my new goal....

ok, here's my new challenge to myself.... I'm going to make myself use up the beautiful yarn sent to me by past Secret Pals....and then post pics or, ok post as I go.... I've been a bit of a slacker in that department...I don't know why, it's all very nice and I like it very much. I think it might be that I've just been petting and coveting it (must. get. life.) and thinking about what it might like to be! yeah that must be it.

Ooooh maybe I should cast on a project from each of the yarns at the same time!!! eeeh that might be fun!


So I started on a sock from the hand died merino from the lovely Nicole H. And I chose the Retro Rib Socks pattern from Favorite Socks by Interweave. I like the pattern...but it distracted from the beautiful yarn colors, and the colors took away from the pattern. So, it just wasn't a good match. I knitted about 4 inches and ripped it out last night, I'll just stick with the basic stockinette and so far I'm liking it much better....what do you think?

I think yes....I like it!

In other news....It was a busy but good week! Well, busy as my weeks go I guess. I went with my DB to see 300 tonight. It was interesting....it was done almost like a comic book or something...but it was good for what it was. And does anyone else out there think Gerard Butler is hot? You know, Gerard "Phantom of the Opera" Butler! well...um if you do...you should go see 300...where we see alot more of ol Gerard....very nice.

Ok enough of that! I've got a sock to knit.

Happy Weekend.

Package #1

Woohoo... I just mailed off my pals first package!! Yay!

And I finally started working on my Noro Blossom sweater again....I'm knitting the neck and then I'll sew it up and hopefully be able to wear it before it's too warm. It actually has been too warm lately, but we're having a little cool down this week, so we'll see.

The second sock is almost finished. I'll graft the toe today then I'll post a picture. I like the striping better on this one. I have no idea why it's different. oh well.

And that's my exciting life....hahaha.... work has been busier lately, but today, I'm having a leisurely day off. Gotta love it.

Life's Good. Happy Knitting.

ps....Rachel, remember the little pepper plant in a can you sent me in sp8? Well...I took a pic today with my camera phone but it hasn't arrived in my e-mail yet....it's not only blooming but it has peppers on it...one of them is even red! Very cool....oh and it's still in that little can!!!

OK, here's the pic!!! Isn't it cool?

How Cool is This?

My Hostess for SP10 is Robyn. Robyn is already offering a second contest....two contests and it's only been 6 days since the start of Secret Pal 10. Now that's pretty cool! You go Robyn.

So here's the deal:
She wants us to blog about (and show a picture of) our favorite knitting accessory. Here is mine:




It's my Constant Companion knitting bag from the book Knitter's Stash.
I knit it for myself from Cascade 220 worsted wt wool.
I love love love this bag.....I loved knitting it... I loved the way it came out of the washer after felting with perfect corners...I loved the way my first attempt at chart work (the pattern on the pocket) turned out. I love the way the handles can be short and doubled or long and single. But mostly I love this about it:

It does a lovely job of containing all my other favorite knitting projects and accessories. (It doesn't look bad sitting next to my couch....and looks very nice against my carpet!)

ps...Rachel, if you're reading this, look closely into the bag....I really do use the needle rolls and the small project bags you sent me. love them too!

ps...I finished the sock!!!

weird striping huh? I think it's because of the rib pattern, I'm thinking I'll decrease the cast on to 60 in place of 64, on my next pair, which should fit fine and might make the striping a little bit more like the foot/toe area. maybe.

new day, new season and a new attempt at posting....

OK, let's try this again shall we? Happy Spring everyone...it's officially spring, or so they said on the news tonight.

I got to sleep in today, until the phone rang waking me up to remind me of my dentist appt. tomorrow. I hate waking up to the phone ringing, I'm always afraid I'm supposed to be somewhere and overslept! I did have to go in to the office for a little while today, but not long. Had a quick lunch with my sister first, and then I went to the LYS and looked, found a few little things for my secret pal's first package, and in general just hung out and visited. (note to self: take your knitting next time).


Here are the pics I couldn't post last night...


The sweater sleeve mentioned in the previous post:
the yarn is Noro Blossom, it's the ladies striped sweater from the Noro pattern book vol. 20

And the sock and really white foot (with the fancy toes):
the yarn is claudia hand painted 100% merino, size 2 dbl pts and just a generic sock pattern with the leg in k2p2 ribbing. (i'm getting tired of ribbing...not good on the first sock)

And that's what I've been working on!

I'm procrastinating on making up the sweater, hence the sock in progress!

