Guess what I FINISHED!!!!! (Merry Thankmas Spoiler, Jess!!)

Yes, I have SPA pics and want to talk about this past fantastic weekend, but FIRST. I finally finished that SMUCKING Cheetos sweater from H - E - double hockey sticks. I think it's gorgeous - soft, slightly shimmery, OK - maybe not perfect, but I think it will fit her. Took the bag o'parts with me to SPA, and told myself I wasn't coming home till it was done. After all, Jess is finally getting her arse home next week, and I promised her she would have her Bolero when she got back.



Since Jess missed so many holidays while in Brazil, we are going to get together soon to catch up - calling the day Thankmas. Cuz HallothankmasNewSuperBowlPrezzyMLK Day was just too long. And who makes greeting cards for that.


So Jess, if you are reading this, pretend you didn't when you unwrap it. Pretend you love it, even if it is a bit lumpy in places. Pretend you will never take it off, even if my finishing skills are less than speck-takkaler.

Cause with every dropped stitch, every frog session, every curse I threw at it, every ARM HOLE I SEWED UP WITHOUT THE SLEEVE IN IT, it still came out kinda cool.

Didn't it? Can't wait to see how the color looks against Jess' tanned just-back-from-Carnival skin. Should be GO-JUSS.

Is it Long Enough Yet?

Here's my willie warmer, still plugging away at it but you can see that I will have to make some decisions soon on the pattern. The 3x3 ribbing is going quickly, and so far, it's about 6 inches long. Ahem - most men would say I have a long way to go. I figure I will make it a little longer than is probably needed, and he can always cuff it if he needs to. Heck - I don't even know the
guy!

Is it SPA, yet?

Soooo looking forward to going to Portland in a few weeks for SPA weekend. Lisa and I are heading up Thursday night, and not heading home until Sunday. And as luck would have it, Monday is Presidents' Day, so I won't have to sleep on my keyboard at work.

Lisa is working on a really pretty scarf with some difficult (slubby, loose spun) yarn. She is going to work on her first Booga bag next, and as luck would have it, I had picked up four skeins of Noro Kuryeon for her as a surprise. And even more lucky - I picked a colorway she had already looked at and decided that was what she wanted. It's like I can read her smucking mind, ya know?

Lisa and Cris came over today for pre-game munchies and to just hang out awhile. Keith and JP also came over to watch the game - they are in the linving room now with Mark hollering at the TV. I made a killer pulled pork for some fantastic sammies, and tater salad, sausage peppers n' onions, cole slaw, chicken wangs - everyone was walking around with a Buddha-belly before they left. That's my goal - if anyone leaves my house hungry it's cuz their stupid. But for some reason, everyone feels compelled to call me the next day to complain about how their own digestive systems processed my food. It's not MY fault they can't handle onions and garlic and BBQ sauce. Didn't make my truly faht-worthy baked beans this year though, so might have peace and quiet - we'll see.

Working on a willie warmer for one of Cris and Lisa's friends- keeping track of the pattern as I go. So far:

On size one double pointeds (I am using really nice Brittany (birch) shorter needles), cast on 60 stitches, divided across four of the needles. K3 P3 Ribbing for the desired length (yes, ribbed for her pleasure.... shhhhhhhh). Haven't reached the point where I need to do anything tricky - will figure out that part when I hit it. Thought that I might even create some sort of sac with a draw string for the berries in the twigs and berries partnership. I am using this sorta flesh color yarn, with a hint of a mauvy-purple to it.

Question - how long do I make it? And how do I answer that question? The recipient is Brazilian, so I am assuming I will use most or all of this skein!!! HEEHEEHEEHEE...

That's it for now.

She's Just Too Smucking Cute!!

(I've started Lisey's Story, by Stephen King - so Smucking is a new word to add to my vocabulary. I like it - sounds like Smuckers Jam, so it's a SWEET swear!!)

I find it really hard to get good pictures of my cats. It's like their energy and essence just can't be captured on film or in pixels.

But these are close - Abby is too hyper usually, so I try to catch her when she is sleeping.

Abby has the BEST tummy. It's firm, like a barrel - and covered in white curly fur. She has no shame - readily rolls over for long tummy rubbing sessions. For cats, she's very easy going about that - they usually don't like it. But I have had her since she was 7 weeks old, and right from the beginning, I made a point of it. That way, she is much more cooperative at the vet - they often have to find ways to get her to stop purring during exams. But that is much easier to deal with than a cat who wants to eat your hand off at the wrist!

