a different celebration

for us this year. Kids up before 6AM.... got baskets... piled in car....off to church. 90 minutes later,....drop DH off..... take kids to starbucks for breakfast....go to mom's...visit....pick her up .....all pile back to car.... church....rehearse... service.... Easter dinner at Carlucci's with kids, DH, mother, brother, nephew and brother's MIL....head back home..... chill for 30 min... hide eggs in yard... kids hunt (takes all of 5 min)..... make dinner....watch newsies... sleep!

Oh and I got to knit while in the car. Finished this:

Baby Hoodie by Hannah Garcia
Yarn: Grace by Paton's
Color: Spearmint
Needle: US6 (kind of...)
Recipient: baby William Bott
Mods: left off front pocket, changed construction of hood.

Now to pack it up and mail it off... so he can wear it at least once before he outgrows it!

Must. do. school. grades.

happy easter

The bunny was a very busy girl today. Went shopping for baskets... not candy, but some last minute goodies, like bike helmets a movie, etc. Stopped at the thrift shop to donate a large bag and went in and came out with a large bag... hahaha cashmere sweaters, wool sweaters to felt for a Christmas gift project, a pizza stone, pants for DS2, a movie for DS1 and a silk tie.

I wanted to try my hand at literally tie dyeing eggs... It wasn't too successful... I'm not giving up though!

Speaking of dyeing... this week I dyed some handspun in colors that remind me of tulips...The green is the leaves and stems and well the rest is the flower itself.

My SIL was admitted to the hospital today with double pneumonia. We usually have Easter at their house, but I knew she wasn't feeling well so had thought we'd stay home and I'd do the dinner thing here for the family. My other SIL is sick as well, so I wanted to make sure that mom had someone to celebrate with. We're all heading down very early in the AM and bringing her to church with us then going out for lunch. Fortunately, I was able to get reservations for us at a favorite Italian restaurant between church and her 'village' and not far from the hospital that my SIL is in. So I convinced my brother and nephew to join us, since they still need to eat! DS1 will be just as happy not to see his dog cousin!

The hoodie is almost finished.. making the hood now... I think I realized a kind of major error, but it looks ok... so I'll let it slide. IF I ever make this pattern again, I'll be using the yarn it calls for... just didn't have it in boy colors and I want to knit from stash this year only (if at all possible)

At any rate, enjoy your holiday... It's my favorite one of all (actually my favorite church service was Friday... something about that tenebrae service really hits me.)

Heart *felt* gifts - warning picture heavy

To start with, remember the felted LTK mocs I made for my mom? Well they were a tad too big, so home they came and back in the washer. Now they really should fit her perfectly. They tightened up in the width pretty well and didn't lose that much length, I'm happy to say


And now for the Easter project. I made this Spring Basket pattern for all three of my kids. Pre-felting it was floppy and messy looking. In fact DS2 thought they were hats. So I took a picture of all 3 in their 'hats'. They are pretty big for their heads as you can see.


But after felting, I love them. They're just large enough for the knitted peep, a CP Easter egg a Josh Early chocolate bunny and some small assorted candies






Pattern: Y2Knit Felted Spring Basket March 2005
Yarn: Patons 100% Classic Merino (about half a skein)
Color: Rosewood
Needle: Size 11 Knit Picks Options and Size 11 bamboo dpns

Pattern: Y2Knit Felted Spring Basket March 2005
Yarn: Patons 100% Classic Merino
Color: Denim
Needle: Size 11 Knit Picks Options and Size 11 bamboo dpns

The red one is still felting (it's third time through). The Paton's took one cycle in the machine but I used a different wool for the red one (see this post) and it's turning out a bit larger. I'm sure DD will have a fit that her brother's basket is bigger than hers... oh well... tough nooggies. I have to say, I like hers the best though. I love the way the colors of the varigation felted. The sides are stripey, the attached i-cord is chunks of color and the bottom is so cool the way the colors pooled. But I'm sure her 7 year old mind won't process all that.

I'll definitely make this pattern again... probably for gifts. It would make a great teacher/day care provider gift because it knits up pretty quickly and doesn't use much wool... You may even be able to get by on a 50g skein, although I can't guarantee that.

I was knitting the Monthly Dishcloth KAL in hot orange and once I realized it was the three crosses I frogged it. It just didn't seem right to knit that image in hot orange. Raisin would be a better color I think. And I'm not sure I want to do dishes with a cross cloth, so I'm going to adapt it as a bookmark and knit it in Paton's Grace in the purple color, with only one cross instead of three. Hmmm, something else to finish before Sunday!

happy crafting