December 31, 2006

Happy New Years

How to be popular: Take one Gram, add one baby ..... and suddenly EVERYONE wants to be close to you. LOL. Wishing everyone a healthy, happy new year filled with wonderful projects.

Advice for a great 2007

N's advice for a happy new year: Never pass up the opportunity to eat chocolate cake.
W's advice: Forks are for whimps! When you see something you want grab it with both hands and dive right in.
And little Miss A says: Cuddling a baby is good for your soul. The risk of drool and split is worth it!

December 28, 2006

After 16 yrs of working for my company .....

Red scarf #2. Same yarn as the first one and yes another crappy picture of it. I like this one a lot. Next one is already on the needles. It's a split rib pattern with a really deep red yarn.

I just wanted to share my holiday package from work with you. I've worked for this company for 16 yrs and honestly they don't owe me anything but a paycheck. But when you get something like this in the mail you just begin to wonder why they'd waste money shipping this to everyone in the department. 2 pads of paper, 3 steno pads, a box of pencils, a box of pens (not a single one wrote because they were old and dried out so tossed in the garbage), cheap old chocolate (that was tossed in the garbage), a broken lolly pop (tossed with the pens and chocolate, chapstick with the company logo on it, a brush for dusting my computer keyboard (like I dust? That would take time away from my knitting!) with the company logo on it, a snowman toy, and a calendar.

I feel like Charlie Brown trick or treating ...... I got a rock.

December 27, 2006

Things you'll never hear a grown up say.

Hey, why don't you take a picture of my butt? Here it is! Gotta love 3 yr olds.

First red scarf is done. It's made out of Caron acrylic. The color is actually a deeper red/maroon. I usually don't use Caron but they asked for washable and I know this can be washed. Started another one yesterday afternoon and it's about 28" along already. LOVE scarf knitting.

Gotta love blog contests

I'm sure the mailman was happy to deliver something that he could just leave in the mail box instead of having to walk up to the door ..... yes I did quite a bit of shopping on line this holiday season.
It's an awful day today for picture taking but I wanted to get these up today. Don't you love this beautiful yarn? It's for admitting that I have a neon pink poncho started and never finished in my closet. It's embarrasing but hey it snagged this yarn from Lorinda.
I also got these wonderful stitch markers and row counter from Christy for captioning a picture of her cat. Very pretty stitch markers, terrible pic due to yucky day.

December 24, 2006

T'was the day before Christmas .....

Random stuff since I've got nothing worth showing:

1. Today is Christmas eve and it's about 50 degrees here in Connecticut. No snow so far this season and very little really cold weather. LOVE IT!!! Don't you just wonder why someone who hates cold and snow lives in New England? No earthquakes, few hurricanes and tornadoes, and there's no wild fire season.

2. I was at Costco yesterday which was as crowded as I expected. I did my shopping and got in line. Knowing that I was going to be waiting I had brought along a sock to work on so I happily knit while waiting. For the first time in my recent memory no one started a conversation about my knitting while I kip.

3. Today D2 turns 22 yrs old. Her due date was December 10th but she waiting until 2 minutes before midnight on 12/24 to make her entrance into the world. I was so upset about missing Christmas with my 2 yr old daughter that I talked my way out of the hospital before noon the next day and spent Christmas with my family.

4. People seem to be taking long lines in stride. I've been out shopping a couple times and while everyone talks about people being impatient I haven't seen a single person who actually is. If you smile at the cashiers they smile back.

5. The woman in front of me at Costco forgot something and was trying to get her cart out of the line. I told her to leave it and I'd move her forward when the line moved. By the time she got back we had moved one cart space. That was my good deed for the day.

6. I went shopping for my grandkids and when I was figuring out who gets what I found that I had the exact same number of gifts for each child. Amazing!

7. I have 16 people coming for dinner tomorrow. Because the weather has been so warm I couldn't make anything ahead of time and stash it in my garage (referred to in years past as the other fridge). So I'll be doing all the cooking tomorrow which may make me grumpy.

8. I've been drinking the flavored coffees from my exchange partner Maria so grumpy doesn't last long ....... uuuuummmmmmm chocolate flavored coffee.

Sending you all wishes for a wonderful holiday season. Happy knitting to all

December 21, 2006

Something for me!

In progress with afterthought heels. Never did afterthought heels before and I have to say they were really easy.
Felted and right on the feet while still damp.

Finally a little something for me. I had a pair of
these made by an exchange pal last year. I loved them so much that I wore them out. Someone posted in a link in a group for felted slippers and I decided to make them for me, me, me. The colors in the felted picture are correct. I LOVE THEM!!!! Why bright pink? So my daughters won't "borrow" them.

December 20, 2006

What's you Grinch name?

Don't know? You can find out here.

