Another Finished Object!

I do love finishing things. The little thrill when thate last stitch comes off the needles is so rewarding. This time, the finished object is a little bigger than the small, quick projects I've been finishing lately.

The beaded Swallowtail shawl is finished and blocking. And she is lovely!

The colour is a little off in this pic; it's actually more of a spring leaf green (and I did straighten out the edge after taking the picture and realizing how crooked it was). You can see the beads I used for the Lily of the Valley section and the swallowtail edging. I was concerned at first that the amount of beads, and their sizes, might be too much weight for the shawl, but in the end, it all worked out just fine. The beads will contribute just enough weight to help the shawl drape nicely. Size-wise, the shawl blocked out to 65" x 30", a nice size.

The details: the yarn is KnitPicks Shadow (100% merino) in colour #24204, Spring Green Heather; I used 1.5 skeins. I'd bought three skeins, so I'll be able to make another shawl with the remaining skein and a half. I knitted the shawl on 3.5 mm (US4) KP Harmony circulars (love them!)

I have every intention of wearing this shawl later today. We're having a staff Christmas bowling party this evening and, because it's bowling, the dress is casual. I think the shawl will be a nice, festive accent, especially with forest green cords and an off-white top.

Being me, you know that there's never just one project on my needles. I started another shawl last week and have been working on it during my lunch breaks. I did mention the Luna Moth shawl (from elann.com) before. Here's how it's looking so far...

The yarn is another Knit Picks yarn, Gloss (70% merino, 30% silk). I'm really liking the feel of it and how it's knitting up. This time, I'm using 4.0 mm needles. I want this one to be more open, lacier.

This is not a difficult knit; it's not intuitive, but certainly not difficult. I'm finding it quite easy to recognize where I am in the pattern; because I'm working on it at work, I fear sometimes that my magnets will move around on the chart (I carry it in my bag, to and from work). So far, that hasn't been a problem. Again, I'm in no hurry to finish the shawl; I love the process of knitting lace. I have a feeling that it won't take very long; it's a pleasurable knit.

Next on my list of shawls to finish, though, is Icarus. It has been languishing long enough and is not far from being completed. If I remember correctly, the body of the shawl is pretty much complete and all that needs to be done is the border (the hardest part, of course).

It feels good to be working on MY projects again. News on the Butterfly dress another day.

Oh, the Joy of an FO!

Almost a month ago, I started what should have been a small project as a thank you for one of the ladies I work with. She very graciously agreed to shorten my lovely long, black winter coat. I'd purchased the coat almost 10 years ago, while living in Calgary, but, because it was so long, I found it to be rather impractical, except for those special outings, which were rare. I think I'd worn the coat less than ten times. Since she shortened it for me, I've worn it more than I've ever worn it, and I know it will get plenty of wear from here on in.

Hazel wouldn't take payment for the task, so I told her I'd make her a scarf. It should have, and would have, been done long before now, but with the Butterfly dress being my first priority, the scarf, and most other projects, have been moving slowly. Yesterday, though, I finished it. When I finally gave it the attention it deserved, it worked up very quickly.

Here is the Backyard Leaves scarf, from Interweave's "Scarf Style". The yarn, if I remember correctly (I don't have the ball bands anymore) is a Louet worsted weight. It's worked on 5.0 mm needles and took 2 skeins, with very little left over. I worked one less repeat of the leaves than the pattern called for (it called for 11 reps per half; I worked 10) as it's recipient is petite. Even so, this scarf is about 6' long, plenty long enough, I think.

I like how this scarf turned out. If I were to make it again (and I might), I'd be careful to use a looser cast on. The two halves are worked separately and joined at the middle. I had thought about using a provisional cast on, but I'm not sure it would have worked out correctly. I'll have to play with that idea a little. Anyway, the center seam is a little tight, but not overwhelmingly so.

All in all, it's a satisfying FO. I hope Hazel likes it.

Oh! We have some news concerning the Butterfly dress. When I spoke to Stacey this week, she'd been unable to find the little ball of yarn I'd given her; she went online to order another ball of the yarn and said it was a rush. Yesterday, she called to let me know that the yarn had arrived! Now, I have plenty to finish the dress. I had started to sew the dress together as per the instructions in the book (backstitch seam), but I didn't like how it was looking. I took out the stitching and will re-do the seam using a mattress stitch. It has to look right; it has to look perfect.

