Return From Vacation

My boys had a week off of school, February 21-25th, so we decided to head on down to visit my mom in Key Largo, Florida. My oldest son Alex and I split the 13-hour drive, and we were there by Saturday night. We spent Sunday with my mom, and headed over to my sister's house to play with my sister, brother-in-law, and my 3 nieces and 1 nephew. It was a gorgeous day. My brother-in-law took the boys out on his boat to go fishing, and they all caught some fish and enjoyed peering into the water to see what animals they could find. They saw barracudas and even a man-o-war. Here are pics of me & Tyler and one of me & Alex.



Meanwhile, back on land, I played with my nieces, and had to show them my latest knitting gear along with my most recent projects. I showed them my newest Knit Kit in turquoise, which I absolutely love. If you don't have one, I highly recommend them. It has a row counter, double ended crochet hook, thread cutter, tape measure, and on the back is a little compartment with scissors, stitch markers, point protectors, and a darning needle. You can get them at Knit Picks, which is where I buy mine, or from their website, theknitkit.com. You could even make up your own kit, like my friend Cindy did!

My recent projects have been a pair of Cabled Lace Socks in black for my mom, a couple of washcloths for my nieces and one for my mom, and a Hot Water Bottle cover for myself. Just finished the socks for my mom, and they turned out great. My nieces loved their washcloths with a picture of their dog's breed on it, one with a Schnauzer and one with a Maltese, and I'm still working on the Hot Water Bottle cover. It's almost done though!

What a great week! ☺

February Heart Socks

I just had to post about these socks, because they are just so wonderful! The pattern is a Mystery Knit-a-Long from the Knitters Brewing Co. Sock-aholics group on Ravelry. The yarn I used is a pretty gray color, from the Knitters Brewing Co. store called Greyhound. I purchased a kit for this KAL in December, which gave me the yarn, a pair of heart-shaped beads, a stitch marker, and Clue #1 to get started on.

The Mystery is that we didn't know what the socks would look like, and the pattern was released in 5 weekly parts. I was able to follow along, completing each clue each week, and once Clue #5 was released, I excitedly hurried up the cuff to see what my socks would look like. And voila! A pair of finished socks! The pattern is just difficult enough to provide interest to the knitting without being frustrating. I love my finished socks, but the process was a blast! It really helps that the people in the Ravelry group are very helpful and encouraging. Even the back of these socks is interesting and unique! Here's a link to my project page on Ravelry with my notes and lots of pictures from along the way. Click on the pictures to see them better!

February Fun

Wow! I haven't posted since September! Time sure flies by, especially when you're busy. I've been knitting and crocheting up a storm, keeping my fingers flying. Right now I'm working on a pair of socks for a Knit-a-Long for a group on Ravelry called Knitters Brewing Co. Sock-Aholics. It's so much fun! The people on the group are so encouraging, and the pattern is a blast to knit. It's a really unique pattern with a lot of twists and turns. If you're a sock knitter, you really should try it!

Personal life has also been busy. I'm trying to keep up with my two boys, Alex and Tyler. Alex is a junior in high school, and is really into computers. He wants to study some type of computer science in college, he just hasn't narrowed it down to programming or something else. Tyler loves video games and is in the bridge-building club at school, where they are building a miniature bridge from toothpicks! He's really enjoying it. Hubby Dustin is staying busy with work, thank goodness he's got a wonderful job, and he recently built bed frames for both boys new beds. Now, if the boys would only learn to make their beds...