Waves Scarf is FINALLY Finished!!

Finally!! This scarf/shawl was started back in December and was put on hold because the pattern called for 6 skeins of yarn, but after checking around on Ravelry 6 skeins wasn't nearly enough!! I ordered more yarn and ended up using 10 skeins!! Then I had to frog back 20 some odd rows because I miscrossed a cable! But it's finally finished and I couldn't be happier if I didn't have to knit 2x2 ribbing again for quite a while! *grin* I love the final results, but I don't think I'll be fooling around with 24 stitch cables anytime soon :) I think my sister is going to love it. It is one HEAVY shawl though! The shawl is blocking nicely on my dining room table as you can see :)


Pattern: Waves Scarf
Yarn: Cadena from Knit Picks
Needles: Knit Picks Options size 9
Notes: pattern calls for 6 skeins, but I ended up using 10! Check around on Ravelry before making for yourself to make sure you get enough yarn.

Happy Valentine's Day

Sorry I haven't been around this last week. I have been down and out sick! It came on suddenly Thursday night. I just started coughing and couldn't stop and it just got worse from there. Of course, flying down to Florida over the weekend for my fahter's birthday didn't help any. Two plane rides later and Sunday night I just wanted someone to bury me. I haven't been this sick in a long time. I mean so sick and weak that I couldn't open a bottle of water! Knitting even seemed tiring to me! I am happy to say that I'm finally starting to feel better. My fever is all gone and my head is starting to clear up. There is hope!

I did want to wish you all a Happy Love Day!!

Berry Baby Hat Started and Finished!!

Here's another FO! I cast on for this at 7pm tonight while I was at my S 'n B group and weaved in all the ends around 10:30PM. It's blocking now so that hopefully tomorrow I can get it in the mail and off to the head it was made for :)


Pattern: Berry Baby Hat
Yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style (Lilac and Asparagus)
Needles: bamboo DPN, size 8

Here it is being model by an old friend :)

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*

Lacey Baby Beenie

Pattern: Lace Baby Beenie

Yarn: Jo-Ann Sensations Tesoro, 1 skein Pink

Needles: Lantern Moon, Ebony DPN size 5

Notes: quick and easy!! This yarn blocked beautifully!

DRATS!! Another Set Back!

*sniffle* I hate it when I goof on a cable!! I had to frog back 25 rows of the Wave Scarf because I crossed a cable the wrong way and I just couldn't leave it that way!! I get the feeling that someone doesn't want me to finish this scarf!

First FO for 2008!!

I have FINALLY finished the baby blanket!!

Seaming this baby up was really off-putting, so I had to force myself to do it. Last night at 10PM I got a bug up my ass, pulled out my needles and started. I thought "oh, it should only take me about an hour or so" HA! I always seem to think I can do things faster in my mind then they actually take *well, with the exception of THAT. THAT I want to last much longer - laugh*

Anyhoo.... FOUR HOURS LATER!! I had finally finished!





Pattern: Lace Christening Blanket from Vogue Knitting Baby Blankets

Yarn: KnitPicks Shine Sport, 12 skeins of Silver Sage

Needles: KnitPicks Options size 5

Notes: The pattern actually called for each panel to be knit seperately, but I didn't want to do all that seaming, so I cast on all seven panels together and used stitch markers to mark each panel.

Mother Nature's Beauty

We finally had our first REAL snowfall on Thursday. It started right around 11:30 ish. Then about 45 minutes later it was REALLY snowing. Big fluffy flakes. This was the pretty picture I saw when I looked out the windows of my media center.



Then I just couldn't resist and step outside the emergency exit door and took a few more pictures of the snow falling. Look at how big those flakes are! The only thing that would have made this all the more perfect would have been to watch the snow fall from the comfort of my own home, in my PJ's and slippers, wrapped in one of my afghans, and a nice hot latte in my my hands enjoying a snow day!





When I got home from work that day I found this at my door! *SQUEAL* I love when I get packages!



The first package was this Japanese crochet pattern book. The book is Crochet Motif Items. I bought it so that I could get the pattern to make this. I fell in love with that since I first came across it months ago! I had found the book on the Japanese site of Amazon, but I couldn't seem to order it. I was telling Joan at one of the S 'n B Wednesday's about how I was trying to find this book and she directed me to this site, and I found it and bought it!! Thanks Joan!!



Here's an update on my current WIPs.

