Gift idea for your favorite knitter (or YOU!)

Here are some pens I made up to show to the knitting/blogging world.
I need to get them added into my main webpage
Once In A Bloomoon Creations but for now they can be ordered at this temporary page I set up today
Gifts for the Knitter

There are several kinds of letter beads that can be used, the pens themselves are in 3 parts that can be mixed and matched to a combination you like. I can use one of 3 different lengths of rods to put the beads on, depending on the length of the name you want to use, but obviously there is a limit!

Feature your name, your blog name, your favorite knitting phrase, your company name, whatever!

If you find the webpage hard to manage (or if it's totally whacko because I worked on it with a very fuzzy head....yes, I'm still sick....) just email me with what you want and we'll figure it out from there. Thanks for looking!

Blah....

Today is the first time I've been dressed since Tuesday, and out of bed for more than an hour at a time. I'm sick. It started Tuesday and progressed throughout the day. Wednesday I stayed in bed all day. Yesterday too. Yup, missed Thanksgiving festivities with my family. Stayed home in bed all by my lonesome for the entire afternoon and part of the evening. They brought me home some turkey and side dishes, but unfortunately I couldn't taste anything when I ate it. What a waste!

Mike made me get up and out of bed today. I haven't done much of anything...well, I gave Jake a hair cut, used the Dustbuster on the stairs, played a couple games of Cadoo with the kids, and sneezed about 157 times. I sure hope we don't run out of Kleenex cuz I'm not going out to get more. Maybe I'll just hang a bucket around my neck. UGH.

I did manage to get a bit of knitting done yesterday, and hope to do another mitten or 2 today. I've practically memorized the mitten pattern and have a few more on my list. Nothing more to report at this moment.

Ahhhh AHHHH AHHH CHOO!

Socks: Past, Present and Future

Remember my first pair of socks? The ones made out of beautiful Wildfoote yarn in Brown Sugar colorway? The ones that turned out SO honkin' HUGE? Well, that's them. Yup. Those two balls of yarn on the left are those socks. I frogged them the other night. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it might. I decided that even though they were a "lesson learned", I wasn't willing to just look at the awesome colors of that yarn or feel it in my hands. I want SOCKS! So they will be re-knit at some point in the future.

My Sockotta socks are done! I finished them Monday night and am pleased with the results. They are definitely identical as they could be. The color changes came within a couple of stitches of each other as I was knitting them. On my first socks I just was not "getting" the grafting part...but I realized I didn't have good Kitchener directions in front of me. With the help of one of the other knitting teachers at the shop, I was able to use Kitchener on these socks with great success. Whew, I feel better now that I "get it"! BTW, I knit these socks in 10 days, which I think is pretty darned good for my second pair, and considering the fact that much OTHER knitting went on during that 10 days too. It didn't hurt that there were a helluva lot less stitches on the needles than my first mammoth pair LOL.

I started my Trekking socks last night. That's them on the needles. I thought there was a color repeat in this skein, but I'm beginning to think the entire skein is totally random in its blending of colors. These socks will not be identical twins. They will not even be fraternal twins. We're going to call them "Second Cousin Socks". I have not seen one area of color repeat itself on the other sock yet. They are going to be very different, but that's OK! I LOVE this yarn. The way there are 3 colors stranded together and then one of the colors changes, and then another one changes....very cool! I am using the Fluted Banister pattern that is part of the Six-Sock Knitalong. I'm not doing the knitalong, but I did join the yahoo group so I could see pictures and read messages about the sock patterns. Being a new sock knitter, I want all the help I can get! I like how the pattern is turning out so far. I don't think it gets lost too much in the stripes of the yarn, and I really like how these are going to be leg hugging socks. Here is a better picture of my progress so far.


The untouched skein is the Lana Grossa Multieffects that I got on the Shop Hop on Saturday. I can't wait to get started on that skein too. I love watching the patterns emerge in the self patterning yarns. Whoever came up with the concept was a genious!

Yarn Shop Hop

I'm finally getting a chance to sit down and write about the fun time I had with my friend/neighbor Donna on Saturday morning (which ran well into the afternoon)

3 yarns stores were having a Shop Hop and they were all stores I had never been to before. One is sort of close but I could never find it. I guess the entrance used to be in the back off the parking lot even though the store name suggested they were "ON Main!" They have since moved and there is now an entrance in the front and the back. I finally located it one day when they were closed. The other two stores were far enough away that I hadn't made the trek over there yet, so this was a good excuse to check them all out, and spend a fun morning with Donna.

