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whine with no cheese ahead

It’s my blog, so you are gonna have to listen to me whine…

I CAN’T BELIEVE I MISSED IT!

I have been waiting for this since it was on last August! I went to check on it last night, and I had missed it by 17 hours! Arugh!

Then blogger was down so I couldn’t even complain last night…

(I have a friend who growls when she is mad or frustrated. This is one of those things that makes you want to growl, doesn’t it?)

I guess I’m going to have to keep a much closer eye open for the next one…

(If you stuck around this long thank you for sharing my pain, as a reward you can have a picture of my finished sock, which I still can’t decide if it's for me or my mother, but that is another issue for another day…)

pictures...

Two titbits in a tree…



One finished sock…



A clue to mystery project #2…



Ok, now, before I go (I know this is a quick one today) aren’t these the coolest?

Well, last night contained big adventures. I attended my first Gilli-hook meeting(sorry I couldn’t find a link). It is the local knitting guild. I loved it! I have signed up for the next year. Although I was defiantly in the low age brocket, everyone was very friendly and welcoming. I even saw a couple faces I recognized. I am already thinking of going on a retreat to Canmore the end of March. I think there are about 100 members. They have their own library. The have work shops, and knitting days throughout the year. Some yarn stores allow you a discount with your membership card. I think this is going to be good for me. I hope once a month is enough :-)

As you can see I have been doing a bit of knitting too. Why yes, that is the beginning of a jaywalker sock,(No comment on starting new projects…) my purple sock is coming along, I’m almost done the gusset. That was my other surprise this week, is my swizzle sock yarn arrived. It took a while, but was well worth the wait. It is beautiful colors and texture, and I think it will knit up beautifully. It is soft. I like the idea of one stripe of a different color every once in a while. Now to decide what to make with it.



I have decided that I don’t do enough for charity, and that I am interested in doing more knitting to that end. I think that is another reason the guild will be so good, as they have a few different charities they support. I have thought about knitting for charity before, but I guess it was too much work to figure out who needs what and pursue it, I guess. My goal is to do one little charity project (i.e., mitts, hat, baby booties) per month. That will still leave me plenty of time for bigger projects for friends and family, but will make me feel… I don’t know. Maybe, like I’m making a contribution? I think this will be a good way to proceed.

Knitted bliss…

This weekend hubby had school on Friday and Saturday. That means I spent all day on Saturday watching Pride and Prejudice and knitting. (Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Colin Firth?)

Needless to say, I got quite a bit done.



I don’t know how well it pictured, but the pink thing is my first Titbit, it’s not quite done. I need to find something to weight it, stuff it better, find the perfect button, seam it up and block it. But it’s pretty darn close, and I thought it good enough for a pick. I recommend you try it. I like the pattern, it was easy to remember, and knit up nicely. My excuse was, I had no one to knit for, but now it’s not an issue.

I finished my first pair of socks from my new sock of the month club. This was a pattern I thought might be a little complicated, as it used 3 different size DPNS, but it wasn’t, and I really like the effect of the 2 yarns.

Don’t know if you saw my purple sock the other day, but it has since been frogged. I decided to go with a simple gold stripe, and that will hopefully be a manageable tension for me. We will see. I will keep you posted. That is one I am also enjoying, and it is soft, and a thicker wool, so it knits up fast.

If you can see the green thing in the back ground, it is the lap blanket from the class I took a year ago. I had the squares done in September, but with my MIL’s visit, the funerals, and Christmas, it never got any further. This weekend I had time to spread it out and work on it. I got the stripes sewn to each together, but the rows haven’t been put together yet. It’s coming along though. All that is left is sew the rows, do the edging, and the decoration. Pictures soon Peggy!