The Wave Scarf is up to 26". I can't remember what number skein I am on, but my order for the four extra skeins came in. Of course the dye lots did not match the six skeins I had bought months ago, but by some miracle of miracles the new skeins match the older skeins what seems like perfectly! *PHEW* I was so pleased. I went ahead and used one of the new skeins and then brought the project to a S 'n B session and asked a few of the gals there if they could tell where the new skein started and/or stopped. No one could!!! So, just to be safe I am alternating skeins between the two different orders. I am hoping that over this nice long weekend, I will finish this scarf... maybe.... maybe not. Sorry, the pictures is a bit dark. I'll take a better one soon.



Next up, I joined the Secret of the Stole ii KAL (SOTSii). This is one of those KAL where you get a little bit of the pattern at a time along with a few clues and you need to try and guess the connection. This is my first official lace project. I am so excited about it! It was suggested that we use a solid, earthy color. I had purchased a skein of Skacel Merino Lace in Eggplant. I fell in love with the rich purple color. I got it at a 30% discount because it looked like some of the strands had been cut. We couldn't really tell without winding it up. The lady in the shop said she would give me a discount cause she wasn't sure, but that with the discount it would have to be a final sale. I took the chance because I loved the color so much and I didn't want to fall behind in the KAL. Oh, I sooooo shouldn't have bought that skein. It was a pure disaster trying to ball up that skein. I don't know what happened, but it kept getting tangled and my kitty kept trying to play with the yarn. I finally gave up and called a few of the LYS so see if any of them had the same yarn in the same color. *sigh* No luck, but A Tangled Skein, did have the yarn in other colors. So, I hopped in my car and drove down. I found this pretty berry color and bought it and had THEM wind it for me. Of course she had no problems winding the skein. So now I have this skein of purple at home that I don't want to throw away, but I'm also not looking forward to trying to untangle and wind. Anyhoo! I'm looking forward to working on my first lace project!!



Next up is the WhoDuKnit Mystery KAL. This project will only take about 200 yards of a worsted weight yarn. So I went stash diving to see what single skeins I had and found this beautiful blue that I bought eons ago. It's Cascade 220 Heather in Midnight. I just love the color! I'm currently in the middle of clue #3. Just 2 more clues and I should have a finished scarf!



Last, but certainly not least. The baby blanket! Look! I'm all done knitting and it's blocking on my dining room table. Now comes the part I dread.... seaming!! I have 4 skeins of this yarn leftover. Oh what to do with it... any suggestions?

So far to date, this is the piece I am most proud of, even if it was the most difficult to make - not talking pattern wise, the pattern was relatively easy.

Achmed the Dead Terrorist

I love this guy!!!!

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 :)

Destination: Philadelphia!

Road Tripping this weekend!! Off to Philly for a conference! The hotel I'm staying at says that all the rooms have wireless capabilities, so we shall see. Now, where are the yarn shops?!?!

ooooooooo 4 within 3 miles of my hotel!!! This could be bad!

A Belated Christmas gift

Here is the Wave Scarf that I am making for my older sister.



I was hoping to have it finished in time for La Befana, but it doesn't look like it. Why, you ask. Well that's a very good question. The reason being that the pattern called for 6 skeins of the yarn. So when my sister picked out this pattern several months ago, I went ahead and bought the yarn for it.

Then a few nights ago, I was looking up this pattern on Ravelry. Oh, I wish I had checked this pattern there first. Turns out that not a single person who knitted this scarf in the recommended yarn used the recommended amount of yarn. They all used anywhere from 8-10 skeins! YIKERS!!

I finished one skein and I measured the length.... 5". The scarf/shawl pattern says the finished length will be 71". Hmmm... I'm in trouble if I only got 5" from one skein! I had already wound the six skeins using the ball winder, so I couldn't mail them back to Knit Picks. So, I ordered 4 more skeins and I'm praying that some small miracle will happen and those 4 skeins will be the same dye lot as the 6 skeins that I ordered a few months ago. *yeah, Fat chance, I know*

I'll keep you posted.

All the Little Girls with the Crimson Lips Go,

Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Rocks!

OK, so y'all know that I spend New Year's Eve in Cleveland. It was a last minute invite from a friend's girlfriend and since I had no real plans for that night....


ROAD TRIP!!


So, Sunday I left my house and my friend Erika left her house in WV and we both headed north. Sunday night we ended up playing Turbo Cranium. Oh my! We had a blast!! That's Erica doing some of the "Star Performer" cards. Believe it or not.... there was no alcohol involved!



