Headband 2

This one was made from leftover Amy Butler fabric.

Dear Candyce,

I'm so sorry you were sick today and couldn't come sew! Please get well soon.

But lookee here, I made a headband tonight. It was really easy and fast. Let me know when you're better and we'll make mo'!




Above, the headband before turning right side out.



Above, fin. Candyce found this free headband pattern, and I imagine it would be a simple and satisfying project for anyone starting sewing. A small piece of elastic keeps the band firmly on your head, and it doesn't take much fabric.

Spring crafts

Continuing themes are emerging in my blog: weird marshmallow creatures and me. Check out Suzanne, who got to use the hot glue gun I gave her for Christmas. We are biting into the fake s'more bees here, of course.

Dishcloth nonstop

I knit this Ballband dishcloth on the plane trips to and from L.A. Honestly, it was the best thing to do on the plane and distracted me mightily from turbulance.

This is the mid-month dishcloth KAL for February. And this is all the knitting I've gotten done this month between my running around and reading.

Out-of-towners

This is an eventful week for seeing out-of-town people. My sister Abby is visiting from Chicago in a sort of spur-of-the-moment break from frigid weather. She's in the middle, and my youngest sister, Anna, is on the left. I'm on the right, in case you were wondering!


Even though I've known about the booksigning for months, I've lost all track of time in the past couple of weeks and forgot that Jill Conner Browne's signing was, like, today. Totally snuck up on me. Luckily I remembered this morning, and ate dinner with the local Nashville fans of all things Sweet Potato Queens (we get together for lunch every once in a while).

There were many, many drawings for prizes at the signing--rhinestone sunglasses, tiaras, T-shirts--but I'm sad to say I didn't win anything. The Cutest Boy in the World, AKA Kyle, AKA Jill's hubbo, took this very picture. Their three-legged doggie visited for a few minutes and was so sweet. Also, one of the ladies in Nashville brought her 15-month-old daughter, Claudia Jill, to meet Jill for the first time. They even have the same birthday!

Happy Mardi Gras, y'all!

Happy Weekend

More marshmallow creatures!


More Dodger!

Dodger sends his love to all his Valentines!

I really enjoyed the Yarn Harlot's blog about real love.

I love L.A.

Santa Monica Beach; Paul on the pier; me on the beach; Dodger
in the snow in Nashville about a week previous!

Oops! I didn't take that many photos while I was in L.A. over the weekend. But I did have a good time. It was a lovely break from winter, and I met Paul's family, who are great people and were very welcoming to me. Seeing Paul with his family confirmed what I already knew; I have a very nice boyfriend.

Paul's mom loved the M-D hand towel I gave her for her birthday, and the neutral colors match her decor, which was pure luck. I made an entire Ballband dishcloth during the flights.

I got to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time! Unfortunately, it was rather windy and chilly. Most of the time the weather was perfect: warm and not a bit humid. I thought the funniest thing was the outside dining area, in perfect 70s-degree weather, that had those big stand-up heaters--turned on. What in the world?!

The palm trees were truly exotic to me. Vegetation was everywhere. Paul showed me all the streets in Tom Petty's "Free Falling," most of which are in the vicinity of where he grew up.

Various locals asked me how I liked L.A., and I always responded enthusiastically "I like it!" What I was thinking was, I've been here a day. How can I have formed an opinion? But people expect you to have formed an opinion, positive or negative, before you've arrived.

It was interesting to see how close all the parts of L.A. are, not that I saw a fraction of the gigantic city (the lights passed by the darked plane window for fifteen minutes before landing. Not kidding). From movies and TV, we've all heard of Bel Air, Santa Monica, and so on. It was incredible to be invited there by Paul's family. I can't hardly believe it happened.

This is the sock monkey I photographed before, but the new camera is so much better!

Cutey

Is that sunshine that I see? Dodger chilling on the weekend.

Have yarn, will knit

There was a time in my knitting life when I would have happily knit anyone a scarf. And I asked everyone if they wanted one. Yesterday my sister Anna complained that I had never made her a scarf, much to my surprise. "Well, let's go buy some yarn!" I replied. If only all problems could be solved by yarn shopping.

That shut her up. I didn't know what yarn or colors she would like, so no, I had never spontaneously knit one for her. Good thing, too, as I would have never chosen this yarn or color, Lion Brand Homespun in Florida Keys Green. It's soft, and the drop stitch pattern on size 13 needles is going super fast.

BTW, I really like this knitty winter issue extra, Thermal:

Sweet hearts

It's the February Monthly Dishcloth KAL:

M-D towel

It's cold in Middle Tennessee! I took this picture yesterday when the newscasters were sure there was going to be snow and ice overnight. The sky seemed to hint at the same thing. Nashville got a teeny smattering of snow, which only was on cars and shady spots when I woke up this morning. That's OK--I dread driving to work in the ick.



I knit this M-D moss stitch towel as a birthday gift for my boyfriend's momma, whom I will meet in a few days, for the first time, in Los Angeles, California! She sho' doesn't need a wool hat or a scarf of any kind, so I think this is the perfect knitting gift. Last weekend I threw it in the washer and dryer, transforming it's stiffness into buttery smoothness. How amazing! I just pet it and roll it around in my hands. It feels great.

The towel's hanging out in my yarn box with a bar of lavender soap to make it smell good. Below is a picture of it folded in half lengthwise. I ran out of yarn and couldn't do all the repeats the pattern called for: I knit ten repeats instead of twelve. Don't know why, but it still works, right?