Things I Can't Live Without

Susan at MVFF posted this and I thought it was great. What are the things (and we are talking things, so that leaves the family, friends and pets out).

Things I Can't Live Without

Cell phone
The internet
My laptop (that didn't take long huh?)
Yarn
My spinning wheels
Books
Pizza (food had to make it on the list somewhere, didn't it?)
My DVR
Knitpicks Options

That's all I can think of at the moment. Guess I'm a simple gal.

What's on your list?????

Sometimes no words are needed

A picture speaks a thousand words at times. Do you think Nicole and her cousin enjoyed the Chris Brown concert?

A Merry Christmas to All

Somewhere at the beginning of last week I started to panic - I really did have more to do that I thought I did to prepare for Christmas. I didn't have to prepare any food for the most part except my Dad's favorite Italian cheesecake. I was having no company (talk to me later on New Years Eve and that will be a different story).

The big thing I left for the last minute was a gift for Nicole. You see, her big present this year was tickets to see Chris Brown . This a big concert for her and I am probably just as excited to see him as she is. Her reaction on Christmas morning was our present. Hubby and I couldn't wait to give them to her. But we wanted to make it interesting. We thought of putting the tickets in a poster and having her unroll it and they would fall out. Great plan - except I forgot about that part and ran around on the 23rd looking for a Chris Brown poster that nobody had. I settled on a calendar and slipped them inside. The reaction - priceless. She was speechless. And so was I when I opened my gift from the hubby.

The Best Plans

So my Sunday went great - got some small things done around the house, got Nicole to her show (which incidentally, she sang like an angel and made us all so proud), was thrilled to pieces that my Christmas knitting was truly finished. The weather even held out - we had snow, then rain, then it all froze just as we were arriving back home. If we had left the theater 10 minutes later it would have been a different story. We were lucky.

So I sat down on the couch, eggnog in one hand, knitting in another. Then bam! I felt like I had just been hit by a truck. My legs were sore, I had the chills, my head hurt, and I was exhausted. I was achy all over. All of a sudden. I put my knitting down, grabbed some Airborne (I swear by that stuff I tell ya) and fell asleep at 9:30. Good news was that I woke at 2 AM and felt just fine. So I have no knitting or spinning to show - but I am healthy for today and totally happy in that.

Christmas Knitting - Check

The last of my Christmas knitting was done last night.



Once I got going they really did fly. I adopted the pattern from Carole and I must say that I am anxious to do another pair like that.

Now that my Christmas knitting is officially done (did I mention that I have another pair of socks that I really am supposed to knit - well, my best friend asked if I could knit a pair for her mom for Christams but she hasn't asked anymore - I won't be seeing my friend till after Christmas so I might be able to squeak out a pair before I see her but no pressure) I am onto my selfish knitting.

On the way home from taking Nicole to rehearsal I stopped Sakonnet Purls. I mean, how to do you not stop at the yarn shop that is 4 miles from your house if you happen to pass it by per chance? Thank goodness I don't go to that end of town too often or it could be ugly. Do you think anything came home with me? You betcha.

It's very Noro like. It's all wool and pretty soft.

The price was right - just $6 per skein as opposed to the $10.95 for the Noro. It's definitely not as soft as the Silk Garden but I think it will work. And what could possibly be on the needles?

Not only is that cowl addicting to knit, it's addicting to wear. I have it on ALL the time. No matter what I am wearing it just warms me up. I love it.

Nicole has her Christmas show today and we are getting more snow - shocking isn't it. It is supposed to get really cold tonight and all is supposed to freeze so I plan on being back in my house before the wind starts to blow and freeze all that it touches. You can find me knitting and oh my, even spinning perhaps, with my eggnog next to the fire.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, whatever you may be doing.

Happy Saturday

Got to sleep in this morning till 8:30. Can't even tell you how good it felt. Finished up some Christmas errands. It never matters how much I say I am "done" weeks before Christmas, there is always stuff that needs to be done. And more snow for tomorrow! Didn't we get enough?



