Stormy weather

We had a strange storm roll through yesterday while at the beach… Contrary to most folks, we actually look forward to them because they stir up stronger waves that we all enjoy ‘riding’ on. This is what the sky looked like (sorry it’s crooked, I was being flipped around in the water while taking the pic):

I think it’s cool that you can actually see where the storm ends and typical sunny Florida sky begins!

There were lots of birds feeding on the stuff washing ashore…

I really like the little sand castle you can see in the left side of the pic.

We’re debating going on an airboat ride through the Everglades… Hubby and I did one a long time ago, pre-kids and thought it was pretty neat, but the closest rides are about a 2 hour drive. Not sure I want to do that… Guess it depends on whether the kids want to go.

Have a great weekend!

Nature=Beauty

I took the kids to JN Ding Darling Refuge today. Below are some pictures from our visit. It’s the first time we’ve gone, in 5+ years of coming to Sanibel… how sad, huh? We didn’t see any alligators or crocs but lots of birds and butterflies. It was definitely worth the drive through, although we won’t likely make the trip again soon just because it’s not our cup of tea, so to speak. 🙂 Feel free to click on any pic and peruse the entire group at Flickr.

Florida!

In years past, we’ve spent 2 weeks here in Sanibel during the summer months because it’s cheaper than the “on” season and because we all love it here. This year, we didn’t come down for Spring Break because of Sparkles… I just couldn’t stomach boarding her when she was so young. So we opted to wait until now, renting a house so we could bring her along. Crazy enough, it’ll probably be cheaper to spend the whole month of July here in the off season than one single week in March! Anyway, after spending about 23 hours in the car (the kids did GREAT and didn’t complain at all… it was almost surreal) we got to the house we’re renting. I won’t go into detail about how Sparkles suffers from motion sickness. A Lot. In my almost brand new car. Dramamine didn’t help. Ugh.

Anyway, we’re here and have been for almost a week. We’re loving that we can do more than when you only spend a week someplace. We love that there is no sense of urgency, that we all know we have LOADS of time to do things before it’s time to head back home. The weather has been unbelievable… overcast so no one is getting fried, but still warm and semi-sunny. We have a pool in the back yard that’s offered endless hours of entertainment and exercise for the kids and us parent types. 🙂

We went on the Sanibel Thriller boat ride… Highly recommend that, even though there are parts of it that got a little boring for the kids. The captain sought out the dolphins and we were entertained by several jumpers!

My oldest son only got a teensy bit wet…

I’ve done a little knitting, but nothing worthy of posting. Check out my flickr page to see pictures as our month progresses! I’m off to relax, a little something like this:

Lemonade, anyone?

Anyone know about cameras?

I took this photo using my Nikon D70 with the 18-70mm Nikkor lens and the macro function on the camera.  The lens has served me quite well over the past 6 or so years but I would love to learn to use this camera to it’s maximum potential, perhaps even read the manual and take a class or two on basic photography.  For now I don’t have time to invest into either, so I’m looking for quick info.  Anyone know of a good, relatively inexpensive macro lens for this camera? Nothing fancy, just something to dip my toes into the world of macro photography.

Let me know and I hope you’re enjoying a less wet version of a weekend than we are!

Some puppy love

Sparkles is 7 months old now… You can hardly tell there was a time when she wasn’t a part of the family!

More Crochet Toys!

Wow, I didn’t realize crocheted toys were so much quicker to make than knitted ones!! As a result, the kids have been asking for more of them, so I guess it’s a wash in the end.
First was the cake, but without the blueberries and with flowers instead… This is from the Amigurumi Two book::

Then the Happy Little Airplane from the same book:

Then there was the request for all the power-up mushrooms from Super Mario:

Pattern can be found here.

Then I finally finished my teacher gift knitting… A Mara Shawl using Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn (only 2 skeins!!)

