OMG....Birthday Explosion!

Since I'm sooo tired from this whirlwind of a birthday weekend, I can only post in choppy sentences...hopefully, they will be semi-coherent.

WHY I AM SO LUCKY

1. On my birthday, my hubby watched the kids so I could go to yoga class, made me a fresh (and yummy) salad with his own two hands (!!!) and helped the kids to make me No Pudge Brownies (only 2 points each!) for my birthday cake. As well as supervising over handmade cards and craziness.








Tim got me a iPhone charger for my car and made me my own personalized Magic card -from the card game:



And Ben got me the most surprising and FANTASTIC gift - a Fairy Barbie Doll with a matching card that says, "Happy Birthday from Fairytopia!" or something like that. (If anyone has Barbie patterns that they'd want to share with me, send them ASAP! LOL!) P.S. I named her "Honey".



2. My sister and parents came over to celebrate my birthday and brought lots of yummies, gifts of pretty clothes and gift cards and played with the kids all day. My sister, Kim, bought me a gift that I can enjoy for many months - a box FULL of Lush beauty products (which I drool over) - a solid perfume, a lip balm, a soap and a bath bar. YUMMMMM! (and made me a card....using crayons...so cute) I was surprised when my godfather and his wife came over to visit, too, and it was so great to see him since we hadn't seen each other for at least 6 years. Everyone went in the pool, had pizza and just had a super time.



3. This may sound ridiculous, but I was extremely touched and excited when I received a huge number of Happy Birthday wishes from friends on Ravelry and Facebook - whenever I'd check my email, I had more messages from friends -new and old. It made me feel very loved and special on my birthday.

4. And last, but definitely NOT least, my thoughtful and generous friends celebrated my birthday (as well as Caroline's) on Friday night at work where I was given cake (delicious homemade pink cake with jam made lovingly by Jackie) and a monstrous amount of awesome gifts. Shown here simply, but cannot be thoroughly explained on how fantastic they are when given in a huge lot in one night. (eeee!)

- Jackie's gift of a gift card to Homegoods (my favorite place to shop!) Yay!!!


-Hilary's gift of a crocheted cupcake (0 points!) and the BEST Maple chicken in the world. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. You are the BEST, Hil!!!


- Julie got me 2 cones of the luscious Zephyr to make the christening gown and the most adorable tiny crochet keychain with my name on it (Jules, I screamed when I got your package!)


- Three books that I've REALLY wanted - Lora got me the Journal Bliss (I cannot wait to get started using those journal tips!), Karen got me the Vintage Baby Knits (with a pattern for a christening gown that I HAVE to make!), and Marion got me a Book Lust journal because she knows that I'm a book slut and must have this. LOL!


- Maureen gave me two skeins of Cascade Pastaza for the Otto bear!


- GiGi gifted me with 2 skeins of Katia Mississippi 3 in gray and pink for the Mouse from Ysolda's book...and helped me pick out the colors...she's so good at that ;)


- Donna and Christina gave me 2 beautiful Sereknity rovings that I wanted - so perfect!


- Laurin gifted me with a Mary Kay bag full of pedicure items and a bag of Gummy Maggots (very silly, but yummy)...


I'm in shock because I've been told that I have 3 more gifts coming...OMG...it's a birthday gift explosion!!! W-H-O-A.

Every year, I am more and more grateful for all of the wonderful, thoughtful and caring people in my life. This year, they (you!) WOW-ED me and made me appreciate how lucky I am even more. Thank you, friends!!!

BIG HUGS!!!!

P.S. Many thank you notes/emails on the way shortly....I'm just catching up with normal life today!

P.P.S. I also got this yarn for THIS pattern:



P.P.P.S. I also have details about 2 FOs that I need to blog about...but I'm falling asleep here. So, if you're dying to see them sooner, go HERE and then HERE. Like 'em??

Tim's 16th Birthday Party and New Pattern

Tim's 16th surprise birthday party was a HUGE success! Not only was he surprised, he was SHOCKED! He actually turned pale when he figured out that the party was for him. All of our closest family and friends were there and, even though it was horribly hot in the playroom, it seemed like everyone had a great time. The little kids all played together and everyone else chatted, ate hot, crispy pizzas and devoured their own ice cream sundae creations (complete with gummy worms, m&ms, sour jelly lifesavers and endless other sweet, gooey toppings)....well, except me. (I was very good and didn't have any yummy treats)

Some show and tell:

Tim and my sister, Kim....after he got over the shock



Tim's "Flame" cake, with very messy red and white frosting




Tim opening his gifts and Ben walking in front of him with his balloon and chips



Tim received some fantastic gifts - mostly gift cards (the BEST gift for a teenager), hilarious cards and money. The Super Mario Brothers sound maker was also a favorite gift - both him and Ben have been going around the house making "mario moves" and playing the sound effects. So funny!

