Finally!

Well you guessed it school is back in session so I've been neglecting this blog...sad! So I figured I would post about what I've been up to in the past two months.

September began with a wonderful weekend in the inner harbor of Baltimore.

School began a week later with over 40 students in my studio, some from past years and some new. All of them are a lot of fun to work with present exciting new challenges.

The knitting has continued but most of my projects are top secret until Christmas time. This year I've actually planned my Christmas gift knitting far enough in advance that I may finish it all in time...we'll see though. In the midst of that I did manage to finish these gloves that I started a year ago from my sisters own hand spun yarn. Aren't they pretty!!

October has come with colder weather and a lot of rain. My 5 year reunion from college was in October and I got to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time included these folks.

I also got to get some exciting new purchases from IKEA, the greatest store EVER. I feel that it brings me closer to my Scandinavian Heritage to shop there.

I have some exciting events coming up including but not limited to going to the OPERA with Matt!
I hope to blog more often to include pictures of these events.

Summer FO's

As everyone else is going back to school I'm in the middle of my summer break. I have just 2 weeks left, then I will be back to a busy teaching schedule. Until then I have been knitting, practicing and trying to spend as much time with family and friends as possible. Here are the knitting projects from the summer.


This sweater is my favorite from the summer projects. I started working on it during my beach vacation in June. It feels great and looks pretty great too. This one was definitely worth the time and money spent on this beautiful sweater.


With my recent experimentations in difficult lace projects I got this shawl. This skein had so much yarn in it that I had enough for one large and one small shawl. This is the smaller shawl.


These socks were meant to be entered in the Goshen Country Fair, however after some sizing issues it was clear that they would not be finished in time. Well there is always next year and I still got a nice pair of socks out of it.


I'm only half way done with this project but the matching sock is coming along. I had some cotton yarn hanging around and how perfect are these socks for summer and early fall.

Well in 2 weeks my knitting will have to slow down as other things begin to pick up.

Best Intentions...

So I wanted to post more than once in July and I have 30 minutes left to make that happen.

This summer is going by way to quickly as I'm sure everyone can relate too. It was just a month ago that I was in New England with my parents. We took a quick trip up there to do the "Charles Ives" Tour and to see Cape Cod. I enjoyed seeing Cape Cod, however the beach was a bit of a let down after the hot sunny beaches of North Carolina that I experienced the week before. I was very surprised to see these hearty New Englanders sunbathing in foggy 60 degree weather as I sat on the beach in my jeans and sweater.





My summer has been filled with teaching and spending as much time with friends and family outside of teaching. I am almost finished with my Kindermusik Camp "Zoo Train" where every class is spent visiting and exploring different animals at the zoo. Summer lessons have been fun and challenging to teach as I have been subbing for a teacher that is away for the summer.

My weekends have been filled with trips home to celebrate my sisters completion of her Masters Degree, as well as spending time with Matt riding around in his new Ford Mustang Convertible.

As July draws to a close I will try to soak up what is left of summer and hope that time slows a little before things start up in full swing in September.

Summer Days...

It has been a beautiful summer the past couple of weeks, minus the rainy days I spent in New England. Matt and I had a wonderful trip to the Outerbanks!

I even got some knitting time in at the pool we had at the house we rented. It was far to risky to take my knitting to the beach.


I'm working on the Decimal in the this beautiful Soy yarn. Its coming along nicely, but I've had a lot of other things going on, so I hope to finish before Fall. I'm also working on a couple of other projects...shh, can't mention them here.


Matt and I had wonderful week with our friends and I can't wait for the next adventure we take.


After my trip down south I took a trip up north with my parents. I think that deserves a different post for a different day. I hope to post more than once this month!

Hello Summer

This summer shawlette is the knitting project that is bringing in summer for me. This project was meant to be one I could take to the beach with me, but I finished it before we even left...go figure. Luckily, I have a couple of other projects in mind. This yarn has some silver flecks in it so when it catches the light just right there is some shine to it. I hope that I will get some wear out of this beautiful FO.

So last week was kind of a rough week for me just because the year is winding down and I am definitely ready for summer. The week was made rougher by the fact that I had to pick up friends from the airport at 1am on Wednesday! Well to express their gratitude that gave me this bottle of wine.

Who knew there was wine with sheep on the label. Its FANTASTIC!

So next week I will be at the beach and I plan to take a lot of pictures to post on here when I get back!