Holiday Baking

It's been years since Lisa and I were able to pool our resources and just bake like fools for the holidays. Well, this year, my oven conveniently quit. Go figure - the damn thing is 20 years old. And Mark won't buy a new one. Had to wait until a new pilot was shipped out so he could fix it. So, I packed up my ingredients and recipes and pans and racks and hauled my ass over to Townsend after work on Friday the 15th and didn't get home until Sunday evening.

By the time we were done, Lisa had goody trays for 23 deliveries. And I got to bring home a big bucket o'nummies for Mark.

Let me see if I can list all the stuff we did:

1. 7 Layer Bars
2. Peanut Blossoms
3. Peanut Butter Fudge
4. Chocolate Pizzelle
5. Peppermint / White Chocolate Bark
6. Dark Chocolate / White Chocolate / Almond Bark
7. Peppermint Brownies
8. Nutella Peanut Ravioli
9. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
10. Oatmeal Cranberry Nut Cookies
11. Lemon Tartlets
12. Pecan Tartlets
13. Coconut Raspberry Tarts
14. Special K Peanut Butter Cookies
15. Lemon Poppyseed Loaves
16. Pumpkin Cranberry Loaves
17. Almond Something Loaves (I forget what else was in there!!)
18. Decorated Sugar Cookies
    

Gail was in for the weekend too, so she helped decorate the sugar cookies and kept us company while we baked and fried and melted and stirred and and and.

Jess called while we were working- so had to get a pic of Lisa talking to her.

This is the daSilva Christmas tree - Lisa is seriously considering keeping it up until Jess comes home.

This is the final result - it's hard to believe that all that work came down to this. But it was worth it - and had a great weekend making mudpies with Lisa. We don't get to spend enough time together.

GingerBread Party 2006, Part 4

And our last guests, the delightful Roscoe girls. Wanda brings Meghan and Sarah (Wanda if I mispelled their names, let me know, I'll fix!!!) every year. This year they didn't have quite enough time to finish before having to leave in time to catch a new American Girl movie on TV - but I did catch some Work in Progress shots.

Meghan is laughing so hard because I had just told her the Tootsie Roll chimney on her house looked like a turd. Yeah, I'm a classy broad. But it really did.

GingerBread Party 2006, Part 3

Next to arrive, Gina and Timmy. It was getting pretty crowded, but we just threw another table at the problem, and got to work. Tim also veered toward the twisted - I really look forward to seeing what he does next year. I think he was influenced by Mr. Jeremy's evil crimescene!

Miss Gina's house was adorable, just like her, of course!

GingerBread Party 2006, Part 2

Lisa, Jeremy, and Holly were next to arrive.

Lisa brought cookies to decorate, but ended up knitting the whole time. Oooooh - is she hooked or what?

Jeremy needs serious therapy. His "house" was more of a crime scene diorama. Blood, guts, and mayhem. I am so proud.




















He also decorated a cookie for Jess, and we found a perfect backdrop for it.

Holly went with a Hurricane Katrina theme - the house pretty much looked like a levee broke allllll over it. She added POLICE to the roof as a finishing touch.

GingerBread Party 2006, Part 1

Phew. My feet hurt. Let's get that right out of the way. Now - on to the good stuff. So far, 7 guests, 6 houses. Some twisted and sick, others traditional and adorable.

Ahva and Rita got right down to business - Rita's first time at one of these things. She managed to stick 20 lbs. of candy on a 2lb house - absolutely amazing. Ahva went with a more traditional cottage - very cute, in pastels and of course, heavy on the pink!

One Thing I Am Thankful For

I don't usually get sappy - just not that type of person. But during these holidays I especially miss one person who always adds life and energy to every day, and to watch her during the holidays is a blessing I have enjoyed for more than 15 years now. I have watched her grow up from a little girl who cried because she thought she wasn't pretty to become a gorgeous, talented, self-assured young woman who lights up the room just by walking into it.

And she is in Brazil, with her extended family, and missing Thanksgiving at home. So I just wanted to let her know that even though she isn't here with us this week, she is in my heart and can't wait for her to come home.

Grand View. Whew. Still Recuperating.

Wow. What a weekend. From Friday night to Sunday noon, 12 absolutely insane women knit, drink, munch, gab, sing, crack jokes, and occasionally sleep. Where? The Grand View Country Store in Randolph, NH is a yarn store for yarn stash-aholics.

Everywhere you turn, there is yarn. It's enough to convert anyone from a "I'm just coming with you to scrap" type chick into a "OK, this scarf is almost done, what do I do for a second project?" chick.

Case in point.

