Too many things on needles!

I know I said I would get updates posted on Thursday, but you all should know me by now! I'm a little late when it comes to bloggin'.

First up is the Moss Bark Shirt Sleeved Cardigan. It's all sewn together, but I can't seem to get the collar band right. I may have to rip it out and knit it again. Finally a piece of knitting that I can wear!! I have been making things as gifts for year that aside from 2 pairs of socks, I do not have anything that i have knit for myself! I want to get this collar right so that I can take this on my trip to the Windy City on Wednesday.


You all know I made the Fairy Blanket for niece Jules. Well she has an older sister Gabbi and I promised her that I would make her a blanket this year. So, here is Gabbi's Ocean as I have dubbed it :) The pretty blue-green teal colors of a clear Caribbean ocean *not that I have ever seen one YET in my life, but one day* At first she told me blues and I thought - perfect! I have several blues in my stash! Thank goodness I didn't start right away, because my older sister went our shopping and found a beautiful comforter for Gabbi in the Teal and Seafoam green colors you see below. I was shocked when we found the exact matching colors in yarn!! I am on round seven on this crochet project. I should be working on it more that I have been, but Christmas is still 57 days away *HOLY SHIT!!* OK, so I better get to hooking or I'll still be crocheting this blanket come Christmas Eve!!


Apparently, Frisco is trying to claim this blanket as his own. What he doesn't seem to realize is that Gabbi is bigger than him and solid muscle. She's built like a brick house just like my father. Man, I wish he had passed on those genes to me instead of the boobs!

This skein of yarn was a gift from my friend Stacey for helping her out with a group on ravelry and for my limited tech savvy skills when it comes to graphics. It's a skein of Sheila's yarn, KnitsWithSticks, in, at the time, her newest color! The colorway is called Woolly Bully in purples and greys. Sheila knew these were my colors too and tempted me with a skein of this at one of our Wednesday night S'nB nights. Stacey saw my reaction to color and bought one for me, and then Sheila dyed a deeper color skein for me since she knows I like the darker colored skein. Aren't friends great!!

I love her yarn and this colorway so much that I just had to cast on with it. Since I already had 4 pairs of socks on needles, I decided to make a lace scarf with it. The pattern is the Tiger Eyes Scarf. These colors are perfect!! I'm farther along then this photo,but I don't have an updated photo yet :)



OK, so remember that Christmas list I made up of what I was going to make for everyone? yeah, well they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions! That list will be changing - A LOT! I guess I was a little over ambitious when I created it. Now I'm thinking I'm going to make my family all new Christmas stockings. I have no idea how long my Mother's had the ones she's been using, but it's about time for new ones. So, I cast on and I'm about 1/3 of the way down the leg of this stocking.



Here are the socks that I've been mentioning. First up are the Red Dwarf socks. Ever watch that show on BBC?? Smeggin' hysterical! I can't seem to find it on my cable guide though :( I was going to purchase the DVD box set of the show till I saw the $140 price tag. Not right now!! I just realize I goofed when I was knitting up the toes, but oh well. These are just for me so they don't have to be perfect, just as long as my toeseys are warm!



I have also been fondling this Jitterbug yarn since the night I bought it at the Elenganza Midnight Madness sale. So, I went ahead and cast on the Falling Leaves socks. Because the yardage of Jitterbug is so skimpy, I went Toe-up, 2-@-a-time. I am lovin' how this yarn knits up. There's a bit of pooling going on. What I think is funny is that because I am doing 2-@-a-time and knitting from both ends of the skein it's pooling on the top of one sock, but on the bottom of the other! Well, there will certainly be no mistaking these are hand made! I just sooooooo Lu-huv this colorway!!



Rember these Horcrux Socks??



Well, they now look like this! I went to go try them on again before I started the heel flap and they were too small!! *CRY* So, to the frog pond they went, rip, rip, rip and cast on a second time. That's OK though. They knit up pretty fast, but I doubt I'll be wearing them on Halloween this year. Oh well.



