Soon to be Mine--One Side Slip Cloche

I am so excited. I have admired Laura Irwin's Side Slip Cloche for a while now but have resisted the temptation. Well, the book is on order now and the wait seems like forever. The pattern calls for Rowan Soft Lux, and I have the perfect amount in a nice soft pink...but I'd kind of like it in a nice vibrant color, like red, or teal, or I don't know what. So in this long wait, I can make up my mind so that when the book gets here I can start knitting!

Lovegood Update

Just to show that I haven't been completely idle, here is a project update. If I were making a shrug instead of a sweater, I'd be almost done. As it is, it is going much faster than I expected. I've moved up two needle sizes and am adding the final lace panels to the sides.

I attribute the progress to the new disc from Netflix that lets you stream videos from a Wii instead of from your computer. I highly recommend it. The picture looks much better than on a tiny computer screen. Great for knitting, not quite as good for getting other things done...

My Patchwork Phone

I do sometimes seem to affect technology in a negative way...I don't know why. When my music player would only play the background singers and instruments and not the melody, I thought that was a pretty cool trick--IF I had set it to do that and IF I could switch it on and off. My phone has been giving me a few problems, but nothing I couldn't live with. Until it decided that it didn't like to have the phone on. I could access my alarm, my games (very important), and make out-going calls, but as soon as I finished a call, my phone would turn off and not accept in-coming calls or texts. Very weird!
This is a picture of my sister's phone, nearly identical to what my phone was except a lot more scratches and, well, working:
Now, most people would buy a new phone, but I really don't want to pay for data every month and I don't want to go to a phone that makes it harder to text (and secretly I don't want to waste my phone-buying budget on a phone and then have to wait two years if I decide to cave and splurge on an iPhone).
Instead, since my phone was practically useless, I decide it should be...taken apart. Granted, I didn't realize it would be quite so involved. I thought, just one little shift so the off button wouldn't stay pressed down. Instead it looked like this:Andrew was nice (and brave) enough to do it for me. My job was mostly holding the flashlight, keeping track of the parts for my phone and the spare phone, and saying "I hope this works!"
The problem...apparently the off button was pressed too many times. Who knew that was possible?
The end result looks like this:
I do miss my green keys, but as a whole it's a nice change--and it works! The black back can be changed back to white later if I get tired of it, but for now it reminds me of all the great black and white quilts! In honor of that, here are a few fun black and white fabrics.

A Song for Tuesday--You're Not Sorry

So, it seems I have Taylor Swift's song "You're Not Sorry" stuck in my head. I can tell the version running over and over through my mind is definitely the CSI Remix version. While I don't like having songs stuck in my head, I do consider myself lucky that it is this song and not the one that the guys at work have been singing incessantly where the only line they really know--or perhaps the only line they remember--is "gonna lick your brain." Yuck! Perhaps I'm missing something, but I don't see how anyone would want to sing that.
Well, in honor of the song stuck in my head, here's a video...I hope it doesn't get stuck in yours!

Spring Knitting and Winter Snow

Despite my limited free time lately, I now have 5 inches done on my Lovegood sweater. Although I like the look of the finer gauge, I don't think I will be knitting a sweater on a size 1 or 2 anytime soon...3 and 4 is small enough for me right now! Some of the other projects listed on Ravelry had lace panels on the back, too. I think it looked beautiful and intended to do it. The real reason mine doesn't have lace on the back? I forgot and was too lazy to take it out and start over. Thankfully, the original sweater by CanarySanctuary looks great without the extra lace on the back.

While uploading the picture of my sweater, I found my missing pictures of a trip to the mountains at the end of February. The snow falling and covering everything was too beautiful not to photograph!

Sold For...A Lot of Money!

Once again the MCC Sale was fabulous--good food, great people, and quilts! After my tri-tip sandwich, tacos, pie, homemade ice cream, and fritters, I think I have had enough food to eat for the weekend. (Sadly, there was no borscht this year.) We had some new callers at the auction and some new auctioneers, but our group kept the same group of seats we've have for several years. I'm not entirely sure if I would be able to feel like I was at the MCC Auction from a different vantage point. My friend Cindy Wiens donated a beautiful quilt this year that went too far out of my price range for me to have any hope of getting it. Each block has so many tiny pieces that it's amazing to look at up close. I took enough pictures to enjoy even though the quilt went home with someone else.

I can't wait to hear how much the auction raised for charity. One of my other favorites was the highest priced quilt this year. I tried to bid, but the bidding was so fast and furious that I wasn't fast enough. The workmanship on it was wonderful--and much more intricate than I have time for right now! Another great MCC Sale...save the date so you can come next year.

*First Free Yarn Giveaway!* A Few of My Favorite Things...Yarn and Giveaways

I have decided to combine two of my favorite things--yarn and giveaways! For those of you who know me, you know how much I love giveaways and getting free stuff in the mail.

Well, I have decided to share the love. One lucky winner will receive a skein of the beautiful and luxurious Noro Silk Garden in color 293. It is self-striping and makes any project special.

To enter, go to www.needlesandewe.com and find your favorite yarn and color. Then add a comment to this post with 1) your favorite yarn and color on www.needlesandewe.com and 2) what you would make with that yarn. On June 8th I will chose a winner at random using the True Random Number Generator at www.random.org. In order to give everyone an equal opportunity, please only leave one comment. I look forward to hearing about everyone's favorites!

Too Much Puppy Energy

Today Kailey, the super-cute puppy from my previous post, decided it was a beautiful spring day and she wanted to spend most of the day outside. Now, last week that would have been a good thing. Starting today, she is old enough--and ornery enough--that she has decided she wants to conquer the flower pots. She will grab a pot and run with it or shake it. Very funny to watch, but not so good for her to learn. Luckily, she is a very smart dog and she knows she is not supposed to do it when you tell her no...unfortunately, she is also stubborn and keeps returning to them when she gets bored. I know she will learn, but I am not eagerly anticipating the learning process!
Tonight we made excellent progress on Jessica's reception invitations. I love how creative she and Valerie are! The invitations are beautiful. All the cutting, taping, and ribbon tying went well until we used up all the double-sided tape ;)

MCC Anyone?

It is already April and that means that next weekend is the MCC Sale. The Mennonite Central Committee raises money to help with disaster relief around the world. It is a weekend of beautiful quilts, food, old friends, and fun...and it sneaks up on me every year! If you are in the Fresno, CA area next Friday and Saturday, you should definitely stop by to check out the auction and other booths and events.