CroptoberFest 2006

It's a little late, but I really want to thank Melissa for holding an excellent CroptoberFest. It was great to be able to bring Gina, Chris and Lisa, and scrap allllllll day. I made great strides on Aunt Joyce's birthday album - it's almost done!


The girls came to visit during dinner, and Nora, the shy retiring little Junebug she is, visited everyone, asking about their pictures and their pages. What a freakin cutie! I managed to convince her it would be AWESOME to put bug stickers on our noses - I had to do it first to push her over the edge.
Lisa wanted to go outside and get some pictures for her albums so I got to play photographer - she so pretty, huh?

Upside Down Evil Kitty

Nuf said. Cutest kitty ever.

Really.

EVER.


Discuss.

Coming Up.....GBP2006!

YUP - it's that time again! My annual Gingerbread House party is scheduled for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This is Jess from the 2004 party - since she can't be here this year, she can at least strike a pose to advertise GBP2006.

Every year for about six years now, I invite friends and their kids to join me at the house - they bring undecorated houses, or pieces to assemble, and some candy to share for decorations. I provide lunch and munchies all day, and lots of cement - royal icing - to assemble their masterpieces. I also use sugar cones, royal icing, and green sugar to create snow covered pine trees for everyone's house.

The day is exhausting - usually the first guests show up early in the morning, and I boot the last ones out the door around 10:00p.m. - but it is such a blast. Last year, more than a dozen houses were completed over the course of the day.

Still thinking about the menu - I usually make a crockpot full of a yummy soup or stew, and throw a roast and veggies in the oven. I'm open to suggestions and recipes!!

Even now, when vacuuming, I come across candy bits from previous parties - and once in a while Abby will be freaking out in the kitchen - it turns out she found a particularly roll-y piece of candy to bat all over the place.

So are you thinking of joining us? RSVP - space is at a premium, which is why the party runs from morning to night.

Kids who want to decorate are always welcome - and I can put kidvids on the 55" screen TV for the kids who tire out and want to chill in the living room.

And there are a few rules to abide by:

1. If you can see it, you can eat it.
2. Before you leave, I MUST be able to take pictures of you with your finished house.

Can you deal? Than give me a call! I look forward to seeing you there!

Goin' to the Fayuh - Deerfield Fair, 2006

Mark and I headed to Deerfield early, got there about 9:00ish. Which was a good thing, because by the time we left, just after noon, the crowds were UN-FREAKIN-BELIEVABLE. It was a beautiful day, and Sunday promised to be mizzable, so everyone in New Hampshire decided to head to Deerfield on Saturday. I swear, you couldn't fart without knocking someone over.





Anyway, got some fun pics of piggies and sheep and goats and stuff - and the Fiber tent, which was full of good stuff, but nothing that really blew my mind. I was a little disappointed, or maybe just too particular, I dunno.

Found It!!!!

Found my digital camera, after tearing apart the living room. It was in one of my 30000 knitting bags. Anyway, my birthday was this past Thursday, and lovely Gina sent me these - I promised her they were blog-worthy, and so they are!!

I came home late that night, and the FTS box was sitting on the front steps. It was a great way to end what had been a crappy day. Daisies are my favorite flower, in case you weren't aware!!

She also included some Maxine refrigerator magnets - very cute.

The daisies have opened up beautifully, and are enjoying a few more days on the bay window. It's too bad cut flowers don't last longer.

Thanks, Miss G!

Cut Off at the Knees!!!

No, I don't need a handicapped plate - although they do come in handy at Christmas. I can't find my freakin digital camera! It's here somewhere. I think Abby took it so I wouldn't keep taking pics of her and Pud. So here are some older ones anyway.


So I have a few projects on the needle, including two Jaywalkers - one using Opal Petticoat, and the other using Gina's watermelon sock yarn. Both are coming along - I just started the heel flap on the Opal sock last night. Or maybe it was this morning - haven't been sleeping so well. But I can't PROVE it cuz the frigging camera is no where to be found.

Also still working on my aunt's birthday album. Will probably finish it up at Melissa's Creative Memories OctoberFest next month to be able to give it to Joyce. But can I show you that? Noooooo!

Is it Hot in Here?

Yes, here it is, my long-intended post about the famous Cheetos sweater from Hell. This has been on the needles for over a year now - luckily the recipient is done growing, I think / hope. So this blog entry is for you, dear Jess. Read on, lucky readers, and learn the story of the shrug.

This is Jess daSilva, by the way - she just graduated from RISD, and was a phenom on the Providence Roller Derby circuit. When she comes back from Brazil next spring, she will go back to the team. Her game name is daSilva Bullet. Freakin beautiful, or WHAT???

