The Great Mitten Swap of 2009

In July of 2009, Heather had a brilliant idea.    She thought it would be fun for us girls in our awesome little knitting group to knit up a pair of mittens and do a secret exchange for our Christmas party!  We would have 6months to decide on a pattern and we could knit it up right away, work on them here & there through out the months, or wait to the very last minute like most of us did.    Working best under pressure is how we roll.

Heather top secretly gave everyone a fantabulous little homemade project bag, and inside was an envelope that with the name of the knitter we’d be knitting  for.   We had all traced our hands at a bar over pitchers of Margaritas on my birthday (which is July 5, btw) and the excitement started to build.      We all started to tag patterns we loved in Rav and our knitter could knit us something we REALLY wanted or what they REALLY wanted to knit.     Now,  our group consists of all sorts of levels of knitting goodness, but whatever your level – it wasn’t about how great you could make them, or how fast, it was about that we all just really care for each other, and wanted to knit for that person.     Not because we HAD to, because we WANTED to.

I give to you , the finish products of the First Annual Mittenswap 2009.

We decided that it was so much fun and we all just loved it so much, we’re doing it again.   So, over margaritas in the middle of summer – we’ll choose our this years swap partner and do it all again!

Here we all are.. yes, most of us are in our jammies.   We’re CRAZY I tell you!  CRAZY!

New Diggs!

It’s a new year, hell it’s a new decade! I figured it was time update the old knitpho homestead and liven things up a bit. Maybe I’ll even like it enough to share my world with you via le blog again, instead of relying on status updates and tweets.

I have a lot of photos to share, knitting, stories about those kids of mine, that husband that can’t live without me, my KRAZY friends and of course last but not least – the pots I love stir.

up to 90

Wow.. when Kathryn and I started this little photo O day project, who know that #1. it would be hard to find something to actually take a photo worth sharing every day #2 that it would fly by SO fast and #3 that even today, at day 91 …we’re still excited about it!

So, here are my days 60-90 all clumped together..and today I hope to take advantage of the blue skies and see what strikes my fancy through the lense.

Thanks for coming along for the ride with us over at SoSnapHappy!

she's been dropped

Toy Society Drop…… Frances, originally uploaded by MrsKnitpho.

Earlier in December I came across The Toy Society and knew that we had to participate. My knitting crew were knitting up some of these monsters of their own and thought that Frances here would be the perfect little monster who would make someone very happy. We bundled up and headed out to the library and tucked her behind a book on a shelf and away we went.

I hope that the person who finds her send a note to The Toy Society, so I know that she has found a loving home … I think we’ll do this again. The M’s loved dropping her, even though they both want a monster of their own, they knew that Frances was knit for the soul purpose of being set free.

If you’d like to participate.. check out their blog. They have the pics of other drops and the peeps who find the toys!

you want to see what I knittedededd?

Just to hold you over until I get all the secret mitten projects together and photo’d and placed properly. You think since we’re together so much as a group, this would be an easy task .. but it’s not. So, patience grasshopper.

In the meantime, I knitted this … It’s the Autumn Day Scarf in Berroco Ultra Alpaca. So so soft and well, I knit it for little Miss M’s Kindergarten teacher and when it came off the needles, it was hard to give up.

Here’s a hohum photo, but it shows the pattern much better

Scarves.. they are a gorgeous accessory but hell to knit. They never freaking end.. the same rows over and over and over. Not my favorite thing to knit – but well worth it in the end. As Mia’s teacher told me yesterday, she wore it over all of break and got oodles of compliments. She says “I would tell everyone, would you believe a parent of one of my students made this for me!?” You might call it brown nosing the teacher, I call it showing appreciation for a job well done.

Then I finally made a Foliage.

This is made out of Lambs Pride Wool/Mohair. Bulky. This was made for Mia’s assistant teacher, which was well received also.. they are both awesome teachers!

Then, last but not least. Frances.

She is a fun fun little monster. Who enjoys reading and doing yoga. The kids and I are going to package her up and Frances will become part of the Toy Society Toy drop. I’ll post about that when we get that done, we have the spot all picked out – now we just have to get there! But, isn’t she just the best?!

So, on to more knitting in this new year. New challenges, new projects, more yarn love!

Second Set of 30!

30/60/365, originally uploaded by MrsKnitpho.

Here is my second set of 30 days in a row of photos. 60 days total so far, of a shot a day with my friend Kathryn. see www.sosnaphappy.wordpress.com to see our collaboration! Some days are hard to find some inspiring to shoot, some days you have too many to choose from and you just have to pick one, which I guess what makes it so fun and a little challenging. I try not to use my kids as my subjects but I loved the one shot of them and had to use it. A lot of ‘indoor’ shots, are on gray rainy days, and there is no light whatsoever to get anything good .. but all in all, I’m quite pleased with all my photos and I’m already excited about what these next 30days will bring.

i love this

This morning, while finishing up my delicious coffee and catching up on my bloggy blog reading, I came across this story and it just touched my heart.

I have a plan, and will put it into effect today. I love this idea. I love the idea of making this little something and having my M’s leave it somewhere with a little note from us to them. A little reminder that ’tis the season for giving and spreading a little cheer.

If you think you might be interested in participating ... stop on by here. and write your name on the list.

I can’t wait to get started!!

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Thankful

Why is it that we wait until this time of year to remind our friends and family how thankful we are to have them in our lives? To remember how blessed we are with what we have in our lives, who we have in our lives.

It’s this time of year of course that I miss my parents who are at the moment in Vegas, doing only God knows what. I am thankful for that whole what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.. ::shudder:: I am so grateful that my parents are healthy and full of optimism and life to go on adventures, to laugh and love and enjoy their time together. After 50years together no less.

I am so thankful for so many things. My M’s, who drive me bananas but at the end of the day, their tight squeeze and “I love you, mom”, is all I need. Mr. Knitpho who works so hard every day for me to be able to stay home with our babes, this is the greatest thing a dad can do for his kids. So very thankful!

Thankful for my friends, near & far. Without them I would go insane. They keep me grounded, they keep me laughing, they keep me motivated to be a better mom, a better wife and a better friend.

So, to you my friends and family that are sprinkled all over these states, I love you all. Thank you for being in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

knitting!

Back in October, my friend Jen had Q’d a baby blanket on Ravelry and I (amongst others) all fell in love with it. I instantly knew that this was the blanket that I wanted my (almost here) nephew to have. I went out to The Yarn Shop (with my parents), I picked out 4 colors that I loved and that I knew Sarah would love too. I started knitting. They are mitered squared, casting on 150 and each row gets shorter and shorter, they go quick. I knitted all the way up to Rhinebeck and back and then I ran out of yarn. The squares were supposed to be 1 skein each, but for the blue & the brown – I needed a wee bit from a new skein. So annoying, but not a big deal. This blanket was knit during a time span of a couple of weeks. During a couple of weeks that I needed to block other things out of my mind and just concentrate on something else. The border annoyed me. I couldn’t pick up the 150 stitches for some strange reason, so I got as close as I could and just went with it. It did however, make the blanket – for a lack of a better term, Wonky. But, my awesome friend took my blankie home and put the flannel backing in for me, since she is master seamstress. This is the second blanket she’s done for me, and I am oh so thankful!

Yesterday, I gave it to Sarah at the baby shower that I have been planning for the last month. It went off without a hitch, her and my brother in law are off to a great start and our nephew will be arriving in a few short weeks.

So, now I’m finishing up SEEKRIT MITTENZ and cannot wait to show you!

Enjoy your Sunday.