Hopefully, this week I'll be able to sit down with a good light, sew it all together, graft the ruffles and finish the edgings and straps. I can see the finish line now and I'm ready for the final sprint.

Butterfly Update and an Experiment

Yes, we have an update on the Butterfly dress! Finally!

The front AND back are now complete!

I didn't do any arranging of the pieces for photographic aesthetics; they've just been draped on the bed. The second piece just came off the needles about 15 minutes ago. I took the pictures primarily to let Stacey know her dress is almost done. I had another reason to email her.

See the matchbox? It's a small matchbox. See the ball of yarn above it? It's a small ball of yarn. That's all the yarn I have left to do the bands at the underarms and the neck edges and to make the straps. I did give Stacey a similarly sized ball of yarn to take along in her search for a slip/underdress to wear, so I hope she still has it. I have a feeling I will need it.

The biggest part of the task is completed. Now, it's just finishing. I'll be blocking the ruffles after I get off of here. They'll get a gentle blocking; basically, I'll just pin out the points and lay a damp towel over the ruffles and let them dry. I don't think I'll do anything with the body of the dress until it's been stitched together and Stacey's tried it on. I have a feeling it will only need a very light pressing.

I feel good!!

Oh.. the experiment? This time, I've posted the pictures directly from Blogger through Picasa. Are they visible now? If so, I'll use Picasa from here on in for blog pics. Let me know.

The Joy of Little Things

When you're a knitter, there's a lovely feeling when you've completed a project. It really doesn't matter the size of the project; large or small, when it comes off the needles, there's a sense of accomplishment.

That's one of the reason I like knitting little things. Like this...

It only took a couple of hours to knit this up; I finished it at Sit & Stitch this afternoon. The pattern is from Fibertrends, Ear Cozies by Bev Galeskas. Don't ask me about the yarn; all I can tell you is that it's a superwash DK weight wool that was in my stash. The label is long gone, but I do know I made the Baby Albert jacket with the same yarn. It called for, and I used, 3.75 mm needles; I used the magic loop method as I couldn't find a 16" circular, as called for and, because I used the magic loop method, I didn't have to worry about switching to double-pointed needles for the top shaping.

A quick knit, and a satisfying one. And what can I say? The doll's happy with it; hopefully my new grandson (when he puts in an appearance) will, too.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Silken Smoke, that is.

The pattern can be found here. I used Regia Silk 4-ply sock yarn, 2 balls, 3.5 mm (US4) circular needle. I followed the pattern as written... sort of. Basically, this is a 16" tube. I flared it instead. Once I reached about 8", I started increasing every 2" or so. I find that it sits better on the shoulders that way, instead of bunching up at the base of the neck. Other than that, it's knitted as written. It's an easy knit; it only took me three days to knit. All in all, once you're past the lacy section, it's mindless knitting, perfect for working on while watching tv.

Progress

At least, in some areas progress is being made. With the colour copier down this week, and me being pretty much caught up with my work, I got home early on Thursday. That gave me time to work on the Butterfly dress. I managed to knit up about 12", so it is coming along nicely. I was planning on working on it today, too, but woke up with a nasty headache from a pulled muscle in my neck. (yes, ouch!)

So, instead of knitting, I've been told to relax and do whatever I have to to make myself feel better. I really want to sit and knit, but it will have to be mindless knitting, not the Butterfly dress, I'm afraid.

There has been other progress as well.

This is the Western Seas sweater from Alice & Jade Starmore's book "The Children's Collection". As you can see, front and back have been joined and I'm working on the collar. This is an enjoyable sweater to knit. I'm really pleased with how it's turning out and I hope that whichever of my grandsons it finally goes to will get plenty of wear out of it. This is the smallest size (2-3).

I like the pattern so much that I've also started the 4-5 year size.

I'm not sure how visible it is, but I've changed the patterning a little. The original pattern has a zigzag design just above the ribbing, and also on the sleeves. This time, I altered the zigzag slightly. Now, it's seed stitch triangles. Not a huge change, but it does vary the knitting. This one is being knitted with Lana Grossa's Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch Softcolor, in colour #510. The yarn is soft and quite cushy. And, again, because it's a sock yarn, it's eminently machine washable and should be quite durable.