My last pair of socks are the Classic Sock for my dad. These have been on my needles forever! The yarn is so thin and the direction call to cast on 96!! But, I have knit the heel flap, turned the heel and just about done with the gusset! Now I'm worried that I might not have enough yarn!! The pattern called for 1 skein, so that's all I have! The leg was suppose to be 9", but I stopped at 7". I still don't know if I have enough to finish the feet though!! YIKERS! These will be Dad's Christmas present along with some Benny Hill CDs I found for him.



As much as I love Sheila and the yarn that she dyes, it can be very dangerous for me to be her friend! *laugh* I want to make this Children's Neck Down Bolero Jacket for Baby M when I go visit Mr. X. I couldn't find a colorway that I really liked for this pattern, so what does one do when they have a friend who is in the dying business? Well DUH! I asked Sheila if she could dye some of her DK weight yarn to the colors I wanted. I know that pink and lavender are really good colors on Baby M, so I pointed out the shades that I liked from the colorways that she already creates and asked her to mix those specific shades of purple and pink together and this is the gorgeous yarn that she created for me! This is yarn is sooooooooooooooooooo soft!!



My knitting group was having a class/KAL for this Bolero jacket, so I signed up and Sheila had my yarn all dyed up for me by Wednesday. I swatched and was ready to go! The pattern called for a worsted weight and the smallest size on the parttern was 2T. Baby M is only 10 months old, so asfter talking to Sheila, and very experienced knitter, we though a think weight yarn on smaller needles would do the trick. Hence the DK weight. I cast on and followed the pattern for the 2T with the DK weight yarn. By the time the class was over I have knit up to the point of the sleeve divide. When I took a look at it, I knew it was going to be too small. When I talked to Mr. X last night I asked what size Baby M was in and he told me she's in 18 months already. So, to the Frog Pond went all the knitting I had done today and I will need to recast-on one of the larger sizes. I think I will knit as far as the sleeves again and then wait to try it on her Thursday night before I try and finish the whole thing. If I try it on her on Thursday I should be able to finish it by Sunday.

While I was on the phone with him, he maded the suggestion that I knit her a new hat since all the ones I had knit for her last year are too small. He suggested a dark pink. Can you believe that I don't think I have any dark pink wool in my stash! *GASP* So, I just might have to drag Mr. X to a local yarn shop up there and he can pick out the perfect shade of pink and I'll whip up a hat while I'm out there :) Hopefully, I won't hear too much groaning out of him when I drag him there *giggle*

You know it's funny. I can get the feeling that people appreciate the things I make for them, but sometimes I can never really tell if they truely appreciate it or just being nice. Of course when people ask me for things, I know. So, if felt good when he asked.

Friday night I went out to dinner with my friend Stacey and then we hung out at my place. She brought me these sock blockers that she made!! Aren't they adorable? I keep telling her she needs to open up her own business and sell these!

We went to Five Guys for burgers. YUMMY!! Talk about a hamburger that's good enough to give you a heart attach - no joke! Which is why I go there VERY infrequesntly :)



We had a really good talk and she gave me a lot to chew on.

Stacey,
Thank you so much for the talk/advise on Friday night. You are so right about what I should do and about the fact that I'm scared to do it. Of course, knowing and squealching the fear to do it are two completely different things. Maybe we'll have to have another chat when I get back.
*HUGS*

More Christmas in July!

This post is a little late. I received my final package from my secret pal at the end of July. She's moving and didn't want my package to get lost in the move, so she sent it early, but I still don't know who she is!

Check out this loot!! DNP holders, Yarn Harlot's new calender, a knitting journal, a personal journal, a book of Friendship, a Sivia Harding shawl pattern - Hanging Garden Stole, two skeins of gorgeous Liisu alpaca lace weight yarn for the pattern AND beads!!


