Kudos to Kitty

Sylus is my cat (one of them). Sylus is a big suck. Anytime I am sitting still, which is typically while I'm knitting he absolutely HAS to sit on my lap. If he can't he just sits next to me and whines a bit with sad little eyes. Now keep in mind that my spud-muffin loves yarn. I was sitting in front of the computer today, organizing some music files and knitting, when I looked down and... well, let's just say thank goodness the camera was within arms reach cause this was just too cute!

Kudos to you Sylus for being such a good little man and not chomping at the yarn, not even a once. I heart you buddy! And I have to admit the needle fwapped his ear more than once, but sleep and purr on he did.

You probably noticed the yarn is red-purple, so pics of progress are a must :) First Cardigan for Arwen, in Berocco Peruvia. Oh, and look my keyboard, haha. Well you can't blame me for not moving to get a better picture, Sylus is still sleeping on my lap.

And one finished Monkey sock in Lornas Laces Bucks Bar. Me likey!

Stash Attack

One of my main goals for 2008 is to knit solely from my stash (Except for Yarn Pirate Booty Club which will be delivered to my door). Now let me clarify, this will in no way actually deprive me of any knitting or fun. My stash is large, in my opinion. I preparation for 2008 I went through my entire stash last night and this morning and added projects to my Ravelry Q for everything. People, I have a lot of knitting ahead of me!

3 cardigans (1 is a gift)
13 pairs of socks
4 bulky scarves
7 lacey scarves
2 pairs of mittens
2 felted bags
7 hats
1 baby sweater set

Has anyone been doing the math as we go along? According to my calculations I should be well into 2009 before this is all done!

Still working away on Monkey socks right now and the Lacey scarf. They won't be finished for 2007, but there is some great progress. I'll post some pictures as soon as I finish up at least one of the socks.

The Details

Ok so I've come down off my yarn high... just a little. Here are the details of what I bought and it's intended projects :)

Patons Classic Wool Merino - 2 - Pink and Darker Pink is going to be Parallelograms

Sandnes Garn Smart - 4 - in Green and Darker Green is going to be Striped Illusion

Fleece Artist Sock - 2 - purpley and in teal/green are going to be socks... don't know which patterns yet, but sitting there are two pairs of socks :)

Noro - 3 - So far I'm thinking Shag, but I'm not sure. Maybe another entrelac...

Ornaghi Filati Super Merino, - 3 - ecru, navy and white is going to be Meandering Stripes

And finally Berroco Peruvia in lovely, wonderful red-purple that makes me want to squeal! This is going to be Cardigan for Arwen. I was sick of waiting for the gray colourway to come in, so I'm going to use the gray on some mittens and use this new stuff for the cardigan.



Must finish wips. Cannot wait to cast on.

oops!

When the two phrases/names 'Year end clearance sale' and 'Beehive Wool Shop' come together... LOOKOUT(for me)! I can't even begin to express how big the grin on my face is right now, so I'll just show you.

Okay so how big was the 'wow' that just escaped your lips? Now multiply that by about a million, that's how much of a yarn high I am on right now. I want to smell it, then roll in it, then contimplate how to kick my husband out of bed so that I can sleep beside my yarn tonight... off to scheme!

Recipe for a very knitterly Christmas

1. Cook the most amazing looking Turkey of your life.

2. Stuff mom's stocking (a non-knitter) with knitting stuff and then teach her how to knit for the rest of the evening.

3. Knit the leg of your Monkey Socks and use the cat as your display rack for a photo op.

4. Travel to SaltSpring Island and knit a ski mask along the way.

5. While on SaltSpring, also knit a kids toque with some leftover yarn from the ski masks.

Yeah I knit like lightning when I have large amounts of time blocked off for just sittin' around with family. Everyone loved their hand knit gifts as well! yay!

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone has safe and happy holidays!

Great Scarf Craze of 2007

Okay so I just finish that Entrelac Scarf and what do I do? Cast on for two more scarves of course! I really wanted to use some of my birthday yarn and well, the orange stuff was just begging to be made into a cozy scarf. Finished in 3 nights of knitting :)




And I now have some picture worthy progress on the Secret Pal yarn scarf for myself:



I love this one so far. It's actually working up a lot faster than you might imagine; this is only... 2.5 hours of knitting! Once I have finished this... I will try my best to NOT cast on for another scarf... socks, yes I will make socks! In fact I might cast those on now so that I have some mindless knitting available for Christmas. That way I can still pay attention and socialize with family while knitting. Yes, Monkey socks it is!

