mid-holiday post...

Sorry I have been a little MIA. Between Christmas and getting a cold, I haven’t been doing much knitting anyway. I did start a Picovoli about this time last week. Here is my progress so far.



Have a happy new year and we’ll see you in 2006!

Finished Socks!

Which is good, because I want t to start the pair I got from the sock of the month club, a cotton tee, and finish my clapotis. (I’ve started the decreases, so it’s just a matter of making myself finish. Problem is that I have to ball one last skein of wool. But I’m hoping to get a ball winder for Christmas, so I’m kinda putting it off)

Any how, I have seen these sock wrap ups around other people’s blogs, and decided that I like the format, so I’m gonna try it:



Pattern: Columbine Peak by Cat Bordhi from Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles.
Needles: 2 24" US 2 (I think) circular needles
Yarn: Opal black and white. I looked for the name, couldn’t see it. Special Technique: is ‘circular needles’ still a technique?Started: really have to start keeping track of these things…
Completed: December 22, 2005 Recipient: Me
Notes: I modified the pattern a little, as they felt loose, and I have big ankles. I did 5 peaks around instead of six, and only 2 repeats on the cuff instead of 4, for a shorter sock. Wore them all last night, and they are uber comfortable. Good TV watching pattern.

Wow! I have done 9 pairs of socks, since I started sock knitting a year ago. One step closer to my goal of only wearing hand made socks! (Insert evil cackle laugh here…)

PS-editing side bar today...

Merry Christmas! Well see you on the flip side! (Where is that from?)

Not too funny looking…

Before…



After…



I think it’s kind of cute really…

busy, busy

I have been staying busy the last couple of days. Thursday, I slacked off work (a little) and made a "scarf in a day". Loosely based on yarn harlot's scarf "pattern". I really like the way it turned out, and it knit up super quick with chunky, and gave me a break from struggling through my second sock… now I just have to decide who is going to get it.



Also on Thursday, I received my Interweave Knits magazine . There are a few things in it I would make. But it’s going to have to wait until the new year I’m afraid.



Friday I got drop-kicked by a migraine and divided my time between the bedroom and the bathroom. I get the kind of migraines that affect your stomach. At least the dog was happy to get a whole cuddle day in bed with me. I was lucky, and this one passed fairly quickly (about 10 hours).

Saturday was spent on errands, baking cookies, and at the in-laws for Christmas Chinese food and a visit. We saw the last 20 minutes of the penguin movie. I would say worth the rent, but sad. I defiantly (finally) see what the hubbub is about.

Realized this morning I never took a picture of nephew's Christmas slippers felted, so here we go...



I like the way they turned out, but I still need to pick some of the extra fuzzy's off.

Today was spent with more baking, more errands, and a movie. We watched Robots and I worked on my sock. I'm up to the gusset. It may be done in time for Christmas. Robots, hubby liked, I'm not sure if it's worth the rental. Tonight, the dog is going in for a partial hair cut. On one hand, it's too cold for the poor guy to be hairless. On the other, he has so much hair right now he can't see. It's growing up and down in front of his eyes. He is going to have his head shaved, and his body left. We are calling it his Christmas Cut. If he looks really goofy, I'll post pictures in the next couple of days...

free yarn and sock progress.

I got free yarn! And just when I gave up hope and forgot about it! Not enough for anything me, but I think it will be ok for a scarf for a little girl if I combine it with something else, or a doll sweater.



Also, slow but surely with Christmas coming, but here is my sock progress. (I am actually one-project-at-a-time girl these days, so this is it I'm afraid.




Have a hot chocolate and take a minute to enjoy the holidays!

christmas and movies

This weekend (past) was packed with fun as well as work. We spent all day Christmas shopping on Saturday, and cooper spent his first day in doggie daycare. Both dog and Lissa survived. We saw family for Sunday dinner and tree decorating. As I was putting the lights on the tree, my mom tried to pull a coffee table out of the way, to allow for more space. She broke 2 of the legs right off, and dumped the ornaments, plants, and everything else that was on it on the floor. We all stopped and looked. My mom started to fake cry, and said "oh, no! I spilled my drink." Now you know a little about where I get my sense of humor. Lol. She followed it up by saying, we were gonna need more room in the living room for Christmas anyway. I am glad that she can always laugh and look on the bright side, and that is a trait that I would like one day.

