My New Etsy Shop

Introducing... my new Etsy shop! I have been thinking about re-opening my shop for about a year now and finally did it. I had a shop a couple years ago, but it had my paintings in it and didn't do so great. This time I am featuring mostly my knit items. I will list some paintings later, but for now I am only listing my knit things. Since I'm celebrating my grand re-opening, I am offering FREE shipping on all items for the first 2 weeks. Come check it out my new Etsy shop!

Knit-A-Year Project

Here is a pic of my Knit-A-Year project thus far. It is getting bigger! I can't imagine how long it is going to be when April, 2011 rolls around. I'm on day 49 today. I love the reflection that this project affords. It really requires you to slow down and think for a few minutes each day and reflect those thoughts with yarn. I have to admit, I do skip some days because of being too busy, but I always catch up when I can. I need to do better at knitting on it each and every day. I do have the time, I just struggle sometimes with what kind of a mood I'm in and what color I should use to represent it.

For an invitation to our Knit-A-Year group, just send me your email and I'll send you the invitation.

New Orleans Trip

So we just returned from a trip from my second home, New Orleans. My husband was born and raised there and it was pretty much my second home too when I was attending LSU in Baton Rouge back in the 90s. My husband, David, and I met at LSU. I don't know how many of you know this, but David's family lost their home to Katrina. It was one of the ones that was totally under water for weeks and David's parents and brother lived with us for three months. My Mother-In-Law lives here in Atlanta, right near us, and my Father-In-Law has rebuilt their home in New Orleans, visiting here when he can.

Anyway, we visit New Orleans about once a year, but this time was extra special because my Brother-In-Law, Edgar, graduated Xavier as a DOCTOR of pharmacy. A doctor! Through all the adversity this family has been through over the years, we are so immensely proud of Edgar and his achievements - it was not easy for him.

In this picture, you see my three kiddos, me in the black-and-white dress, my husband next to me, Doctor Ed next to him, my Mother-In-Law by me, my Father-In-Law near the other end, and David's 2 cousins from Honduras. Honduras is where David's parents are originally from.


Here is Andrew having fun with some crawfish.




The other pics are of my babies, Sierra(12), Stephen(9), and Andrew(6).

I took tons of pictures on this trip, but of course I can't include them all. Our days consisted of many beignets from Cafe Du Monde, muffalettas from Cafe Maspero in the Quarter, hurricanes from Pat O'Briens, and many strolls around the French Quarter and Bourbon Street, which reminded me of my old college days. Keep in mind, we did NOT take the kids to Bourbon, just so ya know, but we did see some kids there, which really disturbed me.

Thanks for visiting Merf's Turf!

Talk To Me!

Because I am interested in improving my blog, I'm about to inundate you with questions galore in the hopes of getting some feedback. Bear with me and let's hear from ya!

What do you like about this blog? What don't you like? What do you look for in a blog.. what can I do better? Do you like a lot of pics? Do you like a lot of personal information, or do you like it when people stick to the knitting and creativity stuff? Do you like giveaways?

Anything else you would like to comment on?

Thanks in advance for your feedback, and have a wonderful day!! If Blogger won't let you comment, for some reason, email me at mzel@bellsouth.net or Twitter me: @merfz

Dishcloths for the Moms

I just finished knitting kitchen discloths for my mother and mother-in-law for Mother's Day. I found the super easy free pattern on Knitting Pattern Central. They were fun to knit, and, like I said, perfectly easy and great for beginner knitters. I hope they like them!

Ladybug

Here is my finished knit amigurumi ladybug by Amy Gaines. Her's always look better than mine, but I love it nonetheless. We haven't given him/her a name yet... any suggestions? I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this one yet. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it, give it to the kids, or sell it in a craft fair, which Amy says is fine to do. Thanks again, Amy, for your fabulous patterns!

Revisiting a Past FO - knitcroblo6

I love to knit all kinds of things, from scarves and hats to dishcloths and purses, but one of my favorite things to knit is amigurumi, so I thought with this post I'd include my very first amigurumi project. This adorable owl is by Amy Gaines and was knit, as opposed to crocheted. My son (pictured) absolutely loves it, but I think he's forgotten Jorge (that's what we named him) by now because Jorge sits on my craft table, untouched. I prefer to keep him that way because he is somewhat fragile. Since he was my first amigurumi, he has a few mistakes, and my sewing isn't great so things look a bit worn around the edges. I love how his eyes look all worried, as if he thinks he's about to get squeezed to death :) Ah Jorge, we love you so.