I couldn't have pulled this party off without my Mom & Grandma bringing the snacks and ice cream toppings, Jackie picking up the birthday cake for me and Hilary taking charge of the decorating while I took a shower. Whew! Thank you!!

I can't believe he's getting so old!! My baby boy......

Now...

onto my NEW pattern!!!

The Lacy Recyclibag



It's available for FREE here on my blog (see right sidebar of home page under PATTERNS) or as a FREE download on Ravelry.

Here is the description of the pattern:

"Although I’m sure most of us try our best to forgo plastic bags at stores, there always seems to be a small stash of them hanging around the house, am I right? And usually there’s no good place to put them. I’ve designed this bag to hold all of those excess plastic bags attractively and compactly in your kitchen or pantry. It holds a surprising number of bags and will expand to meet most of your plastic bag storage needs. You could even make a longer one or wider one, if necessary. It’s a fun, quick and economical knit using only one skein of a springy, soft organic wool. Enjoy!"



The pattern uses only 1 skein of the Green Mountain Spinnery "New Mexico Organic" yarn and size US 6 & 7 circulars for Magic Loop or DPNS. It's quick, easy and fun with a little bit of lace to keep you interested and an opportunity for some embroidery at the end if you'd like to add it. You can make it in any of the "New Mexico Organic" colors to match your kitchen, or whatever room you want to put it in.

So...what do you think???

16 Years Has Gone by SO Fast!

I can't believe (well, maybe I can....) that I haven't blogged in SO long! (Do I always say that???) I feel like I'm being sucked into a time warp of too-much-to-do-not-enough-time. Have you ever felt like that? Ugh. It's frustrating!

But, besides being busy, I've had a pretty productive and really nice month.

And here are the reasons why:

1. I'm up to a 63 pound weight loss on WW in the past 6 months. I'm hoping to reach my final goal by October 15th, which I when I first started. Yippeee! I'm very, very lucky because Ian is incredibly supportive of me - he gives me compliments every day and cheers me on even with the smallest of weight losses - like 0.2 or 0.4. I love you, Ian!!

2. I got a new haircut and I really like it. I wasn't sure if I was going to at first.....it's really short....but, I've gotten so many compliments on it. And - most importantly- the hubby likes it.



3. I finished the Amy Beret by Diane Mulholland - using my 2 ply worsted weight Polwarth handspun (which was AWESOME to spin, by the way) - and, although it doesn't really look that great on me - I loved knitting it and it was really fun to make. Diane is a truly talented designer. I just bought two more of her handspun patterns.



4. I've gotten ONE WHOLE PANEL of my Lizard Ridge Afghan done! I need to make at least 4 full panels before Christmas (I'm in the A Year in a Blanket group on Ravelry) and then add the trim in Cascade 220. Most of the people seem to be making only one square a month but, for this blanket, I need to make 2 a month - there are 24 pieces (at least) in all. The first panel is huge! About 10.5" wide by 72" long. Yikes! Should be sooo warm, though. And, really, I think it's gorgeous. (It's for my oldest son as a gift)



So.....the only thing that hasn't really gone my way....is.....dun dun dun.....

THE DAMN DRAGONS!!!!!

I am incredibly irritated with the Hai-Riyo knitted dragons. They were such a fun, quick knit and I was excited because the yarn was nice to knit with and all of the pieces were very easy.

BUT....(a big but)....

They are a pain in the ASS (yes, ASS!) to sew up! My boss had already made one and told me how hard they were, but it was her first knitted toy, so I thought that maybe I wouldn't have such a hard time. I was very, very wrong.



The pieces are in a bag (for both of them) and I'm trying to get together my courage to continue sewing them up again. Hopefully (for the kids' sake), it'll be before I die. (Maybe)



I was also planning on getting out a new pattern for Earth Day on the 22nd, but (alas), it was not meant to be. Maybe next week. I'm planning my oldest son's 16th Surprise Birthday party (eeeek!) for this Saturday and I'm slightly freaking out.

There is so much to do and I'm doing it all myself....balloons, ordering cake (thank goodness Jackie is picking the cake up for me!), favors, decorations for the house, banner, food (ordering pizzas and getting ice cream for the sundae bar), drinks, cleaning the house, uncluttering the house (harder than cleaning!), and trying to keep all of this from Tim. My mom is bringing some snack stuff for me (thank you!!!) and ice cream toppings. Ian and I still aren't completely sure what we're getting him for his birthday, either (it's actually on May 7th) and that's up in the air for now.

