I had an engagement party and no one died!

Adorably(?) bad kerning

I was very nervous about our engagement party. It helped to set a goal - when asked about my expectations, I just said "As long as no one dies, I'm happy." So when things when inevitably wrong (the CD that was playing party music skipped, high winds tore down handmade bunting, I forgot one of Dan's relative's names) I just told myself "no one is going to die" and was able to float through the party with something that was close to zen.

Of course, that probably didn't seem zen to some people. I was really hoping everyone had a good time, and so I tried to get the two families to mingle. Eventually I realized that I should have at least taken some photos, so the only photos I have are kind of grainy 8PM post party stuff.

Yes, these are the LEFTOVERS.

We had a great dessert table, with all sorts of sweets! Sadly only one cake was gluten free, and that ran out fast. At least I got some before it was gone, but at 9PM when the last few stragglers were eating cookies and milk I felt a little awkward munching on veggie tray leftovers.

I test drove my homemade bunting that I put together, and I learned two things. First, I need at least 10 times more bunting for the wedding. Second, wind and bunting don't mix. Wind and decorations don't really mix in general. Most stuff had to be brought inside, where my hard work went pretty much unnoticed - oh well. No one died.

My favorite detail of the party? This thing.

Yeah, the gift table is not really pinterest worthy, sue me.

It's a cloud peeing rainbows. We saw it at the party store and I bought it on a whim. I love it. We brought it home with us, and I spend the entire drive like this:

Overall, I had an awesome time and would do it again. Oh wait... I am, and it's going to be even bigger and I'm going to get married at it. 

Yikes.

Better just knit some more and not think about that.

A Project Diversion

Sometimes you get pulled into knitting things for people. Usually I can resist, but I have a soft spot in my heart for the folks at my knitting circle. They are so nice, and mean so well... and well they're really persistent.

Here's how the conversation went:

Her: "Oh I'd like to knit my new great grand-daughter a baby blanket. Do you have a pattern for that?"

Me: "Sure! Here's a really easy one!"

Her: "Oh lovely! Here are the needles and yarn! Can you start it for me?"

Me: "Ok! It's a really easy pattern."

Next week

"Oh, this is so tough, my hands just aren't the way they were when I was younger. Can you show me again?"

"Sure!"

Next week

"Hey, I noticed you haven't really worked on your baby blanket. Everything ok?"

"Oh, it's just your work looks so much better than mine! Can you work on it today?"

"Sure!"

Next week

"Again? Listen, is it ok if I take this home and work on it?"

And now I have this pretty thing.  Made with Red Heart! Hopefully the new owner likes it.

I'm Engaged!

Ok, I've been engaged for about two weeks now, but I've been so overwhelmed talking with family and friends offline, that making the post here slipped my mind.

So, obviously, my 16 in 2016 goals might be... not met? I'm not sure what I'm going to craft for this. Dan and I got the book A Practical Wedding and the workbook as an engagement gift from Alysia, so we've been using that to plan things. It's really been great!

Our date is set - June 3rd, 2016 - and we have our photographer/videographer already booked! We're also planning an engagement party, engagement photos, and all the trappings. I'm really excited!

Oh - of course, I should tell you how he proposed! It wasn't a surprise. (Can it really be, when you've been living together for almost four years?) I knew that he had the ring, but I didn't know what it looked like. I knew he was going to propose to me on a weekend. He really wanted to go to Maine, so I kind of figured he was going to do it there. We had a great day at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, then pizza for lunch before going out to the island.

Before dinner, he suggested we take a walk along the beach and watch the sunset. We did, looking for sea glass and just having a good time. Once, he bent down on one knee to pick up a piece and there was an incredibly awkward moment where I thought he was going to propose and I felt myself crying with happiness. He just looked up at me confused and we had a good laugh. I said "You know when we reached the point in our relationship when you couldn't get me any jewelry in ring-sized boxes? Well, now I guess we're at the point where you can't bend down on one knee for things." So he pointed out the seaglass and I picked it all up.

When we had walked up and down the beach, we sat down on a big fallen tree that was turning into driftwood and went to compare treasures. When they were all on my lap and we had come to the traditional decision that it was "a pretty good haul," he stopped and gave a cheesy gasp.

"Oh, wait, I have something here in my pocket."

It was a suede jewelry box, that was slightly sandy. I opened it and the ring was inside.

I said yes, of course :)

Oh, and here's a closeup of the ring. It's a little big, so I have to get it resized this weekend.

WIP Wednesday Week 16

Lots of progress! I'm almost finished with my Matchstick Socks! Like, 2 rows and a bind off is all that separates Dan from his socks!

And, I already have a next project. I'm going to keep it a secret though, because it's an original design and I'm really proud of it! Here's a sneak peek:

On the blanket front, I've almost finished the quarter I'm on! That means that I'm going to soon be 75% complete :)

So, I'm feeling pretty good this week! A little progress, but it feels like a lot.

Check out the other posts at Life and Yarn or Yarn and Life.

Virginia Beach Photos!

I'm back from vacation! Though the flight back was a little tiring, I had a great time. I didn't knit much, but I read a lot and took some great photos, so here they are!

Of course, there's got to be sunrises on the beach... :)

And beach creatures:

 

But, I didn't spend much time on the beach... it was pretty windy. And cold. Here's photo evidence of me being sandblasted:

I got some great photos at the Virginia Aquarium:

Oh, and I've gotta share the food that my family and I got at Citrus, which was featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives!

Citrus pancakes:

Obviously, I didn't get the delicious, glutenous pancakes... but I wasn't stuck on the backburner! I had a chicken salad plate, and it was AMAZING :)

To end it off, here's a pic of JT cuddling with our neighbor cat, Kurtis (I took it when I got home so I guess technically it's still a vacation pic?):

Stitch Along Wednesday - Week 14

I worked from home today because I'm getting a cold and want to rest up before my VACATION in Virginia Beach next week. I'm lucky that today was slow, and I got to sleep in, work on stuff that I normally don't have the bandwidth to do when I'm in the office (with people coming through and interrupting me) and catch up on reports. (Ok, I don't like to catch up on reports, but you really have to do it... so it's nice to do it in pajama pants with my cat on my lap)

Anyway, it also meant I had daylight to photograph my WIPs in! So here I am, participating in Gracey's Stitch Along Wednesday :)

My Hue Shift Afghan is coming along square by square. I work on it in the car on the way to and from work, when Dan drives. 

Dan's Matchstick Socks are flying off my needles! I'm so happy with how this pattern is. I think I'll be making these again :)

I'm having trouble picking my next project after I finish Dan's socks. I have one that I really want to do (it's a design, so I wouldn't blog about it) but I'm wondering how to make it fit in my 16in2016 Challenge criteria...

Well, those are my knits. Join up your blog here!

Birdie Sanders Knit Intarsia Pattern

Ok, ok, I'm feeling the Bern :) I really like all the art that's come up around the campaign, especially the bird-inspired stuff! The folks at the SandersforPresident subreddit are really cool. 

Anyway, I saw this post and got inspired to make some intarsia. So, I did!

Anyway - you can find a spreadsheet of the pattern here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lNc5_0h3hjaPdnRxM5JfI19_GLgUpFuJA0FOLnml48s/edit?usp=sharing

I like saving it as an excel doc, since it's easy for you to tweak the cells to match you gauge. The design is 64 stitches over 40 rows.  But I can always export it as a PDF if people want. Just leave a comment.

Also, if you'd like it in a different gauge, just let me know and I'll whip one up for you :)

If you make something, please let me know! :)