All done

I have completed my First Entrelac Scarf. This pattern was SO easy to follow and holy crap did it work up fast. I honestly didn't work on this like a maniac at all. Just 6 days of casual knitting and it's done! wow!















Can you tell it's hand-knit laundry day at our house? I like to do everything in one big batch. So for another two days my gym will look like this picture; comforter on floor, wet items on comforter. The cats love these days, they like to iritate me by crawling under the comforter and messing up the nice 'lay flat to dry' arrangement... I know, I know, close the door right? Part of me wants to let them have their fun :)

So what am I knitting now? Well I have Monkey socks on needles, started Arwen (still waiting on yarn - harumph) and Scarf with French trellis border from Weldon's 1890 and bramble leaf center by Jane Sowerby. Woooo that's a mouthful. It's from the yarn I got from my secret pal and so far it is looking awesome! Once there is some better progress to actually take pictures of, I'll show you.

Entrelac I heart you!

First, some knitting content :) Ever since I started this scarf on Friday evening I just can't seem to put it down.

And now for something completely different. This amazes me every time it happens.. I am in awe at the things I get excited for now; the older I get the weirder it seems. For example, our Christmas gift from my Dad:

Absolutely thrilled and cannot wait to vaccum my house... this is where the 'when did I grow up?' comes in ;-)

Here is Dena 'helping' us unpack it all (note she is rather impressed that they made a box with an indent specifically the size of her butt, just for her of course and totally intentional on their part. After all, she IS the center of the universe):

And my dearest Husband trying to figure out the installation instructions. He really was doing quite well, I don't know why he made that perplexed face, but that's what makes him so darn cute!

Happy Birthday to me!

From husband, who was shortly thereafter appropriately mauled.

The orange chunky orange wool/acrylic blend will be a nice scarf. The Merino lace weight will be something feminine and beautiful that's for sure! And the Sisu sock yarn will be lovely socks from Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave.

Yesterday one of my coworkers gave me a Christmas gift. A $10 gift certificate to our LYS Beehive. I knew I wanted to knit an entrelac scarf, but that's all I knew, so I went in and talked to Beth, who is really the most amazing person there. She persueded me to try Noro, and I'm glad she did. Entrelac is trisky to figure out the first time around, but now it seems so easy! And it works up fast too - bonus!

Last of my knitterly friends Christmas presents will be delivered tonight. But it's a secret, unless you're on Ravelry.

It's not easy being evil

Someone's going to have a funny knitterly Christmas present on their desk, in the office, in front of everyone, tomorrow :) I cannot stop laughing and absolutely had to share my sick brilliance!

When bad things happen to good cleaners

My car is filthy. It's winter, who's isn't?

1. I decide despite the freezing cold and darkness that is setting in fast I MUST wash my car.
2. After washing the outside I realize the inside is gross too
3. Clean windows, and interior surfaces
4. Break out vaccum cleaner
5. Start vaccuming until something starts to smell funny...
6. Change bag in vaccum cleaner, maybe it's just full and having a hard time.
7. Start vaccuming again until smell returns full force
8. Look down and see vaccum cleaner on FIRE!.
9. In one not-so-smooth movement open garage door, while unplugging and turning of vaccum cleaner all while hurling it outside into the puddle left in the driveway from washing the outside of the car just prior....

Good thing I washed the outside of the car first. That soapy puddle saved the day.



ps. Garage took an full two hours to 'un-stink'
pps. New vaccum cleaner has been added to Christmas wish list
ppps. Husband is STILL laughing at me

Ski Funny

Look at me, stickin' my tongue out at you :) This was fast and fun to make. Only one more to go and we're set for our ski trip. I used Susan Andrew Collection Warani, just over 2 balls and 5mm DPN's as well as 5mm circular. I love this yarn! love it! So soft and it doesn't split easy which is a good quality in my books.

Not everything is about knitting... sometimes

I consider myself a fairly goal oriented person... okay more than fairly, almost completely. As 2007 comes to an end and 2008 is almost upon us, it's time for reflection and renewed vigour.

