Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Spring has Sprung



I am enjoying a little time outside today, despite the pollen and gnats! These bourgainvilleas made it through the winter and are already in full  bloom. That is hard to believe, but I am really liking it as they are one of my favorite plants!


I am working on smocked outfits for Annette and Lee. They are "ready-to-smock" products, so I am able to save the time of  sewing the garment . . . and enjoy the fun of smocking. I should mention that Susie's Ready to Smock does a GREAT job if anyone is interested in this idea. Here is the website.
The plate I am using on Lee's outfit is "Gone Fishin'" by Ellen McCarn.



I am going to coordinate it with "Row of Fishes" by Nancy Elliott Miller for Annette's bubble outfit. They will be in coordinating colors - but not matching. I can't locate a copy of that smocking plate on the internet. I will post a picture as soon as that is finished.


Last but not least . . . I had a great weekend in Atlanta at Stitches South and Pediatrics Conference (Children's Healthcare of Atlanta). Sister Cathy was wonderful to put up with my crazy yarn shopping and knitting classes AND downtime while I was a pediatrics seminar. I think she  also found a few items in her shopping bag by the end of the weekend.

One of my purchases at Stitches was this fun Noro Sock Yarn. It feels sort of coarse and I can't imagine having socks made from it. However, we saw a scarf/stole made from it and thought it was pretty unique and colorful. It will be much more uniform after blocking and lose the puffiness you see here. As always, it is so much fun to watch the rainbow of colors unfold.

The pattern is One Skein - A Stole! (English Version) by Katja Jordan . It is available as a free download on Ravelry. I believe it can be accessed through this link. Enjoy!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Up for Stitches South

Apologies for not getting back to the blog sooner! Life is busy and my camera was missing in action for a few days. Much has transpired since my last post. Here's a quick update . . .

We celebrated Easter with Philip's family . . .



and with my family   . . .                                                                                                                               




Ashley and her Dad went to the Masters . . .                                                                                       

                                                                                           



I finished the "Cotswold Vest". More on that later . . .



Started the "Catch the Wave Tee" . . .                                                                                               


And made Annette's first "Lilly" dress . . .                                                                                                  
  


I just can't tell you how proud I was to see her wearing that cute dress!                                                         

So . . . tomorrow morning Sister Cathy and I are headed off to Atlanta for a little work and play.  The work part will be a pediatrics conference on Saturday and Sunday. Cathy will get to do a little shopping at Lenox Square. The play part for me will be a visit to Stitches South where I will get to ooh and ahh over a convention center full of fabulous fiber, take in a few lessons, and "perhaps" make a few purchases. It would be quite an understatement to say that I am a little bit excited.