Look at this cute felted bowl!! My pal said the bottom half of a 2-liter bottle fits inside nicely to keep the shape. So, I went out and bought a bottle of soda and just need to finish it so that I can wash and cut it down to fit!



Look at the color of this yarn. It is just so GORGEOUS! So my color!! And oh-so-soft!!



Lastly are the pretty beads that go with the yarn and the pattern!



Thank you Pal!! You've been a terrific spoiler!!

Over-doing It

Why am I not suprised! I have been cooped up in my house for almost two weeks and I have been going stir crazy!! KnitRedSox and Bri (Casadefred) had come over at night to knit and keep me company. It was terrific to have company, but I still needed to get out!

Saturday, a small group from my regular Wednesday night Sip 'n Knit group meet at knit at Kings Contrivance Court Yard. KnitRedSox lives right around the corner from me and lately she hasn't been able to attend the Wednesday nights meet-ups, so she's been going Saturdays and offered to drive me. I took the chance! I hadn't been in a car since Monday's doctor's visit, and that was NOT a fun ride. But when I got up Saturday morning, I felt good and REALLY wanted out. So, KRS picked me up at 9:15AM and we went. The car ride was much smooth than Monday and the wether was beautiful enough that the small group of us were even able to knit outside! It was GREAT to be outside! *I'm free, I'm free, I'm free at last!* The group started to break up around noonish.

I was still feeling pretty good. On the way home we decided to stop at Daedalus Books Warehouse Outlet, which really was on out path and not out of the way. Of course we hit the knitting section first. Here's what I picked up.



I also picked up a couple of audio books for $8 bucks each!! I also bought a Lucille Ball DVD collection and a Benny Hill DVD collection. Benny Hill will be part of Dad's Christmas gift.

Afterwards we stopped and had lunch at a terrific pizza place at the end of out street - Five Brothers Deli. Then I was dropped off at home.

A few hours later my sister called to day that her and the girls would be over around 3:00PM to help me with the laundry and cleaning of my house since I shouldn't be lifting things and doing the stairs too many times in a day. So a took a nap while I waited for them to come over. They didn't show up till about 4:30PM. Afterwards they wanted me to come to their house for dinner. My nieces had signed up for a Kids' Triathelon and they needed to go pick up their numbers and had to attended a quick meeting. The meeting lasted longer then they anticipated, so instead of going to their house for dinner, we went to Ruby Tuesday. I had my first steak since the surgery - DE-LISH!!

Then, I really lost my head! This yarn store in Frederick - Eleganza, was having a Midnight Madness sale. 40% off EVERYTHING in the store between 10 PM - 12AM, *oh yeah, you know it* ExecutiveKnitter, KnitRedSox and I had talked about going earlier that day, and they would wait for a call from me, to see if I was feeling up to it. I was, so we went. *color me crazy* The place was PACKED!! When I saw the number of people in there I started to wonder if this was such a bright idea for me. I mean one accidental bump to my belly and I'm sure I would clear out the place with a scream. By some miracle, not a single person bumped in to me! I found a few things that I have been eyeing for a while and thought, 40% off, now or never! Then I was starting the feel the strain of the day, paid for what I had and went outside for air and a chair. Here's what I got: (top to bottom - Noro Silk Garden Sock, Jitterbug, Alpaca Soxs, Cascade Venezia worsted)



I got home at midnight and went to bed!

Can I just say, when I woke up this morning..... oowwiieee! I had over done it yesterday. I took it real easy today.

On the knitting front, I frogged the socks that I started for my father because they were too small and recast-on using the 2-at-a-time, magic loop method and so far I have 2" on both socks!



At the Sip 'n Knit, I had cast-on for the Moss Bark Short Sleeved Cardigan. I bought the yarn at MDS&W this year and I am determined to make something for myself while I am stuck at home resting!!

What do Super Bowl Sales, Knitting & Jane Austen have in common?