DH and I had a date night last night. This isn’t something we do often, because, well, I guess we are just lazy. We can never think of anywhere to go. We never bother to go to a movie, because we always watch movies at home, so why leave? We thought about going to the zoo, but I’m glad we decided against that, as there was quiet a bit of snow when we woke up this morning. What we did is we went to Moxies for supper, and then walk back down the mall, and spent sometime drinking coffee and looking at books at chapters. It was a good evening out, and after not seeing each other for 2 days, we had things to talk about, and really enjoyed each others company.

DH starts his new job tomorrow, so we are super excited about that. I think it will be more work and longer days, but I think it will be good for him, if a little bit of an adjustment around here. I was really enjoying having him home with me at 4:00. I think I’m gonna miss him for a while, but I could use a little longer work day too, so it will probably be good all around.

I have been offered another job, one day a week, but I’m thinking on whether or not I want to pursue it. It is similar to what I do on my other job, one evening a week, with a special needs boy, but this time it would be 2 girls that are a little older, in the day time, and out of the home. I’ll keep you all up to date with what I decide.

Here is a picture of Cooper with his winter coat. I think he is cute all shaggy…

Love and Happiness

christmas pressies...

Hey, here is a Christmas update like I promised. I got some of cash for Christmas, so what did I spend it on? Knitting stuff of course. Unfortunately, I bought stuff from a lot of different places, so here is the first package that arrived.



I got a set of sock blockers (to the complete and total confusion of my husband). In Not Just Socks, I have already found about 3 patterns I’m ready to try. Now I just have to finish a pair of socks so I have needles the right size to cast on with. The last is The Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Patterns by Ann Budd. I am already in love with this book. It has patterns for any sweater imaginable, from child to large adult. All you do is pick your size, style and gauge and find the number on the grid. It is loads of fun, has clear instructions and is not hard to follow at all. I have already cast on a mini-sweater with drop shoulders. I would have taken pictures, but right now it’s just a rectangle, and not all that exciting yet. It will be though, and pictures will come. I think I will have to check out the other book by this author, similar concept, but with accessories.

What? I wasn’t supposed to cast anything new on? Surely that doesn’t apply to Christmas presents… especially when you are using stash…

Sock Day!

I have officially decided that today will be sock day, complete with sock updates.

I know that I said I was gonna work on “the list”, but I couldn’t resist. It was taunting me. It was so soft. Just a few rows. Yeah right. The next thing I knew I was on done the cuff.*



It’s pretty isn’t it? If you know me, you know I have… um… issues with purple. But it was so soft, and worked up so nicely, that I kept going. The one problem would be my tension. I have never been able to get the whole tension issue together when working with more then one color. Maybe I need to take a class, or practice more or something. The thing with that is that I understand the concept, I just can’t make my hands do it. As pretty as it was, it wouldn’t fit further then half way up my foot. I don’t know any girls between the ages of 2 and 20 that they might fit, so I don’t see proceeding. I could rip them back and try and put a small gold pattern in them, or just make ankles with the purple. Not a fan of the colour, but like the weight and the softness. It’s cascade 220 wool. Thought about trying to dye it, but it’s such a dark purple, would it really be worth it. I’m trying to decide if I can live with it, or if the finished socks should go to someone else. I guess I have decided not to decide, and wait a while for inspiration.

My green sock of the month socks are coming nicely. Almost done the gusset. At least it is something easy to work on, while I wait… (No, I’m not mentioning the BW again ;>)*



Toe up socks… well, they haven’t been touched still, but I do like to just look at them every once in a while, and I will finish. They did need an update picture and a mention as they ARE socks.*



Now that that is out of the way, on to the news. Life around here has been busy. The Christmas rush is over, but hubby has decided to switch jobs. He was happy enough with the job he had, but then his dream job came up, and they were REALLY interested in having him work there, so he couldn’t refuse. They are paying more of his education, and a higher salary as well as benefits right away, so he is excited. I hate this period of uncertainty that comes with major life change, but he is really happy, and it’s not as bad as last time.