Mine is Woefulwhiner Fussypoop ....... somehow that seems fitting.

December 18, 2006

Holiday greetings

How about a nice greeting card shared by Lynn? Very pretty.

December 17, 2006

Christmas exchange pics

I had the honor of being selected as Maria's exchange partner for the Christmas exchange in one of my groups . It a really nice, well run group which I really enjoy. Maria claims to be a new knitter but you'd never guess from the outstanding job she did with cotton. Cotton who is unforgiving when you mess up on your tension just a smidge? Above is a bib she did for my granddaughter along with some coffee for my upcoming coffee drinking delights.

And although I've been having trouble with pics this week (which is why there haven't been any postings) you can see the 4 holiday cloths she made. The white and green both have the same tree pattern knit into them and the red is a different tree. The multi colored one is a beautiful pattern. All the non-knitters in my household have commented on how cute they are. I have to agree.

Thanks Maria!

December 11, 2006

Back to work Monday

Gotta say I was looking forward to going back to work today. I spent all last week running around and my sprained/broken ankle is paying the price. Oh well, gotta heal sooner or later right?

A rare picture of the 3 cats in one location. Sine they all hate each other they usually don't hang around anywhere near each other. Oscar aka Evil one claimed the most comfortable chair. Joey was left with the blue one which is not nearly as comfortable however a child was just sitting there so it was warm. And Charlie of course just can't stand to be left out of anything so he had to wander over and take a couple swats at Oscar and Joey. He's such a little brat!
This raffle winning package came in the mail Friday from Jen .
It's hand spun yarn which will be something I have never used before. I hope I hate it because I don't need another obsession ..... like spinning. I tell myself at least once a week that I will not think about learning to spin.

More christmas knitting done. These are socks for D1. Yarn is Opal Prism in purple. Love how these came out. Another pair in Opal dreamcatcher almost done for my sil. I hope to finish those tonight.

December 08, 2006

Ladybug sighting ....


I never make socks to match but these just seemed to work out that way by themselves. The yarn is Opal Ladybug.

Opal yarn is my fav to use for gift socks. Love the colors and it's ability to go from washer to dryer to foot looking great.

LYS yarn



Pics of my LYS purchase

December 07, 2006

Trip to the local yarn store

I just got back from an appointment with the dentist and since I was so close I stopped in at a lys that I had heard about. Very easy to get to, great parking right in the back, nice looking store.

I went inside and the amount of different yarns was overwhelming. OK, take it room by room. Well lots of fuzzy, furry, ribbon, trendy crap yarn that's all the rage but I don't use. No problem. There's got to be some nice wool around here somewhere. Poke into another room. Table filled with people (knitting class?) and not a single, "Hi. Did you need help with anything?"

Hummmmm, into another room. Sock yarn! My favorite! Not many colors or brands to choose from. Pick up 2 prices are about what I'd pay in other lys. Into another room and jackpot! Wool for felting! Great if you only need 2 of any dye lot or just single skeins. Lots of yarn but all different dye lots so I have to locate the tags and check each skein. Picked up 4 skeins of Cascade 220.

Go to check out and there's already someone ahead of me. Wait for 5 minutes while they chat and chat and chat. My turn. Write up my order while talking to someone else on the phone, take my money, give change and not even a "thanks" or "hope you come back again."

So much for "that personal touch that you can only get at a LYS. Think I'm better off shopping on line where I don't expect any help at all, get cheaper prices on exactly what I want, and don't have to pay state tax on anything. Pics of my purchase when D3 brings my camera back from school.

December 04, 2006

Unique tree decorations .....

Some people use garland, others strings of popcorn ..... me I'll settle for a blocked tilly shawl. Blocked a little longer than I would have liked but very nice. Should be out in the mail shortly.
I finished socks for my son in law last night. Size 12 made from Opal croc .... dinosaur added to picture so you can see how big these are lol.
Charlie says, "Well no Diane, I haven't been racing around the house picking on Joey and Oscar. See I'm right here on the circular stairs looking cute."
Finished the orange gold fingerless mitts last night too. Now I'm thinking that the split rib scarf that I thought looked too manly would really go well with these. But we'll see how I feel about that tonight when I pick up my knitting.
This is the top of tilly with the knit I cord. I love it.

November 29, 2006

The orange/gold scarf is no more ....

Been working on some socks for my son in law. These are opal croc which is a dream to knit with.
And ummmmmm sorry to say I just couldn't get into the opal scarf. I kept waiting for the yarn to "tell me" what it wanted to be. Finally it spoke up yesterday and decided to be mitts and maybe a hat.
Opal prism in purple for D1 for Christmas.
W and N were over the other day watching a DVD when a song came on so they decided to dance. Don't you love it when it's suddenly dancing time? We adults should have more dancing time to break up our day.