I love knitting socks...have I mentioned that? No matter what else I'm working on....I like having a sock on the needles too. And I have the sock yarn stash to prove it. In fact, when I started this sock, I was being kinda lazy. I had my sweater pieces all pinned out blocking on the dining room table, which also happens to be where I usually set up the winder, sooo I had the winder put away. Soooo I just grabbed the claudia which was already wound instead of setting up the winder and swift and winding what I really wanted to use which is this :

Lovely hand dyed (specially for me by my sp9 spoiler Nicole
100% Merino. Isn't it beautiful? I can't wait to see it on my feet. Tell me people, is it ok to knit socks in from a beautiful dyed yarn like this in a pattern....like some fancy stitch pattern verses stockinette? would it take away from the color? or would the color variation take away from the pattern?

Oh and while I was looking for that picture, I remembered that I don't think I've posted a picture of this: The Danica Enterlac Scarf in Noro Silk Garden. I can't tell you what a nice blocking in a little bit of wool wash does for this scarf. Soft, drapey, so nice!!! I just love it!

And on that note, I have to get going.... I bought my sp's favorite candy for her first package....and um... I had a moment of weakness.... ate it...finished it off today.... now I need to go find real food. At least it's gone and it's over. I'll have to pick up some more tomorrow...shhhh don't tell her!

Third time's a charm!

Alright....I've just about had it with this thing...this is my third attempt at blogging and posting pics tonight. I'm not sure where the problem is but I'm tired of trying.

close your eyes and picture the sleeve from what will be a beautiful sweater knit from Noro Blossom....and my beautiful half finished sock from Claudia hand painted , it's on my very white foot with fancy nail polish from my pedicure last week...woo. hoo. There was much more enthusiasium in the two previous posts with actual pics!

happy monday woohoo woohoo.

secret pals...and....lies

OK...I heard from both my secret pals this week! (my spoiler and my spoilee) Yay!!! I think it's going to be great fun! And today I went shopping....and have all sorts of ideas for my pal's first package....

oh the lies part....well that's all me, last post I said I'd post pics this time...not going to happen. I'm not supposed to be at the computer, I'm supposed to be cleaning the house and I'm being a slacker instead. So....I'll try to post pics later....really I really will! Honest!!!!

Happy St Patty's Day everyone!
Beware of green beer ( you don't really know where that's been!)

finished objects

ok...pics next post....but I'm feeling guilty about neglecting my blog....so here's what I've been doing.

1. I knit a sweater for my mom for her birthday from Noro Revisited by Cornelia Tuttle
Hamilton. It's called Avesta and it's knit in Transitions. (forgot to take a pic before I mailed
off this morning.

2. Finally finished the hat for my son knit in sock yarn.

3. Finally sewed the suede bottoms on the felted clogs I knit him before Christmas.

4. Tonight I'm supposed to be blocking the pieces of my sweater so I can make it up.
It's also in Noro, Blossom. Its from Noro Knitting Yarns Volume 20. It's the Noro Blossom
Ladies Stripped Sweater. I will post a picture of it soon.

5. I made a feeble effort to learn to use my drop spindle....feeble but an effort .... it's going to
take some practice!!

6. Soon....very soon.... I get to start something new!!! Yippeeeee! I'm ready to start some new
socks or something!

Knit on my friends!

sp10 questionnaire

Can't believe it's already time for Secret Pal 10!!


Here is the questionnaire for SP10.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? I really enjoy using Noro yarns, especially the
Silk Garden. Love Manos Del Uruguay and Malibrigo. In general I prefer "natural" fibers, wool, silk, etc...
What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I'm not a big fan of acrylic.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have a couple of great needle rolls that my first sp made for me, and a wonderful Della Q
circular needle case which was a Christmas gift from my mother.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn?
I learned briefly when I was about 10 but don't recall finishing anything. Then about
one year ago I taught myself to knit. Since then I haven't really put the needles down. I've
had a lot of help from my friends at the LYS, and friends in my knitting circle.
Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? Intermediate.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? no.

5. What's your favorite scent? hmmm I like the spice scents, citrus scents, vanilla, lavender.
Not a big fan of the flowery scents.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? Chocolate, Chocolate. Chocolate. But I'm trying
to behave.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? I do a little sewing, have quilted
some in the past. I used to cross-stitch but haven't in years. I do most home
improvement/repairs myself or with the help of my son and/or brother.
Do you spin? Well....actually....I recently purchased a drop spindle kit. But I haven't used it
yet.....I'm hoping that soon my friends Brooke, and Heatherly will help me get started with
that!!!

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants
to make you a CD) I like all music with the exception of really hard rock and rap.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? I guess I pretty much like
them all.

