.....in other news!

There's so much going on these days in Ormond Beach!

I've been making new friends, having adventures with old friends, writing new patterns and breaking knit-speed records on the cutest socks EVER!

Thursday before last, I caught Jody knitting some darn cute foldover-cuff socks - the Friday Night Bowling Socks and started my own pair the next day. I went through every ball of sock yarn to find perfect "Sock Hop" colors (the Friday Night Bowling title made me think of "Let's bowl, let's bowl....let's rock-n-roll!!) The pattern is written well and they are such a fun knit, that I was turning the heel before I knew it.

Jody has the cuffed-sock bug, too and is off and designing her own patterns. Rav link.

That went so quickly, that I followed the temptation from Patti and joined Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Rav and started the Kiila sock immediately!

These are published in sections, one bit each week so that we can knit a bit more of the sock and will be finished by the end of may. Great sock, cool directions and fun group!

We've just turned the heel:

In the meantime, Mary Ann threw another sock challenge my way. She's flying to Ireland in June and needs something seriously CUTE and flip-flop-toed to keep her tootsies warm on the flight. If there's something I know how to do, it's prepare to Trans-Atlantic Travel Comfort.

She handed me the following ball of yarn and left me alone with my musings.......

I think she's already got it half-planned since she is taking a Trans-ATLANTIC flight and handed me yarn with oceany, ATLANTIC colors. Hmmmm.......her innocence intentions are just melting away.

I'm thinking waves, white-caps, small-craft advisories, maybe the edge on Jody's socks above without the folding over part........maybe a feather-n-fan variation.

So much to do and create and I STILL need to improve my tan ;)

Happy Birthday, Helen!

Bobby says: Happy Birfday, MOm!

Troy sweetly threw a little Birthday pool party for Helen last week - complete with grilled boca burgers and homemade carrot cake.

And......dacquiris!

Okay, ok - a nice pic of the auld pair:

Professional Printer Repair

You got printer problems? We got solutions!

Just let our expertly-trained team take an in-depth analysis and diagnose and solve your problem in minutes!

We're not afraid to get our paws dirty ;)

More Fun with Dying!

Susan organized a fabulous yarn dying party for her birthday last weekend and had lots of leftovers. I had such a great time at her party, catching up with pals from Sip-n-Knit that I haven't seen since moving to Volusia, pigging out on yummy fajitas and messing around with Kool-Aid and Wilton cake dyes. AND there was chocolate cake :) And I hate to see a friend weighed down under massive leftovers.....

The kids had Monday off of school and both neice and nephew got to invite a friend over - so I invited a friend, too. Susan brought the remaining yarn, sock flats, Kool-Aid, chicken, soda and some chocolate cake (and her husband, Rob, with a Wii - they were a pretty impressive carload altogether!) and helped keep me, Helen and the neighborhood kids entertained for the afternoon.

Bobby enjoyed dying his so much that he offered to help Eli with his sock flat. There's a fierce amount of 6-year-old concentrating going on here.

These two spent the rest of the afternoon glued to Rob getting the skinny on World of Warcraft, his kindergarten experience and his magic hair.

Helen tried her hand at kettle/bucket dying and got a very vibrant strawberry!

I dyed some bright and freaky tropical colors and then over-dyed them in a bucket with a lt. brown .

I'm not sure it toned down as much as I'd hoped. But it's a little less freaky than before and I can't wait to see it in socks!!

Here's our collective efforts drying in the sun and wind.

We had a great time doing this for the first time last Thanksgiving and it gets more exciting each time!

Helen's Scarf for Bobby!

Another guest post from my sister. We had a yarn dying party the day after Thanksgiving at Threads of Time last year and Bobby had a ball. He used almost every color we had. So, my sister Helen made a scarf for him out of his yarn......

Once a son starts dying his own yarn a mother has to get to work!

Check out those colors!