have you ever seen a rainbow's end?

My husband packed us a picnic dinner last night and just as we arrived at the beach, it began to thunder.  We decided to eat in the car given that lightning probably wasn't far away.  This is what we saw after about 10 minutes of rain...

I've never seen the end of a rainbow.  This one ended right in the ocean.  It was awe inspiring.  This world we live in is fascinating.

weekending 6.12

A few of the blogs I follow post along with Amanda at the habit of being about their weekends.  Since this last week had lots of milestones for us, I thought it felt like a good time to join in.

celebrated our daughter's second birthday with a big family party.  all of my worries about it being too hot and sunny for everyone in the back yard faded when we were faced with rain and 50 degree temps.  that will teach me to worry.

enjoyed watching 8 cousins under the age of 7 play together.  it got noisy and chaotic at times, but they loved it.

felt like a kid again when my husband rented a sno cone maker and we enjoyed blue raspberry sno cones.  remember we were worried about how hot it might be for the party?  we just ate them inside on the sun porch.

ate a rare dinner of steamed clams and root beer with my daughters for "ladies night."  we do this every time their dad has to work or is away for dinner.

started a hat for "hats for japan."  ripped out the neck of the sweater I was working on and will give it another try again soon.

teared up over my daughter's last day of preschool.  felt proud reading the notes her preschool teachers left her in her journal.  it's always a wonderful feeling to know that an adult outside of our family finds something to love about our child.

If you stop by to read this, feel free to leave a comment and a link to your post about your weekend.  Thanks!

::this moment::

From soulemama: 

"{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

2 candles plus 1 for good luck.  I had a tough time choosing a picture for this week because we had several really wonderful moments.  But nothing beats my baby turning 2.

Yarn Along (#19)

I'm joining Ginny at small things for another Yarn Along...

I didn't get a lot of knitting done this week, but I did finish my first 5k, and I did get over the hurdle I was facing last week:  how to handle the shoulder seams on the sweater I'm making.  I figured out how to shape the shoulders with short rows and used a 3 needle bind off.  And I tried it on both of my older daughters and it fits perfectly!  So that was a success.

My next challenge then was to figure out what to do with the neck.  I knew how I wanted it to look, but I was afraid I didn't have enough yarn.  So instead of going ahead with the idea and finding another ball of yarn if I need it, I decided to scrap that idea and try another one:  a dropped stitch turtleneck.  Before I even started knitting the neck, I think I knew it wasn't going to work.  But I kept going anyway because I was at least knitting and making some progress.  When I finished, I knew immediately that it was a failure and I'll have to rip it all out.  It's yet another reminder to always trust your instincts when it comes to knitting!

I knew that neckline wasn't going to work because I made a destroyed cowl last year out of a handspun yarn I had.  I had seen a number of destroyed cowls made out of handspun yarns and they were gorgeous.  But after knitting the whole thing and dropping the stitches and trying it on, it looked terrible on me.  And I didn't like the look of the dropped stitches.  I didn't even bother to take a picture of it finished.  I frogged the whole thing and now that yarn is sitting unused in my yarn stash.  I don't think I'll ever use it again.  It will remind me of the first failure.

{{I'm happy to send this handspun yarn from the cowl to anyone who wants it.  It's been knit, frogged, and rewound by hand into balls.  Just leave a comment for me with a note that you'd like it, and I'll send it to you.  Otherwise, it truly will sit here unloved.  If more than one person wants it, I'll go with the first person to respond.}}

As for reading, I've acquired this little stack of books over the past 2 weeks at yard sales and a church book sale.  I'm moving quickly through Wuthering Heights and I'll be saving the other three for this summer.  Wuthering Heights is a much darker story than I remember.  Whenever I hear references to this novel, they suggest that Heathcliff and Catherine have a romantic, tragic love story.  And it is tragic.  But it's also obsessive and hurtful.  There isn't much to redeem either character as human beings.  Maybe that changes as the book progresses.  I'm still enjoying the story, but it's a much more complex story than I remember.

What are you reading and knitting this week?

::this moment::

From soulemama: 

"{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Yarn Along (#18)

I'm slowly trying to finish the sweater I started a couple of weeks ago.  It should be done by now but I'm procrastinating, not sure how I want to seam the shoulders.  If I can get past the next few rows, the rest of the sweater should go quickly.

I started reading Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.  I found it at a yard sale this weekend.  I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying this book.  I read Wuthering Heights in high school but only remember one scene so it doesn't feel at all like I'm rereading it.  I only wish I had more energy at night to read.

I'm hoping to run my first 5K this weekend so I've been exercising a whole lot more than usual.  My baby has been waking up a lot earlier than usual too.  The days are long and filled with lots of outdoor time and active kids, so by 8pm most nights I'm exhausted.  I'm reading a few paragraphs, napping, then reading a few more before finally committing myself to sleep.  I'm hoping I find more energy soon!

I'd love to see what you're knitting and reading this week.  And thanks to Ginny at small things for hosting another Yarn Along.