My Sock

I was so excited when I finished my first sock, that I had to take a picture to share with all of you. It may be six months before I finish the second one, and by that time I'll probably have misplaced this one. Kathy bought me the pattern and the yarn and needles for my birthday, and I made several attempts to get started, only to have to rip it out and start over. I actually did several rip-outs as I was knitting and learned a lot in the process. The needles look like pick-up sticks (and can also be used as shish-ka-bob skewers!) and there are 5 of them. Very confusing. I'll keep you posted on Sock #2.

Italy

I'm back from Italy and thought you guys would appreciate this relief from the cathedral in Florence. There was a series of panels describing technologies important in the Renaissance and one of them was textile arts.

Zac's pictures are here, mine are divided into pictures from Sorrento, Florence, Cinque Terra, and Rome.

A "So You're 21!" Birthday Pie

I am so impressed with all your craftiness.
It's all simply craftastic!
Because I have nothing to add but don't want to be left out, here's a cherry pie I made for Mike's birthday yesterday. He was 21 and requested a pie instead of a birthday cake. I cut out a "21" out of crust and baked it on top.
The whole birthday celebration, which also included chicken paprikash with an unbelievable number of dumplings (I multiply Mom's original recipe by eight) and wine, was very nice.

Don't say I didn't warn you!

Here is Lily and my first sewing project. It is a frog doorknob hanger with a pocket to hold little signs, such as Keep Out, No Boys Allowed, and personal favorite, NO LANEY! Mary got her the kit for Laney's birthday and I am hoping to spark an early interest in sewing!

Shoe Bags

I leave for Italy in one week. I'll be in Sorrento for a meeting for 6 days, then Zac is coming to meet me and we'll go to Florence, Cinque Terra, and Rome if all goes well. I've become somewhat obsessed with the idea of packing and decided to borrow Sarah's sewing machine to make some simple drawstring bags to segregate my dirty shoes and laundry from the rest of my stuff. They are made of thin flannel in cute simple patterns. They were fun to make. I made 5 (3 for me, 2 for my rommate) and stayed up until 12:30 making them, which is late for me.

Kool-Aid socks

Here's my latest finished knitting project - a pair of socks which I knitted with yarn that I dyed myself - with Kool Aid. They still smell a little fruity.

Sock Ball

Izzy loves to chew on socks, so Brian took a bunch of mismatched socks (and one of mine!) and created the sock ball. She loves it.