Happy Halloween!

I just finished carving pumpkins with the kids and here are their masterpieces.

Little Nephew went for something traditional with vampire teeth since he is going as Dracula tomorrow. I'm very proud. He designed it himself and did almost all of the carving!

Here it is lighted up:

Big Nephew and I collaborated on this pumpkin though we can't claim any originality. We got the idea out of a book. I can't remember the name of the book right now but it is full of all these demented pumpkin designs.

Isn't it hillarious? I carved the little pumpkin.

Here it is lighted up:

Now, I'm going to be in the shop until 9pm tomorrow handing out candy so bring the children over and get some! I love me some trick or treaters!

Guess Who's Six!

Today, little nephew turns six! He's very excited. Earlier this week, I took him to my favorite bike shop and got him his first big boy bike! He's been having a lot of fun with it but it is a big adjustment for him. He's used to riding a Trail-a-Bike with me where he doesn't have to steer and he doesn't really have to pedal if he doesn't feel like it. Now, he has to do it all.

I have to say that he's picking it up pretty quickly!

Under the category of you never know what's going to happen at knitting group, I give you Laura standing on a chair.

She started unwinding some over twisting in her yarn when the phone rang.

Not to be daunted, she answered the phone and kept right on unwinding her yarn! That's some powerful multitasking!

Gray Sweater Done

The gray sweater is finished and, in my quest to finish all the half finished things lying around here, I've started work on this purple sweater.

This actually used to be a skirt. I knit it to go with my purple cardigan that I knit with a bunch of my own handspun. You may recognize the yarn if you are a regular at the shop since, until last week, that cardigan comprised half of my winter sweaters. In three years, I've worn the skirt twice so thought it would serve me much better as a sweater.

My challenge with this project is that I don't have that much yarn. I'm knitting the sleeves first and then making the body as long as I can while still saving a bit to do the collar with. We'll see how it goes!

I finally got Wanda some new Nylabones this week. I didn't realize that they came in different hardnesses. This is what was left of the first one I gave her after two hours of chewing!

Thank goodness she doesn't eat this stuff, just chew it up! Fortunately, the other bone I got is the other style and is holding up nicely.

Tish, in the comments, suggested another brand of bone which I'm going to try when the new bone is all chewed up. She also suggested getting under the fridge with one of those bamboo sticks which is a really great idea except that I'm a little afraid of what else will come out of there. I'll just save that idea for a day when I'm on one of those cleaning jags. Thanks Tish!

Who Knew?

I figured out this week that I'm completely incapable of running my business with out two things, a stapler and a mini legal pad. I'd known about the stapler. I just can't seem to pay bills with out being able to staple things together. I didn't realize about the mini legal pad until I used up mine this week and couldn't find any fresh ones. I simply can. not. function. The thought of making a list on a piece of scap paper or even on a larger pad was just not to be tolerated! I couldn't pay bills, do errands, anything. Complete paralysis!

I'd never realized this before because, in ten years of business, I'd never actually run out of them. Well, I went to Staples yesterday and bought a dozen more of these just to make sure I didn't run out again anytime soon. And in the great tradition of finding what you've lost as soon as you replace it, I immediately found the other two pads I thought I had but couldn't put my hands on. Go figure. It is just funny to me that if I had been asked, when I was starting out, what two things I would have to have to run a business, a stapler and mini legal pad would not have even made the list!

Here is a rather blurry picture of the gray sweater. I've finished th back and am working on the front. It just looks like a big mass right now but it is coming right along. I'm hoping to be on to the sleeves by the weekend!

And, last but not least, we have a cute Wanda picture. She's here slumming it with her Kong. Her most favorite toy ever, her Nylabone (which had been chewed to a nub and really needs replacing) slid under the fridge the other day. I got down on the floor yesterday and tried to get it out but it is too far in. So, here she is with a mere Kong. It's quite tragic really.

She's completely worn out by the strain.

Green Sweater Done

Well, the green sweater is finished and on my body at this moment! I think blogging about the finish work helped me get through the home stretch. Here is a picture of it blocking.

and a close up of the stitch pattern.

I'm really pleased with how it came out. Something interesting is how the towel took the pattern while it was blocking.

I was looking through my buttons and found these little jewels.

I've had them so long that I can't remember who gave them to me but I'm so glad to find a project that they go with! The only problem is that there were only six and I made seven buttonholes. Well, since I never button the bottom button on my cardigans, I just left that one off. Problem solved and I get to use my sheepy buttons!

