A Transformation

Just as a caterpillar changes into a beautiful butterfly or moth, lace also transforms itself before your eyes. From it's start on the needles,

to it's bath and blocking,

the lace becomes a thing of beauty.

My Wing of the Moth shawl in Marmalade Kidsilk Haze.

I is for ...

I was planning on using ice cream for my I post but there has a little too much ice cream around here lately.

When I took my daughter to the zoo a few weeks ago for Scouting Day, I learned a little something about identification bracelets. For the everyday person who visits the zoo once in a while, it may be difficult to tell one African Dog from another.

Yes, we can see some identifying differences - certain spots or size - but we don't work with these animals everyday and haven't learned enough about them to tell them apart. Basically one elephant can easily look like another.

But wait, what is that with the penguins.

Can you see around this one's flipper?

Was there some sort of make it take it craft at the last penguin party? I hadn't realized that the penguins were into beaded jewelry. Look, there's another one in different colors.

The zoo staff has put these identification bracelets on the penguins to help us identify each individual penguin. Pretty cool! They have a poster which shows each bracelet design and the name of the penguin it belongs to. I was sure I had taken a picture of that but I guess not (bad blogger!).

Beading - it's not just for the bling!

WIP Wednesday

In between the circus, a parade, baking cookies, visiting a horse farm and other fun activities, two shawls came off of the needles this past weekend. My Wing of the Moth in Marmalade Kid Silk Haze and the Forest Canopy Shawl in Fire on the Mountain Socks That Rock.

I started moth sometime last summer and I know there must be people laughing right now since there are some that finished this in days (there was a moth competition at one time). Even though I put this project down many times and waiteed to pick it up again, I did enjoy knitting it - and I learned a lot! I was able to see where I needed to be in my current row from what had happened in the row below. I guess I'm learning to read my lace knitting. Now, I just need to find the time to block these beauties. I can't wait to see them in all their glory!

Of course, I immediately cast on for another shawl. Any guesses?

I'm knitting my first MimKnits pattern - Seraphim in Brooklyn Handspun.

Eye Candy Friday

We also saw a 3-D movie when we went to the Museum of Science. Although my favorite was the IMAX Omni movie about the Swiss Alps. What beautiful scenery!

Tonight we go to the circus with the Brownie troop. The girls are very excited. Obviously, I'm not making it to Maryland this year but I wish everyone that goes a great time and good weather. I will, however, be attending this event in a few weeks. It's nice having a festival close to home.

Have a great weekend!

***** 5 rows to go on Moth *****

Free Ice Cream

Just to let people know if you didn't know already, tomorrow, Tuesday April 29th is Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's. Click here to get to their homepage where you can find out if there is a participating shop near you. We have two shops nearby which I'm not really sure is a good thing, but I know we will be heading downtown tomorrow to get our free cones. Yummy!

*****9 rows left on Moth*****

H - it's not just for ice cream

One of my favorite places to visit when I go back to New Jersey is a small old fashioned ice cream parlour called Holsten's.

I mainly like it for the ice cream but it's a good place to go for lunch also. (You can click here for lots of pictures of great ice cream and of the restaurant itself.) The burgers, sandwiches and french fries are all good but of course it is the ice cream that you go back for. Holsten's has been there forever and holds fond memories for me since Mom and I used to go frequently. One joke in our family is that when Mom was in Weight Watchers, she used to go to the meeting to get weighed and when the meeting was over would come down to Holsten's for dessert and coffee. Many bets in our family have ended with the loser treating the winner to ice cream at Holsten's. My Dad's favorite here is usually an ice cream soda while I remember enjoying wet walnut sundaes with coffee chip ice cream (still one of my favorites).

If you are a fan of The Sopranos, you will be familiar with this place since the final episode was filmed here. You can now buy commemorative merchandise and the booth that the characters sat in has a plaque next to it.

Of course, I have introduced my daughter to this place and now my sister and her family, my Dad and my daughter and I enjoy having lunch here. If you are in the area, I can definitely recommend it! Enjoy!

Random Thoughts

***Moth Progress - 12 rows to go ***

I'm going to have a row countdown here showing my progress towards the end of my Moth shawl. I am so close. I currently have 12 rows to go to the end but unfortunately have only been averaging a row a day since we returned home after school vacation.


I was able to finish my Monkey socks in STR Dragon Dance and I even wore them yesterday. Very comfortable!

The remainder of this post was written last week when several things were really getting to me. Obviously, I hadn't posted it and was thinking of deleting it but changed my mind. So, here is my random list with a few updates.

1. My Ms. Orangepants sweater is on hold because I am waiting for my Addi Lace needles. I totally believe that one should support their LYS but I ordered the needles over 5 weeks ago and the store has still not actually placed the order. When I went in 2 weeks ago week to ask about them, I was told that they have been putting the order off and when the woman looked at the list, she seemed quite surprised that there were so many people waiting for their needles. Silently to myself, I wondered how many of those people may have already gotten their needles from somewhere else. I've considered it, but have held off since I do have plenty of other things to work on. When I first asked about the needles I was told that they are placing orders all the time - guess that wasn't really true. I realize that the store has a difficult time competing with the quickness of placing an order over the Internet, but I would hope that there would be some understanding that the customer might not wait too long for something they can get easily somewhere else.


2. What is it with people that always want more from you? I'm not talking about telemarketers and such but about the people you deal with in everyday life - they could be people you work with or even family. It has been happening more and more to me lately - when I give the time I can to someone and instead of saying thank you, they ask for more. I don't know if I am getting less patient or what but it is really starting to get to me. Unfortunately, I end up taking my frustrations out on people that don't deserve it instead of the people that do! Who knows, maybe people think I'm selfish too. I'm sure those people don't think they are and I can't go into more details since I am not quite sure who may read this. Don't worry, it's not you :)!


3. I took my daughter and one of her friends to see Nim's Island last weekend. It was a fun movie and I am now quite attracted to the idea of living on a deserted island (see #2 above).

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I am leaving you with a picture of one of the things we saw when we visited the Museum of Science last week.