I hope this one, as well, will be well worn and well loved. This pattern looks to me like a very practical, yet classy-looking boy's sweater. I'm not into picture sweaters; they can be very dated. I'd rather make something that can be handed down and still look good after the third or fourth kid has outgrown it. It almost has a sweatshirt kind of feel to it, just a lot nicer looking, yanno?

And that's it from me for today. I'm off to relax some more. Hopefully, the meds kick in soon.

An Exercise in Frustration!

I've had a couple of readers tell me that in recent months, they've not been able to see pictures on my blog anymore. The test earlier this week showed that the Photobucket pictures are visible, but not the Flickr pictures (to these specific readers). I had every intention of going back to the frustration of Photobucket. Had.

When I went there to upload a picture about half an hour ago, I was unable to bring up the upload window. I have a feeling that Photobucket is now beyond the capabilities of my humble, and aging, computer. I apologize, but I'm not going to fight with Photobucket. After half an hour of struggling to get a single picture uploaded, I'm going back to Flickr. It works for me; uploading's simple and it works with my nearly 10 years old system (Windows 98). At this stage in it's life, there's little or no support for this system. Again, I apologize to those of you who can't see the pictures. However, if you're on Ravelry, you will see most of the pictures there. You can find me there as MissChief. ;)

On to knitting. I wanted to spend some time with the Butterfly dress today, and did. I have now finished the front (or back, as the case may be). The second half of the dress (about 1/3 done) is back on the needles and I can now concentrate on it. I'm sure that you, and Stacey, would love to see a picture, so without further ado...

By the time the underarm shaping begins, there are only 45 stitches on the needle. I thought for sure that it would be far too narrow; however, the pattern being lace, it stretches nicely and should fit well. Once the second side is finished, it becomes a matter of sewing the pieces together, picking up for the top bands and making the shoulder straps. Then, a final blocking and the dress will be transferred to it's owner's waiting hands.

This week, I finally received a notice from Canada Post that there was a package waiting for me at the local post office (across the street). My Knitpicks order finally arrived! I've been eagerly awaiting the order. I am so looking forward to knitting with my new KP Harmony needles set! Along with the needles, I also picked up three skeins of KP Gloss Lace (70% merino, 30% silk) in Celery (a lovely light green) that will become Elann's Luna Moth shawl. I googled luna moth and found out that it is a lovely shade of light green and decided that it was the colour I would knit the shawl named for the moth.

Now, back to knitting...

A Few Things

1. Yes, Kristen, you caught a typo... an honest one. It's very hard to edit your own work; that's why newspapers have............ editors! ;)

2. Maria, the Citrus Punch sweater is my own design, one I've never written up. I will be re-creating it in the near future, but at this time, it is unavailable... anywhere.

3. Sharon, how long has it been since you've not been able to see the pics on the blog?. I did switch over to Flickr a while ago as Photobucket was being really slow for me. Might that be why?

Perhaps a test is in order.





One picture or two? The first picture is stored in Photobucket, the second in Flickr.

4. I'll keep you posted as to what happens with the truck and the investigation, as we hear about it.

Now, time to get ready for work.

It Was a Night!

Wow! Where to start?

We were awakened this morning, at about 3:30 a.m., to the sound of shouting and sirens. When I looked out the bedroom window, I saw a truck on fire and the fire truck getting into position to put out the fire. I was instantly awake when I realized the truck was John's work truck!

He had a load of leaves and pine needles in the bed of the truck that needed to go to the dump. It turns out that a couple of teens were seen setting the load on fire. Someone in a vehicle saw the teens, turned around and, realizing what was happening, called the fire department. (I may not be getting all the details straight, as I stayed in the apartment, but am passing on what I was told.) Someone else got out a fire extinguisher, but by the time the tire truck arrived, the fire had already gone down to the bottom of the pile and through the truck bed. The truck (owned by the company John works for) is a total write-off.

Shortly after 4:00 a.m., the truck was towed away and we went back to bed. We've had a spate of arson fires in Kelowna over the last couple of weeks; I can't say that this one was related, but we certainly never expected that we would be the victims of arson. It's more than a little upsetting.

On to other things... (deep cleansing breath)...

I mentioned in my last post that I'll be re-knitting the Citrus Punch sweater for Trinity and that I couldn't find the pictures. Well, I found them. As well, that same week, Kristen took a couple of pictures of Trinity in that sweater.

