{ kb } knits

Waimea Valley Botanical Gardens

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:38:00 +0000

Here is a little flora and fauna ... Mom and I headed up the Northshore to visit the botanical gardens at Waimea Valley today and made a few stops at Chinaman's Hat and Sunset Beach. We stopped to see if there were turtles basking but they were not :( Maybe next trip ! We almost didn't get to hike up to the waterfall because the were filming, and we were kind of excited to see someone famous and then we found out that they were filming Alvin and the Chipmunks.. mmmhmmm

Happy New Year !

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:31:00 +0000

My how time flies.... we only have about 6 -7 months left here in paradise, yikes ! I think I need to work less and beach more ! I am looking forward to next week when Mom comes out, we are going to visit some places that I haven't even been to yet. We are going to the Polynesian Cultural Center and Wameia Botanical Gardens and I hope to seem some whales this time when we hike the to the lighthouse again!

Well I was just doing a little blog cleanup this morning, and thought I would share a little dessert that I made for a friend at work, for her birthday ..... I wanted to make a french dessert and discovered the Charlotte cake ! So pretty, I kind of mixed a few different recipes together but for the most part I used this one. I followed the recipe except for the dream whip, I used heavy whipping cream instead. I also covered the top with raspberries, oh so pretty ;)

A Very Merry Christmas !

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 04:32:00 +0000

Hellloooo... well it is almost over, dinner is done and cleaned up . I spent the day kind of cleaning up and organizing getting ready for mom's visit ! You can actually see the guest bed !. So Trevor and I had to work on Christmas Eve/David's birthday yesterday but we got off around 5 and 6:30 so we came home and ate, then opened one gift. I opened my "secret" Keurig coffee pot :) That way I could have it set up for Christmas morning. How nice to not have to deal with filters and loose coffee grounds ! Then we woke up sort of early this morning if you call 8 early ;) Trevor had to work today , on Christmas, oh well he will get paid extra extra so it's good for him. We waiting to have Christmas dinner until 5 when he got home. Now it is time to relax and catch up on some knitting. I'm trying to finish the babies hats which did not make it into the box :O oops... Oh I forgot to mention that we tried to get a family picture in front of the tree last night, with all the animals ! after many tries and with me trying to figure out my timer and then barret started bleeding from Spright, we decided that cats weren't obligated to be in the photo ;) So here are a couple of our pictures ;)

Where to begin?

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:57:00 +0000

Wow, it has been months, actually probably only two because we were talking about ball gowns and that was only last month. I have tomorrow off so I suppose I can stay up late to post some pictures and give a little update. Let's see... Oh yah, the Marine Corps Ball... First of all David had this idea that he would be on the ball committee. In his words, it turned into an Epic event ;) , which it was. It was the best ball that I have ever attended, and many other people felt the same. It was on the Battleship USS Missouri, and here are some of the pictures. The only thing I am bummed about was not getting a "great " picture of the two of us. :(

What's next? Oh yah, I turned 40 25 ! hehe Since the ball was the day before, we decided to stay in Waikiki for the whole weekend. We basically just hung out, ate, and shopped... David doesn't like walking ;) We met up with friends at Senor Frogs and stayed out til 0 dark thirty ;)

oh check out the fat lip I gave David ;)

Cheryl bought me a Christmas tree ;)

Cheryl & Jess ;)

Ok, well that brings us to Thanksgiving. I don't have any pictures of that day, I kind of sat on the couch and knit all day. Trevor worked so we had a late Thanksgiving dinner. I actually had Black Friday off ;) We I decided to get a real tree this year so David and I went out and got the tree for my work and picked one up for ourselves as well. David isn't a fan of Black Friday shopping so I went out on my own, had a little road rage but it's definitely not as bad as shopping in San Diego on Black Friday.
I have pictures of the tree but I will save all of my photos for a Christmas post later. There isn't much else going on , except that I am still working two jobs and completely exhausted. But I will be taking a whole ten days off when mom comes in January !! Can't wait !

It might be my last .....

