Clapotis for Me

In the past I've made two Clapotis and have given both away. Then Jennifer told me about the Fashionably Late in 2008 KAL and I decided it was time to sign up and knit a Clapotis for me! I bought some gorgeous Tess yarn at Stitches that I had planned to use. However when I started working with it I decided it was too thin (it is the one pictured here.) Then I remembered that I had bought some thicker Tess yarn last year and so I went digging for it. Guess what? It was the EXACT SAME colorway! So what does that tell you? Anyway, I fired it up and am on my way. There isn't quite as much of the thicker yarn as is called for in the pattern so I'm making it a little thinner than the pattern calls for. Here are also a few more photos from my Stitches haul. I got some of the new Malabrigo silkie yarn which is a combo of silk and merino. I love Malabrigo and this silkie version is amazing. I got the colorway Stone Chat which is the same color as I used to make Jennifer's backpack in the first Internationaal Tote Exchange. Also I got some fabulous Baywood silk and merino sock yarn. The maker is a local artist located in San Mateo. Unfortunately she doesn't sell on-line but only through a local yarn store that is just a tad far for me so I don't get there that often. I found this great turquoise and brown colorway that I am excited to try. Last but not least is some yarn that I didn't get at Stitches but rather ordered from the Loopy Ewe. They have started a series called "Legends" where they name colorways after their favorite customers. This one is named from my good friend Janice so I just had to have some. It's called Janice's Sunshine in Winter. Isn't it gorgeous? Just like her!

Show and Tell

Some eye candy for you of a couple of my Stitches purchases. This colorful yarn is some oh so soft alpaca yarn in such a bright and happy colorway that I just had to buy it. I think it came from Pacific Alpacas. She has a whole bunch of these cute little skeins of about 150 yards. I figured of course that it could be a hat! I have not yet decided if I will be keeping it or if it will be a gift for someone. Or I just might carry it around stroking it all day! The second photo is some wonderful green silk from Tess Yarns. I absolutley love her yarn. Her booth is very dangerous to enter and it is hard to leave with just one thing (I did not succeed!) Her colorways are so gorgeous and then you can pick the fiber once you find your favorite colors. She has sock yarns, silk, wool, merino, alpaca, silk and merino and even riboon. I picked this skein to make something for Miss K partially because she loves green but mainly because I just had to have it! There is about 333 yards - any suggestions on what to make with it?

My Very First Sock!

You're looking at it - my very first sock! I'm so proud. And no, it's not a matter of the photo being out of perspective, it is indeed a baby sock. I made it in my class at Stitches West taught by none other than Cat Bhordi herself. It is her Coriolis sock design. How cool is that? She is so very nice and friendly. She is down to earth. She loves to teach. She looks just like a normal human being. The non-knitter would never know that she is a goddess! Here she is holding my sock! The class was so much fund and Mom and I had a great time. We also enjoyed shopping at the market and I will soon show you some of the goodies I purchased there as soon as the rain stops so I can photograph them. You can see a sneak peak of the yarn I got to make a clapotis here. Unfortunately on Friday I got the flu and so had to miss the second day. That was a real bummer. However I'm finally feeling well enough to knit so the world will soon be a good place again. I don't think I'll make a second one of these socks because I have no intention of giving them to some sweet babe. I'm keeping my first sock like a trophy!

Daffodil Daze

I was thinking the other day about Janice's comment that she was experiencing weather that was 25 below while I was considering planting my forgotten bulbs. I realized that we often take for granted that which we have. In California we often forget how lucky we are when it comes to the weather. As knitters we forget how lucky we are to have a passion and as knitting bloggers we may forget how lucky we are to have a wonderful community of friends. So I'm having a contest called Daffodil Daze. I want to track the appearance of Daffodils across the country. I figure this are probably the most common of bulbs so everyone must have some near them that they can take a photo of. So when they appear near you, please take a photo, post it on your blog and leave me a comment. Once the last bulb has emerged from the ground I'll have a drawing for a wonderful prize. I figure Lisa in Alaska will be among the last to see them so once I've heard from her I'll now it's time for the drawing. I thought it would be fun to see how long it takes these little guys to make their way across the nation. If you have no Daffodils near you than a tulip or another sort of flower which emerges from a bulb outside (other than paperwhites) is fine. I first started spotting daffodils in my neck of the woods the beginning of February.