But, I can't wait to see his face when he comes in the door. He thinks I'm having my knitting friends over for lunch. He he!!!

Well, wish us luck on the party and I'll have tons of pictures to show next time. And, hopefully, the FREE pattern will be done by then.

I hope.

Have a great weekend!!!!

Birthday Goodies...I'm SPOILED!

First, I want to thank EVERYONE for the wonderful birthday wishes...thank you so much! It seems a little weird to me to be more excited to get birthday wishes from some knitters I've never met in person than from my own family! But, it was pretty thrilling and made me so happy ; )

This year, I was spoiled beyond belief. Maybe it was that everyone was feeling pity on me for turning 35, but I got some FANTASTIC stuff. And, you know, I think the actual gifts wouldn't have been half as nice if I didn't love the people giving them to me. Not to insult any of the gifts (man, they're incredible!), but to say how much more it meant to me to receive them from such thoughtful friends. I am extremely lucky to have such people in my life. I really am.

Okay, enough mush. Let's get on to the GOOD STUFF! (BTW, I'm pretty sick right now, so if this blog makes little sense, please forgive me.)

1. All My Cakes (can you hear the theme song??)

- Shared cake with two of Ian's coworkers



- Delicious PINK homemade cake with chocolate frosting (my favorite) made by Jackie...yummy



- Creamy cake that my family got me this weekend in RI (see above)

2. WoolGirl's Hello Kitty Kit from the lovely Donna D (Who knows me SO well! You should see the adorable stuff in this kit!) and Cherry Tree Hill Sock yarn in Cherry Blossom from the wonderful Julie:



3. Gardening/Greenhouse kit from Lora and Marion:



4. Pink Bag, lotions and hand knit socks (!!!!) using Sereknity yarn in "Violas" from the fab-u-lous, Laurin:



5. A super pretty bouquet of yellow roses and pink flowers from Ericka and Chris:



6. A Sereknity gift certificate for 1 pound of DK wool/silk yarn in the colorway of my choice from Heather (woo-hoo!)

7. The cutest pinky color of Flat Feet from Conjoined Creations with pattern from the beautiful Jackie...and a handmade knitter's wrist keyring from thoughtful Lora...see her shop here. (Notice that Jackie made/decorated the Hello Kitty bag herself! It's so cute!!):



8. The most shocking gift of all from Jackie, Laurin, Gaye, Heather, Denise, Caroline, Hilary, Melissa & Rusty, and Donna H......a stunning Jordan Paige purse - The Knitter's Satchel...in a gorgeous deep red....whoa!:



Look how huge it is on the inside with all sorts of pockets, holders, hooks and such. I was blown away!



9. A new 8GB iPod from Ian....I was so surprised! This thing is f*cking awesome! (whoops, sorry bout that)



If I had more energy (and more hands to blow my nose), I'd write on and on about how much I love everything (because I do) and how much I appreciate everything (which I totally do) and how grateful I am for all of my loving and thoughful friends (which I really am). But, I am barely upright at the moment. I did want to share and thank, though, before it got too late in the week and...now...I....must....sleep.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone...I love you all....and I am truly, truly lucky to have all of you in my life. (and to supply me with endless yummy cake and knitting goodies....keep it coming! only kidding)

YIPEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (cough, cough, phlem....sneeze)

It's ME birthday!

A very silly photo of me at age 5 in Kindergarten.

Woo-hoo! It's been 35 years since I popped out of my mom and started my life. That sounds weird, huh? Well, I'm in a kinda weird mood and hoping for a great day. The past few days have been a lovely blur already....

*A super Hello Kitty birthday gift from the always-wonderful-Donna...who spoils me to pieces.

*Celebrating Caroline's birthday on Wednesday night with TWO cakes...each more delicious than the other. Is that possible?

*Being surprised by Ian's coworkers with lunch AND more cake yesterday.

*The arrival of a yummy yarn gift (and the most adorable card) from Julie

*My mom setting up a cleaning crew to come and clean my house!!! Yippeeee!

*My sister getting me tickets to the Maroon5 concert in July which, sad to say, is that first concert I've been to in 20 years. Oh, man!

*Several grandmothers sending me money - which may or may not go to buying yarn...(I must try to be practical, right???)

*And, Ian, for the first time in a few years, remembering it was my birthday (in the morning!) and being the first to wish me Happy Birthday.

