My three little treasures. E I and O.

Big Fun

You guys.....I am having so much fun. No really, I am. I have been a little slice of sunshine to be around these past few days. My sister and neice came to visit, and I hadn't seen them in like two years. Woo-wee. Nothing like sister bonding time. Besides the time when Amy and I went joy-riding down 101 last week, my feeling young and carefree like a teenage girl times, are few and far in between. Tonight, Drea,which is short for Andrea (my sis) and I are gonna L'oreal color out our gray and braid each others manes. Oh, how I love my sis. We can talk about anything. And she soooooo gets me. Audrey, (my niece and also my god-daughter) has grown so tall. She is 10 yrs. old. How did that happen? It has only been three years since I moved here from California and now it seems like I have missed out on so much. I am in the process of knitting her up the "knit for the cure bag" and will be done and hopefully will be able to felt it tomorrow. She has already asked me twice to teach her how to knit.....so as soon as we can catch a little break in our busy go-go-go schedule, I will sit down and dole out some lessons.

Today, we took a picnic lunch and hike in the nature preserve. It was so funny to see them freak out over the swarming mosquitos. Seriously, it brought back memories of when I first moved here to Eden Prairie. I hadn't ever even seen a single mosquito either before. I guess near the ocean, they just don't breed like here. Anyway, we sprayed on plenty of deep woods "off" and braved it like natives.

My neice, Audrey, has type 1 diabetes, so it has also been a huge learning experience watching her check her blood several times a day and giving herself insulin injections. My sister is amazing to be able to deal with this daily so optimistically . Anyway, the kids love having Auntie Drea and their cousin around......and I already know I will be crying a river inside when they leave in 6 days. But for now, I am going to concentrate on having some "Big Fun." and yes, that is also another Manilow song title. I can't help it!... but at least my little sis understands my obsession.

My weakness is knitting these cute little bears.This beginner bear can be made up in an evening or two and kept on hand for a last minute gifts. Presently, I am working on the bear on the front cover of this Knitted Teddy Bear book for my dad for Father's Day. A wee bit more complicated.

The Sophie Bag. These little bags were fast and fun to felt. They only took one skein of yarn each.

My first felted project. A large tote bag made from cascade 220. This was super fun to knit.

Believe it or not, eating out at the BK lounge is a real treat for me. I am the only carnivore in a house full of vegetarians. Help! And Yes, I do realize that I am a total goober.

I made it Through The Rain

I found my mojo!!! It came in the mail AND, I am wearing it to the next Stitch 'n Bitch. Someone has selflessly sent me (all the way from Las Vegas, Nevada - you know who you are) her hat that says mojo on it. but now, sadly, she is without hers. Oh, the things we do for our kids, eh? Thanks mom,(oops did I say that out loud) Thanks, but I wish it could be that simple. Even though I hadn't felt at all like casting on and knitting something, (anything!) lately, (notice my use of past tense verbage, there?) I made myself read read read about knitting, in hopes of getting back that feeling again. With all my reading, I am now quite familiar with the SnB forums and I proudly proclaim to be an official blog stalker. Yes, so if you have a knitting blog, beware of me! I am gonna leave comments and don't say you weren't warned.

On Kelle's blog I took the (What kind of Yarn are you?) quiz and learned that I am mohair. Yes, you read that right...I am Mohair. A little LisaD. trivia here guys,.... I am allergic to mohair. This means what, exactly? I'm allergic to myself? Oh, it all makes perfect sense now. I am my own worst enemy.

Hey, and thanks for all the e-mails I've received back from you all saying...."Oh very funny blog entry Lisa." or "Tee-Hee, Ha-ha", or "Oh, you just crack me up, lise." I sincerely thank you, but I don't think you all realize just how serious my dilemma was here. I mean, I was in the depths of despair, on the verge of losing my creative mojo. Unable to even see the light. All hope was quickly fading away. It was like, like, well you know, feeling like you are a small bug in this big world about to be squashed under someone's chunky heel (of course all of this is happening in slow-mo) with literally no way of escaping the horror of becoming sidewalk paste. No, this is not me being dramatic, friends! My pain was real. Real. REAL, I tell you!!! (gasp, sigh) I mean I could've lost my clickety sticks diva chicks membership for good, here.

At any rate, I suppose it's that kind of feeling of being overcome with such sense of futility and defeat that only another Knitting Diva would fully comprehend. And so thank you Meleah, Kelle and Tipper for your nice words of encouragment and comforting comments and suggestions that you left, reassuring me that I was not going loopy (as I was convinced)......and a very special shout out to Amy for threatening (ever so nicely) to kick my butt in hopes of snapping me out of it. Only a really dear friend knows how to enforce a tough love intervention like that. I cherish you, dear friend/Diva chick. And to everyone else....well....Don't get so freaked out over posting a comment here once in a while, ok? Yeah, go ahead and make my day. I need the validation every once in awhile.


Okay, back to the rain. I found my way through it when I came across my Teddy bear knitting book (the one that got me hooked on knitting in the first place) and I am now inspired to make my dad a "Grandpa Bear" for Father's Day. (If you're reading this, Dad... act surprised when you get it in the mail,ok?) For me, all it took was one look at that bear book and I want to knit again. I need to knit again. I found my spark. Oh Joy! I can't stop smiling. I'm off to the store to buy some yarn...right now. Goodbye. iAdios! See ya later..alligator...I just need my keys and some money....and Uh-OH, Hmmm,I seem to be out of money.....can anyone spot me a fiver? Yeah, right.... Five bucks? Ha...LOL..not nearly enough for the kind of yarn I want...... BTW, have I failed to mention that I am also a yarn snob? But that dramatic soliloquy will be saved for another rainy day. Right now, I need a job! WILL WORK FOR YARN!

My lavender drop stitch scarf....made way back in April.