It is pretty though, isn't it?

Deep Breath

Here I am sitting snug on my couch with the woodstove heating up the house. We have a foot of snow outside. And I am knitting up the last of the Christmas presents. Nicole and I ran around in the snow with the dog for a bit. It was fun, but the wind here is a killer. All I can say is that it is like taking a deep breath - the week is over and I am happy in my house. I think the dog says it best tonight.

Didn't Think I'd Make It, Did You?

Yeah - I got my post finished today. A bit late, but done. I was determined!

Today was just one of those days - you know, when everything you touch turns to, well, poop? Uhhuh - it was one of those days. I had been procrastinating getting new tires for the van. I just didn't want to take the time to get it done. Well, snow is coming tomorrow - and lots of it. So to make a long aggravating story short, it basically took my poor hubby the whole day to get the tire change accomplished. And guess what - they still aren't right! Out of balance... But I will have traction in the 12 inches of snow that's coming.

It's 11 o'clock and I just finished going through mail for work. I am leaving at the crack of dawn to get there early. I plan on leaving as soon as the first flake falls because I have to travel over two large bridges to get to the office. Not fun in snow... even here in New England where they plow the roads real well.

So this will be a quickie - off to bed. But of course I cant' go without a picture. Look at all the goodies I got at my spinning Christmas party last night.

Almost Made It

I had no time yesterday morning to get my blog post done. Work was chaotic and I had a project deadline due by day's end. I rushed home, got hubby and kid and went to the school Christmas concert. Got home by 9 and sat down with moody teenage kid and fell asleep in her bed.... no blog post.

I did manage to get a quick dessert done for my spinning party tonight. And I do mean quick, because I had no time to spare yesterday. If you like peanutbutter and chocolate you are in luck.

Quick Buckeyes

10 oz. bag of peanut butter chips
1 can of vanilla frosting
1 14 oz bag of chocolate melts (you can find them in Walmart)

Melt the peanut butter chips over a double boiler. Add frosting and mix well. Let mixture sit for about 5 minutes until cool enough to handle. Roll into little balls. Let balls sit for about 15 minutes. While they are sitting you can melt the chocolate over the double boiler. Poke balls with a toothpick and dip into chocolate mixture. I put them in the refridgerator for about 10 minutes to set. Instant candy!

A Good Read

Back in the day before I started knitting like an addict I did alot of reading. I still love to read, but I have not been able to master the "knitting and reading at the same time" maneuver that I see others doing. And ain't nothin messing with my knitting time - especially since it has dwindled down so much in the last few months.

I still felt bad over the summer about not getting any reading in. That was always my summer thing since I was a kid - getting a couple of good books and reading them at the beach or out in the back yard. Then I heard of a great idea from Kelly's Knit Picks Podcast. She subscribed to Audible and got books on her ipod. What a great idea! I could "read" and still knit at the same time. And that's what I did for the summer. I didn't get a whole lot read (3 books maybe) but I listened to alot of podcasts too (aren't knitting pocasts the best invention ever? It's like sitting with a friend and knitting together).

This November I took a lace class with Annie Modesitt. I have read her blog for years. If any of you follow it, you know her husband was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma almost 2 years ago. I remember reading the blog back when she was moving from New Jersey to Minnesotta. Then shortly thereafter, the diagnosis of her husband. She recently published a book about the experience and it was great. A quick read and easy to put down and pick up a few days later. It had been the first "paper" book I had read from start to finish in a long time.

I highly recommend it. It's a great book. Annie was even nice enough to sign it for me. I even bought a couple as Christmas presents (you recipients will find out who you are in the next week or so!)

Look What Got Accomplished

Yes, the tree did get decorated. I love looking at all the old ornaments each year.



Nicole gets some beautiful ones each year from the grandparents. One of my favorites is the one for our cat Max. He died three years ago just before Christmas. The day he died we had gone to a craft fair and found this - with his name and everything on it.


