My Yarn to Fabbie Translation so far!

I have block one of Meadow Breezed fused down.  I think my yarn to fabbie color translation turned out pretty darned good.  I am quite happy with it.  Will make the branches and leaves pop with a darker variegated green blanket stitch!

Unbelievable Inspiration!

I've been told that color inspiration comes from all sources.  I am not an artist, in fact I prefer to live my artistic life vicariously through real artists and creatives like my daughter, Pat Sloan, Pamela Allen, and many many more.  I'm a follower in that endeavor.  But last night I got a "hey chick, here's some color for you" whack up along side the head!
I want to do Pat's new BOM for Aurifil, Meadow Breeze, but haven't started it yet because I haven't found a color way that jumps up and bites me.  Well I found it last night while crocheting Granny Squares for the Granny A Day challenge, yup I didn't stutter - that's where my color choices came from and here's the little beauty that gave it to me!  Looks like I grabbed the right combination out of the scrap yarn bag hey!

 Oh, and it is officially summer in my world - especially since it is to be 70s and 80s in Mid MI for the next 3 days - the summer hair (and the Detroit Tigers shirt) is on baby!  WOO HOO, bring on the sunshine!

Let Your Imagination Bloom!

I sooooooooooo love this quilt and it's a freebie pattern at the Moda Bake Shop today!  Let Your Imagination Bloom by Piece N Quilt. It encompasses everything I love about quilting and sewing:  hexagons, piecing, bright and fun colors, applique!  Amazingly fun, it just makes me smile to look at it!

Spring has Sprung!

Here is sock one and I'm really happy I didn't put the "bling" (beads) on.  The Margarita with Salt sock yarn is all the bling it needs!  Loving it big time.

 And Spring has seriously sprung here in Mid Michigan.  Mother Nature of course is playing with us,,,60 one day, 40 the next but my hardy little violets can take it.  When they blossom I know that Spring is really here.  Here they are in all their glory and thank you Krissy for taking pics for your Momma and making her happy!

And the Rococo Shawl is growing!  So loving how this is turning out!

Amazing Spur of the Moment Get Together!

Did me good!  WOO HOO!

Read Need You Now Lyrics here.

Great Pillow Cover Tutorial and Ruffle Flowers!

Check out this easy peasy tutorial for creating pillow covers!  Love easy and love gorgeous!  WOO HOO!

I so love the Brassy Apple blog! They come up with some seriously creative stuffity.  Check out the "ruffle flowers" and new uses.

Hippity, Hoppity - Eeeeeeee - Blog Hop is Underway!

Hopping Good Eggs Blog Hop!

Come on along and get Hoppin' Down the Bunny Trail of Good Egg blogs and have some fun!  I'm discovering "new to me" blogs that I just love.  And the give aways are the bomb dot com!

UPDATE:  I've visited all of the wonderful blogs in this hop and love, love, love them!  I am so happy all the blogs participated!  WOO HOO!

The Making of Natural Gas!

This is an amazing video that all yarn lovers will appreciate, found it on Sarah's blog!  Too kewl!  Love it.

Creative Talk Radio!

Yet another great radio show by Pat Sloan on Mondays broadcast (of course there isn't one yet that I haven't loved!)  Hop on over and give a listen, great give aways as well!

I am making great progress on my Rococo Shawl!  It just gets prettier and prettier as it grows!  Love it!  I think I might have to find yet another shawl pattern to give a whirl too, altho Krissy has some shrugs she's interested in me making for her! LOL

Have a great Wednesday!

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

You've just been Futterwacked!

---

"When that day comes I shall futterwagon... vigorously." ~ The mad Hatter

and after The Final Battle he does just that!  Now you've been Futterwacked!

Down weekend with ear aches!