New Year's Eve we went to this place called Howl at the Moon. What an awesome place!! It's a dueling piano bar. They had two grand pianos and a drum set on the stage and three guys that played on a rotating basis. The audience suggested the song with a minimum $2 tip, but these guys were getting $5, beers and shots for song suggestions. At one point in the night someone made a suggestion for "Hang on Snoopy" because apparently that is the OSU fight song. After a few bars, another guy went up to the pianos and requested they kill that song and play the Michigan University fight song.

the piano player "I'm sorry folks, this song has just been interrupted because this guy just paid $20 to stop playing this and play the MU fight song!"

heehee... talk about a guy teasing his audience and trying to get more $$!

This went back and forth till the Michigan guy paid $85 for their song!! I couldn't believe it, THAT's when you know you've had way too many beers *grin*

At one point during the night the piano players called some of the ladies to the stage and played the song Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-Lot.

Oh my God Becky....Look at her butt....It is so big....




Let me tell you, NONE of the girls that went up on to the stage had any junk in their trucks! Not a one! I turned to the group and asked them if they thought any of these girls even UNDERSTOOD what this song is about!

Now, I bet you never thought I would put my butt out there for everyone to see, but

Baby Got Back!



*thank goodness my folks don't read my blog or I'd have to hear all about how "good girls don't do that" - yeah, it took two years of therapy for me to realize is had an inner battle of Good Girl/Bad Girl raging inside me..... Bad Girl tends to win alot *giggle*

We got those bumper stickers from the bar. We also got these buttons too!



The piano players brought one of their bartenders on stage and changed the words from Doe Re Me to Tony, the guy who drinks the beer. Tony had a very special way of drinking a beer. You'll have to excuse to blurry pic as this came from my phone. None of us brought a camera to the bar cause we didn't know what kind of place it was and we didn't want to risk losing our cameras. Now I know for next time, that I can bring my camera!

Here's Tony! Tony, the guy who drinks the beer! Egging the crowd on to chant for him :) See those bulges in his pockets *no, not THAT bulge - you pervs!* He came on stage with a beer bottle in three different pockets and one in his hand.



Tony's special drinking trick.... a bendy straw!! So what does he do you ask... He puts the bendy straw into the bottle then wraps his mouth around the opening leaving the straw outside his mouth to let the air go in by passing the glugg-glugg when chugging a beer and pretty much downed the bottle in 2 seconds. *no, I didn't exactly time him, but it was fact!* And just incase you missed it the first time, he did it three more times this round!

Later on in the night he was called up to the stage a second time, but only did 2 beers this time. The dude next to him, I guess was trying to show off, but his little cup of beer didn't impress us that much. That was also the guy that paid $85 to hear the Michigan fight song.



Now, when you are dealing with a room full of drinking people on New Years Eve, they really should have had a disclaimer before this stunt was performed... like... Kids, Do Not Try This at Home!

Yeah, you guessed it! This drunken fool silly girl just had to try this when we got back home. Of course, the druken fools friends I was with didn't try to stop me. Oh no!! They encourage this crazy act! Even scrounge around their kitchen because they were sure they had bendy straws!



So, what did I learn?

One: Never try this with a beer you have never tasted before, because if the beer tastes nasty *like this shit "Fat Squirrel". Who the hell names a beer Fat Squirrel??* you end up gagging anyway.

Two: Never listen to drunk friends!

Three: I need more practice.



You would think that we would have stopped there.... Oh no. We had bought some liquer earlier that day since we didn't know for sure if we would be able to get into Howl at the Moon or not. I purchased a bottle of Pomagranite liquer that had a recipe on it for Pamatinis. So I bought everything that was on their recipe and made some that night. I don't know where they got their drink recipe from but this shit tasted like lighter fluid! You would think that when one person gags and claims a drink is horrible that your friends would listen to you and not try it.... oh no... I passed the glass to the next person and said "here, try!" and they did!

Hence I repeat thing number two that I learned "Two: Never listen to drunk friends!"

Then we moved on to try this stuff.



Did you read the bottle? "A Sensuous Fusion of Utlra Premium French Vodka & Provence Blood Orange Mingling with Mango & Passion Fruit" Sounds good doesn't it. Well, it sounded like a good idea to all of us too. Now does anyone wanna try and guess as to what this stuff really tasted like?? GRAPEFRUIT! Grapefruit and vodka is what this tasted like! I've had Mangos before and they do not taste like grapefruit!