He was a black tuxedo cat - we were amazed to find it. It's hard to see in the photo but the cat has a halo and wings like an angel. Tearfully we bought it from the woman and explained what had happened earlier that day. She was so sad for us but she couldn't believe that the ornament was as if it were made just for him. We look back each year and remember our furry friend and smile.

It's the Weekend!!!

And I will be spending it getting more Christmas knitting done (see the finished socks for my mother-in-law?) and dealing with what is under the socks - the box of Christmas decorations.

Off to the RI Handspinners Christmas Gathering. Have a great day - whatever you may be doing. And, the sun is shining today!

Friday......

Thank God it's Friday. Looking forward to the weekend. Tomorrow is the Christmas party with the RI Handspinners. The tree will get decorated. All Christmas knitting will be complete. And I can begin to enjoy the holidays. Have a great weekend everybody!

The Christmas Meme

I've already gotten this e-mail twice and read about it on Carole's and JessaLu's blogs so it's now my turn. Whoever reads, please feel free to do the same. It's so much fun to see everyone's answers.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift bags are the best invention - EVER. I heard of an even better idea yesterday: buy the re-usable shopping bags from Target (red and festive) and use those as gift bags. The recipient can use the bag and the present. How smart is that?
2. Real tree or Artificial? Real - I love the smell.
3. When do you put up the tree? Second week in December
4. When do you take the tree down? Second week in January
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes - Southern Comfort brand please
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Rub a Dub Dolly and Atari. We stayed up all night playing that thing. My parents stayed up all Christmas Eve hoping we wouldn't come downstairs and catch them!
7. Hardest person to buy for? My brother - what do you buy for the person who just buys everything they want?
8. Easiest person to buy for? Nicole
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes - but I need a new one. It's pretty icky and broken by now.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Usually mail - this year, probably e-mail
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Don't think I ever got a BAD one.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Polar Express, Elf, Christmas Vacation
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? December 26th - I'm at the Christmas Tree Shop first thing in the AM to get the bargains
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so....
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Italian Cheesecake and strouffoli (Italian honey balls)
16. Lights on the tree? Yes -clear ones
17. Favorite Christmas song? Oh Holy Night and Merry Christmas Darling (that one makes me think of my first Christmas with hubby when we were dating - he was at his parents and I was at my grandparents and was missing him terribly on Christmas night)
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We have stayed home since Nicole was born. We did travel before she came along to see the in-laws but have not in 13 years.
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Absolutely
20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning
21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The crowds and traffic
22. Favorite ornament theme or color? Home-made ones
23. What do you want for Christmas this year? A laptop (hear that Santa?)
24. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel - we did have a star but it pooped out after 20 years
25. Favorite Christmas dinner? Christmas Eve it is the fish (typical Italian family, huh?) but Christmas day it is Prime Rib.

And now back to our regular blog

Thank you everyone for your kind comments and e-mails yesterday about my scroogy attitude. I have decided to step back and re-evaluate what is important about our holiday and what is not. And I feel much better about it.

Now onto the knitting. Guess what got done yesterday?


No - the tree did not get decorated (hubby has to finish finding the ornaments and his shoulder was hurting too much last night to dig around the basement). But the sock did get finished! And can you tell it's raining out - look at the beautiful indoor picture quality again.

I am casting on for sock two today and once I got into the groove the sock really moved along. My problem wasn't that I was knitting so slowly, it was that I was only spending a couple of minutes here and there on it. I had so many other interesting things to knit that this became boring and hard to stick with.

I wove in the ends last night around 10:30 and even took my drop spindle out and spun for a bit. It relaxed me just before going to bed. I might even drag one of the wheels out tonight.

Humbug?

