After suffering a bout of the flu (not swine flu), I have gotten back to knitting. Which makes me happy, as I had ordered the yarn for my St. Brigid several days before I was struck down. Then, to add insult to injury, my yarn arrived just when I was feeling the worst of it. All I could manage to do was stare at it. But, after surviving, I was able to return to work (after a week), and was able to cast on.  And, just to finish a languishing project, I finished Shawn’s Fancy Gentleman’s Socks, making pair # 8 for the year (way behind where I wanted to be):

Shawn's Fancy Gentleman's Socks

It’s a little blurry, sorry, but I was taking the pic from half way across the room, still feeling on the lazy side. I have managed to get in several rows over the past few nights, here is my St. Brigid so far:

St. Brigid

 

I even get to use my pretty size 7 KP Options tips with this one. I’m just too sure about the Options straight cable needle, with the little notches. Not too sure if I’m liking that. Maybe if it wasn’t so new, and the edges of the notches were a little worn. I’ll post back about that later.

And on the sewing front, I have decided to finish a medieval corsage that I started last year for the Great Lakes Medieval Faire, but didn’t get to complete, and didn’t wear in it’s half finished state. So, I picked it up the other day, tacked on the braided trim, and have started tacking the black glass beads to the crosses in the quilted outer cover. Take a peek:

medieval corsage

This one goes to a deep wine colored gown, that I also didn’t wear. I have every intention to, but after trudging around the first day, in the sweltering heat, I was not about to kill myself with heat exhaustion. I opted for jeans and a t shirt. Once I get this finished, I may decide to make a cloth belt that matches the dress, with an embroidered trim. Any who! Back to working on Brigid while watching the movie Clue, for the second time this evening. Happy Knitting! (and sewing!)

Look! I have something to show you that hasn’t been seen around this blog in a long time. A finished object!

Shawn, wearing his finished St. Enda sweater

It’s a miracle. I have finally been able to finish a knitting project! Can you tell he’s very proud of it? And it looks great with his kilt, too. Now I can move on the planning my St. Brigid sweater. I think I’ll use some KP WotA in Evergreen. I can’t wait to start that one. And since I won’t be doing any Christmas knitting, I have a shot at finishing it before the weather warms up. lol. Ok, off to keep working on Shawn’s socks that I started a while ago!

Well, a lot has happened since my last post. We went camping the following weekend, with Miss PJ and family. Here are a few photos I took:

Jaxx and Shawn

Jaxx and Bebe

Shawn walking Jaxx out on to Deer Creek Dam

The buzzards on top of the dam

The stream below the dam

Leaves on top of the wet tent

It was a rainy weekend, but we enjoyed ourselves. The girls didn’t go with us. Katie went with her dad, and Annie went with my mom. Miss PJ brought her husband, both her sons and one of her nieces. And despite the fact that Jaxx peed in the driver’s seat of my car from excitement, it was a pretty enjoyable weekend. But, the best part of the weekend was when Shawn proposed to me!

My engagement ring

We plan on getting married next fall!

Since then, Miss PJ and I have gone back to sewing. We decided that we wanted to make new celtic outfits for this years trip to the Ohio Renaissance Festival. It’s been a couple of years since we went. We decided to use Simplicity pattern 3623. Here is Miss PJ’s finished outfit:

Miss PJ's outfit

Here is mine:

My new Celtic outfit

We couldn’t find buckles to hold the tartan to the shoulders, so we used special kilt pins. Here are mine:

Right Kilt Pin

Left Kilt Pin

I made Annie a new outfit this year:

Annie in her new gown

And she got to meet Santa, who was in a kilt:

Annie with Santa, his brother Mike and both Mrs. Claus

Where else can you meet Santa in October, and he’s in a kilt? Only in Ohio. But, Katie enjoyed a huge turkey leg:

Katie with her turkey leg

Katie decided to wear a mash up of my old costumes. The shirt and bodice is from the Celtic outfit I made in ‘99, and she wore that with one of my old black skirts and what was left of the tartan I bought for the new outfit. Then, we locked the kids up:

Annie, the prisoner

Katie, the unenthused prisoner

But, all in all, the outfits turned out great. Now, I can go back to knitting Shawn’s sweater, and plotting the next costume.

