Blocking Issues

I recently knit Bluebell from Knitty.
It was fun to knit and it turned out great.... except for the blocking.
Can you believe this was actually blocked!?!?!?



I think the problem stems from the "mystery yarn" I used from my Mom's stash.... We weren't sure what it was but it was about the right weight and a pretty colour (she even had the matching beads on hand!) so I went for it. This was my first time knitting a "real" lace pattern and my first time using beads so I didn't want to go out and buy the supplies in case I hated it.
Dang!
I'm thinking if I block it again and maybe starch it a bit it might help???
Any advice?

By the way, only 10 more days to sign up for the Mitten Swap... come on people!!! :-)

Mitten Swap!

Hey! Anybody wanna join the Mitten Swap?
Come on! The more people, the more fun! :-D



Here's the Link
http://mittenswap3.blogspot.com/

Noro Cap

Yay! I actually knit something for myself!
This is the Noro Silk Garden "Yorkshire Cap".



It took me one day to complete the whole thing.... yes, it was a long day of nothing but knitting. I'm kinda funny about knitting hats... Once I start them, I have to keep knitting until they're done. I don't know why. Maybe because they look "almost finished" as soon as the ribbing is done?

Aaaaanyway... I think it turned out pretty good.





My husband really likes it and wants me to knit him a beanie in the same Silk Garden yarn (just a more "masculine" colourway)

Yikes!!!

Okay, so this is totally not knitting-related at all, but definately worth a picture!
We are doing some renovations around the house and one of the main projects is the front and back decks.... both are rotten and leaky. My husband had a couple of his employees come by today and do some demolition to the existing decks. The front deck had a few wasp nests along the railing where the posts were. I told the guys to go ahead and use some wasp killer before they started working... you know, so it wouldn't be scary working around those little wasp nests. (the biggest ones were about 2") As they dismantled the deck and tore up the plywood they uncovered THIS.



HOLY SH*T!!!!

Closer look at the biggest one?



It's approximately 2 feet by 3 feet. Yeah, um, can you say scary???
Luckily for them, both those nests were empty. They admitted that they had been a little freaked out when they lifted up the plywood. If it had been me, I guarantee I would've jumped off the deck and ran down the street before anyone had a chance to see if there were any wasps in there!

Kaylen Approved

Kaylen has given Monkette her approval.



(and a few drooley chewed spots already!)

Another Monkey

I finished the new monkey for Kaylen!



Despite my Mom's comment about the potential names (New Monkey, Other Monkey, Kaylen's Monkey, Girl Monkey) I decided to go with "Monkette".... very original, I know, hehehehe.
If Kaylen decides to rename her later, that's fine with me.
Kaylen hasn't actually seen her new Monkette yet.... she went to bed before I was finished. I wonder what she'll think of her?
Monkey seemed to like her.

New Monkey?

It seems that my little girl, Kaylen, has developed a fondness for Monkey.



To save Monkey from becoming a chewed-up slobbery mess, I've started making Kaylen her own Monkey.
I've finished knitting all the pieces and I'm just sewing them up.
"Just" sewing them up? That's always the worst part for me.... I like the knitting, but I'm not too excited about piecing things together.
I should have her (new Monkey is a girl) finished in a couple days.... expect pictures.