10. What is your family situation? I have a grown son who has his own house now.
Do you have any pets? One elderly cat and one goldfish.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Scarves yes, gloves vs mittens...not much
hats or ponchos.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? I love to knit socks....just love it. And anything I
get to knit for my son!

13. What are you knitting right now? I have two sweaters in progress both from Noro. One
beanie for my son knitted from Claudia hand painted sock yarn.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Well....Yeah!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I like bamboo and
Addi circulars. Crystal Palace dbl points for socks.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Well yes...yes I do...thanks sister!

17. How old is your oldest UFO? maybe a month or two.

18. What is your favorite holiday? I like Christmas I suppose.

19. Is there anything that you collect? hehehe yarn.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on?
hmmm, I'll have to get back to this one.
What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? Creative Knitting (thanks Jenny)

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Intarsia!

22. Are you a sock knitter? Yes...What are your foot measurements? length = 9 inches, 8 inch circumference I think, and a pretty standard size 8 shoe.

23. When is your birthday? Feb 7.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

last weekend

Can you tell where I went last weekend?

Yep, made a quick trip down to the City to see my friend Tammy. (this is the trip I was supposed to make for New Years Eve but didn't.) I stayed for a day and came home, it was a beautiful day in San Francisco. We did walk to Greenwich Yarn and Needlework. It's a cute little store. I was hoping to find an extra skein of the Claudia for the hat, (which has turned into the hat from hell.) But since I've ripped it back completely, and am decreasing the cast on by about 2 inches, I'm pretty sure I don't need a second skein anymore!

This is the funky little Constant Companion Bag (from the book knitter's stash) that I made for my sister for her birthday! Cute huh?

All signed up for sp10 even though I told myself I was going to skip it this round...it's just too much fun!

Rachel - I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to get in touch and make plans to see you in SF. I promise next trip I'll drop you an e-mail and we can make plans to sip hot chocolate and knit together!!!

bad blogger....

I've been a bad blogger ...again! Sorry, I'm having a bit of a blogger's block. :)

I am not however having a knitter's block so all is not lost!

Yay! I finished the socks from hell for my son. They fit him very well after multiple starts and frogs and customizing, which is great because now I have that pattern down!! woohoo!!

The yarn: Claudia Hand Painted fingering weight 100% Merino in the colorway Black Walnut
(one skein for each sock with a tiny bit left over and I'm hoping to get the hat done in one skein)
Needles: size #2 dbl pts from crystal palace.
Pattern: is pretty much the Yarn Harlot's basic sock pattern with some customizing by me (ankle decreases).


And I'm halfway through the beanie he asked if I could make from the same sock yarn....(what was I thinking when I said "sure!")

Same yarn as the socks...the Harlot's basic hat patttern and size 2 dbl pts

But all that knitting on tiny size 2 dbl pts....I needed a break, and I got one when I made my sister a companion bag for her birthday. (forgot to take a pic but should have one soon).

And so I'll have a diversion while the hat is in progress, I started a sweater for myself!

Yarn: Noro Blossom color #9

Needles: size 10 addi circulars

pattern: From the book Noro vol. 20, Y763 Noro Blossom Ladies Stripped Sweater

Now the sweater looks a little short but it should be ok when it's blocked. the stitch pattern is alternating 6 rows St st with 6 rows reverse St st. So it has a horizontal ribbed effect until it's blocked. (wish me luck) I'm finished with the back and halfway thru the front!

Off to work, ta ta and have a great weekend.

Secret Pal Strikes Again.....

Extra...Extra....wow...extra is right. My secret pal (Miss Nicole of allbuttonedup.wordpress.com) went way above and beyond!! Really....this was waiting on my doorstep when I got home tonight. This is a full box:

what you see here is: well the contents of the box of course

That's a copy of KnitScene, the magazine. The book: Knitting Under the Influence. Knitter's Coasters, notecards, perfume (White Cherry Blossom), the sheep tape measure, an assortment of Tazo Teas, a cute little decorative box, 10 buttons, and a book of stamps with the Gee's Bend Quilts on them .... and.... a skein of cotton chenille which I'll use to make a washcloth. And a very nice card where in she reveals herself (so to speak). But wait....that's not all:

This is a scarf pattern, not just a scarf pattern but a pattern designed by my secret pal! I can't wait to knit it. Oh wait....and then there was this:

This.....this is a skein of hand dyed (by my pal) merino sock yarn in of course the white cherry blossom colorway!!!! And cute little stitch markers labeled 1 thru 4 for sock knitting and of course one that says "I heart Sox" (too cute Nicole) And what's that? An Indiana U pin.....hmmm looks like Stanford colors though hahaha.

