... and the moments in-between

I've been living day to day the past week or so. Sure, I got some stuff done with help. (Baby proofing!) But bigger things are looming and I gotta get moving.

Let's roll with some photo-a-days.

 

June 19 ~ imperfect ~ the gifter sewed her first stuffed animal just for me and I love him

June 20 ~ fave photo you've ever taken ~ my mom and two of my sisters at play

I have been spending CB's naps photographing (and re-photographing, color-toning, etc.) the latest goodies for Interlacements Yarns. ...

June 21 ~ where you slept ~ ... OR I have been napping. A teething baby can be exhausting.

I took a sleepy (but no nappy) CB out for an afternoon of distraction at the local zoo.

 

June 22 ~ from a high angle ~ no teether can best a cooler strap

Another high angle (in the form of hail) hit us later that day. But I had already posted the above pic so the deed was done. I also had the next one in the bag from a previous zoo trip.

Shy Suri

 

June 23 ~ movement ~ the moment I realized I forgot to take a photo that day

June 24 ~ on my mind ~ the box of old toys that must be cleaned and sorted

CB and Willow love watching each other. But they hadn't gotten too close until Monday. 

Willow can be a little feisty princess. I gave in and they both surprised me. CB gently (and quickly) patted the bunny. And Willow stayed rather still. They parted ways when CB was "all duh". I think Willow smelled the girly's feet once. Even bunnies can't resist baby feet.

 

June 25 ~ something cute ~ baby and bunny make 2 for 2

June 26 ~ where you shop ~ I am a recovering Threadless junkie. I bought two shirts on Monday. Hey, it's a gradual process. It was the first time since late last year.

So I re-shot the Ibiza yarn Tuesday afternoon to try something a little different. But I was not happy with the result. This is not one of those photos. Back to work!

Welcome to summer

"And today was a day just like any other." ~ Andrew McMahon

Nap, play, eat. CB and I kept it lazy today. (OK, so she had some not-so-fun moments with the teething. But we're doing our best to take it in stride.) After a wonderful wedding and weekend vacation, it felt good to stay home. I'm ready to welcome the dog days of summer.

My photo-of-the-day picks for the prompts ...

June 11 ~ door ~ my wreath monster

    

    

June 12 ~ from a low angle ~ hidden hoya

June 13 ~ art ~ photographing yarny creations

June 14 ~ time ~ hometown "artifacts"

June 15 ~ yellow ~ ducky

CB's "a duh" was snapped right before we hit the road for a lil' vacation. Just in case I didn't have time, I already had a couple other yellow backups ...

Salmon lily in bloom

Daylily

Then it was off to Minnesota! On Saturday, we checked out Sea Life Aquarium at the Mall of America. 

June 16 ~ out and about ~ our turtle friend at the aquarium

    
He swam above us as we walked through a tunnel.

I thought I'd have lots to show for the next day's photo prompt. But it turns out that I didn't do much actual shopping at the MOA.

June 17 ~ in the bag ~ from the Mall of America


Now we're back home and our normal day was capped by a bath. I took the opportunity to play with our underwater camera.

June 18 ~ something we don't know about you ~ I didn't learn how to swim until my freshman year in grade school. To this day, I still use a swim mask because I haven't mastered "breathing" underwater.


In case those goggles aren't too clear in my chosen photo, here was my alternate from earlier in the day.

I'm gonna have to inflate our baby pool this week. Hopefully CB loves the water so she learns to swim at least a little earlier than I did. Happy summer days to all!

Wedding shawl blooms

It's a shawl fit for a marriage. I absolutely loved knitting it. I sometimes avoided knitting it. It sparkles and shines. It's a little imperfect. But the bride wore it beautifully on her wedding day.

Dancing with Dad

My sister asked for something not white and beaded. So first, the yarn. I was initially torn between Interlacements' 12-Ply Frizz for its green and Ray of Sunshine for its sheen. But I dropped both in favor of Sweet Feet. It had the light and dark greens plus the elasticity desired for all those knit-togethers. It's the perfect combination of wool and shiny silk.

Sweet Feet plus beads

Knowing what their wedding flowers were ...

