Twins game with Mike Bob and Hilary

Fun fun fun




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Family time at a game

We got to St Louis yesterday. Today we are at the new Cardinals ballpark watching them play the Twins. It's hot. We are melting!! But enjoying our time together.




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Buffet2

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Buffet

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Done with my house numbers

Hurray it's done. It was so fun and I love it. So what else can I cover with glass tile? Watch out if you aren't moving you might get covered. Click on the photo to embiggen...




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Mosaic house numbers

My current project finally ready for grout.




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Bulldog hockey!!

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Two More Babies to Knit For...

Okay, so now there are two more - my cousin Bekk is having her second next month - and my cousin Joe is having his third in July so...time to knit some cute baby stuff - my favorite!! In a previous blog - here - I discussed Elizabeth Zimmerman (EZ) and her BSJ - Baby Surprise Jacket - I've knit this item three times so far and its so fun - so I think it will be my next project - here is the BSJ with matching booties, both from EZ's book The Opinionated Knitter, I made for Sheryl's baby Finn:

The self striping sock yarn makes such a fabulous colorful item - but I think I might try a solid cream cotton - and then pick out some colorful buttons!! Wish me luck - I'll post FO's for your review!!

Brunch with my dear friends

Hazelwood in Excelsior - yummy and fun fun fun...great way to spend a Sunday morning!
- - - - Chelle and Hilary - - - - - - - - - - Chip and Mike - - - - -

Erik the college boy in his "COLLEGE" tshirt - LOL.

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Knit Out 2009 at MOA

Hey there - I had a blast last weekend at the Mall of America for the Craft Yarn Council's Knit Out and Crochet 2009. Many of you know that I volunteer at this event and teach beginning knitting lessons. We are supposed to teach basic knit stitch and if time, cast on and cast off but I always have students that want to learn other things or have knitting issues so it makes for a fun time. The 2 hours just flies by. And I also did some time in the information booth and other areas.

Here's a link to some photos of the event: Click here....

On Saturday, Karen arrived to relieve me from the lessons and we got some time to catch up and chat. Then on Sunday, while working the information booth, I ran into a dear friend from high school - Terri (Rolfes) Schultz. It was so fun to catch up and chat - even though I get a great Christmas card from Terri every year with a letter, so I get the updates yearly, it was still fun to meet - Terri is a crocheter - I tollerate the single stick crowd LOL! And she does some knitting - so now we need to get together and play with sticks and string together. I informed her on the ravelry addiction so hopefully I'll get my points for getting another member - HA!

Onward - its almost Friday - and I've got to finish all of these UFOs (unfinished objects) so I can start something new!

The girls do grow up - High School Dance

Hilary had a school dance on Saturday - a "girls ask guys" dance - or Sadie Hawkins type Dance?

She had fun getting ready with her friend Hayley. And they all came over for me to take some pictures so, on the left we have Hayley and her date Paul, and Hilary with her date Cory.....too cute.

What's next on this parenting ride?

Pretty cotton sweater

Started a new project. I really shouldn't. I should be finishing others projects. Or even cleaning the house? But the yarn is soft cotton with a bit of silk and it feels like a light summer sweater. I needed to feel a little spring so the back is done and I'm starting the front.

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Knit Out at MOA

If you ever wanted to learn to knit but haven't got around to it, join me at the Mall of America February 14th & 15th for the 2009 Knit Out sponsored by the Craft Yarn Council. There will be tons of booths from yarn manufacturers, magazines, book authors, etc. I'm volunteering in the free knitting lessons area.

I have a fun bag I'm bringing - finished this about a year ago - its called the Modular Felted Tote. You can purchase the pattern here.

Husky Hockey

The Husky mascot Blizzard.



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Little lambs - Really, what could be cuter?

I think a lot of you know that I would love to have acres of sheep and alpaca - tend to my flock and knit knit knit - so take a look at this, what could be more cute?

These are from Kristin Nicholas - a knitwear designer that I follow and admire - click here to read her blog - she lives in western Mass on a farm with lots of sheep, chickens, pigs, cats and.....get this....Border Collies!! She has sheep, she knits, she likes Border Collies - well, we are definitely twins separated at birth - only she's got land and sheep and lives awefully close to Martha's Vineyard (compared to me, that is)......

Another stash buster

I am trying to find small projects that are done and quick to knit plus use up yarn I have piling up. And I have two friends(Ginger and Kathy) that want to learn to knit. Now I could start them with a scarf but that can be really boring. I've come up with this stripped felted glasses case. The color combos are endless and you don't need much yarn so no need to buy anything. This yarn was some I picked up at a yarn store closing - its similar to Malabrigo - and the colors are a purple and a yellow/green on one side, and on the other side I did stripes in the yellow/green and orange.