Again, if someone gags that a drink tastes horrible, would YOU try it after a friend?? Yup, my friends did....

Hence I repeat again what I learned "Two: Never listen to drunk friends!"

All-in-all it was a very fun night. We could have done without the lighter fluid drinks, but live and learn. New Years Day we went to Cracker Barrel for brunch and then I had to drive home in this:



Getting out of Cleveland wasn't too bad. The storm was definitely worse when I drove through upper PA. Of course the whole time I was driving through this storm I kept telling to go to Maryland. I was not ready to do back to school today, but alas, neither Mr. Snow nor Mother Nature was listening to my suggestion.

And that was my last minute New Year's Eve adventure!

Happy New Year's from Cleveland!

I will be bringing in the new year in Cleveland this year! Just wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year before I started the process of intoxicating myself toward numbness!

Catch you guys in 2008!!!

Merry Christmas!

I did not get the chance to blog right before Christmas to wish you all a Merry Christmas, so I hope that you have all had a great holiday! I hope you all were able to spend time with your loved ones and got all the things that you wished for.

Wow, what Christmas this has been.

First off, I got the shocker of my life just before the holidays..... My electric bill! FUCK! Now, you need to understand, I live in a tiny house and it's just me and the kitty! The electric company raised its rates 72% last year *FUCK!!* It was raised that much because apparently there was some sort of rate cap on the electric company for several years and last year that cap was lifted and of course the CEOs of BGE were is such dire straights *that statements is dripping with sarcasm in case you missed it* that they had to add all the hikes that were missed while under that cap. As if that hike wasn't a killer on it's own! The electric company raised it rates 50% this year! *talked about a double fuck!*

OK, so in anticipation of this unbelieve act of piracy! I unpacked all my sweaters and set my thermostat to 68 when I'm home and 63 when I'm not. A few extra layers inside will help me keep my heating bills down. So, when my bill came I was expecting the bill to be slightly higher, but when the bill was almost triple what I normally pay I freaked! I mean FREAKED! *FUCK! FUCK!! FUCK!!! FUCK!!!! FUCK!!!!!* After sounding like a nasty sailor whose mouth just went on a swearing rampage, I took a closer look at the bill.

Do you see what I see??



A huge glaring difference in the amount of electricity usage last month. Nomally I use between 400-650 kWh. Last month they say I used 1573 kWh! That's almost TRIPLE the electrical usage!! After freaking out and calling my older sister to see if she could tell me what the hell was going on with my electricity. (My older sister is an architectual engineer, so naturally I think she knows everything and anything when it comes to house things, and when I'm freaking out that badly, I truely believe she SHOULD know it all!) So, after my sister calmed me down I called the electric company to tell them there is something VERY wrong. Of course, the customer service person was not really interested in what I was saying becuase she kept reiterating the fact that there was a rate increase and this was probably the first time I've had my heat turned on since the rate hike. This is where my temper and sanity was after being on the phone with this woman for 5 minutes...

me: I understand that the rates went up, but I'm not talking price! I'm talking usage.

her: Ma'am, it was much colder last month and you probably weren't using your heat as much as the month be-

me: Listen to me very carefully! I am NOT talking about the COST of my bill! I am talking about the amount of kilowatts per hour that are used. My amount of electical USAGE nearly tripled! I want someone to take a look at my meter to see if it is working properly becuase I have NEVER used that much energy in a month! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING NOW!!

Finally, she said she would put in a request to check to usage history and pass this along. Needless to say, the company did NOT come out and check the meter, they just sent me a letter saying the reading was accurate and that it was an actual reading. Then the letter proceeded to tell me again about the rate increase. UGGH!!!

I called again today and firmly requested that someone come out to my house and do a thurough check on my meter and that I wanted to be there when the person came to my house so they can explain what the heck they are doing and what the check verifies. At the same time, I contacted my home warrenty company to come out and check my heat pump because the electric company seems to think that might be the culpret of my energy usage increase. So I have a service tech coming to the house Friday morning to check the heat pump, and then I have the electric company coming out the following Friday to check the meter.

That was my holiday freak-out session.

On to more pleasant things . . .

