I'm Back . . . . . . .

Spent last week in Hawaii for a well needed rest.

I spent the week with my husband, sister and brother-in-law.  As always, it was beautiful there.  If you look really hard, you can see the "Royal Hawaiin Hotel" in the background.  This is my favorite place on Oahu.  As well as being the first hotel on Waikiki, each room contains an old Hawaiin quilt, hung on the wall.  A fun thing to see, if you are a quilt lover like me.

One of three lighthouses on the island.

The beach where "From Here to Eternity" was filmed.

A beautiful view.

. . . and although the humidity did a number on our hair . . . we still really enjoyed ourselves.

This is "Turtle Bay".  A fun place to visit, where over 100 turtles live.

This turtle was catching some rays.

We went sailed along the coast of Waikiki, where we enjoyed the view of Honolulu and saw many whales coming out of the water.

Guess who even got to steer the boat for a bit.

This was just before I caught a huge tuna . . . . . . not really, but it was fun to pretend.

Check out our rental car . . . "who ya gonna call?" 

Not really . . . our actual rental car was a boat, but it did hold all of our luggage in the trunk, and my brother-in-law could park a tank on a dime.  Thank heavens, because he was the driver.

We went to a beach luau.  The food was good and we met some really nice people from Orange County, California.

Like always . . . the overnight flights were a drag, and we spent some extended time in airports, but if that is the worst of it.  I feel rather lucky.  I did take some knitting along, but spent most of my flight-time sleeping.  Now that I've had a nice rest, I'm hoping to get some knitting flying off the old needles soon.

Remember . . . a drawing of all "Followers" will be held on March 31.  Two pairs of felted slippers will be given away in Women's size L and Children's size L.  Get signed up as a "Follower" to win.  Happy Easter . . . . & knitting.

A Princess Birthday

It's a "GIVE-AWAY" . . . this is your chance to win a pair of hand-knit, felted slippers.  On March 31 a drawing of all "FOLLOWERS" will be held.  Two winners will each receive a pair of slippers, in either women's size L or child's size L.  They will both be two-tone, as pictured below.  Get signed up as a "follower" now, for a chance to win.

This past weekend, we celebrated the birthdays of 3 princesses in my life.  Three princess cakes were baked for the occassion.

The princess dressed as "Snow White", was lucky and was given tickets to the Disney Princess on Ice show in SLC.  Early on Saturday morning, she and her parents boarded TRAX (SLC mass transit train) and headed out to see the show.  She had a fabulous time watching the show and eating her $12 snow cone.  Because of this event, she received her birthday gift from me the night before . . .

. . . a suitcase filled with Disney Princess dresses.

"Belle" from Beauty and the Beast;

"Aurora" from Sleeping Beauty;

"Tiana" from The Princess and the Frog;

"Cinderella"; and

"Arielle" from The Little Mermaid.  She identified each immediately, and was so excited about them.  She had a really hard time deciding which to wear to the ice show.

Cinerella was her final choice.

Here she is in Cinderella's lego carriage.

Each dress was sewn flat, with shoulder straps and elastic added last, so they can be adjusted as she grows.  I wanted them to be flexible, so all her little friends, sister and cousins could wear them too.

The "Steve" sweater is finally finished.  He loves it, and just in time for warmer weather.   Oh well, you can't win them all. This one took me 8 weeks to design and knit.  A long time of looking and feeling the same yarn.  I've yet to write the pattern, as I'm still stumbling over how to explain the chain-like cables.

Knit on US 6 & 8 needles from Knitpicks - Andes del Campo in Mystery Heather (100% Highland Wool).  I'm really happy with the outcome, and I'm sure he'll be wearing it for years and years to come.  I'll probably end up hiding it, when it is old and tattered, and he just cannot bare to part with it.

I've started a new project from Melissa Leapman's "Knitting the Perfect Fit".  I've chosen:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/trompe-loeil.  This fitted sweater is all shaped with traveling ribbed stitches.  It is flattering to all body-types, and seems to camoflauge a lot of body flaws.  I'm looking forward to knitting someone else's design, and learning some techniques in the process.  I should have some pictures of the sweater in-process, for my next post.

I'll also be dragging some Scrumptious yarn along, on a much-needed vacation.  I look forward to a week of knitting and people-watching on the beach.  Happy knitting . . . . . .