Tag: Annabelle

Knitting

Heads Up!, BFF

mud&stringLeave a comment

BOLO

After months of “can I?”, “should I?”, “but I know next to nothing about”, “this makes me nervous”, “I’m definitely doing it!”, “maybe I should stick with what I know” and finally, “no guts, no glory”, I did it.  I have a website!  I do!  Mine!  Nothing much is going to change, it’s going to look different (I’ve been toying with the idea of changing the look of my blog for a while) and I’ll have a lot more options available, like using Javascript or HTML to add things I want my blog to contain, more storage, more security and since it’s my site, I’m the boss.

Since I know next to nothing or less about computers and codes and stuff, I decided to use Godaddy.com for site management, handling backup, security, updates, all the stuff that goes into maintaining a website.  I get to do all of the blogging fun stuff, I suppose it’s one of those “all of the pleasure, none of the guilt” things.

I’m hoping to go live with iknead2knit.com on Monday, 1/26/15 and plan on keeping iknead2knit.wordpress.com going for a little while, probably  mostly with links to the new site, hoping to make an easy transition.  As always, I’m always open to suggestions; I know there are a lot of bloggers who are old hands at this website stuff, and any tricks or tips will be appreciated.

GRAND ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

Up until the last month or so, the grands and Josie the Pug weren’t a good mix.  Not because she doesn’t like kids- she LOVES them- but her being who she is, a lot of dog in a small body, and very exuberant, with lots of snorting, the littles were intimidated, shrieking and running whenever she got a little too close.  This was more than a little upsetting for Mr. iknead and me, having to keep Josie and the grands separated, usually with Josie having to be either in her kennel, in another room or boarded.  So hard!  Anyhow, all this changed over the last month or so and now, the Papoose, the Sprout and Josie are the biggest, bestest friends forever!  Yeah, Mr. iknead and I are pretty much over the moon about it.  Look.

image

How bout that!  Heaven for us all!

The trick is in what one emphasizes.  We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves happy.  The amount of work is the same.  Carlos Castaneda

B

Advertisement
Knitting

WIP Wednesday, Birthday Sprout, Booklove

mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

 Sock.JPG

Feuillettes

from Red Bird Knits

Lorna’s Laces Solemates

Watercolor

Several years ago I took part in Red Bird Knits sock club and received this particular sock pattern.  I long ago forgot what yarn was included, but I picked up a couple of skeins of Solemate a few weeks ago and it seemed to be a great match for this pattern.  Solemate is to die for, so soft!  I glad I bought a second skein because I’m already thinking about my next project using it!

BOOKLOVE

TWO

Our sweet Sprout turned two yesterday! All the grands are especially amazing and Miss Annabelle is no exception.  In a nutshell – you always know where you stand with her.  She either loves it or hates it and wants you to know it in no uncertain terms.  She’s a snuggler, a giggler and has had us right where she wants us from the very minute she was born.  She is a joyful blessing!

GREEN GROWING THINGS

Our flowers have never looked so good!

The Norfolk pine I’d given up for dead has come back with a vengence and has doubled in size!

I don’t know what this is called, but the hummingbirds love it!

Impatiens has nearly taken over our flower bed!

ALL BETTER

As you can tell, I can once again post photos and this makes me happy.  Happy is good.  Mr. Iknead was getting tired of hearing me talk ugly to my iPad.

Linking with Tami, Frontier Dreams and Ginny’s Yarn Along.

Life is change.  Growth is optional.  Choose wisely.  Karen Clark

B

Knitting

Thriftin’, Pawpaw and 2/4 grands, TDL

mud&stringLeave a comment

WHERE’VE I BEEN

Last Thursday, I invited myself to Stuttgart for a visit, mostly to help out Bigmommy a little and just to spend a little QT with the Papoose and the Sprout.  I got to see the Papoose’s school and was fortunate enough to get the grand tour. Very exciting stuff!  My sweet son in law shares my love of rooting around thrift and antique stores, so Friday morning he, the Sprout and I took a field trip and did some thrifting.  I’ve collected blue and white pottery for just about forever and scored two new pieces and yet another hippie purse.  Say what you will, Bigmommy, about me being an old hippie, but because everything old is new again, I’m on the cutting edge of today’s fashion. ; p. So there.

