Monday, November 27, 2006

Yearning for Yarn satisfied, for the moment . . .

According to my hubby, the keeper of the finances, it's happened none too soon! The month of November brought bargains and gifts to be cherished several times.

First were gift certificates from ds#1 and family, for Amazon.com which purchased two books I was wishing for, Saturday Sweaters by Doreen Marquart and Fabulous Felted Bags by Nicky Epstein, and another g/c to YarnMarket.com which bought my first skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in the dusk colorway.

Then purely by chance I decided to visit "The Elegant Stitch", a store in Modesto that I had heard had a small selection of yarn . It turns out that this store specializes in stitchery kits, and was closing out their yarns to concentrate on the stitchery! All yarns were 50% off! I grabbed the last two skeins of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, one in Moody Blues and one in Green Mountain Madness. This particular yarn has enough yarn on one skein for a pair of socks. Of course I couldn't stop there, I also got several skeins of Kraemer's Naturally Nazareth 100% wool. This is the wool my very first swap partner used to make a Booga Bag for me, it was my very first felted bag and I love it. I was able to get both the Winter and Spring colorways along with Tadpole, Moss (light and dark greens) and Sleigh (a blue). They also carry Bryspun needles so I was able to get a couple pair in sizes I needed. A second visit to the store I bought yarn for a swap so I won't describe it here, but let it just suffice to say that I'm tempted to keep it, but I won't 8^)
I did buy some Peer Gynt wool for myself at only $2.60 a skein in a nice red. I think this wants to be felted clogs for hubby.

To top off the month, just today I received a late birthday gift from dd#2 - an order from KnitPicks.com - two skeins each of Memories sock yarn in the Smores and Rocky Mountain Dusk colorways, 3 skeins of Wool of the Andes Bulky in Cape Cod, two pair of their Classic circular needles in the size 3/24" for sock making, and a couple of patterns. She also ordered 3 skeins of the Telemark yarn in Aubergine colorway for a bag for herself - it's not enough to make the bag she wants, but I'll make a small bag for her and she'll get another yarn for the bag pattern she really wants me to make for her.

Of course hubby would include the trip to Michael's for woolease for the yarn for hats for ds#3 and dgs#2, and I did buy some Paton's Classic wool that was on sale too, just a few skeins to see how it felts. I suppose that does count. It's easy to joke about this, but the truth is I'm very blessed and very thankful for all that I have.

No work done on the hat last night, but I did a few rows on a scarf, though not my usual amount. My hands were cold even though the heat was on. I think I'll go make up for some of what could have been done last night.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Glad you stopped by . . . I should come here more often myself

It seems one thing and another have kept me from posting lately, a little bit of busy, some knitting, some down time with my fibro and a good dose of procrastination.

Speaking of that "P" word (shhhhh, you know procras - I'm not going to say it, I just can't) any way, back in August (face turning crimson red) I received a wonderful gift from a swap partner and I never got a photo of all my goodies posted. So, here is a photo of most of it . . . missing are the Chocolate which disappeared faster than the magician's props, and the Orangesicle soap which has somehow moved out of my reach.

First is this gorgeous yarn, which is impossible to photograph in it's true colors. It's a lace weight mohair acrylic from Filatura Di Crosa in Multicolor. As you can see all these months later it still hasn't told me what it wants to be, (strange, but none of my lace weight yarn talks to me much) but just like my cats, it loves to be petted. Also in my box of goodies was a wonderful felted bowl that is black with a halo of eyelash yarn in red which has become a favorite catch all next to my knitting spot. There was also a little hand made pottery piece which is wonderful for my yarn needles along with a vanilla scented candle, tea-light candles and a holder in colors perfect for my bathroom, a bookmark, flower seeds, lavender buds and bath salts. What a wonderful surprise it was to receive all these gifts chosen just for me! Thanks go to my swap partner, the knitty professor! And yes, I did thank her when they arrived, only the photography was so late.

Now, to more current news. I just finished these for my sister-in-law who is the one who always steps up and volunteers to cook Thanksgiving dinner, and asks for little help. Other years I've always taken her a plant that she can put in the ground later, but this year I wanted it to be something for just her. She works in a warehouse but needs her fingers free for typing so these were just the cat's meow! Grrrr! I've tried several times to post a picture and it's just not happening - blogger you're letting me down! Finally several tries later, the photo of the fingerless mittens

appears.

Also on the needles lately have been scarves as I'm planning to make another donation to the Sister Mary Pia Cancer Center the middle of December. I think we have 20 scarves ready at this point, plus there is supposed to be a box of 12 shipped to me soon. So, if you're reading this and you donated the last time we'd be thrilled to receive another scarf or two. If you haven't donated before you can email me for more information! As a quick over-view, the scarves can be any color, size, or yarn crocheted or knitted in the pattern of your choice. The only restrictions are that they must be labeled with fabric/yarn content and they must be freshly laundered (to avoid problems with allergies to pets, smoke, dust, etc.) and enclosed in a clean plastic bag such as zip-lock in preparation for shipping. The cancer center is giving the scarves to newly diagnosed patients. I guess you could say, they're receiving a hug with the bad news.