These two pictures were taken two years ago. At the time, Trinity didn't want to take the sweater off for anything! It is still her favorite sweater, apparently. It seems that the yarn has grown with her and she's still wearing it. I did notice, though, when I was there earlier this year that the yarn has "relaxed" (for lack of a better word) and the sweater has stretched out. (It really should have been knit on smaller needles; lesson learned.)

This picture was taken earlier this week. I love it!

Other knitting has been happening as well around here (surprise, surprise!). One of my bosses commented that she was having a difficult time finding mittens for her 3 year old daughter, especially mittens with a cord. Well, that did it. I found out that one of Sam's favourite colours is pink and I just happened to have some pink in my stash, so...

I've almost done the first mitten now; just the thumb needs finishing. All in all, they're a really simple knit. Over the years, I've knitted a lot of these for my own kids. They're fun to make. The pattern is an old Paton's pattern, long since discontinued. The yarn is a superwash wool with a strand of mohair and silk (like Rowan KidSilk Haze, but a different, less costly, brand), worked on 3.25 mm dpns.

When I found out that Kristen's upcoming arrival will be of the male persuasion (meet Ethan, to be born sometime around the end of January)...

...I started thinking about little boy knits. I started thinking about little boy designs and came up with nothing that I was happy with so I started going through my collection of patterns and came across a book I pick up now and then, drool over, but have never knit anything from.

This time, two patterns struck me. One is a girl's pattern, which I'll do eventually. The other is a boy's pattern. The book? Alice and Jade Starmore's "The Children's Collection". I decided to knit "Western Seas", a gansey inspired boy's sweater that is predominantly stocking stitch, making it great tv knitting.

The yarn for this one is Sandnesgarn "Strompegarn", a superwash sock yarn. The sweater is worked on 3.0 mm needles and I'm knitting the smallest size (2-3 years). I figure that with soon-to-be five grandsons, it will fit one of them and can be passed on to others. I'm enjoying the knitting so much that I've even bought more yarn for another one.

I love the detailing in the ribbing and just above it. Generally, gansey's have a lot of patterning, but this one is simple, yet classy. The ribbing and zigzag detailing are repeated on the sleeve, for just that little touch of interest. The brown of the yarn, which you might think would be boring to knit with, is practical and yet, really nice. It's knitting up kind of tweedy, again, very classy. I think, and I hope, it will see a lot of wear.

Whew! This has turned into a long post; my apologies for that. There was just so much to tell you!

Miscellaneous Stuff

It feels like forever since I've done any updating on the Butterfly dress. I have been working on it. Truly I have. And yesterday, I made good progress on it. The back (or front... they're both the same) is almost to the underarm shaping.

In this picture, I had just finished the decreases to the narrowest point, the waist. It's even longer now. I'm at the point of working the final increase; then it's work straight until the dress measures 31", then start the underarm shaping. Once that's done, there are just a few rows of neck shaping. It finally feels like I'm getting there!

While I was procrastinating with the dress (yes, I really was procrastinating), I finished the Waves of Grain scarf. As a matter of fact, it's around my neck at this very moment. Wanna see?

I love the look and feel of this scarf. The hemp really did soften up with washing, and I'm sure it will soften up even more with subsequent washing. I can definitely recommend hemp. There's only one thing I'm not completely happy with and that's the grafting. I probably should have dug out my grafting instructions before even starting, but I didn't and the first bit of the grafting got turned around a bit and it looks like I purled part of the row rather than knit it. Oh well.... I'm not perfect and neither is the scarf. What can I say? Next time, I'll be more careful.

This past week, I found out that my daughter Kristen (she who is mother to Trinity) will be having a little boy in January. Now, I'll have to dig out my baby patterns and start knitting for Ethan (that's the name she's chosen). I'm already looking forward to that. As well, I now have all the yarn I need to make another Citrus Punch cardigan for Trinity, thanks to 5 balls of Paton's Astra in the perfect lemon yellow that I found at the thrift store. She requested another one, so who am I to argue? Earlier today, I went to Michael's and found the orange and lime green Astra that I needed for the ruffles. I'd repost a picture of Trinity wearing the sweater, but at the moment, I can't find one. If I do come across it, I'll post it. In the interim, I'm re-working the pattern, figuring out the numbers for the ruffles (579 stitches, if my math is correct).

