred and of course, has derailed any normal activity...my grandson was born!  Callum Michael Wagner was born on January 29, 2013.  He is the most precious adorable, amazing creature I have ever seen!

Of course, I could add THOUSANDS of adorable pictures of this child, he is cooed over, and coddled and kissed and is my first experiment in baby digital photography,  His every move and grunt is memorialized when I am with him.  So, you will conclude that I have been busily knitting sweaters and blankets for this little guy.

Here is the most recent picture of him in the sweater that I made for him, ready to go out for a walk!

And on Easter Sunday, sitting on the baby blanket I made for him before he was even born:

So, we had to miss much of our February break at school due to Hurricane Sandy in October which devastated the North East coast.  I actually was evacuated out of my house, spent some time with Michael and Nathalie (thank you) and with Michelle (thank you).   When Spring Break time came you can imagine we were all in sore need of a good vacation, and we had 11 days off from school  That is the way the calendar fell out.  I did not plan to go anywhere, I just wanted to stay near Callum and work in my house and on knitting.  I have made a vow to become a master knitter of sorts, I want to go to the next level, I feel like I have been goofing around too much and too long.  I want to learn how to finish off better and really make wonderful more professional items.  This takes time.  And effort, and organization!  I spent much of my break organizing my yarn and projects. 

Also, resurrecting projects that have been laid aside.  I was amazed at how many things I have finished 75% and then just abandoned. Here are some projects I have finished: 

Sort of cool, little shawl thing, I liked the way it draped around.

And this looks much better on a beautiful young lady, like Lindsay, who picked it out when I visited her in Boston. We were roaming around a yarn store on Newbury Street, called Newbury Yarns and they had this luscious shawl on display in brown.  The yarn is called Gossamer and it has tiny shots of silver running through it and tiny bits of thicker yarn so it is just enough to give it some body but it is still very silky.  I asked Lindsay if she would like it and she asked for it in black.  Voila!  I can't wait to give it to her!  It really turned out gorgeous, and I would think about making another one right away, it is easy knitting, but since I am on a yarn freeze right now, it will have to wait.

I spent a weekend at Steff's house, when she asked me what I wanted to do I told her "knit", but when she asked if I wanted to dye yarn that changed my mind.  I had never dyed yarn and she is the expert so we got right to it.  Quite a procedure, and extremely interesting, we set up in her special dying kitchen

Steff had a bunch of prepared, undyed yarn which had been scrubbed and mordant (?) if that is the term taking the animal oils out and preparing the yarn to accept the dye.

 We used only natural dye, I chose onion skins and Steff suggested cochineal, which is a red dye made from bugs that are harvested in Mexico.  The dye bath was cooking, we slowly heated up the yarn which had been soaking overnight and then dipped it into the dye baths.

Watch very carefully!  The yarn takes on the dye quickly and you have to know what shade you want! I was so thrilled with the red, I could have dyed tons of yarn, every batch was more beautiful than the last.  The yarn then gets hung out to dry.  Steff has a special little balcony for drying.  It was a gorgeous early spring day.

And here is the yarn drying.  I also absolutely love the onion skin dye.  It makes the richest golden color, yellow-golden.

We brought the yarn indoors for the night, it was still a bit damp.  and, the next day when, sadly, I had to leave, we packed it all up for the trip home, here is the final result

Now I have to choose projects to knit with this beautiful yarn!

Christmas comes but once a year...

but knitting goes on all year long!

    These were the Christmas cards that I made this year, I cut a linoleum block and printed each one. I enjoyed it because I actually had time one weekend night with nothing else to do but work on these....and decorate a little bit.  I always have my Santas out on display.  These make me think of Michael and how adorable he was when he was a little guy.  He is still adorable to  me, but he doesn't always like to hear me say it.

    I was unable to complete everything that I was planning on giving this Christmas, but the people who are waiting are very special to me and deserve the time and effort that goes into making one-of-a-kind gifts.  

    I started a scarf for my new son-in-law immediately after my daughter told me he needed one.!  I was going great guns with it until Christmas Eve when we were all ensconced in my sister's gorgeous mansion, eating, drinking and merry.  I just couldn't leave the party to become, once again, "that girl in the corner knitting like crazy" so I had to promise the finished item in a few days.  This is the very beginning of the scarf, in a mini-herringbone stitch.  I love the effect and I hope Brad will enjoy it!

    At precisely the same time, my son and daughter-in-law requested a hat to bring the new baby home from the hospital in!  The baby, due January 22, will, of course, deserve a special home coming cap so I set right to it, this morning actually.  I may re-make it because I was making it up as I went along, basing my design on a picture they had sent me.  I am very happy with the result but can always see some way to improve the final project.

    I am home on Christmas break now so I aim to also finish three infinity scarves for my nieces.  Lindsay got one before Christmas and they are in such high demand that I will probably be making them for several months just to keep up.  Here is the beginning of one for Julia.   

I really wanted to get a picture of Lindsay with hers on, I will have to ask her to take a "selfie" and send it to me!  Here is a picture of Laura Jean sporting her infinity scarf which was the one that started the rage!

I have also been enjoying some culinary experiments. After dining out at the Jolly Fisherman restaurant in Roslyn, and eating their creamed spinach, I tried making my own, to serve with Lemon-Rosemary Salmon steak.  Mmmmm...very good, very good!

I am going to stop and knit now, so I can post some more pictures soon!

Sheep and Wool 2012!