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 20:59:00 +0000

Marine Corps Ball 2009 Ala Moana Hotel ~ Waikiki

This year might be my last Marine Corps Ball :( I don't even know how many I have attended. I would have to count my dresses in my closet since I have saved every one ! I did borrow one once so I guess that might not be an accurate count. Last year I bought my dress in Chinatown down in Waikiki and I loved it !

I always look online to find out what new styles are in and wow, I found some pretty ones.... The one I marked as my favorite will not be in my decision because it is 800 bucks ! yikes ! This year our ball is going to be on the USS Missouri ~ not the traditional hotel setting , what a way to celebrate our last ball ! I'm sure it is going to be fabulous!

Which one is your favorite??

HellooOooOOOOO....

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:42:00 +0000

Summer started off with Trevor's Graduation !

Just a quick little note before I head out for work.... My summer of guests is over and I am back to my knittng again. It's going to be a busy busy Fall & Winter for me. I have my first show coming up in October ! Yikes ! More info to come & photos as I am more prepared. I will also post pictures of all my houseguests and things that we did over the summer. ! Until later this week....

ta ta for now....

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Sun, 16 May 2010 01:10:00 +0000

Well it is summer and I'm taking a break from Etsy.. except maybe to "buy" .. Trevor is graduating and family is coming so I plan on relaxing for the summer. I will still be knitting of course , babies are still being born so you will see me post my creations when I'm not laying on the beach or on my boat ;)

Trevor Anthony Brenden
Graduation Photo taken at Kailua Beach Hawaii

Happy Easter to all my peeps !

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 06:59:00 +0000

Peeps ! bunting

I came across this really cool idea over at Made ...
I am taking a break from knitting for a little bit, I realized that I need to make about 20 leis for Trevor's graduation next month. Not to mention getting the house all foofy for company ;) Hope everyone has a nice Easter !

Little boy Blue !

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:09:00 +0000

{little sprout} in Sea Turtle

A new color going up in the shop! I'm trying to get more boy colors, also have a few new ones on order. I've been working on new items for the shop also. But between knitting for the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society and knitting things that are just for me or friends, I am on overload. Well my mind is . There is just not enough time in a day anymore. Look for the {little sprout} hat in sea turtle in the shop today !
Thank you to Astrello Photography for the adorable picture for my shop !

ROWAN in PINK ! so sweet . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 07:56:00 +0000

This is one of my new photo props that will be listed in my {ETSY} shop... This blanket is made of all pom poms and is soooo soft and bright and cheery. I'm thinking of making a REALLY big one for my own bed. Thank you so much Andria for letting me photograph Rowan, she's such a doll...

Jessica & ZOOOOOEEEEEEEE

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:25:00 +0000

Another knitting project I worked on over the holidays.... This is my bff Jessica ;) She went home to Pennsylvania for the holidays and so I knit her this slouchy hat and scarf to keep her warm in the snow. {even though there is no snow in this picture, it snowed} And her dog Zoe.. should have knit Zoe a sweater to match huh?

{my little buddies....}

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:22:00 +0000

I really miss these little guys.. Here they are with there little inca snowflake earflap hats done in Noro Kureyon. The pattern is from Susan B. Anderson's itty-bitty hats. Have to keep their little ears warm in cold Minnesota. Don't you just want to squeeze them ;)

I have been MIA since David came home from deployment. I have been knitting but not really keeping up with my Etsy shop or this little blog. Things are in the works , I hope to have a new {adorable} photo prop blanket up in the shop. It is so soft that I'm thinking of making one regular size for my own bed. Til later this week...

{ Two Peas in a Pod }

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:19:00 +0000

These adorable twins are my nephews ! They are modeling the Little Sprout Baby Hats in Pea. I hear that it wasn't an easy task to get them to sit still or look or do anything at the same time . But they still turned out cute !