We started out at Heritage Spinning and Weaving in Lake Orion. What a wonderful shop! LOTS of friendly workers bustling around offering help. This store has lots to offer....lots of yarns for knitters, but also a large room devoted to the spinners and weavers. They had a HUGE selection of sock yarns, which was one thing I wanted to look for that morning so I could knit more socks. At this store I chose a beautiful Trekking XXL skein (colorway 100) and can't wait to see how the socks knit up. I wish I had taken a picture of this beautiful skein before winding it into 2 center-pull balls, because now all the colors are hidden on the inside. From what I could tell as I was winding it, it's going to make lovely blended stripes.

If you spent a minimum of $15 at each store, you got your "passport" stamped and at the last store you entered your passport into a drawing for one of 3 $100 gift certificates. I guess I didn't win because I haven't gotten that phone call I was hoping for. Drats! Each store was giving out a little gift or nice discount. At this store I chose a woven zippered bag which will be good for stashing my stitch markers, tapestry needles, etc. inside my project bag.

The next store we went to was Basketful of Yarn in Clarkston. This store was a whirlwind of activity also. Donna has a friend who works at this store, so we had our own personal shopping assistant. I got some beautiful ribbon yarn to make a poncho out of. I don't have a picture of it because I had Donna take the yarn home with her. It was partly to hide it from Mike (SHHHH! DON'T TELL!) and partly as an incentive for us to get together in her sunroom and sit and knit before the weather gets so cold that we can't use that beautiful room. I'm hoping that maybe sometime next week I can get that luscious project started. This shop had some sinfully delectable chocolates put out for the Shop Hoppers, and I couldn't resist trying a truffle that was soooooooooooooo good and I had to have another. And ok, just one more. I decided to leave some for the other shoppers behind me, so I stopped at 3.

Store # 3 was the previously elusive Skeins on Main in Rochester. This store is incredible. The feeling when you walk in the door is like you want grab your entire stash of yarn from home and move right in for a month. Sit and knit all day long. There is a big table in the front of the store, along with a couch, chairs and a table, sitting in front of a fireplace. The decor is dark walls with a very cozy feeling. From what I understand, this store was previously a Thomas Kinkade art gallery before being taken over by Skeins on Main. If you click on the link to the store and scroll down you can see how beautiful it is inside. The store is really deep, and all along the left side are little walk-in cubbies of yarn, and sitting areas with TONS of knitting books. Towards the back is a FULL KITCHEN for Pete's sake! Back in that area are 3 tall tables with bar stools, which were all filled with people sitting and knitting. Every seating spot in the place was filled with knitters. Obviously a place people like to gather and share their love of Sticks and String. A great selection of yarns presented in a very warm, inviting atmosphere. At this store I bought more sock yarn. This time it was Lana Grossa Multieffect in colorway 3020. It's going to make some awesome socks too! This store was giving out lime green calculators with the store name stamped on them. And they had the BEST cookies on the counter in the kitchen area. The shortbread was to die for and the other cookie I tried seemed to be a citrusy flavor with dried cranberries. OH YUM!

What a fun day it was. I got to check out 3 yarn stores that were new to me, and do some stash enhancement. All yarn bought was for ME! I've been knitting a lot of Christmas gifts, so it will be nice to have these yarns to look forward to finally getting some things knitted for myself soon.

Transformation

A week or so ago I bought a sweater at the thrift store for a couple of bucks made out of a double strand of ribbon yarn. Here is the before picture

And here is what I turned it into, in about 5 or 6 hours of knitting between Sunday evening and Monday morning.

It's just a long rectangle in wrap/drop stitch, folded crosswise and sewn up along the long edge from the bottom towards the neck, and makes an asymmetrical poncho. I added fringe on one side only.I used size 17 needles, and 36 stitches across.

I've gotten lots of compliments on this $2 beauty! Quick and easy! (and gotta love the low cost!)

Mr. Picassohead

What fun! I found the link to Mr. Picassohead on another blog and decided to go check it out. I created a masterpiece(?) which can be seen here. Let me know what you think of it....
I really enjoyed some of the other artwork in the gallery. Check it out! Some people are so creative!