So what will the prize be? That has yet to be decided. Tomorrow starts Stitches West so I promise to find a worthy goody at the market there. Mom and I are going and I'm so excited. We are taking a sock class with Cat Bordhi on Thursday and an all day sock class on Friday. This is my yarn for Friday's class - some wonderful Koigu in red and purple. I've yet to complete a sock so wish me luck!

I'm in love!

I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with a beautiful yarn! Did you guess? I LOVE this yarn. It's Malabrigo selecction privada and its soft, fun to knit with and I really like the colors. I bought this awhile ago at the yarn store in Half Moon Bay and have decided to make the Wave Scarf which is a free pattern from Knit Picks. It's really a cross between a scarf and a shawl as it's a very wide scarf but not wide enough to truly be a wrap. It looks like it is going to be very yummy to wear. There is a 24 stitch cable which is quite large and makes it pucker a bit. I still haven't decided if I like that or not. If I make it again I might consider a 16 or 20 stitch cable instead but it is pretty cool as it gets bigger. I can't wait to wear this when I finish.

Springing Up

I found these bulbs in my garage. I guess I forgot to plant them. But that didn't stop these guys - they are bursting out anyway! I'm going to get them in the ground quickly so hopefully I'll have some pretty tulips in the spring. They are currently resting comfortably in the hat I'm making out of the cute baby yarn I bought in Ojai. It is for my friend who is adopting a baby from China. Her new little girl is about 1 year old so hopefully I'm making this large enough. She leaves at the end of the week to get her and will have to spend about 3 weeks in China. I'm so excited for her. They have been hoping for this for about 4 years! She also has a little girl who will be 2 in March so I'm going to make her a matching one in the pink yarn. I am using a stitch called mock cable or baby cable and it is so easy! No cable needed. It is K2,P2 rib and then every four rows rather than K2 you K2TOG but then instead of slipping it off the needle you knit one more in to the right stitch and then slip it off. Viola! Baby cables without a cable needle. Pretty darn cool if you ask me.

Valentine's Hats Part Deux

It finally stopped raining enough for me to rush out and take some photos of the Valentine's day hats I am making for the girls. I am still working on the one for Horsey Girl and am quite happy with how it is coming out. While I'm not a big fan of intarsia, it it worth it to get the effect. You can't quite see it yet but this will be a rim of hearts around the middle of the hat. I'm using some soft yarn form Misti Alpaca which is 85% cotton and 15% silk for the pink section and the left over red from Miss K's hat for the hearts. I picked the pink because I love the color and it is so soft and yummy but I have not made a hat from cotton before. I'm hoping that it doesn't get to stretchy. I think the intarsia will help make it stronger and less stretcy. I also have a picture of Miss K's finished hat. The last one looked so bad I needed to show it to you again. It is being modeled by the little man since it is still a surprise to the girls. He looks awfully cute in it - might have to make one for him . . . .

Smoke and Mirrors

I've decided to distract you from the fact that I have no new knitting content with these gorgeous photos my colleague just sent to me from Laos. She is on a "walk about" in Asia and takes the most wonderful photos. The amazing thing is that she is e-mailing me right now while she is on a 22 hour bus ride to Hoi An (I have no idea where that is but shoot me if I ever suggest a 22 hour bus ride - Mom - wanna take the train?) Isn't technology amazing though? To think she's on a bumpy bus in the middle of nowhere sending me e-mails! Only bad part is she is e-mailing asking if she can stay gone until March 15th. So despite the fact her clients are driving me crazy and we could really use her help I said yes. Guess I'm just a push over for a good vacation (that and I made her promise to bring me yarn!) Hope you enjoy the photos. Back with more knitting soon.

You Made my Day!

Both Hakucho and Monica nominated me for the "You make my Day" Award. It is so very sweet of you and I thank you both very much. You both made my day!!! I'm so happy that you folks enjoy reading my blog. I certainly enjoy writing it and visiting yours.


So here are the rules:
Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about Blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on. Beware! You may get the award several times! There are definitely more than 10 of you out there but being a lawyer I feel a need to stick to the rules . . . . So here goes!

* Hakucho not only for being the first to nominate me but also for being such a lovely person. Her comments are always so beautiful. I would definitely like to meet you one day - you are so nice!

* Monica also for nominating me and for having a fun blog to visit. Starting with the Wallace and Gromit photo and going from there. Don't know what I would have done with my time without her famous ballband bag!

* Bonnie my partner in crime from our days of starting and hosting the International Tote Exchange. I have gotten to know her so well and we have become good friends. We have a ton in common but I have to get her off her sewing kick and back to knitting!