{ S A L E }

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:27:00 +0000

I am having a sale on my flower and tag embellishments in my Etsy shop! Buy one get one half off. I am making room for the holidays! Yay!

a new blog

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:07:00 +0000

I have started a new blog called katie & olive. Named after our german shepherd dog and kitten. This will be my new personal site where I hope to post adventures in Hawaii. I am very excited and looking forward to David coming home so we can go out and explore. We are excited to go out in our boat and go fishing. I am crazy about snorkeling and am considering taking SCUBA ! We also want to Kayak and I'm hoping to get my own close up picture of a Sea Turtle ;) I have already hiked Diamond Head so David you are on your own on that one ! So come visit my new blog , there's not much on it yet but look for homecoming photos {hopefully the last homecoming } :0)

Aloha Everyone !

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:22:00 +0000

Oh I miss my blog! I have been so busy lately with my new part time job. I have also been busy knitting! There is just not enough time in a day. I can say that David is coming home next month, well unofficially. On top of that we are moving into a different house on base RIGHT before he comes home. How nice that he will come home to boxes. Hopefully we will have most everything put away.

Here are some of the hats that I have in the Etsy Shop now. I opened an Artfire shop but haven't listed anything yet.
This one has been knit in organic yarn, there is also a pink one in the shop in Organic, it's so pretty and has a vintage look to it.
Just for little punkin heads ;)
This one is so bright and fun! Reminds me of baby einstein .

A New Car...

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:13:00 +0000

Trevor finally got a car! He says he was the only senior who rode the bus :) So its the second day of school and he finally found a car that he's been looking for and here it is. Here he is in his uniform on his way to work .

My friends from San Diego just left this afternoon and we had been going and going from morning til night for 5 days ! I have been so exhausted but we had sooo much fun! We went snorkeling, laid out on the beach, visited the Arizona Memorial, went to a luau and hiked Diamond Head, not to mention all the eating we did. I think we might have worked it off hiking Diamond Head. :) That was a workout!

These are just a couple of the pictures. I will post more in a few days.

{ w o w }

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:44:00 +0000

I know I havent' been on in awhile! I have been sort of busy and preoccupied. I started volunteering at The Navy Marine Corps Relief Society before I went on my trip to California and that has been keeping me busy. I absolutely love it! I have a feeling it is going to be very rewarding. I have already met wonderful people and made new friends! Which some of you know I desperately have been looking for :) Speaking of friends, I went sailing with one of the girls who also volunteers last night at Pearl Harbor. We had a blast. I am considering taking lessons. David has no interest in sailing. He loves to kayak and things like that but I say why not? You don't have to fill up the gas tank when you sail ! It was really fun and I only learned a couple of things but we were mostly along for the ride. So here are a few pictures. I will try to keep this poor little blog up to date. I have an interview on Monday so keep your fingers crossed :) I hate interviews. Oh I forgot to mention my snorkeling adventure on the Big Island of Hawaii ! I have never been and my friend's husband talked me into it and I was soooo amazed at what I saw ! I cant' wait to go here on Oahu! Here are some pictures from my sailing adventure last night .....

{ a l o h a }

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:05:00 +0000

We are back from our trip to Southern California. It was nice to see David in the middle of his deployment but he just had to go back. Only 4 more months left now. It was very cool that we were able to be together for Father's Day too ! I do have other pictures to post but I have been sleep deprived for a while now and it is catching up to me. Having a broken air conditioner when I got home doesn't help either, it's all hot and muggy in here which makes me even more tired.

But I had quite a busy 2 weeks! I had lunch with friends most every day, spent the day at Cindy's salon and got a great new do, went shopping and to the spa with Cindy & Kim in Palm Springs. Then up to Sacramento and spent a few days with my sister and of course we shopped and ate, swam in the pool. I even got to hold my brand new nephew of only 3 weeks old :) Got to visit a friend whom I haven't seen in 16 years ! And got to see Lisa and her family. I don't think I have seen so many people on any vacation before. It was great to see so many family and friends. It was kind of wierd to dread coming back to Hawaii.

{ a new do ! }

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:01:00 +0000

So why not get a new do while I'm in town ! I went to visit my friend Cindy at her new salon and I just went in to trim my bangs

( OK I have to vent for a moment ! we are in lodging on base and housekeeping does not knock ! They just barge in ! grrrrrr can you feel my anger? )

ok, trim my bangs... so I have all this grey hair ! So she colored it and I love the color. Then she crimped it with the 3 barrel crimping iron... my favorite way to wear my hair ;) Don't I kind of look like Theresa from Housewives of New Jersey???

