Mylene Lacroix – Page 13

December 13, 2013

I’m Itching!

I just realized that I haven’t posted any projects in a long time. I talked about my birthday, California and NYC but no knitting. I should fix that.

I have made so many things since the last project I posted! Holly crap.

I made Tina a yoga mat bag out of leftovers. Glad I crocheted this cause it would have taken me forever. This is a great leftover project! And apparently, she loves it – the girls at the gym told me. 🙂

A very large cowl I’ve only worn once because Nancy told me it made my head look small. (Nancy, I’m sticking my tongue out at you!)

A smaller cowl I made with the left over yarn. I put a deliberate twist in this cowl and I don’t think I like it. Oh well.

These pictures really suck but I’ve promised Karley that I would not show anyone the photographer’s photos of little Magnum wearing these for his first photo shoot. So, this is what you’re stuck with for now.

I made this little hat for Carole’s nephew for Christmas.

I found some strange t-shirt yarn that I couldn’t resist buying. I made a rag rug and gave it to Steve’s mom because she liked it and I love her. 🙂

I made this hat for Steve. I love this hat so much. This yarn is Divine by Skacel and it’s discontinued! Eeeeeek! So I went on Ravelry and found a couple of people who were willing to part with their stash. I am now the proud owner of 30 (yes, I wrote 30) new skeins of black and green Divine. I’m totally going to make myself one of these hats and probably 6 other hats and mittens and other pretty things. This yarn, by the way, is so nice because it is a blend of alpaca, silk and cashmere. Oh yes. All that yumminess in one little yarn.

Then I made a super-easy cowl for the Christmas gift exchange at work. All the bags get numbered then everyone picks a number. I ended up picking my own number. When I said it out loud, Nancy traded with me and got my cowl. I totally stole this picture from her Instagram. (That’s for telling me I had a small head!)

Then I made this Christmas stocking for one of the guys’ new granddaughter. I struggled with this project a lot. I was initially going to make a stocking with intarsia in it. I HATE intarsia!!!! I’m not good at it at all. Truth be told, it was my first attempt but it was so horrific (to me) that I chucked it in the garbage. I’m pretty sure if I had had access to a shredder, I would have put my original stocking through it. Hahahahaha.

I must have started 10 others before I finally settled on this one. I think it turned out pretty cute. Tom said they were having the baby’s picture taken and that they were going to try to get a picture of her IN the stocking. It’s a big stocking. I can’t wait to see if that picture works. It would be super-adorable.

Right now, today, I’m working on another easy cowl for Anna. She saw Nancy’s at the Christmas exchange and ordered one. So did Shelley. Looks like I’ll be making some cowls this weekend in Lake Placid. I also want to get Susie’s Annis done so that I can send it to her for Christmas. I’m hoping to have time to work on that too over the weekend.

Jacob had a show this past week. I try to NEVER miss his shows. I love watching him and his friends bring it. They played one of their new songs and it’s fantastic. Through Lucid Eyes is their band. They have some stuff on Youtube and downloadable albums on Bandcamp.com.

So, I’ve been home now for a little over a month. Although I was happy to sit still when I got back, I’m itching already. I’ve been looking at travel destinations this past week and I’m seriously itchy to go. The challenge I now have is to find someone to travel with. Not everyone can just leave for a week or two whenever. Not everyone can afford to go to Europe on a whim. So, what to do???

I will just be excited about Lake Placid for today. It’s going to be awesome. Same cottage as last year and the years past. We all love it there. Mom and I are heading out in a few hours. I still have to pack my knitting… and some clothes. France and Jacob and Kayla will meet us there tonight. It’s going to be awesome.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

November 26, 2013November 26, 2013

Sitting Still

I’ve been back now from my “travelling” for 20 days. It feels good to sit still for a bit. It feels like it’s been chaos (in a good way) for me since the summer. So for now, I’m glad to not be jetting off anywhere… for a few weeks at least. Then again, when I sit still too long, I get restless. So, we’ll see.

I’ve been busy with baby orders and Christmas orders but I haven’t managed to take any photos. Go figure. Stay tuned.

We’re going into Christmas soon. I’m not a huge fan of the holidays. It’s not the same anymore. Christmas was so awesome when I was a kid. Everything changes. We have to adapt and make the best of what’s there.

So, NYC alone. It kind of sucked. I thought it would be a piece of cake because I’ve been there so many times. But there’s something about being there alone that’s…. well, lonely. And I NEVER get lonely. I really wanted to go to nice restaurants and enjoy some good food and a glass of wine, or hit a pub and try some new beers, go to a Broadway show, etc. But doing that alone is not that much fun.

