No other doughnuts like these.......

Nellie is in town. If you know Nellie, you know we are eating lots of treats while she is here. She wanted a "tour" of Portland. Where else would we take her but the World Famous yet Wacky Voodoo Doughnuts?!? Click on the link and check out their menu! This place is the definition of hole in the wall, and it always has a line out the door! Each and every one of these is tasty. We tried this Maple-Bacon for the first time, it is DELICIOUS! So, if you aren't a resident of Portland, if you ever do visit, you must stop by this place.

The cereal topped ones are my favorite. The one at the bottom called "Dirty 'ol Bastard" has chocolate frosting, Oreo cookies and peanut butter. Yum! Also, my kids loved saying the name!

They are complete!

The first pair of socks every knitted by yours truly are complete! Emma is modeling them for you now. Yeah! They would not be complete without the help of Irishgirlieknits taking my knitting 911 calls, and Shannon over at my LYS Twisted who helped out in a pinch. Thank you so much ladies!!! Now I am rocking and rolling on my STR pair. There will certainly be a post when the first one is done :)

Coming right along

My second pair of socks is coming right along! I absolutely LOVE knitting with this STR by Blue Moon Fiber Arts! Thanks Tina! Sorry it took me so long. I decided to go with Neuroknitter's and Irishgirlieknits's suggestion of k6, p2 for the ribbed sock. I love the design. Thanks!

I just turned the heel on the second sock of the first pair, aka Emma's socks. I am having fun!

p.s. Liam passed to level 4 at Swimming Lessons and also started arm strokes today so we celebrated with dinner at Red Robin's! Hooray Liam!

Knitting isn't my only craft

I am a master of many crafts (if I don't say so myself!). Here is one I have been perfecting the last year. It is a tote/bag/purse. I have one myself and have sold and gifted a dozen or so. This particular one was commissioned by my friend and cousin, Jen. She has been waiting a while for me to complete it, so I am extra excited about it. It is made from Amy Butler designer fabrics (Irishgirlieknits is also at fault for my love of Amy Butlers fabrics too!) I put a couple of pockets and a key fob inside. I think it is just cute and wanted to share. Enjoy!

Inside

#1 is done!!!

Here it is, my first sock is complete! It only took me a week, most of a week, OK the whole entire week. It is a snug fit. It fits Emma perfectly. She is thrilled she gets my first pair of socks! I already have the second one knit to a bit past the turned picot edge. I am ready to rip through that one because I am absolutely loving my STR sock! Thanks for all the input, I did decide to do the ribbed k6, p2. I got a good jump on it during tonight's "Family Movie Night" Nacho Libre.

Have a great weekend!

...Getting ahead of myself

Now I have heard from more than one of you that I am a true knitter because I have started my second pair of socks before finishing the first sock of my first pair! I am not totally new at knitting, maybe someday I will catch you up on what I have accomplished up to now. However, I am new to sock knitting. I am also new to these fancy, EXPENSIVE sock yarns. They are so nice and soft and pretty! How could I not get started on the next pair? Besides, this second pair is a BMFA Socks that Rock!!! If anyone out there recognizes the color please share with me what it is. Irishgirlieknits brought it home from her visit with the Wizard. It has no tag. She believes it is a mill end but it is just so pretty I can't imagine it not having a name. Next up it what pattern to follow. I was thinking of taking the plain vanilla sock pattern and doing the k6, p2 version. Any suggestions?

Thanks for the comments, I'm feeling the love! Happy Friday!

"You mean OUR blog"

Top and side views of my first sock

First thing this morning I get up, turn on the computer and click on this blog. To my daughter, (7) I say, "Emma, look this is my blog!" She replies, "You mean OUR blog." I couldn't stop laughing.

You see, since Irishgirlieknits has had her blog we have been checking it pretty frequently. She has been talking about me starting a blog for forever, and this weekend Emma has decided she wants her own blog. So, I said we could share one. I guess I forgot about that. Ooops. Hopefully, someday soon, she will be adding her two cents, although I am not sure what quite about. Maybe I will just share some other quotes from her. Here's another, "Mom, I think you love that more than us." (referring to pictures above, my first sock.) Clearly I have been a SAHM too long!

I also wanted to shout out a big THANK YOU!!! to Shannon at Twisted, she helped me in a pinch. I twisted then dropped a few too many stitches than I could handle so I ran right over there and she made me and the kids feel at home. Thanks again, I am loving that store! BTY, that is where my first sock yarn was purchased, Zen String - Serendipity - Sport - Sedona. Although I have a little bit of pooling, not the perfect stripes I was after, I am still thrilled with how they are coming out.

Welcome to my blog

....so my BFF from High School, Carrie, aka Irishgirlieknits, has been on my behind for years now to start a blog (drum roll) here it is! This past weekend she was up for a visit and has immersed me into the world of sock yarn. Granted, it didn't start this weekend, but it was nothing but yarn, yarn, yarn, knitting and hand knit socks this weekend! Let me just put it this way, after we visited Twisted and meeting Shannon on Friday, I had my first sock cast on that night. By Sunday I was knitting with two professionals, Woolgirl and Neuroknitter! (Talk about celebrities!) Monday, my ears were burning from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Tuesday morning I had my first Socks That Rock cast on. (Yes, I am working on my second sock before my first is finished, crazy huh?!?) I am about 4 inches away from the end of my first sock, so I am off to finish. Please check back with me, I intend to post a picture or two in the near future. Thanks for reading!