* Jennifer who was my downstream partner in one of the ITE's and who I was lucky enough to meet when I went to Boston. We have also become great friends and I'm so lucky to have her in my life. It has been so much fun sharing our knitting trials and tribulations.

* Brooke my wonderful upstream pal in SP9 who once again I've had the good fortune of meeting in person at the Yarn Harlot event. I just realized how I was knitting Jen's bag when I went to the event so it's sort of like Jennifer and Brooke have met! Brooke's blog is always hysterical!

* Janice whose house I always want to go to! I've never been though given we live sort of far away. I love reading her blog and hearing what they are up to. Doesn't it always look like so much fun? And her recipes are really, really yummy! What is truly amazing is how many socks she made last year!!!

* Alison who not only has a great name and is the author of the wonderful book Wrapped in Comfort, but who is so generous with her knitting! She doesn't just knit hats for people but entire shawls! Her entries are always so beautiful.

* Lisa who lives all the way in Alaska and does such gorgeous knitting. We've met through blogland and I think we'd have a lot of fun together if we ever find ourselves in the same state! Congratulations on your first steeks! I'm still too chicken to try that one.

* Kristen my new friend from the Fall Felted Bag Exchange. She was my upstream partner and made me that gorgeous purple and red bag that I use all the time. We've been having a great time getting to know one another.

* Smariek makes the most complex cable scarves and publishes her patterns for all to enjoy. Plus she makes all those cool dishrags and hats and posts those patterns as well. I don't know how she has the time to do all that but I really appreciate it and have made several of her patterns. I love reading her blog as well.

* Wendy last but certainly not least is Wendy who was one of my first friends in knitting blogland. We met at the International Scarf Exchange and then she started a bag group. She's a kick and so full of life that I love reading her blog.


I decided to make a valentine hat for Miss K so I combined the daisy stitch for the brim and then some plain old stockinette. I love the way the daisy stitch looks but it is so hard to do. Not mentally but physically! It really hurts my hands. I kept reminding myself that there were really only 6 tough rows in the brim but it still took a lot of effort. It has been non-stop rain around here so I couldn't get a very good photo. I also found a cute intarsia heart hat that I'm going to make for Horsey Girl. Hopefully I can finish both before the big V-Day!


Some of you asked for the stats of the yarn I bought in Ojai. The baby yarn is Zarina Print 100% lana extrafine merino superwash by Filatura Dicrosa baby. The really soft yarn is Savoy by Tahki Stacy Charles. It is 52% silk and 48% merino but pretty reasonably priced.

Do Sheep Felt?

This weekend we went to Ojai (near Santa Barbara) for Horsey Girl to compete in a show. It is a beautiful place that looks sort of like Arizona with lots of rocks and scrub. It is very artsy and set in a serene valley. It is also the location of some of the Sunkist orchards so we also saw beautiful orchards full of citrus crops. The weather was gorgeous and a good time was had by all. On the way home however it began to rain and we noticed a field full of sheep so I wondered - why don't sheep felt in the wild? Would they felt if you agitated them after a tropical storm? I wonder.

Other than watch horse shows and wonder about felted sheep, we wandered the town when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a beautiful historic house filled with yarn and good cheer. We happened upon this adorable yarn store that had not only knitting supplies but scrapbooking and beading goodies as well. Even though I have been trying not to buy any yarn until Stitches I was forced to pick up a few of their gorgeous yarns. The two multi-colored yarns will become baby hats and I have some plans for the bronze yarn that you'll have to check back to see.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Somewhere along the line I took leave of my senses and signed up for Spring Shawl Surpice (sic) to knit another mystery shawl. I'm actually almost done with Secret of the Stole (I'll post those photos once I actually finish and block it) so I found myself itching to sign up again. SSS was started by one of the folks participating in Secret of the Stole who didn't think the pattern was challenging enough! She made a pattern with "real" lace where there is "none of this purling back on the wrong side." It is definitely a challenging pattern and the beginning looks nice but I'm finding that I can only knit on it when I give it 110% attention and given that 3 clues are already out and I'm only on about row 12 I'm thinking this is not the project for me. So why is it so hard to admit defeat? Stop the project, rewind the yarn, and make something different? When I don't like a movie I still watch it until the end. When I don't like a book - I can't simply give it away. I keep thinking it might get better or I might miss something. Why can't we just STOP? So I'm going to do it. I'm going to break up with my Spring Shawl Surpice and pull it out. I'm going to start something different with this gorgeous yarn. Really I am!

