Long Relaxing Weekends

Christmas went by uneventful in my house. Since we decided to sponsor a family this year instead of buying gifts for ourselves we didn’t have much going on. We were lazy and watched marathons of “A Christmas Story” on TV in our jammies. It was great. At about 4pm I decided that I wanted to make a big Christmas dinner only to discover that the only grocery store open on Christmas closed at 3pm, so we had spaghetti for dinner. Even though we didn’t have a big Christmas we still had a good time. I even got to hear from my sister. She hasn’t been the easiest person to keep in touch with because her life is crazy right now so I was glad to hear from her and my nephew. I was really surprised to hear she sent me something too. I felt bad for not sending my nephew anything this year, but because I don’t get to hear from him much I have no idea what he is into or where I would even send it. I’m just glad I was able to talk to all my family but the holidays always make me sad that I am not with them.

I had Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after off from work so I had plenty of knitting time. I mainly worked on the Ballet Cami and the Sweet Baby Hat.


This is the status of the Cami with our new pet. He is the Webkinz Beagle that I got for the hubby. He loves beagles. I just finished the second skein and have attached the third. It is going by really fast now. I finished the decreases and am doing the increases until I get to the armholes.

I really need to try to work on the hat more because I need to finish it but it seems like it is taking forever. I think it is because it is with fingering weight yarn. Usually hats don’t take me any time at all but this is the first time I am using this light weight of a yarn.

I am supposed to get my Options needles today since I was not able to pick them up over the weekend. I forgot that we were closed for three days when I had them sent to my office so I had to wait. They actually shipped pretty fast for Knit Picks but they happened to get here on Saturday and the post office holds the mail for my office until we are open again. I went to try and pick them up but the stupid post office said I wasn’t on the list. There is no list!! There are like 5 people in the office and we are all like family. I seriously doubt that the owners would care who picked up the mail but they still wouldn’t let me take it. So I will get them today along with the package from my sister. I am not too worried about what case comes with the set anymore because I found someone on Ravelry that would be willing to trade is she gets that black case that I wanted. She actually wants the cheap plastic case. At least it will work out for both of us.

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!!

-Michele-

Time To Slooow Down

Wow, this post was supposed to go up a couple days ago. I hate when I get too busy to sit back and enjoy myself. Yesterday while driving home I noticed how beautiful the sunset was. I couldn’t remember when the last time I noticed the sunset. I really need to slow down and enjoy life! So I decided not to do the dishes and enjoy my evening off. I knit and listened to a few podcasts (the stupid satellite was not working again and I had no TV) while Diana glued herself to me. She must have been cold because she would not leave my side. She slept next to me with her head on my lap all evening. It has been getting colder and I finally got to wear my Fetching the other morning. They kept my cozy!

I got my yarn I ordered from The Loopy Ewe a couple days ago. I jumped in on the Cherry Tree Hill sale colors. I got “Sweet Potato Pie” and it is gorgeous!! It even came with a cute calendar from Romney Ridge Farm that was all about sheep. That went right up next to my desk. Now my office really thinks I’m weird. I am also waiting for a package from Knit Picks. I finally broke down and ordered a set of Options needles with my Christmas money (thanks mommy!). I have wanted them for about a year but just had not ordered them for one reason or another. So finally I put it in my cart on Monday and went to pay for it yesterday. It was gone from my cart and when I looked for it I found out they no longer offer the set in the zipper case. Now it comes in a cheap vinyl case and they kept it the same price. I was so disappointed! I even called them to see if I could still order it with the zipper case and all they said was “I guess you waited too long”. That was mean…So I still ordered it but I wasn’t too happy about it. I still want the other case but it is $20.00. Maybe next time I order from them I will add it in to get the free shipping…Geez…

I do have some knitting for you today. I have been working on the Ballet Cami since I didn’t have a sock to work on for a couple days. I finished my first skein of yarn and already have attached the second. This is working up pretty quick now.

I also started another sock but I’m not sure I like it yet. The yarn is Zen String Lotus Toes in Purple Eater and the pattern is Slippery Socks. I think they yarn might b to fuzzy for the pattern to show up. I am not very far but I may rip it back and knit a plain jane sock with this yarn.