If you want to make one you need a size 10 or 10 1/2 needle. Left over yarn that is 100% wool and good for felting. Cast on 20 stitches and knit in garter stitch for 70 ridges, changing colors after each ridge. The garter stitch makes the fabric thicker after felting. I changed one of my stripe colors halfway through at ridge #35. You'll end up with a rectangle that is about 4" X 18". Fold in half and seam using a mattress stitch - but on one side, leave a 2" opening down the side to make it easier to get your glasses in - this part is optional, I liked it for the look. Then I did an I cord edge all the way around the top including the vent on the side. You can go here for an I cord edge tutorial.

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Twitter Blog Facebook MSN IM Text ACCKKKK!!

I think I'm overdosing on technology. I can Twitter from my iPhone which updates my blog and my Facebook status - I can create a blog entry from my phone on a plane, on a train, in a car, Sam I am....I can IM from my laptop, get my email on the pc and my phone, and on and on and on.....so, wonder why I can't get the bathrooms clean, or my projects done (other than knitting, of course) - but darn it all - I'M CONNECTED.

I guess the best part is I can find my kids no matter where they are on the planet!! :) Oh, and I guess they can find me :( - and so can everyone else - why did I need it all? And why do I want more? Still drooling over an Amazon Kindle - I'm sick, sick, sick....time for an intervention or a twelve step program..... Hello, my name is Susan, and I'm a techno-a-holic.
(this blog post was actually created the old fashioned way, from my PC on blogger.com, ha!)

Stash Buster

Woohooo - I love it when I find a project that I can complete without buying something, anything...and this was it - I have so much wool yarn that is good for felting. I was inspired by a project I saw on Ravelry - but it was crochet.... I used four different colorways of Plymouth Yarns Boku - its 95% wool and 5% silk -and it is very close to Noro Kureyon. Its a self striping yarn so you get lots of colors, but you could get the same affect by changing colors as you knit the squares. I think it would be fun if you make each square alternating stripes of just 2 colors.

I love this laptop sleeve - I have a few of them I've purchased - which makes it easy for me to use any tote bag for my laptop - now I have a fancy creative one. If you want to make one, either check out my Ravelry page - or leave a comment and I'll send you the basics. I still have LOTS of stash so maybe I need to make more for gifts? I'm sure I can get some ideas of who would like one. --Happy Monday - -

Knitting for Babies

I love to knit for babies - their items are small so they can be quick to knit up - plus they are sooo cute. And I feel all "earth mother"-y when I knit for a baby, like I'm a pioneer woman living in the time when we made everything "from scratch". The baby sweaters were completed with a recipe instead of a pattern - from Elizabeth Zimmerman (or EZ to us knitters) - sometimes thought of as the mother of modern knitting - I like to think of her as a "knitting engineer" - you can have paper engineers, she was definitely a knitting engineer. These little sweaters (called the Baby Surprise Jacket - or BSJ in the knitting world) are knit continuously using a recipe instead of a line by line pattern - all in one piece that resembles origami when complete - you fold the correct way and voila - a sweater. You can change the size by varying the size of your needles and the weight of the yarn but the recipe remains the same. Love it!! It was a challenge for me to change my thinking to knit this way - and the challenge is what keeps me addicted to knitting.

The baby in the picture is the beautiful son of my friend Sheryl - his name is Finn - he is wearing booties also by EZ and knit up very similar to the BSJ. The yarn is Opal self stripping sock yarn which makes you look like you are a color wizard when in fact, the yarn is doing all of the work. The first sweater is done with a different yarn - now I need a baby girl to give it to - we have a new baby arriving in our family in March - my cousing Bekk is expecting - so if she delivers a girl, instant sweater!



This is a diaper bag - for the above mentioned Sheryl and baby Finn - felted, with lots of pockets and enough artistic flare for the artistic mother (Sheryl Tuorila Mosaics). The end pockets are the perfect size for a baby bottle. Now if I can get together with the new mommy to give it to her before the baby no longer wears a diaper, we'll be doing good!! The stripe on the front is a light lime green, hard to see in the photo - and the circles are also felted and appliqued on after felting - I also added some matching seed beads for a little sparkle and bling - I love felted bags - so durable and comfie to carry.



I have so many knitting projects planned - I can't possible get to them all - but I'm hoping to get some current projects completed so I can start something new.

Happy Friday, my friends -

College Boy

My oldest is in college. I have to keep reminding myself of that. It seems a bit unreal to me because I could swear he was only five just yesterday. But those are the thoughts of all parents.

We are having fun getting into college sports. St Cloud State hockey games are a family favorite. So I'm trying to adjust and excited to see him succeed and make his way in the big wide world.

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