I did, however, meet a nice girl from Brazil! Tatiana. We hung out for two days and really hit it off. We spent time at MoMa and walking around Central Park (she still hadn’t seen the Bathesda Fountain and The Mall). But when I put her in the cab to the airport, I was alone again and it sucked. It’s very strange because I’m a very outgoing person. Not sure what happened. Oh well. I can at least say that I made a friend and that I will likely end up in Brazil to see her in the next couple of years. Yay!

I also got to see the beautiful fall foliage in Central Park. It’s been on my to-do list forever.

On a very sad note, we lost a friend in a car accident on Sunday, November 17th. Mike Robillard – affectionately known to us as Smitty, was a police officer in Cornwall a few years back. It hit all of us pretty hard. 32 years old and so much life. It’s difficult to accept that things like this happen. People who work in our field deal with death every day but it’s so difficult when it’s someone you know and love. So many people were touched by him in one way or another. We’re all sending him love.

Something funny happened last night; I was looking for pictures on my external hard drive and the first picture that came up in the first folder I opened was a picture of Smitty cooking hotdogs for the local kids at the Cops and Kids fishing event back in 2005. It made me smile and it made me sad at the same time. It’s not fair that he won’t be here anymore, especially for his wife and little boy. I can’t imagine what life will be like for them now.

Love and appreciate the people in your life. Tell them often that they matter and that you love them. You never know when they’ll be taken from you.

November 3, 2013

Alone in the Big Apple

Being in New York City alone is an altogether different experience than being here with someone else. In a way, it’s great because I get to do what I want when I want. For example: I read blogs and drank coffee for a good two hours yesterday morning before getting my butt up and out the door. I walked as little or as much as I wanted. I went to see Carrie alone. I had never been to the movies by myself. It was fun/interesting.

Eating alone in a super-crowded restaurant however was not so fun. But I had to have The Velvety Cream of Tomato Soup at Sarabeth’s. I gave my name and waited 25 minutes for them to call my name. That’s how busy they were at 2:00 pm yesterday.

Getting lost alone also wasn’t that much fun. My sense of direction has always been pretty crappy. Thank goodness for Starbucks and free WiFi. And I only had one chai latté all day. If they were cheaper, I would drink more.

The best part of yesterday was FINALLY seeing the leaves in Central Park.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been here but in all the times I’ve come, I have NEVER seen the leaves in the fall. So BEAUTIFUL! I got caught in the rain (big fat rain), had wet, dirty and slippery toes in my flip-flops but I still couldn’t stop smiling.

I came. I saw. Now I’m happy. 😉

I also hit up Purl Soho yesterday to get Lucie some yarn. It was packed in there. Come to think of it, every time I go there, it’s packed. They’re probably the most famous of yarn shops in the Big City. I just don’t know how people leave there with bags full of yarn because it’s quite costly.

Today is the NYC marathon. It’s probably best to stay away from the Park.

I was a bit POed yesterday. I went to Radio Shack and bought a point-and-shoot camera. My phone doesn’t take great pictures and I wanted some decent quality shots of Central Park. So I spent just over $200 on a camera (that has WiFi), a memory card and a case. The battery comes charged. But they don’t tell you it’s only charged long enough to take about a dozen pictures. I think I got some ok ones with my phone but I’m definitely going back in the next couple of days (after the billion people here for the marathon are gone) in the hopes of getting better photos. If the weather’s good, maybe I’ll spend a whole day in the Park.

I’m going to go get ready, hit up this little diner I read about and then head to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim.

October 31, 2013

Pacific Coast Highway – OMG

I would write a nice long blog past about this very amazing trip but my travel buddy, Nancy, blogged daily during out trip. So pardon my laziness… here are the links:

Our last day isn’t up yet. I’ll post the link when Nancy has had time to blog it.

California was AMAZING. I thought that two weeks would be long enough; that I would look forward to coming home. NO WAY! Not even close. Nancy and I were so ready for more – even though we didn’t stop for 15 straight days.

We slept on couches and in strange beds, yet I slept like a baby every night. The sense of being free that I felt can’t be described with words. Every place we went was beautiful in its own way. Some places were so beautiful we referred to them as heaven. I was so greatful every day to have had the opportunity to take this trip as well as for how well Nancy and I got on. We had so much fun acting crazy together.

Go see the posts – even if you only look at the pictures, you’ll still laugh. Promise.

When I get back from NYC (fly out tomorrow), I’ll have time to go through the pictures Nancy took (she’s the photographer) and maybe post some she didn’t. It was very fun being IN the pictures rather than the one always TAKING the pictures. You rock Nance!

So, yes, I’m leaving for another vacation. NYC isn’t really a vacation anymore; it’s like my third home. I’m going alone this time though. It should be interesting. Yarn shops beware! 🙂

I might post from NYC. You never know.