Awesome labor day feast

My dear husband made a grilled feast - portobello mushrooms, corned beef grilled brisket, lemon pepper boneless chicken, grilled baby zuchinni, grilled potatoes. Since I can't cook because of the frozen shoulder after my June left rotator cuff surgery, I am being spoiled.

He is awesome and since he heard about the second surgery possibly in October, he is still smiling. That's love.

He also spiffed up the backyard today.

where have I been? you don't want to know

I finished the shawl. I am still thinking about ripping it back and making socks - like 3 pair.. A shawl made from sock yarn will not block - what was I thinking. I also know that I don't like knitting lace. Live and learn.


I was working on the mason-dixon mitered square blanket and having a wonderful time until...


...I tore out my left rotator cuff in March 2008. I had surgery in June - then the shoulder froze - now I may be having surgery in October. I

definitely need surgery but I don't want it too close to Christmas because of the LONG recovery window. Will see the doctor in September. In the mean time, lots of pain, no use of left arm ...uck.

I can knit for about 10 minutes a day now. Let's see it will take only 6 days to make one square for the blanket. Oh well isn't the blanket visually appealing? It is made in the softest cotton. It is very nice to work with and will feel awesome.

Stuck, stuck stuck

I have been working on this )(*&*)(*& lace shawl since August. It is using sock thread and is the most BORING thing on the face of the planet.

It takes me 1/2 an hour for one row going at super speed and the pattern is so simple that it makes my teeth hurt to knit for more than an hour at a time.

BUT on top of that the )_)(*&)(*&&&*^%$% thing got a pull in it near the beginning last week - I can't seem to work it back into the lace. I nearly chucked it but I am on my 6th of 6 balls of sock yarn. I will not throw away that much yarn and I don't want to give up on the obnoxious thing. It will rest.

I want to knit small things that are interesting. But if I don't keep after this piece of you know what, it will win.

Organic cotton dress for Adelaide/Monroe aka Ebelissa

This was fun - I hope that it is not too warm. The yoke was my first but knitting up the sleeves and just putting them on the big circular and doing the yoke was a real learning experience.

Hope she likes it!

Adelaide/Monroe's Teddy Bear

Once again this is organic cotton. It's funny that it took me almost as long to sew together as to knit. The pattern didn't really tell how to do shaping but I jumped in and did a long stitch and then gathered where I wanted shape. The nose, ears (inside and out), tummy neck and paws all got shaping and it made a fairly shapeless bear look like a teddy. She has red nail polish on and a lace collar so you know she's a girl. She is about 9 inches tall - about right for a baby.

The pattern is a free one from Berroco - Air Bear.

Organic cotton bib and organic socks

The bib is more Blue Sky organic cotton. The socks are organic cotton mostly but also organic silk and wool.

Finished another Tea Cozy (for my mom)

These Tea Cozies really make your tea better and stays hot a long time. You can also just hang them on the wall. I used Navajo wool again - the pink was nicer than the purple and the wool felted REALLY fast (less than 5 minutes).