Well, I have been able to make lots of headway with Shawn’s St. Enda sweater. I just finished the 2nd sleeve, while watching Cloverfield. Not a movie I was thrilled to watch, but it was better than I expected. I’m just glad that we didn’t waste money to see in the theaters, and waited for it from Netflix. Anyway, I’ll be starting the back of the sweater at lunch tomorrow, as I will be trying to sew tomorrow evening when I get home from work. So, I will leave you with a pic of Jaxx, taken Sunday:

Jaxx, relaxing on the couch

Well, fall has finally arrived. And it has brought cooler temps with it. Along with the cooler temps, my urge to knit has returned. I have picked back Shawn’s St. Enda sweater. I have finished the first sleeve (finally) and started the second. Here is a pic of how far I have gotten, so far:

St. Enda - in progress

I just need to finish the second sleeve, knit the back, seam it together and knit the collar. In the mean time, Miss PJ and I have decided that we need to make new costumes for fall. We have decided to make a new Celtic outfit. Here is the pattern we are going to use:

Simplicity 3623

Here is the fabric we bought for it:

Miss PJ's fabric

My fabric

We start cutting today, and will be sewing when we can. We need to have them finished by Oct. 10th, as we have a function to go to. Wish us luck, as I’ll also be making Annie a new costume this year.

Anyway, have a relaxing Sunday. And, Happy Knitting!

Well, these past weeks have been an adventure. I have completed 4 Regency Era gowns and several little, sewn bags. My laptop died, and I had to buy an new one, that was an ouchie on the purse. The rest I can sum up in pictures:

I grew herbs in flower boxes on the deck.

 

A cute shot of Jaxx

 

From our trip to the Ohio Historical Society

 

Annie, in her finished Regency Era gown

 

My finished Regency Era gown

 

A turtle that now lives in our pond

 

Katie's finished Regency Era gown

 

My finished little bag (I call it my Zen bag. I just love that fabric)

 

My new laptop. (I guess I was do for a new one, the other was 4 yrs old)

 

A finished Regency Era gown for Katie's friend

 

Our spread from the 1st Annual Regency Picnic

 

Annie's finished little bag

 

Jaxx, getting to be my big boy

 

Well, the up coming adventures are the Fall Ferderal ball, that we will be holding in November. I still have to buy fabric for most of the costumes, before I can get started on them. But, I am looking forward to it. In the mean time, I will be working on historically correct corsets, and maybe starting a few side line costumes. And hopefully, I will be able to update more.

Well, a few weeks ago we had a very sad event. It seems that in the middle of the night, Mr. Snowball passed away. He was apparently older than we thought, as he was not in any distress, and passed peacefully in his sleep. After much crying on Annie’s part, we held a funeral in the back yard. We will forever miss his little twitching nose, and his soft fluffy fur.

For the past few weeks, we have been looking to get another pet. Shawn and I decided that maybe we should get another dog. A larger dog. There was a very large German shepherd that we were wanting, but his current owner decided that she could not part with him. Then, after much disagreement amongst the adults of the house (Shawn and me), I said that we would not be getting another dog. But, when Shawn got home from work, he start searching and found:

Meet Jaxx!

This is Jaxx. He is a 6 week old, collie/lab mix. He is adorable. I guess the girl that owned him had to find him a new home because her sister’s dog was too aggressive, and was trying very hard to hurt him. He has found a very good home with us. Bebe has taken very well to him, even playing chase in the front yard with him. She seems to like him better than the other dog we were considering. And his demeanor is very laid back. He will roll over to get his belly rubbed and just lay there. And, he has not barked once since we got him earlier this evening. He is just a cute, little (not for long), ball of fluffy puppy fur. He is currently sleeping off his play session with Bebe behind my sewing chair.

As for the crafting front, I have been working on Shawn’s socks here and there, but I have mainly been sewing. I may have some pics to post later this week. Ok, off to bed now. Good Night!