Sunday, February 28, 2010

Weekend Knits

Hi Y'all!

Well, besides my adventures with hives this past week, I actually came down with a cold on Friday too! I knew it had to be a cold, because y'all I have been on enough antihistamine for an army. So this weekend I took it easy and hung out at home with Mr. Pitty Pat.

I have several blogs that I follow and this knitting season seems to be the season of the cowl. I like the concept of a cowl because it wraps around your neck and keeps it warm. It is not as long as a scarf and it can be completed in one night. So off to Ravelry I went in search of an easy peasy pattern that one can do while under the influence of cold medicines and antihistamines. Y'all know that I recently knitted the French Press Felted Slippers and Melynda also has a pattern for a cowl, the Breckenridge Cowl. So I purchased it from Etsy Friday night and off knitting I went. Y'all, this was another wonderful pattern! I just finished it up tonight, because I am so sleepy from all of my meds! I still have to find the right buttons this week, but overall I just love this! We are still supposed to have frosty weather here in Myrtle Beach until the middle of March and I think that I will get a lot of use out of this cowl! That is, until someone in my family steals it. Yup. I wonder how Pitty Pat would look in a cowl?

Sorry for the dingy photos.. my digital camera is not cooperating and I took these with my flip cam. I think you can see how beautifully the Breckenridge Cowl turned out. I used Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick in the color raspberry and knitted with size 15 needles. I took about 3/4's of the skein. I am really looking forward to wearing this!
Also, we have a BIG BIRTHDAY in the house this week! Paddington turns 1 on Thursday! I ventured out for a little bit yesterday and bought him a few prezzies. Chew toys of course! I plan to take him to Bruster's for a little ice cream treat on his special day. I still can't believe he is going to be 1 this week!
Well, let me sign off for now. Tomorrow is a school day and I have to get up bright and early!
:) JKP

Friday, February 26, 2010

Hang in There...

Hey Y'all,

Hang tight! I am going to switch up the old blog a bit today.. so if you visit once come back.. I am making some changes through out the day today!!
:) JKP

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

I Fought the Hives and the Hives Won....

Hey Y'all,

Well, as you can tell from the title post, I am fighting the hives. They started last Thursday and have progressively gotten worse since then. I am on all kinds of antihistamines, but they come back with a vengeance. I will get about a days peace and then wham. Itchy, itchy. I am thinking of knitting up some mittens over the next couple of days, so if I am tempted to itch, I can't!

I thought I would post some pictures of the finished French Press Slippers. Here they are all put together with the cutest buttons! Believe it or not, I scored the buttons at The Evil Empire (aka Wally World.) The slippers fit Mom to a tee! I applied the puffy paint to the soles a couple of days ago, so now they are safe to wear without slipping and sliding.

I just love how these turned out. I can't wait to make a pair for myself! Anyhoo... I am off to feed the fur baby. My second round of antihistamine is kicking in. Sleepy sleepy time! I am going to put on some Castle off of Hulu on the 'ol laptop and take a nap!


:) JKP




Saturday, February 20, 2010

Everybody Wants to Felt the World...

Hi Y'all!

Sorry for my cheesy title to this post, but I can't seem to get the song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" from Tears for Fears out of my head! Also, it seemed to fit the felting that I have been doing!


Do y'all remember at Christmas when I was talking about the French Press Felted Slipper Pattern? Well, I knitted the slippers up (they were a snap) and then they languished for about a month on my kitchen table. I went on Ravelry to see what the best process was for seaming these up and EVERYONE had a different opinion. So, I never sewed the slippers together, because I was afraid I would do it wrong and get holes like some folks were reporting. Also, I am not the best seamer in the world. So last weekend, I was all hopped up on chocolate (thanks to my kiddies at school) and I decided what the heck, I will just do the best I can. Y'all, chocolate is just great for those endorphins! Well look at the before and after shots!
This is just before felting. I made these for my Mom, so I made the size small.
After felting! These turned out perfect. I just seamed them with a mattress stitch and it worked. I did not have any holes during felting and they turned out great!!!



