Pattern:Just Enough Cowl
Yarn: Malabrigo Chunky in Polar Morn, 1 skein
Needle: Think I used a US10 or 11…so long ago I cant remember!
Timeframe: December 2010 over a couple days
Summary: Knitted this for a quick & easy project to shake the stress of the 2010 December month - Disney World, Marathon, Holidays, Move…..#whew
Perfect solution for the desire of a comfort knit!
Wanted it to match my Malabrigo Polar Morn beret knitted in 2009 to have a matching set.

BONE CRUSHER

Pattern: Boneyard Shawl
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Tonal, 4 skeins in #6321 - Always wanted to knit with this yarn…didn’t like the rabbit hair though.
Needle: US8 on 40” circular
Timeframe: June-July – I wanted something to cover my arms in the church’s AC!
Summary: During this project I declared: “Crushing My Knitting Blues Away!!”
Bumpy start since I was on a knitting hiatus, but it was great practice on my M1L M1R again and of course the good ole fashion K,P! This is my 1st project since I tied the knot :)

HIS CHRIStmas HAT

Pattern:Hurricane Hat
Yarn: Noro Kogarashi – Had to get my 1st love in!! Hadn’t tried this line yet. Colorway #21. Used up ¾ of a hank
Needle: US5 magic looped
Timeframe: December 2011
Summary: My husband Chris’ 1st knitted item by me. He is super excited.
I wouldn’t knit for him until after we were married :) #newlyweds #8months #overdue
Because of the natural texture of the yarn (including color/specks) it really wasn’t necessary to do the pattern as you can barely see it…but it added character. Plan to make matching fingerless gloves for him.

Yes I am still alive and BLESSED! Thought I would share the most recent, biggiest and most exciting news in my life,since my last post last year, to those who still come by to see if the blog dust has been wiped off ;op.

I am now MARRIED! :) Now, don't even ask me about the knitting LOL. See our wedding story and pics below. Hope all is well and yarny with each of you!! Until next time!

Bride:
Stacey Michelle Richards, 35
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Groom:
Christopher Kerry Henderson, 42
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Hometown of the Bride:
Racine, WI
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Hometown of the Groom:
Huntersville, NC
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Wedding Date:
4/1/2011
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Wedding Location:
We had a courthouse wedding in Charlotte, NC!
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Occupation of the Bride:
Nonprofit Professional
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Occupation of the Groom:
Independent Contractor
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Alma Mater of the Bride:
Johnson C. Smith University
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Alma Mater of the Groom:
North Mecklenburg High School
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How they met:
‘Chris and I met nine months ago on a rainy Friday night in August, 2010, at our church singles bowling event,’ Stacey said. ‘We were on the same bowling team.

We really did not take any special note of one another until the end of the evening, when I mentioned needing to get up early to go running. Chris immediately piped up and said he was a runner too and wanted to meet up with me.

We quickly began getting to know each other during our predawn runs each week, and he kept asking me out until one day I decided to give him, and love, a try. We started courting one another within a month.’
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The moment they realized they wanted to be a couple for life:
‘There really isn’t an exact moment we can pinpoint that we decided to be together for a lifetime. The more we learned about each other the more we realized we were made for each other.

Soon after we ran our first race together back in October 2010, a half marathon (13.1 miles), and went on a trip to visit my family, we were certain that we had won each other's hearts!

Chris describes our relationship best. He says we are “a match made in heaven reunited on earth.”
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The Proposal:
‘When we both decided to enter into a courtship, with the specific intent to be married, we discussed it many times and we prayed continuously that we were making the right decision.

During these discussions we not only talked about how marriage would be for us, but what kind of wedding we would like to have, and before we knew it we were planning a wedding … without a formal proposal.

It was all so natural we just flowed right into it! I always joke that Chris got off easy!’
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The Wedding:
‘When selecting our wedding date, we really took a look at the dates and the significance of them. We wanted it to be meaningful.

We selected the 1st of the month because the number one means GODhead, unity and undivided. We both love the month of April since both of our birthdays are in this month and our favorite season is spring. Yes, April 1st, April Fools Day!

This meant we would have just a little over a month to plan the wedding! We thought, 'How appropriate to celebrate our wedding on April Fool's Day, since no one would believe that we got married so quickly.' It fit us perfectly!

The week leading up to the wedding was rainy and we were concerned the actual day would be gloomy, but that afternoon the sun came out and it was simply beautiful.

The trees and flowers were blooming and it was the perfect cool spring temperature.

We were surprised and delighted to see how many couples were getting married on April Fools Day at the courthouse, and as each couple came out there was a wave of cheers that gave an element of fun and excitement.

We selected royal purple as our accent color for the wedding. I had a vintage look in a unique ivory dress, birdcage veil and royal purple shoes to add flare.

We had a small wedding cake celebration afterwards that gave us an opportunity to exchange our intimate and personal vows with each other and express our love in front of our close family and friends. Chris’ mother made the wedding cake which added a special touch to the day.

