The Gang's All Here

I have my sister-in-laws hat on and my brother has joined the group in my husbands hat (way too large) but we're all in the spirit.

Christmas 2008

Six hat, scarf and mitten sets were completed just in time for Christmas gifting. Only five are shown because my sister-in-law couldn't make it since her family had a later celebration this year. Since she is a fellow knitter, I missed seeing her and talking the lingo. Many thanks to my sisters for staying out of my 'woman cave' so that I could finishing attaching buttons while they were congregating in my kitchen. Also, a special thanks to my baby sister for tissue wrapping the loot and to my LYS for the cute Christmas bags they gave to use as gift bags. A number of wonderful people that touch my life made this Christmas special for me. You know who you are and how much I count on you!

The "Hunter" Stocking is Done

I have been knitting personalized Christmas stockings for my mom's friend Bob since his wife passed away to carry on her tradition within the family. I started these after I had been back to knitting for approximately 8 months. My greatest accomplishments up until then were felted bags. Talk about getting in over your head. I didn't know what intarsia was let alone realize what I was actually undertaking. Before this, if I messed up, I started over again. I learned to unknit really quickly during this project.

'Hunter' was my 7th stocking in this pattern. The stocking knitting has actually evolved into relaxation knitting. Through the years of knitting stocking after stocking, I have learned steam blocking and acrylic yarns don't mix, knitting with Lambs Pride is way more enjoyable than Red Heart, the name on the stocking can turn out backwards and upside down if not careful, AND the 'Lisa lock' technique is indispensable when doing intarsia. I learned the 'Lisa lock' at the Monhegan retreat this past September. It consists of 'locking' the new color in the last few stitches before using the new color in the colorwork of the intarsia so you don't have to weave all of the pesky ends when finished -- TOTALLY AWESOME !!!

My Faithful Chloe

Chloe is absolutely ridiculous. She kept this ball on her head for a least 5 minutes. Perhaps she knew she looked very cute or she was just trying to divert my attention from my knitting. Whatever the reason, she needed to be blogged.

Sunday Morning At My House

A typical Sunday morning ... except crunch time because it's the last weekend before Christmas. I have my coffee, my computer, my cat, my tv -- I love my 'woman cave' in this house. The only problem is I have way too many projects that need to be finished. I'm on a mission .....

A Cheap Thrill But You Take What You Can .....

I love my Toyota 4Runner. Not since my 1986 Honda Prelude SI have I really enjoyed a car so much. In spite of being in 2 accidents (neither my fault), it drives like its just off the lot. Therefore the big milestone of flipping from 99,999 miles to 100,000 was exciting. The flip occurred in my subdivision so no humans were put in jeopardy for the sake of these photos.

RIP Newman Mar 96 - Aug 08

Newman. So much can be said about this wonderful cat that shared 12 1/2 years with us. After spending time with him, a number of 'cat haters' said that they had never experienced a cat like him. Newman would come when called and enjoyed laying with you or sitting next to you as you went about your day. Newman was the cat greeter of the house ... if you came in he wanted to see you and check you out. If you were a repair person, he wanted to keep tabs on all of your activities. He was a cat of few words but when he did talk, people listened. EVERYONE that knew him loved Newman!

Newman lost his battle with diabetes on Aug 28, 2008. We all miss him but are coping with him not being a part of our life.

Chloe is now velcro-ed to her Mama and her personality has changed since Newman's passing.

Monhegan Island - Sept 2008

I had a really relaxing time at the Knitting and Yoga Adventures Monhegan Island retreat. A week of knitting, yoga, yummy cookies, laughing until you cry and relaxing -- what could be better? For more daily details about this event visit their blog http://knittingandyogaadventures.blogspot.com/

Back From Africa

I've returned from Africa with no problems with taking my knitting needles on any flights. We spent alot of time in flight or driving so I ending up finishing a pair of socks for each of my sisters (that generously took great care of my cats while I was away). Both of the drivers we had during our trip had newborn babies at home so I knitted booties for each of them -- a first for babies in Africa but they both said the babies moms would love them.