Totally Thrown

My schedule that is. It's totally thrown off. I slept in this morning so it feels like it should be Saturday, not Sunday. And that means I pretty much want to do nothing for the rest of the day except watch movies and knit. Personally I think I deserve a day like that. Every weekend prior has seemed like it's been in preparation for yesterday. The Great Brown/Brunner Wedding of 2010.

Which went off pretty well if I do say so myself.

I'm so happy for my brother and his new wife.

I have been doing a few other things (mostly during the week) besides getting ready for the wedding. I found out last week that a fiber festival I thought was overbooked actually had a spot for me so now I have less than 2 weeks to get ready for that. Also finished up the Road Scarf.

It will get washed and dried this week so it will be ready to send out. It turned out to be a very wide scarf so it should keep the recipient nice and warm. This scarf was part of the EEROP April/May KAL to benefit CERI. Remember the other scarf (based off the Road Scarf) that I started?

Now it looks like this:

Yeah...I didn't like how some of the sections in the original scarf were pulling in and how other sections were curling under. So I frogged everything and decided to go with the "ant egg" stitch for the whole thing. Think I can finish this in 2 weeks? I need the mindless knitting right now.

Secrets Revealed

My secret project has been given away to its intended recipients so I can reveal what I've been working on for the last few weeks.

Ta da! Dishcloths! Wedding themed dishcloths by Kris Knits none the less.

Hearts and cake

Dove and man and wife

Church and champagne glass (color is most accurate in this picture)

Rings and bells

They were a huge hit at the shower on Saturday and a ton of fun to knit. I could pop one out in about 2 hours so they were also quick, a real plus. I would definitely recommend these to anyone and I'm pretty sure I'll try some of Kris's other patterns in the future.

Dishcloths aren't the only thing I've been working on though.

My week 3 portion of the Road Scarf KAL for EEROP is almost complete.

I just need to knit the 4 rows of garter stitch that separate this section from the next. I'm really enjoying knitting on this scarf! It's so easy and yet, I don't get bored with one pattern. It's got me thinking about ideas for other scarves...

Also started teaching a new sock class last week which means I started my "demonstration" pair of socks.

It's just a child's size so it's moving along quickly which is good because I'm not terribly fond of this color (though it looks a lot better in the picture than in real life). I dyed this ages ago with gel food coloring in black and red. Gel food coloring is not the best thing to use to dye yarn as I found out. The colors came out really washed out looking. I might over dye with blue or something. Still not sure.

Nothing on the needles for myself at the moment. Or for friends and family. I wanted to start the Skew socks for myself but the pattern suggests using circulars and I don't have any in the correct size. Thought about just trying it with DPNs but I'm not sure. Suggestions as to what I should do are welcome.

I still have some requests from friends and family for knits and there is a shop sample to be made. But right now I just want to take some of this pink and purple and sparkly yarn and knit something. Probably another scarf.

I want to give all my loyal readers a heads up about some changes coming up. At the beginning of May there are going to be some changes made to the blog and to the store. For your patience with these changes I'm going to have some giveaways and prizes. There will be more updates coming soon (hopefully a whole blog post devoted to the subject) and you can follow me on Twitter to be on the cutting edge of changes.

Just Breathe

I was surprised today when I realized that I was actually going to be home to watch my favorite T.V. show tonight. I don't think I've watched T.V. in 2 weeks. At least it feels that way. T.V. time means knitting time which is nice since I've been doing lots of work on the Trick or Treat socks since they sit right next to the computer but not a lot on anything else. So, tonight has been about trying to relax and enjoy at least one evening this week where I don't have anything else to do (the rest of the week, despite my best efforts, are shaping up to be more of the usual craziness).

I don't have any real knitting pictures since everything is pretty much the same, just a bit longer, but I do have some pics.

First, my brother and my cousin Britt from a wedding shower (for my brother and his (future) wife) on Saturday.
Continuing to prove that there is nothing cuter in the world than a guy with a baby.

And, a super spoiled cat.

The Countdown has Begun

Only 369 more days until my brother gets married. Where will I be?
Not just standing up front but...
Standing beside my new sister! Tonight I went to dinner with Brandi and my brother and they asked me to be their maid of honor. I'm so, well, honored! I've never even been a bridesmaid before but I am so looking forward to this opportunity :) I'm soooo excited for them. It's going to be a fun filled, busy year for all of us.

