Happy New Year!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I was going to do a look back at knitting projects and the happenings of 2007 but I ran out of time. I had to do at least one more blog post to close out the year. So I will quickly say that I hope my friends and family have a happy and healthy new year.

CHEERS!!

Tons of Goodies

I must have been a very good girl this year because I got tons of goodies. Friends and family went above and beyond spoiling me for Christmas. I know enough with the chatter....get to the pictures.

I got these goodies from my friend Sam. Because she knows I have mad love for Habu Textiles.....she got me some of their Wool Stainless Steel (yes I did say stainless steel) and a kit to make a Wool Linen jacket. I got an awesome plate with my initial on it....love it!! I currently have it sitting on my nightstand holding some stitch markers for me. I also got some much needed chocolates from the Chocolate Crisis Center. I now have my Daily Dose of chocolate raspberry truffle. MMMmmmmmmm!!! THANKS SAM!!!! XOXOXOXO!!!

I got these goodies from my friend Nachaele. I got some yummy Cascade - Baby Alpaca Chunky yarn and it is to die for. I can't even begin to explain how soft this stuff is. I just want to knit myself a bed out of this stuff and lay on it all day. Yummy!! I also got some cute stitch markers. One is a sheep and the other is an alpaca. I can't wait to use them. Then last but not least I got a little sheep soap. The scent is called Paradise. He smells really good. He is going to be displayed in my yarn room with my other sheep. THANKS NACHAELE!!! XOXOXOX!!!!

My sister Kristin took a wild chance and purchased a knitting book for me. The gods must have been smiling on her that day because it is one of the few I do not own. I had it in my hands at String a little under two months ago. Walked around the store holding it and then at the last minute I put it back. I love this book. THANKS KRISTIN!!! XOXOXOXOX!!!

My Mom got hubby and I a GPS system for the car. I can't wait to try it out. As soon as the man saw what it was he had it out of the box, hooked up to the computer downloading updates and maps, and was beside himself to try it out. It was snowing pretty heavily on Christmas and the roads were super slippery over here so that put any and all attempts at playing with the new toy on hold. He did ask me if I want to go for a drive on Saturday. I know it's not to spend time with me....BUT....so he can try out our new toy. THANKS MOM!!!! XOXOXOXOXO

Last but certainly NOT least.......Santa dropped off some snowshoes for the man and I. Hubby already tried his out around the back yard. I need to get some snow boots before I can use mine. I went shopping for boots on line last night and saw a nice pair I wanted. They were $225.00!!!!! I almost fell off the chair. What the heck!?!? Let's just say....I am still shopping around. THANK YOU SANTA!!! XOXOXOXOX!!!

Three's Company

Come and knock on our door....

I came home from work last Friday to a message from my hubby. The message informed me that if our offer still stands a friend was in need of a place to crash for a bit. I called my husband back and upon him answering the phone I started singing the Three's Company theme song. Our friend it seems traveled back East to visit family for the holidays and when he returned on Friday his life was neatly packed in cardboard boxes waiting by the front door. I now live with two stinky boys. I am not sure what I thought life was going to be like with two boys. My husband is just giddy with the fact that he now has someone to watch man shows with him. Oh and the intense conversations I have witnessed about super chargers and exhaust systems are enough to make me wish for an internal mute button. I was also informed by my husband the other day that our houseguest is NOT my child. I'm not sure why I was told this. I can only assume it is because our houseguest got a lecture the other day about staying out all night long and not calling. Well......I was worried. I caught our houseguest doing dishes last night and made a mental note that if he keeps that up.....he can stay as long as he likes.

So for the moment three is company. I wonder when three will become a crowd?

Merry Christmas!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

World's Largest Knitted Christmas Tree

(I want one!)

Alison Murray's Knitted Christmas Tree was created to raise money for Cancer Research.

Knock Knock....

Who's There?

Charlie!!

Today I heard a knock on the door and when I opened it there was a cute little weiner dog wearing a fleece coat with my friend Nachaele in tow. I wish I had taken a picture of him in his little coat. I didn't think of it until after they left....of course. So I had to steal this picture from Nachaele's blog. He is a very polite house guest and is welcome to drop by anytime.

Holiday Par-Tay!!

Last Sunday several friends gathered for an annual holiday tradition of eating, drinking, laughing, present opening, and knitting. I was so excited to be a part of it this year.

I love this picture of Stacey and her mom Marsha

Stacey was my partner for gift swapping.

**Oh which reminds me......I would like to put dibbs on Stacey for next year!!**

(Sorry people I called it)

Wait until you see what I got.