Whew! And the day has just begun! I have numerous, awesome pictures of gifts and such (and my new FO) to show you, but I guess it will have to wait until the next post.

I'm so excited!

Happy 15th Birthday, Tim!!!!!

My firstborn is now 15 years old!!!! (here he is at 5 years old) Can you believe it??? I can't believe it! It seems like we've been planning for his 15th birthday forever. (So much so that it seems like he should be turning 16 and not 15!)

I remember how scared I was when I went into labor with him. Only 19 years old and Ian and I were in college...pretty much poor....and walked miles and miles in downtown Worcester, MA just to get to the grocery store or doctor's office. I remember being so big and pregnant that, on one of our last trips to the store without a car, Ian had to carry ALL our weeks' groceries by himself because I could barely make it home. The day before Tim was born, I started having labor pains and (after talking to the doctor...who said I wasn't in labor at first, but had a bladder infection....what an idiot!) Ian and I spent some time at the library.

I kept thinking that, after today, everything will be different. I'll have a little baby to take care of and who will look to me for everything. (A truly frightening thought at the time.) After 29 hours of intensive back labor and no drugs (in which I seriously begged Ian to kill me or shoot me or something), Tim literally F-L-E-W out and was born. For all of you moms out there, you know what that moment feels like. When you look at the baby that's come out of you and think, "I can't believe he was inside me all this time!". And that wondrous, fantastic, beautiful moment when you hold that baby in your arms.

Unforgettable.

I remember holding Tim for hours and hours after that. Ian was sick and asleep in the hospital pull out bed and I just sat up all night long, never letting Tim go. The nurses gave me that look when I didn't want them to bring him away or put him down, but I'm glad I didn't care or listen to what they said. He was my baby. My first baby.



Now, he's still my baby, even though he's over 4 inches taller than me (here he is with Ben, showing off his new haircut) and I have to have him bend down to hug me. He's on the honor roll in high school almost every quarter and is taking sophomore classes as a freshman. He reads like the devil (just like Ian and I) and can usually be found in his bed reading in the semi-darkness. ("You'll ruin your eyes!!!", I always say, to no avail.)

I probably blabbed on and on about him last year on his bday, but I felt that I had to do it again. LOL!

I wish him so very much happiness today and for every wish of his to come true (within reason...believe me....he can think of some kooky things, he IS Ian's son, after all!)

I love you so much, Tim! Happy, Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

P.S. Look what I got last week!!! (Sorry I had to swipe your pic, Cayli!)



Cayli posted the winners of her contest and I won her beautiful handknit (!!!) stole. I could NOT believe it. It's even more impressive in person and I have to remember to look back and see what yarn she used. It is extremely soft. I'm looking right now for some pretty sundress to wear the stole with. Thank you so much, Cayli! I'm totally spoiled : )

Happy 5th Birthday, Ben!

Despite the look on his face, Ben had a great birthday. I cannot believe he's FIVE already!

He went from this chubby little fellow (born at 10 pounds, 6 oz!!), shown here with his big brother, Tim, who was 10 at the time:



To this sweet, little boy, opening his new Spider Man Lego set:



We had a fun (though exhausting) day today opening gifts and spending time with my family. We had some delicious Italian sauce, pasta and meatballs for lunch and my sister made the most amazing punch with sherbet, gingerale, fruit juice, and frozen fruit. It was so great to see them (they live in RI and I don't see them as often as I'd like) and what an exciting day for the kids.

Despite of the craziness of the holiday deadline, I was able to finish two more knitted projects.

THE PALINDROME SCARF



I knit this using 3 balls of Patons SWS in natural slate color (and size 8 straight needles), which seems to go with everything. The scarf was quick, easy and beautiful. The pattern was very simple to memorize after a few repeats and the yarn is soft, slightly fuzzy and so warm! I didn't realize how heavy the resulting scarf would be, but I think my mom liked it. I hope she wears it....I begged her to at least wear it once. Highly recommended for gift giving!

TIM'S BAKLAVA

I used a helmet liner pattern for this...click here for the directions. Tim was asking for some sort of facial covering for when he goes sledding and this was perfect for the job. I used the rest of the Lion Brand Cotton Ease in dark gray from my stash, size 6 and 8 circulars and off I went. I think I finished it in about 2 days. Another quick, easy and portable knitted gift/project. Tim loves it and already wore it today. Here he is modeling it, though he begged me not to take his picture:



Not sure, but this may be my last post before the holidays are upon us. I didn't even think I'd get this one done! Ian and I are both sick and trying to keep up our energy for the kids for the next couple days. The guests who were staying with us finally left and now we've had my family here for the past two days. In two more days, we'll have Ian's other friend, his wife and little girl over and...after that...Ian's parents will be here for a few days. I'm trying to appreciate the time we have to ourselves (without guests) while we have it....but, man, I'm TIRED!!!

