Christmas Meme

I picked this up from Annie Knits and thought it was such a fun list I would participate!

1. What was the best Christmas present you got as a kid? One year I got a custom built stereo cabinet from my Dad with a stereo inside and one year I got a small TV for my room. These were both very big deals for me as at the time we only had ONE TV in the whole house. Of course we are talking 1984 and I think most people still only had the one (or two) at the time.
2. What was the best Christmas present you got as an adult? Hmmm... this one is tough. I think the best thing will be the thing I bought for the whole family this year but as my kids MIGHT read this I can't say what it is. ;)
3. What's your favorite Christmas carol? Well since my daughter has just learned Carol of the Bells, I like that one a lot, I also love The Chipmunk song (hee), Santa Baby....truly though I love MOST Christmas songs.
4. How long can you stand to listen to Christmas music before you break? As long as its not the ONLY thing I listen to I never tire of it really. What I tire of is the &*%$# Christmas commercials.
5. How many Christmas albums do you own? Not too many- maybe 5-6. I just got one of my favorites replaced by my Secret Santa. Ally McBeal - A Very Ally Christmas. Robert Downey Jr. sings a great song on there too.
   
6. Did you ever go caroling as a kid? A few times in Junior High with Glee Club. I enjoyed it!
   
7. Would you willingly eat fruitcake? Never had it and with all the talk - me is afraid. LOL
8. Do you own any Christmas sweaters? Not anymore but I did get a cute cheap T-shirt this year.
   
9. Do you own any Christmas jewelry? What? I used to have some cute wreath earrings and a jingle bell set but I can't find them.
   
10. Do you wear them? If I could FIND them.
    
11. Did your family have any weird Christmas traditions? No not really....just the running around like crazy on Christmas Day to get everywhere. Well my husband thinks that coming down the stairs together (me and brother in hand) to see our stockings was weird but growing up doing that - it doesn't seem so weird to me. It was really a photo op for Dad.
    
12. Do you buy Christmas presents for your pets? Yes but we don't go overboard. He has a stocking and gets a bone, treats or something and then a toy under the tree.
13. What's your favorite Christmas cookie? My grandmother always made cookie press cookies. Green Wreaths, Red Poinsettas and white snowflakes. My press died so I don't get any. Maybe with any luck she will have made some this year for me to partake of.
    
14. What's your favorite Christmas candy? Peanut Butter Balls. Otherwise known as "Buckeyes" for Ohio folks. I also love a Peanut Butter Roll but most people don't know what that is.
    
15. What's your stocking look like? Mine is store bought but looks like needlepoint of carolers caroling "old timey". I got it the year Mike and I moved in together. (yes we did live in sin for a few years. shameful I know)
16. How do you feel about the "Steal from Your Neighbor" Christmas present game (the one where people pick gifts from a pile, but others get to steal it)? Love it! I got stuck with an awful right wingers book once though. Should have been no surprise since it was an Accountants Christmas party. Someone walked away with a killer cut glass vase though.
    
17. What is the oldest ornament on your tree? I made an ornament in 1st grade Sunday School class. I always loved it. It was a small gold ball with a styrofoam cross on top held together with the official Sunday School staple: Pipe cleaner.
    
18. Real or artificial? I LOVE the tradition of cutting our own tree. However I also like looking at a nice tree for more than 2 weeks and I hate picking up the needles. So we bought a FANCY pre-list tree 4 years ago. Best investment ever. If we ever have a bigger house and can do TWO trees I will relish going and cutting one down again.
    
19. How do you feel about Christmas letters? Anne said: "Like to read them. Guilty of mocking them. Don't like to write them." Ditto!
    
20. Do you have Christmas decorations or lights outside your house? What are they? We have in years past but I just wasn't up for it this year. Hopefully next year we will be moved and I think I will pay a service to do it. I like the look and hate the headache.
21. How far would you drive to see Christmas lights? We usually go to Our Lady Of the Snows in Belleville. But I have heard of a few that are really nice. I might bring that idea up. Dinner then lights sounds great to me.
    