These are in great shape, the spigot button sticks but will work perfectly after a little WD40.

These were both made by the Marshall Pottery, Marshall, Texas

Love everything about this!

2/4 GRANDS

You can tell he doesn’t care anything for them!

The only thing that could possibly make him happier would be to have all four in his arms.

THE DOCUMENTED LIFE

This week’s prompt was to somehow incorporate a feather.  This is my take on it, along with an e.e. cummings poem.

Modeling paste, peacock feather stencil, Derwent Blocks

Acrylic background, watercolor feathers

In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.  William Blake

B

 

Knitting

I Do Redo, WIP Wednesday and Grands

mud&stringLeave a comment

I DO REDO

Mr. Iknead and I renewed our wedding vows last Friday for our 35th anniversary.  It was surprisingly emotional, both for me and for him.  I’m not a crier at all, so to just break down with happy tears was unusual.  We had Holy Communion – again, surprisingly emotional and just special.  That’s the only word I can find to describe it, special.

Aren’t we beautiful! Seriously!

Trio of Blessings

L to R – The Sprout, Babydiva and The Papoose

 

 After pics, we all went out to dinner and it was just joyous…..until the nasty little incident with Babydiva.

Here’s what happened:  we had to wait for a table, not unusual, we were a big group and it was Friday evening.  Waiting for a table with three hungry children had ugly potential, so Babydaddy and Bigmommy took the big girls outside to wait.  Lots of little girl fun, with hopping, skipping attempts, chattering, laughing, squealing – little girl stuff.  During a round of hopping, Babydiva tripped and faceplanted on the sidewalk.  Lots of blood and little girl hysterics, both from Babydiva and the Papoose.  Luckily, no broken or loose teeth, just a fat lip and we were able to get it iced quickly. I think Babydaddy was more traumatized than Babydiva, luckily for them, I just happened to have a Tide pen in my pocketbook and his bloody shirt was taken care of and Babydiva just happened to have some Barbie stickers and what didn’t come out with the pen, she put stickers over.

Poor Baby

Anyhow, it didn’t affect her appetite and by the end of the meal, all were happy again.   Parenting in the Trenches or Never A Dull Moment. : )

ON THE NEEDLES

Slip Stitch Felted Bag

Irina Poludnenko, Designer

Kureyon #352 and Cascade 220 #7801

Linking with Tami and Frontier Dreams.

Imagination rules the world.  Napoleon Bonaparte

B

 

 

Knitting

WIP 3/12/14, Booklove

mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

The Kew socks are so close to being finished I can taste it. For once, I’ve held my raging startitis in check and will start a new project without feeling guilty about the number of projects relegated to the “back burner” or in my case, “the bag pitched into the deepest, darkest recesses of my yarn room”.

BOOKLOVE

I finished A Land Kinder Than Home by Wiley Cash and am set to start Paris in Love, by Eloisa James.  Enjoyed the Wiley Cash, but didn’t love it.  It’s a fictional account of snake handling, murder, religion and what happens when they collide.  Entertaining, but probably not a repeater.

GRANDS

This photo says everything you need to know about the Sprout; her cute factor is always first and foremost.  I’ve gotten good at changing diapers on the fly!

Linking with Tami and KCCO today.

Indulge your imagination in every possible flight.  Jane Austen

B

 

Knitting

Spoiler Alert, Grands and Other Random Stuff

mud&stringLeave a comment

SPOILERALERTSPOILERALERTSPOILERALERT

I got my Phat Fiber Sampler box a few days ago and look what was in it!

