We went to visit the in-laws last weekend:
SIL, BIL & baby
SIL, 2 nieces
MIL, FIL
TH

We had a great time swimming in the pool, going for walks, going to the movies, the mall, Target, out to dinner, playing with the baby, playing hide and seek, and fetch with the dog, etc.

The girls get very excited playing with Sydney, so BIL nicknamed them “the pink mafia”. It fit them perfectly. :)

While playing hide and seek, Niece 2 was hiding in the bathtub with me. She did a great job hiding and was VERY quiet and good, even though she’s a little afraid of the dark. Later, her mom said, “why did you pee in your pullup? you know you’re not supposed to do that?!?” and she said, “Mommy, I was hiding…”
poor thing! – but what a good sport! :) – she’s only two and she evidently has her priorities in order! :)

Syd was flapping her head back and forth “killing” her duck and Niece 1 commented, “Her ears are fast!” :)

SIL, MIL and I visited the local yarn shop and I picked up the yarn for a shrug for SIL. It is a really pretty red, so I can’t wait to start working on it:
http://www.interweavestore.com/Knitting/Patterns/Viennese-Shrug.html

Overall, it was a lovely visit. The baby is too cute for words and a very good sport about being passed around even though he was teething.

and for those keeping track at home:
I think my original goal was not to buy any yarn until 9/1 (why was this again?). :)
I bought some yarn in DC that was locally dyed (Feb).
I bought some yarn at a once a year Hill Country Weavers sale (April).
I bought some yarn at YarnBow the one time I went there (May).
I bought some yarn at Twisted Yarns (July).
I have not yet bought any yarn at Hobby Lobby, Joann’s or Michael’s (although, I’ll be picking up some pomp-a-doodle soon).
But on some level, I feel like I’ve definitely cut down on the yarn purchasing, so the stash is no longer growing out of control. :)

(7/11/2010 8:56 pm)

edited to add: Each time I’ve been to Yarnbow, the selection has been great and the owner has been cordial. It is a bit off the beaten path. (2/2/2013)

Wow blanket – project on hold due to resource availabily (this MUST be finished by Christmas in order to avoid loss of all hope of completion)

Baby Blue speed hooked blanket with Chocolate pomp-a-doodle edging – this is the portable project and is not being rushed

Cream and Chocolate crocheted cable baby blanket – needs to be steamed in time for TX State Fair (mailed by approx. 7/15)

Neopolitan baby blanket – last square is 95% done (FINALLY!!!!!!) and then the blanket needs to be assembled.
It is 10% assembled so far. – needs to be completed in time for TX State Fair.

Orange and White star blanket – ready to go to fair. :)

Santa Star ornament – still 60% complete, he’s starting to look somewhat sad and forlorn even though he still looks exactly the same – he needs to be finished by Nov.!

(7/1/2010 9:58 pm)

Well, I’ve got 100 rows left of stranded colorwork left before the lion is complete! :)
I thought at one point that I might not finish, but now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Here’s a photo of the floats on the back (I haven’t posted a pic of the front recently in case TH gets curious):

The one thing that has really paid off since I’m doing fair isled instead of intarsia is that the time I figured out I’d made a mistake two rows back, I was able to drop a couple of stitches, pick the correct color up and redo the stitches(using the floats rather than the original strands) and correct the mistake without having to rip out two rows! :)
Yay for floats (I prefer to say floats rather than “strands” b/c it makes me think of coke floats.)! :)

The Stars won Friday night in a great game. Krahn had 43 saves and Jamie Benn got a hat trick. The final score was 5-3 and I was thrilled! Hopefully they’ll win again tonight and advance. :)
Go STARS! :)

In other news, I saw Iron Man 2. If you liked the first one, I think you’ll enjoy it. I did…..except for the 15 year old boy next to me that couldn’t seem to resist repeating EVERY single quotable line after it was said and making noises too. He was wearing a national guard shirt, so maybe he’ll go into the military and learn to be quiet. His dad shushing him sure wasn’t working. And he was drinking milk rather than soda. I can’t imagine him on sugar!
Tip for parents: If you know you have to shush your kid during movies, have them sit on the end near the aisle.
I managed not to tell him to say anything rude despite the fact that he almost ruined the movie for me…….so, that was something.
and just last week, I was thinking that I don’t really have a problem with repetitive noises (like people clicking their pens or microwaves beeping)…..but you let a teenaged kid talk over my movie…..well, that’s another thing entirely.

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, Grammy, Grandma Katie, and my MIL.

Everyone else, Happy Sunday! :)

(5/9/2010 4:29 pm)