I know I have not been blogging as much. All the stress from am I going or not going to California and the Space A hassle and Katie and the kennel hassle. So stressful... But we are now here in California visiting with David (well I am.. the boys are off socializing ) while he is on his break from Afghanistan. He should only have 4 months left by the time we get back to Hawaii. That will go by in no time right? Well time to move into a new room here at the lodge , hopefully we have a new housekeeper !

{ the twins are 1 ! }

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:17:00 +0000

{ H A P P Y . . . B I R T H D A Y }

Oh my twin nephews are 1 today ! I miss them so much ! Aren't they the cutest little buggers :) Nathan is on the left and Jacob on the right.

{ PALI LOOKOUT }

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Sun, 31 May 2009 22:18:00 +0000

So Barret, Katie and I went on a hike this morning to the Pali Lookout. We hiked down the old highway trail. It was pretty warm but Katie enjoyed it and she got to meet a couple of new friends. We are trying to socialize her and so we met up with some friends who have 2 Rhodesian Ridgebacks and we went on a hike. She did OK for her first doggie date :)

Do you see that penninsula at the top of the picture? That is Marine Corps Base Hawaii and that is where we live. You can see the air field pretty well from the lookout.

{ P I N K .. R O S E S }

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Tue, 26 May 2009 21:03:00 +0000

Look what David sent me ! Aren't they beautiful ! 18 years ago today we were married at the Chapel Of Love in Beautiful Lake Tahoe..I just can't believe how many holidays and celebrations we have to spend apart from each other.

Sorry for the blurry pictures. I hate using the flash and it was kind of dark in the dining room..

{ H A P P Y .. M E M O R I A L .. D A Y }

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:59:00 +0000

I crosstitched for years before I learned to knit. I started when I was pregnant with Trevor 17 years ago. I just love how it seems like you are painting your own artwork with thread, just like making your own clothes/accessories with yarn in knitting. I have a lot of my crosstitch framed but I have ALOT that is not. My favorite subjects are Americana and Pumpkins and Fall. This is a little free pattern from Erica Michaels Designs that I stitched in 2003 when all this started. I just now whipped it into a heart today. I would love to get all my finished pieces either framed or made into a pillow .

This Marine Corps Ball picture is my favorite :) I think I look skinny in this one :) David says they are waiting until they come back to hold the Marine Corps Ball this year. I am on the lookout for a white ball gown . I have not worn white yet, and since I will be so tan I think it will be perfect. And I hope the ball is in Waikiki! That is even better than San Diego !

Well off to create... I've got Christmas on the brain, I know I'm weird, it's just that it is my favorite time of the year and that means David will be home :)

{ a bolero for brooke }

noreply@blogger.com (Karen) — Fri, 22 May 2009 23:23:00 +0000

So I have been knitting for about 5 years now and I have yet to make a piece of clothing. I figured if I can cable then I could knit a sweater ! So I just went for it, I have been wanting to for so long but I get bored and want to start a new project. But this little bolero hardly took any time to knit. And I think it turned out well for my first wearable :) This pattern is from Knitting Pure & Simple and I used Muench Yarns in My Family, it's an acrylic microfibre and nylon but very soft and squishy. I wanted it to be washable and also not too warm. I knit it for my neice and hope it still fits her for school.

I am now working on a cowl, which is pretty much useless to me in Hawaii. But it is much more fun to knit warm fuzzy things for winter and snow season. I guess I'm just stockpiling for when I go back to Minnesota during the winter. Anyways, I found an awesome blog where I bought the pattern. I'm actually almost done with it. It is called the Thermis neck warmer. She makes the cutest dishclothes sets. I came across her blog through ravelry where I find alot of inspiration and patterns.

And I can't resist.... here is Olive all curled up, upside down, and kinked sideways in her Kitty City taking a nap...

Everyone have a great Memorial Weekend! It is our 18th Wedding Anniversary on Tuesday!