They were all in my weekend adventures :)

Yesterday, KozyKitty and I went to our LYS for their Fabulous Football Weekend Sale - 25% of EVERYTHING!! Did you hear me... EVERYTHING in the store. Last year, this sale was a serious danger to my wallet! I'm happy to say that I showed much restrain this year. I bought a set of Lantern Moon size 6 Ebony DPNs, a couple of skeins of Cascade Venezia in a gorgeous eggplant purple and some Debbie Bliss cashmerino chunky in a dark gray. THAT'S IT!! Can you believe that! I actually walked out with one little bag and spend under $90!! *pats herself on the back* I think we were there for about an hour. It was packed and I would say about half the customers were women from my knitting group!

On my way home I stopped by Blockbuster and picked up both versions of Pride and Prejudice (1995 & 2005). Sat in front of the tv for the night with my knitting and wishfully watch Mr. Darcy. They just don't make men like Mr. Darcy anymore.... if they ever really did to begin with, that is. Matthew Macfadyen *sigh* I mean, wouldn't you sigh if this was walking toward you?



Now that definately causes flutters in the lower extremities *wink* As hot as that is, I would definately, hands down, prefer to have this walking toward me.



Colin Firth. Now THAT it definately breath catching, moisture making, forget every thought in your head with the exception of jumping his bones and riding his like a stallion, swooning, down right S-E-X-Y! Oh my! *fans herself* Let me tell you, HE can eat crackers in bed! *fades out to a sexual fantasy here*

Moving on to knitting, which is the real reason you come here to read :) Here are two more FO for this year. The first is the WhoDuKnit Mystery KAL. (and a stash-buster to boot!!) This will be someone's Chrsitmas gift this year.


Pattern: clues were mailed to us, but there is a similar keyhole scarf in 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heather, colorway: Midnight
Needles: Boye size 8

Yesterday, I finished this little cutey. The Thumbelina Hat. I found the pattern through Ravelry. It was another stash-buster!

Pattern: Thumbelina Hat
Yarn: KnitPicks Merino Style
Needles: KnitPicks Options size 8, size 8 DPN

And lastly, for today that is... my first official lace project!! One of my knitting goals for this year is to knit lace. I don't recall how I found this lace KAL, but somewhere in my net surfing, blog reading or Ravelry perusing, I came across the Secret of the Stole ii KAL (SOTSii). I joined, read all the requirements and set off to the LYS to find some yarn!! I came across a skein of Skacel Merino Lace in the most striking berry red color!

Silly me bought cobweb lace for my first lace project. The poor woman at the LYS where I bought the yarn tried her best to deter me from buy cobweb lace for my first project, but I just fell in lust with the berry-red colored yarn that I closed myself off to any sensible advice and bought it. Payment for my stubborness?? ... I have frogged and cast-on 5 times already!! *sigh* I somehow kept adding stitches or losing stitches! And I wasn't even drinking alcohol while knitting this lace, so I can't even use that as an excuse!!

I'm taking it much slower this time and counting and recounting my stitiches every other row, and I have learned all about "lifelines" with lace knitting. I WILL be adding these into my lace knitting practice! This first lace project has been so frustrating and yet I am determine to knit lace, so fuckin' crazy determined that I joined two other lace KALs! (Dem Fischer sin Fru & Mystic Light Mystery Shawl) Color me crazy! Dem Fischer has startered, but I am still waiting for my yarn to be delivered, so now I will be behind with both KALs! Luckily, Mystic Light won't be starting till March. Hopefully will have both of the other laces completed before I start this one :)

Here is clue 1 of SOTSii!


And now, I think I will go watch a little more of Mr. Darcy.... *fade to black*

Yes, I am a Yarn Addict....

AND DAMN PROUD OF IT!!!!

