My Bags are packed, I'm ready to go.

Why is it always so hard to get out the door for a vacation? By the time you go you REALLY need that vacation. There is so much to do to get ready. Find someone to feed the cats and take in the mail - check. Find someone to take care of the lizard - Bonnie wouldn't do it - but check. Confirm airline and hotel reservations - check. Get all your work done before you leave - well not so much. Dump your work on someone else since you ARE leaving - check. Pack the kids - check. Pack yourself - working on it. Pack the husband - HAH! But most importantly - determine what knitting you are taking with you. After much consternation and input I have finally decided on three items. A hat I am making for horsey girl. I figure I can finish it on the trip and she can wear it while we're in Alaska. Sure hope that plan works out. Next there is a sweater I am starting for the little man. It is knit in the round ribbing for rows and rows and rows so good mindless knitting when I need it. The third project was the toughest and there were lots of contenders but I finally landed on the Cozy. It is taking me forever to knit but whenever I work on it I really like it. I cast on during a flight to Paris in April 2006, really didn't work on it again until Mexico in January and now I'll work on it in Canada/Alaska. I think it can be my international project. It may however require several more trips to complete. There was a brief crisis when I couldn't find where I had hidden the extra skeins for the Cozy. Cancellation of the trip was considered. Luckily the skeins revealed themselves at the last minute and we are still able to go. I hope you've packed your virtual bags!

Hats off to Hollis!

Hats off to Hollis (owner of Full Thread Ahead) for another fabulous Relay for Life. Team Knit Around had a stellar showing with an enormous pile of hats for cancer patients. Mom and I arrived at 10 p.m. and there was a large contingent. There was lots of laughing, talking, pie eating and knitting. Even when we left at 1:30 a.m. there were still 4 die hards - 2 of whom were going to knit for the entire 24 hours! My hats and Mom's are pictured here. I was happy that we finished so many. There's even one that got lost in my knitting bag (go figure) that I will be giving to Hollis shortly and I am still finishing the pink one shown above. I have become hooked on knitting hats. They are quick, cute and gratifying! Janice is the winner of my blog contest for sending me these two adorable Irish hiking hats. She also sent me some yummy candy covered soy nuts from Iowa. I have dubbed them Heartland M&Ms. Careful though - they are addicting! Janice will be getting a special gift package including the ubber geeky ear lights Mom and I were sporting at the Relay - they were all the rage! Also Hollis has graciously agreed to add something to the prize package. I hope you can wait Janice as I'm going to get something from Alaska to add in there. Thank you so much Janice!

Summer Solstice

Happy Summer Solstice! I always have mixed feelings about June 21st. On the one hand - it is the first day of summer which is of course a wonderful thing. Summer is a fabulous season filled with vacations, BBQ's, beaches, family, friends and just a much more relaxed feeling than the rest of the year. I must say that as the mother of three the ability to get up in the morning and get out the door to work without having to get anyone to school is such a relief. However it is also the longest day of the year which means tomorrow the daylight hours are already going to start getting shorter. That always makes me think, "hey - I just started gearing up for summer - you can't start shortening the days on me!" I realize that is a "glass is half empty" way of thinking but somehow this date always strikes me. I guess this year I'll get some extra sun when we are in Alaska where it will be light until midnight or later. For those who read the Yarn Harlot she has been posting photos of what it looks like at midnight - pretty cool. I'm glad you're looking forward to our virtual trip and am excited to take you all with me. I will also be taking my wavy shawl pictured above. I really couldn't capture the colors in the photo but I'm very happy with how it turned out. Knitting with a mix of yarns and colors was scary at first - it looked hideous when I started - but I am very happy with how it turned out. I think it will be a perfect wrap for those somewhat dressy evening meals on the ship don't you think? Now make sure your passports are up to date and start thinking about what knitting projects you will be bringing because of course that is the most important part of packing! Do you think we'll be able to find any moose hair yarn . . . .

THANK YOU

It's here, it's here! My ISE scarf has arrived all the way from Finland! It's a beautiful, soft, breezy, PURPLE scarf that is just so gorgeous. My wonderful pal Hanna sent it to me and she did a fabulous job. She also sent me lots of goodies including some wonderfully soft yarn, some unbelieveably small needles and an adorable little Finland Hippo pin. He's just too cute! There was also some chocolate in there, funny but I just couldn't seem to find it to photograph it . . . . Sorry to have been missing in action from blogging for over a week but things have been a bit crazy here with 8th grade graduation, end of school parties, dance shows and swim meets. Summer has officially begun! We are very excited that our first trip of summer is coming up soon. We are off to Alaska in a couple of weeks and I plan to take you all with me! If the internet connections work as I hope then I will be sharing the trip with all of you as we go. Keep your fingers crossed!

Meet Sir Wrappy

I'd like you to meet Sir Wrappy. I've been spending my evenings with him and it's time to reveal him to the world. Sir Wrappy was inspired by our trip to Mexico over New Year's (get it - Sir Wrappy - serape?) We went to San Jose del Cabo which is about 1/2 hour north of Cabo San Lucas and had a wonderful time. However, it was a bit cooler than we had anticipated. All of the restaurants there are pretty much out doors so every night when we went out we were very cold. While we sat there shivering, the restaurant would come over and give you a wrap to wear. It was great. Many of them were simple but at one restaurant at the Cabo Sirf Hotel, they gave us these gorgeous multi-color wraps that were just beautiful. My Mom and I spent the rest of the visit looking for something similar in every store we entered. We even asked the hotel where they had purchased them and went to the same store. Alas we were unable to locate anything quite right. So I decided I would just have to knit one. Hence Sir Wrappy was born. I designed him based on a placemat I saw in Mexico and he is made out of 13 colors of Cascade Cloud 9 which is a combination of angora and wool. He is very soft and VERY warm. My only regret is that he curls at the edges. I think it's finally time for me to be seen in public with him! Now I'm using the leftover Cloud 9 to make the chemo caps for Realy for life - it's perfect!