22. Are you a fan of tasteful or tacky? Tasteful. Unless it's in someone else's neighborhood then I like the tacky and will drive through to look at it. We have a neighborhood in town and I think each house tries to outdo each other. PRETTY fun though..
23. Do you have any Christmas themed collections? I have more Santas than any one person should have but I didn't buy any of them and I feel guilty not keeping them. My fave is the Polar Express one that talks.
    

This was a fun list! I will tag Lucinda (I know her as Cindy but have found other knitting bloggers know her as LUCINDA) as she is the only other blogger that "knows" me IRL and may possibly read this blog. LOL

Sock Surgery!

So I posted in my last entry that I had a sock that needed help. I actually had two. I started my Jaywalkers FOREVER ago and lost my mind and stitched the toe in the wrong direction. *hides face*.

So I went to Knit Night last week and my good pal Cindy showed up with JUST the answer! Size 000 DPNs. Have you seen them? TEENY TINY but just perfect for some sock surgery!

Now I am just waiting for a QUIET few hours so that I don't get distracted by my lovely but noisy children.







I also was able to complete my short row scarf so that I could wear it out for Date Night! My husband kept nagging me...."how long is it going to BE?" LONG. So I can do THIS:

Ignore my "Deer in the Headlights" look. Darling Husband was having frustration with the new camera. LOL I also didn't get the ends lined up for the pic. It is SO soft as VERY warm. Now he is jealous that HIS isn't that long.








Two more knitted headbands!

One for my WW leader who is SO sweet and kind and fawned all over mine. One for a sweet Secret Santa Pal who is a big Cardinals fan. Hopefully she will like it and wear it to a spring game!

Oh and I got started on a really cute shrug pattern I found! I am knitting in Plymouth Encore double stranding it. It's heavier knitting than I have been knitting so I can't do hours and hours of it.







So I have one more headband I want to knit. In a really pretty blue colorway. That's it for "need to get done knitting". I am also going to be working on fixing my socks, starting my 2nd Jaywalker and working on my shrug.


Here is a little "non- knitting" bit. This is one of my Nativity sets. It was my Great Grandmothers. She kept it in her Sunday School room. When I was little my Grandmother always had it out on a table and I was allowed to play with the pieces. So when I had my first child, 12 years ago, she gave it to me. Said it was meant to be in a home with children. So I have had it and always allowed them to play with them. I should have known that when I got my boy, things might change. The pieces are now a bit chipped and the poor Camel had to say Good-Bye last year when he lost 2 of his legs. But it's cherished though aged and I look forward to putting it out as much as any other decoration we have.

Oh is 2007 almost over already?♦

I haven't just NOT blogged. I have not knit for so long until my good friend Heather told me about The Unoriginal Hat from The Yarn Harlot and I thought it would be perfect for my one skein of Manos I had left over from Last Christmas Gift Knitting. It came out smaller than I thought (Fits DS so I am hoping it will fit my oldest daughter) so I am gifting it and a neckwarmer made with the leftover.


Then I said Hey I think I have a sock pair waiting to be finished! So I whipped that out. DH's much desired over the calf socks....In Trekking.....

Imagine my dismay when he called out the other night "Hey hon I think I have a hole in my toe! OMigosh I threw down whatever I happened to be knitting and ran over to see the toe APPEAR to be losing it's "tail". So I thought no biggie right? I will just pull it tight and re-sew it back in....um, no. Whatever I pulled started UNRAVELING it. ***GROAN*** I have sat it and will take it with me when I go to the LYS and pray someone can fix it for me.

I realized the other night that ever winter I labor away to finish my next piece only to gift it away and here I stroll into the store with my *gasp* store bought scarf. No more! I am in the works of making this lovely Short Row Scarf with the two skeins of Malabrigo. The color is "Sealing Wax' and wouldn't you know it IS the same color as my homestate's flagship bourbon - Makers Mark. I am taking this with to the knit night tomorrow at the LYS - Knitorious. I can't wait to show it off.








Last but not least, when Kirkwood Knittery moved their store they had a big sale and I got to snatch an item blindly from their "grab bag". I came up with some lovely Inca Alpaca by Classic Elite. I finally got around to working that soft stuff into this awesome cabled headband. Imagine my grin when my weight watchers leader swooned over it today! So naturally, I told her I would whip her one up for Christmas. There goes my "no gifts knitting" this year. It's small though and I can do it in an afternoon.