Trying to explain that to a non-yarn addict is a real problem *like explaining any other type addiction is any easier* As you all know, I was in Philadephia last weekend and my first priority was finding all the yarn shops that were within a 10-15 minute drive from my hotel! Yes, I did look up the yarn shops BEFORE I checked out how far the hotel was from the Conference Center. I have my priorities! *a bit skewed, but hey* Oh, the conference center was right across the street and one block up from the hotel! Could I have gotten any more lucky!

Being a tactile type person is great for dealing with kids and human beans, but it can be a real problem when it comes to yarn! If anyone has a 12-step program for crazy people like us, please share!

Friday:

So, I got into Philly around 8pm, checked into my hotel and then head over to the conference center because I had a meeting from 8-10pm. Of course the information booklet that I had did not have the room information for these meetings. On the walk over I called our organization president to let her know that I had just gotten in and was on my way to the meeting.

me: Hi, I just got in.

her: me to, I just got back from walking the exhibition hall and just got into my pj's.

me: oh! You're not going to tonight's meeting?

her: what meeting? Jay didn't tell me about any meeting tonight. I was told about tomorrows discussion group at 10:30AM.

me: What discussion group tomorrow morning?? *panic sets in.... a Saturday meeting? We never had a Saturday meeting before! I planned my yarn shop hopping for Saturday!!!!*

her: Jay didn't tell me about any meeting for tonight, just about the discussion group tomorrow from 10:30am - 12:00pm.

me: What discussion group tomorrow morning?? *can you tell I was having trouble processing the fact that my yarn excursion was being shortened*

She laughs, she apparenlty thought I was joking.... I wasn't!!!

her: So what time are you going to be there tomorrow?

me: I guess I'll be there at 10:30 *well, ok, it'll be over at 12, I probably wouldn't have gotten up till about 10 anyway, so I guess I could adjust my fix yarn shopping times*

Then I get to the convention center....and the doors are locked! Great! I pull out my information booklet and sure as shit it says there suppose to be an 8pm meeting on Friday. OK, I give up! I got back to my hotel room, order some pizza and KNIT! *till 2 in the morning cause I never sleep well when I'm not in my bed or in Mr. X's, but we won't go there right now*

Saturday:

Went to meeting at 10:30AM. Afterwards, I felt compelled to take a tour of the exhibit hall. *yeah, that lasted all of 30 minutes* Had lunch, went back to the hotel to get the directions to the yarn shops and I was off!

First stop was Sophie's Yarns. errrr... that was suppose to be the first stop. Did you know that if you put in the wrong address on mapquest you end up in the wrong place! No really! If you don't put in the right street address you end up in the wrong place. Go figure! I drove around and around the blocks because I could not find Sophie's Yarns at 1713 S. 4th Street! And when I say around the block, I mean just that since Philly has shitloads of oneway streets! After a few times around, I gave up and went to Jane's Yarn Shoppe. That was not any better! By the time I got there is 4:55PM and the shoppe closed at 5pm!

Get the feeling that the Gods were not on my side??

I took a look at the maps and headed off to Loop. After all, isn't the saying, Third times a charm? Well it was! And oh what a charm it was! Adorable cozy little shop. Nice selection of yarn and warm people running the shop. Thank goodness or I was really going to think that someone up there was out to make my trip miserable!

Look at the goodies I bought! On the left are 4 skeins of Sublime cashmere-merino-silk dk. *Niiiiiiiiice* As I continued to look around I heard this "psst, psst look at me" off to my left. Honest, I did! *my therapist says those voice I hear are ok as long as they aren't tell me to harm anyone!* What do my eyes see when I looked.... the most gorgeous blue yarn I have seen in a long time.

BEELINE! *tripping over something that was on the floor, but refused to take my eyes off the yarn for fear of it disappearing if I looked away*

Misti Alpaca 100% Baby Alpaca! Talk about OH-SO-SOFT-AND-SQUISHY! I have never felt a squishier yarn! The pictures really does not do the color of this yarn any justice. I will try and get a good picture of it outside tomorrow. There was only 1 skein of this color in the shop, so I just HAD to have it! I'm think of using this for the Hannah hat.