Some of our guests were oblivious to the ‘special announcement’ we were about to make, which added to the April Fools Day surprise.

Guests had the option to complete a “Love Note” sharing any wedding sentiments or marriage advice to us. This was a unique twist and expansion on the guestbook, as the ribboned cards were later slipped into the extra pages to be remembered.

It was just what we wanted for our wedding day. To be effortless, meaningful and filled with joy!’
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The Honeymoon:
‘We took a couple of mini weekend getaways in our wedding month, all of which were centered around the mountains. We visited Biltmore Estates during the Festival of Flowers and got some quality quiet time at a private mountain home. It was a wonderful way of enjoying our wedding bliss!’
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Their Plans:
‘Our personal backgrounds made us realize why we were brought together. We know that through a ministry in GOD, we are to help others overcome the obstacles we have been through. We compliment each other in that Chris is a visionary and I am an organizer.

As we plan to work together in ministry, we also look forward to starting a family soon.’
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Advice to Others:
‘Make your wedding your own personal statement, and know it is not based on man’s approval but GOD’s approval.

We highly recommend 50 kisses a day (Seriously, it works.) And to always keep GODas your first love, coming together in prayer daily.’

As quiet as it has been around here...forgot to mention that today someone turns the big..........

Hey Now!
Still not much knitting over here. Maybe tonight during a Redbox movie since it has been a low key Sunday and all.

I haven't felt our lost hour yet due to Daylight Saving Time (DST) but don't doubt it will catch up with me in the A.M. lol

So I thought I would share some odds and ends that has been going on recently.

I painted the town on Friday night with a couple of girlfriends like it was my birthday (but it wasn't...coming up soon though!!), and I also splurged on painting my nails with some of this

Ava turned me onto this nailpolish waaaay back when (& purchased the same color on the same day as me! Tee hee), but I never tried it b/c it truly is a splurge LOL Recently I have been seeing this nail color on a couple of people from their Spring 2010 line and finally caved.

It's like a puddy/brown colour (see the two different lightings) and reminds me more of a fall color than spring, but I've been coveting it for about 2 months now so I go it when they said it was in stock (has been hard to get since it debuted). LUVIN the natural look. There really is a difference! It goes on so effortlessly and is smooth and thick...pure quality indeed. Gonna put a top coat on it and see how it holds up with all my typing this week.

I also got to hang out with a fellow knitter and Soror DeltaPurl

We ate GAWD at the Cheesecake Factory and than walked around the mall to window shop all the irresistible eye candy merchandise Haha! Great to see you gurl!

And of course I am still running :) I've been prepping for my 10K race at the end of this month.

I am really excited about it b/c it will be a mini getaway as well. I luv Charleston and hear this race is really fun! Can't wait!

Welp that is it for now...just may have a completed project by the end of this month?!? Haha!

Have a Blessed Week!

I am definitely on "Take II" with ALL my current WIPs right now...sigh

So I "attempted" Ravelympics but knew it was going to be a long shot getting to the finish line b/c life got busy on both fronts (work & personal) for me. It really became apparent that I wouldn't even get off the runway once I realized something was very wrong with my cabling.....can you see it??Yep not all of them are "crossing" lol.....after further inspection of my interpretation of the pattern repeat...I was doing too many plain stitches before the cable stitch on one of the rows.

And after further consultation with some knit buddies over a "lunch & knit" session they convinced me that I would need to frog and just do it right from the beginning.....I have yet to still do that....blah

Then there is the other project I was working on

This was for a KAL in my knitting group on slippers. These will some day be the prairie boots ;op

I thought I would be clever and not only knit them 2AAT but also double yarn them for extra cushion on the soles....big mistake

Gauge ended up waaaay off! They practically cover my entire foot already and I am nowhere near the point of decreasing to round out the toe on the pattern......another one to the pond!

So in my state of "Take II" I thought I would just pull out an older WIP that is pretty much on easy street as I am strictly on sleeve island now.While working on the second sleeve I realized 2 inches in that I was still working on the smaller needle used for ribbing....Doh! Could I just play it off and hope that blocking would loosen those rows up and go back to the bigger needle size? Or stay on the small needle while the other sleeve was knitted with the bigger needle?? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip

Who knows when I will finally finish a freakin project!!

But I will say it was great sitting & knitting this past weekend in my fav LYS like I used to do back in the day, because a wonderful surprise visitor came thru the door!

A little while ago I featured a cute baby sweater on my blog for a very precious baby! That cute bundle of joy is nicknamed "O Pup" for fun :)
I was just so thrilled the mini oxford cardi fitted him perfectly for the winter time!! It can be hard knitting for a baby as you are not sure how fast they will grow.

Love it when our knitted gifts are used!! Especially on this red head cutie :) xoxo

Yep I am putting my knitted hats to good use :)

It was a challenging goal accomplished and it felt victorious!

For more details and to follow me on my new journey you can do so on my new running blog at: www.runcrimsonrun.blogspot.com