Going to the movies

I found two more adorable photos from Moose's visit last week. Uncle Drew took us to the movies to see "Rio". We all LOVED it! You can tell from the photo below that Moose adores his Uncle Drew and won't leave him alone when he's around. "Cool" Uncle Drew lets Moose play his video games.

We weren't sure if Moose would leave the 3D glasses on throughout the whole movie but he thought they were a hoot so it all worked out fine.

There's Amanda's baby bump again!

Let's see....when does the next kids' movie come out?

Closeups and Part Two of Moose's Visit

Today's post is all closeups of our works in progress. Sheila started a pair of mittens. After a few false starts, she is on her way through the ribbing.

Beth was in a quandery about what to do when you have yarn in the stash that is "who-knows-how-old" and you can't get anymore, and you think it will be enough, but you find out too late that it might not be enough. That's the time to break out a complimentary yarn to use for cuffs and such. I really like the way this looks!

After the success she had with her husband's bike socks, Maureen is making another pair using a pretty variegated yarn.
I'm making a shawl from my design, "Flirtatious" using Karin's new sparkly yarn called "Wink". It has a very feminine flicker in the yarn that's not at all garish.
My other project is a baby cardigan knitted from the top down in one piece using an alpaca and bamboo blend. Soooooooo soft!

When Moose was here last week his Mom and I HAD to make a trip to WEBS for their annual sale. I made sure to bring my phone which is packed with video games (most grandmothers carry gum in their purse for antsy grandkids. I carry video games!) Moose played for a little while until he saw the girl with the I-Pad! He made friends with this sweet child and she let him play her games while Mom and I shopped. Poppop was relieved because he was in charge of Moose and now he could stand by and watch.

After our trip to WEBS we drove into Springfield, MA to the Springfield Museum where Moose made friends with everyone. This sweet grandma let him "help" her how to play the mirror and lights game.

Then he ran off to make friends with the lizard. The lizard wasn't having it.

We emailed this photo to Uncle Drew because he LOVES dinosaurs! Can you see how small Amanda looks down in the lower left of the photo?

Moose found a Moose!

And then we went to the Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden. It was so much fun! Moose "met" the Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss.....

Horton....

Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose....

and his favorite, The Lorax.

He ran around the garden for 30 minutes and then we had to go home. Except for the occasional Beatles songs, it was a calm ride home.

The next day we visited a local playground. Getting ready for all the running and fun is important, you know.

Amanda and I were knitting while we watched all the fun and before you know it Moose was giving a guided tour of our projects to all the little girls.

We loved watching him play. As he descended the slide, instead of calling out "Cannonball!" he yelled "COTTONBALLS!" We laughed so hard our sides hurt.
We stopped in to see Great Aunt Jamie and the Great Grandparents on our way home on Saturday. Moose and Jamie had a good time playing detective with a flashlight.
Great Grandpa Billy and Moose were having a deep conversation. Nanny Boo never wants her photo taken, so we didn't get any pictures of her this day.

On Easter Sunday after church, we drove to the cemetary so Moose could give some flowers to his sister Eliana. As we were leaving he called out to her "I love you Ellie, bye Sweetie."

He is such a sweet little boy!

A Budding Photographer Visits The Chicks

Moose is visiting this week and he brought his new camera. He took some photos of the afternoon Chicks knitting and for a four year old they look pretty darn good!

Elaine almost never lets ME take her picture! But for Moose she had a great big smile.

And Kathleen was a willing model for Moose's camera skills. Could we have another Richard Avedon on the horizon?

Our clothing was sent out yesterday to Afghans for Afghans http://www.afghansforafghans.org/youthcampaign2010-11.html
We sent a dozen mittens, 4 baby sweaters and vests, and 4 adult sweaters and vests.

There will be some toasty warm fingers next winter.
Since we just wrapped up our donations to Afghans for Afghans everyone is looking for patterns for our next projects.
And catching up on what's new with Amanda. She has a "baby bump" growing! She is due in early August.

Kathleen took a few minutes to have Moose show her how his camera works.

And then he decided it was time for "Vegie Tales".

Maureen is finally back in the fold after tax season ended. We really missed her! She's looking for her next project and I've just started a baby sweater with a bamboo and alpaca yarn that is so soft I could squish it!

Beth and Karin were discussing the upcoming fiber festivals and current projects.

Beth finished a beautiful shawl to wear to a wedding. She said it was her first try at lace and it was gorgeous.

Amanda is making an entrelac blanket for her new baby.

I think Maureen just needs a rest before she jumps into another project. She finished a pair of bike socks for her husband.

Here he is in full bicycle gear ready for a ride. Paul is an avid biker and was tired of getting numb toes from the cold.

Maureen's socks keep him toasty warm now. And don't they fit great?!

Some of the fun we've been having with Moose this week included a staring contest with Uncle Drew.

Guess who lost.

Today Uncle Drew took us to the movies to see "Rio".
Moose couldn't have been any more excited about seeing a 3-D movie. There's that "baby bump" again.
We all thoroughly enjoyed the movie and the music in it was great. There's nothing like the excitement of a Brazilian Carnival to get the blood pumping!

WIP's and FO's

For those of you who don't speak "knit-ese", WIP stands for "work-in-progress" and FO is "finished object" and we have some of both this week.

But first Barbara and Elaine had to catch up on their knitting news because it's been a few weeks since we last saw Elaine. She was checking out our new knitting pattern book and Barb was looking through the latest KnitPicks catalog. See anything interesting, ladies?

Elaine is working on a baby sweater but had a hard time today mixing conversation and knitting. Those eyelet patterns are a bugger if your concentration goes awry. Kathleen finished two pairs of mittens and.... a cardigan sweater. The buttons, which she found in her button box, fit just perfectly. I finished a weskit style sweater vest using some Icelandic yarn that was donated and half knitted. I frogged the sweater but since the yarn didn't have any labels I didn't know how much yardage there was. As a result, I had to do a quick redesign in the last six rows of the front neckline where you see it dip because I knitted down to the very last inch of yarn. The side seams had to be sewn with grey yarn but you can't even tell. Another Baby Sophisticate sweater just fell off my needles as did a hat to match. Aren't these buttons just perfect? And lastly, it took me a day to make this pair of newborn booties with leftover sock yarn. I think I used about 150 to 200 yards of yarn. At least that's what the pattern calls for. If you would like to make a pair the pattern is free http://www.knittingonthenet.com/patterns/babyslippers.htm

Our evening group did not meet this week, so we'll have to catch up with them next time. In the meantime, keep those needles clicking!