And my almost-but-not-quite-favorite new sweater:

and the back:

Pattern: February Lady Sweater
Yarn: Plymouth Galway Worsted 3.27 skeins
Needles: US8
Mods: I cast on for the XS (83sts) and increased raglan-style until I had 265 sts (Small size #s), omitting the eyelet increase row. Worked one gull lace repeat before splitting for the sleeves. Knitted the body to 10″ hoping it would grow with blocking and it turned out perfect… 14″ from the underarms fits perfectly on my hips! Yay! I’ll definitely be making more of this sweater!

As always, if you’re looking for more specific details, email me or check out my Ravelry projects pages!

Playing a little catch-up

I’ve done a whole bunch of knitting (and lots of other stuff, too!) since my last knitting-related post in December. We’ve been in the midst of some school drama and trying to make a decision about whether to move the kids to another school or stick it out. We’re not on the same page yet, so I’ve been knitting feverishly to help alleviate the stress. I keep telling people that I really wish there was a Fidelity green line for me to follow regarding raising the kids, but evidently there is no such luxury.

Anyway, on to the knitting. There is much more than I’m posting here because you’d be here all night reading… If you’re truly interested, take a gander at my Ravelry projects pages and you’ll see just what I’ve been up to.

I didn’t even attempt to do any Christmas gift knitting before the holidays because I knew I’d go bonkers. Instead, I waited and sent out letters to the teachers and made some choices based on their replies. My proudest knit thus far is a result of those questionnaires. Our kindergarten assistant is super nice and helped us when our daughter was struggling with the idea of going to school. She also lost her brother unexpectedly this year which is just wrong. I wanted to make something super special for her and she requested a shawl. Unfortunately, she wanted black. Now, I’m all about giving to people and have no problem knitting everything for anyone but me, but a lace weight shawl in black? Yeah, I would like to retain use of my eyeballs, thank you. So I made a bold move. I knitted a shawl using some stash yarn (WOOHOO) and overdyed it when I was done. All in all, it turned out great. I would have preferred a truer black, but she was happy and so was I.
Before dyeing, this is what the shawl looked like:

After:

Pattern: Angel Lace by Evelyn Clark/Fiber Trends S-2018
Yarn: Knit Picks Shadow Kettle Dyed in Bordeaux 1.3 skeins or 2.30 ounces
Needle: US4

Mods: I made several changes…
I didn’t have a crochet hook handy, so I did the following to start the shawl:
CO 5; k two rows; k2, yo, pm k1 pm, yo, k2 (7sts)
Began lace as written… worked rows 1-30, then 21-30 an additional 14 times before starting edging.

On edge: added 8/0 black beads at the sk2p of rows 9, 11, & 13 and also at the yo, k1, yo of row 15A as written in the pattern.

Before blocking measured 35”w x 17”d
After blocking measured 58”w x 25.5”d

Prepared black dye solution as follows: mixed 100mL water with 2g of dye powder, then added 65mL of dye solution and 25mL vinegar to boiling water, turned to simmer and added shawl. Held my breath… And it turned out.

I’m planning to come back soon with more knitting posts… if only my kids weren’t playing soccer. 🙂

Crochet, anyone?

I’ve always wanted to learn (or re-learn as the case may be) crochet so I could make things beyond blankets and pot holders. For whatever reason, I just couldn’t get it down once I started knitting. Well, it clicked this weekend!! Here are the three new toys for my kids, as requested.

The amigurumi dude from Lion Brand:

The Bunny with a dress from Mr. Funky Crochet and also a freebie from Lion Brand:

And the Grim Reaper from Creepy Cute Crochet (he’s missing his scythe):

The kids are all happy, my fingers and wrists hurt, and I can’t wait to make more silly creatures!

Robo-Recycle Guy

My youngest is in preschool this year and he had an assignment to make anything he wanted using our recyclables… Here’s what he named Robo-Recycle Guy:

I hope he brings a little smile to you today!