My mom's R.R.S. (Otherwise titled: My mother is a DIVA!)

Here it is Ladies (and gents?). My mom's Mother's Day gift: FINISHED.

I have been waiting until she came over to take pictures of it, because I wanted her to model it for everyone.

She was reluctant at first because we had been relaxing at my house the whole weekend, and making empanadas mix (yum!), so she did not want to go put makeup on.

So as she was getting ready to leave I told her - MOM! Remember that we have to take pictures. She complained and whined a little, and then asked me for some makeup.

Outside on the deck, she decided on the best location, and strategically placed the geranium. She posed, and modeled, and kept making me take more and more pictures of her - what a DIVA!



Here are some of the best shots:

i love the internets

This whole knitting/blogging universe ROCKS! I never knew that there was such a community of wonderful people that need to write about their knitting. And I love being part of it.

Example Number 1:

During my first SP experience, I got to spoil ms. Macoco over at Craftpirate. Although I was sending her stuff, we began emailing, and have gotten to know each other pretty well through email and blogs. She came to the D.C. area this past weekend and we met up at KnitHappens for some shopping, and then walked in the Old Town Alexandria area until we found a pub to have a bite to eat.

First, I am going to publicly apologize for my tardiness (30 minutes late) but, in my defense, D.C. area traffic is the worst! But we had a terrific time, and drank some beer and wine, which is probably the reason that I did not remember to take a picture of us. So sad about it.

She did surprise me with a copy of World of Knitted Toys (maybe I will make something for my godson from here) and this really cute dishcloth yarn and pattern. I have never knitted a dishcloth before, but I am very excited about the fact that it is a quick knit, and because : it's pink!

I am sure Tony will love another pink object in his life, but it is important for a guy to be in touch with his feminine side - right?

Example Number 2:

I received a lot of warm sympathy when Henri left us for his trip to Mexico (he loves it there - "the tequila is superb".) But the most surprising response was from Knitpastis, who needed to have Henri's spanish cousin Hugo at her house. She proposed an exchange. Now, I have never done an "on-demand" exchange, usually I am racking my brain to figure out what my secret pal would like. But this one was a piece of cake! Knitpastis already told me what she wanted. (I will post pictures after she has received the package).

I finished Hugo in record time, and included a few other surprises for my new Gemini friend, but she beat me to it - she sent me this wonderful package that arrived this weekend:

ummm... ya! CUTE!! She hand dyed the yarn herself, using colors I told her I liked - it's called "watermelon". I love it! and I think I am going to make myself a cute little felted purse with it. There are also some handmade labels for me to use when I am giving gifts (although I don't want to use them - they are too cute!) some notecards that are now decorating my bulletin board at work, and some spree candy, which is going to go in my "i need a sugar kick" drawer at work.

Thank you thank you thank you ladies! Man I love me some internets friends!

More knitting news:

• My mom came over and we took pics of her shawl - will post those tomorrow to keep my 3 readers in suspense a little longer.
• Salina is blocking as we speak and I will try to seam her up tonight (yuck)
• I am knitting some slippers for house guests.
• Casting on for Somewhat Cowl today.

OH! And I need some advice. I think I want to frog my bolero jacket and redo it in the smaller size - it is just sooo big. What do you guys think? Should I do it? Or keep it as a memento of my very first knitted garment?

I leave you with a closeup of my new gifted yarn!

Bon Voyage Henri! (he's French)

Henri started out his last day at our little house having a cup of coffee and chatting with me while I knitted Salina's sleeves.

Although we had met only a few days ago, I had grown kind of fond of the little guy and it was hard to know that he would be smuggled into Mexico via suitcase in a few days.

So I kept knitting while we talked about poetry, friendships, relationships, and our amazement of the Argentina/Serbia-Montenegro game. Did I tell you guys? Argentina won 6-0. Henri agreed that this was an amazing accomplishment and that the team already deserved the cup. (french bears are smart!)

Then we continued to talk about our love of technology, and I showed him one of my prized possessions: our maid.

I love Juanita. She is so eager, and fast, and wants to help put all the time, she gets into every little corner!... However, while Henri and I were chatting about the internet, and other technological wonders, Juanita was too eager to impress us:

Ya, she ate up Salina!!

While I was cleaning this up, Henri decided to mentally prepare himself for his voyage by relaxing in our brand new deck chairs. He was very impressed by our geraniums. (I am still impressed that I have not killed them yet.)

Oh how we will miss Henri the French bear. I know Tony will miss having another person to watch the soccer games with that is not too busy trying to figure out if Argentina can beat the teams playing to enjoy the games.
But, we know that he will be keeping Tony's grandma company, and enjoying her cakes, (and maybe some tequila), so that helps to ease the sadness.

And myabe, just maybe, we can convince his cousin Hugo to come stay with us for a little bit.

Hugo is from Spain... where they make Sangria... YUM!

OLE! OLE! OLE! ARGENTINA!!! ARGENTINA!!

Warning: For those that have not yet watched the game, DO NOT READ ON!

All I have to say is: OLE, OLE, OLE! Ganamos 6 a 0!! VIVA ARGENTINA!!!

I wanted to put pics of all the goals... but there were just too many! OLE OLE OLE!!!!!!

bear butt and buttons

I mean, really, how incredibly adorable is that bear butt?!?

