we had knitting group over at our house this morning - the kids played in the pool and i got to show off my new cardigan. i'm really happy with how it turned out. the fit is pretty good afterall, the yarn is super soft, and it is really comfortable to wear. now i'm starting to get impatient about fall coming so i can wear all of my wooly soft knitty things! i'll post pictures soon. in fact, i am planning to draft amy to take some pictures of me wearing the cardigan (you hear that, amy? you've been selected!) during our three hour co-op duty tomorrow morning. today at knitting i finshed up one block of the kitchen rug. there will be three or four blocks just like this one, all seamed together to make the rug, and then some kind of border around it all. and more exciting news (yes - even more exciting than a knitted kitchen rug, believe it or not) - beth came to knitting today with rachel and little lucas! i snapped a few pictures of the little guy, and got to hold him for a while too! adella was pretty interested in lucas, and immediately ran to get him a blanket to cover up! here's the wee cutie with his mama: he makes the other kids look like giants! hard to believe adella was that tiny not so long ago...

yesterday afternoon we ventured downtown to Bele Chere, the crazy huge free festival downtown every summer. we made our way through the crowd, towards the kids area, where we stayed the entire time. there were plenty of rides and games and free arts and crafts, and we all stayed busy and happy for a couple of hours. then we decided it was time to come home and, as we do every year, we vowed to stay home the rest of the weekend and avoid the entire downtown area altogether. bele chere is fun for a few hours, but enough is enough. we'll take our nice quiet little corner of the world.

adella cuteness*

*or, 'hey! a cute adella picture post for those of you who were disappointed that all i had to post about today was knitting'*

arts and crafts

see this? see all those little snipped off ends? you know what that means, don't you? yep - the cardigan is finished! here it is blocking: i almost finished it last night, and so it was right back to the cardign this morning. i was determined to finish it today. and i did! i still need to find a perfect button to sew on, but for now, it's done. the sizing is not exactly perfect. i was worried that it would be too small (i figure that i'll probably only get bigger as time goes on) so i went up a size. also, i used a smaller yarn than the pattern called for, so the sizing was hard to predict. anyway, it is a bit on the large side, but i think it will be fine. especially since i'll be wearing it in the fall/winter and will be layering it over other shirts. so once it's dry and buttoned, we'll see about the true size. oh - and i'll post better pictures later too. i know the picture above is horribly dark. even though i promised myself i would not start any new projects until the cardigan was finished, i did sneak in a bit of rug knitting - here it is in its future home: i think it's going to be just perfect for the kitchen. adella has also been artsy today: i really love the orange picture. she didn't tell me what it was, but it just looks so purposeful. she definitely had something specific in mind when she was drawing it. and last night, she dressed herself up and came to the livingroom saying, "i am so-o cute!" yep - she's cute alright. even with those red demon flash-eyes.

p&p's visit - p2

part two: we all met up again at our house on saturday. after a visit to the farmer's market, in search of boiled peanuts (paris had never heard of them before, so we just had to find some) and some NC gifts for aunt lois, we had a nice little cookout - burgers and chicken and corn on the cob. mmm....mmm! saturday also just happened to be a special someone's birthday! happy birthday, dad! adella and i hung out at the house with papa and pippi, and stig went to the final round of the singer-songwriter contest. while he wasn't the winner, he was one of the top three - congratulations, stig! sunday we went to the nature center. a constant favorite for me and stig and adella, and new favorite for papa and pippi. and there were three new additions - two coyote pups and a new black bear! monday morning was spent hanging out and having a few little tea parties before dad and par had to hit the road. thanks for coming papa and pippi! hope to see you again soon!!

p&p's visit - p1

part one: adella and i drove over to gatlinburg on thursday. we always stay at the best western twin islands - they are very child friendly - and they have a nice big playground right in the middle of the property - perfect! there we met dad and par, who had flown in to knoxville that morning. we spent the day swimming and eating and feeding ducks. the next day, dad and par went sightseeing while adella and i visited the 'aquarium of the smokies'. this was our third time at the aquarium - adella loved it, as expected, and i was happy to see the sea turtle, who had been hiding every other time we went. this time she was very active, swimming around in the tunnel with all the other fish and sharks and eels and rays. we all met back at the hotel playground for a picnic lunch before leaving town. adella and i back home to asheville, and papa and pippi to do more sightseeing in the great smokies park. to be continued....

summertime, and the living is easy

sorry, i couldn't resist the cheesy title. our visit with papa and pippi has come to an end. we were sad to se them go, but glad to have had such a fun and happy visit. i am still sorting through the hundreds(!) of pictures that we took, so i will be posting the fun details of their visit ASAP. after they left yesterday, adella and i just played around the house all day. the weather cooled off, so it was perfect outside - warm enough, but not too hot, and a nice breeze now and then. i also found a turtle in the house! oh, no wait - that's adella.

adella and i spotted a little bunny in our yard this morning. we were out for an early popsicle snack, and bunny was having a nice clover snack... he's hard to see, i know. but adella watched very closely (and crept closer and closer) until he hopped away. this afternoon we went to the pool. adella's doing great with her vest and floaties - swimming like a fish! she's so proud of herself. here she is taking a short break for a snack: lately i've found a few interesting things around the house: rug-as-blanket for our animal friends and a whole hallway covered with little blankets (adella raided her washcloth shelf) yep. that's milk. in the turtle candleholder. i guess he was thirsty?

some FO and WIP

first, a stuffed owl that i finished today: hard to tell, but it is about 12" tall. my own design! adella's fascinated by the button eyes. "it has buttons on it!" she says. so i tell her they are the eyes and then she says, "no mom - they buttons!" and some WIP: the cardigan - i'm almost ready to bind off the bottom edge and start on the sleeves. after the sleeves, i go back and pick up all along the front for the collar/buttonband. adella's blanket - still growing: and the knitted rug i was talking about? here's the yarn i picked out: can you see the picture? the white part of the rug will be the variegated green/white yarn, and the contrast color (in the pattern it is actually fabric rag strips) will be the red, yellow, and blue held together. does that make sense? i'll post pictures of it once i get started. well, better go. the neighbors think i'm crazy, by the way. i'm always outside taking close-ups of yarn, and then adella comes running out in her birthday suit.