Lovelies from the Queen Mum















Big C and I had the pleasure today of visiting with Mrs. Mordecai, the Queen Mother of Hand Knit Dishcloths. Mrs. Mordecai learned to crochet when she was 3 and taught herself to knit as a young woman in the 1940's. She's 90 now and spends a lot of her time making dishcloths.

C entertained himself by pushing her walker around while I knitted and chatted with Mrs. Mordecai and her daughter. To top it off we headed home with these lovely dishcloths in Mrs. M's "spring collection."

Of course I had to stop by Hobby Lobby this afternoon and cheat on my yarn diet. I must return Her Majesty's gesture and besides, 5 dollars worth of dishcloth cotton is just a wee cheat anyway.

Dear Ann and Kay,

I'm in love and it's all your fault. It hit me while knitting a pair of bibs for expectant friends (who are rabid Auburn fans BTW). I am in love with garter stitch. It's squishy, it's reversible, it's wonderfully bumpy. I had written the humble garter stitch off long ago when I learned to purl. Moss stitch, cables, lace... Surely an intermediate level knitter such as myself had better stitches to do. Oh how WRONG I was.

 

Big C Says: "Auburn bibs? You've got to be kidding mom!" 

I hate diets...

But here I am with my sister Julie's beach wedding a little more than a month away. I'm not normally insecure about my appearance. I look pretty good in my clothes. A swim suit however is another story. My self esteem hangs by a lycra/spandex thread when I think about spending a long weekend on the beach with the young, fit wedding party. Especially since Julie has become a super jock. Just look at what she did this weekend. So for the next month I am going to be carefully watching what I eat and exercise daily.

As I unload some junk from my proverbial trunk, I am also going to unload some of my stash. No yarn will enter the Swish household until I can get at least half of these projects completed. Here's how my stash looks.



Sock Weight Projects
Koigu Landscape Shawl
Team Colors Socks
Mata Hari Socks
Knit Picks Dancing Socks
Ravenclaw Socks
Toe Up Lorna's Laces Socks
Geometry Lesson Wrap 

Baby Projects
Red Thread Blanket
Olivia Blanket
Scores of Cotton Ease Hats
 

And you thought gas prices were bad!

















Just try filling up a bubble mower. Our bubble solution of choice, Gazillion Bubbles, is 3 dollars for 6 ounces. Thank goodness Sprawl-Mart has 64 oz of low octane bubble solution for 2.99. Bubble on Big C! 

Dear Ann and Kay,


















I am deeply dissapointed that I couldn't make it out to see you gals Wednesday night. Stormy weather, a cranky teething toddler, and church obligations kept us close to home. However I did get to see you on Good Day Alabama (you were radiant) and I cast on a couple of washcloths in your honor. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of your book. I see a big blanket in my summer knitting future. 

Easter Goodies!


















I am thrilled with the results of our Kool-Aid party. From L to R you see my self striping in school colors (go Eagles!), Julie's pastel varigated, and Farrah's deep red with flashes of blue and purple. My yarn is destined to be basic stockinette socks, while Farrah's will transform into a pair of Mata Hari socks. Julie is not really a hand knit sock kind of girl, besides she lives in Houston, when could she ever wear them. I'm thinking of making a wrap of some sort. There's an interesting modular garter stitch shawl in the new Vogue Knitting that I might give a try. 

Big C examines the contents of his Easter basket. Goldfish crackers, mmmmmmm... 

Normal people dye eggs...
















Not us, we whip out the Kool-Aid and dye some wool.
The lovely Farrah shows off her creation before it goes in the microwave. Note the dribble that's heading toward the floor.

Bride-to-be, Julie, would really like to get back to sealing her wedding invitations, but she's not to busy to shake on a little Grape Illusion.

I'm
a Ravenclaw!


After waiting two weeks I finally scored a skien of Sunshineyarns' Ravenclaw colorway. (Think Alison's Gryffindore socks, only blue and grey.)

If you haven't been over to Sunshineyarns you are missing out on a real sock yarn treat. Dani creates some of the most beautiful colorways I've ever seen. Apparently I'm not the only one who likes her work. On Tuesday she sold 50 skeins in 15 minutes!

Sock Progress













My watermellon stripe Kool Aid socks are coming along nicely. This isn't the best photo, but the colors are fairly accurate. I love the heathered effect that came from overdying the sections after they weren't saturated enough on the first try. And check out the cool striping on the heel flap. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty smug. 

Ann and Kay are coming, Ann and Kay are coming!











The Mason Dixon gals are coming to MY LYS . Ok, Knit Nouveau isn't exactly local, but it is the closest yarn shop in the state. Now to find a late night baby sitter (please Mother) and convince the hubby that driving an hour and a half on a school night to see two ladies who wrote a knitting book is TOTALLY worth it. 

In the spirit of Project Spectrum, here's a shot from the butterfly garden at the Tennessee Aquarium. 

What a glorious day!

An amazing church service, ruben sandwiches at the in-laws, blowing bubbles with Big C , a big Sunday nap, a new Grey's Anatomy (with knitting I might add), and this...












my very own self striping yarn. To quote my dear husband, "It don't get no better than this!"

I see many packets of Kool-Aid in my future. 

Oh Yeah!

Here are my first two attempts at Kool Aid dying. I started with two hanks of Knit Picks Color Your Own. I hand painted the top skein in a pie plate with orange, cherry, and ice blue raspberry lem0naid and then steamed it in the microwave. It has a groovy tie-dye look. I think I'll call it "Cherry Garcia."

The bottom skein was immersed in watermellon cherry, black cherry, and lemon lime and set in the microwave. I'm hoping it will have a self striping watermellon effect. No thoughts on a name yet...

Much thanks to Eunny and Diana for the tutorials!