I did a self imposed wellness weekend as I felt wore out Friday evening and then woke Saturday morning with sinuses going crazy and an ear ache in both ears.  Slept Saturday away pretty much, hate that but sometimes you just have to catch up.  And it was SNOWING on top of that, just so did not want to see it, best to sleep and maybe forget it. LOL
Decided to spend Sunday, after Fat Sunday dinner, relaxing with my knitting and racing and of course the animules!
First up, had a visit from one of my favorite little people - Katie.  This is Krissy's boyfriend Jon's little sister.  The only child my pups actually like immediately upon site.  Even Ruby who is skittish as all get out loves Katie-did to pieces.

Then of course, the lazy dogs who were not impressed with their backyard and sun being covered in snow so they lazed out with me big time!  Can you find the Ruby  under all the fleece and quilts.  She is such a snot!

I did get some knitting in, as promised here is the progress on the Rococo Shawl.  I've started the second repeat of the body pattern and am really loving how it is working up!

And I finished Clue 5 of the Social Butterfly KAL with Knitters Brewing Company.  Anxiously awaiting clues 6 and 7 now to finish up the little beauties.

Fat Sunday Dinner!

This weekend in the Tri-City area of Michigan is the big celebration for St. Paddy's day.  Today is the parade and the green beer guzzling that started yesterday!  In honor of St. Paddy's day, Fat Sunday will consist of:

Bisquick Chicken Tenders (in place of corned beef - had that Wednesday)

and Southern Fried Cabbage

It's Winter Again.......

well it is going to be a cold, damp, crappy weekend here in Mid Michigan and I can feel it in my bones and especially in my sinuses,,,,,ear ache and all,,,,ack, hate that.  SO I went searching for something to make me smile on this pookie day.  Here it is,,,,isn't this the goofiest looking little sock monkey you've ever seen!  I giggle every time I look at it and you can have one too!

 and this is kind of how I feel today,,,,just blah, blah, blah, and yet more blah!

I love LOLDog and LOLCat!

And of course, what's a goofy Saturday morning without an awesome quote:

‘You’re mad. Bonkers. Off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret … all the best people are.’

-Alice, to the Mad Hatter

Besides work........

and way too much of it, I've been able to get some knitting time in,,,a row here, a row there, a heel here, a heel there,,,,,,,,,,really not much else to do these days since Mother Nature is being ooooooohhhhhhhh so nice during the week with 60 degree temps and sunshine but then WHACKS us on the weekends,,,,,we're to have snow in Mid Michigan this weekend.  Of course, it will just muck things up but oh well, that is Mid MI for us!
First up, I'm making slow but sure progress on the Rococo Shawl for my girlfriend.  I'm on the first of the 7 repeats for the BAS RELIEF pattern - the body of the shawl and it is soooooooo pretty!  I'll take a pic this weekend of my progress.

I also finished the heel of the Social Butterfly KAL and am anxiously awaiting Clue 5 to start up the leg of the sock.  Wendy, Knitters Brewing Company, put out a great video on turning a short row heel and it made all the difference in how beautiful the heel turned out.

 The "What Happens in Vegas" sock KAL starts April 9th and will be a blast.  Love, love, love the dice on the socks.

Also looking forward to the next installment of the Meadow Breeze BOM from Pat Sloan for Aurifil!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

flickr creative common license - dana newsom

And one of my favorite excerpts from one of my favorite movies:

 

Animules Not Impressed!

Not a single one of my animules were impressed with the 3 a.m. alarm this morning!  mmmm, it's Spring in Mid Michigan,,,,you would think they'd be excited or something! LOL

Posey Socks!

Wait til you see the pattern that is waiting in the wings!  A blog follower sent this pattern link, Posey Socks from Knitty.com,  along based on my Granny Square pondering "what to do with" post.  Although these are not granny squares you sure get that look and feel from them.  Thanks Sasha, I'm going to give them a whirl if I ever get a pair of socks off the needles LOL

Spring Forward Randomness!

Your gentle reminder to set your clock ahead for Spring if you're in one of the time zone changes!  I can't wait to not feel like I have to be in bed by 7 p.m.  WOO HOO!

