I have been quite absent.

I know I have been gone for a very long time. I have been knitting but it is Christmas knitting and I am not going to finish on time this year but the person receiving the final gift with be understanding that they will unwrap an unfinished project because they are cool and flexible. I cannot post any pictures of these projects for fear of ruining the surprise.

I have been reading a lot lately. When my hands ache I chill out and either bake or read. I made AWESOME vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting today. I got the recipe from More From Magnolia and they are really good. Even though they were made from scratch they were still very easy.

Back to reading. I finished reading The Masque of the Black Tulip which is book #2 is a series and I enjoyed it as much as the first one. Can't wait to read the second. one. I have also finished the first three books in the Uglies series, I really like teen books. They're easy to read but I enjoy them. Speaking of good teen books, everyone should read the Twilight series. Some co-workers talked me into reading them and I went through all three of them in a matter of about a month and a half. They are that good. I love vampires too. Right now I'm occupied with Julie and Julia, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and Shattered Dreams. The first two are funny, the second one is really quite sad. Well it's one am so I should get some sleep.


P.S. I know most people link to amazon.com but I work for B&N. Plus some of those books are on bargain.

sooo.....

I finally got an invitation to join Ravelry which is quite exciting. Ravelry is for knitters and crocheters alike and is quite addicting once you start browsing it. I have yet to create my notebook and fill it with beautiful pictures of things I have made and are making but that will come as soon as I get a moment to sit down and start working on it. Hopefully on Tuesday. The delay in a posting is due to the fact that I have been far too busy to write. A friend came to visit last week so I spent as much time as possible with them thus taking away blogging time.

Till Tuesday then.

After...

The euphoric feeling right after you get a hair cut is gone. This doesn't mean I no longer like my hair cut. Just the opposite. I still love my new style however I'm past the "feeling on top of the world" deal. Right now I'm just chilling out and waiting for the new Harmony sock needle set to be released. I saw the metal ones Knit Picks came out with and I fell in love with them but decided to hold off on buying them for some reason. I am really glad I decided to wait. I want the wood ones now. They are just so very pretty.

I have great plans for these needles. Great plans indeed. I plan to knit two very special pairs of socks with these needles. Monkey and Pomatomus. Those are some cool looking socks. And I bet they are a blast to knit. I am looking for the right yarn to makes these with.

Guess what I did......

Life is Wonderful

While Wednesday brought me a chance to meet someone I admire. Thursday brought me yarn. From the outside of the box it doesn't look like anything exciting. However open it up take out the contents....

8 skeins of Baby Alpaca/Silk/Merino for gifts. I couldn't help myself I had to get started.

Bulky wool for a felted gift.

And lace. Merino lace for another gift. In a way the contents of this box are kind of exciting. But not near as exciting since I am really itching to order me a Bohus sweater kit. I'm saving up for that. That will be an after Christmas expense.

While I was enjoying my new yarn I all of the sudden came across a small problem. There is no room for the new yarn in my yarn bag (the one that sits in my room. The rest of the yarn is in my attic and bonus room). I simply have too much in there.




Soooooo. I laid it all out on the bed. I realized that I have to decide what I can keep, and What must be put somewhere else.
Here's a better view.


That would be a lot of yarn. And I know I know. I can't knit it all at once, but that's why yarn stashes exist. Because knitters CANNOT let go of their yarn. Especially not wool. The yarn was divided up into two groups.

Yarn that is for projects for Christmas. This yarn went into the blue yarn bag. This yarn will be given my full attention until after the holidays when hopefully everything I set out to make this year was indeed knit and given to their intended recipient.

And of course yarn that I have no intention of getting rid of but cannot pay attention to now. That yarn went into the box the new yarn came in and has been placed in my closet to avoid distraction. The box is closed. So I don't have to look at it and long after it. I am now officially on a yarn diet. No more new yarn until I have completed my Christmas knitting. Basically that comes down to NO MORE NEW YARN TILL JANUARY. Maybe. If I get enough money saved for the sweater kit I want from Sweden and it's still December. I'm buying it. BUT NOT TILL DECEMBER!


..... maybe......

Yarn Harlot/Talk Like a Pirate Day

Yesterday was National Talk Like a Pirate Day. It was also the day that the Yarn Harlot came to visit Atlanta. The event was spectacular. We had so much fun. First I drove out to the CFA Corporate office. I ate lunch with my mom and then I hung out there while she finished up her work and then we drove out to Atlanta together. We got there around 3:20 and went shopping at Knitch. Knitch is a yarn shop I've never been to before. It's very cute. It even has a felting and yarn dying station. It was very crowded since a bunch of people were there for the event. My mother bought me this car magnet. Awesome.

