I managed to get the February Baby Sweater finished in plenty of time. I even found a simple white onesie for under the sweater. Rather than knitting buttonholes and sewing on buttons or even knitting i-cords for closing the sweater, I found a very thin lilac satin ribbon in my craft stash, and I threaded it on a seaming needle and simply wove the ribbon through the stitches in the first increase row in the garter-stitch yoke. I really like how it turned out. 
Look at that! I'm ready to pick up stitches for the neck!!! And I read up on finishing techniques using my Debbie Bliss How To Knit book. Excellent diagrams and text if I do say so myself. I can't even see the side seams on the body of the sweater. Those seams up there are shoulder seams - they're even and consistent, but not invisible, which is typical of shoulder seams. I'm still a bit nervous about knitting the sleeves in to the body since I decided to knit them in the round which was not per the pattern instructions. Oh well.
This little pretty pink skein of 100% cashmere made my entire week! Thank you again, Lauren! I've been hunting for the perfect cowl pattern for finger-weight. Any suggestions would be welcome. I'm thinking a lace pattern would be ideal.
And we've been picking up signs of fall during our sporadic walks in the neighbourhood. Must. Get. Out. More. The sun is shining today against the weather channel's predictions, and it's begging for us to go out and play! Can do.
A couple weeks back, the girls were gifted a tangram set from Laurie. I said, "Thanks." and I smiled. I kept my excitement subdued until after she left.
The bride knit the white silk shrug which she wore over her bright raspberry pink satin gown! It was a masterpiece!! The light was horrible in the reception room, so although I had hoped for some beautifully artistic shots of the bride and groom, I gave up and sat down to enjoy my time with friends instead. It makes me happy to see my dear friend marry her true love. It has taken many years to come to fruition, but we knew it was inevitable when we met her. She was secretly knitting a big green sweater for her man, and right then and there, we decided that this was real love. And another time, she left a knitters fair ridiculously early because she missed him. We thought she was crazy, but she explained it this way, "You know how much you gals love to knit? Well that's how how I feel about this man." Enough said! I couldn't be happier for my friend. Happy Wedding Day, Maria!
We've been blessed with a 3-day weekend in which relaxing is definitely on the agenda! We're kicking back between toasted tomato sandwiches with cream cheese and garden salads AND sponge cake with real whip cream and berries. There will be lots of basking on the couch with my knitting (the 3rd clapotis is DONE - pictures to come) and a pile of Sue Townsend novels. I expect there will be drowsing off to sleep when my eyelids get to heavy to read another word and staying up too late on ravelry inputting all the gold I whisked away from yesterday's yard sale (that's the top photo minus another 30 skeins of wool that didn't fit in the picture). Each skein was a dollar, and I now have 100 more to add to the stash - do the math. There's Noro, Debbie Bliss, Koigu, Jo Sharp, Rowan and Manos del Uruguay. Am I dreaming???? Somebody pinch me. Today there was a girls trip to IKEA for Swedish meatballs, slipcovers, storage bins and fabric, and I laughed so hard that I had to wipe the tears from my eyes. 
I was at a small gathering of ladies the other night, and we had this most intriguing conversation about 13-year olds. One of them was having a birthday this weekend, and her mum was anxious to get home and start baking the cake for the 3-tiered birthday cake requested by the birthday girl. The room was still with awe for this truly great act of love. I was even more shocked and blurted out, "Didn't she throw a shoe to your head recently?" She corrected me, and said it was a soccer cleat. I suggested she save herself a tier, but she just chuckled and asked me if she should hold that over her daughter's head forever, and I remembered how lucky I am to have friends who are fabulous mothers and who are able to role model better behaviour and attitudes than my own. In order to survive the teenage years, I think I will have to remember this well. And the youngest has been watching Annie again and singing "The sun'll come up tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun.", and they're all right. Tomorrow is a new day, and the soccer cleat was SO yesterday! Therefore, bake your cakes today, and smile. I think. : )
