Help Wanted: Welcome Blankets

The knitters behind the Pussyhat Project are asking for help again. They need blankets-knit, crocheted or quilted. They will be displayed at the Smart Museum at the University of Chicago and then donated. You can read all about it here. Their Ravelry page is here.

 I had just been cleaning out the quilting stash during the big basement flood last week and came upon my leftovers from Grand #2's baby quilt. He is our July baby so he got the red, white and blue treatment. It gave me an idea.

Since I knit as slow as anything and crochet even slower, I decided to throw together a quilt to donate. It only has to be 40 x 40" but it has to be done before August 20th. I better get moving.

Aubade

 The ball of yellow spaghetti has finally revealed itself in all its glory.

 The thing about a pi shawl is you really can't see what it's going to look like while you are working on it.

 Lace is always somewhat like that but a pi shawl is a whole other dimension of surprise.

 It's hard to show how big this is. It's huge.

 It's also crazy light and fluffy. It's got a soft halo and a beautiful variation of yellows going on.

 It's a Wandering Cat dye creation and I do believe it was a gift. Thanks Valerie, I think we created a masterpiece!

One down and one more to go. There is still more yarn spaghetti among the wips. I just finished the last row of this 2008 shawl this morning. I could call it a done deal but I am going to attempt to add a knitted on border to it since it's so plain. Wish me luck. I am going to need it. My head is already hurting from trying to figure it out.

More June Arrivals

 I've been keeping the delivery people pretty busy. I had a giant box from Knit Picks show up on Saturday. I've been getting the urge for more hooky adventures so I bought a set of their wood crochet hooks. I have one already and I really liked it when I was working on the Cozy Colours CAL.

 Since Aubade was a done deal I threw some more lace in the cart. It was a get one free promotion so why not?

 Socks to be, of course. Hawthorne in Sauvie Island and Italian Ice speckle.

 This was a boo boo. I thought it was Felici in sock weight but it was worsted.  I didn't know they even made a worsted version. I'll find something to do with it I'm sure. I really liked the colors.

The whole purpose of the splurge was to get more blocking mats. I knew what I had wouldn't be enough. More on that tomorrow.

June Arrivals

 Waiting for me when I got home was, among other things, the June card kit of the month.

 I had decided to opt out for good but when I saw this one I decided to get one more. The sentiments are wedding related and I have nothing like it in my stamp stash.

From Amazon I also had this cute little vacation set. I love the little trailer. I want one, for real.

I also had this table runner kit from Connecting Threads waiting for me. I also bought more material from this collection to make a mini quilt to match.

I still have the last little quilt to finish first though. It's coming along but until that big wet mess in the basement is cleaned up it's not getting done any time soon.

Bye Bye Baby Bunting

 Kathy B posted that photo last week of the baby bunting she made for her kids that she couldn't part with. I told her I would show her the abomination I made back in the day and here it is. That's poor Son #2 stuffed in it playing like a baby for a laugh. It took so long to crochet the darn thing that he grew up before I finished it. That's child abuse right there folks.

 Here's the same poor kid on Daddio's lap months earlier actually fitting into some equally awful holiday overalls I crocheted him. I must have been on a hook binge with this kid because....

Here he is again a few months earlier in some granny square thingy I concocted. I do believe there was an issue getting his head through the neck hole.

 Here is big brother in 1977 in the VERY first thing ever I knitted. It was a kit from the dimestore and the yarn was this horrible rayon like stuff. It's a wonder I ever picked up the needles again.

I had better luck a year later with this cabled sweater that he seemed to like. He did wear it a lot. I wonder what ever happened to it? I also wonder how he got that big boo boo....

I remember being really excited about knitting this fringed cowboy sweater for Son #1. Most of my patterns came from Woman's Day or Family Circle. What else was there in those days?
(DIL, I can hear you gasp when you see this photo. Son #2 is a dead ringer for Grand #2, right? It's almost scary.)

Look at that. Not one but two Icelandic style sweaters. Where did I find the time with those two hoodlums on the loose? And they were hoodlums. 18 months apart and full of trouble.

Daugher came along later and I couldn't wait to buy some pink and purple yarn.


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Awwww......where does the time go? And.....where did all these knits go? Did I toss them? I have no idea. I am thinking (and hoping) they wore them to rags-but honestly, I can't remember that far back anymore. It's all becoming a blur.

Twiddle Mitt Review

 I really went crazy with Daddio's mitt. I added lots of doo dads.

 A lot of it came from his old stash. I wanted to see if he recognized any of it. Those were his yo yos from the last quilt he worked on at home.

 I added strips of his favorite stash material that I had cut with pinking shears.

He wasn't in a talkative mood and not particularly fiddly today but he did seem to like it. The weight of it seemed to comfort him. Bulky yarn lined with bulky yarn is pretty heavy. He kept it on his arm and petted it for several hours until I took it away to bring back home. Sadly, I can't leave it or it would disappear. I've given up chasing his stuff down since no one there is malicious. They just don't understand boundaries anymore. Daddio included.

Homecoming

 My re-entry into reality was a doozy.

 I got home late Tuesday night and was met by piles and piles of stuff everywhere.

 The downstairs looks like it exploded.

It's been raining a lot and it seems we sprung a leak.

 Right before I left, the tile in the basement was squirting out water when you stepped on it. Not good.

The under the stairs closet had flooded. The Mister had to pull out all the junk and pull off the wet wall covering. Yuck.

I might have come home to a mess but I also came  home to a very happy to see me Pup. It's not all bad.