Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)

I do count my blessings every night before I sleep...

But during the evenings, I have to start counting sheep. I'm on crunch time on getting my Sheep Dreams baby blanket finished for my friend. I'm heading out of town in 2 weeks, and then she goes on maternity leave right when I get back. Which means I have roughly 12 days to finish 16 sheep.

After doing my first sheep I didn't think that was possible. I've never done duplicate stitching before, so it took me awhile to figure it out. I had the instructions from the pattern and my two handy "how-to-knit" books on my lap to tackle the first one. Took me about 3 times of stitching and removing and stitching and removing and stitching and removing again before I was happy with the finished project. The problem with this type of pattern is that the blanket has its "ugly" parts of the backside of the blanket...with all the winding colors of yarn that have passed over top of one another. The best part, though, is that the right side of the blanket turns out amazing.

So, I have 1 1/2 sheep done...only 14 1/2 to go in the next 12 days.

If I could turn back time

Oh where oh where has my summer gone? Oh where oh where could she be?

It's hard to believe that it is already the middle of July, but the calendar doesn't lie. Hubby and I just got back from a fabulous trip to KY to see our family and friends. We were there for 4 days, but it's just never long enough. But, we had a BLAST! We played with our niece and nephew, ate tons and tons and tons of yummy food with our family, and met up with friends each night for a few drinks. I realized when I started looking at the pictures that Jason was the one behind the camera the whole time...only managed to get a few pictures of him.

Jason and his sister enjoying the sun

I also took a short trip up to Indy to spend the day with my sister and brother-in-law. They usually come down to KY whenever we make it into town, but they already had their son shipped off to the grandparent's house for the weekend so they could work on getting the rooms ready for the arrival of my nephew. It was a short trip, but an absolutely wonderful one! I got to help them out with their cleaning and laugh at all the funny stuff they found. The bonus came when my sister found a tape recording of her 3rd grade violin concert. We sat in their car...where the only tape recorder could be found...and laughed at the whole thing! Again...too short of a visit :(

Many people would groan at the thought of an 8 hour car trip, but I saw it as a chance to finish a few things up. On the way out, I worked on an Emma Grace Headband for my niece until it was so dark that I couldn't see my needles anymore. When I saw her the next day, I measured to see how much more I would need to make it the proper length. Both she and her brother were quite enthralled watching me knit...maybe next time I"ll have more time to sit down and teach them! I managed to lose one of my DPN's in the car...and it still hasn't been found. A small price to pay to bring a smile to this one's face.

Isn't she adorable?

On the way back, I tried so hard to finish the final border on my Sheep Dreams blanket for a close friend. But it is just an agonizing pattern so I can only do 2 rows at a time. For row one, you increase 1 into EVERY stitch...for row two, you K2tog or P2tog along all of the 240 stitches that you have on your needles. It's hard on my fingers and boring as hell. So, right around Columbus, I decided to cast on my new blanket for another friend having a baby. It is an Aran blanket design and is turning out just beautifully. I love the simplicity of this pattern, but it looks like it is much more involved when you see the final output. Here's what I managed to get done in about 5 hours:


So, now it's back to work again. Of course, I do have to wait for one more thing...a special FedEx package from KY. In all of my insanity of packing to leave on Monday morning, I left my laptop and laptop bag at my parent's house! In it are not only my wonderful computer, but also ALL of my files for every paper I'm writing, every project I'm working on, and every data file I need to work on everything else. Thanks to my hubby's wonderful family for breaking into my parent's house and shipping my lifeline back to me as quickly as possible. You are all wonderful! So, until I get that back, I'll be trying to come up with things to work on...guess my blog and Ravelry will do for now!

Thank You!

Just a quick note to my few, but loyal readers! I hope that everyone has a safe and wonderful 4th of July holiday. DH and I are heading down to VA to hang out with some friends who get into the 4th like I get into Halloween!!

To all those serving or have served in the military: THANKS! Thanks for choosing to do a job that is very difficult and fraught with experiences that you don't have any choice over. We are all here today because of what those before you have done and what you are doing today. I wish there was more I could do than simply say thanks...but know that you are in my thoughts and prayers!

Sorry for the lack of pictures and posts lately. I finally got my invitation to Ravelry, so I have spent a lot of time taking pictures and uploading things for that. If you are a knitter/crocheter and haven't heard of Ravelry, than check it out!!! It's the latest rage!

DH and I will be heading to Flo-town for some family, friends, and as I've been told "At least 2 Skyline trips" next week. Look out KY...here come the Fredstrom's! I'll post pictures of all of our summer adventures soon!!!