I also did a little experimenting with sleeve length on this sweater and have discovered that I do not need an 18" sleeve. I do, in fact, need a 17" sleeve. Yes, I am a troll.

I just have to wear this sweater with the cuff turned up. No big deal.

So now I'm on to a silver gray pullover that has been in progress since this time last year. I'm just going to push on through and finish it. I'm on a roll now!

Uck! I hate finishing!

I have a green sweater with sleeves and all the ends sewn in and I'm somehow reluctant to sit down and do the collar/buttonbands. I'm so close! I just don't really like finish work which is ironic considering how much money people pay me to do theirs. Somehow, I like it a bit better when I'm getting paid though I'm always happier to teach them how to do it themselves. Well, I'm headed to the other room to find something entertaining to watch and hopefully, get this thing done! Pictures soon!

Chuppah In Action

Here we have the chuppah all set up and ready to go. I'm sure glad we didn't make it any smaller. And we were all worried about it being too big!

Guido and Pumpkin's wedding was a wonderful event. In my book, you just can't beat a Jewish wedding ceremony for being moving and beautiful. I even got tears in my eyes when they were exchanging rings!

I didn't get very many pictures because my batteries died ten minutes into the reception. I'm sure you'll see plenty of great pictures on Guido's site when they get back from their honeymoon.

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy

Earlier this week, I did my annual fish catching at the Cambridge Zen Center's fish pond. I only caught about half the fish (about thirty) this time. They are so onto me.

"Yeah, lady. We see you with that net!"

The ones I was able to catch are now happily installed in the tank in my room. I'm just going to keep these guys to give the rest of them in the pond room to grow.

A friend and I are going in on a pond de-icer that will keep a whole open in the ice all winter and allow the fish to winter over.

Yard Saling Away

I have to go finish looking through a bunch of stuff for our yard sale tomorrow. Doria, Susan and I are having a combined yard sale in the driveway here tomorrow 9-2. I've been hanging on to a lot of stuff that I don't need and never use and it's time to move it out! Come by if you can. We have some good junk! And Susan's making brownies!

Chuppah Gone

Last night, we said goodbye to the chuppah (until the wedding, that is). Here's Guido finishing that last leaf point.

Then we got a picture with Team Chuppah.

We think that it's probably big enough.

Do you remember when Guido used to carry it around in a Ziplock?

We needed a slightly bigger bag this time.

I got a dress for the wedding today. It is always a challenge for me to dress up for a wedding without looking like the mother of the bride. Fat Chick wear is pretty limited out there especially when it comes to dressing up. Someone needs to tell these people that empire waists make us all look about seven months pregnant! I'm not thrilled about my dress since I had a selection of one, but it will do and I think I can dress it up with a shawl or something.

Sorry for the rant, I'm getting off my soapbox now.

Aaahhh, new glasses!

I just got my new glasses and they are great! My old ones really had stopped working and I hadn't realized how much until I put the new ones on. I could feel my eyes relaxing and the vague headache I've had for the last week slowing disappearing. I feel like reading for three hours just because I can!

It's Done!!

Oh my gawd, people, it's done. The chuppah is finished and happily blocking on the shop floor. That's all over the shop floor. There really isn't enough room to walk around it. Doria and I were walking around and on it with our stocking feet when we were blocking it. There just wasn't any other way to get around it. Here's Doria posing with it for scale.

We didn't wet it down that much. We just took a spray bottle and spritzed the points and some of the sections in the middle where our gauge varied a little from person to person.

This is how pink cheeked I looked last night at 10:04pm after sitting under the chuppah for the three hours it took me do the last graft. I had to sit for a few minutes with the fan on me to cool off! No one in the Stein household is ever going to be cold again once this thing reaches its next incarnation as an afghan!

Tomorrow we're going to try to get all of Team Chuppah together for a photo before passing it on to Guido. What a project! What a team! I always feel so close to all the people I do a project like this with. Go Team Chuppah! Next stop, the wedding!

It's funny when you get to the end of an all consuming project like this. I actually hardly know what to do with myself. I could knit anything I want, though, I'll probably get back to work on the green sweater. Baby needs some winter sweaters!

It's All Coming Together!

Kimberly finished the last section of the chuppah at 8am yesterday morning and made a special trip in here from the South Shore to drop it off.


I've just finished grafting it to Guido's section.

All I have left to do is remove the bottom two rows of that section and graft it to the big piece.

Tomorrow, Doria and I have a date to sew in ends.

My goal was to give it to Guido on Wednesday and, so far, we are right on track.