Proof you CAN have matching Trekking Socks

OK so I know I have been remiss in posting...I haven't been knitting as much either. The weather is finally nice and with a looming date to put my house on the market, home improvement projects have taken precedence.

Here is what I did in March:

I bought this yarn for ME and after casting on twice realized somehow they were meant for Katie....I might take the leftover and make some anklets for myself. I gave these to her for her birthday....






















These are my Trekking socks.....I had never knit with it before and those of you who have knit with self striping yarn....There is not a single repeat in the first sock! I was stressin a little wondering how I would make a true mate....after finishing the first sock I cut off about 3 feet of yarn and VOILA!






With my amazement of no repeats I guess you can tell it was my first pair. LOL Apparantly it's "known" that there aren't any repeats. Well I don't know how much closer I could have gotten. The very tip toes are slightly off and that's it.




I am now starting a new pair of Trekking in a blue/green colorway for Mike. It's not striping like this is....more of a gradual color change. He wanted longer socks so the legs are 11 inches long. The 2nd sock is stalling me because its getting a little boring at this point. LOL

The Super Secret Project!

This is gonna be long so I will try to be as entertaining as I can but I am starting to realize I might not be the best at that. Some of the blogs out there really have me in tears they are so great!

Ok so you have waited for pics! (I don’t even know WHO is out there but I am going to pretend everyone in the free world has been waiting with baited breath to catch a glimpse! HA!) First off let me say that my friend Heather who I knit this for is a VERY close friend. A fellow knitter so I knew I just had to find the RIGHT projects!

I decided on a Popover hat with an adjustable band.....

The hat was so much fun and really pretty simple to do….I could see making more of those at some point. After searching for two days for the colorway of Cotton Tots in the pattern design I e-mailed the designer only to find out it was HAND-DYED Cotton Tots. Grrrrr…..Designer was not pleased that the publisher failed to mention that as well.

Note to Designer: I am really anal in my knitting still. I like to use the exact yarn and colorways I find in a picture so I KNOW what it will look like. If you are asked to submit a design PLEASE can you use a yarn that one can go out and buy? Pretty please? Someday I won’t be so apprehensive but there are others like me. I know because I have asked!

Thanks!
Greatful Knitter

And a Patchwork like blanket made with triangle/kite shaped pieces. After having finished the blanket, the pattern is now ingrained in my head and is now reserved for Grandchildren which is WAY off in the distant future! At least it BETTER be!

I started knitting the Triangle/Kite pieces on January 4^th and I finished seaming on Valentines Day. 6 weeks total. My kids were fed, they had clean clothes and they we re clean.....um...not much else took place!

96 of these:

Each one took me about 30-40 minutes depending on interruptions, what was on TV etc….I was able to do anywhere from 3-7 a day….7 on cold icky Saturdays…..But they were really easy and if you are teaching a beginner a great way to teach decreases!

Fill a shoe box:

I had to change boxes after I started. I don’t know what I was thinking with the toddler size
9 box! This was the biggest box with a lid without buying one that I could scrounge. My family was a real cheering team too. Every night they would say “How many did you do?” “Do just ONE more!” They watched nightly seeing it all come together. They watched with me as the box got more and more full.

Take up and entire Dining Room table - good thing we never use it!:

Now I may be considered anal about this but I

really didn’t want a “pattern” to it and I really didn’t want 2 of the same color touching. As it is I can see a slight pattern but I got clos

e to my goal! I even did an Excel spreadsheet and did auto fill on the boxes with different colors to try and get it right….as it was, once I got it on the table I still needed to do some rearranging.