It is killing me to knit it, I cannot knit fast enough. This is my first time knitting with dpns, so it took me a while to get used to it, but now, I think I have the hang of it.

I knitted this last night while Tony was going through the World Cup games of the day (thank god for DVRs!).

The World Cup (go Argentina!) is going to bring me a lot of knitting time, I think. Now, Tony will not be pressuring me to put down my knitting to go to sleep at 9 p.m. because he will not be done watching the day's matches! YAY!!!!
Also thankful that this is a relative fast knit, because I need one for me! This henri the bear is going all the way to Mexico, to keep Tony's grandma company. But I think his twin is going to have to reside at our house. So, so CUTE!

This is my Salina (front and back together, and then front detail) catching some rays in the morning. I am about half way done with the sleeves as well, so I think you will be seeing some FO modeling shots soon!

Now here is my problem: I was looking all over for some cute buttons for Salina, when I just decided that I wanted the ones that the pattern called for (i know - not very original). So I ordered them from a seller on eBay. I need to learn that I should just stop at one item, cause while I was searching for these:

I ended up getting this as well, cause I have to make it! Thankfully I did not buy the yarn yet... I have to draw the line somewhere!

World Cup Update

Argentina winning 2-0 against Ivory Coast at the end of the first half. Send wine for second half.

Birthday Knitting Goodies

By being "consumed", "addicted", "obsessed" with knitting, I think I am doing my family and friends a service. Now they don't have to think too hard about what gifts to get me! I even have a wishlist!! My little brother Pablo caught on quick, giving me my super cool and useful knitting bag.

And now, others are catching on too! My friend Michi surprised me with this great book. I was not even done thanking her for her thoughtfulness when she ripped the book out of my hands, (Yes, ripped ) and said "Here's what I think that you should make for us for Christmas!". She already has her Christmas gift picked out!

So, here is a preview into what my two best friends will be getting for Christmas (Reese, do not keep reading if you want to be surprised):

Aren't the cute leather cuffs? I have not even looked at the pattern yet, but the seem pretty easy to make. I have never knitted with leather (can you imagine a knitted leather cami? - hahahahah - sorry - amusing myself) so this will be fun.

The book is filled with other amusing and interesting projects to knit (some a little too interesting) but I love seeing knits taken taken to a different level.


Here are a few more projects I might try from this book:

I know what you are thinking: "Shawl?! Paloma, are you sure you want to make another SHAWL?!" and no, I do not want to make another shawl right now, since the r.r.s. has driven me insane. But I must admit, this little number sure caught my attention. Give me a few months, and a little de-stashing, I think we will be revisiting this one.

Talk about de-stashing! How cute is that? Of course, I will do all of my grocery and flower shopping with that bag, so I NEED IT!. Thanks Michi for this great gift!

The other reason that I love knitting is the internets knitting world. Man, have I made so many great friends! My SP from SP7 even sent me a birthday e-card. (And I forgot to thank her, so here it is - Thanks Fawn! ). The greatest surprise has of course been making a friend with a neighbor. Wendy found me on Crazy Aunt Purl's Froogle Map, and we have been emailing and meeting up for coffee and exchanging books for a couple of months.

Last friday I met her and her adorable daughter for lunch, and she surprised me with some great birthday gifts. I was so happy that I was annoying all the other lunchers by clapping like a seal non-stop. Amelia was amused!

That is right kiddies, that is NORO! I have never owned any and let me tell you, it smells delish! I cannot wait to knit with it.

You know what those are? Needles that light up! Now Tony won't fuss about having a light on while we watch a movie, because the light will be on my needles! I am so excited. They are size 8, so I need to buy more yarn to make a project that requires a size 8 needle :). (By the way, Tony stumbled onto my hiding place the other day and was not too enthused with the amount of yarn I am hiding in our little ottoman... ooppps!) I love the purse handles too, I think they might work with the Peace Fleece pattern my secret pal sent me. If not, I am sure I can find something else.

The person that has caught on the fastest, has of course, been - me. I bought myself a couple of new knitting books.

First:

Greetings from Knit Cafe. What a cute book! The pictures are colorful and bright, and the idea of going to have coffee every day (cause I would be there every day) at a place with yummie smelling yarn is too much!

Wendy thought it would be great if they opened up one in our area. But imagine the amount of money I would spend on coffee and yarn!

There are a few projects I might do from this book:

The polo shirt is just classic, I don't have a horse, but I think it would be a great anytime blanket, and yes, I have an obsession with making shawls that will bore me to death - but does't it look so warm and great for a cup of chocolate? (I am so easily persuaded - just by looking at the model with the cup, I want a cup of chocolate.

The next book:

Vintage Knits. There are a lot of timeless, classic patterns in this book. Pieces that you know will never go out of style.

There are even some sweaters that I think my mom might like... maybe I should start on next year's mothers day gift now..

If I did not have like 5-8 projects screaming for me already, I might consider it.

Here are some of the ones that grabbed me the most:

They all have sort of the same basic shape but are very different. The one that scares me the most is the one on the right, since the beading will probably be such a pain. But I think it is so cute!

That is all for now. I did finish the shawl this weekend, and cannot wait to show it to you guys. But I promised myself I would not show any pictures until my mom came over and we had a photoshoot. I am making her come over next weekend.