While we were walking through the theatre to the event we saw this sign.

Once in the theatre we all sat down to take part in Georgia's Biggest Knit-In. This is me participating. Knitting on the Adamas Shawl (the link to it has disappeared).

And guess who learned how to knit while attending the Knit-In. My darling Mother. She attended the event with me all the while thinking she was just going to read until the Yarn Harlot took the stage. Finally she couldn't resist. She just had to join in. Thank goodness I had brought a pair of needles and yarn just in case. All she's doing is learning the knit stitch. Practicing it and practicing how to keep the stitches on the needle. She did very well and I have a feeling she'll be making socks and sweaters before we know it.

A blurry picture of the event.


After Stephanie spoke she did a book signing. We were part of the first group which is great because there were a lot of Knitters at the event. In this picture she's taking a break from signing my name to look at My finished Mystery Stole. She is not yet done with hers.


Signing and talking.
I can't figure this picture out at all.


She's really very very nice and was willing to take a picture with me. There I am holding the famous traveling sock. YAY! I MET THE YARN HARLOT! This was a big event for me and I'm so glad it was on one of my days off so it worked out PERFECTLY! It was a ton of fun and my mother is finally taking the steps to learn about the wonderful art of knitting. She is going to have more spare time on her hands now and she has no excuse for not learning.


This is a close up of the Adams shawl I'm working on. I'm waiting for yarn to show up at my house for the rest of my gifts but until then I'm working as hard as I can on this. This pattern is very easy and once I do one repeat of the row I don't have to look back at the chart. Very easy lace pattern. It's knit in Knit Picks Shadow. I really like this yarn and I ordered more for another Shawl. But like I said. I'm waiting.

Check out the T-Shirt I got from the event. It says I Knit With the Yarn Harlot. And I totally did. However this picture reminds me that I need a hair cut.


While at Knitch I bought the rest of the yarn needed for my Christmas gifts. I love kidsilk haze. It's so very soft. I'll get started on it soon.

Close up of the finished kidsilk project.


Yesterday was a great outing. It made my week and I had a blast. I got some ideas for projects and I will be getting started on those as soon as the Holidays are over and I have time to knit for myself.

Mini-update

I don't have any pictures for this update. Just a little bit to say. The Christmas gift I've been working on is going much faster than I thought. It's halfway done already. I am happy that I started it early though. This way I won't be freaking out at the last minute. I'll also have a lot more time to make other gifts. This one will be done before the end of the month. As soon as this project is done I'm ordering yarn for two other Christmas gifts. I'm very pleased with the progress I've been making so far. Yay for FINALLY being on top of everything

FINISHED!

This weekend has been about finishing things. I finished two books. The Other Boyln Girl, and Twilight. Both are good books. I also finished two projects. The mystery stole was finished on Sunday night. Monday night I blocked it and let it sit over night in a room that I shut off from the cats (Baby likes to pull the pins out). I must say that the project is quite lovely. Simple yet beautiful. The designer is amazing. The theme of the stole ended up being Swan Lake. Given the wing at the end. Beautiful. I am also quite happy with the end result since it was my first venture into knitting with beads.


I actually might make this project again. I will have to do the mystery knit next summer. I had a ton of fun with this this summer. I have over 1000 yards left of the Zypher Wool Silk yarn. So I'm gonna let it age in the stash till I decide what to do with it. I have an idea but I'm not sure if I want to do it. We'll see.

I also finished the cotton sweater I was working on. It's a tad wider that I would like but I'll be able to fix it with a knitted belt. Something like a wide belt in some bright color. The sleeves are nice and long. It's a heavy sweater. Cotton yarn tends to be heaver.

I broke my "no extra spending" rule today. However I saw it coming. I found out that some books at the store were going on sale today at 50% off. I got an additional 10% off by using the store's Member card. I got $30 books for $13.50. Yay! I got the two complete sets of books I've been wanting for a long time. They will help greatly in some designs I'm working on. In case you can't tell. I'm super excited that I have these books.

While I enjoy the books. Baby enjoys the bag the books came in.


Well I am off to knit some more. And read my books.

