HAPPY NEW YEAR

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I hope 2007 will bring nothing but good things to all who read this! Be safe. Be healthy. Be happy. God bless us, everyone.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!! everyone. I spent most of yesterday with my sewing machine doing some embroidery. I embroidered 2 shirts for my niece, Madilyn.









And 2 for my nephew, Camden. When he saw the dragon he ROARED!

While I was working on the shirts, Mandy was in the kitchen baking the dessert for us to take to the in-laws for Christmas Eve dinner.
I ran out of frosting to dye to write "Happy Birthday Jesus" on the cake so we improvised with M&M's. It turned out well.

And I didn't get C.J.'s socks done in time to wrap them and put them under the tree, but I did get them done today. He doesn't have them on his feet ( well I don't think so anyway) but they are done.





They are "Socks of Doom" (C.J. says they look like tv static) 60 stitches on US1's. Meilenweit Mouline (?) yarn.
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.
More later.

Monica Tagged Me So Now I'm "IT"

"THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the "6 weird things about you." People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog." I'm going to half play, I'll list my "weird things" but not tag anyone.


1. I can twitch my nose like a rabbit (Mandy thinks this is something cool).
2. I hate to have my feet rubbed.
3. I don't like having my arms pinned down (part of my claustrophobia?).
4. I almost died twice, when I was 6 and 7 (acute appendicitis and a rusty nail ripped through the artery in my leg, my oldest sister Margie says she put her hand in my leg and pinched it together so I wouldn't bleed to death. I don't remember any of that, I woke up in the hospital with a huge bandage on my leg).
5. Spitting (slobbery dogs) and so many other things having to do with siliva makes me gag (watermelon, watermelon, watermelon).
6. Like my sister, I rub my feet together, and I'm never aware of doing it (this one bugs Mandy if she happens to be sitting on the couch with me).
Ok, that's done. Some of them sound weird, some don't. If you're reading this and want to be "tagged" go ahead and post 6 weird things about yourself on your blog. Let me know, I'll be happy to visit and read about your weirdness too.

Things I've Been Pondering...

... like... why using a pumice stone makes your feet smooth and soft but walking barefoot on concrete sidewalks and driveways makes them rough and ugly?
... how your appliances (furnace on the coldest day of the winter so far) and plumbing systems (just a few months ago) know you have no money to pay for repairs and choose to break at that point in time?
...why you (meaning I) wait till the last minute to decide to knit something for everyone on your list (because you can't afford to buy them something)?
...why you (meaning I again) can't keep the resolution to start early in the year on those presents?
Just some things that have been on my mind.

Posting this under having the blahs.
Knitting next time.... I promise.

(This Post Is) All For My Son

I talk a lot about my daughter Mandy, but I do have another child. My first born, Curtis. I started a sweater for him a little over a year ago, but it has taken a backseat to all my sock knitting. Monica and I made a pact this past week to work on the sweater(s) we have started (she has more going than I do, so you would think it would be easier for me). Lastnight I got out C.J.'s sweater and immediately made mistakes in the cables (I got very frustrated and actually threw the thing). After talking with Monica I was able to calmly pick it up and fix my mistakes and move on with it. I completed the first center diamond and am half way through the second. I'm knitting a pattern from "Men In Knits" in WoolEase. This won't be done for Christmas (this year), but I will continue to put inches (it's at 9-1/2" right now) on it on a daily basis.

Two other projects I'm working on for him are socks (of course). The first is the "Father and Son" design from IK. I'm knitting it in Pace sock yarn. I'm to the gusset decreases on the first sock, I should be able to get these done in time (he likes short legs on his socks). You can almost see the cables running down the side and the chevrons.





The second sock I'm knitting is in Meilenweit
Mouline (?) #1247. I'm using the "Socks of Doom" pattern from the Sock Wars site. The pattern doesn't show well, but I like the feel of it and it's stretchiness. I'm on the heel flap of the first sock on that one.

Well, that's all the progress for now. (Hopefully) more later! Have a good week everyone.



p.s. Here is your chance to win some wonderful prizes. Test your knit history at the same time. Not sure I got any of them right but it was fun trying to put the right year with the picture.
p.s.s. C.J.'s sweater is now 11". WOO HOO!!

Christmas Time Contest

Over at Alisha's blog she has a contest going on. You have to post a picture of a Christmas decoration in or on your home. Many years ago I started collecting the Dept.(not Studio) 56 Dickens Village pieces. My in-laws would give me a new building or group of trees or people for my birthday and pretty soon I had a nice sized village. It isn't complete and the pieces have become too expensive to get (collectibles...you just never know). Mandy likes to set them up (this group has been up since last Christmas), she has some on her piano and once we move her puzzle, there will be some on the dining room table too.


And here is our tree. Not all the decorations are on it yet (we are moving slowly this year). But Mandy has already put some of the presents she's bought for friends under it. It's beginning to look and feel like Christmas at our house.


A couple of years ago I made us each new stockings, and here they hang on the mantel. My niece, Lauren, made the little hanging that is at the heel of Mandy's stocking.
So those are some of our Christmas decorations, you have till midnight Saturday (Oh, that's today) to show off yours.

Festive December Sock

I was up late lastnight (3am, yes toooo late) finishing up this pair of socks. Why I don't know, there wasn't a rush to get them done. It's not like I don't have other socks to wear. But when the end is so near you just have to go on sometimes. So here they are, the first socks of December: Meilenweit Inca, knit plain. Started 11/23/06, finished 12/5/06. 68 stitches on size US1 dpn's. They are identical (I like when that happens). I thought I would be finishing these later today during Mandy's orthodontist appt. (she is "uber excited" that her braces are coming off today), but I will have to take a different sock with me to work on.
A couple weeks ago on a blog I visited (sorry, don't remember which one) she was asking people how they store their needles, so I thought I would share mine. I have a few of these sliding pencil cases that I use for my DPN's (a 6" plastic ruler fits nicely into them too). I buy them at the beginning of the school year when I buy Mandy's supplies. Then I go to the craft department and get some of the eyeglass chain maker doogies (that's the technical name for them, don't you know) and use those to hold the sets together. I have some number beads that I'm still trying to figure out how to put on the starter loop for the chain, so I know what size each set is. I haven't found a good way to store my circs yet, so if anyone else has some ideas....
And as a tease for Shelley, here is your T-shirt being embroidered by my machine (your package will go in the mail tomorrow). The lettering is stitching out as I type this post up.














The heart of yarn is taking shape in the right picture. Ok, the machine is done, now I just need to snip some threads and squirt the positioning lines with some water to make them disappear. It will be ready to go in the package (with the rest of your goodies) as soon as that dries. Have a great day!! More later.