2007 sure had it's ups and downs:

• I gained back almost 20lbs of the weight I'd lost in 2006. Booers.
• We sold our condo - most stressful time of my life to date. Uber booers!
• We purchased our town home and moved in. Couldn't be happier, this place is the best.
• Road Trip to Seattle with my mom. I don't think there was a single day we weren't in tears from laughing so hard. SO MUCH FUN!
• Road Trip to Canadian Rockies with Greg. So relaxing and the first time we'd gone away for more than a day together in 1.5 years. It was awesome, despite the rain.
• Work life... what a roller coaster, good news is for the last month it's been on the high side of the roller coaster and things look like smooth sailing ahead.
• Money... the love hate relationship of my life! My credit card was paid off at the beginning of 2007 when we sold our condo, yay profits. But now I look at my bill to date and it's right back up there saying hello, how can you afford to pay me?!
• I had health problems and discovered I'm lactose intolerant so it's been an adjustment that I'm still not used too - boo!
• I flew a plane, a real airplane. And man was that a great experience. If I had the money, I would fly and fly and fly all day long.
• I picked up knitting again and have been doing some mad, crazy knitting projects that I am SO proud of. Pretty much all Christmas gifts this year are hand knit. Wow!

Now for reflection. All in all I'm disapointed in myself for 2007, but that's all the more reason to be excited now since I know I can make 2008 better. Looking back I've really learned a lot about myself, even if it is about my weaknesses. I get it, and hopefully I can fix it. And hey, it wasn't all bad :)

Goals for 2008 (these are all across the board, from things I've been putting off for long enough, to fancy whims):

• Lose those 20 damn lbs! I've done it before and dang it, I can do it again!
• Learn. I'm taking a Thai cooking class and a photography class in February and I can't wait. I realized that 2007 didn't have a lot of 'learning'
• Actually figure out this whole politics thing, not saying understand opinions etc, just understand the general structure of things so that maybe, just maybe, one day I can feel confident enough to vote.
• Home: tile backsplash, bar stools, and window coverings that the cats can't destroy
• Compile a cookbook of my favourite recipes and publish it through Blurb to give to friends and family as Christmas gifts next year. Even if they aren't my own food creations, I've always wanted one cookbook with all my favourites, it seems I have a ton of books with only 3-4 well used recipes in them each. Kind of like music, where you buy the whole CD, but only like one song.
• I really need to clean out our 'stuff' so Garage Sale this year, promise! This is one of those, maybe next year, maybe next year, ... things. So, this year, 2008 damnit!
• Another one I've been putting off is insurance, I don't actually know what my life insurance coverage is, only that I have some through work. Must get that figured out. Also house insurance, I know our coverage isn't enough, and that's just tempting fate people. I are dumb.
• Go skiing again, it's been years. And actually we're going in January so this works out well. It's our Christmas present to each other.
• Go on one of the following trips: West Coast Trail (still looking for a trail partner), Houseboat vacation, Cruise somewhere hot.
• Pay off at least $3500 of my credit card debt. Don't gasp, yes it's high, and yes I know I need to learn from past experience... I'm working on it.
• Given the goal above, the next is to Knit only from the stash or gift yarn until it runs out. Which is plenty, trust me.

Think I can do it all ? I do. And I'm excited to get started... hence the weight loss starting two days ago and the registering for classes today, and the ski trip booked already... yep I'm goal oriented all right. Gonna get 'er done this year!

What are your goals for 2008?

And more updates

I can't believe that I have more updates for you! I finished Greg's Knucks SO fast that I'm really not sure what to make next.

• One pair of Knucks for the hubby for our Anniversary Dec 22 (estimate: 6hours) Started tonight - DONE
• Socks for step-sister - Dad called, step-sister and step-brother won't be at Christmas this year so no gifts :)
• Toque for step-brother - Dad called, step-sister and step-brother won't be at Christmas this year so no gifts :)
• Toque or mittens for Jane - I've been thinking that it wouldn't be quite fair to give something to Jane and not to Chris, plus me and Jane have never done a gift exchange before... so it might be awkward... I've decided to simply give them the antipasto and salsa like the other couples we're gifting to.

I think I'll start the ski masks for me and Greg. We're going on a week long ski trip in January, our Christmas present to each other, and we both need these. I can't believe I'm ready for Christmas!!! All I have to do is mail out Christmas cards, that's it, all done, fini!

List Update

Not only did I finish my Christmas shopping today, completely, but I also finished knitting my dad's Christmas Scarf!

Progress of the Christmas List

• One childrens mitten for a coworker DONE
• One ****** for Jennifer (estimate: 7 hours) Frogged in favour of something better which is finished
• One pair of Knucks for the hubby for our Anniversary Dec 22 (estimate: 6hours) Started tonight
• One awesomely manly scarf for Dad DONE
• Pair of mittens, also for Dad to match the scarf DONE
• Socks for step-sister
• Toque for step-brother
• Toque or mittens for Jane

Not bad for one weeks work :) Now I leave you with some finished pictures to go wrap presents... while it's snowing outside!