My holiday break started when I received this great book from KozyKitty on the last day of work. I had seen the book in Border's and been debating on purchasing it, but I knew it would have to wait till after the holidays. I just couldn't afford to spend anything on myself for right now. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long! I've already got about 20 of the projects in this book marked!! This should certainly help in my stash-busting efforts! Thanks KK!!



Then my holiday break really got started at Happy Hour - Friday night! KK and another friend of ours, Tracey, and KK family all met up at Ram's Head for laughs , drinks and food. In that order :)



KK and her DH in the first pic, then DH and her daughter in the 2nd.


I had decided this year, since I was poorer than a church mouse, that I would put my stash to good use and knit or crochet everyone in my family and friends their gifts this year. *in October, what the hell was I thinking??.... apparently I wasn't!* So, I searched my stash, my project books, the Internet and Ravelry for ideas and projects and I made my list. As the days flew by, panic started to set in and that list was growing shorter and shorter. NOT because I was actually finishing projects. Oh no, I had apparently thought I was super knitting woman back in October when I first created the list. The list was getting shorter because I was crossing names off the list and buying gifts *with crumbs I found scurrying around* All-in-all, I am pleased with what I did accomplish!

Just a few Christmas photos to share with you all :)

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree! My sister puts so many lights on her tree that you can literally read a novel by the lights of her tree alone!



Here is my niece Jules with the fairy blanket that has been started for her. The day before Christmas I had to frog all the crocheting that had been done on the blanket because it just wasn't looking right, so the blanket is back in my house to be worked on over winter break.



Here's my other niece, Gabby. She just moved into her own room, so I told her that as soon as she figured out how she's going to decorate her new room I would make a blanket for her too!



I was working furiously on this Fisherman's Watchcap from Knitting with Balls. I was up till 3am on Christmas Eve knitting this baby for my brother-in-law! He opened that gift, put that hat on his head and wore it ALL morning!! He has requested a 2nd one in black and red (you'll see why a little further down). Now that made staying up till 3am worth it! He's a jogger and said the hat would be perfect for keeping his head and ears warm on his runs.

Yarn: Paton's Classic Merino in black & Red Heart Ltd. Soft Yarn in Guacamole for the strips.
Needles: size 8



I finally finished Mom & Dad's afghan *the day before Christmas Eve, but hey it's finished!* and they love it. It's the perfect color that will match their decor in the family room. My father loves the fact that it's so heavy and warm!

Yarn: Red Heart TLC Amore in Garnet
Hook: size K



I also completed an afghan for my sister and her hubby. This was the Soft Waves pattern from 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns book. My brother-in-law was tickled pink that I made the blanket wide enough for them to BOTH snuggle under. Apparently, my sister doesn't share the first one I made her with him because it's not big enough *giggle*

Yarn: Lion Suede in Waterlilies, Denim, Fushia, Eggplant and Olive.
Hook: Size H


Last up was a joke between my older sister and me. She thought I was fuckin' crazy when I told her my Christmas plan. When time was running out she would joke that everyone would be getting a knitted dishcloth as a gift. Well, I did not get to finish her gift, but I had to have something for her to open on Christmas morning. So......



She laughed for a good five minutes :) I promised her she would be opening another gift for La Befana! She did love the colors of the dishcloth :)

Here is one of the best gifts I got this year from my little sister. She knows I am struggling with making ends meet and that I might have to sell my house in order for me to keep my sanity, but my house needs a little work. So she and my brother-in-law gave me a "Worker Bee" certificate! What is a Worker Bee certificate you ask?? It's a promose that they will both come down and help me out on any major house project (inside or outside) and all I would need to do is give them about a month's heads-up so they can take off work, and feed them while they are here! I was so touched! I just might be putting in that new kitchen after all! I just need to find myself a money tree to pay for the cabinets! *laugh*



Lastly, I received some great knitting books off my wishlist! I will certainly have no problem using up my stash in 2008 with these great books keeping me busy!!



Now, I don't know about your family, but it seems that there is always someone in my family that just gets so excited about their gifts they just simply cannot wait to use them or try them on. Normally, that someone is usually one of my nieces, because lets face it, kids just can't wait. Well, this year was no different.

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The biggest kid in the family! See the black and red jogging top. Understand why he now wants a black and red Fisherman's Watchcap *laugh*

Poster person for "What Not to Wear!"



This is was we all wanted to do by the end of the night....



When I came home and shared all my Christams goodies with Frisco, he apparently objected to the knitting books. I think he fears that I will spend more time with yarn then with him *giggle*