Love Is Grand

This arrived in the mail for me yesterday. It's a second package from my SP13 pal. It includes some great gingerbread tubby goodies as well as some Breathe lotion and cream. Things have been very stressful here lately and boy do I ever need to Breathe. :-) Also included were some gorgeous stitch markers handcrafted by my pal and her hubby, a magnet from her recent trip to Cabo, Interlacements Tiny Toes, and Heavyweight Socks that Rock in Rocktober. Yum! Not pictured but also included are 3 great books...Baby Beanies, Scrumptious Toppers for Tots & Toddlers, AND Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair. OMG!!! I stayed up until 1 this morning reading this book by Crazy Aunt Purl. I assumed with a title like this there would be laughs-a-plenty. And there was. There were also some tears which I totally didn't see coming. Awesome, awesome book. If you've not read it you really should. Last but certainly not least...there were socks!!!

When I opened the socks knit just for me out of Socks That Rock I cried like a little girl. Nobody has ever knit me socks before.

I put them on immediately. They fit perfectly and are so warm and squishy. I've fallen head over heels in love with my pal. Thank you again pal, from the very bottom of my heart...and soles!!!

Blueberry Pancakes

You Are Blueberry Pancakes

You prefer flavorful, fresh foods that are well seasoned. You shy away from anything plain or overcooked. It's not likely someone would find a lot of cheap convenience foods in your kitchen. Instead, someone might find a wide array of spices, herbs, and flavorings.

What Kind of Pancakes Are You?

I found this over at Stash-N-Stitch and just had to give it a try. Leave a note in the comments if you do it and let me know how close it was. I have to say that this is pretty much spot on for me.

Quite

Fetching.

Pattern: Fetching by Cheryl Niamath

Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in Wisterious purchased at Adirondack Yarns

Needles: US 6

Mods: Added extra repeats of the cables to both the beginning and end.

I can't wait to try these out on the playground next week!

Finally

I finished the sweater for Dudette last week. It took all weekend for the fool thing to dry because our room is so cold. And then I once again had to wait for my model to be in a modeling kind of mood. Sheesh.

She loves the sweater and can't wait to wear it. She asked if she might be able to wear it for gym day. I suggested she wait until the weekend. We'll see who wins the war.

Oh, I've been meaning to share a funny little tidbit of info...I started this sweater 2 years ago on the needle recommended and was getting gauge. When I picked it back up I was WAY off. I went down a needle size and was still off but not by enough to warrant going down another. It's amazing to me how much I've relaxed in my knitting. What a difference a couple years can make. :-)

I Did It. Did You?

I stole this from Robin. The things I've done are bold. How about you? What have you done?

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea
14. Taught myself art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (indoor)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

Freebie For Your Feet

I designed this pattern for the Sockathon group over on Yahoo and it was featured last month.


I'm not sure if anyone ended up knitting it or not as I've not seen any in progress or finished photos for it but I know several people really liked it. I'm hoping that the lack of photos from the group is only because it was introduced during the crazy busy holiday season.

If you want to knit it you can find it on Ravelry as a free download or you can email me and I'll send you the pdf. :-)

Something Fishy

Well, it was supposed to be for my friend's grandson but Dailaesse batted her sweet little eyes and asked if she could pretty please try it on just to see if it fit.

I know kids are all head but there's no way this would fit a little guy who's not quite a year old yet.

I thought changing the original pattern (worsted weight on size US 7 needles) to that of my own (dk weight on US 5 needles) would work out perfectly. Not.

So now it's back to the drawing board. Guess I'll just have to decrease the number of stitches cast on and fiddle with the rest of the numbers to get a smaller size.

It's all good though because I'm totally looking forward to knitting more of these.

Dead or Alive

Since I'm waiting for the yarn for the sweater to arrive before I can finish it I thought it only fair for me to be able to cast on a new project. This is the Fish Hat (Dead or Alive) from Knitty and it's so cute! I'm knitting this one in some old Patons Astra that was WAY back in the yarn closet. I don't really care for knitting with it but I wanted something that would be machine wash and dry as it's going to a home that might not want to fiddle with anything but. Plus it's for a toddler and I know it will be outgrown quickly and the original pattern looks large on most of the adult heads I've seen it on. I'm hoping to finish this up soon. Although I cast on a new pair of Fetching today. Now the fish is on the back burner. HA!

Memory Lane

Remember this?

Of course you don't. Know why? Because I started it 2 years ago, worked on it for 2 days, then stuck it in the bin of doom. I don't know why I put it there. It certainly didn't deserve to be tucked away. It's a fine sweater.

For some reason I've been in a finishing sort of mood lately. So I pulled it out the other night and sat down to finish it.

See that? I'm 5 rows from the end of the sleeve and I have about 1.5 feet of yarn left. Thankfully I found a nice lady on Ravelry who had a hank of the same yarn I need in her destash list. We worked out a trade and the yarn is on its way to me today. I can't wait to get this finished and Dudette can't wait to wear it!

New & Improved

My favorite LYS has a brand new blog! I'm really excited about helping out with it. I hope you'll take a minute to stop by and hopefully give us some ideas on what you think would be fun to see. Maybe an advice or fix-it day? FO day? Come share your ideas!