Stacey must know that I LOVE me some polka dots. I got an awesome green polka dot bucket for storing some knitting items in. Stacey has several of these buckets around her house and they are awesome. I can happily say....I now have my own. So I don't have to try and steal any of hers. It also had a kick ass tag on it. Go look at the pictures again and ooohhh and aaahhhh over it. I would have been happy with a bucket and a kick ass tag but noooooooo!!!......she had to go above and beyond and take it to the next level of hell yeah!! Brace yourself. I am the proud owner of some Socks That Rock. The name of the colorway.......Hard Rock. It is 360 yards of pure awesome!! Two words.....Pink and Black (various shades of). I LOVE THEM. I am also not ashamed to say that I like to come home and cradle the skein like it was my baby and rock it for a bit and coo at it. What!? Too crazy?? Anyhoo......I got a great little pouch made with some very limited edition fabric. I don't even know if that will ever leave the house. The thought of losing it makes me want to cry. I also got some funky wooden skull head stitch markers. I will have to get a better picture of them. They are very cool!!

THANK YOU STACEY!!

Knitting Assassins

If I was a sock knitter I would do this in a heartbeat!!

Sock Wars

Go here and read A Wandering Knitter's blog post about being assassinated. It's very funny!

Hmmmmm....I just might have to start training for this.

Knit the Classics Mitten Swap

Thank You Hope!!

This is a long overdue thank you to my swap partner Hope who sent me the best package ever!! This was a mitten swap from the Knit the Classics group.

So what did I get? Well.......I got the most wonderful coffee. It is Spiced Almond Toffee and it smells heavenly. I haven't had a chance to try it yet but it is sitting right by my coffee maker and will be sampled this weekend. I got too small samples of Woolwash Eucalan and Gloves in a Bottle. They are not pictured because both of those items have been used and are gone. Loved them!! OK now onto the fibery goodness that I received........a skein of Mountain Colors Hand Painted Yarn in the colorway Red Willow. It is too die for!!!! Surprisingly I do not own any of this yarn. I have looked at it several times but never purchased any. So I was super excited when I saw it. Did I mention the color is too die for!?!? The fibery goodness also came with a pattern for Fingerless Lace Mitts by Monica Jines. I can't wait to get started on them.

Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!

The Seven Deadly S(p)ins

Warning: Major Enabling Ahead

Here is a small sampling of what it says on the website........

"A wonderfully intriguing new way to look at Yarn Clubs! Want something different than just the regular sock club shipment every other month? Are you looking to try new and exciting projects in a variety of yarns?"

Well get your ass on over there
and sign up!!

I did.

Click me to go to a sinfully fun yarn club.

Confession

I blew my stash busting commitment right out the window today.

For What?

This.....

and

Scratching your head trying to figure out what the heck that means?

It's just too painful to talk about right now. You will have to check back to see what developes with this story.

As Queen Would Say.....

Another One Bites the Dust!

Cross yet another project off the list of many. The Vintage Velvet is done. I finished it late last night while watching the very last episode of The Sopranos.....don't even get me talking about that. My scarf is still drying so I can't model it for you just yet.

Here is the last look before it goes for a swim.

Here it is drying and looking VERY different.

I like that felting it tightened up all the stitches. What I didn't like was that the cable seems to be lost. It looks like a speed bump. Go back to this post to see the pre-felting pictures.

Super Sweet Feet

TWO WORDS.......

CLEAR CONVERSE

I raced over here and purchased mine.

Go to Crafty Pancakes blog to see some fun pictures of her modeling her shoes.

Sock knitting......bring it on!!!

Vintage Velvet Scarf

Here is another projects from the archives. Yowza!! I don't remember when I started working on this.....but it was quite a while ago. In fact this was the project I learned to cable on. The project is the Vintage Velvet Scarf from the Scarf Style book. The yarn is Muench Touch Me and the color is called Toast. Let me just say.......while I do enjoying touching this yarn. I do NOT like knitting with it. It is very slippery and wormy. Not to mention this stuff sheds like there is no tomorrow. Thirty minutes into this project my poor contacts were screaming, "UNCLE!!"

I decided to frog the scarf since I was not very far into it. I did not like how it looked either. Quite wonky if you ask me. So with the help of my cute little frog friend we got down to business.

"RIP IT RIP IT" croaked the frog.

There is nothing better than knitting in bed.

That dark blob you see there is my scarf back from the dead. I am cranking away on it. It would have been done Sunday but my poor eyes begged for a rest. I am currently on my last ball of Touch Me and hope to call this thing done by Thursday.