I'm Somebunny

Thanks to Wendy I found this fun quiz to find out what type of fiber you are. Turns out I'm Angora.

Angora – Soft and warm “Angora has a warmth that rivals cashmere and softness that rivals qiviut. Best of all, it comes from cute little bunnies that look for all the world like furry footstools with ears.” –The Knitter’s Book of Yarn

Angoras are eager to please and are highly sensitive. Flexibility and adaptability are your strengths and sometimes your weakness, as well. You are essentially a warm and feeling person, and little escapes your impressionable mind. You are generous with others and strive for harmony in your relationships.

I read this and my first response was that it doesn't really capture me. I'm not sure I'm highly sensitive - being a lawyer you have to have a thick skin. Am I flexible? Harmonious? I am impatient, type A and a bit controlling. So I was about to toss this out and chalk it up to a silly quiz when suddenly it hit me. This is a knitting test. And the more I thought about it the more I realized it does reflect the "knitting me". Can it be? Is the knitting me a different me than the "other me"? I realized that knitting actually makes me a better person. It makes me calm, flexible and a warm and feeling person. Knitters of the world unite - we can make the world a better place!

Green with Envy

I've gone a few weeks without knitting a hat so of course I was itching to get another one on the needles. Miss K who actually wears my hats (and looks adorable in them) wanted a spiral hat like I'd made for her sister so of course I was happy to indulge. I found the most amazing green Silk Maiden yarn from Hand Maiden. It is so soft and wonderful and I'm really enjoying working with it. There is about 300 yards in the skein so I'm thinking that there might be enough for a hat and a narrow scarf or maybe a hat and fingerless gloves. Of course with my track record it would be hat and fingerless GLOVE!



The count down has started for Stitches West which starts on February 20th (or something like that). Mom and I have signed up for the opening speech and luncheon followed by a sock class with Cat Bhordi. How cool is that? We also have another class on Friday. If you're going to be at Stitches either Thursday or Friday let me know and we'll figure out how to meet up!

Pure Bliss

Over the holidays I went shopping with my friend Nancy and I noticed that she seemed drawn to cashmere. Every sweater that she loved turned out to be cashmere. She was drawn to sweaters, scarves, even socks. So I decided I needed to make her a cashmere scarf. I looked around and was lucky to find Debbie Bliss simply cashmere on sale at Little Knits. So I made her this scarf in a beautiful light blue. I used simple rib stitch so it is soft and scrunchy. It was a joy to knit with and it knit up pretty quickly. I can't wait to give it to her but I better do so soon or I may just have to keep it for myself!

Fetching Fever

The Fetching fever continues as I have started another one. I found some gorgeous bamboo yarn and just had to make something with it. I've never knit with bamboo before but it is really soft and the colors are vibrant. It splits a little but not too bad. I love this Fetching pattern and now have created a modified version that is a little longer at the top, bottom, middle and in the thumb - so I guess pretty much everywhere! Now I just have to finish my second one in the bamboo and still waiting for the second in the green and purple. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all of these gloves!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Happy 2008! We started off the year with a 5K Fun Run down town (we actually walked) and it was very fun. As always, one of my goals for 2008 is to get in shape so I thought I'd start out right. We walked fairly slowly - 57 minutes to finish the 3.2 miles - so I resolve to get in better shape so next year I can finish with a faster time. It was a wonderful way to start the year with friends and family in beautiful weather doing something good. My wish for you this new year is like this ball of yarn. It is beautiful and full of possibilities. You can't really see from the photo but this is a very large ball of yarn. It is almost as big as my little guy's head. It is very soft and pretty and comes from somewhere far away. At first I thought the label was in German but on further inspection I think it's written in some Slovic language. It's about 360 yards so now I just need to figure out what to make with it. Perhaps a scarf and hat? Any ideas? In 2008 I want to try some new things in knitting, learn to use the two circular needle method, finish the boot socks and maybe try another pair of socks. I'll also continue with the charity knitting making hats for Relay for Life - Team Knit Around. Here we are staring at 365 days of knitterly possibilities. What will you do?

And the Winner Is . . .