The colors and the yarn!  It was all like a dream!  I look forward to this day all year long and I was not disappointed at all.  I was more discriminating in my search for yarn, I have to say, I searched and held back, and touched and felt, and thought before I finally bought this luscious yarn, the hand-dyed mohair was such a beautiful color, that I couldn't decide between that and the merino in the same aqua so I opted for both.  I am not unhappy about it, I bought them both from the nicest older couple from Michigan.  I had met them at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival when I bought pink mohair yarn from their booth. That day was very hot, it was about 95 degrees.  When I visited their booth they had shared their iced tea with me!

Anyway, I walked out of their booth into the sun, feeling very good and happy about  my purchase and there was another booth called Good Karma Farm. The yarn was all hanging from a tree that was all carved and smoothed and polished, it was so inviting that people were all around feeling the yarn!  (that is what yarn lovers do)  The colors were so different and irresistible that I had to buy 5 skeins of variegated dark purple , you can see it in the photo.  the yarn is a blend of wool and alpaca and is very smooth and soft.  I had to start knitting it right away to see how it worked up so I bought bamboo needles, too and knitted in the car on the way home..

This is how stunning the day was, the trees were absolutely on fire.  It could not have been a more beautiful day.

AND we got to see the sheep

And the alpaca!

Now all I need is a little quiet time to knit.  

Many Good Things!

Oh! Oh no!  It has been so long since I wrote, so many things have happened!

Lindsay had a beautiful wedding in Chicago, all of our family was together for the event, it was gorgeous!  Part of the fun was creating the place cards for each guest.

We also learned that our family is going to expand even a bit more, Nathalie and Michael will be having a little baby boy in January!

Well, that means, of course, that I had to begin knitting immediately!!

This is called entrelac, and it looks like it is woven, so it is very interesting to look at and to knit!

I am also working on a "sweater" or sort of a lacy cardigan top, I bought the yarn at a fun little store in Manhattan called Downtown Yarns.  My  knitting group, "The ladies" and I went on a field trip to Manhattan and stumbled upon this shop.  The entire small space was filled with sample pieces that the owner had knitted so you could see what you  might like to make and then purchase the yarn and pattern!  It was so great, I chose this pattern and bought the yarn.  The yarn is flax so it is almost stringy, and I completely finished the entire piece and discovered that it was WAY too big.  I ripped it all out and started al over,  That is how much I love the way it is going to look!

Monsters and my Knitting Club

So not having had a lot of time to knit, it makes my fingers itch!  What gets in the way of knitting all the time? When I am with the kids in my knitting club at school, the focus is on watching them intently trying to maneuver the stitches on the needles, unraveling the yarn that is hopelessly tied into knots.  I day dream that I am on my couch expertly and smoothly clicking through another row of my latest project, watching it grow feeling the soapy yarn slipping through my fingers!

My knitting Club did participate in a "Club Fair" night where we displayed our hard work.  The night was a success and it was fun to see everyone appreciate the kids knitting.

Here are some of the little monsters I am trying to teach the kids to make.  They are crocheted and are a big hit at school.  Problem?  The kids want me to make them for them!

My favorite picture so far, my socks on display on the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower!  Thanks Steff for sending me this wonderful shot...and these of the vest I made.  This yarn is so soft, I loved working with it.  I am so glad you are wearing it!  Enjoy!

Here is an interesting thing that came to me from Anita, I inherited some of her knitting things when she passed away.  this is a circular needle made of Bakelite.  It is very stiff and the points are very sharp so it is not that easy to knit with but it has a beautiful mellow color and patina, I just keep it with all of my knitting things and remember that there is a long history to knitting.

This is an attempt to use some of my little bits of left over sock yarn.  I liked the way the stitches look almost like a woven piece, but it is very labor intensive so i have put it aside.  Will I ever finish this?  I am not really sure, I do not need another scarf, really.  I am already eyeing a pair of fair isle socks using leftover sock yarn.  We'll see.  Meanwhile, i am going to continue to work on my short rows sweater.  I want to emulate my knitting friend, Judy, and stick to one project (or maybe two) at a time.

When I get time off from work I do not know what to do first!  I am so happy to be home and able to do what I want...but there are so many things that I want to do!
First, I started to really organize my patterns.  I have been collecting patterns since I was young.  I can remember showing my binder with patterns to my grandmother, she laughed and said "You will never finish all of these things!" I  have been collecting even since then, now I wonder what she would say!
I did start to get rid of some of the magazines that I have been stockpiling, but I will never get rid of my Vogue Knitting!!  I have a collection going back to 1983.

 Here is  the dog sweater that i created for the adorable little dog below!  Elle is the most fashionable of dogs, and now she will have a nice warm sweater to wear in the cold Chicago winter.  I hope it fits the right way.  I may have to make some adjustments, but I am leaving tomorrow to see Elle, and Laura Jean and Lindsay so we will try it on her then.

So, I am still absolutely addicted to knitting socks now that I am knitting two at a time on two circulars.  It makes a world of difference, here are some socks I am working on now.  I had started one on DPs but frogged them and now I restarted them on circulars!  I love the tiny little cable effect.  The yarn is gorgeous, too.

I have started a knitting club at school.  The kids come to my room during their recess time to learn how to knit.  They have been doing a great job so far, and they love knitting.

So, I have chosen a little project that we can all work on together, it is a bean bag, so we knit one long rectangle, fold it over and sew up the three sides.  I have added a heart to mine, just for some color, and we stuff them with navy beans.  These are a big hit at my school!