I like this quote

I was just browsing through my Weekend Knitting book by Melanie Falick and came across this quote. Figured I'd pop it in my blog before I head up to bed. I've been fighting some bug the last few days and don't want to stay up too late tonight.

Anyway....

He who works with his hands is a laborer.

He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.

He who works with his hands, his head and his heart is an artist.

~~St. Francis of Assissi

That goes for us too, ladies!

Good night my fellow artists!

B4 and After Felted Mittens

Here are the mittens I knit up for shop samples to advertise my upcoming Felted Mittens class. I knit these with Lamb's Pride worsted weight on size 11 needles. I love how they feel after felting. I also knit up a third mitten, and inside the cuff I picked up stitches along the top of the ribbing (not the edge) with a non-felting yarn and knit another ribbing cuff inside the wool one, so when felted, there is a cuff that is tighter to the wrist. The mitten without this inside cuff is kind of loose around the wrist. It has to be or else you couldn't fit your hand inside. I wanted to show this option in case some people wanted to know what it looked like, if they chose to do it. I'm going to have to get a picture of that mitten. I didn't take one before I took it into the shop. Maybe tomorrow when I go in to work I will bring my camera and hopefully remember to do that.

Second Socks

Here's the progress on my second pair of socks. I have actually knit more since this picture was taken. I am enjoying knitting with the self patterning yarn. It's so fun to see the stripes emerge! I started these on Friday morning, and am hoping to have them done by the end of the weekend. I've decided to frog my first pair and reknit them. I loved the yarn so much I can't let it go to waste! These are done in Cotton/Wool/Nylon blend Sockotta yarn.

First pair of socks are done!

My first pair of socks are off the needles, and while I am proud of myself for completing them in about 2-1/2 weeks, the bad news is....as suspected....they are way too big. But I am not fretting, I'm using this as a learning experience, and have already started on my second pair.

I took a picture of my foot in a shoe to show off my great find from the new thrift store in town. I have an awful time finding any shoe that will fit my foot, and then feel good, so I spend about 95% of my time (when I am wearing shoes, which is as little as possible) in my Etonic Trans Am Walkers, because they come in wide width. I usually don't even bother looking at the shoes at the thrift stores, but something told me to check them out.

I was hoping to find a clog that I could wear when I get my next pair of socks done, and I could only see the front of these on the shelf, and they looked like a clog. I picked them up, and even though they had backs on them, I liked the look of them, and they were big enough that they might fit me. And fit me they did! Perfectly! Amazing! I looked to see what brand they were, and saw they were made in Denmark. I thought to myself that this pair of shoes was probably an expensive pair. I grabbed them up at $4.99 and came home to investigate them online. I found out they are Dankso brand, and the style looks to be "Professional" and they sell for more than $100! Wow, I was thrilled! I emailed my sister and she emailed me back saying "YOU GOT DANSKO'S for $5.00?????I'm SO JEALOUS!" Well, I had never heard of them before, but I guess they are good shoes, no?I have been wearing them all day and just love them. They are in great condition...they look like they couldn't have been worn more than a couple of times, from the condition of the soles. Now tell me, why would anyone give up a pair of practically new, $100+ leather, imported shoes???? Their loss, my gain. YIPPPEEEE!

Here is a picture of my honkin' huge pair of socks off my feet.

Halloweekend

What a busy, fun weekend it was!

Friday night I got together with my SILs to play some poker. Unfortunately, I didn't win any money for stash enhancement but managed to have a good time and eat too much anyway. We broke up the evening fairly early because everyone seemed to be kind of tired and there was much weekend fun ahead.

Saturday I had a mother/daughter (or any adult/child combo) class to teach at the store. It was the second session of a beginning knitting class. The first class we taught them several cast on methods, and the knit stitch, and had them start a garter stitch scarf. When they came in this week almost all of them had gotten their scarves knit and so I taught them how to bind off, attach fringe, and then they learned how to purl, what stockinette looks like, how ribbing is formed, etc.