Hope you all have a truly relaxing and wonderful holiday...full of much needed laughter, joy and love of your friends & family. Many hugs from me and I'll see ya again after Christmas!

Burnt Out

The last few weeks have been much more than I have been able to handle. I've continued having daily migraines and/or regular headaches and, despite the awesome power of Sarah's massages (oh, man, she has magic in her fingers!), I'm still pretty tense. Sadly, even my daily yoga is not doing as much as I hope it would.

I feel like I'm behind on life. If only I could press a button and stop time for a few days. Or weeks.... Then, I'd be able to catch up on all the things I should be doing and finishing. Anyone else ever felt like that?

I've given up trying to get the podcast out until next month. This month has just too many things I need to accomplish and, though the podcast is pretty much done, it's no good if I don't record it and publish it to the web. I think if I give myself permission to delay the podcast until all my major August events are over, I will do a better job and have MUCH less stress.

I have made SOME PROGRESS on a couple of things:

- My mom's lace shawl is down to the short end (only 9 repeats) and I'll be working on that tonight until late-very late. I don't want to say that I hope to finish it because that will only cause me NOT to finish it. (Believe me...I know how statements like that always work against me...sigh.)

-Tim's first sock (using the KP Felici in Clay) is 3/4 done and I'm using this to bring around with me for some simple, mindless knitting...though I must say that I probably should have kept MORE of my mind on it because I knit the sock with 1 1/2 heel flaps....don't ask me how....just accept it and we'll pretend it was intentional...k?

I have made NO PROGRESS on a couple of things:

-Ben's sweater is still unfinished, though I have both arms finished and attatched to the body and will start on the final yoke-ing stage after the shawl is done.

-All of my other UFOs are still waiting patiently for me in their respective knitting bags or spinning baskets. (Thank god yarn and fiber can't mouth off!!!)

In other news, it was Ben's 1st day of Preschool last Monday and he actually did really well. I, on the other hand, cried all the way home that day and felt horrible without him. When I picked him up, he said, "Mommy, I cried for you!" and I crumbled all over again. It was horrible. This could be another reason for my feelings of stress....

But, here is he all dressed up and ready for school. Isn't he a cutie?



He picked this backpack out all by himself.




And here he is after school (Tim is in the background) looking pretty grumpy.



He's been doing so well potty training and I feel like he's growing up so quickly all at once. My baby boy!!!!

On Wednesday night, we celebrated both Sarah (The Fantastic Massage Therapist) and Lora's birthdays after knitting. It was a truly fun evening with lots of laughs, gifts and yummy cake....mmmmmm.....

Sonya, Lora's friend from her Kentucky knitting group sent her the most wonderful birthday gift. (It was actually a surprise and she mailed it to me and I brought it along to the group here on bday night.) She used my Radiance Lace Headband pattern (The "Amanda", named after Blogless Amanda) to create a large scarf/mini shawl out of it! I believe that she used a bulky or heavy worsted weight (extra soft) yarn and size 11 needles. We were all totally impressed and loved it so much that Lora didn't get to wear it at all that night...it was passed from Jackie to Mike to me to Heather and more. So lovely and warm!

Here is the birthday girl, Lora, wearing the Amanda Shawl:



And sexy Heather showing off the shawl AND her busty assests:



The pic that I wanted to show of Sarah came out so dark (as well as most of the other ones) that I'll just have to wait and take another one of her using her new drop spindle/fiber and becoming a newbie spinner! Bring it to Wed, Sarah!!

Happy Birthday to both Lora and Sarah!

A bit of sharing ahead....proceed with caution or turn back quickly!

[Before I go, I'll share a little TMI with you....since you've probably been waiting for some for, like, a week or more, right?? LOL! Last night was the first time Ian and I went skinny dipping in our pool! Jackie had mentioned it a few times but I didn't think I'd REALLY ever do it. Ian dragged me in last night and it was actually fun...for the little time we spent in it....I think it was a bit TOO exciting for both of us and we quickly got out to "dry"....if you know what I mean.....Oh, seeing Ian dive off the diving board in his "birthday suit" (let me just say it....buck *ss naked) was thrilling!]

Okay....Must go and get reaquainted with all the blogs that I missed the past week......happy knitting!