Noolie Knits

Friday with Samantha

You read that right.  Since today is Samm's birthday, I 've decided to do a Friday with Samantha post instead of Friday with Clover.

 

This is Samm at her 2nd birthday party.  She had just received her  new play kitchen! I guess she liked it.
    Here she is making faces for the camera.  

Can someone please tell me how we went from celebrating her second birthday to celebrating her 24th so quickly?!  Where does the time go?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAMANTHA I love you!!!!

Friday with Clover

Clover had a great time at her birthday party.
You can see more pictures here if you like.

Have a wonderful day!

Happy Happy

Happy Birthday, Clover Grace!

It's hard to believe that my sweet little granddaughter is already two years old and yet it's hard to remember life without her.  She brings so much joy to our lives.   She's sweet and smart and funny and loved so much. 

A Picture Post

Another picture of Clover and Samm. Samm thought I deliberately cut out her tattoo in the last post so I thought I'd show it to you today.   
 

I finished a pair of socks...

Yarn: Marks & Kattens Clown
Pattern: Stockinette Stitch, top down socks on 60 stitches. Eye of Partridge heel.

 

...and started another:

Yarn: TOFUtsies     Pattern: Rainbow Ripple  

 

Over the past week, I've received more goodies from some very good friends - I'm so spoiled (and I love it)!

 

From the wonderful Dana and Dianne - a souvenier from the festival they work so hard to put together, The Sedalia Spring Fiber Festival: 

A Nana Sadie Rose bag!
With crazy black cats on the outside and pawprints inside (along with many pockets for needles and things) - Perfect!

I'm saving my pennies so that I can buy my own souvenier next year.
2010 Sedalia or Bust!  Right Marianne?

More birthday goodies from Patti and Roger:

Goes perfectly with the rest of the birthday gifties they bestowed upon me.

 

Wait, I'm not done yet.  Even more birthday goodies arrived in the mail on Friday. This package came from the sweet, sweet Gina.

Chalice Cable Handwarmers pattern by Alison Green Will,
the yarn to knit the handwarmers - Rowan Felted Tweed,
and some scrumptious Jojoland Cashmere laceweight yarn!
Don't you love the wrapping paper? And that card is too cute! (click here to see it larger so you can read it)

Thank you all so much - you're all too good to me!

I received one more goodie package in the mail on Saturday - this one wasn't a gift; it was my May Spunky Club fiber:

"Pansy" 4 ounces of Romney
Gorgeous isn't it?  

Clover thinks so!

I have just a couple more photos to share with you before I end for today:

 

This is how hubby spent yesterday morning.
You KNOW that made me happy!!!

Celebrating

As some of you know, my birthday was this past Tuesday.   I want to share with you some of the things I did and received. 

Since Hubby works the crazy midnight shift and has a hard time being up in the evening during the week, we celebrated my birthday at home on Monday evening (the end of his weekend).  We ordered takeout from Ruby Tuesdays, which is always good, and then we topped it off with angel food cake covered in strawberries and whipped cream - YUMMY.  Samm, Jay, and Clover then gave me this beautiful gift:

"Child's Touch" by Willow Tree
Isn't that just too sweet?! I love it!
 

Hubby gave me a gift a week earlier when it arrived in the mail.  (Usually it's Samm who can't wait to give a gift.)

 
Isn't this a great T-shirt. He picked it out himself and had it customized! He did good; no wonder he couldn't wait to give it to me :-)

I received one other gift on Monday; this one came in the mail and was from the wonderful Colleen:

The Knit Kit!
Look at what she padded the package with - sample sizes of a couple different fibers. They are going onto some spindles soon!  

Want to see what's in the Knit Kit?

On the top of the front is a row counter, to the right of that is a little pull out thread cutter, and on the left is a crochet hook that snaps into the side.  On the bottom is a pull out tape measure and that button on the bottom sucks it back in.  Turn it over and open the compartment on the back and you get what you see in the picture on the right - fold up scissors, stitch markers, needle protectors.  This is so great!  Everything you need in somethinng so compact.  I added a darning needle to the compartment in the back and I really have everything I need.  So much easier than the baggie I drag along and move from bag to bag.  Thank you so much Colleen!

All that and it wasn't even my birthday yet.    Since my birthday fell on a Tuesday, I naturally wanted to spend it with my other family, The Chicks with Sticks at the Yarn Sellar.   I really did not expect it to be another party, but a party it was.  First, my dear dear friends, Patti & Roger, gave me a great gift:

Sereknity Perfect Sock in the color "Caramel Macchiato"
and an adorable new project bag - notice the clovers and ladybugs - Perfect!
Patti and Roger are too good to me - thanks guys!