I'm still struggling with a name for the "scarf project". I mentioned one a while back, but haven't been content with it. Maybe I should have a contest . . . I'd love your feedback on the project name. Some of the ideas I've had are "Threads of Hope", "????? Hands, Caring Hearts", and some that escape me now when I'm trying to think of them. Please send your suggestions for a project name. I've tried googling each name I thought of to make sure it isn't already being officially used.

There is a seaman's cap sitting by my recliner that needs only about 6 more rows so I guess I'd best grab a bite to eat and then finish it off as there are two more that need to be knitted.





Sunday, November 12, 2006

Leaving comments?

Most people who stop by other's blogs are there for the content, but lately I've received an inordinate amount of spam so I've set my comments to be moderated. I apologize to those of you who truly enjoy sharing the knitting and family content of my blog, but to those of you who are here to spam I leave a message "don't waste your time or mine!"

Friday, November 10, 2006

A Box in Today's Mail

Wow! What a wonderful surprise, 9 - yep, I counted them twice, 9 scarves for the project thanks to Dorey E. They're all so soft I just want to fondle them! (Pictures in the near future - no, not me fondling them, just the scarves). When I called Dorey to thank her she said that she, her daughter and her daughter's good friend will be making more and that she will mail them in time for the Dec 15th deadline! My neighbor Bernice P. also gave me 3 the other evening so this brings our total to 17 already! Considering this I think I can safely say that we will easily meet if not double the goal of 25 once again!

Last night I finished the scarf made with Kool Kidz by Sirdar and started a gift scarf which I spent a lot of time frogging because my idea of doing Joan's pattern with this yarn just didn't work out, so I think it's going to end up either a plain diagonal or maybe something with short rows but I have to decide before I go any further or it will be a UFO for months to come because there are several other yarns in my stash that are calling out what they'd like to become. Not to mention the Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in the Dusk colorway that arrived night before last. At least it's the yarns in my stash calling to me, not something on the shelf at the LYS. I've kept my distance from the LYS because it's bad enough just going in Big Lots, Jo-Ann's and Beverly's . . . the yarn just seems to grab me like a magnet!

Speaking of magnets . . .those metal (Addi) needles are calling louder than the washing machine that needs to be attended to. Later . . .

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Winds are blowing, the needles are clicking

It's done! Yay! I was concerned if I could finish the baby sweater before this Saturday's baby shower, but it's done and kinda cute if I do say so myself!

Now, onto more scarves. I'm hoping to donate another 25 scarves to the Sister Mary Pia Cancer Center in mid-December. I know that many of you are busy with Christmas knitting, but perhaps you will find time to make at least a scarf or two.

Today we were out raking leaves, but the wind was blowing them off the trees nearly as fast as we could rake, and keeping them in a pile was just as futile. It made me think of a cartoon that should be captioned "definition of the word futility"! I finally looked at my hubby and asked "why are we doing this?". Guess what - he didn't have a good answer! So we both quit. Ironically, raking leaves is one of the few outdoor chores I enjoy . . . it brings back memories of playing in the leaves at my grandmother's home back in Williamston, MI. She lived on a street that was lined with large trees, as did her neighbor behind her and we always played in the piles of leaves in the fall. It was one of the few times there were no recriminations for coming in dirty - it was expected.

It's time to think about what's for dinner, then one last chore for the day, cleaning the kitchen and I can spend the evening knitting scarves!

BTW, if you have Beverly's Crafts near you all their Sullivan's yarns are on sale for $1.97 per ball. They're the small balls of novelty yarn, but it's a good price. Our Big Lots stores still have some novelty yarns for $1 - $2 per ball too.


Friday, November 03, 2006

Progress and more

The last few days knitting has been on a baby shower gift, that has for the most part gone well. Until last night when I had to take out about 12 rows of it . . . yes I'm deliberately not mentioning what that "it" is because the recipient may be lurking. But I've re-knit all that had to be tinked and added a few more rows also. I'm hoping to have it done in time for the baby shower on the 11th. To you knitters that may seem like an easy task but for those of us who knit like a snail (lol - strange pictures in my mind at that thought) it's questionable.

Next up, I must get busy on more scarves (yes, Tiff, I honestly plan to finish your Bella Cardigan). I'd like to provide another donation of scarves to the Sister Mary Pia Cancer Center before Christmas. I know you're all very busy with Christmas knitting, but if you could each manage just one or two scarves I think we could provide them with another donation of 50 or so scarves! What do you think? We can do it! Remember, we aren't thinking pink on these, we need both men's and women's scarves - knit or crochet, any pattern, any yarn, of any color! If you need more information Email me!

Also on my mind, but not yet on the needles, is a purse I promised my dsil, and a shawl I want to do for dmil . . . I need a faster speed or more hands. Meanwhile, time spent here is taking up precious knitting time, so I'm outta here!