So Wednesday night the family watched Blades of Glory and I worked like crazy to FINISH the last piece. It's done. I finished it that night. I folded all the pieces into a nice neat pile. All that they need is for me to find a good 2 hours that I can set aside to piece it together.

Baby as usual likes to get up and close with my work. She doesn't hurt anything. She just likes to lay on it.


It's done..... almost....

Nice and Quiet

I am spending more and more time away from my computer these days. I have been caught up in other things that have been distracting me.

I know this picture looks very similar to the one I posted in my last post. I assure you it is not. I finished that piece and I'm working on the second. This is the last piece of the sweater so when I finish that I get to sew it together! I'm knitting like mad on it because I need exactly those needles in order to start on a Christmas gift. I thought about buying another set but I know once I start working on that gift I will NEVER finish the cotton sweater. I'm doing this for my own good and so I can be fair to the cotton sweater.

The mystery stole group has been over for a week now but I am still knitting on it. I am working on the very last chart and have about 30 rows to go. Once I finish the last chart it's onto blocking! I'll have about 1000 yards of yarn left (I ordered too much) so maybe I'll make a lace scarf with the extra.


And in being a yarn whore. I have to buy new yarn every once in a while. Here is my new yarn.

First. Alpaca Cloud for a new lace project.

Oh, I almost forgot. I finished something small. A felted purse. It's a small purse but really cool.


Back to the new stuff. These three are all different yarns. The gray is Andean Silk The peach is Andean Treasure and the mint is Ambrosia. All of these yarns are made with Alpaca and some have silk and cashmere blended. They are VERY soft and make great baby sweaters.



Cotton is also a favorite of mine. The pink is Shine Worsted The blue is Main Line and the hot pink is CotLin.



Ok so I know it doesn't make much sense to buy only one skein of each yarn. However while I can't really make anything of it I can make guage swatches. Which is why I bought the yarn in the first place. It doesn't make much sense to buy enough yarn for a whole project if you only come to realize that they yarn will not even work. Not only would it be unwise but it would just plain suck.

I did buy enough KidSilk Haze for a whole project. It's for a Christmas gift. The gift that I need those other needles for. KidSilk is beautiful Mohair yarn. It's so soft and light. It almost feels weightless. It's a very pretty shade of purple called dewberry. As you can see by the price tags (which I just now realized I didn't remove) it's kinda expensive. The yarn is worth the price though.



I also bought yarn to make myself feel a little better. I went to the dermatologist last week just to get my skin checked out and make sure everything was normal (which I thought it was) and come to find out, I have Rosacea. I am on some oral meds and some gross smelly face cream to try and get it to clear up. There is no cure for it, it can only be controlled. So I now have a list of things to stay away from. No more Dove, Dial, Irish Springs, Neutrogena, fabric softener, Mary Kay, Bath and Body Works, Spicy Foods, body products containing alcohol (body sprays, etc...), Mouth wash, whitening toothpaste, chocolate, and caffeine. Now while I won't be able to stay away from all of these the all the time (asking a woman to give up chocolate is wrong) I am going to watch for these things. It gets worse with age so if I take care of my skin now it will stay healthy and should continue to look fine. I never had issues with my skin, not even as a teenage. Controlling it now is what I have to do and it is what I plan on doing.

I love being a woman

In life there are moments when a women comes across an item that she sees and go "I must have those. I WILL have those." I came across this moment not too long ago while shopping for work shoes (shoes that you look for comfort more than looks). While looking at a pair of shoes that I eventually bought for work I saw these lovely must haves.


I picked them up and declared that I would buy them no matter how expensive. I HAD to have them and I now have them. My wonderful grandmother bought them and my work shoes for me. Being the only grand-daughter has MAJOR perks. She bought me three pairs total (I bought my work shoes in black and brown so I would have shoes to match any outfit). I have already worn these shoes on 4 different occasions and I have only had them a little over a week. Impulse shopping is not always a bad thing.

Also this past Sunday I went to a movie with my mother and our friend Cindy. We went and saw Becoming Jane and I must insist that every woman I know go see this movie. As everyone who knows me is aware, I am a hardcore Jane Austen fan. So hardcore I own as many books about her and her novels that I can get my hands on (and also afford). This look into the inspiration for her most famous novel Pride and Prejudice (anyone who has not read this MUST read) is so moving. The movie really brings the writer to life. Many times we as readers tend to forget that the people who wrote out favorite works are still human. They had lives, struggles, feelings and emotions. And in understanding their life their writings take on a whole new life. I have several copies of Pride and Prejudice (and am always looking for a very tiny pocket book size of the novel). It has been my favorite novel for some time now. I don't see that fact changing any time soon.