Knit piece by piece and row by row:

The SEAMING! Goodness I was stressed about this part. I have never seamed anything before. The pattern calls for a crochet edge to seam them. So I called expert knitter Anne and said HELP! She said no problem! However as the dates to finish were looming near we were having a bit of a scheduling issue because lets face it, she’s in St Louis, I’m in Illinois, we both are moms of active kiddos…..both with new pups….all that combined leads to BUSY. So I tell myself, that I really want an invisible seam and all that I could discern was that the crochet seam would not be. I really wanted to do the mattress stitch because I just love how it came together. I told myself “You can do this! You have self taught almost everything you know –except socks….TRY it what’s the worst that could happen?” So I went to knittinghelp.com and I have to say that is the BEST site to learn just about anything you need to know regarding technique. Watch ed the streaming video a few times and voila! I did a happy little dance!

It took me about a week to do all the seeming and then you have a ……

Finished blanket!:

I just really love the “patchwork” effect of this blanket. Reminds me of the quilts our grandmothers and their mothers used to make from play dresses and kitchen drapes….this

would be a PERFECT blanket to make much bigger for a daughter getting married I think, using leftover yarns from your projects as long as they are about the same weight of course. When you finish a project, make a triangle or two …stick in a safe place….

This blanket measured about 40x 60 when it was done…I think. Its hard to remember.

Stats:

576 ends to weave in!

Almost 1 mile of Yarn

About 10000 stitches

It was the biggest project I have done but I knew from start to finish this was THE blanket to make.

The look on her daughters face is just priceless to me!

Heather and her daughter, Alyssa!

Inch by Inch, Piece by Piece

By this time next week my BIG project that I can't even SHOW you will be done! I will have this massive post showing during and after pics....I can't wait to show you! It's my biggest project yet and I have learned so many new techniques.

I am anxious though to finish my Jaywalkers and start another pair of socks for DH! I got him some beautiful yarn from Moutain Colors.

Here are some pics of some friends who got together a couple of weeks ago for dinner.....

Myself, my friend Maura and Tracie - fellow knitting enthusiast! *wink*











Melissa, Heather (who the stealth project is for), Victoriah, Leslie, and Katie (the one who started us all knitting! LOL)








Cindy ( Tales of Yarn, and awesome knitter), Simone, Christy and Angela

SO I know it's been forever!

I HAVE been knitting! In fact I have been knitting like a fiend....in the car, at home, at the coffee shop, I literall am dreaming knitting....why you ask? Because I am on a stealth knitting project for a dear friend and when I envisioned it, I assumed I would have until Early-Mid March to complete it and then wham-o the baby shower was moved up an entire month....SO I am scrambling.. my kids are doing the math....."you need to do this much today mom and every day to finish", my husband is doing the math....."You are gonna teach us all to knit to finish aren't you?" LOL The time it would take though to TEACH them would be wasted when I could be knitting....It IS a labor of love though.....after the shower I will post LOTS of pics to show my journey!

The little bit of knitting content I can share is that I have boughtt about $85 in yarn since the new year (not counting the above mentioned project) and seriously I think I am sick. This is on top of all kinds of yarn I have stuck away in closets....but now that I am really buying all this "Fancy awesome pricey" yarn, the old stuff just sits.....LESSON LEARNED! LOL

I am grasping at straws but I might try to find reciepts for some of it.....

Here is my latest purchases!

More sock yarn! I got the Regia and the stripes from The Loopy Ewe..... Mountain Colors for DH....Trekking XXL for me.....Malabrigo for a good friends baby....I had her go back for one more skein since I found the perfect set to make.....The purple is Louet Gems....I really like the feel of that and I want to make some socks for hanging out in the house! Since Kirkwood Knittery was having a special opening sale, if you spent $50 you got to pick a blind skein out of a grab bag....I knew it felt good but I wasn't sure just how good.....Inca Alpaca!! Very excited at the options there!


Other than that, just trying to stay warm in this frigid air....all the winter blah without any of the winter fun! Snow! Dang it I am so ready for Spring!

Happy Knitting!

Jaywalker progress!

So I am working on the last 2 inches of the foot before I start the toe decreases. I reinforced the heel and I will reinforce the toe and then pray that I have plenty left for the 2nd sock. It's always my fear! LOL I think what I can try to do is weigh the ball and the sock and see if they are equal....pray for me!