I thought all last night about what would be a good blog post. Nothing at all struck me as "I gotta blog about this." Oh sure there are lots of random things. Like my sock is still not growing as quickly as I would like. Or the fact that I still have no idea what I am doing for Christmas cards this year. I usually have cards planned out way in advance, but with a teen who is at that "oh please don't take my picture phase" I am having a hard time coming up with a nice photo card. I may just buy a cheap pack of old fashioned cards and call it a day. I am feeling so overwhelmed lately that I may not send any at all.

There - I said it - I am a bit of a Scrooge this year. Not too sure why. Well, part of it is that I am working way more than I ever have and that makes for less time to do those holiday fun things - which, pardon my language, is pissing me off.

I watch the news every day and see economic turmoil all around. I know I have so much to be thankful for yet I feel kind of depressed by it. I mean, if I was jobless tomorrow I wouldn't starve. We are not broke. I know my husband would do whatever needed to be done to earn money. I would do the same. I don't have babies anymore, so childcare isn't an issue as it is for so many women out there. I am healthy (as far as I know) and so is the rest of my family. OK, hubby not so healthy these days - he is still recovering from the rotator cuff surgery from hell of which we shall not speak.

So I really should be thankful yet I feel very grinchy. The tree is up and the lights are on. It just needs to be decorated. I'm not even so motivated to do that. I will do it, but usually it is just one of the things I look forward to.

There has been one thing that has put me in a good Christmas spirit and that is all the presents I knit this year. Just about everyone in my family will be getting a hand knit item from me. And that makes me feel good.

And to make this a totally Scroogey post - I have NO pictures to post.

Please come back tomorrow - I promise it will be prettier. Just getting that all "out there" made me feel better.

I am a sock and I have a problem....

No matter how much somebody knits on me, I just don't grow!!!! Last week Carole was talking about a sock that she is working on that has a growing problem too. I suggested we give them growth hormones.

I am not sure if it is because I am getting used to knitting projects for Christmas that work up quickly, if I'm bored with this already or something, but this has to be the most tortured sock I have ever knitted. And to think I have to knit another one! Normally I would just give up and move on. Problem is that it is a Christmas present and I already let the recipient pick out the yarn. She knows these socks are coming for Christmas. I could rip out and start again but I am too far into it. My goal is to have this sock finished by tomorrow (I know - lofty goal here). I have to get them done this week or they don't stand a chance.

My friend asked me to knit a pair for her mom for Christmas as well. Do you think there will be a problem knitting socks with extra bulky weight yarn on size 15 needles?

Look What I Woke Up And Found

Only about an inch but just enough to make it beautiful out. Today we will decorate the tree, go to the craft fair and Lisa is coming over and we are knitting for a while. Happy Sunday!

The Addicting Moebius

I present (with poor picture quality) the moebius



Quick project - lots of fun - I will definitely be making more of these. I am anxious to finish up my Christmas knitting so I can start on the Noro socks. Those should be fun too!

Have a great Saturday everyone.

Thanks for all the well wishes for the furry boy. He is almost back to normal. He loves the moebius too.

Yay Friday!

Well, I finished my addicting Noro scarf - which I made into a moebius. I love the way it looks! You will have to trust me that it looks purdy - it is blocking next to the woodstove and I didn't get to take pics this morning.

Yesterday was "one of those days". I knew it would be a crazy run-around day, as Thursdays usually are for us. No big deal - lots of driving here and there, working, karate for Nicole, blah blah. I ran home to pick Nicole up and noticed that the dog had vomited a bit (sorry for the graphics). Not unusual. The weird part was that his fur looked, well, clumpy all over. It would come and go. Sooo bizarre! I had never seen a Lab with fur that looked that way. He looked like he had the mange or something. I tried to give him a biscuit - wouldn't eat it. Gave him some bread (his absolute favorite thing in the world) and he wouldn't touch it. Hmmm... Hubby got home and said he would keep an eye on him as Nicole and I were heading back to the office for a while then to karate.