Once they dry, I can sew the tab on them and then apply some puffy paint on the bottoms to prevent skidding. Yes, I know I have grocery bags stuffed in them. That's how I roll! Also, it will help the slippers keep their shape while they dry. This is a fantastic pattern and really knits up quickly. Don't be afraid by all of the comments about seaming. Just do it your own way and they will come out fine!

Whoo, wee! I am so excited! I can't wait until they dry!

This was defiantly one of the most fun patterns I have ever done!

Ok, I am off to walk the furry baby!
:) JKP




Saturday, February 13, 2010

Some More Snow Fun...

Here is one more video of Paddington in the snow!

And.... did we ever get snow!!!!

Hey Y'all!

Well, we got about 3.5 inches of snow! Take a look at our pics...here's our Snowmaggedon Album from Picassa....

I'll leave you with my favorite video from the snow... Pitty Pat becomes a snow bunny!


We are off to play!
:) JKP

Friday, February 12, 2010

Snowmaggedon Update......

Hey Y'all,


Look at the handy graphic.
I think we will be seeing some snow!!!! I'll update after the lunch forecast comes out! :)

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Snowmaggedon 2010- South Carolina Edition

Hey Y'all,

Lookie loo at what appeared on all of our news and weather stations this afternoon.

You are correct in your thinking that yes, that is South Carolina and yes, that is Myrtle Beach. With snowfall accumulations! They think we will get anywhere from 1 to 3 inches depending on how the storm tracks. But... if it goes a little more to the south, we could see a whole bunch of the white stuff. The run on milk and bread has already started! The good thing is, this is going to happen tomorrow night, so we won't miss school. But..... mix a snow forecast with Valentine's celebrations and you might as well begin praying for all South Carolina teachers. NOW.
I'll pop in with an update tomorrow. Because by then, the forecast could change and it could be 89 degrees!! But if it does snow, I can not WAIT to see Pitty Pat's reaction! Film at 11!
:) JKP

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Prodigal Blogger Returns.. With Knitting Too!

Hey Y'all!

Well, my New Year's resolution to be a better blogger in 2010 has yet to get off of the ground! Let's just say that I have been going through some yucky stuff and I am so glad that the month of January is over! To top it off, I got sick and it lasted FOREVER.. so I have been feeling pretty low. Never fear, I am better and back to blogging!!!


A few posts ago I mentioned that I had been commissioned to knit a baby set for our librarian at school. This was for her niece that was having her first baby and really treasured hand knit items. Well, I started on this a few weeks ago. What would have taken me a weekend to knit turned into a week and a half due to me getting sick. Then, the niece had her baby four weeks early! I make it a rule to never work on knitting for babies when I am sick, so it took a while. Needless to say, here is the finished set. I am happy to report that it brought tears to the librarian who asked me to knit it and her sister who works at my school as well. That folks, makes knitting worth it!



In other news, I made a quick trip to Charleston today for a Dr's appointment. Everything is fine, it was just a check up. My appointment finished early, so I made stops at Andolini's for some cheese pizza and to Knit to check out the merchandise. I bought a few patterns at Knit, and that was it. I mainly went for inspiration for my next knitting project, and I did walk away with a few ideas. I have been dying to visit this cupcake store on King Street, called appropriately Cupcake, but alas it was too far away from where I was on Wentworth AND did I mention it is cold in these parts? I drove home in this crazy wind that we are having and took a nap for the rest of the day. Zoe and Paddington were glad to help out on that front!

Pitty Pat turned 11 months last week! Can you believe that on March 4th he will be a year old? He is doing all kinds of funny things. Right now, he is trying to eat my bathroom rug. Yup. Still very much a puppy. But, at night he likes to cuddle with me in the bed and will even sleep with me until about 1 or 2. Then he wants to get up and play. So back in the crate he goes.


Well, I am going to heat up some dinner. I have a recipe that I want to share for an easy peasy french toast. It is so YUMMY! I just have to get some batteries for the ol' digital camera! So sit tight! I will be back!

:) JKP