Box and a mitten

Yay!!! I got my package from my secret pal, Pam! She sent me a box of such wonderful goodies: two balls of Cascade Fixation to make a Zaftig, a skein of Clou to make Bon Bon, a ball of Lion Brand Magic Stripes, a cute little magnet, a box of scone mix to go with tea she previously sent me, and a great cookbook from her neck of the woods, Washington. Pam has been an awesome pal! Here's a pic of my stuff:


I also have a new mitten. My right hand nordic mitten is complete. I have yet to put the left mitten on the needles, because I'm still trying to finish up Xmas gifts and a couple of baby blankets, but soon....I want to have them for Xmas for myself. Hey, a girl has to be good to herself!! :) Ok, here's the mitten, palm side and top of the hand:


Ok, that's it for the night...til next time.

I have finished objects!

This blogger has been a busy blogger. I have finished a couple of Xmas presents, a blanket for a family member who's due in January and some stuff that I can show you. First we have my sister's tank which took me FOREVER to do. I think I just lost interest in it, but it's finally done. Yay!

Next we have the little cardi (Sport) that I was being paid to make. There's a hat and mittens to go with, but I didn't take a pic of the hat, and the mittens aren't done yet. But isn't the cardi incredibly adorable?


I also took pics of my work in progress: the Nordic mittens from the latest IWK. I think they're turning out great. I've done minor bits of color work before, but nothing like this and I'm very impressed and pleased with my own work. They're my Xmas gift to myself.


The Knitty Secret Pal 2 is coming to an end and I just wanted to say that it has been such a pleasure to buy stuff and send packages to my Secret Pal Sarah. She got her last box from me last week. I got an email from MY secret pal who says my last box is on it's way. I'm dying to know who has sent me such wonderful goodies!

Stash pics

Ok, lets start from last week. For my birthday, my very close friend made this basket for me:

It's got balls of sock yarn in such great colors, I want to do nothing but knit socks for the next couple projects.

But then I went to New Orleans. And I visited two shops, Quarter Stitch and Betty Bornside Company. And I bought yarn. Here is what I picked up:



From left to right, Brown Sheep Nature Spun in all the colors needed for the Nordic Mittens in the newest Interweave Knits; a ball of Luna from Silk City Fibers in a color called Moulin Rouge; Inca Alpaca; Tibetan recycled silk that jumped into my pile that begged to be bought; Colinette Enigma; and something new from Blue Heron - it was so new to the shop that they didn't have a price on it yet. It's a cotton/rayon ribbon in a color called Mossy Place and it's SO lovely I almost bought the second hank they had.

I did purchase a couple other things, but I can't tell you or show you because it's for my secret pal. I hope she's going to be pleased with her last box. Oh wait, I can show you how Quarter Stitch packed up the goodies; SP's stuff is all wrapped...

It's a bit squished, from being in the suitcase, but it's still pretty to see.

Ok, off to finish the baby blanket I started on the trip so I can get to work on playing with the new stuff!

Home from NO

Oh vacation was good. Had lots of really good food, and spent lots of quality time with my boys. Went to the zoo, the aquarium, the children's museum. All kid friendly places. Oh yes. And the yarn shops too. :)

Went to Quarter Stitch in the French Quarter and it was such a lovely little store. I bought lots of stuff there and they packaged it up so lovely. Wrapped each skein of yarn in colored tissue paper, then put in a clear bag and tied that up with pretty ribbons and curled the ribbons. I almost want to go back just for the pretty packaging. I have not taken pics yet, but I will. The yarn is still in the package and still in the suitcase.

We drove to find Betty Bornside, which was out of the way, but still quite wonderful. There I got all the yarn to make the really great mittens in the latest Interweave Knits, plus one extra ball of some ribbony yarn, just because.

I'm extremely tired and still have unpacking to do, so til later for more on the SEX and the pics. :)

Hi ho hi ho, off to New Orleans we go!

Halloween has come and gone. Halloween always marks the beginning of the holidays for me. We have Halloween, then a week later, my birthday, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas and New Year’s. The next 8 weeks will fly by and it’ll be 2005. Yikes.

Over the past couple weeks I’ve been working hard on the socks for my brother for Christmas (finished!), Sport (seaming and buttons need to be done) and a secret present for a friend for her birthday (Friday). I should be working on my sister’s tank for her birthday, but I have no desire, and even if I did, it wouldn’t be done for Friday. Too many birthdays in November! And because I’m crazy and addicted to socks, I started the Fluted Banister socks for the 6SoxAlong, but I’m not crazy about them. Maybe they’re too big? I’m up to the gusset decreases on the first sock…maybe I’ll frog it and do it on smaller needles.

I got the yarn to make a baby blanket for hubby’s cousin and wife. They’re due in January. It’s going to be my plane knitting. We’re headed to New Orleans to celebrate my 30th birthday. We leave Tuesday and we’ll be back on Sat. Sat. is going to be a killer for me…when we land we’ve got to hightail it to a friend’s house for a surprise birthday party (again with the November birthdays!). I’m going to want to sleep all day on Sunday. But then again, I’ll have bought yarn in New Orleans…maybe I’ll knit! :)

I need advice...the yarn I bought at Rhinebeck…I can’t wind it into a ball. It’s gorgeous yarn, really it is, and I have a pattern picked out and everything, but I can’t work with it the way it is. I got out my swift and ball winder and it became a tangled mess. See, it’s a strand of something or other and a strand of ribbon….and one or the other or both keeps getting into knots. I’m ¾ way thru winding the first hank…it’s taken a good 4 hours so far to untangle it while watching tv, but I can’t imagine doing this again with the second hank. Any suggestions, other than screaming?

Maybe one more post before New Orleans...or not...