Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

March Madness! It’s a yarn and fabric sale!

Needles and Ewe

Needlesandewe.com

Come to Needlesandewe.com to explore our sales. All yarn and fabric is on sale. Save up to 30% on your favorite brands, including Noro, Louisa Harding, Ella Rae, Malabrigo, Benartex, and more!

Don’t let these March bargains get away. 
Sale ends 3/23/11. Buy now before someone gets your favorites!

Valentine's Day Fun

I hope everyone's Valentine's Day is a good one!
Here is a sugar cookie to make your day a little sweeter. I'm keeping the chocolate pudding for myself ;)

Store Additions

You might notice that Needlesandewe.com has fun new additions! I am working as quickly as I can to add all of the new items to the website. Check back to see all of the new additions. Here is a preview of the new items on the website:

Minkee Blankee Fabric! So soft and wonderful.

Flannel Fabric--for the Holidays and beyond!

 

A lot of new yarns, including wool, cotton blend, novelty, and more.

Clover knitting needles, sewing needles, crochet hooks, accessories--including the incredibly popular pom pom makers

Eucalan no rinse delicate wash in Eucalyptus and Lavender.

And so much more! Come explore at your leisure.

Epic Fail...But I'm Back!

Well, my intention of posting once a week has resulted in an epic fail, but I had a lot of fun while I wasn't posting!

I went up to the mountains and enjoyed the beauty of the lake and wildflowers. The colors were amazing and I enjoyed walking where the view was better than in the city.  

For the most part, all the people I meet at the lake are so nice and interesting. I have a theory that the farther you drive up into the mountains, the nicer the people are since they have the patience to put up with the drive. The campfire and s'mores were a nice time to get to know some of the other people ... and to just stare into the flames. 

 

I also went to a wedding in Southern California. The flowers were lovely and the bride and groom radiant. I loved that they had a photobooth there. We took a bunch of silly pictures and wrote messages to them. The only sad thing was that we got so close to the beach and never got to touch the sand...

 

...Which is why I was very happy to get to go over to Avila Beach! As always, the view from the room was worth the trip. I love being able to sit on the balcony, knit or talk, and listen to the sound of the waves.

We scheduled a boat trip around the harbor...or rather, we thought we did. The boat company was double booked and we couldn't stay until the next open tour. Instead, we walked around on the pier.

Tyler enjoyed seeing the boat lifted out of the water and loaded onto a trailer. A very smooth process! But the real highlight was seeing the seals and sea lions swim around under the pier.

When we walked down to the bottom level, we saw the perfect napping place...

His friend, however, was trying to entice him to play by swimming up and jumping into the air. Because of the delay on my camera, it took me a ridiculously long time to capture him actually in the air. (Don't even ask about the picture I captured in the meantime that reminded me of the children's book Everybody Poops.)

On the knitting front, I finished my Lovegood sweater. I must say, I don't like it nearly as much as I thought I would. I think it's the shape of the sleeves. They aren't as belled as the pattern. Also, I can't seem to make the button band not pull at the buttons. It isn't too tight, but it does not look as smooth as I would like it to look.

My side slip cloche hat, on the other hand, is so nice. I love the Rowan Soft Lux yarn. The angora makes it so soft and, well, luxurious. The metallic thread throughout gives it some sparkle and interest. (Yes, I have since cut the yarn and woven in the ends. I don't wear it around town with the yarn hanging down the back of my neck!) 

 

Despite my statement that I wouldn't be using fingering yarn again for a while, I couldn't resist using this beautiful gray yarn for a Hermione hat. I love how it turned out. I would make another one, but I would probably use larger needles next time.

The really sad thing it that I have lost it! I took these pictures at the beach and I haven't seen my hat since then. I am hoping that it is in a bag somewhere, but every time I look where I think it might be, it isn't there.

An Update in Pictures

It's Finally Summer

Until today, I've known it's summer, but something felt like it's been missing...because I hadn't made my trip up to Lakeview Cottages at Huntington Lake. For the past four or five years, we have gone up there to open the cabins and prepare them for the lucky people that get to rent them during the summer. This year, the weather has been so weird that it has thrown the schedule off. Because the snow was falling so late this year, we could not even drive up there (unless we bought a snowplow) and the water company could not get to the valves to turn on the water to the other end of the lake. The result was not being able to open the cabins in time for the first week of rentals ... and I missed you, Lakeview Cottages! 

Today I was able to go up and spend a very enjoyable and productive day. I was able to finally finish my last row on Lovegood. I believe the part that took me the longest to finish was the button band. Not because it was hard, but because I was so ready to be done with it that I couldn't make myself start the button band (contradictory, I know). After a stern self-lecture and a rather hard self-kick, I started it and finished all the knitting today. I still have to actually sew on the buttons and block it but, bah, that's easy. Now as a reward for my diligence and hard work ;) tonight or tomorrow I can cast on for my side-slip cloche hat.

Not your usual lake view in mid-June, but I took my knitting down to the lake. I knew it had snowed late this year, but I didn't expect to still see snow around the cabins and down at the lake. Here are some of the boats by the snow. One of my favorite ways to enjoy the lake is to take a boat out with a book and just drift. Today, the wind pushed us toward the edge of the lake so quickly we had to move back out to the center again every ten minutes or so, but the view was worth the extra effort! (Hello Cabin E!)


And to make the drive down more enjoyable, we stopped at the Big Creek General Store for some berry cobbler and homemade ice cream. Yum! (Sorry, it was half gone before I thought to take a picture.)