For anyone who missed it this yarn is from The Yarn Pirate in Loopy Colorway. I am really enjoying the pattern of this sock. The monotony of a plan stockinette stitch sock bores me too much. But I was afraid to venture into teeny tiny cables. I am really happy how these are turning out.

I now have 3 stealth projects underway due in the next month or so plus DH besotted scarf....if I thought my knitting would subside after Christmas I was kidding myself! :)

Happy Knitting!

Red Scarf DONE!

I feel so good getting this scarf done and it turned out so well! It's basically just a garter rib but every 9 ridges I threw in a eyelet section just to give it a little something . It was a easy knit and I think I will make a few more for the kids.

This was done with Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed. I cast on 20 stitches on size 10 needles. The ends are a 5 garter ridge and the eyelet section was 3 rows. Then resume knit every row until you have 9 garter ridges...






Eyelet section:
Row 1:Purl on the wrong side
Row 2: k3, *k2 together, k1, * repeat to the last 5 stitches, k2 together, k3.
Row 3. Purl

What did I accomplish in 2006?

After reading Julies blog I thought making a list would be a great way to assess progress! Here is what I have:

2 Booga Bags
1 mini Booga Bag
Buttonhole Bag
Chicago Bag
6 scarves
2 blankets
2 pairs of socks
4 washcloths

Started in 2006 but still on needles:

Besotted Scarf
Jaywalkers
Top Secret Project (Part 2)
Grandad Scarf

Pic of my Sheltie pal

Some of you may know that I lost my first Sheltie, Rocky to cancer last June. We got a new pup in September and here is a pic of Kerby and I on Christmas. He is little even for a Sheltie but he is a sweetheart. I can't have sheep here but I can have a sheep HERDER! LOL I got a wild notion the other day that I would solicite other Sheltie owners for the undercoat to knit.....I know it's probably insane....I thought I would then knit something for Sheltie Rescue....

We named him Kerby for "Kentucky Derby" since we are from KY and always loved going to the races....we are thinking of his registered name as "Rascal Jacks Run for the Roses". His Fathers name is Rotton Rascal and his Mothers name is Cracker Jack Maggie and also he has decided he is my son Jacks dog and well my son can definatly BE a rascal! *wink*









Here are some older pics of him too:





This one was the day he came home...

Happy 2007!!

I thought I would share a few pics of my family and of course my Yarn Pirate Sock Yarn and first sock in process!! Its tradition we open new jammies on Christmas Eve....so here are my kids all excited for Christmas and Santa coming! My son looks so big in this picture!


I have to share a pic of our Turkey because after our disaster of a bird last year we changed pans and prayed. We had dinner with another family this year and we had a lot of people depending on this bird! Isn't he beautiful!









So here is my Yarn Pirate Sock Yarn!!! I bought it with Christmas money and as fate would have it, I actually got it ON Christmas because I apparantly forgot to check the mail on Saturday and my daughter found it in the mailbox on Christmas! Thank goodness I got a ball winder from Darling Husband for Christmas so I could wind it and get started! Yes people he WENT IN to the LYS that I go to! From a breif description I belive he talked to Georgia at Hearthstone Knits....Funny story (especially if you are a HP fan)....he came home that night and of course something about knitting came up and he said "Oh I saw some nice yarn today"...I looked at him slyly and said "I bet I know where YOU went then." He looked sheepish and said "Shouldnta said that...." Too cute! Anyway I digress. These beautiful yarns are "Hydrangea" and "Loopy" Tencel/Merino sock yarn! I just adore it and of course couldn't WAIT to wind it and get started! I employed my hubby to be my swift.....next years wish list has already started... *wink* I searched and searched for just the *right* pattern to show off the beauty of this colorway....and came up with Jaywalkers.....here I am as I started last night.... who would have thought this cute pattern is basically a simple two round design one of which is simply knit around....perfect! This pic makes it look lighter....the above pic is the right lighting to show the colorway.

I have joined the Sisterhood of the Traveling Stash so check out that blog and when I get the box I will be posting ALL about that too!

Well finally today the girls are in school! Long two weeks that was I tell ya and tomorrow Jack is back in the swing of pre-school so I am thoroughly excited to peace and quiet!



Happy Knitting and Happy 2007!!!