Knitting buddies ~

There are others in our household that needed a few more days to finish Christmas gifts. Last night, I was presented with a hand made "knitting buddy" from my very talented sweetie. He made it out of maple, and it twirls on a roller blade wheel from his old pair that had been living in the attic. Very clever construction, and they sell for $40 in our local yarn shop. Lucky me to get a hand made one, and the promise of more to come! I thought it was a perfect reason to cast on another lovely knitting gift, Shibui sock yarn in the Zinnia colorway.
I cast on for the Trillian shawl, as it is written directions - not a chart as the original shawl I wanted to cast on... so someday I need to be more comfortable with charts... someday is not today...So far, this shawl looks lovely, and I have to remember to, "save 7% of the yarn" for the edging since I only have 400 yards, and not the 580 yards called for in the full shawl pattern. I think the zinnia yarn and the maple knitting buddy look like they are enjoying themselves!

Christmas gift cast off ~

I would have only needed a few more days to finish all the Christmas gifts, as I cast off mum's lovely alpaca socks last night. Here they are earlier this week, with my peppermint mocha!Since her birthday is in February (leap day!) I will send them as birthday gifts! The socks are lovely and soft, and she will love them!

Christmas gift cast on ~

I was very lucky to have some yarn as one of my gifts under our Christmas tree. My youngest was very clever in finding a way to get me some lovely yarn for Christmas, with the extra bonus that she knows I'll knit her socks out of this lovely yarn.The yarn company is Frolicking Feet, color "Pot 'O Gold"~ and I love it! I had to cast on almost immediately, the day after Christmas...

Holiday ply ~

I finished plying the lovely mango while on holiday. It is looking so beautiful, and I'm excited to knit something lovely with it!First I'll give it a wash, then I'll measure how much lovely yarn I have....Then I'll find a pattern, and cast on! What a great adventure!

Holiday feet ~

I am so very happy to say that both daughters loved their hand knit socks. I think they were both surprised, the youngest one had forgotten about these beauties as once I cast off, they were hidden...and the oldest daughter was surprised I had finished them in time to block and wrap them. Double bonus for me that they loved them! Here's the youngest, modeling her lovely new hand knit socks!

Peppermint mocha ~

I am an eggnog gal. Once the holidays begin, I begin looking for that first coffee shop that will provide me with a perfect eggnog latte... there is nothing better to ring in the holiday season that an eggnog latte and Christmas knitting. I happened to be at Starbucks tonight, by a serendipitous set of events, and was happy to be able to be knitting after a crazy day-after-Christmas-at-the-mall. Going with serendipity, I announced to my barista that, "I'm going on a limb here, and ordering a tall peppermint mocha." She smiled, knowing I am an eggnog gal and said, "Do not be afraid, as you will love this."I did....wow....major yum....no one told me it has chocolate melty thingys on top too.....plus knitting on the last holiday gift.... many bonus points tonight!

Happy Happy Christmas ~

Hugs and knitting to you all, and may all of your Christmas knitting be done!!!Happy Holidays to you all!!!!Happy Happy Happy!

Christmas Cookies ~

While I am knitting up the last of the Christmas gifts, the girls are keeping up with our holiday tradition. They are making spritz cookies using my mum's spritz maker from the 1950's.The booklet that comes with it says, "Mirro, the finest Aluminum Cooky and Pastry Press" from Manitowoc Wisconsin....I found a picture of one just like it on etsy (but it already sold, sorry guys!!)...good memories!

Perfect Gift ~

The perfect gift is one that is given for the total enjoyment of the recipient. For a knitter, giving another knitter yarn would seem to be very easy, and I would agree. Easy if that knitter loves the same colors and fibers as the knitter getting said gift.The most perfect gift is one that might not be so easy to pick out if those two knitters do not share the same love of colors... and that is why I am calling this the perfect gift....as I love love love these colors, as how amazing to have my favorite bright and happy colors all contained in one lovely color pallet!Jitteryknitter, the perfect gift giver said she picked it up as it "screamed" my name...gosh, not even a whisper...a scream!!! These would not be the colors she would choose for her own yarn.... Yikes - how lucky I am!!! It is so beautiful, plus being so soft is a bonus!!!! Thanks so much for listening to screaming yarn!!!

Holiday socks ~

I have finished the holiday socks and they are now blocking!Here's the first one with the cuff bound off... once they are dry from blocking, they will be wrapped and put under the tree as another great hand knit treasure! Hurrah!!!

Christmas blessings ~

The most special gifts by our tree are the sweetie daughters. One is going out with friends...The other is all sparkly for the Nutcracker Ballet.Both are at the top of my list of blessings!

Holiday Heels ~

Well, one can't spend all one's time in the race up to the holiday by asking questions, can one? As Fred and George would say, "Get back to your knitting" and I did....So, here are the heels turned, and now we are on the straight-away to the cuff pattern! Hurrah!

Holiday Questions ~

Here's a holiday question for you ~ What do you do when you have several projects still waiting to be finished before the Christmas deadline, and you have less than seven days to finish them?Here's another question ~ What do you do when you keep casting on projects in your sleep? OK, let me clarify, not "casting on while you are asleep" but dreaming about casting on projects, with yarn that you truly have, and patterns that you really like.....waking up and you are certain that you've cast on, and those projects are nearby....hmmmmm...Try this one ~ What do you do when you have 3 skeins of Natural Dye Studio yarn that have patiently been waiting to be cast on...plus Signature Needles that are empty and whispering to be used?These are the questions I'm asking.....

