Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, this will be my last post until we get into our new house. With any luck, we will have the office (and my computer) set up by next weekend but no promises.

I'll be picking up the U-Haul truck on Wednesday morning and we head out of town on Thursday. I hope Arizona is ready for us!

Very Funny Email

I just got this and had to share it with all of you.....



Yesterday I was in Wal-Mart buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for my dog
and was about to check out.

A woman behind me asked if I had a dog. What did she think I had? So since
I'm retired, with little to do, I told her that no I didn't have a dog, and
that I was starting the Purina Diet again. I explained that I probably
shouldn't be going back on this diet because I'd ended up in the hospital
last time, although I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive
care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it
works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one
or two every time you feel hungry and that the food is nutritionally
complete so I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that
practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story).

Horrified , she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food
poisoned me. I told her no; that I had just stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish
Setter's ass and a car hit both of us.

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack, he was
laughing so hard!

WAL-MART won't let me shop there anymore.

Isn't it Fetching...

Pattern: Fetching
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran
Color: 300007

Admittedly this post is coming to you late since I finished these on Monday morning but I've been spending a lot of time this week with my neighbor doing some scrapbooking. Right after finishing these I headed across the street to see if Mary could help me make a Knitting Journal and that, of course, led to shopping (because you have to have all the proper materials) and we've spent the rest of the week scrapping. Until finally last night, I taught her to knit!

Welcome to the dark side Mary!

This is great...

I just saw this at Mason-Dixon and had to share it with all of you.

Let the Countdown Begin!

Jason and I are moving to Arizona in just 11 short days. That means that not only are we getting ready for Christmas - buying presents, knitting and beading - we are also packing.

Friday was my last day at work. I am/was a nanny to and adorable ray of sunshine, Tootie. She is almost 2 years old, walking or running everywhere, getting into everything, and just generally being a toddler. She is still learning to talk and 2 weeks ago said she loved me for the very first time and I cried myself to sleep knowing how much I'm going to miss her.

Yesterday I packed up my closet, shoes and all. Let me tell you, packing the clothes was really no big deal, most of it doesn't fit me anyway or still has the tags on it so unpacking is going to be like shopping! But packing up all my shoes was HARD to do! It was a bit like shoe shopping at first because I got to see so many of them that I didn't remember I had, but I didn't get to try them on. After that was done, I did what any other shoe addicted woman would do - I went right out and bought 2 more pair!! :)

I'm not sure what we are packing today, Jason has already started though. (hopefully I can hide so I won't have to anything but knit, I'm a better supervisor than packer) Don't get me wrong, I do my part, but packing overwhelms me and I kind of panic. Jason is really good at just making a list of what needs to be done by when and he can stick to it...so it kind of works out. I just pack up whatever he tells me or rather, he asks me what I'm keeping and then he packs it or I throw it out.

I am really excited about the move, it's going to be my first time as a homeowner. I'm already decorating it in my mind. I can't wait to get there and start really making it ours. Of course I'll post pics along the way so you can all make the journey from madness to "home" with me! But until that day comes...

we countdown!

Finally finished the first sock!

Well it took a week longer than I had planned, but I kitchnered the toe last night and blocked sock #1.
Edit: This is not actually my first pair of socks ever, they are my 3rd (still not many). This is just the first of this pair.Hubby tried it on last night before I blocked it and it looked a tad big which has me a little concerned. I made the overall foot length 1/4" shorter than his foot hoping that it would make his sock fit better. I thought I did the same for the toe as well but seeing as I didn't atually measure that part, that may be longer than the 2" I was guessing. Doesn't matter, he likes them...now to see if he is actually going to wear them (when I finish the 2nd) somewhere other than around the house! I have a feeling he is getting 1 sock for Christmas because I'm just not sure I can finish the other one in time.

I've now moved on to a pair of Fetching mitts for my sister. I've never made mitts before and never done cables before so this ought to be fun. I'm using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. I'll post pics when I actually have something to show, but for now I'm off to do my very first cable cast on.

Missed Goal

Since there have been no pics, you can imagine I didn't meet my goal of having the first sock done by Sunday. It was actually kind of sad. I crawled into bed tired as could be but then couldn't sleep for that sock haunting me...so I got up and worked on it until 3am. On Sunday we went and decorated my mother's house for Christmas. When we got home, I pulled out the knitting and just couldn't do it, my hands hurt too much. (seems I was holding the dpns with a death grip the night before)

To make a long story short, I finally finished turning the heel last night and with luck I'll get a good portion of the foot done today. No more goals of finishing the sock today...I'm just not fast enough yet.

I'll post pics when it is finally done.

First WIP pic

Just remember that I'm a relatively new knitter, I still haven't mastered knitting while doing anything else...except listening to the tv.
This is the beginning of a pair of socks for my husband. They are a very simple 2x2 rib. He generally prefers crew socks so the cuff doesn't need to be much longer than it already is, but I'm going for a more dress sock look. The yarn is Trekking in color #1603.

Wish me luck on finishing this first sock tomorrow!

Pay It Forward/ Random Acts of Kindness

I have been participating in Sheri's RAK month and having so much fun. Last night while catching up on some blog reading, I noticed that Knitting Linguist is participating in the Pay It Forward Exchange and I just had to get in on it. She is not the first I've seen participating but I'd been on the fence as to whether or not I'm capable of joining in. (being such a new knitter and all) Well, last night I decided to just do it already...so why don't you come join me!

“It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based on the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on. So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

I will now Pay It Forward to you THREE, I wonder who you will be?! Please, be a PIF! You will enjoy it just as much as we do!”

And, remember…you have 6 months to get your gifts done! Come on, you know you would love to be one of my angels. Then, one day, but you don’t know when….you will get a gift that I have made especially for YOU!

Please remember, you don’t have to knit or crochet to participate, anyone who can make a nice handmade gift is welcome to join.

I'm looking forward to seeing who will be my angels!

Now I'm off to do the nasty mundane things like pay bills and such before I can spend the rest of my day knitting.

Recent FOs

I'm a couple of days late posting these but Tuesday ran away from me, I was having just too much fun doing nothing. Then yesterday when I got the camera out to take photos, the silly thing just died after snapping the pics. Seems I hadn't charged the battery since Thanksgiving...that'll happen.

Anyway, here are a couple of Loopy scarves I finished over the Thanksgiving weekend.

That is my precious Ellie, she is my baby. You'll see a lot of her as she is always nearby to protect me from anything and everything. :)

The scarves are all Trendsetter Yarns Segue. A pretty nice yarn to work with but I am kind of glad that I don't have to make any more just yet. These were a very quick knit even for a beginner like me, they only took a few hours each.

I also finished a shrug I was making for my sister for Christmas.
The blue is Lion Brand Wool-Ease with just a touch of a novelty yarn at the cuffs for color. This photo makes it look like the arms are different lengths but I promise that isn't the case, the whole thing was made in one piece and then sewn together to make the arm holes. BTW, that is me having such a bad hair day, I won't post the picture of the front.

Introduction

I would like to take just a moment to introduce myself. I am very new to blogs in general, I've only been reading them for about a month or so. But I've been wanting to start my own almost from the beginning.

I am a relatively new knitter, I learned about 6 years ago but have only avidly been relearning for the past 2 years. I still consider myself very new but I am loving everything that I try.

Since I am starting this blog in the middle of holiday knitting season I will post a couple of my FOs and WIP tomorrow.