It didn't end there though, my good friend Mary came in a few minutes later carrying a wonderful fruit tart (with custard covered in strawberries, blueberries, and kiwi - OMG - YUMMY!), party favors for everyone (silly plastic gemstone rings), a crown for me to wear, and a bottle of wine.  I didn't get a picture of any of this, but I do have this one shot of the crown that I took when I got home:

Yes, Princess Clover now owns the crown.
 

 

I didn't complete my birthday celebrating until yesterday when i spent some birthday money that I had received.   Every  year on the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, my friend, Tracy, and I start our summer of eating outside in Portsmouth and shopping downtown.  We like to eat out on the deck of The Old Ferry Landing and have a couple drinks and then walk around Portsmouth and shop.  This year was no different - well, I guess it was a little different as we made a stop at a "shop" that we have never visited before.  Tracy had mentioned when she picked me up that she really wanted to get a tatoo of a couple cat paw prints on her ankle.  That was all it took (well, that and a couple drinks and an Ativan) to give me the courage to do what I've been wanting to do for quite a while.

 

 

 

It'll look better after it heals and there's no longer any blood on it. Aside from the blood, isn't it great?!
 

I'm so happy that I finally did it! It was so much easier than I thought it would be; it hardly hurt at all.

Just one thing - please don't tell my Daddy that I spent the birthday money he gave me on a tatoo :-)

Happy Birthday

 

Happy Birthday, Colleen!

Catching up (a little)

Before I begin this post, I have to ask all of you to send good, healing thoughts to Patti's father, who was in a car accident the other day.  Patti has been in Kansas City since Saturday to be with him and they could both use some good thoughts.  Thanks!

 

Seems there hasn't been much in the way of fiber content on this little blog in quite a while, has there? Unless, of course, you count me telling you about my summer goals and what patterns I plan to knit. I don't believe I've shown you any actual knitting in almost 2 weeks when I showed you the Avalanche hat. We won't even discuss how long it's been since I showed you any spinning. I'll remedy that in this post, but first I have a long overdue "Thank You" to give. 

Over a week ago, I received yet another birthday package in the mail; this one from the wonderfully generous Colleen.

 

Look at all this great stuff! That little box of crochet patterns is packed full of tons of patterns, any of which I would love to make.  If Samm has her way, I'll be making them ALL.  I'll probably make most of the clothing items; there are a few blankets, but I'm thinking I'll skip those.  Check out that little Monkey Suits dress pattern; that is definitely on the top of the list (click here for a better view). There are even a couple great patterns for me in this wonderful package!  I've been looking at  those ballerina slippers for a while now (how'd you know, Colleen?), and that circular crocheted shawl - that looks stunning.  You really must click this link to better see the detail! Thank you so very much, Colleen!  I'm telling you; this is the birthday that just keeps on giving!  I could easily get used to birthdays that last the entire year ;-)

As if that's not enough goodies, a friend and coworker dropped this on my desk on Friday: It's handspun by a woman here in town and my coworker won it in a raffle or something.  She figured she wasn't going to use it and thought I might like it.  She thought right; it's a great shade of red (I can't quite capture the color, it's not as dark as it looks in this photo; it's a bit more muted.)  It's about 108 yards of 100% Romney wool.  I'm thinking it might make a nice hat for the 300 Hat project.  Thank you, Robyn!

Speaking of the 300 Hat project; the only knitting I've done (and not frogged) this past week is another hat (#5) for the project. This one is knit using some Lopi from my stash on size 9 needles.  

I knit about 6 rounds of k3,P1 rib (which you can't even see) and then it's plain ole stockinette from there. I started it Tuesday night (of course - Chicks With Sticks knitting) and finished it Wednesday afternoon.   This hat does not count as one of the 8 additional that I have set as a goal for Summer knitting since it was begun and finished before the official start of Summer.

My first hat towards that goal will be started tomorrow for CWS knitting (well, actually crocheting).  I'm planning to do the Skater Beanie (Ravelry link).

We shall not speak of Twinings for a while; she has been frogged back to the beginning of the fourth repeat and is in time out again!  I'm beginning to wonder if I should have put her on my Summer goals list.  Oh well, summer does last three months, right?  Perhaps she'll have learned her lesson and be better behaved in time to be completed by the end of the summer.

I think I'm going to end here and save the spinning update for the next post.  I will say that this 10 Minutes a Day thing was the best thing I've done in a while!

Enjoy the rest of your day!

WNBP

It's Wednesday and that means it's time for some randomness in the form of a Wednesday Night Bullet Post!

