Graduation Time!

Mother's Day is tomorrow!  Happy Mother's Day to my mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother.  They have all inspired me in one way or another.  I hope to enjoy a quiet Mother's Day at home with my boys.

Speaking of my boys, it's hard to believe, but my oldest baby boy is graduating from high school this year.  He will be attending Georgia Tech, and we're very proud of him.  He wants to study computer science, and there are several areas within computer science that he will also study.  On top of that, my youngest baby boy will be starting high school in the fall.

It's been a busy crafting time as well!  I've been spinning quite a bit, and still feel like I'm learning a lot.  Mostly I've just been practicing getting fiber to the thickness that I would like.  I've also been knitting and crocheting, making everything from a cardigan sweater to a shawl to socks to dishcloths.  I'm currently working on a pair of socks, some coasters and a dishcloth for my mom, and another cardigan sweater.

Happy Crafting, everyone!

Lots of Knitting

It's a Monday evening, and it has been raining here all day, in fact for most of the weekend. So what am I doing? Knitting, of course! I've been working on lots of different projects lately, making progress on each one.

The first thing I knit on today was a pair of Traveling Socks. What's a Traveling Sock? Well, in one of my Ravelry groups, the Knitters Brewing Co. Sock-Aholics, there are two groups of us, an East Coast group and a West Coast group. I'm in the East Coast group, and there are 12 of us total. We each started a sock, just working the toes, and then sent them on along with a journal to the next person in line. The next person works a little bit, writes in your journal, and sends them on to the next person, and so on. So at the end I will have a fabulous pair of socks worked on by 11 other people! It's so much fun working on everyone's socks! I've been pulling out my stitch dictionaries that haven't gotten much use, and going through them to pick out a pattern to use for my portion of the socks. I also pick out a yarn to use, which may or may not depend on what others have used on the socks before me. So this morning I finished up my section of someone's socks, wrote a bit in the journal, and got them in the mail this afternoon. Now I just need to wait for the next pair of socks to arrive!

Speaking of socks, I've also been working on a pair for me. This is my first time using Malabrigo yarn, and I'm using the Persia colorway, which is gorgeous greens, blacks, and greys. I tried a couple of different patterns before I settled on the one that I'm using now, which is a Wendy Johnson pattern called Ribbed Ribbon Socks. I'm done with the feet and the heels, now I'm just working on the legs until they get to the height that I like. Plus they fit perfectly!

Another thing I've worked on today is my Lexi Cardigan. It's a top-down cardigan sweater, and I've gotten the very top portion done, separated some stitches for the arms, and now I'm working the body section. I'm doing this for my Harry Potter group on Ravelry, so I've got a deadline of the end of March to get it done. I've tried working a few rows each day, but I think it's easier for me to set aside a day or two a week to work on it.

One last thing that I'm working on is my spindle spinning. No pictures of that, since the handspun yarn that I'm making is a surprise for a friend! The fibers that I'm using are gorgeous, though, so I know she'll love it.

Back to School

The boys are back to school! My oldest son, Alex, is a high school senior, and my youngest son, Tyler, is in 8th grade in middle school. Both of them have lots of exciting things going on this year.
Alex is in a magnet program, which is held in a regular high school, but he takes magnet as well as regular classes. This has given him a big advantage when it comes to college, he's already tested out of having to take several college classes. This fall, as part of a school class, he's doing an internship. He will be working at Georgia Tech Research Labs doing cybersecurity. I'm really excited for him and can't wait to see how much he learns!
Tyler also has some fun things going on this year. He has transferred to a different middle school, and he's really enjoying meeting lots of new people. He's taking first year Spanish, and he's still playing cello in the orchestra. The school orchestra will be playing at an Atlanta Braves baseball game, as well as at the Georgia State Capital, and even Disneyworld! He'll be doing a couple of fundraisers to help pay for the trip to Orlando to go to Disneyworld.
I've been even more busy than usual with my knitting and crocheting! I just finished a beautiful pink and rose toned shawl, and already have several more projects on the needles. One of my husband's co-workers has purchased some things from me, including the shawl, so I'm anxious to get her items done for her. Next up is a beaded hat and scarf set!

Still Intarsia!

So I've been consistently working on my Knit Picks Road Trip Kit Harbor Light tote bag. I'm not finished with the intarsia panel, but I am way ahead of schedule on it. I was hoping to be half done with both the sides and back, and the intarsia panel, by the middle of June, instead I'm more than ¾ of the way done at the beginning of June! I think the finishing-blocking, seaming the pieces together, lining using both fabric and interfacing, the handles; all of that is going to take quite a while. I'm weaving in the ends as I go along so that will save me some time at the end. I'm hoping to get it all done by the end of July, and I don't think that will be a problem, but I'm glad I will have plenty of time because seaming the pieces together is probably going to take a lot longer than I thought. The edge stitches of the intarsia panel are pretty wonky, so it's going to be very difficult to seam them together with the back/side piece. Can't wait to see the finished bag!

Snow Day

So the boys got a snow day! It snowed a little here in Atlanta, but the problem was the ice on the roads. The boys were just thrilled to have a day off from school!

It's been a great new year so far. I've been exercising more, decorating cakes, and knitting and crocheting. I've been finishing some knitting projects that were on hold during the holidays. I finally made a cardigan for myself, along with some fingerless gloves and a knitting bag. Both for me! It's kind of fun to make things for myself sometimes, although I love knitting for others.

So what's next? Maybe a vest or tank top-for me! Of course, I'll have to fit in knitting for my nieces in there too...maybe some scarves or mittens for them.

More Knitting, More Cake

It's been a hectic few weeks, trying to cram in knitting and cake decorating. Almost done with the knitted Christmas gifts! All done with the cake decorating classes, but I will continue to decorate cakes and practice techniques at home. Happy holidays!