November 23, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving

I know I said that Tilly was finished but I had a change of heart. The top edge was curling like crazy which bugged me. So I decided to do an I cord edge. Of course I had no clue on how to actually do an I cord edge so I did a google search and found this. Boy so much easier than I thought it would be. This is take 2 on the orange/gold scarf. I decided to do a feathers and fans on size 6 needles. Looks much better than the last attempt with this yarn. And I've been working on this Christmas present. I made a set for a secret pal and my mom loved the look so I'm using the other half of the yarn for a set for her. It's hand dyed off ebay but I can't remember the seller info right now.
Every year on the day after thanksgiving I hit the store with my oldest daughter. This year I'm going to have to pass. Wednesday I was carrying W to the car, stepped on a larger piece of rock in the gravel driveway, the rock rolled out from under my foot and we ended up on the ground. Thankfully W was scared but fine. Me? Sprained left ankle and a skinned right knee. DAMN GRAVEL DRIVEWAY!!! So I think I'll stay home with my foot up and knit.

November 21, 2006

Off to the frog pond ....

Ok, think this one is heading toward frogging. I wanted something warm and soft but this is looking a little too "manly" for a woman's scarf to me. The colors are much nicer in person than in the pic but why take a perfect picture of something I'm going to take apart? Any ideas on a scarf pattern for dk weight yarn?
And here we have Tilly's Shawl. Finished knitting it last night. Just need to hide the ends and block it. It looks wonderful and by the end I didn't even need a lifeline. How brave huh? I'll get a better pic after it's blocked. I've got some must do knitting up next but think there will be another shawl shortly.

November 19, 2006

My swap assistant


Friday evening I watched the 3 little ones while their mom and dad took in a movie. They stopped by to pick up A but W and N spent the night. Saturday morning mom stopped by to pick up W for his swimming lessons but N and I decided to go on an adventure ..... just the two of us.

First we went to a local holiday fair. N picked up a few plastic canvas bear magnets for his fridge. We did a little visiting, he did a little flirting with a couple old ladies, and a good time was had by all.

Next we walked over to the grocery store to get some milk. Since N is only 2 and gets easily distracted this took a while. Luck would have it that Grams have all the time in the world. We're never in a rush when it comes to spending time with little ones. It's funny how when our own children are little we are so focused on getting through everything that we rarely take time to enjoy the journey. I think grandchildren are God's way of letting us have that second chance to see the world a different way.

After that we hopped by in the car to drive across town to a local coffee roaster to pick up some coffee for my exchange buddy. Sending coffee to someone in South Africa (a country with outstanding coffee) is a little like sending wool to someone in Peru but I decided that a little New England type coffee would help show Ruth a picture of my part of the world.

After we came home with our purchases N proceeded to assist me in picking out some yarn for my swap package. I must say he has wonderful taste in yarn. His reward for being a great assistant was cookies, milk, and a Thomas the Tank Engine DVD. My reward? Spending time with the little man.

November 16, 2006

And the winner was .......

Oscar, the gray cat on the table. Charlie may be bigger and stronger but Oscar is just too damn mean!

I should explain that Charlie just sits where Oscar is just to annoy her. And Oscar is so disagreeable with everyone and everything that she just can't not pay attention to him. She'll sit there hissing while Charlie looks around at everything except her.

Finally it just gets too much for Oscar and she'll fly off the table, chair, couch, stairs, etc and attack Charlies. Fur will fly (always Charlie's) and she'll walk away the winner. And it happens over and over again. Why? Good question. We just don't know.

The battlefield on my front porch

November 13, 2006

Coffee swap questions

1. Whole bean or ground?
Ground because I basically too lazy to grind beans in the morning.

2. Fully-loaded or decaf?
fully-loaded

3. Regular or flavored?
I usually combine half regular and half french vanilla or hazelnut.

4. How do you drink your coffee?
Just a little milk please.

5. Favorite coffee ever?
I live in the land of Dunkin Donuts so that's what I usually drink but I make mine at home (One of the perks to working at home is you never have to go out for coffee).

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do?
Nope not fussy at all.

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee?
Not a big treat person but every once in a while a nice coffee cake hits the spot.

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences?
nothing that comes to mind

9. What treats do you enjoy with your coffee?
A little knitting and tv watching but more often then not my "treat" is working on the computer.

10. Yarn/fiber you love?
I love wool and alpaca. I don't use much acrylic and really haven't knit much with cotton.

11. Yarn/fiber you hate?
Fun fur anything.

12. What’s on your needles?
Currently 3 pr of socks in various states of completion, 1 shawl, and one hat.

13. Favorite colors?
Blues and purples

14. Allergies?
Hayfever so please don't send any goldenrod. I'm also allergic to cats which is hysterical since I have 3 of them.