I don't know what else to say..... I love it all.... I'm sooooo spoiled!!!! Hey Friends....didn't she do a great job as a secret pal???? !!!! Thanks Nicole!!!

I'm Sorry.....

I’ve been a baaaaad blogger! And the only excuse I have….which really is no excuse is that…well…. I have no excuse, so here’s a feeble attempt at trying to catch up!

First….. My lovely secret pal….sent me this in the mail:





(It arrived yesterday) its theeeee most wonderfully delicious chocolately nut covered crunchy buttery toffee I’ve ever….ever …eaten….and when I say eaten… I do mean, ….eaten…. as in ALL OF IT! Holy crap was it yummy. Here you see evidence of what it looked like….this morning, before I ate that piece….ya know…that LAST piece. (I may be a candy whore) YUM
Thank so much secret pal!!! You were right….it’s theeee best. (Well it was the best).
Now Teri and Julie, stop laughing at me….I had one day…and a half of horrible dietary indiscretion…but I assure you both…I’m back on track now…I have to be, there’s no more candy in the house.
I’d been doing so well too….today is day 9 or 10 of eating healthy and no caffeine well except that wee little bit in the chocolate ….rats. and except for Red Lobster last night, can’t resist the cheesy biscuits!


And…moving on…this is my niece Jenny, myself and my sister Teri knitting before Christmas (told you I’m behind).







And this… is the sweater I knitted for Christmas for my other niece Lindsay. It’s from the Naturally Noro pattern book, but I used Debbie Bliss. Still waiting to here if it fit so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for that.




This is my little Christmas tree…. (I went fake tree a few years back while in school, and I love it. Love the size; change it up every year, easy clean up…and the lights stay on it!)


This is my Christmas loot:


The Powerbolt 1000 yes that’s right friends…it’s a keypad door lock!!! Been wanting one for awhile and my DS got it for me for Christmas….(he was looking for a spinning wheel…but luckily changed his mind, I think I should try a drop spindle or a spinning class first before he invests in a wheel for me hehehe there’s always my b-day!)

He actually was going to get me this:



But my dear sister and her hubby beat him to it! Thank goodness for Joanne at Heartstrings, she was my Christmas gift coordinator this year!!! Seriously, she helped my mom by a gift certificate and this over the phone:



And my dear brother gave me the home depot gift certificate…because…that’s what we usually do (I disappointed him with an afghan this year hehehe) my poor family…they may be getting sick of the knitting. ha! but I’m not! He also got me a couple of books. The new Denzel book and

"The Ghost Map.

My son got me the new John Grisham, loved it. I gave him an afghan, and a scarf both which he seemed to like, I held back the felted clogs, mostly because I haven’t felted them hehehe.

This is what I’ve been working on:
this is the sock from hell. Started these for my son, made them bigger than I would for me of course (him being full grown and all) and then after multiple frogging incidents…no, I mean halfway done or more and then frogging the whole thing….measured his leg and foot, figured my gauge and designed the sock to fit him with his muscley calves and skinny ankles….and it’s finally going to be perfect… I think. While I’ve put way more time than usual into this pair of socks….I have learned a lot about sock knitting and I think the next pair I make for myself might actually stay up rather than slip down around my ankle! But we’ll see. Hehehe

Also, my sister had a birthday!!!! On the 3rd. Still working on her gift….but it’s going to be way cool when it’s done. I ran into some logistics problems but they’re worked out now! So with the sock shaping up, and the logistics all worked out…I feel like my knitting karma is back on the good side…I hope.

And Happy New Year!!

I wish you all a healthy happy knitty new year!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

I'm sitting here, just finished the last Christmas scarf! It's A Wonderful Life is on. aaaah that's nice.
DS and I went to my sis's house for dinner tonight...(her homemade soup and rolls yum!) and did the gift exchange! She and her DH got me a winder and swift, and I got her a winder and talked her DH into getting her the swift....So, we literally exchanged gifts really....the same gifts pretty funny. So Long story short...we're happy knitters tonight!!!!

Tomorrow.... a nice quiet day with my son, more gifts, movies, dinner with son and brother!!!

Hope everyone else is having as nice a holiday as we are!

Happy Holidays!

dang sidebar

for some reason, my sidebar starts where mine main blog ends at the bottom of the page. I don't know why, nor do I know how to fix it. Any ideas?

on a good note, the internet and cable are back on. The company (who shall remain nameless) disconnected the wrong house....yeah.

Darned Cable Internet

So, I came home for lunch today, turned on the TV to find that my cable is all messed up. I'm hesitant to say it's "out" because, there is some semblance of some sort of signal there, but that's it...fuzzy, black, menu, no menu...what the #@$%^&*&*? I have no idea....and why are the first four symbols a link? A link to where??? Probably a link straight to hell.... don't click on it my friends don't do it!!!

