Done, done, and done!!!

Most of the cactus garden is done. Gravel is spread (mostly), cacti are planted (mostly), edges are put in place (mostly)... Well, you know the saying: 90% of the work take 10% of the time and the remaining 10% of the work take 90% of the time. For now, though, I am enjoying the fruits of the 90% work and try not to think about the odds and ends that still need to be finished.



Here, again, is the front part of the yard:

As you can see, I desperately need the plants to grow :).

This is the side of the house where the truck had dumped the 12 yards of gravel. You can still see a tiny little elevation with a little extra gravel (for those remaining 10% of the work, remember?). But I am done working on the yard for now and wanted to leave it looking somewhat "done."

This, apparently, is a sago palm. I bought this one a little while ago at a school plant sale.

 

I also received a few "pups" from another kind freecycler. And they look like this:

 

Okay, last gardening picture (I promise). I could not resist this one. It is our very first red tomato. I will give it one more day. It is beautiful, big, and will be delicious! Too bad my husband is missing out (he is out of town).

Okay, enough with the garden and yard. Back to knitting...

I finished the shawl/vest. It came out nicely, but the front parts could have been a little wider. I was afraid that I would run out of yarn.

Now I just need some cold weather to be able to wear it. But that's gonna take a while :). Maybe I will take it to the office, where the A/C sometimes gets quite cold.

Oh, and I forgot that I also finished "Ellie Elephant." I don't like it quite as much as the baby monkey before, but it came out okay in the end, I guess. My daughter has not seen it yet, so she will be the ultimate judge.

And just in case "Ellie" will not pass her judgment, I quickly started another monkey. Hopefully, I will get it finished before my daughter comes back home.

As you can see, still monkey-ing around :)...

Monkey-ing Around

My vest-shawl thingy has not made too much progress yet. I do work on it enough here and there not to forget how the pattern works, but it's still a long way from being done... But then again, here in Texas, I really won't need it until it gets colder again, which is, like, in November, if we are lucky!

The socks I finished are done, though. Seems like I can always whip a pair out in between. So, another pair of socks for my stash.Opal sock yarn: NEON. I was very excited to try that Opal yarn, but have to say that I was a bit disappointed. If feels kind of rough, though I don't know how it will wash. Oh, and it came with this extra little skein of thin contrast yarn in dark purple. I looked online but couldn't find anything anywhere. So I used it as a run-along string for the toes and heels. I don't know if Opal sock yarn comes with this or if the seller on eBay just gave me a little extra gift :).

So here goes my latest addiction: I have gotten into sock-monkeys for the girls.

I started out with the Red Heart Sock Monkey. Though, you know me, I didn't use Red Heart yarn. I think this is Hobby Lobby's "I love THIS Cotton" Ivory Print.

It's cute, but not perfect... They don't all come out quite as planned - yet (I guess there is a little learning curve), but the girls like them anyway, take them to school, and take orders from their friends for more. I can't keep up!

Next, I splurged (I don't usually like to buy patterns when there are so many free ones floating around) and bought the Patons Classic Wool Monkey Business booklet. This is the "Baby Monkey."

Since Michael's didn't have the Patons yarn, I used Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice. Colors are Linen, Scarlett, and Taupe Mist.

Please note that Baby Monkey was adorned with a safety pin through the lips. I guess what we have here is a Punk Baby Monkey or a Baby Punk Monkey...

The next request was for "Ellie Elephant," also from the Patons Classic Wool Monkey Business booklet.

This is still a work in progress...

The picture is a little dark. So far I have the head and trunk (though I think I have to redo that because it really does NOT look like a head and trunk and might, in fact, be somewhat offensive... Also finished are the two ears and one leg. I really have to start using the suggested yarns to make sure my projects come out the way they are supposed to. I am using lily sugar 'n cream, one twist and two solids. May just not be the right yarn for "Ellie Elephant."

All I want for Christmas...

... is to get in one more blog before December is over as well (no post in November). Not much blogging, but I did knit. Lots of homemade presents again this year:

Socks for Wanda (who came for just a couple of days, but it was still great to see her!):





Remember the toe-up "circle socks" I made on our road trip around this time last year? The original design was on Ravelry by Anne Campbell. Yarn is Patons Kroy Socks 4 Ply.




Socks for Melanie (our new friend and fellow exchange student host mom):

Oops, it appears, I forgot to take a picture of them before I gave them away. I need to catch her wearing them...

A very simple Lion Brand Fun Fur scarf for her niece, Brianna, who, by the way is a wonderful, beautiful, I-am-running-out-of-adjectives young lady:



A chap stick or lip balm holder with Sugar'n Cream for Theresa:



And presents from the heart (with no material content) for Malinda and Gwen (the two invited me this year to come along on their annual pre-Christmas shopping madness trip - it was one of my best Christmas presents to hang out with them for hours while hunting for some last minute presents), Theresa and Katrina (not knitted, but hand-made, nonetheless):

Oh, and, of course, the usual barrage of cookies for friends and coworkers. This year, I had a lot of help with baking from Theresa, which was fabulous!!! It was so much more fun and so much easier. She loves to bake and decorate, but she also likes to eat cookies :), as do I, of course. Aside from tons of cookies, we also made the most wonderful cheesecake (with a few tweaks: add a little eggnog and reduce the sugar, no extra sugar in the crust, 6 eggs instead of 5 eggs and 2 yokes, and then drip a little eggnog on top, along with a little nutmeg and cinnamon) - a real joint family effort - it was quite cute, the four of us in the kitchen, all doing our part to make this work.

