Gardenias II

Can you stand to see one more post about Gardenia's?
They are so beautiful.

They look great with my knitting.

Max isn't pleased at all. "Get the gardenia off me Mom!"

Visitors

This weekend was very special. My nephew Jeff and his wife of one year Raina, flew down from Detroit for a visit. We have not seen Jeff for 8 years!!! That almost feels insane. He is almost 32 so we keep up with him on Facebook, but still to have not hugged my nephew in 8 years is a crime. Jeff is the second child of my brother David. My brother passed away from complications of Lymphoma 18 1/2 years ago. He was 17 years older than me, so our relationship was a bit different than most brothers and sisters. I can barely even remember him living in our house. A year after I was born he left for college. He was much, much closer with my sister Claudia, until I got much older. The picture above is of Jeff and Raina with my parents this evening at my house.

He got married to Raina in a small ceremony in New Orleans. They had a party last fall in Detroit but I was not able to attend. For his wedding present I sent him money. It sounds a bit cold but I had a plan. I wanted him to use it to fly down and visit my family but also my parents. My parents are getting older. My Mom is going to be 83 in July and my Dad is 86 1/2! My Dad is still as funny and grouchy as can be. My Mom is slowing down. I gave Jeff my Aunt lecture of how important it is for his grandparents to meet his new wife, and to see him of course. And like the great guy he is he followed through. We had the best time with them. Jeff has always been unique and wonderful. He is easy going and just a love. Raina was absolutely delightful. I don't think we scared her away. They spent a lot of time with my parents which was essential. We also got to take them to some fun restaurants and see the Tampa Bay area in three short days.

Here are Jeff and I in front of French's on Clearwater Beach. They are known for their She Crab Soup and Grouper Sandwiches.

Aren't they adorable!!! They will never know how much this truly meant to us, especially my parents. And now they know flying from Detroit to Tampa takes just 2 1/2 hours. It is easy to do. I hope they come back soon.

Gardenias

First, let me show you the beautiful shawl I am making out of the yummy silk yarn I purchased last week. The colors are much more vibrant than this photos shows but at least you can see the stitch pattern. It is a 16 row repeat from The Harmony Guide series, this one on lace. I will post more photos as I get further along. As I have only done two repeats I have a very long way to go. This pattern reminds me of Peacock feathers. I think it is actually leaves. I thought the color of the silk yarn would be perfect with this pattern. A 16 row repeat is challenging enough for me, but easy enough at the same time. For all you amazing lace knitters out there I am embarassed about this even being a challenge.
It is Gardenia season again. I promise not to take a bazillion pictures of the same type of flowers this year. I just love them and the smell......amazing!

They popped out on Mother's Day. What a lovely gift to me provided by the Universe. I have delivered several bunches to neighbors and kept plenty for myself. Beautiful aren't they?

Happy Mother's Day

Just wanted to say a very special Happy Mother's Day to everyone. I have to admit that I am not that fond of this day. I have a wonderful Mother, so I am blessed. I love being a Mother, well at least most days I do. I just feel bad for those who are not traditionally thought of as Mothers but need to get as much credit as those of us who have our own kids. These wonderful women (and some men, too), mother their nieces and nephews, cousins, siblings, and neighbors. There are those gifted people who mother animals of all shapes and sizes, they all have a special place in my heart. There are those people who mother their friends. There are those taking a special interest in a child and helping that child have a better life. There are those missing their Mother's and grieving for the Mother they never had. As I have said a thousand times, Motherhood is the hardest job out there. So I send love to all of you who mother in some form or another. Have a wonderful Day.

I Told You So

We have two yarn stores in the general area of my house. One is a beautiful yarn store with a ton of yarn but the owner isn't so nice. The other is short on supply, and not so beautiful, but the owner is really wonderful. After many, many questionable instances with beautiful yarn store owner number 1, I have vowed to not return to her store. I am indeed only hurting myself you understand. I am as stubborn as they come, but I just can't go back. Beautiful yarn store owner was having a gigantic sale the other day. All my knitting buddies were going, buy one Noro get another free type of sale. I just couldn't make myself go even though the yarn purchases would have been amazing. I decided to go to wonderful yarn store owners store instead. I bought this beautiful silk yarn to make a shawl. I just could not handle that she would be all alone in her store while everyone else was on a buying frenzy at the beautiful yarns store. Did I need yarn, not really, but it was really fun to look around and buy it.

Now for the I told you so part. You were all right. I should have cut my losses quickly on the vest and been done with it. I just kept knitting. I am half way up the back and I know I just can't stomach it anymore. I'm not upset. I knew from the beginning that it wasn't going to work. You know it won't work when you are casting on and thinking to yourself that this is a mistake. Again, I am not upset. What I realized is that the simple lace pattern was a nice change of pace for me. I have been coasting with my knitting projects for a very long time. I claim that my busy life prohibits me from a knitting challenge, it doesn't, and it shouldn't. The lace part of the vest was very interesting. I love that when I got done with a row that I was thrilled if I ended up with the correct stitch count. It was fun. So I will frog the current vest in progress and look for more suitable yarn to make it someday. I am now excited to start another project. A project that is challenging but won't make me crazy. I think this silk yarn maybe helpful in what I decide to make.

Finished

I have finished my alpaca/sheep scarf. Isn't it adorable? I bought this kit in Rhinebeck for a whopping $10. It is supposed to be an alpaca, but most non-knitterly people probably don't have a clue what an alpaca is, so I will call it a sheep for them. It is a sampler scarf, but of course if you know me at all, I had to change the pattern. I decided to do the entire scarf in basket weave stitch, with a 3 stitch border. I thought it looked a lot more like fur, and frankly I don't need practice with stitch patterns.

This has been my car project. I always have a smaller project in my car that I can pick up at car circle, swim practice, orthodontist appointments, you get the drift. It is comforting to know that I always have something to do if I get stranded anywhere. I will have to find a new car project now, but that shouldn't be to hard. Hope you are having a lovely day.