February Lady Sweater

February Lady Sweater has been restarted!! I pulled it out today and it was farther along than I thought. I worked on it a bit in the car today and I'm hoping I can finish it by the fall. 

Charade Socks Done, Monkeys Begun

I finally finished my Charade socks!! We went on a road trip to Hershey Park yesterday and I had two hours on the way there to finish and finish I did. I wasn't sure what to begin after this project. I took both another adult sock pattern with some Mini Mochi I got a while ago as well as a baby sock pattern I thought I could use to stock up on baby gifts. Then I remembered that I don't have any prospective baby girls to knit for...instead I started crocheting a scarf with the left over yarn just to keep my hands moving!

Today we did another road trip to the beach and I started Monkey socks! I've had that pattern queued for years and I'm finally "taking the plunge". I'm just part way down the first cuff for the second time. Since I haven't started a sock since 2009 my tension was completely off and I was making a sock for a giant! I frogged it, started over and I'm finally on my way!

90% Done

The Charade Socks are almost done! I'm sincerely hoping I'll have them done in the next few days. My husband is off work and we might be taking some long drives so that makes good knitting time! I'll keep you posted...

Dance Your Heart Out and a New Sweater

My niece got to try on her Baby Sophisticate today! I still need the buttons but I am happy to say that I estimated appropriately and it should fit perfectly this fall!

Tonight was Maya, Anna and their friends' dance recital. They danced in two number and had a great time! Here are a few pictures from getting ready and the performance! We had Salon de Mom for their hair and make up, very fancy!

At one point Maya and her friends were getting antsy. I asked her friend, Anna, who I just taught to knit what would make her feel better. She looked at me and said, "I just want to knit!" So we did.

Another Little Knitter

Ever since I taught Maya how to knit I've thought about teaching her friend, Anna, since they are together a lot. I figured that when they have down time they could knit together. Maya finds it relaxing so it was worth a try! 

I had a gift card to Joann Fabric along with a few coupons so I decided to find Anna some PINK knitting supplies to entice her. I did the same as what I did for Maya: thick yarn and big needles! 

I also approached the teaching the same way. We sat together on a couch, I showed her a few stitches, we did a few together and then I coached her. She also caught on quickly!! She was so proud of herself and her dad even took pictures to show her grandma who also knits!

D to the O-N-E again!!!

I'm finally, finally getting back into my knitting full force. Last night I finished my second Baby Sophisticate of the week! I still need to to some finishing work (weaving in the ends and get some buttons) but I should hopefully have it ready to give my nephew this weekend.

Now I'm on to the socks I've been neglecting since 2009. I'm also thinking of taking my February Lady Sweater out of hibernation, also from 2009. I'll have to check it out and make sure I really want to finish it! It was originally a knit-along that I was doing with my sister and sister in law but we all fell off the bandwagon.

I'll also back into my running full force. I have been running every week but not as much as I'd like to. I've gone four times this week and it feels great! I'm finding that I have more energy and focus, I just wish that I could put that energy and focus into getting my house back in order...

Warm Fuzzies

The other day one of my friends said she had a few things for me in her car at school drop off. She gives me tons of hand me downs and I'm constantly leaving things at other peoples houses. She handed me a few things and then said she got me a gift. (Completely unexpected!!) She knows my obsession wtih all things British and she saw a make up case on the clearance aisle with a London theme and she picked it up for me! It's so warm and fuzzy to know people are thinking of you!

As soon as she gave it to me I knew how it would be used. I have a few small knitting projects but only one small project bag that my sister made me. I have already loaded it up and put it in my bigger knitting bag. It's the perfect size for my sock project and I can just grab it and go when I don't want my bigger project! It's the small things that make me happy...

Today was Maya's last day of gymnastics. My friend, Mandi, watched Simon and I had fifty uninterrupted minutes to continue work on my nephew's sweater. I seriously did about four rows in between chatting and looking for Maya but it's four rows further than I was! I'm hoping this will be finished by Saturday because I'm seeing both my niece and nephew for Maya's dance recital!

In the words of the Little Engine That Could, "I can do it! I can do it!"

Ahhhh, what a day!

Saturday was one of those days that just worked out. Maya and my mother in law went into the American Girl Store in Manhattan and Maya was in HEAVEN! She got a doll, had her hair done, ears pierced and lunch with her Grandma Rose. She cannot stop talking about it and both of them were glowing with happiness afterwards!

I got to spend the day with my little brother who lives in the city. He and I have definitely become closer as adults (I went to college when he was eleven and was married when he was seventeen) and it was fun to hang out with him as siblings (aka without kids!). We even had wine...we were super sophisticated... On a side note, if you find yourself looking for a wine bar in Manhattan check out Cork Buzz and, if you're adventurous, order the chicken liver mousse with lemon-thyme doughnuts. Sounds crazy but it was unbelievably delicious!

On the way into the city I did get some knitting done. I cast on the collar of my nephew's Baby Sophisticate and got some rows done. I'm seeing him next weekend for Maya's recital, I'm hoping I can finish it by then!

Rembember there is still time to order your Jamberry Nails!

http://ckrog.jamberrynails.net

At checkout choose "MammaGranate Online Party" from the drop down box beside "is this order associated with a party?"

Right now it's buy three get one free!

Party ends June 14th

It's a Joke!

I admit that I haven't had the time to knit in the past few days. I've been cleaning, having playdates for the kids and trying not to melt in this crazy weather! I did venture out for a run yesterday morning and I thought I might dissolve into the pavement! I'm looking forward to Sunday when it's cooler out.

Hopefully I'll have more to post knitting wise soon! On another note let me tell you a story...

So I have this friend, Alan. He's one of those people who will go for a challenge, especially if its funny. One of his friends found a strange picture, one that has been circulating facebook. Chances are you might have seen it but if not, here it is:

Alan's friend joked with him that he needed to take a picture of him with his cat, Emily, and have it posed similarly. When we were all together one time he mentioned it and how funny it would be to do that picture but he certainly wasn't going to pay for that! Since Mandi and I have started blogging I've been learning a lot about Photoshop and I decided to offer up my services. I figured that it was good trial and error and an opportunity to learn more about photo editing and, if it didn't turn out right it was okay. So here is what I came up with: 

New business for me? Creepy cat pictures? I find it amusing and had fun learning new things about Photoshop. For all my hard work I need to make sure that Alan hangs it up in his living room. To be fair I think I need to do one of our friend (and Alan's wife) Kristen posing with EmilyCat. I wouldn't want her to feel left out...

(Story reposted from my other blog, MammaGranate)