Happy Halloween.....

In the spirit of the day, I give you my little monster...LOL!

We are not sure what he is, but it's definitely not Pooh!

On a knitting note, I am knitting on the sleeves to Big Blue and my goal is to be done by this weekend!

I am off to the Halloween Parade at Bryce's school!

In the evelenth hour.....

Talk about cutting it close....! I finished Kyle's hat on our anniversary at 11:48 pm. He absolutely loves it.

I've caught him wearing it in the house, so I guess it's a hit. He's already asked for another and Bryce is asking for one too! I see the World War II Watch Cap in their future, such a classic pattern.

On a totally random note, I need a cut and color so badly that I can forgo a Halloween costume this year.

I could really use a housekeeper and for someone to organize my life.

My fingers are really hurting from all the pricks I have to do.

Christmas is less than 60 days away.

My mother LOVED her Multnomah!

Ishbel is still going...

Big Blue is starting to go on car rides in the the project bag.

I am off to work...



A hat......

As you know, I started another shawl, but I really needed a wee break from the charts, so Kyle's hat has made me very happy. I kind of forgot how nice it is to have a rather mindless project. It doesn't get any more mindless than knitting in the round. In fact, it is going rather quickly, this hat, see....

As you can see, there is a gauge guide right there next to me and I was spot on! This picture really doesn't do it justice. It's way cuter in person!!

I am off to work shortly. I am going to dig Big Blue out tonight and start fixing the sleeves. If hubby keeps seeing the finished projects then he won't complain about the 2 bags of sweater quantity yarn I have on hold at the shop.  :-)

Happy Knitting!

In the mail....what's next??

I was at the Post Office bright and early sending my mother's birthday gift out. I was a good girl and didn't even try it on...for fear that I would love it on me and want to keep it. It went from being blocked to being shipped. If you are gifting any knitting this holiday season, I feel that this is the best approach to letting it go...  :-p

My next project is a shawl that I have been lusting over for about a year. I even have the EXACT yarn it was knitted and photographed in, see....

This is Ishbel by Ysolda S. Teague and all of her fabulous designs can be found on Ravelry or on her website www.ysolda.com. I think that many of you will enjoy her work. The yarn is Old Maiden Aunt Alpaca/Merino...it's from Scotland and the colorway is called Moody...I just adore it!!!!

I also just cast on a hat for the hubby. Gotta keep him from complaining about the "stash" enhancements that are going on around him. I am doing the Turn a Square pattern by Jared Flood, also a free pattern on Ravelry. I suspect he no longer reads my blog, so I think that I am going to try and get a pair of socks done for him for Christmas....fingers crossed!

Finished before deadline!

My mother's Multnomah is complete and will be blocked tonight and mailed out tomorrow. Here is a sneak peak of the Feather and Fan.

I am just thrilled with it and I hope that she will be as well. This is my third Multnomah shawl and I am ready to move on to another favorite that I have yet to tackle, Ishbel. I totally had to stay monogamous to mom's birthday gift and I did. Some projects did try to lure me away, but I resisted all the chatter.
I am off to cast on Ishbel....

Wollmeise...., Yes Please!

A couple of my friends who knit are now lurking the stashes of fellow Ravelers, searching for the elusive Wollmeise. What is Wollmeise you ask? Well. it is a beyond fantastic German yarn and it is difficult to get. The colorways are just to dye for.... get it....to dye for and the yardage is a generous 512 yards. The possibilities for this yarn are endless. I have 6 skeins and I take them out and love them a little and sometimes they even go on a car ride to the shop, where I always think, today might be the day I wind this....but that has yet to happen. I kinda love it in its hank for...you could actually beat off a mugger with it.

Isn't is beautiful. So, now that my friends are looking to procure some of this fabulous fiber, I would love to add to my stash without my hubby freaking out. Because, you can never have enough Wollmeise!

Mine will be taking a car ride again today and I will again contemplate using it.

Have a wonderful weekend to all!

Observation.....

I am waiting at the doctor's office where they keep you waiting for HOURS....you are at their mercy. Half the time, you give up out of frustration. But not me, not today. I have the iPad and knitting for a week....bring it on, I have all day!

As I sit here, I see their sign that says, "A charge will be made for broken appointments unless 24 hours notice is given". So, their time is more valuable than ours. I think we, the people, should charge when we are inconvenienced. It seems fair to me. Just an observation.

Time for Charts...

The house was quiet, everyone was where they were suppose to be, this is a good time to start the Annis Shawlette that is in chart form. This will be a new knitting skill....YEAH! I had cast on 363 stitches and began the chart. All was going great, I was nearing the end of the 1st row when I have this horrible sinking feeling in my stomach....my cast on stitches don't add up, I don't have enough stitches to finish.....S**T!!!

So, I can do charts, I apparently, however, can't count! !

Back to my deadline project....!

A beautiful bowl....