Luscious Yarn Samples

and some sweet stitch markers, a cool snake button and a Tardis keychain!

Nice, right?

BUT WAIT!  THERE’S MORE!

My new Yarnbox subscription arrived yesterday containing not one, but TWO hanks of this equally luscious yarn!

Yes, as a matter of fact, yarn DOES make me happy!   The colorway is called Anodized and I’m having a difficult time keeping the startitis monkeys off my back.  I’m trying to hold out at least until I finish one of the two pairs of socks that are currently on the needles. At the moment, it could go either way.

Two lovely packages in two days – it doesn’t get much better than that in my world.  Except for this…….

GRANDS

I love how my three grandgirls are BFFs, even at their young ages.  Someday I’m going to be janie on the spot and video the happiness and hugs when they greet each other, whether it’s been an hour or a week since they’ve been together.

2/3 of the Iknead grands

the remaining 1/3

Seriously, could the Sprout be any cuter???

Clearly, the Iknead clan is triple blessed with these three, which will become four this summer.   Babymama and Babydaddy plan a gender reveal for my birthday next week, I’ll keep you posted.

FEET

Mine are really, really ugly and I need a pedicure STAT.  Except that I’ve let them go this winter and am embarrassed for the pedicure people to even see them.  A monthly (at least) pedi makes all the difference in the world and I know they probably see worse feet than mine, but I envision them sounding the alarm and running for the hills when they see my car pull up in the parking lot.  I don’t know though, my embarrassment makes me a really good tipper, maybe they’re running toward the door instead.  Ya think?

Never mistake motion for action.  Ernest Hemingway

B

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knitting

Happy Havoc

mud&stringLeave a comment

GRAND TIME

The Papoose and Sprout were here for a visit this week, Saturday until Wednesday afternoon; I tried to document as much as possible but most of the time it’s much more fun to just play and not photograph.  Here’s a few we managed to snap.

The Papoose and I made a cake.

We had lasagna one night for supper.

The Sprout decided the hatbox was the best seat in the house.

The castle is always fun.

Lots of giggles.

Crashed

Remember:  What happens at Bebe and Papa’s stays at Bebe and Papa’s!

How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong.  Because someday in life you will have been all of these.  George Washington Carver

B

Knitting

Oh No, No FO, Should I MYOB?, Grands

mud&stringLeave a comment

 

OFF THE NEEDLES

Nothing, despite a serious case of startitis and my resolve to not start anything new until I get at least one of my current WIPs off the needles.

ON THE NEEDLES

First sleeve of Mariella Cardi

Best Friend Scarf using a ball of Jojoland Melody I found in one of my stash dives.

The second sock of a pair for me; the yarn is a mystery, the pattern is in my head.

I need to bust a move on at least one of these projects, I have a pattern and yarn that is calling me like a sideshow barker, “Hurry, hurry, hurry!  Step right this way!  Get ready for the most fabulous project of your life!  Hurry, hurry, hurry!

QUESTION

Should I (diplomatically) point out typos in a friend’s otherwise beautiful website?  They’re nothing serious, nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a simple proofread; wouldn’t you want something that represents you to be perfect?  Should I mention it or should I MYOB?  What would you do?

TUESDAY WITH THE GRANDS

The Sprout and the Slide

Babydiva Daredevil

A thing well said will be wit in all languages

B

Knitting

Cray Cray Christmas, Life Change

mud&stringLeave a comment

WHEW!

Our (usual) cray cray Christmas has come and gone and from the pics, we were all very very good the past year.  What was the best part?  The Iknead/Coleman/Vaughan family had not one, but two Christmases, The Iknead/Vaughans in the morning and the Iknead/Coleman/Vaughans in the evening.

We went to the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service:

Where I learned that hearing a precious three year old grand singing “Oh Come Let Us Adore Him” will move me to tears, then and now; reminding me of the joy of the real gifts of Christmas, past, present and future.  (Excuse me, I need a tissue).