This was the yarn that was in the purple eater sock I frogged recently. I like the yarn but I doesn’t seem to like me much…

So that’s all I have going on right now (well not all I have but all that I feel like working on). I decided not to do any Christmas knitting this year. It is only my 2^nd Christmas knitting and I don’t think I am fast enough to finish projects in time and with all the extra stuff we are trying to do this month it really wasn’t possible. So I got off the hook and got to enjoy my knitting this month! I have the night off tonight too so I will be cleaning and knitting to Christmas carols. I love this time of year :-)

-Michele-

This Stinks

For the first time ever, I ordered some destash yarn. I got it from someone on Ravelry and I was so excited I couldn’t wait. The thought of buying perfectly good yarn at prices lower than new was something new for me. I got the yarn yesterday and while it is gorgeous something is a little off. It smells…not particularly bad, but it definitely has a smell to it. Almost like there was perfume sprayed on it. If it was a scent that I liked I might not have minded too much. I almost went and bought the other skein of AmiAmi that she lad listed but something told me to wait. Now the yarn is just fine but the smell made me rethink buying the second skein. Last night I sprayed it with febreeze and let it dry (I have done this with yarn before with nothing bad happening) and it still smells. I set it away from my stash (as not to contaminate the rest) and am going to let it air out. What else can I do?

So I finally have a FO for you. The Striped Socks are finally done and they MATCH! Here they are in all their glory:

Yarn: Lion Brand Magic Stripes

Needles: 3.0mm Knit Picks Circulars

Pattern: Basic Sock Pattern (Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles)

Pattern Designer: Cat Bordhi

Date Finished: 12/11/2007

I love them. I don’t know if I will eventually give them away, but for now they are mine. All mine! I haven’t cast on any new socks yet so I need to get on that. I will cast on at work tonight.

I got to pick up our Christmas cards yesterday. They turned out great. I used the picture of Diana with Santa for the card. I love that it was so easy and cheap to do. All I need to do now is address them and stamp them with these cute knitted stamps I found:

Ha, those are too cute. So I found out today that we might be getting another dog temporarily. Someone that the hubby works with had a Beagle that he couldn’t keep. Now T isn’t the only one in his office that works with the Beagle Rescue so we weren’t the only ones pissed when he gave the dog to the SPCA. The Beagle Rescue really wanted him. So they are going to go get him and might have already found him a home in New York. While he is waiting to go to New York he needs a foster home. He shouldn’t be woth us very long at all, they just need to get him out of the SPCA shelter. Poor guy, his whole world is getting turned upside down right now.

So it will be more chaos at my house for a while. I’m just glad that my time working at the store is almost over. Then things will calm down for us. I can’t wait…

-Michele-

Only 13 Days Left...

It seems like I have had no time for blogging lately…

Finally I had a somewhat normal weekend. I worked all day Saturday but the hubby and I were home on Sunday, together. It felt weird after all this time of us not being home at the same time. So to use the valuable time we had together, I met up with Angie. No, I’m not that mean, he came too :-) We both needed to get out for a while. It was nice to sit and chat for a while. I stopped by AC Moore too and got some craft stuff for my little sister and I on Thursday. Sunday night the hubby and I made it out to Merritt Island for a show called “The Living Christmas Tree.” They had a floor to ceiling fiber optic tree on the wall with people in each level singing Christmas carols and other songs. There was even a 7-year-old girl that sang the anthem. Wow could she sing…it was great.

Sunday before we left for the show I finally got the hubby to finish my new swift. Now I don’t have to use my feet to unwind yarn anymore. :-) I got the pattern for the swift here. It cost a whole lot less to make it than I would have spent if I bought one from a craft store. The wood for 2 of them was only a little over $10. Nice huh? Now all I need is a ball winder. For now I am perfectly content winding by hand.

