The first FO of my new knitting incarnation

When I resumed knitting late last year (after a 24 year layoff), my assignment was to make an afghan for my mom's new couch. Well, after at least ten different swatches, I still didn't come up with the right color/texture/whatever that would have been exactly right. So I took the pile of several yarns, found this wonderful pattern for at http://www.knitlist.com/: http://www.knitlist.com/01gift/the-big-snuggly.htm The Big Snuggly, and sat down to knit it for myself. For some reason, when I showed the FO to my mother, she thought it was hers, so it has been in her living room ever since. In fact, I couldn't even get it away from her to take a photo for my scrapbook.

But mom's on vacation, now, so I snuck in to her apartment to take these photos:

I used three yarns: Lion Brand Homespun (Shaker); Caron Simply Soft (Toast) and Caron One Pound (Bone) ... The Homespun and Simply Soft are very lofty; the Caron One Pound adds body to the fabric so the Snuggly stays put while walking from the recliner to the kitchen.

Done all in garter stitch, this is a great project for TV Knitting; the simple short-row shaping is a no brainer that creates an attractive and useful shaping.

I highly recommend this project: a great throw for each member of the family as we face escalating home heating costs next winter.

Thirteenth Post on Friday the 13th

It's a good thing I'm not superstitious or I would have waited until morning. But I'm so pumped over these Tawashi Blossoms that I just can't contain myself. Unbelievably quick to knit and very cleverly designed, even though my flower beds washed away I'll still have flowers!

I'm sure the folks at Ravelry are going to get fed up with my Tawashi projects, but this is so much fun I can't contain myself. My KIP bag is loaded with supplies for more blossoms for KIP day tomorrow ... these are a totally cool and useful item. I hope to do three or four to hand out to interested passers-by!

Something awesome is coming up for us homebodies ... on Saturday, June 14, 2008, my daughter and I have main floor tickets to attend the live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion at the Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. As a proud supporter of Michigan Public Radio, I always donate at both the spring and fall pledge drives. This past April, just as I was balancing my checkbook and trying to calculate an affordable gift for the season, the radio station announced a special opportunity. For a generous donation, a few lucky people could have a pair of main floor seats AND attend a post-show reception in the Auditorium lobby. Let me tell you, I was on the phone within ten seconds ...

At some point, I will feel guilty about the large price tag, but not this week. You see, June 14 is my late husband's birthday. He passed away on April 30, 2007; last year on his birthday I think my daughter and I were still in shock at our sudden loss. This year, we're a little bit better, but we also know that he would have doubled our pledge to take another couple along with us. I can't think of a more appropriate way to celebrate his life than to support National Public Radio, and to enjoy the wonderful music and unique humor of Garrison Keilor's A Prairie Home Companion. DD hopes to get an autograph from Fred Newman (the sound effects man on many of the shows); I hope to introduce her to a little of the cultural experience offered by Ann Arbor during its Summer Festival.

Everything's coming up (not roses)

Tawashi Blossoms ... delightful pattern from Rhonda White at http://www.knittingknonsense.com/. Awesome little bit of no-brainer knitting to fill those minutes waiting in the car, at dance class, at swim class, etc. and use up those annoying bits of leftover acrylics. Thanks, Rhonda!

And ... I finally found a use for all of those tiny skeins of nylon used by plastic canvas crafters ... exactly three skeins (10 yards each) on size 9 US needles creates a delightfully scrubby scrubbie! At three skeins for a dollar at the local Dollarville, I can afford to craft all summer long. As those nieces and nephews head back to the college apartments, I can fill some gift baskets with useful stuff, for a change!

Just in case nothing in my garden blooms this summer, I can at least have a kitchen full of flowers!

Another FO or two but nothing to write home about

Well, in spite of all my best efforts to find knitting time, life has demanded quite a bit of my presence over the past several days. I did manage to find the camera simultaneously with 10 spare minutes, though, to get fuzzy pictures of a couple of Finished Objects: Every Day Any Day is from a Yahoo KAL for mid-May; Palm Tree is Monthly Dishcloth KAL for June, 2008, another lovely pattern by Andi Worthy at http://thingsstitchedmarketplace.blogspot.com/.

Then, just for the heck of it, I knitted Daisy by Lindy (pattern can be found at http://madebylindy.blogspot.com/search/label/My%20Patterns). Three fun knits; I'm not sure about my results on Sue Schafer's pattern found at http://www.harvestmoonupperroom.blogspot.com/. Of course, as a continental knitter, I frequently have issues with YO both in knit and purl. I'll need to track down two or three more tutorials to see if I can become even more confused.