• Yesterday, I received yet another Birthday present in the mail.  This one was from Dana and Dianne.

(photo shamelessly swiped from Dana)
It's a gorgeous pendant made by Sonya Forte'.
Thank you so much, Dana and Dianne; you know how much I LOVE it!

• Yesterday was Tuesday, which means last night was Chicks with Sticks at my favorite LYS.  I look forward to CWS all week.  It's always a good time with good friends.

• Not only is CWS fun, but sometimes a person might even learn something new.

• I learned something new last night. I'm probably the last knitter on earth to learn this.  Did you know that if you are using interchangeable needles (like my new Harmony needles) that are assembled with the little metal thingy (yes, that is the technical term) that you stick through the hole to tighten the cable to the needle,  you can thread a lifeline through that hole and knit it right into your row?  No stopping to thread a needle and having to be extra careful to make sure you go through every stitch and yarn over.

• I was close to the end of a repeat on Twinings, so I finished up the couple of rows I needed to this morning and tried out that new little bit of knowledge.  It was a little difficult getting the lifeline through the tiny hole, but I just used the little metal thingy to shove it through and guess what - it worked!  YAY! 
  

• Speaking of Twinings, I am now back to where I was before having to rip it out; three measley repeats complete.  I just don't know where my time is going, but I don't feel like I'm getting in the knitting time I want (and need).

• Yesterday, I knit another hat for the 300 Hats Project.  Everyone knows that I am not capable of knitting lace at CWS, so that has become my night to knit hats.  I arrived last night with the stitches cast on and the first row knit and finished this in the few hours that I was there:

Avalanche Hat

• That was Yesterday. 

• Today - well, let's just say that some days it'd just be better to stay at home with the people you love - know what I mean?
  

• I really need to just win PowerBall and be done with it.

 

 

Post-Birthday Post

Such a clever title, no?

Thank you all for the birthday wishes!   I had a wonderful birthday (except the part where I had to work all day).  There was BB King Sunday night, strawberries and whipped cream over pound cake at work yesterday, dinner from Panera Bread courtesy of  Samm and Jay, and a visit with my Mom to end the day. 

And gifts; we can't forget the gifts.  Sunday night with BB was my gift from Chris; Samm and Jay gave me a great spice rack that can go on the counter (without taking up the whole counter) or in a drawer; money from my mom and from my dad (which is being used to purchase some Harmony needles). 

There was a handmade gift from Carol (aka MissaLouise : )

It says "Grandmother loves Clover" in Italian. 
Isn't that cool? 
Thank you MissaLouise; you know how much this means to me!

And from Patti and Roger:

3 Skeins of Alpaca with a Twist Fino in the gorgeous green that I've been drooling over (well, not literally because that would just ruin it!) and a pattern for the Flight of the Honey Bee Shawl!

I kept the bag next to my knitting chair last night (not that I knit even one stitch) and kept pulling that yarn out and petting it.  It's so gorgeous! 

Thank you so much, Patti and Roger!

The mailman has been very busy bringing me things lately; I've won a few contests, but you'll have to wait until my next post to see all that I've won.  I still have a couple more items to show you today.

On Saturday, I received my Pay It Forward gift from Amy (my birthday twin):

I had admired another she made a while ago
and so she made one for me. 
It's Quant from Knitty and it is perfect! 
I love the yarn she used; the colors are great
and it's incredibly soft.  Almost makes me want to skip right over summer so I can use it (ALMOST).  Thank you, Amy!

Last, but certainly not least, it's  the hairy ball pin cushion sent to me by Dana.  I've had it for a few weeks now and just kept forgetting to take a picture.  I've got one now, so check it out:

Isn't that the cutest?  She felted some alpaca fleece she had into balls to make pin cushions.  You can read about it  here.  Check out the little tuft of hair on top, reminds me of Samm's hair when she was a baby  :-)

That's it for today.

Have a great evening!

The King

Today is my birthday; to celebrate, Hubby and I went to Portland's Merrill Auditorium last night to see and hear the King.   BB King, "The King of the Blues", that is. 

Yesterday was declared "BB King Day" in Portland and the Mayor presented BB with the Key to the city.

(Portland Press Herald photograhph)

BB King is amazing; 82 years old and going strong with no intention of stopping anytime soon!  He puts on a wonderful show, sharing bits of his life with the audience throughout the performance.  This was our sixth (I think) time seeing him and I enjoy him more each year.

I think it was mighty nice of him to come to Maine to celebrate my birthday with me, don't you?

Speaking of birthdays, how about wishing my birthday twin, Amy, a happy one!