It's Been AWhile

Life has been busy! And I've been tired! My friend Maureen and I took a 5 day bus tour to Branson-the first time for both of us. We saw some great shows-my favorite was Andy Williams followed by Daniel O'Donnell. We also saw the Presleys, Steamboat Branson Belle, The Twelve Irish Tenors which were also good and Moe Bandy who wasn't.

After many of the performances, a performer will come on the tour buses to say hello to us. He is from the Presleys.

Maureen and I sit in every big chair we can find. This is the third one!

My daughter's ex's grandmother has written a children's book and my daughter has illustrated it. Here is one of her illustrations. The story is a true experience about a pet duck. Yes, it has a diaper on. The book should arrive this week, so it will be fun to see the finished product. (I am responsible for the mistake in the book.) My daughter put the story and illustrations together but her computer kept crashing, so she ended up doing it on our computer. Since she lives 40 miles from us, we did the final editing and downloading to the printer.

And I have been knitting! This is the sweater for my son although I actually frogged this piece and started over in a smaller size. I now have 4 of the large medallions done. The sleeve is OK, don't have to frog that. I tested my gauge on the sleeve before starting the sweater. At this point I wish he wasn't 6 feet tall. At least he is thin. There is supposed to be duplicate stitch patterning around the center medallion and in the red border-we'll see if that gets done!

I so want to knit some socks. It seems I've seen such nice patterns lately, maybe that's all I'll knit when Christmas knitting is done. The one break I did take from my Christmas knitting was to make the Pretty Thing Cowl I posted previously. NOW I CAN'T FIND IT!!! I've searched and searched and am hoping it will show up in some strange place. Is that a symptom of Alzheimer's? I also have a skein of cashmere yarn I can not find. But if you saw my yarn closet, that would be understandable.

Fun Shopping

Tuesday I had a fun day in Anoka, MN. My first stop was Shepherd's Choice yarn shop which recently moved from Ham Lake to Anoka. Such a fun, friendly shop and they carry the Spud & Chloe brand of yarn which I want to try. Besides yarn and books they carry soaps and lotions made by the owner. I got this sock yarn, so after the Christmas knitting is done, I'll try.

The next stop was Avant Garden which is a coffee, gift, sandwich shop on Main Street. The first thing that caught my eye was this mug, called the hand warmer mug. I always hold my cup with my hand wrapped around it, so this was perfect-plus it was made in my favorite blues.

Of course, it came home with me and I'm enjoying my morning cup of tea.

Perched on the shelf just below the mugs was this book. I am focusing a lot of my reading on local authors, so it almost jumped into my hands. It is inspired by a true story and tells of a woman who has been in a nursing home her adult life and finds a man to love and wants to get married. Her feelings, her frustrations, and her situation really comes through to the reader. Peripheral View by Rita Kuehn. Excellent book! And I'm sure the fictional town of Rum River is Anoka!

Pretty Thing

This is so luscious!!! I almost want cold weather to wear it.
Pattern: Pretty Thing by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee-available on Ravelry for $5
Yarn: Quiviuk from Windy Valley Muskox in Alaska. I purchased it from J Conklin Designs in Colorado, but can not find her on line now.
Needles: Size 5
This was a fast, fun knit.

Two Sweaters

A while ago my grandson requested a rainbow sweater, so this is his Christmas sweater. The picture doesn't do the colors justice.
Pattern: Cottage Creations Wonderful Wallaby
Yarn: Mochi Plus
Needles: Sizes 6 and 8

Lands End donated lots of yarn for knitters to use to make sweaters for the Pine Ridge Reservation in North Dakota. Two of my friends both requested yarn expecting one to get it, if they were lucky. Well, they both got about 10 pounds, so I volunteered to make a sweater for them.
Pattern: The Incredible Custom Fit Raglan-a free download-can be found on Ravelry.
Yarn: Land End
Needles: Size 10 1/2
I would have done another one, but knitting this one hurt my hands as the yarn was doubled and is basically a cotton.