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.