we've moved!

hey folks! after holding my breath and praying that i didn't lose every post i've written in the past 7 months, i have successfully moved the blog. the new blog is called Cozy Blue (as in 'our cozy blue house') and the address is: www.cozyblue.typepad.com don't worry - there will still be just as many pictures and cute adella posts. but since i seem to have just a few other things to blog about, i decided to make the blog a little more well-rounded. i think you'll like the new blog - i'm still playing with the formatting and some design details, but all the old standard things are still there, along with some new features: categories - click on 'adella' to see all the posts about adella. click on 'knitting' to see all the posts about knitting... you get the idea. (i'm still categorizing all of the old posts - it's taking a while) there is also a 'subscribe' link on the sidebar. the calendar on the sidebar is just an easy navigation tool to see a post from a particular day. i'll be adding more things as i can, and as i can find time! so - the old blog will remain for now, but i won't be updating it. change your bookmarks and go take a peek and let me know what you think!

yippee - it's done! i really really LOVE this sweater. i may post a few more close-up pictures of the details, which came out wonderfully, if i do say so myself. i'm really proud of this one. i can't wait to wear it this fall. if it weren't 95 degrees outside, or if we had AC in the house, i'd probably be wearing it already. of course, now my fingers are itching to start another sweater - maybe one for adella this time... and your daily dose of adella cuteness:

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.