Happy Birthday To Me!

Here are some knitting related items I got for my birthday when we celebrated last night (even though my birthday is today...but I have to work all day and teach tonight.....you get the picture)
First is this very cute snowman whose body is a ball of yarn and it's holding knitting needles. It's adorable, but I'm wondering if he/she is thinking of knitting herself into something else! LOL
This came from my mom and dad. How cute is this? And I wonder what Coco thinks of it! Mom said there was also a Santa with a yarn body too, so I might just have to go get him to keep this one company.


Next is this book that I had on my amazon wish list. My sister Diane sent it to me. I haven't had a chance to check it out thoroughly, but I do know there are some very funky looking garments in this book. I don't know that I'll make anything that is in this book, but I DO know that I'll be inspired by some of the ideas and will make other things.


Then there are 2 pairs of Born clogs to show off my hand knit socks. Not that I have that many pairs of hand knit socks, but I plan on having many more. They are so comfy and I'm glad Jane told me about them, because I had never heard of Born shoes before. I have big and wide feet and I have such a hard time finding shoes to fit and that are comfortable that I tend to just live in my Etonic Trans Am Trainers that come in a wide width and I know fit. So I keep buying the same shoes over and over and over. When I found a pair of Danskos at the thrift store last year and they fit me, I at least had another pair to switch off with. But I'm not a shoe girl, and don't go looking for shoes. When my old Etonics are looking sad, I just hop on over to Meijer and get another pair. When I found the Danskos, at that time I hadn't heard of them either, but they fit, and when I saw they were from Denmark I figured they were good shoes. Did some research online when I came home and found out I had gotten quite a deal for $5.00!

I got a few other non-knitting related gifts too which are just as worthy of mention...a pair of beautiful purple suede gloves from mom and dad. Kim and Drew gave me a Johhny Depp DVD and a candle from BBW/White Barn that I have been wanting for a while. Every time I go to the mall I have to go into White Barn and sniff the Buttered Mashed Potatoes candle. I know...it's weird. What a scent for a candle. But I can't help myself...I just stand there for 5 minutes or so, sniffing the candle over and over...then I leave. Now I can sniff in private. I have it sitting next to my computer right now so it can waft over to my nose. Mmmm.........

New Project

Back in the spring when I was visiting Diane, we each picked up a denim jacket with the intention of cutting off the sleeves and knitting on new ones. Well, Diane got hers done a long time ago and I finally just started mine yesterday. I wasn't loving the whole process of getting the stitches started (by poking holes in the denim every 1/8" and pulling a loop up through the hole and putting it on a needle) It was very tedious and time consuming. But once I got it done, the fun began! Pick a color, knit for a while, knit the same amount of rows on the other sleeve, and switch colors. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

I have decreased quite a bit already, (30 stitches from the amount I started with) but you'd never know it by looking. The sleeves still look really huge to me. I guess because the opening was large to begin with....maybe I should have decreased more drastically right away. I don't know. I think it will be fine.

Up for a contest?

Pop on over to Kim's blog, check out her Knitting Matters site, comment on it, and be put in the drawing! Go on, you know you want to!

Busy Weekend

I worked Friday morning, then went home to finish getting ready to be one of the "local designers" featured at an Open House at Heritage Spinning and Weaving in Lake Orion. I had my beaded bookmarks, personalized beaded pens, a few other pieces of jewelry, some eyeglass chains, and my 2 patterns for sale. It was a fun evening, and I was supposed to be there for the Saturday session too, but was unable to make it.

Here are Pat and Miri when they stopped by to pick up a few pens, etc. These are a couple of my knitting buddies from the Thursday night knitting group at Borders. Tamara came too, but she wasn't here for the photo op. I guess I should have taken another one...sorry Tam!