In knitting news not much big has happened. I'm getting ready to start on my Christmas gifts. Of course those will not be posted online simply because I do not wish to ruin any surprises this year. I want to keep them a secret. The pictures will be put up when the gifts have been opened but not until then.

Still working on the big cotton sweater. I finished the sleeves and have moved on to working on the back.


A failed attempt at a simply baby bootie by using a different yarn. It's too big. The kid will have to have duck feet to fill it..


And the Mystery stole continues to be a work in progress. The last clue has been posted and I'm working on the next to the last clue. It should be done and blocked soon hopefully. It doesn't look like much now but it will. I hope.

Damn

It's so sad.

short and sweet

Well this is short and sweet simply because I don't have a whole lot of time right now (I should be cleaning the bathroom right now). Work has been fine this week. Still trudging along. I had yesterday off and I spent it with Ben and then spent the evening watching movies with my parents. I have gotten completely caught up with the Mystery Stole 3. I've knitting through clue 5 and am waiting for clue 6 to be released (it will be tomorrow). So far the stole is quite pretty.

Saturday is the day we move Ben into his dorm. I took the day off to help with the move. It's going to be odd not having him around all the time.

Home again

Well I am home from my short (too short) vacation to New Smyrna Beach in FL. It was a good trip and I needed the break from work. But I'm back home and back to work. Gross. I did find something special while at a Flea Market in Daytona Beach.

And antique sewing machine. I saw it at one of the booths and it didn't have a price tag on it so I was curios and asked the guy running the table for the price. He didn't know so he called the owner and she said she could let it go for $15! So using my best poker face I said "yeah I think I could take it." This machine is worth around $200-$300. I got a deal. It's a hand crank sewing machine which is something I've not actually seen upclose before.

It even came with the cover and the original key along with the original instruction book.


While on vacation I continued knitting on the mystery stole. I've halfway through clue #4. It's getting longer. It looks great too. I've just got to keep knitting.

Life has been good. I am refreshed from the vacation and am almost through what has so far been a rough work week. I'm ready to get back into my work schedule (having my set days off) which should start this Sunday. That's all I have time for today. I shall write more later.

Made it out alive

Well Harry Potter came and went. I worked the midnight party and it's over and I made it out alive. We worked until 2 am but the party was great. I still haven't read any of the HP books but it's cool. The important thing is that kids are reading. Too many kids rely on video games and TV to entertain them and if series makes kids get excited about reading I'm all for it. Well I'm still knitting along on the Mystery knit. I've finished clue 1 and 2 and have started on 3 (which means I'm not TOO far behind) and I have already printed out 4. I have two weeks to work on Clue 4 so hopefully I will get caught up soon.

Peace.

Finished

Well the surprise is finished. It's been done for about a week now but I am just now getting time to post about it. This is the finished result soaking in water getting ready to be blocked.


And what it looked like while being blocked (In case you haven't gotten it yet. It's a shawl. A very lovely shawl.) It's all pinned in place and it only took a few hours for it to dry.


After it dried it looked AWESOME. It's very soft and light and very very beautiful. I can't believe that I actually made it myself. I'm so proud of myself.

Trying to take pictures of yourself proves difficult. This is the best one of the pictures I took. (I picked that one because my rear looks small in it.)


A semi close up of the detailed edging. I loved making this shawl. It proved to be a nice challenge.


Baby helped in the WHOLE process of blocking and getting everything together. Even after it was done she still had to inspect it.



I swear. This cat follows me everywhere I go. As I am writing this she is sitting here right beside me watching me type. She's so goofy.


In other news. I have decided to join the Mystery Stole 3 group online. I got a late start because it took longer for me to get a hold of the yarn. I did get the supplies and I LOVE the yarn. It's Zypher Wool Silk and it's so soft. I love it and I really love knitting with it. This is also one of my first ventures into knitting with beads. It's proved to be easier than I thought. I ordered three skeins, which they wound into balls for me. I'm going to have extra left so maybe I'll be able to make something else out of it.



Here is a terrible picture of the progress so far. It looks much better in person.


I'm also working on something pretty in white cotton. We'll see how it comes out.



Well I'm out tonight.