Vacation

We're back. What a lovely weekend!! DH and I went to Astoria, OR and stayed at a nice B&B for 2 nights with no kids. It was so relaxing! This is my only real vacation of the year. When we go off for a few days with the kids, it's actually more stressful than being at home. Sleep is difficult for young kids away from their beds- which makes it difficult for the parents too! Anyway, we had a lovely time! We walked Saturday- for 4 hours- just exploring the town and the Maritime Museum (I could never sail- I would be so seasick!!! ), (we even got to hear the sea lions- we couldn't see them very well, they were out on the buoys; but we could hear them!) the Astoria Column (lovely bit of history with the most amazing view!!), and lots of little stores. I got a little bit of Cascade Fixation yarn for my souvenir- and the 4 book Tolkien set (which I've wanted for years!). It's good to be home, though. The kids are tired from playing with Grandma all weekend- my house needs cleaned- I've got to get school organized! There's always something more to do. When I get the film developed, I'll post some pics of the amazing scenery.

I got some film developed last week, so I can share some of my projects that I've been doing in between the LotR socks.

These are Over the Knee Baby socks. I got the yarn and one sock from a lady on Ravelry, but I absolutely could not match her gauge. So I just knit both of them. I'm not sure what happened, but my gauge didn't match on the 2 I made either. Very weird. But they turned out cute, and I gave them to my new nephew. (that's fun to say! :D)

This bag is a felted bag I FINALLY finished. The handle took 2 months b/c it was 208 sts for 11". I would have finished it sooner, but it was my purse project and I only worked on it for 2-4 hrs a week. I finally pulled it out of the purse and punked it out. I'm not sure I like felting very much. Knitting something 3 sizes too large and then shrinking it feels like a waste of time, I guess. It was worth it this time. I gave it to one of my best friends for her birthday (which happens to be the same day as ES!!).

This is the Fabulous Filigree Scarf from One-Skein Wonders. I made it originally for my SIL, but when I washed it to block it, it wound up in the dryer. It will only fit a doll now. Actually, it's the perfect size for the American Girl dolls. So if anyone wants to buy it from me- I'll sell! It's very pretty, and I like how it turned out, but it is too small for anything bigger than a doll.

Okay, so these pictures are not of my projects (you get all my pictures at once, b/c I use a 35mm film camera and have to wait for my pics until I use all the film and get it developed onto a CD).

This is my wonderful MIL (mother-in-law). When she came over for Baby Owen, she hung out at my house and cleaned and tuned our new piano (apparently, it was really out of tune. I have no ear for music at all!!). I didn't know you could safely take out all the keys!! I was quite surprised! The result was lovely.

I had to put this pic in. Those are the two lovingest dirty little boys ever. They had been playing in the Dirt. Laying down and pouring it on their bellies. Which quickly degenerated into just dumping it all over each other and rolling in it. I had to hose them off outside, and the mud poured out of their hair! But aren't they adorable!?