I hope everyone enjoys the first official weekend of summer.

In the busy busy month of May

As May draws to a close in the next hour I thought I would try and do a quick post to sum up the past month.

Most of the month I have been working on this...
It is by far the most difficult thing I have accomplished and I am quite pleased with it. I have now moved on to a top secret project that I can't post here, but hopefully I will be starting a more public project soon!

My piano students recital was this month along with the last Kindermusik class of my first Kindermusik semester. Now after a few days off for Memorial Day week, I have just 3 little weeks left before the end of the school year and my vacation.

This has been a busy month but I'm looking forward to some much needed time off soon.

Finally...

So I am finally posting about my purchases for MDS&W. Being on a tight budget I was not able to make many purchases but this is what I came home to play with!

This is a hand-dyed brilliant blue mohair blend. Really soft!


This is from Brooks Farm, I can't resist that place. This is their Duet Yarn, I figured after buying Primero at the last two festivals I went to, I should branch out and try something new. I think I'm attracted to Mohair...oh and Blue.


This last yarn was purchased for me by my wonderful boyfriend and chauffeur for the day. It is hand spun with flecks of silver in it.

I have no idea what I am going to make with any of this, I have some larger projects I need to put a dent in. Suggestions for this yarn will be taken, thanks!

Maryland Sheep and Wool

We left early to drive down to Maryland Sheep and Wool on Saturday. I was a little too cheery for everyone as I was filled with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning. I had to tone it down for Aimee and Lyndsay; they both had a little too much fun the night before.


Lyndsay made the first purchase of the day from a woman with purple hair. Lyndsay is going to learn to spin with this roving she bought.


We saw lots of great animals. Aimee liked the bunnies!


Lyndsay wanted to pet a sheep, but I'm not sure the sheep wanted to be pet.


After getting tired of looking at livestock and yarn, we decided to take a break and have a picnic in the Geico car.


After more shopping (we went to every vendor, as Matt patiently stood by and consulted on our purchases), we left with some beautiful yarns in beautiful colorways. It was only when we were leaving that we realized that we all bought shades of blue and shades of grey yarn.

It was a long but fun-filled day! We also ran into Frecklemom, and Jess and Casey of course. It was so crowded and busy we didn't get much chance to talk to them.

Hey Teach, there are holes in your sweater!

ummm...they are supposed to be there! But one of my 2 year old Kindermusik students didn't know that when she started sticking her fingers through the lace on my sleeve when I wore it to class last Friday. This sweater is perfect for summer days of teaching, lightweight and cool without revealing too much.


An another note, I will be going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend with Lyndsay and Aimee, Matt will be coming along as our handsome chauffeur and pack-mule. I was not going to go to the festival this year considering my finances and my overflowing stash. But Matt convinced me that I wanted to go, I'm not sure why he is so supportive of my addiction. But I am going under the condition that I will not buy a lot of things and to ensure that I will be focusing on photographing the day instead of just shopping. We will be making it a day-tripping on Saturday and I'm sure even if I don't spend a dime, it will be a blast with three of my favorite people.

On a professional note, my article is in the final stages of editing and will be published this summer! I'm so excited, its such a great opportunity. There are only 6 weeks left of the school year and I am busy preparing my students for a recital in May. While I will be teaching over the summer, I will have some time off on top of that.

I hope to post a picture laden post after this weekend!

My New Car...in my dreams

Here I am at the NYC Car Show in a Pontiac G6 This is a very nice hardtop convertible with a back seat. I very nice car...a girl can dream, right?


Matt had a great time at the car show. He especially enjoyed sitting in this Honda S2000


But even more than the Honda he liked this Ford Mustang. It is a sharp looking car.



I also tried out the Pontiac Solstice. Also a really nice car, but it felt like I was in a race car, really low to the ground and I don't know how much I would enjoy driving it. Matt had trouble getting his knees under the wheel, but I fit perfectly.

To sum up our day in NYC, it was great to see Laurie, it was a beautiful day, there was a lot of walking, but also good food, sights, and people.

There will be a knitting related post very soon!

$5/recession sweater

I wanted to prove that fashionable knitting can be affordable as well. Here is my version of the Mr. Greenjeans sweater using Caron One Pound. I used only one skein of this yarn which I got on sale for $4.50. Its machine washable, and lighter weight than wool, which makes it perfect for spring and a layering sweater for air conditioning in the summer.