Congratulations Kristen! My wonderful upstream pal from the Fall Felted Bag Exchange wins the Christmas knitting story contest. Thanks to all of you for your comments and stories. I put all of your names in to a holiday gift bag and Mom drew Kristen's name. I'll be sending some goodies to her shortly. On December 23rd we went to my nephew's bowling birthday party in Pacifica and it was the most glorious day. On the way home I just had to pull over and take some photos. My kids gave me the "not again" rolled eyes as I jumped out to snap this. It was just so amazingly beautiful I had to take a photo! Also pictured are Mom's socks that she was working on Christmas Eve modeled by lovely Horsey Girl (hence the teenaged chipped nail polish look). She is making them with some fabulous yarn called Baywood Yarns made by someone locally in San Mateo. Her yarns are amazingly soft. I think Mom is going to enjoy wearing these socks. Of course her shoes might fit better without the silver decorations!

Merry Christmas

To all of you who celebrate Christmas I hope you have a wonderful day with your family and friends. For those who celebrate other holidays I wish you a joyful day as well. For all of you I wish you happy knitting and lots of yarn!

Holiday Hat

Keep those holiday knitting stories coming. Remember there are 2 more days to enter and you can even create a new story by starting say an Afghan or sweather tomorrow or better yet - on Monday! I'll be pulling the name out of the stocking on Christmas day. Thanks so much for sharing your stories with us - I've really enjoyed reading them. This is another hat I am making with some yarn I purchased on my trip. Thanks to Jennifer who sent me an e-mail with a list of yarn stores in Singapore. I have no idea what the yarn is - the label is completely in what I believe to be Japanese. I think it might be some sort of mix of cotton and wool but it is very soft and is knitting up quickly. I'll have to find someone who can translate the label! Now I need to figure out who to give this one to. Hope your shopping, wrapping, cooking and the like are going well. Take some time to relax and enjoy the season.

Hat's Off

Hat's off to all of you for your great holiday knitting stories. I will leave the contest open until Christmas day. You can leave comments on this post as well and then I'll put all the names in the proverbial hat to draw a winner. I've really enjoyed reading your stories. Good to know I'm not the only crazy one to start a project at the last minute and stay up late to finish it or delude myself in to thinking that it will be quick and easy! And all of us are going to call Alison H. when we need to tell someone how we really feel!


I finished the hat for Horsey Girl's friend Jenny and I'm very happy with how it turned out. This is the second hat I've made with Classic Elite Inca Print. The first one "blobbed" colors but this one went in a spiral so that was pretty cool. The top of both have similar striping so not really sure why the difference but I did use different patterns. Now off to start some Christmas presents . . . .

Holiday Contest

Wow - it has been 2 weeks since my last post. I think this is the longest I have gone between posts. For those of you who might have actually missed me - I had to go to Singapore last week unexpectedly to close a deal. While it was sort of exciting it was also exhausting and a week of my life disappeared. I did however have two very long flights in which I thought I would get a lot of knitting done but I ended up sleeping, reading and watching the movies. I did knit a bit on my Cozy to continue with it's international history. I may never finish it but at least it will be well traveled!

I do have another hat to show you. This one is for Horsey Girl's friend Jenny. I just can't keep up with the demand! It is very nice though to have the girls wanting my knitting. I have also finished the second blue fetching so now that it's a pair I will be giving it as a holiday gift.

To celebrate the holidays I am having a contest. Leave a comment about your holiday knitting story and I'll draw a random name out of the stocking to win a yummy yarn prize. My craziest holiday knitting idea was two years ago when on December 23rd I decided that I needed to knit a scarf for a friend for Christmas. I went to my LYS and got some of that crazy yarn that is made of all sorts of different yarns tied together. I decided to knit a really long, thin scarf so I cast on about a zillion stitches and knit all day and night to finish it. It turned out REALLY long but I got it done and she loves it. I still ask myself though what I was thinking starting a gift just two days before Christmas!

Eye Candy Friday

Progress continues on the Secret of the Stole. I'm rounding out Hint #6 and I only have 2 hints to go. Technically I was "supposed" to finish by today but I knew when I started that I would not finish on time. I told myself that if I only had 2 Hints left on November 30th then it would be a great victory. I technically have 2 and 1/3 Hints left but I figure that's good enough. It's funny how you play mind games. Rather than count every row, my friend Jennifer suggests only counting the difficult rows. That cuts things in half right there! Also I discount the rows where there are long stretches of plain knitting. Then of course in Hint 8 you are reducing every other row so there are fewer and fewer stitches each time - so I can practically consider Hint #8 already done! But this is further than I've made it on any shawl I've started so I hereby declare VICTORY OF THE STOLE! For more eye candy visit Fryday Photo.