Hubby and I have kind of kept to ourselves since Christmas, recovering I guess. Mainly movies nights and taking the decorations down, and just enjoy being with each other doing dumb things like reading side by side or playing bored games, and cleaning things out for the New Year. My mom always says she thinks I am Scottish, because I do my spring cleaning at this time.

Have you read the Jasper Fford books? They are very funny. I don’t know how I would describe them. Not really mysteries. Science fantasy? With lots of humor twisted in. The main character in a law enforcement officer named Thursday who works and sometimes lives INSIDE books. She encounters people/characters such as Hamlet, Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, Mrs, Habersham, and the Cheshire cat. If you like to read, it is defiantly worth checking out. I would suggest you start with The Eyre Affair, or it can be a little confusing. I finished Something Rotten this weekend.

I got installment one of the belated Christmas presents today, but you will have to wait until tomorrow for pictures. :D Night all!

* Sorry about the pictures of my scratched coffee table in the background. Who knew the new camera was THAT good?

starting year with UFO's

It seems that I have gotten myself a pile of projects that need to be worked on/finished/frogged. No necessarily a bad place to be as far as interest and variety go, but I’m starting to feel guilt, so that is not the best…

So here is my list to be seriously worked on (now I have to add that some will not be finished until I receive my ball winder (BW) belated Christmas gift. I refuse to wind skeins by hand when I have a perfectly good ball winder on the way…)

1) Clapotis- I’m on the decrease section, but this has stalled, until BW arrives.
2) Blanket from class taken a year ago- I don’t know why this has stalled, except maybe for lack of space. When all the Christmas decorations get put away, it should get kick-started again. All it needs is to be sewn together and finished.
3) Picovoli- almost to the point where I separate sleeve stitches from body stitches.
4) Mystery project- started last week and almost 10 percent done. This one has a time limit, but not for a while. Maybe land up frogging for idea 2, but we’ll see.
5) Toe up sock- haven’t worked on since before Christmas, have been distracted by multiple other socks.
6) Green double thread sock-of-the-month- I am on the heal flap of the second. Ideally would be finished this weekend. (Which is good, because I have received my next sock-of-the-month kit. Christmas and sickness put me a little behind.)
7) Titbit for ReThinking TitBits - stalled for lack of BW, like to have it done by end of January if possible.
8) I have about 12 other projects lined up that I have yarn and patterns for, but am trying to keep myself from starting until I either finish some of these, or get my new toy, and can’t restrain myself any longer ;)

I’m sure there is more that I am missing, but that is all that comes to mind. If anything else rears its head, I’ll add it. Have a great weekend; you know what I’ll be doing. Knitting, cleaning after Christmas, and watching movies! wish me luck on making a dent.

Careful, my geek-ish-ness is showing!

I am such a geek. Last night DH and I were watching the Canadian Food Channel. They were doing a make over on a business. They go in and do the whole thing, decorate the front, redo the menu and teach the cook how to cook the new foods, and redo the kitchen. It’s kind of like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition but for restaurants. In fact, I think its called restaurant make over.
Ok, all of this does have a point, stay with me. We are near the end of the program, where they bring the owner back in, and she brought her son and a bunch of friends to try the new food. And for just a second in the back ground I saw her!
I poke DH with my knitting needle and said, “Did you see who that was?!?!”
He said “Who?”
I said, “Come on! You should recognize her; you sat about 10 feet away for her for 2 hours.”
Then she was on the screen again for about 2 seconds.
DH sat up and said, “It’s The Yarn Harlot! ”
I had to confirm to myself that I wasn’t crazy, so I went and checked out her blog. I remember seeing a little boy a couple of months ago. Hubby and I agree, it’s the same little boy, his name was there and everything.
I don’t know what is geekier, being so excited to see someone that I feel I know through her blog on TV or having my DH so well trained to the ways of the knitting that he recognizes people like that!
Either way, it was defiantly the highlight of the long weekend.