We also saw 2 rentals this weekend. Mystic River and Garden State. Both get 4 stars on the combines DH and Lissa rating scale. I think I liked Garden State more. They were both weird, in very different ways. Mystic River was almost more of a mystery, but dark. There was an event that happened in the life of 3 friends as children, which followed them into adult hood. It had a "twist" ending, although we found it predictable, and throughout I had the feeling that I had seen something very like it before, either in a movie or book. Don't know what though.

Garden State I would say was closest to a romance/comedy. Hubby liked it, because it had Natalie Portman. I found it an interesting story line, that flowed well, and had a couple moment that made you stop and think. The main character has an eventful life, although almost hard to buy into in this type of movie. Dh said it was written, directed and stared Zach Braff (Scrubs). He compared the movie to "literature". Interesting watch for a Saturday night. Now that I have had a little time to digest it, I think I would like to see it again. Best line: "good luck exploring the great abyss."

You noticed there was no knitting in this blog entry too, eh? Hmm... I guess I'll have to do something about that next time...

gusset

Yes! We have a gusset! This is the furthest I have made it on this sock or this pattern. I think it's gonna be a keeper.

is anyone surprised?

The Traditional Princess

You are generous, graceful, and practical with both
feet planted firmly on the ground. You tend to
be a little on the old-fashioned side. You
value home, hearth, and family life and love to
be of service to others.

Role Models: Snow White, Maid Marian

You are most likely to: Discover a hidden talent
for spinning straw into gold.


What Kind of Princess are You? - Beautiful Artwork (Original Music is BACK!!!)
brought to you by Quizilla

sock clubs, socks and crime

Wow! Time is really starting to get away from me now that Christmas is getting closer. Where did Sunday go? Any way, enough babble and on to the good stuff.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I switched sock of the month clubs. I really liked the one I had, because it uses gorgeous Opal yarn, but I found the patterns didn't work for me. So this new club (links to both on sidebar) uses a variety of yarns, which is kind of appealing because I get to try new things. I like the way this pattern looks, and I'm hoping it works a little better for me. It actually came in a plastic sheet. Also, the yarn came individually wrapped in tissue paper. It also combines 2 colors (and yarns) in a way that I have never thought of doing. I'll let you know how it goes when I start to knit it up.



First I have to finish a couple of pairs, or these socks are just going to get away from me! I have a pair of Wendy's toe ups going (see previous entry) made with scraps of Regia from a pair I make a long time ago, I'm picturing these being anklets, but we'll see how cold I am and how much yarn I have left when I get there!

I also have ripped back my black and white pair of Opals for the third time. As much as I try and trust the pattern, I could not see a pair of socks where I cast on 72 stitches working for me. I know, it probably would have worked out fine, but I'm such a chicken. So now I'm tweaking a version of the columbine peak socks, from Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles by Cat Bordi. I only have 5 of each on the mountains going around, and then I decided I wanted a shorter sock, so only did 2 pattern repeats. Here it is so far, although I have worked my way through the heel flap since this picture was taken. Also I tried to catch the detail, but as we don't have much light these days, this is the best I could get.






I am currently reading Grilling Season by Diane Mott Davidson. It is a cute, light mystery, about the 6th in the series. It's got an amateur detective (who is really a caterer) that fakes her way through these mysteries, to the annoyance of her cop husband. There are recipes scattered throughout the book, and apparently they work, although I have never tired one for myself. This one is interesting because her ex is the suspect in this latest crime, and her son wants her to help clear his name. So far, a good before bed read.

Speaking of which, it's about that time. G'night!

(written on Monday, not posted until Tuesday, couldn't get on blogger)