One of out fellow knitters is also a potter by trade and here is one of her yarn bowls that are exclusive to www.crazyforewe.com, take a look, isn't it beautiful....

It's a Praying Mantis and I adore him.

Still working on my deadline project!  :-)

A decision on a hat....

My poor husband has been NOT so silently asking for a hat and I keep nodding and saying, okay, as he sees me starting another project. Well, I found a great guy pattern today, here is the link http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/turn-a-square , it is a really attractive hat by Jared Flood, called Turn a Square. I picked out a rather more masculine Silk Garden by Noro and a skein of Shepard's Wool and I will start shortly. Gotta keep the hubby happy!

Today I worked in LaPlata and I was so excited by the turn out! Thanks to all of you for a wonderful afternoon.

I am still working on Multnomah III for my mother and I am really trying to stay with this one project because there is an actual deadline....but so many other things are calling to me! I must be strong. So, again, there are no knitting pictures, but I do have a adorable picture of our fur baby Fresca, who enjoyed her time today at Bark in the Park.

She had a wonderful day and is sound asleep next to me as I type this.

To Good Friends.....

I am so blessed to have such good friends!! When we first moved to MD and lived on Andrews, I had high hopes for friends and such....it was a very long, lonely and depressing year. When we decided to build our new home in Southern MD, I was hopeful again and boy was I rewarded big time. Finding my local yarn shop was like finding home. I have made some friendships that will be in my life forever. These are the friends that are there through thick and thin and everything else in between. We look out for each other and it has made me so happy knowing that these women are in my life!!!

There are no pretty pictures today. My needles have been quiet for 2 days due to work and 3rd grade homework. Not so good when you have an actual deadline for a very important gift. I best get cracking!!

FYI...My mother in law will get the shawl for Christmas, as I was able to beg, plead and pay for the same yarn out of some kind souls stash on Ravelry and a few more of my favorites to boot. Needless to say, there will be some Bugga in the air for me this week.

Hubby is asking for a hat, and I best comply before I get a lecture about my Bugga problem!!

Yarn lost, yarn found....

I was running around today like a chicken with her head cut off and I printed off some fantastic shawl patterns that I purchased on Ravelry and then I was headed to gaze at my stash, when I got distracted....yeah, I know, big surprise. My stash searched ended and the making of dinner started.

I picked up Bryce from school and we headed to our appointment and then home. After dinner and homework I headed upstairs for my favorite part of the day, the putting on of the jammies! I went into our bathroom and began to wash my face and there it was....the skein of yarn I must have gotten close enough to, to actually grab and apparently, leave on my vanity! Let me just say in my defense, that I have yarn stashed in various places in this house. There is a 2nd level stash, this takes place in multiple rooms and the 1st floor stash that also takes place in multiple rooms and bags! Plus it is fun kind of rediscovering it all over again.  :-)

My lacey cowl is done. Needs a little steam and a little pinning and it will be ready to wear.

I must also confess, that I wore Multnomah 2 today and I loved it. It's supposed to be a Christmas gift for my mother in law, but I am not sure she is going to get it after all....!

One a funny note, while in my school meeting this morning, I was asked where I was from? I replied, Massachusetts and one lovely lady said it was just like listening to the Kennedy's talk. I thought it was pretty funny.

A hop, skip and a Cowl!

Faithful knitting, yeah, not so much! My sleeve is rather enormous and I have found other QUICK lacy things to do with my time. See......

Doesn't this look heavenly! It is called Fern Lace Cowl and I am doing it in ONE SKEIN of ROWAN LIMA....yep, you heard it here first..one skein. The yarn is 84% Baby Alpaca, 8% Merino and 8% Nylon. I am thinking that these would be much appreciated teacher gifts. It is as soft as butter and I can't wait to wear it. It's a bit chilly here.

Froggers remorse.... :-(

One of my first frogged projects was a beautiful scarf called Midwest Moonlight from the Scarf Style book. It was my first attempt at lace and the yarn overs kept messing me up and if I had an extra stitch, well, that is where k2tog would come in handy. After a while, the k2tog's started to look like hell and I put it aside. I never did go back to it and eventually, I rewound the yarn and put it aside for another project, another day. Well, a fellow knitter, who completed this beautiful scarf, wore hers into the shop on Wednesday evening and I thought, damn, that is gorgeous! So, I have been kinda kicking myself about that one, but I have so many projects started that it's kinda giving me a panic attack. Here is where I thought GOALS might be a good idea, so here they are for you all to see.

GOALS

1.  Get Big Blue DONE already!
2.  Get Mom's birthday gift done on time.
3.  Figure out what should be next for Small Shawls Group.
4.  STOP WINDING YARN!!! This encourages cheating!
5.  Finish Cabled Scarf
6.  Stay off Ravelry...don't know if I can!
7.  Finish Kyle's socks

Just writing this down gives me a slight panic attack.

I am off to continue the sleeves of Big Blue, because it is like 50 degrees here today and I should be wearing it damn it!