I am almost finished woth the second Striped Sock.I have one more repeat to go then I start the toe. I have decided that the next sock will be Slippery Socks. Can you believe that the designer is a teenager?? She is so talented. I also decided to frog the Purple Eater Sock. I don’t know why but they were twisted at the toe. I have not touched it in months because it has been bugging me. So they are getting frogged and are becoming Sippery Socks.

I got started on the Baby Hat for my cousin and I really like how its turning out. It is slow going though since it is in fingering weight yarn. I am using Louet Gems Fingering in Crabapple Blossom. It’s the same yarn as the bootie but I don’t know if I will be making another bootie. I hope to have this hat finished by Christmas but it’s ok if it’s not. She is not due until March.

So it’s back to work in the mall tonight for me. At least I work across the way from barnies so I can grab coffee. They have a great Pumpkin Spice Latte.

-Michele-

Winter Is Here, Kind Of

**As I read the last post I realized that I sounded like a jerk. It’s not that I don’t like knitting for other people, I just don’t like being asked to knit for money. I love to knit gifts, almost all the things I knit get given away. Just wanted to clear that up…**

It’s finally starting to feel like the holidays around here. Even though its still 80 in December, we had the Christmas music playing all week. It’s actually starting to feel a bit cooler today. We even got to take Diana to see Santa in the mall. When I heard that there was a “Bring your dog to see Santa day” we had to go get her. She was so happy to be around all the other dogs and people. I am using the picture to make our Christmas cards. We still haven't put up any Christmas lights on the house. I have the feeling that we won't get them up since we are both working all the time now. It's ok, I have my tree up.

I am feeling so blah today. I am really tired and achy. I hope I’m not getting sick. I haven’t touched my knitting in days because I have been working on getting a mailout done for work. I was addressing, stamping and stuffing 900 letters. Not fun…I will be working tonight so I should get some knitting in.

The only thing that I managed to finish in the last couple days was the first bootie. I don’t like it. It seems small. I decided to knit a hat out of the rest of the yarn and if I have enough I will knit the bigger size booties. If the yarn is close I will frog the first bootie too.

I felt like such a fraud last night. I was shopping at the mall and found a gorgeous hand knit sweater. It wasn’t too thick to wear in our 80 winter (is will get cooler soon) and it was on sale. I bought it, what a shame. It’s even made of acrylic. I know…but it would have taken me forever to knit that, not to mention that I have never knit a sweater before. It was cheaper than if I had bought all the yarn to make it and was a beautiful color so I caved. And I call myself a knitter…

BTW, Did you see they the new Knitty and MagKnits are up??

-Michele-

What Are Your Handknits Worth?

Well I didn’t get as much done as I thought I would. It was surprisingly really busy at the store this weekend. I am starting to not like working there. I knew that I wouldn’t see the hubby a whole lot but now it’s starting to get to me. I will be better when I am done dog sitting and am back home. So I didn’t finish the baby booties but I did get to work on the Striped Sock.


I am done with the gusset decreases and am working to finish this soon. I got another offer on the Sock. Seems handknit socks are hard to come by. A friends wants to buy them but I didn’t giver her an answer. After all this time I am kinda attached to them. Besides what price would I sell them for? How much is my time really worth? Probably more than she’s willing to pay for a pair of socks. I have had multiple offers to knit things for other people too. I never know just how to answer the usual “Ooh can you knit (blank) for me? I’ll pay you and buy the yarn!” I don’t want to commit my time since I get bored easily and don’t finish things. What if I took too long? Somehow I think I would get bored if it turned into “work”. Yea, I’m not ready to capitalize on the hobby yet.

I got another amazing package from my now revealed secret Pal. Her name is Melissa. I am so happy that she got me as a Pal, she was too good to me! This package had some beautiful roving from Smoky Mountain Fibers (so soft!!), a handknit ornament for my tree, the River Ripple Socks pattern from her LYS, some yummy chocolate, soap, candles and sticky notes. She really does know me pretty well. All 3 of the packages were much appreciated. I can’t wait to start spinning that fiber. Thanks Melissa!! It has been fun!

I really have to get going. I have to find the last few things to throw in my SP Package. I was so busy that it’s going out a few days late. I hope she won’t mind!

-Michele-