Bridesmaid bouquet

I then found the perfect pattern. I chose the Hydrangea Petal Lace Shawl by Renee Van Hoy (from her Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime e-book). I studied the pattern to find the perfect spot to add those beads. After a little trial and error, I nailed the center of each and every hydrangea flower.

Beaded flowers

For fellow loomers who would like to add beads to this pattern ...
On Rows 7, 17 and 31, slide bead onto the stitch on first K/K. If it's not perfectly centered on the right side, you might need to pop the bead through just one stitch to move it up or down.

If I tried this again, I might crochet on the beads instead of stringing them. I'm not sure if that is faster but it would be worth a try! I got a little tired of pushing down beads to get to the yarn, especially since I strung on more than I needed. Don't ask me how many — it was somewhere between 200 and 400 beads.

After a few repeats, I just loved how the flowers came together in this pattern. Lace just feels like magic sometimes. Renee does use some different abbreviations that I'm not used to. But they are outlined clearly in the Stitch Guide. You'll be repeating them a lot in a shawl so it comes naturally in no time.

The shawl laid nicely on the bride's shoulders without her tugging it back on or even tying it.

A couple of tips to keep in mind for happy knitting:

• All knits are e-wrap! I tink'd back a few times when I accidentally reverted to my go-to u-wrap knit stitch.
• In the first section, listen to Renee and add those markers as increases are made. I did not and I had to guess where they would have been so I could do the next section. Thus my hydrangeas grew a few extra petals (or leaves) for that middle section of shaping. Hey, the "enhancement" made it just a bit more airy for summer wearing. ;-)
• If you already have this pattern, make sure you get the errata on Ravelry for Rows 31-37.
• Block well and match the lengths on both sides if needed. 

The shawl was even dance-proof! 

What a wonderful world

Last week was a week that started ordinary but ended extraordinary. I cleaned a little bit. I donned my gotta-get-it-planted hat while my mom and sister, Tracy, visited. I blended some nummy fruits, flax and spinach to boost the energies of the hard-working bridesmaids and bride. And CB made sure to wake me up between 6 and 7 a.m. everyday leading to ... the big event.

    

    

    

sign | hat | drink | six o'clock | your view today | best bit of your weekend

(Photo a Day hosted by Fat Mum Slim)

With the last gift unwrapped and last family photo taken for awhile ...

Sisters at play ... me, Trisha, Tracy and Tessa

it should be time to relax a bit.

Alternate photo for the "sign" prompt. 

Honestly, I do have a busy week ahead of a different nature. I'm working for LucieLu, sneaking in more sister time and prepping for a future road trip. The arrival of summer doesn't bring a moment's rest. So let's dance.

Photo a day

A photo a day keeps the crazy at bay. Some days feel like baby, baby, baby. Who I love, love, love of course. But it's nice to sneak away for some grown-up time, too. And work on things I loved before CB. I decided to join my friend, Jeff, for a little photo experiment.

Photo a Day is hosted by fat mum slim on her blog. It's simple. Follow the prompts to take one photo and then share it online as much as you like. So I complicated it for myself. Since my computer is bursting at the seams with photos, I must use the first photo I take. Next, I want to create a faux Instagram look. (Square crops ... interesting color tones ... maybe a border.) I'm not cool enough to have that app on my phone. But I do think I'm cool enough to edit my photos just as well, if not better.

Four days in, here we go ...

 
 
Morning | Empty | On my plate | Close-up

On Day 1, I stuck to my one-photo rule. On Day 2, I bent the rule for a two-photo montage. On Day 3, I found resolve. On Day 4, all bets were off. The prompt was "close-up." C'mon. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE macro photos from my garden. There was no way I was going to take just one photo. BUT I did use the first photo I took. And then I took like 20 more for fun. 

During edit time, I dutifully deleted ones that just were never gonna get used. Then I pushed myself to go all black and white. I revel in saturated colors but again, I need to challenge myself. So I focused on the close-up textures.

I will be posting the photos daily in my public Facebook album. Every few days (at least once/week) I'll upload them to my flickr set and share them all with you, bloggy readers. Follow along or hey, join up! Remember, no rules? You can start snapping and sharing whenever you want. Let me know if you do!