Happy Birthday Miss Kaylee!

First off - have to wish a happy birthday to my god-daughter Kaylee. She's now 2. Appropriately enough, most of my blog fodder today has to do with her, even though neither she, nor her parents, read this blog. Oh well, I'm all about cute children pictures.

Last weekend was super. Friday Mom and I went to see "Mamma Mia!" - I highly recommend it. It was a lot of fun, and I had no idea that ABBA had so many good, fun songs. Saturday was the Irish Festival out at the Berea Fairgrounds. Another big thumbs up. Here's Miss Kaylee, looking slightly like a drowned rat, after being spritzed. (It was 95 degrees when there was a breeze!)
Mom and I were very happy to get to see Seamus Kennedy, he's one of our favorites! He's so much fun to watch and listen to.

Kaylee also enjoys Seamus.

She spent the whole set dancing around, it was too funny. Mom and I stayed for a good chunk of time, and besides Seamus, we got to enjoy The Elders, Seven Nations, and a local fave Brigid's Cross.

Sunday was Miss Kaylee's birthday party. I went over early to help set up the pool, and as soon as it was filled, wouldn't you know, massive thunderstorm hits. It P-O-U-R-E-D. But amazingly enough, it dried out in time for the kids to swim. Here's Miss Kaylee modelling the latest in toddler swimwear fashion.
After the pool, it was time for the pinata. Kaylee was a little too young to understand that she was suddenly allowed to hit something with a stick. All in all, a good day for a two year old. So we'll move on to the pathetic lack of knitting. I managed to finish the Luna Moth Shawl finally. I think that might have even happened the weekend before - oops, maybe I should blog more.And then I decided that I was so pleased with the fact that I had finally finished an actual lace project, I had to cast on for another one. There may be something wrong with me. I found a pattern on Ravelry for the Lattice Lace Wrap. It's really pretty, and very easy. Time consuming because I'm using beads, but I can't help it. I'm easily sucked in by shiny things.
That's as far as I've gotten, but like I said, there's not been much knitting happening. I did manage to finish something though. I whipped out this cute little dishrag in an evening.
It'll be for Liz's birthday. It's actually my first ever dishcloth. Why have I not knit these things before? What the heck is wrong with me? For some reason I didn't like to knit easy quick projects when I first started knitting. A scarf? Nah, I'd rather knit a cabled sweater. A dishcloth that can be knit in 3 hours? No way, I'd rather make complicated socks. Seriously. I'm an idiot.

And I did cast on another pair of socks, even though I swore to myself that I wouldn't until I finished at least one of the pairs that's in progress. hahaha. I started "Spring Forward" from the most recent edition of Knitty. They're quick and simple, and I could work on them the other night when I was at Ellie's catching up on most of this season's episodes of Army Wives. I'm using some Lorna's Laces, in the colorway "Somerset" that was purchased last year in Philly at Loop.
So, my vacation picture order finally came in. Which can only mean one thing... scrapbooking! So hopefully, in the next few days, I'll have some pages to show you, break the monotony of the knitting pics.

All About the Knitting

So I know that you've all been waiting impatiently all week for me to post about my very exciting vacation knitting. Apologies for making you wait. But, in waiting you get a few bonuses. First up on the beach house knitting - the Charm socks.
I managed to finish the cuff as we were driving off the island. I really love the way they turned out. And once again, I now just have to wait until it starts to cool off in order to wear them.

And now for a brand new premier project... The Noro Striped Scarf. I've been wanting to knit this one for a good long while, and thought that some easy no think knitting was needed for the beach house. So, ta-da!Finished it on the last night. And every time I wear it this cold and yucky winter, I'll remember the knitting of it while on vacation. And my wonderful nephew "helped" to knit one row somewhere in the middle, so I'll be able to think of him too. The bonus shot (that is way cooler) i was inspired to shoot today.
That's my final project from the pottery class I took in college. Finally coming into play. The assignment was to create a "self portrait" - haha. Those that know me know that my artistic abilities extend only so far as cutting paper and twisting string and stick figures. So when I found an article about some faceless heads in an art magazine, I jumped on board. Will definitely have to use it for every scarf photo shoot from here on out.

So that put me with nothing to knit for the whole car ride home - ha, not really. I started the Rivendell socks. And got pretty far. And then on Monday, after I had gotten down to the heel, I attempted to try it on. Yes, once again my sock was too tight. So it was ripped and restarted with size 2 needles. And this is how far I am, as of this morning.
Back to the heel. It's working up very nicely. It's BMFA Socks that Rock Lightweight, in "Blue Moonstone" and I loves the Precious. The cuff is a little teeny bit tight. Stupid wrapped stitches. But I'll knit on.

