4-30-2018 It Was On Sale...

4-29-2018 Oma and Opa Time

Oma and Oma time with the Grandsons

on a beautiful Spring day in Chicago!

Thanks so much for lunch

and the pleasure of your company!

Love you all.

Only two seasons in the midwest...

winter...

and road construction season.

We drove 45mph most of the way across Illinois.

  Men...meat...fire...

 Lunch!

4-28-2018 Thinking of my BFF

4-27-2018 Addition By Subtraction

Addition by Subtraction KAL

starts today!

So excited!

I just finished my Brudarach KAL yesterday

so I'm ready for a new project!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Addition By Subtraction


 A Slip Knitwise, P.I. Murder Mystery Knit Along 

- Prologue- 

It was a dark and stormy knit... 

I sat in my office trying to battle my way through a brioche hat. The brioche was winning. It was Friday the 13th and I felt like I had walked under every ladder in the city. Something had to give. I needed a case and I needed it badly. It had been too long. The letters on my door said, “SLIP KNITWISE - PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR,” but the only things I had been investigating were dropped stitches and problems that couldn’t be solved with all the T-pins and blocking mats in the world. 

I looked up from my desk just in time to see a dark shadow cross outside the frosted glass of my door. The shadow stopped. The doorknob turned. In walked a tall dame. She stood in the shadows, briefly silhouetted by a lightning strike. 

“Detective Knitwise, I need your help.” she whispered. “They are trying to kill me.” 

“Please come in and sit down, Miss...? 

“Purlington. Errata Purlington,” she said. “But you can call me Errata.” 

I knew her type. A dame like her was nothing but problems. On the way to taking my place behind my pattern strewn desk, I moved a granny square afghan off of a chair and motioned for her to sit. My desk lamp illuminated the red eyes of a woman who had been crying for hours. 

“Who is trying to kill you?” I asked, as I handed her a hanky knit from the finest lace weight linen. Well, the finest I could afford. 

“My siblings,” she replied. “My father just died. He left the entire Purlington Estate to be divided equally between the four of us.” 

“Your father is Block Purlington the textile magnate?” I shouted a little more enthusiastically than I should have. If I played my cards right, I could finally buy that cashmere I had my eye on. Not just the blend, the whole goat. 

“Yes,” she sniffed, “and now my family members have all turned on each other. The fewer the siblings involved; the bigger their share. It’s simple math, you see, addition by subtraction. 

The only addition I was concerned with was the addition to my yarn stash at the end of this fool’s errand. 

“So, what do you want from me?” I queried. “My services don’t come cheap.” 

“You’ll be paid handsomely from my share of the inheritance. Another reason to keep me safe and alive. My father’s will is going to be read tomorrow night. The reading finalizes the beneficiaries. After that, your job is done.” 

“I’m skeptical. It seems too risky for your siblings to target each other. All eyes will be on them. Tell me a little more” I said, grabbing my notebook and pencil. 

“There are four of us. Rip is my older brother. He is always going against the rest of us. He’s the yin to our yang. My younger brother, Garter, is the proverbial middle child. He has a little bit in common with all of us and is the family placater. He is also very sneaky. My sister Dee Kay is the youngest. She is a crazy loose cannon and doesn’t have much in common with anyone else. And then there is me.” 

I thought for a moment. I needed a case to solve and this could be the easiest money I’d ever made. Maybe this Friday the 13th is going to be my lucky day. How hard is it to keep someone safe from a bunch of spoiled rich kids? It’s gotta be easier than brioche. 

Will Slip take the case? Is Errata truly in danger? Brioche? Really?! Find out next time in Chapter 1 of the

Murder Mystery Knit-A-Long.

Gather your own Casefile items and follow the clues along with our intrepid gumshoe.

4-26-2018 Spring Art Show

Youngest GD's preschool Spring Art Show

based on the Hungry Caterpillar book...

4-25-2018 I Need a Grandsons Fix!

4-24-2018 Brudarach MKAL Finished

Ready to be blocked and worn!

With all the tinking I did on this scarf

I think I knit it 4 times over!

I will never do another SKP/YO pattern again!

Next time I will change it to K2tog/YO

because those SKPs were tedious to tink!

4-23-2018 Unicorn #2

4-22-2018 Happy 6th Birthday!

Happy 6th Birthday dear GD...

and happy Earth day!

4-21-2018 Llama

 Making a cute little llama...

and the body/legs are turning out perfectly!

However...

it is supposed to have a granny square across it's back...

here is the pix from the pattern...

and when I follow the pattern instructions to the tee 

for the granny square on the back

I get this weird two sided pyramid...

So, into the trash it went

and I re-made just an ordinary granny square

which looks like it will fit the back perfectly!

Stay tuned for a pix of the finished Llama!

4-20-2018 Starting to Plant the Garden Between Snow Showers

Outdoor temps got up into the 50's today

and melted yesterday's snow,

so...

GD helped Papa plant and water the lettuce seeds.

GD played in the water 

while Oma washed the deck railings.

Papa and Oma raked up all the corn husks

that blow in from nearby fields over the winter

and Papa burned them up!

4-19-2018 Dusting

At least it is just a light dusting...

and not enuf to shovel.

4-18-2018 More Snow

Came out of church choir rehearsal last night

to find it snowing again.

Sigh.

4-17-2018 Clue Two Finished

...of the Brudarach MKAL...

"Catch a posey"

4-16-2018 Brrrr....

4-15-2018 Phad Thai

4-14-2018 Clue One Finished

Clue one

for the Brudarach KAL

is finished!

4-13-2018 Murder Mystery MKAL

I soooooooo want to start this

Murder Mystery KAL!!!

Sounds like fun!

4-12-2018 Adios

Said "Adios!" to the high chair

that's been in our kitchen 

for the past 6 years.

Both the GDs

have outgrown it 

so it's time to pass it on to someone else

who can use it!

Listed it on a FB local swap site

and it was gone in 2 minutes.  :*)

4-11-2018 Scorpions

 So proud of kindergarten GD's  scorpion project...

the sculpture and the report!

4-10-2018 Either or Neither

My Costa Rica trip shawl

"Either or Neither"

is off the needles and ready to block.

I hope that blocking will straighten the

scoliosis of the spine

and get rid of the rumples!

4-9-2018 More Snow

Another 3" last night

and more predicted this coming weekend!

4-8-2018 Handiwork

Love this new lamp that DH made!

4-7-2018 All The Rage

These "hexi-puffs" are all the rage

right now in the knitting community

so thought I'd give it a try.

It's a one-and-done...

won't be making anymore!