Lastly, I came across some Blue Sky Suri Merino. Can I just say......Orgasmic! *ok, not THAT good, but pretty fuckin' close!* I don't think I have felt any like this yarn before. It just feels... luscious!! There was no putting this yarn down one it was in my hands. I soooooooooooooo cannot wait to knit with it, I just need to find the right pattern!

And look at that cute bag it all came in!



Sunday:

Now, in my searchs for yarn shops in Philly, I had read somewhere how Sophie's was THE shop to visit. So, before I checked out of my hotel and headed to my Sunday morning meeting. Yes, you read that right, a Sunday morning conference meeting, at 8AM no less! I don't even get up that early for church when I'm home! When I realized yesterday that I had obviously had the wrong address for that shop on Saturday, I looked it back up and decided I would stop there on my way out of town.

It was a nice shop, but not "The" shop that was raved about. It was almost ALL Cascade yarns. Not that there is anything wrong with Cascade considering that I bought some gorgeous Cascade Venezia yarn there. There just wasn't a whole lot of different brands. I did get to touch and feel and squish lots of different Cascade yarns that I have not seen in other shops. The silky sheen of the Venezia just suckered me on. I bought 3 balls of the bulky and 2 skeins of the worsted. Look at color of that worsted!! A beautiful Forest Green. I bought with the intention of making a gift for someone else, but the more I look at that yarn, the more I'm falling in love with that color! I might not be able to give that one away after all!

While I was in the shop looking around, a woman started talking to me. About 2 minutes in to conversation she asked "Librarian?" *ACK! Panic attack!! Do I look like a typical librarian?? Did I look frumpy?? Did I have a pen sticking out of my hair? I almost went to check when I remembered I was wear my hair loose. My friend Marcia and I made a pact in graduate school that we would never turn into a frumpy librarian that had no sense of style*

"Um, yes. what gave it away?" *hold breath*

her: "Oh cause you said at the yarn shops back home, and I'm here for the conference too"

*exhale.... ok, I'm safe.... I think* Then she told me about the shops that she went to while she was in town. *laugh*



Oh, remember that 8am Sunday meeting I was bitchin' telling you about? Well, I had almost finished my first cup of coffee when I felt myself nodding off and decided I had better go get more coffee. So I got up, and as I was trying to walk away, my purse handle reached out and grabbed my foot *I swear I saw it moving!* and wouldn't let go.

You are already laughing aren't you. You can already see where this story is going. Go ahead, laugh it up! All I can say is thank goodness no one was sitting in the chair that caught the coffee that was left in my cup AND that I didn't break any bones!

Once I untangled myself from my purse I quietly crawled out to the hallway and refilled my coffee, twice, before going back compossing myself as if it wasn't me that just lost a fight with her purse.

And that was my weekend - at least the more exciting parts of it :)

WWCS package!

Lookie at the wonderful package I received from Nichole in the Winter Wonderland Coffee Swap!!


Can you see all those de-lish goodies she sent! See those adorable recipe cards in the back with the heart shaped tags?? Those are so perfect for me because I love to prepack mason jars with ingredients for soups, brownies, or cookies and give them as gifts and those cards are just perfect for that!! Look, Look at that adorable reindeer ornament! It's holding a basket of yarn balls! TOO CUTE!! And, and, and look at that yarn! I *HEART* that colorway! I really love chocolate brown and purple together! There's a bit of blue and forest green in there too! Now to figure out what to make with it!! Anyone have a suggestion for 200 yards of beautiful 100% wool?? Please make suggestions or leave links to patterns :)


And look at this great mug she send me! Winter Wonderland for the Winter Wonderland Coffee Swap! How perfect! See, I'm using it already!!

Thank you so much Nicole!!

Wubba Wubba!! What a package!

No, that's not a flash back to the 80's. I was saying "Wubba" long before Downtown Julie Brown used it as her little saying on Club MTV!