In the meantime, though, there's a dress to finish and various and sundry shawls to complete. I'll be busy for who knows how long! You know me, though... I've never let anything stop me from casting on for another project. :)

Decision Made

For some time now, there's been something on my mind, something I've been trying to decide. This morning, I've made a decision.


Those of you who follow my blog will know that, for a while, I was writing patterns, designing a few things. I've made most of those patterns available for free on my free pattern site. You'll also know that there have been a few patterns I felt were worthy of being offered for sale, and I did sell a few of them through the yarn store I was working in. Well, it's been over a year now since I've been working in the "industry" and those patterns are not really moving (at least, I've received no new orders). For the past few months, I've been debating with myself whether or not I still want to sell the patterns. This morning, I decided I will no longer be offering patterns for sale. Over the next while, as I have time, I will be posting those patterns on the free site.


I could put them there all at once, but where's the fun in that?


One of the patterns that has been quite popular has been the Baby Cable Wrist Warmers. Today, I'll make that pattern available. For the moment, it does not appear on the freebies website, but will in the next day or so (I'll let you know). Right now, you can download it here on the blog.

The link (it's a pdf, incidentally... if your machine, like mine, doesn't like opening pdfs online, right click to save it to your system before opening it) is here.


So, on to other things... what's on Ev's needles these days? Well, the dress is still slowly making progress. I'll be working on it some more this afternoon. Having been under the weather this week, I didn't trust myself to work on anything that demanded that kind of concentration.

I did knit this...

The pattern (found here) is from Drops, #86-10. I used the ubiquitous Malabrigo in a gorgeous variegated purple. The yarn is so cushy and soft with not a rough fibre to be found. I used 4.5 mm needles and followed the pattern as written. I think it would be fair to say that this headband will get lots of use this winter.

I've also been working on the project I teased you with last time. It is the Waves of Grain scarf from Knitty.

I'm using a fingering weight hemp yarn from Lanaknits Hemp for Knitting, on 4.0 mm needles. The pattern on Knitty is ranked as "tangy". I'm finding it a very easy knit, at this point almost mindless. It's been my tv knitting this week. The two halves of the scarf are knit from the bottom up and then grafted together in the middle. I'm making each section about 30" long (before blocking), so the finished scarf will be 5' pre-blocking. The hemp is nice to knit with and, from what I've been told and read, will soften up nicely with washing.

Right now, I'm not sure whether I'll keep this scarf for myself or whether it will become a gift for someone in my family. Just not sure.

Now, it's time for me to get some quality knitting time happening. There's a dress waiting for progress, and I've rambled on long enough.

Happy Birthday, John!

It's my husband's birthday today. I won't tell you how old he is; I'll just say that he'll never catch up to me!

While I was browsing in the Bibles for Missions shop earlier this week, I came across this...

It has been gifted to John. It is a hand knit Cowichan-type sweater. The price on it was $25.00. Normally, these sweaters sell for way more than that, especially to the tourist market. It looked like it would fit him and so, I bought it. There is a bit of a stain on the front (looks like someone may have spilled coffee on it), and I did take it to a dry cleaner to see if they could get it out. The dry cleaner, however, recognized the sweater, had already cleaned it once and was unable to get the stain out. I've decided that if John wants me to, I'll tea dye it; then the stain will no longer be visible. What do you think?

At any rate, I couldn't let it go at that price. Heck, I wouldn't even be able to buy the yarn at that price! It fits him perfectly and he loves it. And yes, I'll try to get a picture of him wearing it.

And, just as a teaser...

Now, it's time to get this day started. Seeing as it's a gorgeous early autumn day, with the promise of summer temperatures, we've decided we have GOT to get outside today. After a very busy week, it's time to do something just for us.

Time for and Update, I Think

It's been a while since I posted about the Butterfly dress. I know that Stacey (the bride) has been wondering how her dress is coming and she reads this blog, so.....

Although I haven't been working on it as much as I should have been in the last couple of weeks, it is definitely progressing. I've started the decreases to the waist on both front and back.



My intention was to work both at the same time on the same needle, but, seeing as the entire dress uses three balls of yarn and I'm knitting with two balls at once, I'll have a problem when those two balls are done. Besides, it feels as if I'm making more headway having one side on the go at a single time. Does that make sense?