Happy Birthday ~

There are some friends that are just the best, ever.... Jitteryknitter is one of them...and I'm so blessed that our paths crossed and now we are stuck on this crazy knitting path together!Here's to a happy happy birthday ~ let's go celebrate with some yarn and holiday fun!
(can you believe this picture we found from 2005!!!)

Holiday Sweaters ~

As part of the last week of Junior High before the holidays, there was a "Tacky Holiday Sweater Day" which seemed like a great idea ~ except that my 13 year old asked if she could look through MY sweaters to pick one....*ahem* ... I don't have any tacky holiday sweaters, truly I don't.She picked out this lovely number by Michael Simon, and she said she had rave reviews at school - not a sweater, but a vest. No way could anyone think this is tacky ~ when I wore this to my kids' elementary school holiday parties, the kids all loved this vest!!! :)

Farewell Socks ~

Dear socks at the corner of our high school and Starbucks. I will miss your whimsy and brightness. I wish you could have stayed. I loved you in all three phases of your creative loveliness, winter, with a news report, spring and this autumn scene below....Many thanks to Suzanne Tidwell, the creative genius behind this lovely art!! I will miss these lovelies!

White Elephant ~

At holiday time, our office celebrates with a white elephant gift exchange. There are about 20 of us that participate, so it is my strategy to find something that will cause some "stealing" of the gifts when they are opened. Our rules are that the opened gift can be stolen 3 times, and belongs to the person that steals the gift the third time. A great gift is one that gets stolen three times!!! Since we have a major Packer Fan in our office, I found one of my daughters very small dresses that she wore when she was in preschool.... with big beads and fringe, very fun to dance in when you are 4 years old.... Nancy opened it first...(she is almost 5 feet tall) I wasn't sure it would fit Nancy, but it looked great!Then Mark stole it...(he is 6 feet 7 inches tall)I couldn't believe it fit him - but it looked great as well.I guess Jerry didn't think it looks so great - he was horrified!!!Very fun, indeed (and our Packer Fan did end up with it...a good ending, and we all lived happily every after!)

Spinning Silk ~

Now that I had success with spinning the merino, I've begun spinning a lovely blend of merino and tussah silk that I purchased from the Desert Charm shop in Sisters Oregon in 2010. I bought a 4 ounce bump for just $3.45 per ounce, so a great deal at $13.80 with no sales tax! The color is a lovely mango, and so pretty.In my first try, the spinning seems to be working out, although I still seem to have a bit more twist than needed....a tension problem?How could there be tension when working with merino silk that is so soft and beautiful!??Plus the color is so lovely! I love practicing with my sweet wheel and lovely fiber!

Mum's shawl done ~

After blocking the peaceful alpaca shawl, there was a transformation into loveliness! What a lovely shawl this turned into!I think mum will love it, as it is pretty and will be cozy warm in all the chocolaty alpaca softness. I have woven in all the ends, and now it is ready to send to Michigan in time for Christmas! Hurrah!!

Birthday Star ~

We celebrated another birthday at our favorite knitting shop, Serial Knitters! What a great place to meet up with our knitting buddies, share laughs and stories while surrounded by lovely yarn and great people!How special that the Deb, the shop owner, shares the shop crown and scarf for our Birthday Star!Plus there was cake! Hurrah!!

Basketball Star ~

Now that basketball has started, we are having such fun going to the games. One daughter supporting the other is great, especially when she makes a "fan" sign to flash from the audience bleachers! Although it is on the back of her homework paper, it was still the only "fan" sign in the gym...so that is pretty exciting, right!Motivated by all the fan support, and the "fan" sign, our basketball star was awesome again. Not the 12 points she scored in her first game last week, in just the eight minutes that she played, but still an amazing performanceHurrah Foondie!!!! Go Foondie!!!!

Eggnog and Gussets ~

Motoring along with joy, I am knitting the gussets on these lovely socks. The colors are such fun, and the yarn is fun to knit.Since this daughter puts many holes in her hand knit socks due to lots of wearing love, she has asked if I can reinforce the heel and gusset, so I will try to add some nylon thread to the knitting there.... I hope this doesn't get into a big tangled mess.....stay tuned...

Love a Llama ~

Instead of telling you that I'm not making a lot of progress on my moebi (is this the proper plural of moebius???), I am going to tell you about a great organization Heifer International. I believe that Clara Parkes also supports this great organization, so please check it out. My favorite donation is the knitting basket - an alpaca, a bunny, a llama and a sheep.... I think those are the main knitting basket animals. The stories and success from Heifer International are amazing and inspiring, so please consider donating as you feel appropriate. At least check their website to look at the adorable animals!!!

Eggnog and Toes ~

Now that the knitting is finished on the alpaca shawl for mum, I am quickly knitting on the next deadline. Yes, the shawl still needs to be blocked and ends woven in, but must keep knitting!These are the lovely Koigu socks, using Sock Summit yarn from this year, and the knitting fabric is so cute - almost like polka dots! This yarn is the choice of oldest daughter, and youngest daughter calls the color a very very bad name....

Happy Birthday Dad ~

Happy Birthday to my Dad!!! I hope you are having a great day and a fun time doing fun things that you like!I think this picture was taken in 1971....That's my sweetie sister with Dad....lovely family!