Knitting (finally ) and exciting news.

On the left is the Mara shawl I finally finished last week and blocked this week. (What else does one do when stuck at home after a snowstorm?). It was made with Malabrigo Worsted weight in Captstone. A wonderful yarn though it had a little more olive green than I had anticipated and than can be seen in this photo. It was a great knit for riding in the car, watching movies and just soothing the mind and I love the feel of it. The Girasole blanket (Jarod Flood) is made with Cascade 220 Heather and is a much brighter yellow than the picture shows. I'd like to make it again in another color and a more washable yarn. In the meantime, it's a great blanket for keeping warm watching TV.
The exciting news is that I'm going to the Loopy Ewe's Spring Fling in April!! The Loopy Ewe is my favorite internet provider of yarn. Sherri has great service and really knows how to make each customer feel special. What make this news even better is my daughter and granddaughter live in St. Louis so I'll be able to see them too. What a great trip: yarn, knitting people, The Loopy Ewe and my family.

Big Guy

Big Guy passed away last Tuesday. He was our last cat. It's sad because I can't find any decent pictures of him. They are all out of focus. He'd been old for a while; his days of chasing mice and rabbits were far behind him. Now he doesn't have to spend his time begging us for food, he's probably well fed and happy. We loved him, even my grandson. We miss his meows, "Where's my food?" and the was he glared at us when we petted him but then asked for more. It was a privilege to be part of his life.

A Kniiting Retreat

It's been a month since we left Ireland and I'm already planning on what I want to see when I return.
Two days after we returned school started. The first day was rough but now we have settled into a routine of sorts.
I'm still working on the Girasole blanket (I need to take pictures). I keep making stupid mistakes. Also on the needles are two pairs of socks, both from Cookie A's Sock Innovation, a sweater for grandson, and a shawl that will probably take 5 years to complete. The shawl is the Swirl shawl pattern published by Jojoland for their Melody line of yarn. I bought the pattern and yarn when we were in St. Louis this past April, I've made 6 swirls.

I attend a wonderful knitting group every Tuesday night. We meet in the party room of a local grocery store (Ukrops, for those of you who know Richmond). The first weekend in second weekend in September, three days after we got back from Ireland and Spain I packed up my car and drove to the mountains for a knitting retreat with several members of our knitting group. Most of us spent the entire weekend knitting, (with a break to go yarn shopping at On the Lamb in Staunton and a couple of times out to eat). We talked, knit, drank a little wine, and talked, laughed and knit. We are all looking forward to January when we can do it again.
Here is Jo in On the Lamb. If you're ever in Staunton stop in this charming shop.

The Cliffs of Moher and more.
Yesterday we battled high winds to view the incredible Cliffs of Moher that overlook the Atlantic Ocean on Ireland's west coast. Although it was difficult to even walk at times the view was well worth it.

Here are a few pictures of the beautiful and haunting Irish countryside. Tonight we are staying in Cashel. We hiked the historical tour here which included the Rock of Cashel, a cathedral and castle built on a rock overlooking the town. While it has not been in use for 500 years it still has a dramatic impact.

I had to take a picture of the sheep grazing below the rock. They were not impressed.

The picture below is the Rock.

Madrid

I have been in Madrid (Spain) for about a week and a half. Unfortunately I have not had wireless access for my little laptop until now.

This is my 4th trip to one of my favorite cities.

This picture is of the inside of Lanas Sixto, a cute little yarn shop not far from Plaza Mayor. The owners are friendly and helpful and look at all that yarn!

This picture is of the famous Plaza Mayor. The

little stuffed sheep in the foreground is from The

Loopy Ewe, my favorite on-line yarn enabler. I

had hoped to enter the "Loopy on vacation" contest but it ended yesterday and as I've already said I only got wireless today so Loopy will be part of my blog post of Madrid.

Tomorrow morning I leave for Ireland where I will meet my husband in the Dublin airport. It's good to get away to remember how much I miss everyone, especially my DH of 32+ years.

We're supposed to have wireless in all the places we are staying so hopefully I can add more postings and pictures. I have more of Loopy in Madrid too.

Hasta luego.

This is long overdue. I finished this stole in late March and finally sent it to my mother-in-law last week for her birthday. It is the Arctic Diamonds patterns by Donna Druchunas. Although it's a little shorter than I would have liked my MIL is a small women and spends much of her day in a wheelchair. She is a former knitter herself and I hope she enjoys it.

Last week my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter visited from St. Louis. Here are my two gorgeous grandchildren spending some time together. Granddaughter was thrilled with her baby cousin and baby cousin was fascinated with Granddaughter.




Daughter, SIL, granddaughter, son, grandson and I went to Virginia Beach for the day. It was great weather. This is daughter with her nephew. Afterwards she and I stopped in Williamsburg at Knitting Sisters (a very nice shop) and did some serious yarn shopping.

Rivendell Socks

I finally finished the Rivendell Socks! It only took three months. I have tremendous envy for those who can whip up a pair of socks in a week. If I could knit faster I could possibly make a dent in my stash.
These socks are from the book The Eclectic Sole by Janel Laidman, a nice little book with several unique designs. I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan and the name of these socks caught my eye. There are a few others in the book I'd like to try but right now I'm knitting on a pair from Cookie A's book Sock Innovations.
Now it's off to knitting group. Tonight I'll be working on a sweater for my 11 month old grandson.

Too many projects

I actually don't have too many projects on the needles right not, at least not for me. I'm making a Girasole blanket (a design by Brooklyn Tweed's Jared Flood) for a KAL that I've joined at the Loopy Ewe (one of my favorite places to buy yarn). I had planned to make it in Dream in Color Classy but the day I was going to order the yarn our washing machine overflowed and gave up the ghost after 21 years of faithful service. The purchase of a new washer caused me to be a little more frugal in my yarn choices so I bought Cascade 220 in bright yellow. Girasole is Italian for sunflower. Sunflowers are one of my favorite flowers (which is probably one of the reasons I decided to do this KAL) and the yellow seemed an appropriate although not particularly creative choice. The blanket is a fun and fairly easy knit and as many fellow KALers have said, it's addicting. I took this picture two days ago and I've moved on several more rows.
Meanwhile my Rivendell socks are nearly done; I'm on the toe of the second sock now. I'll take a picture of it and post that next time.
Knitting time is difficult to find these days. Our grandson takes up a lot of time, but he is a joy and very photogenic.
He loves bathtime. He's napping now so I think I'll try to do some housework or knitting. It's difficult to decide.

School's over!

It's been a ridiculously long time since I wrote. School, I teach (or try to teach) Spanish, takes a lot of time and energy. Then in the beginning of April my grandson was admitted to the hospital. After nearly a month he was discharged and is now living with us. He is 10 months old and as cute as he could possibly be and that is unbiased opinion. The same week he was discharged my car was rear ended while I was stopping at a stop light. It took over three weeks to repair it but I was given a loaner by the insurance company.
But things are not entirely insane. It's a beautiful day and I'm back on the blog I tried to start last year. Now I just need to take pictures of the few things I've knitted on in the past few months. Meanwhile here's a picture of my grandson and my granddaughter (who does not live with me).