This afternoon, I have the house to myself for a couple of hours, so I'll be working exclusively on the dress. That will result in progress, for sure!

Apart from Stacey and John (my John), no one else has seen the dress in person; I do not take it to Sit & Stitch or to the lace classes I'm teaching. I figure that the first person to see the dress in person should be it's owner, right? However, because I don't just knit at home, that means I have to have something else on the go. And, as you all know, that's never just one project.

Seeing as I finished the Sunshine and Shadows shawl, I've cast on for another shawl. Yeah, I know... I haven't finished the other three I have on the needles. Oh well, they'll all get finished at some point.



The yarn is Rowan Kid Silk Haze in the colourway called "Marmalade". I'm using 4.5mm (US7) needles. The pattern is from Victorian Lace Today, "A Handsome Triangle".



I found the beginning of this project to be a little confusing. The chart shows one half of the shawl, which isn't a problem. What confused me at first was the fact that the second half of the shawl is a mirror image of the first half. Once I got it straight in my mind, I had no problems with the pattern. It's a four row repeat, with patterning on each row. Incidentally, the colour in the first of the two pictures is the more accurate. It's definitely orange. That's okay, though. I like orange. :)

Finished!

It feels like a long time since I've completed anything (other than the doll's hat). Well, the Sunshine & Shadows Variation is finished, off the needles, blocked and on my shoulders finished.





That's the unblocked shawl. The colours are fairly close to what they are in reality. It always amazes me the difference blocking makes.







I love the texture of this shawl. I love the colours of this shawl. I love it when a yarn and pattern come together just as I'd hoped they would.



This last picture shows the colour the best. You can see, at the bottom edge, where the knots in the yarn were; the black/grey/mauve striping repeats. All in all, I'm not unhappy with the way the lower edge came out. My main desire was that it end with green (I have no idea why; it's just something I wanted) and it did. The only thing I was unhappy with was the fact that the second ball of yarn had three knots in it (see yesterday's post). Would I use this yarn again? Probably. Though it was like knitting with handspun, and somewhat rough to work with, the yarn softened up nicely after a Eucalan wash. It blocked beautifully (I didn't even block it agressively) and shows the lace pattern quite nicely. The colours, as always with Noro, are stunning. I have a feeling this shawl will see a lot of wear over the next months.

The details...

The pattern is a variation of Evelyn A. Clark's "Sunshine & Shadows" shawl from the book "Knitting Lace Triangles", published by Fiber Trends, Inc. Finished size is 67"x36". The yarn is Noro Kureyon sock yarn, 75% wool, 25% nylon in the colourway S188. I used two balls as I wanted more than a scarf sized shawl. The needles were 4.5 mm (US 7). The entire project took me just under two weeks to complete, all in all an enjoyable and rewarding knit.

Now, it's back to the dress (which has not been ignored!).

I Am Not a Happy Knitter

Noro Kureyon sock yarn... two balls... $18.95 each.... first ball, no problem... second ball... 3... count them... 3 knots.. two of them within the space of a single row!!



Nope, I am NOT a happy knitter today!

(I'm also not happy because Blogger's not showing me the paragraph justification options; I like to center the photos and it won't let me.)

Nope, not happy.

A Day at the Fair

As mentioned yesterday, John and I spent a few hours wandering around the IPE (Interior Provincial Exhibition), also known as the Armstrong Fair. This was the 109th year of the fair and we enjoyed ourselves.

I made sure that we checked out the handicraft competitions (knitting, crochet, etc.) and I must say that I was singulary unimpressed with the entries. Most of the crochet (doilies) was worked at very loose tension; the majority of the knitting looked like it was done in Walmart yarn (nothing against Walmart yarn, but quality was definitely lacking) and there was absolutely no lace knitting whatsoever. The only lace knitting we saw was a beautiful triangular shawl knitted by someone in the Vernon Spinners & Weavers guild. It really was lovely.

In our meanderings, we even came across a competitor who is distant family (a second cousin of my mother's, if I'm not mistaken). He raises Frisian horses in Deroche, BC, not too far from where I used to live. It was a lovely surprise to have an opportunity to chat briefly with both him and his wife.

Now, I'll leave you with some pictures of our day...