Scarf and New Years Resolutions

I finished my Noro scarf. I love it!!



I became obsessed with knitting a hat so I went BACK to the LYS today (yes, that does mean I was there a few days ago visiting their sale) and got some Lamb's Pride to make a roll brim hat. The worst part is, this is my first knitted hat and I actually got nervous about making a hat that fit. Then I decided, I've made socks. Not just any socks but CUSTOM socks and a hat will be no problem. It's funny the things you think will trip you up.

This all leads me to my New Years Resolutions. I thought of making a joke one like I've done in the past and decided this year I will make real resolutions and do my very best to make sure I complete them. So, in an effort to keep track of myself, I'm posting them for the world to see.

In no particular order they are:

- To learn to knit cables. I stumbled on this pattern oh like everywhere I've gone on the internet so thought I'd give it a go (unless of course anyone has any better patterns or valid reasons I shouldn't try it first-such as poorly written pattern or whatnot) The Irish Hiking Scarf

- To at least try, if not master, some sort of color work. Maybe not Faire Isle (yet :) ) but intrelac? I think that's the word I'm looking for. Or, this goes hand in hand, learn how to read charts and feel comfortable with it. How's that for a poorly worded resolution? Maybe I should've just said, learn a new knitting technique!

-To have fewer works in progress going at once. I'm actually really good about this already - not having a large needle collection does help this out - but I want to get better. If I'm not going to finish something I'm just going to frog it. No sense in letting things just sit around half finished.

-I'm going to try to live a healthier lifestyle (note this does not involve the big "D" word those always fail). This includes things like drink more water, eat more fruits and veggies, try to keep an even better hold of my finances, keep up with old friends. It's a very wide ranging resolution to say the least but I hope phrasing it the way I have will help me not to break it 2 weeks into January.

I'm hoping my hat will be done this year and be my last finished project. If not, that's OK.

I hope everyone has a very safe and happy New Year's Eve and I guess I'll see y'all next year!!

Nicole the Kind

Well, there are some advantages to going to a funeral first thing in the morning and not going back to work. Have I been knitting? No. Have I been shopping? No (although I did get a few groceries). What have I been doing with my free time today you ask? Well, besides napping, I've been playing in blogland. What do I have to show for this?

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Viscountess Nicole the Kind of Gallop Hophill Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Now, I think I'll go knit.

Knitting and Cats

I made this over the Christmas weekend. It's the Calorimetry headband from this issue of Knitty. I made it with Cascade Heathers yarn and rummaged through Mom's vast button box to find the right button, a "Buffalo Nickel". I did try to take a few pictures of it on, but they did not turn out so well.

My goal for today (besides going to the LYS to check out the sale. I need to get some yarn for my secret pal.) is to finish the Noro Silk Garden scarf. It's cold outside and I need to keep my little bare neck warm.

One last picture, my Bartholamew. He was just SO darn cute last night with 3 of his paws all curled up and this one stretched to the max, I couldn't let the photo op pass me by.

Christmas loot

As I said yesterday, it's good to have knitters in the family.



This is my knitting Christmas loot. I got a wonderful bag just the perfect size for socks or a scarf from my muggle (as Stephanie would say) step-Dad. He picked it out on his own so Mom's knitterly ideas are getting to him.

I got beautiful handmade stitch markers from my sister (a knitter).

From Mom I got the Stitch and Bitch calendar and a ball winder!! YEAH!!!! (of course it does benefit her too but that's OK still being swiftless, we may both need each other to wind some hanks).

Did you notice how great that picture is? (and how large it is? LOL) Well, being the best Mom and step-Dad EVER, I also got this



Yeah. I know. The camera is prettier than the box but it's hard to take a picture of the camera WITH the camera and well, I didn't want to use the other camera.

This is what Mom and I did a large part of Saturday, Sunday morning and during that "after presents, ate too much" afternoon on Christmas

Thank you, Secret Pal!

I got a very wonderful package from my Secret Pal on Saturday.