And then Theresa also made a super yummy and very light cake - Maulwurfkuchen - that was gone within minutes :).




Now, if that doesn't look yummy!!!!

Confessions of a Sporadic Knitter...

I can't believe I have not posted anything since March. I have a lot of different excuses.

Let's see...

Excuse # 1:

Somehow, knitting, in my old German mind, is for cold days, long winters. And since I live in Texas, I have a hard time getting the knitting needles out in the summer.

So, at least I made some summer fare. Technically, not knitting, but at least some form of handy-craft. Flip-flops for all the summer visitors (Alicia modeling a pair):




Or...

Excuse # 2:

I have been working longer hours here and there and had less time for knitting...

But you can always use some shopping bags (and they also make great gifts - one of them was for my lovely friend Jane):







Okay, so technically, those were not knit, either. Maybe crocheting is for summer and knitting for winter?

Or...

Excuse # 3:

First, we had summer house guests, and now we have an exchange student from Germany (a permanent house guest for a year), and I have just been too busy. Here is another one of my lame excuses (the excuse is lame, not Theresa!!!) as we pick her up from the airport:



Which brings us to...

Excuse #4:

What with all the rearranging we had to do to accommodate the extra people in the house...

Or, how about...

Excuse #5:

We have been fostering puppies and dogs...

Here are Inuit, Tammy, and Penelope:



And this is our current foster dog, Woody:



Or...


Excuse #...

Oh well, enough with the excuses.

As you can see, I actually have been working on the occasional project (as you can see me sitting and knitting with my daughter):



I actually have been knitting, or crocheting, or whatever. I just have been really bad about posting. And I have an excuse for that, too:

FACEBOOK!!

But to catch you up, here are the other things I have been working on:

I crocheted a small cell phone holder for around the neck, because I have a wireless blue-tooth (is that redundant?) headset that doesn't reach if I hold the phone in my hand or have it in a pocket or purse. And I listen to music on my cell phone, so I need a good connection.

I finished another little baby blanket (squares are knit, border crochet) with the remainder of the yarn I had for my co-worker's baby blanket. This one will be for Karen:



Of course, with the obligatory lady bug!!!



A little baby/toddler hoodie. I have another one (much smaller) in the works, but am not sure if that one will ever get finished :). You know how that goes... But here is the one that did get done:



With pocket, of course :)




And remember, I had all those different kinds of Sugar'n Cream from all kinds of different projects.

I crocheted a little hat for a very old doll (almost as old as I am):



And I little iPod cozy with lipstick holder:



I tried to use all the remains up with this pillow cover:



It was also a nice chance to try out all kinds of different patterns.




I also made another attempt at felting:





As you can see, lots of little projects. But nothing really earth-shattering. Just lacking the right motivation (and time). But, Austin temperatures are finally below 100 degrees and maybe the slightly cooler and more pleasant ambient climate will help me to take a closer look at my stash...

HATS HATS HATS HATS or Ode to all my bald friends...

When I found out that my friend Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer, I called her and asked her if there was anything I can do. Everybody feels helpless and wants to do something. But there is just not much to do... I had seen a few women at work go through similar experiences and knew the routine.

Anyway, in my desperate attempt to DO SOMETHING, I started knitting hats...

First of all I knew from my husband, who is bald by choice, that bald heads get cold easily. Also, it's one thing to shave your head as a man, especially right now, when it is fairly fashionable; it's a whole other story to loose your hair as a result of horrific chemicals being pumped into your body... Ot seems as if bald heads on women are just not quite as *IN* these days. And, from what I understand, wigs feel awkward and are not very comfortable, so many cancer-battling women are not too crazy about them.

Which brings us back to hats.

I started with Robin's Egg Blue Hat. I could not find a button large enough that matched the colors of the yarn:

Sugar'n Cream Cotton Ombre Yarn-Country Side.

So I crocheted a little flower-thingy for the spot where the button would go. Here you see my daughter sporting the hat, before they all go to Lisa's.


I like the feel of the Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn. I had some more around the house, so I started another hat in different colors. I had my eyes on that pattern for a while. Since my friend Lisa has a good sense of humor, I dared to offer her this "Berry Hat" (again, my daughter is modeling the hat for my blog):



Isn't that just the most adorable little thing?! I have a feeling I might use that pattern again some time in the future.

And on to the next project...

I was kind of going for the ruffle look and found this really nice pattern. But then the Bernat Softee Chunky (color: Nature's Way) yarn was too chunky (that's my excuse, and I am sticking with it!), and the ruffle look turned into a bonnet look. I wove a little string (made of a crochet chain) around the hat where the ruffles start, but this seemed to only strengthen the bonnet look. Here is my daughter again...



She turned the bonnet into a French baret:


Much better, isn't it?! We will have to see what Lisa thinks of that one...

Since the weather here in Texas was still warm most days, I made one more hat that was a little lighter. Not sure if Lisa will like the fact that the crochet pattern is a little hole-y. But it looks cute.


The yarn is once again Lily Sugar 'n Cream, I think the color is called Butter Cream Ombre.

Now I just can't wait to see how they look on Lisa!

Btw, she is amazing!!! I am blown away by her wonderful spirit in the light of this challenge! While she will be the first one to tell you that having cancer can be a real "ball-buster" at times, she handles it wonderfully! Way to go girl!!!!! I love you!