A great quote: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Marianne Williamson

I was directed to Lesley Riley's blog yesterday as the post was amazing and enlightening, it's nice to know I'm not the only woman out there on overdrive and very helpful to hear how others handle it.  Take a gander at the article as well as her overall blog, she is an amazing artist.

Something else that has me intrigued this weekend is the Coffee Party USA movement that was launched this weekend.  I'm not generally a "political type" but this one really has my interest as they "seem", and I say that tongue in cheek, to be backed by the principle I've been hollering for about 10 years now, the people need to take our government back.  It'll be interesting to see how it all pans out.  Check them out.

I am also putting a book list together of books I want to read this year.  So far on my list I have:
Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert (Read February 2010 - excellent read)
Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
The Drums of Autumn - Diana Gabaldon -  Book 4 Outlander Series (Reading Now)
The Fiery Cross - Diana Gabaldon - Book 5 Outlander Series
A Breath of Snow and Ashes - Diana Gabaldon - Book 6 Outlander Series
An Echo in the Bone - Diana Gabaldon - Book 7 Outlander Series
Fortunate Harbor (July 2010) by Emilie Richards
Shifter series by Rachel Vincent
Shutter Island by Dennis LaHane
Knitting Under the Influence by Claire LaZebnik
Witch and Wizard by James Patterson
Spooky Little Girl (April 2010) by Laurie Notaro
This is just the initial list.  I'll add to and subtract from or mark as read as I finish them and find them!  WOO HOO!

Granny Square Socks?

No, not Granny Square Socks per se but Granny Squares made out of left over sock yarn!  And so far I am loving them lots more than making them with worsted weight yarn.  Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do with them once I have a pile of them made.  Do I want to make an afghan out of all these little things or maybe figure out a tote or purse,,,,,,,mmmmmmm,,,,,looks as if I have lots of time to ponder that one.  Join the Granny Square obsession with us!  Meet me at Mikes blog is doing a Granny A Day Challenge!

Social Butterfly!

Socks that is! LOL  The redo KAL with Knitters Brewing Co. is the Social Butterfly socks and I'm doing them without bling (beads) this time.  Finished up clue 2 this morning, loving them in this Margarita with Salt green!  YUMMO!

Zippered Throw Pillow Tutorial

Not only is this a very kewl tutorial as I totally love throw pillows and recovering them or having seasonal type covers for them, but how kewl is the name of the blog as well "Design Sponge".  Love it!

Crochet Cowl

Found this pretty crochet cowl for my non knitty friends!  Click the image for the pattern!

And check out this kewl Starfish Cushion tutorial!  I so love tutorials!  Wouldn't this be kewl in bright colors in a young girls bedroom on a papasan chair!

And don't forget Pat Sloan's Creative Talk Radio - Monday afternoon episode is up and it is great OF COURSE!  Come on over and take a listen, then stop by Pat's blog and comment.

Just how many projects at once!

It seems I just can't be happy with one project going at a time so now I'm up to 3!  GEEZ Louise anyhoo! LOL  I cast on the second sock of my Girl's Night Out KAL in pink and blue:

Then I cast on for the Mystery 1 redo of the Social Butterfly KAL, did it  the first time and was going to skip this one and wait for the What Happens in Vegas KAL but noooooooooooo just couldn't not join in the fun!  I'm doing this pair in Margarita with Salt and no beads, first pair I did in yellow and purple beads.

And I'm doing the A Granny A Day challenge with Meet me at Mikes blog but was having a really hard time working with Worsted Weight yarn.  For some reason it just doesn't feel good to me, strange I know.  I prefer the lighter weights like fingering, sock, lace, DK, etc.  So I decided I would use my scrap yarns from socks and a thread vs. yarn hook to make my granny squares and I'm much happier with them.  I'm using the basic granny square pattern from the Purl Bee blog.  They work up sooooooooo fast!  I whipped up two this morning!