And that's not all, I got socks!!





that's the best close up picture I could get Saturday. They've got a beautiful design and are very comfortable. I wore them the rest of the day Saturday and even had to threaten my Mom because she wanted to steal them away from me. :)

Tomorrow (or later in the week since I do have to work tomorrow :( ) I'll do a Christmas update. Let's just say it's good to have knitters in the family!

Merry Christmas!

I saw on another blog's comments that the Goggle Logo was all "Christmas-ed up" and had to go look. And how cute is that? Kangaroo's knitting garland...

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas (or whatever winter holiday you "do")!!!

A Sock

This was going to be a "what do you do with one sock you're not sure you like enough to make the second sock?" post but after trying it on (on both feet) I do like it. OK, so I'm not so fond of the leg. My calves aren't tiny and I don't like the way the yarnovers look (and the ladders that I didn't really know where there. damn stretchy yarn!) but then I got to thinking, I'm not wearing the things with shorts, it would be with pants. Pants that COVER the leg. so I think they'll be ok. I'm posting then diligently casting on to hopefully avoid SSS.

And my friend who was totally floored that you could actually KNIT socks that fit, now wants to knit socks. :)

Christmas questions

My lovely SP9 hostess asked us these questions:

1) the oddest gift you have ever received (not asked for)

I suppose the oddest gift I got was the one year my Mom told my grandmother to buy me the Disney video "The Little Mermaid". The video I got? a National Geographic special on the duckbill platypus.

hmm, sitting here thinking about it, one year I did get a fiber optic bonsai tree. I do still have it if anyone wants pictures.

2) the oddest gift you ever asked for

Well, I don't think it's that odd but a lot of people had issues the year I asked for maglites (a specific brand of flash lights) for my birthday. This year I asked Mom for folding tables. I did ask for tires one year too...

3) the oddest gift you ever gave

a plastic jug for kerosene? I don't know... that one's kinda hard.

4) the worse gift you ever got

Oh, and I thought the last one was hard. I'm sure there were some doozies when I was a child but I can't remember any gift that made me go "O.M.G. I can't believe they gave THAT to me!" I guess I've gotten lucky in my adult years.


Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a picture of my Noro scarf... now if the weather would just be cooperate so I can WEAR it!

Wow

OK. I can't remember the last time my hair was this short. Well, OK, I can but it was shorter than it is and I was about 5.

Before:



After:



All the hair that was cut off. That's 12 inches. However, it's not 12 complete inches, some of it is shorter than the rest but thats OK. It will all be mailed off on Monday.



I do like it. I think my hair dresser was right though, it will take me about 2 weeks to really get used to it.

And while Mom and I were out and about we each bought 2 skeins of Noro Silk Garden. It's lovely and I'm going to make myself a scarf to keep my now very bare neck warm. Well, if it ever gets cold that is.



The really strange thing about the Noro is that we found it at a funky little boutique downtown. She had a pattern for a diagonal scarf that she was giving away. I'm thinking thats what I'm going to make with the Noro. It is very simple and looked great worked up in the Noro.

happy tears

Have you ever loved anyone so much that their lives touch you in countless ways? I have a very very dear friend who most bizarrely, I've never met in person. We met online, on AOL on a message board no less, but I truly love this woman as if she were blood family. And not that weird family member you don't really want to claim but feel you should love, we're talking Favorite Aunt type family! Well, today her granddaughter was born and I'm just so happy for her and her daughter that I'm just sitting here crying.

I'm not one for posting other's information but since we know she's not in Virginia and since I'm not saying where she is, I'll give the stats (cuz really, who doesn't love baby stats?) Jasmine was born at 4:53 pm in their local time zone and weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and has a head full of brown hair. I could hear her squallin' over the phone. Grandma got to cut the cord and I'm not sure she's stopped crying since. Everyone is doing great.

I feel like a proud aunt or something. Now if I could just smooch on those little hands and toes...

odds and ends

Now, I realize I'm a little biased, but how could you NOT love this picture?? I have it on my desktop at work as wallpaper and several people have commented on it and are pleasantly surprised that it's my babies.