The 2 hours flew by and as soon as I was done there, I headed over to the Breeder's Cup party that we go to every year. I missed the first race, but didn't miss out on any fun. This is a huge party that some friends throw and they really go all out. Every year there is a pig roast, which in itself is reason to go :-) They always have something fun for the kids to do, like a pony ride, a moon walk bouncy thing, a hayride, etc. The kids paint pumpkins, or just have a blast running around and playing in the playhouse, or swingset, etc.

When you get to the party, you are given $80 in fake money to use to bet on the 8 races. The bookie takes your bets and after the race, the payouts are made to the winning bettors. The person who has the most money after the end of the last race is the winner of the day. There is a trophy presented to the winner, along with a bottle of wine, a Breeder's cup drinking glass, and lottery tickets. Prizes are also awared to 2nd and 3rd place. In addition to your personal trophy, there is a much bigger trophy which has the name/year of each winner engraved onto it and it is available for viewing and reminiscing each year.

There are usually about 50 or so adults at this party, and TVs are set up outside by the pig roaster, in the garage, and several locations throughout the house. Everyone is asked to bring either a side dish, appetizer or dessert, and OH MY GOSH there is always SOOOOOO much (TOOOOOO much!) food! I swear I ate about 15,000 calories that day. But it was worth it. There were so many yummy things to try!

This was the year of the Blooms when it came to the winners. My SIL Debbie won 3rd place, my newlymarried niece, Kelly, came in 2nd, and hubby Mike won first place. This is the first time either of us has won, so it was pretty exciting!

The weather was unbelieveable. 75 degrees the last weekend in October is a treat. Usually at this party we are bundled up in our winter duds and freezing anyway, not walking around in shorts and tank tops! There was a horrible wind though, and it managed to blow over the porta-potty they had gotten for the guys to use (to save on the septic system). Luckily no one was inside ;-)


Yesterday was spent getting my new washer/dryer combo installed in our closet. They were delivered on Friday, at which time my old ones were removed. Laundry started piling up and it was catch up time last night once Drew came over and helped Mike lift the dryer up on top of the washer and got it mounted up there. It looks like a freakin' laundromat in my closet now, and when I turned out the light while both were running, there were so many red lights glowing in there I thought a space ship had landed!

KNITTING CONTENT:

While Mike was working on the installation, I was knitting away on the mittens for the felted mittens class I am teaching in a couple weeks. I wanted to felt one and leave the other one unfelted to put on display in the store. They knit up pretty fast and I used Lamb's Pride in turquoise and purple held together. I love the color combo.

While I am excited to have my Duet Washer and Senseon Dryer, let me tell you I am VERY disappointed to tell you that the clog and mitten I put through 2 entire cycles for felting for my upcoming classes DID NOT FELT! Guess we'll be keeping the old washer for felting purposes. I refuse to even consider having to go to the laundromat or someone else's house to do my felting, since I plan on doing a good bit of it in the future. Dagnabbit....no agitator in the washer = no felting.

I have noticed though that there is VERY LITTLE lint in the dryer lint trap after a load is done, so I am thinking that means that the appliances are very gentle to the fabrics and the fibers are staying where they belong, in the fabric, and not being broken up, removed and deposited in the lint trap.

I have Kaitlyn's comforter going around and around (bulky items cycle) in the dryer right now. It was nice to not have to take that to the laundromat to do. The large capacity is going to be a nice thing, for sure.

Trick or Treating last night was much fun. Jake was dressed up as Ben Wallace, one of the Detroit Pistons 2004 Champions. After not cutting his hair for about 4 years, Ben wore his hair in a huge Afro style during the playoffs and one of the popular phrases was "FEAR THE 'FRO!"
Jake wore his Pistons jersey, some flannel pj pants that had basketballs on them, and a huge Afro wig. I printed up a little sign that I clipped into the hair that said

Detroit Pistons
2004 Champions
Fear The 'Fro!

What was great was that most of the moms were trick or treating with their kids, and the dads were passing out candy, and they, of course, just LOVED the costume. Some of them saw the hair coming from a long way away and would yell down the sidewalk "Is that Ben Wallace coming?". We got a big kick out of it. He was really a hit with the men LOL

Every year we have the dilemma of where to go trick or treating since we don't live in a neighborhood. This year we went to a fairly new subdivision where about 1/2 of Jake's class lives, so he got to see some of his friends while we were making the rounds. He came home with quite a bag of loot.

All said, a very fun weekend chalk full of good times, good friends, good food, etc.