  Bigdaddy, as always, set a beautiful table for us Christmas morning:

Again, the food was delish and the company, delightful!

We had a visit from Santa:

and were able to squeeze in a Christmas snuggle or two:

Babydaddy was gracious enough to play Santa for Round 2:

I finally can post a Christmas knitting FO:

Babydaddy’s Handknit Socks

Santa made another stop at Babydiva’s house:

and found that Babydiva had also been very good!

What’s the over the top, greatest thing ever, long time coming and more than well deserved gift for all of the family this Christmas season?  Are you sitting down?

(Cue the fanfare)

Mr. Iknead is retired as of December 19, 2013!  Retired as in the ceremonial turning off of the alarm clock, sitting around, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee in the morning and what shall I do today retired.

Congratulations, sweetie!  You’ve more than earned it!  I can’t wait to get started on this new life chapter with you!

More to follow………

When the solution is simple, God is answering.  Albert Einstein

B

Knitting

Random Tuesday

mud&stringLeave a comment

RANDOMLY

We got a new mailbox!  The house siding is finished, yay; but with the new siding, the old mailbox looked very old and sad, so it retired to the great recycle bin in the sky and was replaced by this:

New kid in town.  Isn’t it pretty??

OUT FOR A SPIN

Here’s a look at my newest spinning project:

The roving came from Greenwood Fiberworks.  For more info, see this post.

THE GRANDS

In no particular order:

The Sprout loves Josie Pug’s kennel.  Look at her new teeth!

The Papoose loves G-grandma and G-grandma loves her back, although you can’t tell it in this pic.  Mema looks like she wants to escape!  BTW, Mema is Mr. Iknead’s mommy.

Babydiva visits her minions!

Age is a question of mind over matter.  If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.  Satchel Paige

B

Knitting

Beach 2013

mud&stringLeave a comment

I NEEDED AN OUTLET

Mr. Iknead and I took advantage of the cool, rainy morning to check out a yarn store in Destin.  Actually, it was me that wanted to check out the yarn store, Mr. Iknead was kind enough to drive – the traffic around Destin is hideous at any time and the yarn store didn’t pan out, so we went to the outlets instead.  I bought a nice pair of thong sandals at the Columbia outlet (shoe whore that I am) and a great new purse at Fossil.

LIFE’S A BEACH

What We See

THE LITTLEST GRAND

Sweet Sprout

No man is a failure who is enjoying life.  William Feather

B

Knitting

Passing It On

mud&stringLeave a comment

AS PROMISED

Like I posted yesterday, I spent pretty much the entire day with the Papoose and the Sprout.  The Papoose is always fascinated by my knitting, she will pick up a piece of yarn and run it through her fingers, saying “I’m knitting”.  She also has a toy that is big wooden beads on a string that can be strung and unstrung and she’ll put them on and take them off, all the while saying, “Look!  I’m knitting!”  In keeping with my belief that you’re never too young or too old to learn something new, I fixed her up a real, live knitting bag with some old, wooden, blunt size 13 needles and three balls of some scrap yarn – pink, green and blue.   She was so proud!  Like I said, never too young.  I cast on a few stitches for her and she played around with “knitting” most of the day.  Here’s my favorite photo from yesterday –

Proud Papoose

Sweet Hands!

and while we weren’t looking –

Another Knitter Is Born

Seriously, I get a warm, fuzzy, lump in the throat feeling looking at these, thinking about sharing my love for knitting and fiber with the grands and then their sharing it and hopefully, loving it as much as I do.  The more (ehem) mature I become, the more I crave continuity and this makes my heart and soul sing.

JUST A COUPLE MORE

Angel

Babydiva And Babydaddy At The Lake

I love that she loves the water, I see a lot more pool/lake time in the future!

I can be changed by what happens to me but I refuse to be reduced by it.  Maya Angelou

B