2009

There's a Storm Brewing

Dan recently requested some socks in our school colors.







This Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock from The Loopy Ewe in their Loopy Ewe Mini Stripes fit the bill perfectly. One down, one to go.

Hubby Hat

I've been wanting to knit another Polly Wolly Doodle for quite some time now. So I did.

This one is for Bran. It was supposed to be for my dad but he wrinkled his nose when he saw. Pain in the ass. I don't know what the man has against cables.

Merry Christmas

Photo Shoot

Sorry to make you all wait until today for pictures of the other sweater but I had to schedule the photo shoot around the model. You know how high maintenance they can be.

This is the size 4. It's a tad short in the arms on her. I'm glad the one I started her last year is a size 6. Or at least I hope it is. Guess I better go dig that out and finish it up huh?

The Pits

Ok, so way back on the 2nd I started writing a post about how I had the red sweater all the way to the pits but found a stupid mistake which required ripping all the way back to the ribbing. After that, I had a hard time getting back into the damn thing. Then all the holiday stuff started creaping in and things really stalled. Last Friday was a Christmas party for Bran's work and then Saturday I was volunteered to go shopping after my mother invited the girls to go with her. I would have loved it had I not had a ton of knitting sitting at home for me. Ugh.



Not sure what was up with the grumpy puss. She was actually quite happy.

I'm quite please with how this turned out. I've been really working on my finishing and I feel like it gets better each time I attempt it. The little blue sweater is also done but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that.

Toasty Tootsies

I finished up the second sock of the nice warm pair I was knitting for Daddy. I wasn't at all sure he'd like the heavier weight of the worsted yarn so I took the first one over when I finished it. It was an instant hit. So I of course wanted to quickly finish the second. But the little snowflake sweaters presented themselves. So I worked on Daddy's second sock for a couple minutes here and there just to take the edge off.


I closed the toe last night and brought them over today. He's thrilled and so am I. I've been under an enormous amount of stress lately and it felt so good to have something finished. Closure. It does a body good.

SALE! SALE! SALE!

I know you've all been just dying to knit my patterns so in the spirit of the holiday, I've reduced them all to $1 for the entire month of December! They're over there in the right side bar if you're interested. :-)

Happy Holidays!

That's what my super awesome SP13 had to say when this arrived:



This HUGE box of goodies arrived yesterday from my pal. It contains:

4 gorgeous skeins of Nordic Lites Lace Weight wool in Lilac
Interlacements Tiny Toes II in Sock Gang
A Treasury of Magical Knitting (not pictured)
A Second Treasury of Knitting (not pictured)
New Pathways for Sock Knitters (not pictured)
Fall 2008 Interweave Knits (not pictured)
November 2008 Simply Knitting along with the 2009 Simply Knitting Calendar (not pictured)
Clover Antique Needle Holder Charms
Clover Antique Point Protectors
Clover Knitting Register
Clover Bamboo DPNS in US 1 (2.25mm)
ViewTainer
Gingerbread Men Earrings
Rhinestone Cross Necklace and Earrings
Crocheted Butterfly

Wow! Thanks so much for spoiling me like crazy pal!

Christmas MeMe

I snagged this from Got Gauge. Thanks for the fun Phyl!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Well, I love gift bags because they're quick and easy and I suck at wrapping but for the kids I always use wrapping paper.

2. Real tree or Artificial?

Unfortunately, artificial. I have pretty bad allergies so real trees are tough. I used to be able to tolerate them for a week or so but since we've added the cat and the lab to the family they are totally out of the question.

3. When do you put up the tree?

Always after Thanksgiving. Sometimes not until a week before Christmas.

4. When do you take the tree down?

The day after Christmas. We have a small house.

5. Do you like eggnog?

No. But I do like McDonald's new Egg Nog milkshake. Yum.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

My 4 Wheeler.

7. Hardest person to buy for?

Daddy.

8. Easiest person to buy for?

Dailaesse. She loves everything.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

We do.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

Always mail.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

A toilet paper holder from my MIL. Yeah.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?

The Santa Claus movies with Tim Allen.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

A day or 2 before Christmas. Doesn't everyone?

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

Nope. Too afraid I'd get caught.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Reeses Peanut Butter Trees!!!

16. Lights on the tree?

Small white twinkle lights and big primary colored solids.

17. Favorite Christmas song?

Merry Christmas from the Family

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

We used to travel to my MIL but then she gave me a toilet paper holder. hehe

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's?

Nope. I figure I've made it this long without being able to so what's the point in doing it now.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?

Usually our angel but sometimes the star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?

Christmas Eve with my parents and Christmas morning at home.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

Crowded stores!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?

I love all blue lights, just not in my house or yard. LOL

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?

Some sort of beef or ham. This year we'll be dining on a prime rib roast.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?

Peace on Earth, good health and happiness for my family and friends, and yarn.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this?

If you post this to your blog leave me a comment with a link!

27. Who is least likely to respond to this?

I have no idea. Really.

28. Favorite thing about Christmas?

Seeing the kids light up. Their faces. Not cigarettes.