15. Anything you really love, really don’t like, or just need to get off your chest?
No, I'm not being a whiner tonight.

I can only count up to 6 .....

I was working on Tilly most of the weekend. Between stitches markers, life lines, and the never ending counting I think I've got this lace thing figured out. Of course the down side is that since there are 6 stitches in each repeat I no longer have the ability to count past 6. On a positive note I don't feel the urge to burst into tears every time I think I've made a mistake. Now that is progress for sure. For those who need to know the yarn is shadows from knitpicks and the needles are the new knitpicks option needles. I have to say I love the cables on these needles. Think my Boyd needlemaster may end up on ebay shortly.
And this little lady bug was enjoying a sunny spot on my window sill Saturday morning when I can down to make some coffee. Making good use of W's bunny bubbles.

Sunday was rain, rain, and more rain so hubby and I decided to do some mall walking. We were walking by the toystore and heard a teen say, "Yo, look at the yo-yo. Yo" Too many yo's in one sentence so I started laughing. Yo, I'm still giggling over it.

November 10, 2006

What did I ever do before he came along?

When W was a little guy he always use to bring over a set a make believe keys to help "drive the car." If he forgot them when he got in the car to go home I'd have to run back up to the house to get them or he'd cry. Now of course he's almost 4 so he's a little more grown up. (old pic but one of my favs)
Yesterday he was over and brought a set of keys in with him. I was speaking with W this morning and said, "You know babe, you left your keys over here yesterday. I was wondering how you got home without them." I hear this sigh on the other end of the phone ... almost like geeze do I have to explain everything to this woman .... and he says, "You know Gram, those aren't real keys. They are just make believe so babies can play with them. They don't actually make the car work. You should know this stuff."

November 08, 2006

On the needles and off the trees

3 out of 4 of my kids are currently at NVCC studying various stuff. The college is having their annual hat/scarf/glove/mitten drive so D3 asked me to make something to donate.
And I've been working along on the shawl. Only one really bad boo boo that I didn't see until I was about 3 repeats away from it. I took another piece of yarn and fixed it instead of ripping back. My bad but you can't really tell.
And finally a shot of a tree in the back yard that was bright red a couple weeks ago.

November 07, 2006

Harry Potter quiz

We were watching Harry Potter this past weekend and I thought I'd share this quiz with you.

The sorting hat says that I belong in Gryffindor!
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those with brave deeds to their name."Students of Gryffindor are typically brave, daring, and chivalrous. Famous members include Harry, Ron, Hermione, Albus Dumbledore (head of Hogwarts), and Minerva McGonagall (head of Gryffindor).

November 03, 2006

Tons of pictures

Well posting pictures when I should be working. Please don't tell my boss. Halloween was fun. This little dinosaur showed up on my doorstep wanting candy and kisses.
He brought along his sleeping sister dressed as a wormy apple. Hummmm is she wearing an apple hat? Wonder where that came from.
This is her awake and out of her wormy apple outfit. If you're wondering yes I woke her up just so I could snuggle her for a while. I make no excuses for this action. I know you should let sleeping babies get their sleep but yes I woke her up and I'll do it again in a heartbeat.
And last was this dinosaur who really was tired by the time he hit my house so he decided to just sit in the entryway and eat candy. Hey I'd do that all day every day if I could.
And there's been knitting going on around here like crazy. I finished 5 pr of socks for the grandsons but since I've posted pics before and they are all the same yarn and pattern I will not bore you with them. I did some baby washclothes for a virtual baby shower. Can you ever have enough washclothes with babies in the house? Sadly, Kristi and Noel lost one of the triplets so we're knitting for 2 little ones now. Send some good thoughts and wishes their way.
Finished a pair of socks for a secret pal. Opal Uni in a waffle pattern. Thinking of making a pair for myself maybe next year when I get a chance.
And some more fruit hats for Kristi's twins when they reach about 2 yr olds. Honestly they are the last fruit hats of the year .... unless someone else just needs to have one for their kid.
If you are wondering why I have so much stinking red superwash colorado vail yarn it's because I was at Webs last year ..... enough said to those who have been to Webs. If you haven't let me tell you it's the meca of yarn and all things fiber. Worth a trip no matter where you live.

And my last thought is this: they set up a do not call list. If you don't want calls at your house selling you stuff you put yourself on the do not call list. Great no annoying calls ...... except during election time. Why? Because the politicians decided that they should be exempt from the do not call list. You can get all the political calls and polling question calls they want to make.

Being an independent in a state with some very tight political races I can tell you that I get up to 3 calls a day from those prerecorded things. They don't make it past the first sentence before I hang up but really HOW FRIGGIN' ANNOYING!! I'm not voting for a couple people just because they pissed me off!!! Can't wait til next Wednesday just so it'll be over with.