When I arrived home from Satan's lair work, I found these little loverlies hiding behind the snow shovel at my front door. I squealed in delight *and those of you that know me, that's can be loud* Loud enough that my next door neightbor (I live in a duplex) actual came to the door to see if everything was OK! *giggle*

I just love it when my mail lady or the UPS man bring goodies to my door! And to come home and find not one but TWO! Double the pleasure!!



My final package from SP11! My pal was Manda and she spoiled me rotten and I loved EVERY minute of it!! Just look at this package she sent me! Bamboo sock needs in size 2, darning needles and holder *now maybe I won't keep losing those needles*, a heart shaped tape measurer, a really neat sock pattern, and dreamy sock yarn!! *pun intended* Just look at that yarn!! It's Dream in Color - Smooshy, and it lives up to its smooshy name!! DE-lish!! Do you get the feeling she's trying to convert me to a sock knitter *wink*



Manda, Thank you so much for all my goodies!! And believe it or not, I do have one sock completed and its partner started, but it's hibernating till I get these Chrsitmas gifts and this baby blanket done!

Goodies, blessings and frustrations

Oh where to begin! Just before the holiday weekend I received a package from my swap pal in the Knitters Coffee Swap! Look at the goodies! Delicious cookies, Swiss chocolate *I have been so good - I left it home over the holiday weekend so that I wouldn't have to share it I didn't eat it all at once* A great calender filled with pictures of Switzerland sceneries *I'll take to work in my office so that I have something to daydream about when it gets stressfull* heehee



And look at this yarn! I just love the gorgeous blue! Thank you so much Andrea for a great package!



I had to work on Wednesday, so I did not set out for the folks house till early Thursday morning. It was a bitch to get up that early on a day that I knew I didn't need to get to work, but at least someone else was working that day and made my drive a tad more enjoyable. I could drive while that was the view out of my car window :)



After stopping at the Starbucks just at the end of my street I hit the road. It was about 6:45 AM. The drive was rather pleasant and not much traffic *now that's something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving morning* and I pulled into my parents' driveway at 10:15 AM. I pray, pray, pray that the NJ Turnpike people don't compare distance to time stamps or I'm in trouble! Somehow with my foot to the floor driving like Maria Andretti I shaved almost an hour off my drive time. I swear I was going with the flow of traffic! *whistles innocently*

My youngest niece gets sooooooooooo into the holidays and decorating. She's 8. She set the dining room table all by herself!


Mom made way too much food that evening. We had traditional Italian wedding soup, a turkey AND ham, oddles of different veggies dishes, fruit, desserts, and coffee and she was thinking of making PASTA! No matter how long my folks have lived in this country they still feel the need to turn every holiday meal into a 7 course Italian holiday meal! Needless to say I was send home with half a ham (I took the ham bone so that I can make 15 bean soup *yummy*) AND half a turkey breast! Anyone know any good recipies to use leftover turkey or ham???



Yup, that's me working on those fairy squares at the Thanksgiving table. Italians traditionally sit around after the main meal is finished talking and digesting before the dessert course starts *laugh* So, why waiste time?? I pulled out my knitting back and get to it! 3 more squares were completed this weekend!! For a grand total of 9 squares completed!! Just 7 more to go before I can put them together and have it start looking like an afghan!



While I was doing this I got to listen to my mother calling me crazy over and over again. My mom doesn't really understand hobbies. Strange considering she used to crochet and sew. And my mother wonderings why I don't share more things with her. It's a shame really, I had planned on having a heart-to-heart mother daughter talk with her this weekend about Mr. X and that whole situation. Yeah, that didn't happen after this.

While my mom was cleaning out some things she came across my baby blanket! She crocheted this one for me. When I was a little older she had taken the squares apart and turned it into a shawl, which is how it currently it. I had thought about taking back apart and turning in back into a baby blanket, but I don't think I can match up that yellow yarn.