Got a phone call from hubby 30 mins later saying doggie looked worse - so we called the vet and rushed over. Turns out he had an allergic reaction to something (we have no idea what caused it - doc said it could have been a bug bite - and I'm thinking what the heck kind of bug do I have in my house that would make a 100 pound Labrador react like that????? After a couple of shots and $200 all was better. It was scarey for sure - all I kept thinking was brain tumor and a bad outcome.

Needless to say I am a happy camper that it is Friday. Lots of fun stuff planned for the weekend - going to see Grease in Providence, dinner out in the city, getting the tree, a huge craft fair that we look forward to every year. And yeah, some knitting.

And since I hate a post without any pictures, I am recycling an old one of my boy, who thankfully feels better today!

Those Amazing Kids!

I learned to knit when I was a child. I remember sitting on my grandmothers big rocking chair (I think it was one of those lazyboy recliners - scratchy green material and you had to put a blanket on it to be comfortable in the summer) and knitting with her metal needles. I got a couple of small Barbi blankets done but that was about all.

I taught my daughter to knit when she was about 8 years old. She had the attention span of a gnat, so she would sit for a while then get bored and pick it up again at a later time. Over the summer we bought these bracelet kits and had so much fun. Personally I didn't enjoy it so much - the needles are way too tiny and the whole process just kind of hurt my eyes. But I loved the results. We went to our local craft store and bought some more supplies but they just sort of sat around since the summer.

Well Nicole decided that these bracelets would make great Christmas presents for her friends. She has been knitting up a storm. Check these out!



She was working on this one last night.


I'm not sure if I would have had that much patience at 13 to do that much teeny tiny knitting, but it's working for her. Kids are amazing sometimes.

And speaking of amazing kids have you seen the beautiful creations of this wonder-kid? Her mom has a great blog where you can see even more. Leah even has her own little fiber business going! Both her mom and dad are incredibly talented people as well, so it's no wonder where she gets her creativity from.

Yep - kids are amazing!

Charity Knitting - Check!

For the last couple of years Margene and Carole have been encouraging knitters everywhere to Knit Unto Others. Although this year they have not officially made it an 'event', us knitters are still knitting for charity. I don't do it as often as I would like, but when Christmas comes I find myself thinking of others who need more than I do.

Last month at the RI Spinners Guild meeting there was somebody (I'm so sorry I can't remember who - I am so bad with names) who was handing out bags of fleece. They were for free, but you were asked to spin it up and make a hat for charity. I got the carding and spinning done in one night. Last night while my girlscouts were working on their charity project I knit it up. The result:


Sorry for the crappy indoor photos lately - I have been getting home too late to take pictures during the day and in morning before I leave for work it is still dark. I feel like a mole.....

The Scarf...

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I am making the scarf that seems to be taking the knitting world by storm. I was reading on Stephanie's Blog and got curious. I bought some Noro and now I understand the addiction. You just have to keep knitting to see how the colors are going to turn out! I wasn't into investing over $40 on a scarf (cheap cheap - I know I sound like a bird) so I bought 2 contrasting skeins and after looking on Ravelry I found somebody who made a mobeius from 2 skeins. So I am attempting that. Progress:

I also read on Faiths blog about how she applied the same concept to socks. And wouldn't you know it - I have 3 skeins of Noro sock sitting in the drawer just waiting to become something. I am thinking this could be a good after Christmas project. Speaking of Christmas - got to get back to my Christmas knitting. So close but still so much to do. Later!

31 days 31 Posts

I jumped on the bandwagon, checked my sanity at the door and am doing the 31 posts in 31 days. In December. No, I have not started doing drugs (although I swear there are days that I don't know why the hell I don't). I figure if I can keep up with this in the crazy holiday season, there is no reason why I can't at least get more current with posting on my blog.

Speaking of bandwagon, did anybody guess why I bought that Noro? I took a break from Christmas knitting last night and cast on. Don't have pics yet, but will tomorrow. I promise.