My home among the hills

Despite all of the bad connotations that West Virginia has, it was really nice to see Morgantown in the news for some good press.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

2 Years and Counting

It was two years ago today that Matt took me out to dinner and made his feelings for me known and we haven't looked back.



(This is the dorky photo collage I made for him for Valentines Day!)

BTW; Happy St. Patricks Day to everyone!

Go Bullets!

So this coming October is my 5 year reunion from Gettysburg College. In order to celebrate the occasion I knit something to commemorate my time at Gettysburg. Both of these items are to be worn at the reunion in October. The Dashings were knit for my dashing man, however when I presented them to him this past weekend he said "It looks like something a chick would wear." I think they look quite manly and told him so, but if he does not want to wear them I get to wear them instead.

Namaste and Handbag love

So I awoke this morning to this...
My school was closed today but I still had my icky Doctors appointment. After I drove through a snowstorm I thought I would spend the rest of the day (after rescheduling some lessons) looking at my beautiful new bags and doing some knitting of course.

First my Namaste Knitting Bag!

I've wanted one of these for almost a year and after some strong hinting to my boyfriend he picked this one out for me. Its so stylish and big to hold lots of pretty knitting. I can't wait to show it off, I love it.


I got a gift certificate to Macy's for Christmas and I finally got to use it yesterday. I got both of these bags 50% off. Most of my purses are a black and so it is nice to have this printed bag.

Isn't it cool how this clutch opens as well as the lining.



I haven't been shopping in a while....can you tell. And I won't be going shopping for a long time, at least for myself.


I hope everyone enjoys their snow day.

Opera

So last weekend I went to see Turandot at the Philadelphia Opera Company and it was excellent! It is my favorite opera and it got me thinking about all the operas I have seen. So I thought I would post a list of the operas I have seen and make an effort in the future to see operas I am not familiar with.

So I have seen the following opera's

At the New York City Opera I have seen
The Magic Flute by Mozart

At the Pittsburgh Opera I have seen
La Boheme by Puccini
La Traviata by Verdi
Madame Butterfly by Puccini

In Stockholm at the Palace I saw the first Opera by Jacopo Peri Euridice

At the Baltimore Opera
Aida by Verdi
Carmen by Bizet
Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk by Shostakovich
The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart

At the Metropolitan Opera
Turandot by Puccini
Don Giovanni by Mozart
Carmen by Bizet
La Traviata by Verdi

At the Philadelphia Opera
Turandot by Puccini

There are so many operas I would like to see, that I have not seen yet. But if I could pick one of these operas to see again I would love to see Lady MacBeth of Mtsenk live again, it was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.

Valentines Day

So this is the card my sweetheart got me for Valentines Day. Not every girl would love getting a card with a monkey dressed as a pirate for Valentines Day. But I think the card is pretty funny and sweet knowing the person who gave it to me.

I hope everyone had a good Valentines Day.

Now what?

So I haven't posted in a almost a month and there are three reasons why...

1) I have almost 40 students in my studio which is a first and I started teaching my first Kindermusik class. So work is going really well but is making me really busy.

2) Whenever I haven't been working I've been knitting. I made this lovely vest with yarn from Matt's sister Susan. It turned out really wearable, I really like it.


3) I've been working on this dress. I saw this pattern in September and absolutely loved it. The pattern and yarn were a christmas present and I really wanted to wear it for Valentines Day, but here's the problem. I feel like it is a little big and I should have knit a size smaller.

So in hopes to fix this problem, I seamed the top part smaller which created a very interesting side look.


So my questions are as follows:
1)Does this look ok with the side seam?
2)Should I reknit the top portion with a smaller needle so the top is more form fitting?
3)Should I reknit the whole thing in a smaller size?

It would be worth it to me to start over if it is going to look better, but I may need a few days to mourn the time lost if I rip the whole thing out.

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! (a few weeks late)

Matt and I brought in the New Year in Boston with friends. It was a great weekend and a nice way to end my break from school.

As usual I did a lot of knitting over the break. Here are the socks I knit to bring in the New Year.

They may not be the warmest I have, but they sure are pretty!

On returning from Boston, Matt came to the decision on his own to clean out his closet and get rid of some outdated, too small, and too old items. The boy has more clothes than I do! These circa 1995 red denim shorts were the most ridiculous item we found and thankfully he is getting rid of them. BTW, they are hand wash only because the colors run.


So I hope the New Year brings some exciting new events, but we will have to wait and see.