Fetch Me Some Yarn

We're still in Oregon for Thanksgiving week and having a wonderful time. I decided Mom and I needed a project we could do together so, motivated by Janice's wonderful Fetchings, I brought yarn for Mom and I to try this project. I got the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran called for in the pattern and they have been very fun to knit. The first one I made I - GASP - actually followed the pattern. It knit up quickly and is quite cute but it is not long enough for me. I think it will be perfect for one of the girls or a friend with smaller hands. So the next one I decided both to make it two tone (why pick when there are so many wonderful colors) and also to make it longer. I added a row of cable to the bottom, 4 extra rows in the middle and a row of cable at the top. Oh I guess I lied before, I didn't totally follow the pattern even the first time. The piquot bind off makes it too floppy in my opinion so I did a cable row and then bound off. I like the way it makes it lie flatter on my hand. It has been really fun making a project at the same time as Mom. She however actually started the second mitt for the first pair before starting a pair in a different color - what's with that???

Mosaic Mittens

Mom has been making these adorable Mosaic Mittens for Miss K who is all about green. The pattern is from from last year's Holiday Interweave magazine and she says it's pretty easy. I think knitting all those slip stitch ballband purses helped because these mittens are pretty much just slip stitch but aren't they pretty? They are made from Cascade Cloud 9 which is OH SO SOFT! Also the Little Man finally got a chance to wear the hat I made for him. We've come up to Oregon for Thanksgiving and we got some snow last night. My kids and my niece and nephew were definitely California kids scrapping the bits of snow up and trying to make snow balls. I did draw the line at trying to make snow angels in the mud!

Schizophrenia of the Stole

I continue to toil away on the Secret of the Stole. It has definitely been an emotional project. I have had highs, I have had lows. I feel like I'm knitting quickly and getting through the clues only to realize I'm 100 rows behind. I'm happy with my results, I'm frustrated with my results. It's getting too long, it's going to be too short. I love mystery shawls, I'll never do this again. I have luckily gone forward a lot more than I have gone backwards but I have had my share of visits to the frog pond. The yarn I have chosen is a cashmere blend and is fingering weight rather than lace weight so the bit of fuzz and the thicker yarn does not show the pattern as well as the lace weight yarns. My hope is that when it is blocked the pattern will show better but it still is turning out fairly well. I'm on Hint #6 but only a few rows in to the 94 rows for this week and Hint #7 comes out tomorrow! Oh well, I will continue to plug along! Here is a photo on someone else's blog that shows you what the Stole should look like!

Tres Bien

Thank you all for your kind words for Mom's birthday. I think Janice gets the suck up award and I now am feeling guilty about not giving Mom any of the yarn from the photos! Mom had a wonderful birthday and enjoyed all of your messages.

My hat craze continues with the latest installment pictured here. This summer Horsey Girl's friend Kelly spend a few days with us while her parents were out of town. It just so happened that I finished HG's hat while Kelly was here. She ooo'd and ahhhh'd over it so I asked if she would like one. Her face lit up and she asked me if I could make her a beret. A Beret??? Well I set off to find a pattern and found the lovely Snowflake Beret in a Vogue Caps & Hats Two. I had some trouble with it in the beginning so I surfed around the web and found several additional beret patterns which I love. But I was determined to make the Snowflake Beret as it was my favorite. I finally figured it out but now I have all these other patterns I want to make. Question is - how many folks truly wear berets? We may be finding out!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is Mom's 70th birthday. My Mom is the greatest. She is a beautiful, smart, kind, talented, thoughtful and fun person and everyone who knows her wants to be adopted. In fact I know that Bonnie and Janice are already on the waiting list. Mom is an excellent cook, can sew the most gorgeous of quilts, knits incredible sweaters and can fix a water heater with a blow torch! She is a woman of many talents. As many of you have noticed, I'm lucky enough to share my love of knitting with Mom (she taught me) and to spend a fair amount of time with her. She and Dad live only an hour away so we get to see them quite often. She is always there when I need help with the kids or a buddy for a yarn sale (I think I'm a bad influence on her). My kids are very lucky to grow up knowing their Granny so well. She is definitely a very special part of their lives and they adore her. Recently when she was here it was like she had 4 arms that people were pulling in different directions. Everyone wanted Granny to help them with what they were doing. I am so very lucky to have such a wonderful Mom and I love her very, very much. So please join me in wishing Mom a wonderful birthday. You can leave her a message in the comments or visit her on Ravelry - code name Grani. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!