The reason I couldn't be there on Saturday is because Kaitlyn was getting ready to go to her first Homecoming Dance. Oh boy, here we go. Why did they move 9th grade to the high school? I'm not ready for her to be in high school. And going to the homecoming dance. With a boy. With a boy who is a junior. Yikes..... Gotta keep a close eye on her....

They had a good time though, and that's a good thing. Memories in the making....

Today we did some stuff around the house that has been nagging at us yet remaining undone. Stuff like gathering clothes and other stuff for Goodwill. Gathered from many locations. Drawers, bedroom closets, coat closets, here there and everywhere. Threw away a lot of stuff too. Then....Laundry. TONS of laundry. Got the flannel sheets and comforter on Jake's bed because we've had some mighty chilly nights lately. Took a ride this afternoon to the cemetary to visit my MIL's grave. She passed away in April and her birthday was Thursday so it felt right to go. I love how we can see the big angel statue from her resting place. When we got home I baked an apple pie (we picked apples on Thursday). We ordered some broasted chicken for dinner because it was getting late and I didn't feel like doing another darned thing. I am going to go watch some TV in a few, and knit a bit. I am in love with Jo Sharp Silk Road. It is easing its way up to the top of my all-time favorite yarn list...right next to Noro Blossom.

Contest entry

Pitiful as it is, here is my entry.
(photo taken in the early morning sun...wow, can you believe the size of the shadows that socks can throw on the deck?)

Jane is having a contest over on her blog. Take picture of all the socks you have knit (that you still have in your possession or can get your hands on) and send her the link, and she'll put you in a drawing for one of several beautiful sock yarns.

I hesitate to even submit this paltry entry, considering Jane has a drawerful....I mean drawer FULL of beautiful handknit socks. The photo doesn't show all of the pairs she's given away. If you go to her sock gallery you'll see that she has knit 25 pairs of socks just so far this year. Yowsa!

And if you're wondering about those 2 balls of Wildefoote at the top of the photo...I included them because Jane asked for photos of all the socks you've knit. Well, she says "finished socks". Those 2 balls were once socks I knit. And finished. (but then frogged because they were too big) So I decided to include them. Maybe I should just find the post that shows them before frogging.... Ok, here they are. Look at the above photo...who knew that those 2 little balls of yarn could produce socks THIS HUGE??
I'm still working on getting just the right size....my beach socks are just a bit big too, but I can live with them. My next pair I am definitely going to make a bit smaller. And someday this pair will once again become a pair of socks ....that fit. Looking at this photo again reminds me of how much I loved this yarn. Maybe I will reknit these socks before tackling any of the other dozen or so sock yarns I have gathered recently...


I'll finish by saying that if you haven't checked out Queen Kahuna's Crazy Toes & Heels book, you really should do so. She has revolutionized the process of knitting socks.

And don't forget to check out Lynn's great sock patterns here.

A week or so ago I was emailing with Edna about my Bloom Shawl pattern, Blossom yarn (and how it is my favorite of all time) and a few other things. Edna has a store in CA and was going to be knitting a Bloom Shawl for her shop, and had been trying to order some Blossom when she was told it was discontinued. She told me this and I started freaking! NO MORE BLOSSOM? HUH? But then, I thought about it, and wondered why they would come out with several new colors just to discontinue the yarn. Maybe just the colors Edna wanted were discontinued?

YES! That was it...she emailed me back and said she had misunderstood, it was just some of the colors that were discontinued. WHEW!

Meanwhile, because I had voiced my extreme fondness of the lovely Blossom, Edna sent me a little package. It arrived a few days ago, so cutely wrapped in turquoise and orange. I was a little perplexed by the little pin on the ribbon that said "baby", until I opened the card....which says "that was almost us....2 cry babies...hope you like this color... very subtle" . Isn't that sweet of her? She said it was a little something from my "not so secret" secret pal. I am going to send her a little something in return. Now I have another skein to add to my growing stash of Blossom. I have over 20 now, in various colors, which will eventually become a throw. I'm searching for just the right pattern before I get started. Any ideas?