I've also got some uber cute pictures for you so get ready :) First a little back story: My mom works at an animal hospital as a receptionist. To say she's got a soft spot is an understatement. I think it makes her perfect for her job. She rescued her cat L.C. from the woods beside the office one day. L.C. is lucky she has such an awesome momma because she's got some respiratory and kidney issues and a heart murmur but my mom takes care of her just like a child, because L.C. is family. Well, in the past year another cat, Siamese has taken up permanent residence on my parent's front porch. And just about 6 weeks ago a lady came into the animal hospital with one of her outdoor kitties. My mom knew this woman pretty well because she had been coming to the hospital for awhile. The lady was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer and was trying to find a home for all her pets. She wanted to find a home for her cat, Suede, but Suede was pregnant and no one would take a pregnant kitty. Well, you can spay a cat and abort the babies but my mom just didn't have the heart to do it. My mom took in Suede and put her up in a little room in her basement until the kittens were born. I think we're all glad that she did because these are quite possibly the most adorable kittens ever. The Cuteness Meter is off the charts:
We had them out on Saturday in my parent's bathroom playing with them. My dad named them after each of his kids:
T.J., named after my brother even though he's a she (we figure it stands for Tammy Jo)
Brandi (my future SIL)

And Melissa, my namesake. I just love the crazy look in her eyes in this picture.

My mom has been very fortunate in finding homes for all the kittens but she's still looking for a home for momma cat Suede who is one of the sweetest animals I've ever met. Seriously, she never stops purring. I think she'd make a nice pet for my parents :) but they said no more inside cats. Don't worry though, another outside cat has begun sleeping on top of the transformer box in my parent's front yard. She's black and white so we're thinking her name will be Moo Moo.

And for the dog lovers here's Luke:
He wanted to check out the kittens when they came up from the basement. He's only 9 months old and already outweighs most fully grown adults in his breed.

Breaking the Silence

So what have I been up to...?

1. Knitting
Warm Woolies Mystery Sweater KAL #2. This is a picture of the shoulder piece. I've actually joined for the first sleeve and knit a few rows. I think I may rip it out though, I recently learned how to pick up stitches and make it look nice (amazing how actually reading the directions in your beginning to knit book can help you).

2. A Wedding
Two of my close friends got married last weekend at Pensacola Beach in Florida. I'd never been to beach wedding before but it was beautiful and tons of fun.
Bye bye shoes!

My friends Kelly and Steve with Kelly's son Brayden during the sand ceremony. Lovely!
The McMansion (on the right) where the reception was held. Kelly's cousin lived there and it was basically on a private wharf/peninsula. He was a really nice guy and opened the whole house to the guests. The setting was amazing. I had a lovely time hanging out with friends all weekend and enjoying a mini vacation.

3. Guild...ing
Last night I drug Albert to the Atlanta Knitting Guild meeting so he could help me with my table of hand dyes.
It was the first time I'd ever taken the yarns on a road trip but I really hope that there will be more chances for me to do so. It was so wonderful to hear all the nice things people had to say about my yarns. And seeing them all laid out was pretty awesome too since they normally live in a plastic container in my living room. It made me realize that I actually have been productive. And I actually sold some things! This picture was taken after several skeins of sock yarn had already been made off with :) My wheels are turning with new ideas that I can't wait to try. Thankfully summer is just around the corner which should mean more time to dye.

4. More knitting and a little designing
Sorry for the horribly frumpy picture. This is the half and half sweater sans one sleeve. Made from all hand dyed yarn. It's a youth medium so it's a little small on me but only in length so I'm on course with size I believe. I'll be writing up the pattern and offering it in some form here and on Ravelry, but that's a whole other set of tasks.

Penelope wanted you to know that she "helped out" when I was labeling all the skeins for Thursday's meeting. (I'd laid the blanket out to set the skeins on to keep them clean while I labeled each one)
Technically I'm not *on* the towel.

Congratulations

To my little brother and his girlfriend Brandi.
They got engaged on Saturday night!
I'm so excited for the 2 of them and I couldn't have asked for a better sister!