Just back from Chicago and my nephew's wedding. All my siblings were there:



A variety of nieces and nephews as well:










My boys made it...along with the next in-law to be:



Andy my hand looked pretty cool...if a little dry:

One down, one to go.  It was a magnificent ceremony in chilly weather, thus the lovely sweatshirt.

I just finished socks for my husband out of Dream in Color Smooshy. Great yarn, boring knit. Two by two rib in gray. Yawn.

I'm now working on the Juno Regina shawl for a Knitty Couture knitalong. I'm making it in a Bambino sock yarn, which is so fabulous that I'm about to cast on for another pair of socks in the same yarn---haven't decided on a pattern yet.

I'm half a block from a major intersection, so this was a pretty surprising sight this morning.

Kind of looks like I just could not sit still long enough to get my bangs cut straight. That's probably what happened. Pre-knitting, by the way.

I love this kind of thing. I wish I had been there. Don't miss the remix in the middle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6b9bMBXpg

Thanks Rachel, for the link.

Heh, heh. Don't brag, you eco-snobs.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/2defe22fe0/andy-richter-car-commercial

This is so funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcU4t6zRAKg



Finished the Must Have Cardigan and some socks and hats.

Among finished items are a pair of socks for Alexander and this sweater for him as well:



It's the Ribbed Cardigan from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, and it looks fine zipped up, but he's a little too cool for that.

Not knitting related, but I was tagged in facebook to write 25 random things about myself. You are supposed to then tag 25 people, which I don't want to do, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

1) I am the fifth of six children, and though I did not have many hand-me-down clothes, I didn’t have a girl bicycle until I was in sixth grade.
2) My kids are the greatest achievement of my life.
3) One of my fondest memories of my father happened one Friday night dinner when I was quite small. He asked me to go get him a handkerchief and when I went to get it, I found the bride doll I wanted sitting next to his nightstand. That’s right, a bride doll. It was the 50’s.
4) I love Shirley Temple movies…even wrote a paper about them once.
5) My husband and I married less than two weeks after we met.
6) I have lived in LaSalle, Illinois, St. Louis, New York, Boston, Miami, Baltimore, Tucson, and Edwardsville, Illinois.
7) I never could pull all-nighters, not even in college.
8) I saw the Beatles in concert and am still convinced that Paul McCartney and I made eye contact.
9) I stand with Israel.
10) In Germany covering a story, I convinced a rent a car person who said there were no cars to give me one as I was with CBS news….which was not entirely true. CBS was kind of mad at me.
11) I have this weird way of clearly remembering clothes from random moments in life. I remember the red dress I wore to my brother Jerry’s Bar Mitzvah. I loved that dress. I also remember what I wore the first day of Junior High, the first outfit I bought for a boy-girl party, a green plaid dress with a red belt from summer camp when I was nine, a random black dress with a cute bolero jacket I wore in the 80s, the coat I wore my freshman year of college and what I was wearing at most of my job interviews. It occurs to me that most of these items were dresses. I miss dresses.
12) I can’t believe I voted for someone named Nixon. It was Jay Nixon, the next governor of Missouri and a Democrat…but still.
13) I think Steve McQueen was the greatest. I must have seen The Great Escape 30 times
14) I always try to vote, even in bond issue elections. I get stupidly sentimental about it.
15) I wish I could sing…and fly.
16) I worked with Oprah. She was nice.
17) The mother in Back to the Future was originally named Eileen. Look it up. I grew up with one of the screenwriters.
18) I was almost named Elyse. I think it would have been easier for people to spell, but maybe not.
19) Knitting makes me feel both productive and calm. It’s a good combination.
20) I hated high school, but I did get a pretty good education.
21) The best chopped liver I ever had was in Tucson, Arizona, at Feig’s deli.
22) One of my biggest achievement in tv news was breaking a story that caused the bells to ring on the national AP wire.
23) After a concert, I got to meet Bruce Springsteen backstage in his dressing room. I was almost unable to speak.
24) Seeing the Anne Frank house was one of the most moving experiences of my life.
25) I am inordinately fond of black licorice.

I've finished a few things since my last entry. First, the February Lady Sweater in Cascade 220.

Also, the Vintage Beret from Rowan 44, in Rowan Wool Cotton.


There have also been three other hats, a couple of which are in the store, and a pair of socks in Lorna's Laces, which are also in the shop.

I'm also working on the Men's Zipped Raglan from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I'm making it for my son, and using Eco Wool.

I've been working on it forever, and I've finally finished the Barclay Jacket from Simply Shetland 3.



It's for my Aunt Betty and is made from three different colors of Cascade 220. TJ helped with the finishing---and I could never have done it without him.

No blogging, but there has been knitting. Two Clover cardigans---one for a class(Blue Sky Alpaca Cotton) and one for Elyse (Eco Wool).



I also completed the Capri from Rowan 43 out of Calmer. It's actually closed with the snaps called for, but I used the buttons for show. Got them last year at the Victoria & Albert Museum and love them.



Currently working on the Deep V sweater from Erika Knight's Classic Knits in some Knitpicks Sport Shine I've had for years. Planning to do the Neaty sweater from Rowan 42 for the Knitting Olympics.

First monkey sock for Alicia, made from Cherry Blossom Supersock yarn from Cherry Tree Hill.

Finished my first Baby Surprise Jacket. It's part of the Knitty Couture knitalong. It will be donated to Knits for Newborns, a partnership through the shop. I used Lorna's Laces superwash, along with bits and pieces of other yarns from my collection of leftovers.

It's a remarkable pattern that requires a real leap of faith. I can't wait to make another!

I'm pretty proud of this:




I finished my Pi Shawl. It's in Interlacements Toasty Toes, color Southwest.

I must stop kvelling.

It's spring break, and while many are off to Jamaica, Cancun and Florida, I went to Worden Illinois yesterday to visit an Alpaca farm. No tan, but a fabulous trip! Thanks Lida Murphy, for your incredible hospitality.

After a very sad week, Lolly has inspired me to be positive.

So this week, I will try to finish my Pi shawl, grade 30 internships assignments, continue to take my mother for short walks as the weather permits and remember to appreciate all the good things in my life.

Thanks, Lolly.

Third Annual Bloggers Poetry Reading

A lesson in humility worth remembering--

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which still survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing else remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

... Percy Bysshe Shelley

Eleven down, one to go...hats that is. I've knit 11 stocking caps in the last month or so...that's a lot of hats. It started when I taught a class on simple caps at the shop. I didn't want to violate anyone's copyright, so I made up my own. That took two hats...one for figuring and one for counting. I gave one of those to a son, who loved it and asked for a warmer one, and thus it began. I finished the 11th on Friday and finished a pair of socks for my oldest last night. He's got size 15 feet, so they were in Dream in Color classy, which is a worsted weight.

I am also making a pair of socks for my mom and a wrap/jacket thing for my aunt. Knitty Couture is having two knitalongs that I am taking part in.

I'll apparently finish my Must Have Cardigan some time in 2009.