Now, onto knitting content. I was working on my sock at work and a friend who I am going to teach to knit after her shoulder heals up from surgery came by and asked what I was doing.

me - "knitting"

L - "but you've got 4 needles"

me, moving hands - "no, actually there are 5. But it's just knitting"

L - awed look

Eventually I did get her to not stress over it and that I wasn't going to make her try it and that it really was just two needles knitting at once like normal and 3 stitch holders. During this conversation several people commented that it would just be easier to buy socks. Well, yes but they just don't get it, and that's OK.

I'm getting a little nervous. Saturday is the big hair cut. I think it'll end up being shorter than what I think it will be so I'm trying to prepare myself for VERY short hair. I can't tell you how many times I've almost cancelled this appointment. Or at least postponed it.

Tonight, we had our work group Christmas dinner/present exchange at a local Mexican restaurant. We drew names and I got a iTunes gift card. Which I did ask for. I'm most happy about it and can't wait to spend it all.

Now, I'm off to knit on my socks.

bad picture monday

I was a busy girl on Saturday. I went to run a few errands then went up the mountain to hang out with mom. I felted a purse for my boss.




Mom and I sat around knitting and looking at knitting patterns and just visiting.

Yesterday, I was in the mood for a new project so I cast of for these. OK. I actually swatched and my yarn doesn't match the gauge for the yarn it calls for. I could've gone up a few needle sizes but I think that would've made for some very holey socks and I kinda like my socks warm. So, I got to looking about and found these. Gauge is good, yarn is a little odd to work with, pattern is super easy to remember and I'm working on socks. No, I haven't finished the other ones yet but, hell, its my yarn I'll do with it what I want! Luckily, I had the yarn it calls for on hand. Sometime this spring I bought it thinking I was going to make a steering wheel cover for my Dad (or socks) and well, socks it is.



It's not the best picture but there it is.

It's all Robin's fault

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of
intoxication with success

The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

that's my tarot card. Robin posted her tarot card and well, I wanted to be one of the "cool kids" and do it too!

PS - I updated my links. I've been meaning to for a while but I finally did it!

Bartholamew and Ho Ho

OK, so these are VERY bad pictures but I don't have a scanner and don't know the next time I'll be up at Mom's (who has a scanner). And they were taken 10 yrs ago! So that means Bartholamew was about Pepper's age when he got to go see Santa! :)

Ho Ho

I have very little knitting content to share with you so I'll share some pictures of Pepper's first (and only) visit to see the Big Man, Santa Himself! Last year she was 7 mo old around Christmas and was still little and "shy" enough that I felt comfortable taking her out in public. If I tried that with Bartholamew, Santa wouldn't want to hold him when we got out of the carrier. Although, there is somewhere tucked away safely a picture from 8 or 9 yrs ago of Santa and Bartholamew (and me. That "Santa" wouldn't hold cats on his own. I think he may have been an imposter... I mean an assitant type. Not the REAL Santa). If I ever find it, I'll share it too. But Pepper and I went out to Petsmart last year and got there early enough to be the second or third in line. Thankfully, Mom came out for moral support. I took Pepper out of her carrier and held her until it was our turn to see Santa. All kinds of people came up to scritch her little head and oo and ah over the fact that MY cat would let me bring her out like this. She wasn't bothered by the dogs or anything. Although, as you can see, she did want to snuggle. Closely. There were a few techincal difficulties with the camera so Santa (being the smart man that he is) came out to say hi and let everyone get a good sniff of him before it was picture time. I really think this helped. So, there's the story, here are the pictures.



a bad picture of me and Pepper being all "hidden"



a not so bad picture of Mom except that her head is cut off but one of my favorite of all we took that day of Pepper



Pepper and Ho Ho. (do you see her holding on to his beard? I like to think she's giving him lovin' but I know better, her paw got stuck in all that fluffiness)



Hmm, what's that over there? those are some mighty big funny smelling cats! (Well, they were actually rescue grayhounds but don't tell Pepper)

And for my small amount of knitting content, I finished knitting the purse I'm giving as a present (to my boss. Who's leaving at the end of the year *pout*). All I need to do is felt it. Pictures of the final product will follow when it's done.

Also, the lady I taught to knit at work is speeding along wonderfully and is taking her knitting home this weekend to practice. YEAH! I also have a date set with another friend from work to teach her and her daughter possibly to knit. :)