July 19th, 1957

That was a good year! That was 50 years ago today. I am so glad that I'm here to share my 50th birthday with the world. I guess you could say I almost didn't make it, but, almost doesn't count. I'm here, that's the best part of this day.

My super wonderful kids had a surprise party for me on Saturday. The oldest daughter was supposed to be out of town and BTB and I had to go up and feed our grandkittens and our new grand guinea pig. Guess what? We forgot the house key. The oldest daughter had to let us in anyway. THAT was a surprise!

There were bunches of people standing in her kitchen, all around the table, including our Baby Boy, the Baby Girl and friends. The oldest said "the rest of your present is in the backyard" so I went to her backdoor and opened it and OH MY GOD! Her backyard was even more full of people than her kitchen was. What a great day. My parents were there, there bests friends were there, my good friend from the Atlanta area was there with her daughter and grandson, the Minister from the church the Baby Girl goes to was there with his daughter and granddaughter, there were so many people! I was speechless.

We had Chinese food and good old American food - hamburgers and hotdogs. And, my Mom's neighbor, who is also a friend of ours, made my birthday cake. Chocolate Cake people! With white frosting. THE BEST KIND OF CAKE!

And this folks is what BTB gave me! It's very special cause the ruby is actually shaped like a heart and BTB is very sentimental now about my heart. This one is perfect, as is BTB. What an amazing 50th Birthday! Thanks everyone, you made me feel very loved, very special and not so old.
And here's some more, just cause I know you want to see them. This is my newest Nantucket Basket my father made for me. I now have either 5 or 6! I've already put the Kauni yarn in it. That's last years MS2 behind it.
Coffee syrup and Dels. Do you know what that is? It's good! Came from RI. That's the lamb the Baby Girl gave me.
A huge bucket of Del's. This is from my Baby Boy. I'm going to make BTB and I one of these tonight. If I remember I'll take a picture. YUMMY!
This is from my parents. It's a Jim Shore lamb. Isn't it awesome? And Mom quilts, so I'll always remember it was from them.
This is from the Baby Girls best friend/roommate and is called the Liberty Pug. How cute is this? And it looks just like my Liberty.

I was going to post about my knitting tragedy's but this has been so much fun putting together I've decided they can wait, or maybe just get lost in the shuffle. I had pictures but haven't downloaded them yet. I've had to tear out almost 50 rows of my MS3 stole. After admiring several in blogland I realized I had a mistake way back down in the middle of chart 2. It's torn out and I'm now in the process of getting all the stitches back on the needles and figuring out where I am in the charts. Kauni had the same fate but only 7 rows had to be torn out. I only had one row in a box instead of 2 for some reason. That's all back together and those 7 rows have been reknit and knit right. That's what I've spent my 50th birthday doing, while watching movies with BTB, who took half the day off to spend with his bride.

Headed to the Mountains Saturday to spend a few weeks with my parents and to celebrate Mom's and my birthdays. She'll be 70 the 25th (she'd kill me for saying that in public) so we're spending our milestones together. If 50 is the new 30, 70 must be the new 50, right? Sounds right to me.

Happy Knitting everyone and I'll be back sometime in August.

I Cried, I Screamed, I danced!

Thursday, July 19th, is a special day for me. My kids (and husband) had a party. Some bloggers found out and sent stuff. I was overwhelmed! I've never been given so many great gifts from online friends. You guys rock!


Catherine dyed yarn just for me! I cried.
Beth sent a tissue holder for my purse. I screamed!
Today in the mail Susan sent me my very own school supplies/knitting equipment! I danced.

I cannot tell you guys how much I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I can't even think of words to say to you but hugs, kisses and all good wishes to you from me!

Happy Knitting! Update again on Thursday when I show you the rest of the goodies.

Cedric?

The sorting hat says that I belong in Hufflepuff!

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot, and treat them just the same."

Hufflepuff students are friendly, fair-minded, modest, and hard-working. A well-known member was Cedric Digory, who represented Hogwarts in the most recent Triwizard Tournament.

Take the most scientific Harry Potter
Quiz ever created.

Get Sorted Now!

Going to see the new HP movie tomorrow. More updates on MS3 and Kauni KAL's on Friday.

Happy Knitting!

MS3, Kauni, Shrugs and Pugs

I can't write like the Yarn Harlot and I can't take pictures of my projects like Bonnie Marie,
But I did figure out how to label objects in my pictures, so, for all of you who haven't knit lace before, here's what I use to help me keep track of where I am on the chart. Click to make biiger. The clipboard with the storage compartment underneath is the best thing I ever bought. I can keep everything you see on top of it inside it, except the bowl and the skein of yarn. I'm into clue 2 of the MS3 shawl and enjoying every minute of it. I'm in no hurry, just enjoying the process.
Here's a closeup of the bead. I bought these from The Bead Wrangler and am now a new bead knitter! How fun it is to be knitting away, grab that little crochet hook and pop a bead right on the lace!? I've done it the other way and I didn't like it at all, just too much work trying to put 400 beads onto a skein of yarn. This way is much, much easier. Melanie, the Mother of MS3 used this link to show us how she did the beads but I've been reading Fluffy Knitter Debs blog for awhile now and had seen her tutorial before, and tried it, just hadn't made anything using it. I have now and I love it. I enjoyed doing last years KAL and enjoying this years even more now that I'm an "old hat" at lace.
I'm also doing the Kauni KAL and I have to say, I just love this sweater, the yarn, the pattern, everything. It is so much fun to knit and watch to see which color will come up next. This is what I've done in just 2 days. BTB, The Baby Girl and I are watching the Harry Potter Marathon this weekend and most of this was done last night during The Sorcerer's Stone. It's a great TV watching knit because you only have to think about what you're doing every few rows and to remind yourself which is color A and which is color B. And, I did the ribbing, then read that it was corrugated ribbing and didn't even realize it. I was just doing the ribbing in 2 colors, I didn't know there was a name for it. Loving this knit!This is my shrug. It's really a great little knit and I'm so glad I decided to make it. I got the pattern from a wonderful lady at A Good Yarn in Hayesville, NC that I visited while staying with my parents in May. It's knit with Berrocco Love It yarn. Bascically it's a long tube with the ends sewn together to put your arms in. I didn't think I'd ever wear it, just wanted to see how it was done and how the colors would work in that yarn and already I've put it on several times because of the a/c being too cold or the ceiling fan blowing too hard. It's just a little something to keep the chill away from your shoulders and arms. My oldest granddaughter saw it, tried it on and loved it so I'm now making her one in Popsicle Blue Cotton Ease. Great little knit. Here's the front:

This is the Baby Girls 19th Birthday cake. Her sister was nice enough to have us over to her house for the birthday party (Thanks kiddo). We had another cake that looked like a beach scene, you can see it on the bottom right of the picture. The hamburger cake was just too good - all that frosting! Yum!!!!
And last but not least, a pug picture, just a little different this time. Since the real pug looks so awful with whatever it is she has going on with her skin, and my Baby Boy sent this to me via his Baby Sister, I thought this would be a great ending to this long blog entry. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Knitting!

Happy 4th Birthday Liberty!

Happy Birthday America!

The Baby Girl turns 19 today.
Happy Birthday Alexandria Elizebeth!