I will have to take pictures of it coming out of the washer. Yes, you are supposed to felt this bad boy. Not too much. Just enough to tighten up the stitches. Rumor on the street is that the scarf looks like a wet cat when it comes out of the washer. This should be interesting.

Monkey Farts

Monkey Farts is the name of this yarn for sale by the always awesome

Spunky Eclectic.

I was on my way to clicking the buy button when I remembered.....
I am on a yarn diet.

DARN IT!!!!

I gotta have sock yarn with the name Monkey Farts.

I am going to go pout now.

Bakers Dozen

MMMMMMmmmmmmm...........DONUTS

I couldn't pass up a chance to blog about food. I mean seriously folks! How stinkin' cute are these donuts? Fat free, calorie free, sugar free, and well......taste free. Speaking of free (did you like how I went right into that?) you can get the pattern at Kat Knits blog.

FUG ALERT!

WARNING:

FUGLY CONTENT AHEAD!!

The knitting world is a buzz because of this fugly hat. Knitters are scrambling to try and put a pattern together so they can make this for themselves and their loved ones.


Vik Prjonsdottir is the creative force behind the Beard Cap, a knitted hood with an exaggerated, whisker-shaped face piece (it comes in both "farmer" and "gentleman" styles). Don't have time to knit it? Not a problem. You can purchase this pile of crap for a meer $130.00 to $150.00 yup quite the bargain. If you care to see more fug from the "designer" by all means click here.




I'm sorry. I don't get it. I don't see the draw of the hat. I don't see the humor. Maybe I am just a Grinchy Grinch as the holiday season draws dangerously close.

This was a quote from some boob......"I think it's more fun if girls wear it," said Brynhildur Palsdottir. "It's more contrasting." Does the model above look like she is having fun!? She looks like either she has been kidnapped or will be robbing the neighborhood bank any minute now.

This is fugly people.........FUGLY!!!!

Norovember No More

Well, my intentions were good. I really did think I was going to crank it up a notch and at warp speed knit the Einstein Coat and be sitting here modeling it for you. My friends, there will be no modeling. I don't know if my pattern reading skills are off but this coat has been like solving a mystery. I was clueless on the sizing of the damn thing. My very smart friend Sam had to show me the A,B,C exhibit of the sizing chart. Ah yes, mystery solved and now I can warp speed to the end. NOT!!! I knit the amount of "rows" I was supposed to knit and this bad boy would cover maybe a small portion of my thigh. WTF!?!?! I thought this was supposed to be an oversized coat!? So I brought it with me when I went to the friday night knitting group to do a show and bitch. It is there that another super smart friend of mine.....Stacey.....pointed out that the pattern said.......

WAIT FOR IT..........WAIT FOR IT..........

Ridges NOT rows.

Hi, my name is Kelly and I'm an idiot!!! The coat is knit in garter stitch. So there is quite a difference between 150 rows and 150 RIDGES.

So mystery solved and at some point I will pick this coat up and either run it over with my car or finish it.

Package From Germany

Stephanie, Tausend Dank!

I came home yesterday to the most beautiful site. It was a goodie box from my Mystery Theme Swap partner Stephanie who lives in Germany. The box had been sent out over a month ago and we were worried it went missing. So I was super happy to see it sitting there waiting for me. So the theme Steph chose for me is dragonflies. YAY!!!!

I got three packages of the most delicious looking sweets. Steph told me they are typical German Christmas cookies. Yum, I can't wait to taste them. I got a cute little box that I can keep odds and ends in like clips, stitch markers, etc. I got a small sample of some very nice Fall colored wool. I also got some dragonfly soap. It smells wonderful. It is wrapped in beautiful handmade paper and tied with a raffia ribbon. There are some fun tags that have been stamped with a dragonfly. I received the cutest hand towel (I know some people call them dish cloths) with a dragonfly image that Steph knit out of the softest chocolate brown yarn. I tried and for the life of me could not get a good picture of this. It just showed a very dark square. Steph I need to get that pattern from you!! Jeff was looking at it and he said, "Oh cool it has a dragonfly on it....how did she do that!?" LOL! OK I have been saving the best for last. Deep breath......I got a pattern to make some dragonfly socks with some wonderful yarn that Steph dyed herself. It reminds me of a tropical fruity drink. It is awesome!!

My Very First.......

Vera Bradley Purchase

The fabric/color on this bag is one of the ones that is being retired. It is called Medallion. So if you are thinking that you might have to own one of these you need to race your butt on over to my girl Vera's website. While I usually go for large bags for my knitting, this bag should be able to hold a project and a few odds and ends quite nicely. I don't think this will be my last Vera purchase.

The bags I got are the Villager (the large bag) and a Small cosmetic case.