While on vacation, Thursday to be exact, we found a cute little yarn shop in Manteo, NC: Fine Yarns at Kimbeeba. And I got 2 skeins of Mirasol Hacho in colorway 307 (on Ravelry it's Northern Lights). And the shop owner gave me a wonderful scarf pattern to use with it. Here's the Ravelry link. And here's where I'm at on the Vacation Scarf:
Sadly the 2 skeins is definitely not enough to finish it as promised, so I ordered two more. It's all good. Got a bunch of it finished Wednesday night at the Indians game. It was the Stitch'n'Pitch game. Yay lots of knitters who are also baseball fans hanging out together. And yay for the Indians who finally got around to winning a game! It was totally the wool fumes and good vibes from happy knitters. So here's some photos of me, Ellie, and knitting buds Ginny and Paula, and maybe a shameless pic of Grady Sizemore thrown in for good measure.
And now for the real bonus of waiting to blog until today. I got the Etsy order I placed earlier this week. Some very gorgeous sock yarn (go figure) And the seller, rasehallstudios, is so amazing as to send all this:A cute and perfectly sized back canvas bag - perfect for sock projects, and a very pretty hand made card that contained a lovely personalized note. That's honestly one of the things I love most about Etsy, the way that most of the sellers go above and beyond to make their items special. And did I mention that the yarn is amazing?

Home

Well, the Family Vacation of Fun version 2008 is over. No one was seriously injured or maimed, no one had to be bailed out of jail, so all in all it was pretty good. Here's the summary - beach was great, sunburn was bad, lots of family time, and Mom took more than 500 photos. Don't know how many more details we need, so we'll do it in pictures. These will all be from my camera, so I actually know what I'm talking about, and in chronological order.

So first up, Monday we went to the Wright Brothers National Monument in Kill Devil Hills. Here's the reproduction of the first airplane. Had a rousing presentation from the ranger about the way that they made it work and what not. He seriously sounded like the Tater Salad guy that tours with Larry the Cable Guy. No joke.
That's the monument itself, up a lovely steep hill that supposedly has amazing views of the OBX. I say supposedly, because if you'll look closely at the photo, you'll see the very black clouds rolling in. I took exactly 2 pictures before the heavens opened and it started to pour. So I didn't really spend much time admiring the view. After the downpour, we went putt-putting. Master Charles loves to "golf." Here's the Jerseyans on the train ride you get after you finish your round. Good times.To backtrack just a bit before the next photo - we went to the beach bright and early on Sunday morning. This was my first true experience with the ocean. No photos, because I didn't take my camera to the beach either time we went during the day and swimming/boogie boarding/sand castle building was on the agenda. But, on Tuesday evening, we went to the beach for a shell expedition. It was beautiful.This was the 5th or 6th attempt at a self portrait of me and Ellie, but we finally got it.
No one bothered to mention to me that this would be a common sight on the beach.
That's a jellyfish. I have a bit of a small fear of these buggers. I mean, there you are just strolling down the beach enjoying the beautiful water, the amazing sky... and ow, you step on a stinging burning tentacle that shouldn't be out of the water. Creeps me out. I managed to avoid a few close calls with the jellyfish, but was not fortunate enough, because I stepped on a relative of his.
A teeny tiny baby relative, who pinched the snot out of my right arch. And no one would believe that I had until I pulled the evidence out of my foot. Who knew something so tiny could pinch so hard?

I recovered quickly though. And managed to snap this super cool picture. I love it.
Wednesday, we went to the shopping center nearby for the sole purpose of C4 getting a pony ride. He got to ride Domino a few times around the ring, doesn't he look like a cowboy?
And this pic of Sarah is just too adorable to not put in. I mean, look at that smile.
After the pony ride, we went across the way to the Currituck Light House. It's 162 feet high, with 214 steps to the observation deck. Fun times.
C4 was able to climb all 214 steps without any assistance too - pretty good for a 3 year old if you ask me. The views were amazing:
Ocean side.

Sound side.

Up side.

There's Mom and Dad down at the bottom, looking up and taking pictures of us. And this is our intrepid party making it's way back down the 214 steps (you'll notice that Miss Sarah did need some assistance).
And the inside view from the top.

And C4 making his wish into a wishing well that doesn't have water - I found that a little odd.
Thursday was a great day for picture taking. One bonus to being on vacation with a 3 year old - you get some good photo opportunities. We went to Festival Park on Roanoke Island - where everyone dresses and behaves as they would have had they been a citizen of the Lost Colony. Fun. The museum of course, is more than just the pre-Colonial history of the island though, as you'll see.

Here is my scurvy pirate of a nephew in front of Stumpy the Pirate. Aarrrrgh!
And here is my nephew looking a bit tense in a Civil War tent, but trying to smile nicely.
This of course is my nephew, the brave New Jerseyman doing his duty, spying on the Confederates.
And these are my siblings, trying to shoot each other. (see it really was a family vacation of fun)
Here we have my nephew as an English shoulder ready for battle (he's really very diverse in the characters he can play).This is Charlie, sleeping where the scurvy pirates sleep on the Elizabeth II.
And eating like the scurvy pirates do.
And working like the scurvy pirates do (Can you tell that he's into scurvy pirates right now? Not just any pirates, scurvy pirates.)That evening, Tommy came for a visit and we went to the beach for some kite flying.
And a family photo with the lighthouse in the background.

Friday, we spent a good chunk of time at the beach one last time. Showing off our rad moves on the boogie boards before a surf class came and totally took over our area of the beach. The Jerseyans left that evening, Ellie and I went to see fireworks, and then packed and cleaned for checkout on Saturday morning.

Saturday night we spent in Frederick with cousin Krista and her hubby Adam, celebrating his birthday. Shots and beer and funny conversation made for a good night. And finally, after a long drive on Sunday, we arrived home.

I'll save the vacation knitting for tomorrow, methinks this post is much too long already.