She also found this granny square dress that my Nonna had crocheted for me when I was a wee little thing. I was really suprised the still had these things. There are some spots on the dress that I'm not sure how to get out. I'm thinking of getting a nice size shadow bow and putting both of these items into it so that I can hang them on a wall in my house.



Here's an update photo of my sister's Soft Waves ripple. I'm at the halfway mark!

SP 10 Package

Looky what I found on my doorstep Monday! *yeah, I know it's Friday and I'm a little behind on my postings, you didn't need to remind me* It's a package from my Secret Pal or rather my Secret Angel!

Look at all the neat goodies I received!Knitting, knitting and more knitting stuff... and chocolate, can't forget the chocolate *yeah, that box of Crunch is gone already* Look at the gorgeous yarn! Cascade 220 in a pretty heather purple! Oh, what to make, what to make with this yarn... any suggestions people?

Thank you Secret Angel!!

Holy Coffee Swap Package Batman!

Yesterday was a crazy day! Work really sucks and I am trying not to think about how "the boss" *cause she certainly is no leader* is really placing our school on a downhill slide for catastrophe. Why is it that that my county cannot find good, intelligent, reasonable people to be principals??


I love these stitch Anyhoo, after work I have my therapy session, then grab a bite to eat on the way to meet up with my Wednesday night knitting group. When I got home from the Stitch 'n Bitch session this was waiting for me at my door!! Suddenly all the bull$hit from work melted away as I couldn't wait to open my package. My kitty was just as interested, and while I was trying to be good and find my camera, he was trying to open my package! I couldn't wait to see what Megan, my coffee swap partner, had sent me :)

She even used on of the HP note cards I sent her in her package!

Here are all the goodies. I retook pictures when I got home from work today, so that I could take better pictures outside. My neighbors thought I was a tad off *image that, me a tad off.... nnaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh* setting up the display just so for a picture *laugh* Look at all this stuff!! Even now, I'm still so excited about what I got! *did I mention that there a little girl trapped inside me and that no matter what age my licenses says she always rules me :) *

Two different kinds of Espresso bean! Fudge brownie mix *drool* A kitchen magnet. Adorable book plates!
Aren't these stitch markers great! That's me! S-E-X-Y!! :)

She even got me my own specially blended tea! I had told her that Starbucks used to have this great tea called Winter and how I had been looking for it ever since Starbucks switched tea companies. I told Megan how I had searched the Internet to avail because I could not find my Winter Tea and I guess I must have told her what was in it and she went to a specialty tea store and shared my frustration over trying to find this tea and they whipped up a special batch on the description! You're AWESOME Megan!! I haven't tried it yet, but it certainly smells as I remember the Winter Tea did! She got me honey sticks to go with it! Of course I told her that if this special blend is right she will have to purchase my monthly supply for me *giggle*

She even got something for my inner child and her affinity for fairies! She made me this felted latte fairy! I have her hanging in my kitchen already!

Last, but certainly not least, look at this awesome yarn! Manos del Uruguay! Look at those yummy colors! I can't wait to figure out what I am going to do with this great yarn! Anyone have a suggestions??

Last weekend I told you all about the pretty fuchsia plants I got. Well here they are hanging off my front porch. I love these plants.



Here's a picture of Frisco in another one of his favorite spots. I lay back on the couch and stretch out and in 2.2 seconds flat there's Frisco wanting to lounge and sleep on my legs. He's such a strange kitty, but I wouldn't trade him for the world! *like I could, any cat owner knows they own us and not the other way around*

As for knitting/crocheting updates - not much. Still working on the baby blanket, though I do only have the edging left. If I can just figure out what I want to do for it! I did complete one of the Mason*Dixon Warshcloths and started a second. My gf Tracey just moved in to a new apartment and she has no pot holders, dishrags or anything, so I thought I'd make her a nice kitchen set with all this cotton yarn I have! I'll post project pictures soon!