Anyhow...if the cable is "out" my internet is also out. So I am right this minute sitting at Barnes and Noble (it's ok to click on this one...I think), sipping a pumpkin spice latte which will no doubt fuel my all night knitting. And, I had to PAY for internet here.... 3.95 for 2 hours!!! And it keeps disconnecting!!! Damn the cable company!!!!

Ok, I'm over it.. hehehe. I'm going home to knit!!!

OH.... and one more thing.....Please my friends... Pay a little visit to www.yarnharlot.ca and read todays blog post....don't forget your tissues.... I think Ms. Pearl-Mcphee is a wonderful person! Can you give?

Happy weekend everybody!

Busy Busy Busy

Well sorry it's been a while since I last blogged (Teri)!!! Like everybody else out there...I've been busy!!! Working, Knitting, Shopping, Playing! Yay...

THANK YOU Secret Pal!!! Today, I received an audio book from my secret pal. It's "Next" by Michael Crichton. I can't wait to get started on it...while I finish knitting Christmas presents!! Yay thanks!!!! What a great gift!

Also along the SP9 line....I sent off my pals December/Christmas package... she should get it next week....weeeeee.

And....Happy Birthday to Pseudobunny, my SP8 spoiler....watch your doorstep tomorrow! UPS Rocks, next day delivery! Of course it helps that we're in the same state!

Yesterday.... I went winetasting with a friend. We went to Amador County. Favorite of the three we visited was Montevina in/near the little town of Plymouth on Hwy 49. I highly recommend it for those of you who like wine.
Favorite Montevina Red: Barbera, no, Syrah, no Barbera, ooooh they were both really good!

Tonight...my DS came over, he helped put up my Christmas Tree and helped decorate it too. it's very cute! Thank you DS.

Hope you all are having a great week! Thirteen more days people!!! Yikes....knit away!

aaaahhh the weekend

Yay, the weekend is here! I'm trying to decide which UFO to finish first. I was going to spend Saturday morning raking leaves in my yard, but... when I got home from work tonight there was my nice nephew Jesse in my front yard, raking! Yay, I don't have to rake tomorrow... So.... I'll be knitting, and Christmas shopping, but mostly knitting.

I have two scarves to finish, slippers to felt, an afghan to finish, a sock in progress, oh... and a sweater to finish, and another pair of socks to start and finish. hmmm think I'll finish all that this weekend???? Me either. But....that's ok.

Home Sweet Home

I'm baaaack! Took a quick trip to northern Idaho to see the folks for Thanksgiving. Up on Tuesday home today! It's always frickin cold up there... snowed a little everyday....pretty but cold. Anyhoooo.... good to be home! Here's a pic of what it looks like where they live.

This picture was taken from inside the house and looks out past the back deck, there is actually a huge snow covered mountain past the trees here...but I was too lazy (and warm) to go out into the cold to get a better picture sorry!



Oh wait...found this in my picture folder from a few years ago.... same view, better pic...

And these pics are just a little way down the road from where my folks live....again taken out the window of the moving pick-up....window up of course....brrrr.






Anyway... you get the idea...it's pretty there and uh .... cold.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! gobble gobble!

Craft Harvest

This weekend my sister took me to Sacramento to a harvest festival. It was held in one of the huge buildings at Cal Expo (where the state fair is held). That place was packed full of crafts and their vendors. When we left that place, we realized we'd spent 5 hours looking at artsy craftsy stuff. It took that long to get through the whole place. It was great fun.

And then....we went to Elk Grove to check out the LYS there "Knitique". It was cute, small, nice yarn and nice knitters there but....I guess I'm just spoiled by my LYS's and that's all I'll say about that.

So, after our day in Sac, we came back to my house and .... knitted .... and .... knitted .... and .... knitted. And then, we got up this morning and knitted all day again.
She worked on her first sock and made it through the 2 in of ribbing (Yay) and then she cast on for a neck down cardigan!!!

I...well ... I worked on my trekking sock (with yarn from my sp9 pal) and started a Christmas present so I can't show it...but I can show my sock so far:


I started it on my new knitpicks double points but my guage was a little too loose on them so I switched to these generic bamboo needles, they say they're size 2 but they're actually a little smaller than that. Anyhow I'm happy with the way it's turning out...the colors are wonderful!

Sewed the sleeves on the nieces sweater.... almost done with that, think I'll take it with me to finish over the holiday!

And speaking of holiday, in case I don't get to post again before I leave.....Happy Thanksgiving everybody!