Anniversary Flowers

Everytime we go to the local grocery store together, my husband goes to the flower case to try to guess the arrangement I would pick. After I'm done checking out, we compare notes. I love the flowers from this florist. He used unusual grocery items like cabbages, brussel sprouts and onions.

On Saturday, we had our 6th wedding anniversary and Greg surprised me with these. They are way too expensive, but they're beautiful.

Booties for Ethan's doctor

I don't think there are words for how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my son's pediatrician. Dr. Terrill is so upbeat, supportive and understanding. She is possibly one of the peppiest people I have ever met, but not in an annoying way. You just can't help but love her. She has two sons and is now expecting a daughter, so I decided to give a try at making the ever-famous Saartje's Booties [PDF] for her. I had a little trouble understanding how to make the strap, but I think they turned out OK.

I HATE Thunderstorms at Night

Not because I'm afraid of them, although the idea of an enormous oak smashing into our house is a bit disturbing, but because my geriatric dog leftover from college gets up panting and pacing from one side of the bed to the other. To make things worse, it makes my husband insanely angry, so not only is there the CLICK-CLACK of Seagram's (my dog, not my husband) nails hitting the hardwoods, there are also sudden, unexpected outbursts from my bed felllow.

We have started putting him in the bathroom downstairs on these nights because it is completely impossible to sleep and there is absolutely no way to calm him down (he's even afraid of camera flashes because they remind him of lightning.) Plus, when he's scared and we're not there, he always jumps in the bath tub as evidenced by the dirty dog footprints I find when I go to take a shower. The only problem is that inevitably, we wake up to a lake of pee on the bathroom floor the next morning. Sigh.

Giraffe Booties

These are the first set of booties that I knitted. I made them for the son of one of our friends.  I made him little giraffes from the yarn and pattern that came with this: Baby Knits Kit: Instructions and Tools for 20 Snuggly Projects I then knitted little ears and embroidered the eyes and nostrils using embroidery thread. The tie and the name on the heel was done with Lion Brand Chenille. I cut out little circles of tan felt and stitched them on randomly to make the spots.

My first post -- How I started knitting

This is my first post to my blog. I am still unsure if I should keep this name. I like to do more than just knit, but I can definitely say that knitting is by far my most pressing current creative obsession. I really have only been knitting for a very short time. It all started in September 2007 on a family vacation with my in-laws to Crystal Lake, Michigan, which, by the way, is a beautiful lake in the northern part of the state.


Here are two pictures of the view of Crystal Lake from the cottage we rented.


I brought three little embroidery projects to work on during our week-long stay. Because of this, my mother-in-law took me to a yarn shop around the corner in the the town of Beulah. I had never picked up a set of knitting needles in my life; I thought knitting needles had curved little hooks at the end. (No Diana, that's crochet.) I just couldn't wrap my head around how one could make a fabric with straight needles. The little yarn shop in Beulah is called "The Yarn Market" and it had many pretty yarns, but what caught my eye was a book on knitting clothes, blankets and toys for babies called "Essential Baby" by Debbie Bliss. OMG! I had never seen something so cute. The little sweaters and socks were the sweetest things I had ever seen, but "No" I declared. I didn't need a new hobby. I had just started embroidery and I had enough to concentrate on. Well, I finished the three embroidery projects by the end of the week (which were by the way Christmas presents for my aunt, grandma and family friend) and I had a really good time doing them.

A week after getting home, I couldn't get the little baby book out of my head, so off to the bookstore I went and I bought it. My first project was to make the little crossover top for my darling niece, Erin. It was October, so I had three months to 1. Learn to Knit and 2. To Successfully finish the sweater by Christmas. I did it. With a little help from You Tube's instructional videos (I love that I learned to knit on You Tube!) and Debbie Bliss' "How to Knit." I think that you need to see someone make the stitches when you are first knitting. I can now read instructions and understand (most of the time) what they are talking about, but at first, you need someone to show you. If you have someone to help you in person, that would be ideal. Otherwise, here are some links to the You Tube videos that I found very helpful.

Helpul You Tube Videos

Casting On
The Knit Stitch
The Purl Stitch
Knitting Increase
Knitting Decrease
The Kitchener Stitch