Catching up

It has been a long while since I've blogged and I have some catching up to do.

First both my daughters cheer squads took third at States this year. This was a nice end to a busy season.

I have been knitting away when I can find the time. I finished a prayer shawl for my neighbor and am working on a scarf for her husband. These will be Christmas gifts for them. I will post the pattern and pictures soon. First I need to get the knitting machine off the table so I have a place to take the pictures that has decent light.

Speaking of the knitting machine, I pulled it out of storage to knit a hat for my youngest neice. She will be two just after Christmas and that is about the right age for the felted hat. She says her favorite color is purple, but my sister begged me not to make another purple hat. You see the other three girls all have hats that are a purpley shade and there is always a fight about which hat belongs to which girl. So it make both of them happy, I knit and felted her a hat in a nice bright not purple shade of aqua, and hand knit her a lace beanie in a lavender with a silver sparkle thread running through it. This yarn is the same kind as the yarn I used to make her ruby red mary janes, but lavender instead of red. The best thing about this hat, is that it has two little holes on the sides for her pigtails to stick out. I need to put it on one of my girls so that I can post a picture of it. I can hardly wait to see it on her! I guess that is one good thing about living MANY miles away from them, I can't give it to her early.

The last thing I can think of, is the thing that has me frustrated right now. I knit a hat for a friend. She wanted a charcoal grey one like mine. Well, I can't find a LYS that carries that type of yarn. I know I can order it, but what a hassle. So I went in search of a different brand. The other yarn I use to felt also didn't have a grey. Then I found a beautiful yarn that was named Alpaca Natural Blends. It was perfect...or so I thought. I knit the hat up, threw it in the wash and a hour or so later went to check on it. NO change. WTF! Then I read the label. 30% Alpaca, 70% Acrylic. YUCK! No wonder it didn't felt. I guess I should read the label before buying. So, now I still need to find and knit and felt a grey hat. I guess I will keep the other for a snowman. Or maybe I will frog the whole thing. BTW...it snowed today. It didn't stick, but I still think falling snow is one of the most beautiful things in the world. TTFN, Miki