Finished Object Friday

I finished my starry night socks this week. I started these way back in January and it's nice to have them finally finished (even though it's too hot to wear them for very long).

I used Opal sock yarn in the Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night color way. I chose a basic top-down, heel flap sock. They were knitted on Size 1.5 needles and definitely fit better than the pair I did on my size 2s.

I noticed that I suffered from second sock syndrome more on this pair compared to the first pair I made. But now that they are done, I'm so glad I finished.

For more finished objects, check out Tamis Amis.

 

Finished Object Friday

I'm super excited for my most recent finished project. I made the child's tank top from the most recent issue of Knit Simple for my niece's birthday.

My niece is turning three (and wears 3s and 4s) so I made the size 4, which is the smallest size the pattern comes in and I used my size 7 circulars. Part of me wonders if I should have gone with the size 5 so she would have room to grow. I did end up adding half an inch to the body and half an inch to the strap to give it a little more room. (Poor J had to be my model to make sure it fit!)

My yarn was Violena - a DK weight, cotton rayon blend. Originally I wanted to do it in all pink but they didn't have enough of the yarn I wanted in the store. They did have enough of the lime green. So I decided to get creative and combine the two. Honestly now I'm so glad they didn't have enough pink because I absolutely love the color combination!

I had a lot of yarn left over so I decided to make a couple of barrettes to go with it. I think this may be my favorite part of the whole project!

One of my knitting books has a few different motifs in it including a flower and a leaf so those were the basis for the barrettes. I knit the flower on a size 7 needle and did the leaf on a size 5. I then stitched the flower to the leaf and hot glued the whole thing to the barrette.

I am so excited about this project! My Ravelry page is here. For more finished objects check out Tami's Amis.

 

Vacation Part 2

Here's the rest of the vacation story...

Monday night we decided to stay in Des Moines so we wouldn't get back too late plus we thought it might be fun to visit the Capitol (my niece had done a history of Iowa report during the school year so she was interested in the building)

It's a beautiful building with a gold plated dome.

That is looking up to the ceiling from the middle of the first floor.

C in the House chambers

After that we went to the State History Museum. E and I took a picture in American Gothic. They had a lot of interesting history there.

Next it was time to visit my aunt's farm. C with the cows.

J checking out the tractor with my dad. We also went over to my cousin's house and had brats and hot dogs. The kids got to play and visit the chickens.

Wednesday we went and toured the town I grew up in.

Here's the hospital I was born at

And the house I lived in.

We also stopped at our old pizza place. Later that day was one of the more exciting (aka scary) adventures. We went to the mall by our old house and while we were there they issued a tornado warning. We actually had to take shelter in one of the hallways. Luckily the storm went straight east above us. But I was still a little anxious - it's not something I deal with in Arizona.

The next day we were on the road again, heading to South Dakota (another state I had never been to).

We stopped at a place called the Corn Palace, which basically is a tourist trap revolving around corn. Here we are acting corny.

The next day we went to Mount Rushmore. But first we stopped at a place called Wall Drug. The entire route along I90 is covered with signs advertising what amounts to a giant drug store and restaurant in Wall, SD.

Then it was off to Mount Rushmore!

It's really amazing how they were able to construct it.

They had a neat pathway with flags from all of the states at the entrance. Of course I took a pic of the AZ one.

After we left we stayed in Cheyenne for the night. Wyoming was the other state I hadn't been to before the trip.

We encountered another storm and I managed to get a picture of the lightning.

The next two days were primarily travel days, although we did stop at a place called Casa Bonita for lunch one day. It's a unique restaurant - they had divers performing while you eat.

On Sunday we finally made it back.

Hello Arizona! Glad to be back!

 

Vacation part 1

A few weeks ago we took a big vacation with my family (12 people total). The best way to sum it up would be 11 days, 8 states (including three I had never set foot in before), 3700 miles, 6 hotel stays, 1 family reunion, 1 amusement park, 1 national park, 1 flat tire, 1 tornado warning and lots of family. It was so much fun!

Now for the details! Our trip took us to Iowa for a family reunion. We also some sites along the way - I went to Mount Rushmore for the first time. The first two days and most of the third were all traveling. We took it slow with lots of breaks since we had five kids under the age of ten with us, stopping in Pueblo the first night and Grand Island, NE the next.

A bit of rain greeted us in New Mexico but we got a beautiful double rainbow out of it.

We played Simon Says before leaving the second day so we could get the sillies out (we also did the hokey pokey at one stop).

This sign was hilarious since we were going to our family reunion.

My first new state. We used to always take the south route when driving but this time we went north.

The third day we reached Iowa (that's what the sign says). Unfortunately about two hours from our destination we had a flat tire - while it was raining and we were about 20 miles from an actual city. So after rearranging kids, luggage, putting a donut on, and stopping at Costco for a new tire we were back on the road, arriving at my Grandma's house two hours after we expected to.

This was breakfast the next morning, which was the day of the reunion.

E and I at the reunion. The reunion was great! It was for the descendants of my great grandparents (so my grandma, her siblings, their kids, etc). We had about 55 people there, with 27 of us belonging to my Grandma's branch of the family tree. It was the first time my cousins and I had all been in the same room since 1996 and my grandma had all her kids, grandkids and great grandkids in one place. The trip was worth it for that alone.

It was a potluck with lots of socializing and games for the kids. (This was the rubber chicken relay.)

This is Flip the Rock. Years ago (I have no idea how many but at least 20) my cousins and I signed this rock. Every time we go back we have to check that it's still there. It's a bit (okay a lot) faded but it was still there!

The day after the reunion we went to Adventureland, an amusement park outside of Des Moines. Think Disneyland but smaller with shorter lines.

This is J, E and me on the train. J was absolutely fearless, wanting to go on any ride he could. Luckily his dad and aunts were more than happy to take him since I hate roller coasters and spinning rides. C and I were much more content to do the tamer rides. The nice thing about having so much family there is we could split up and go on the rides we wanted even if it meant I had my one year old nephew on a baby ride while my sister took my fearless three year old on a much more dramatic ride.

So that's the first half of the vacation!