I picked what looked like a simple pattern from the KnitPicks catalog, the Bolero shrug, to make for her. I figured - hey - I have been knitting for a WHOLE YEAR - of COURSE I can make the leap to a sweater. And she's small, so it would go quick - right? What I didn't remember is that I hadn't produced much more than partially finished hats and a few scarves. It sucks to work full time plus and try to learn a skill that, for me anyways, takes some concentration and patience. I am not spatially adept - can't just look at a pattern and see what the results will be. And learning new stitches? HA! At LEAST three demos from increasingly impatient expert knitting buddies.

But I digress. So I sent Jess an email with the KnitPicks Shine yarn URL, which they recommended to make the shrug with, and asked her to pick a color. She chose, of all things, the Apricot. What a surprise - this girl has gorgeous coloring that would go with vomit-color. But Apricot? What about that beautiful Cherry? But whatever she wants....! I'll tell you though, the color gives me hot flashes whenever I work with it. Apricot schmapricot - it's the color of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, or Cheetos.

The knitting went along very well - I learned new skills, like increases and decreases, that I hadn't used before. I could see it taking shape, and the yarn, color aside, is sooooo soft. Try Shine sport weight. It is 60% Pima Cotton, 40% Modal - I don't have a clue what that is. But the yarn is so easy to work with.

And then the leaf edgings, the final pieces. The right side came along, after about a dozen trips to the frog pond until I understood the pattern. But the left edging stumped me. No matter how many times I read the pattern, it seemed like what should be a 10 stitch row decreased to a 9 stitch row after the first row - definitely not the same as the right edge. Well, after sending emails to KnitPicks and then learning the very weird and uncomfortable purlwise yarnover as first stitch, voila. The edging is finally done.

So now I get to assemble. Did I say yet that the mattress stitch is boring and frustrating? Not liking it. And I may have to rip a whole side seam out and start over because the pieces aren't lining up. But this think is almost done - I can smell success.

Jess emailed me a week or so ago and hinted that she would be pleased to receive the finished shrug while she is still in Brazil. She added that the girls down there often wear shrugs like that with nothing underneath them. Yeah, right - like that will make me run to the post office! I've known the kid since she was 5! She'll get the sweater when she comes home in March!!!

(Project pictures are coming - bear with me!!)

Booga-Mania 2006

Hey - I just realized we are in a month that ends with an R. You know what that means? It means that Christmas is coming. You know what that means? It means I promise myself that I will try to make as many awesome gifts as possible for the people in my life - and then fail to achieve anything close to that. Two years ago I promised my self I would knit cute little wrist warmers for all the folks I supervised at work - because it can get mighty cold in the winter in our office. They are still waiting. If I wait long enough, maybe turnover will take care of the issue. Sigh.

I promised last year to make Booga Bags. I mean, how easy can it get? Hell, I can knit in the round in traffic, and make i-cord in my sleep. So how many did I make? One - and didn't even felt it. It's the multi-colored one above, in Kureyon Karaoke .

So today was a mizzable rainy day, and time to make my empty, futile promises. But due to the weather and my husband's rare lack of interest in annoying the shit out of me all day (he even took a nap), I even got some work done. I finished one Booga, minus the i-cord, and started a second.

This one is ready to felt. The bottom is a bulky cranberry - the remains of the yarn I used to make the scarf for my husband that is displayed in a previous blog. The white and green are Cascade 220. I'm hoping the thicker cranberry will make a sturdy base for the bag.

The thing I like most about the Booga Bag idea is that after you make one, you really don't even need the pattern. You can improvise to make smaller, or larger bags, and try different strandings and patterns as you knit in the round - which goes anywhere. It's brainless, and so unless I am chewing gum, I have a fighting chance of not screwing it up. No real need to check gauge, no real need to even measure. I figger what ever size comes out of the washing machine will be just fine.


This is the beginning of bag number two. I crocheted (I hear GASPs from the knitting snobs, but bear with me...) the bottom to have a round base - the rectangles are getting boring. This is Lopi evergreen, which I picked up in a quickie visit to Patternworks yesterday with my sister-in-law, the lovely Anita.

She had never been there - it was fun to see her have a little yarn-stiffy as she wandered around the store. But she didn't buy anything. How sick is that? I had to raid the sales bins, and still in a Booga frame of mind, had to pick up some Lopi. Yes, I have Karaoke at home. And butt loads of Cascade. So what.

Anyway, this bag is now in its knit phase.

I am alternating with Lopi gray green, first in a stripe, and now have moved on to a 5 stitch checker pattern. Somehow I managed to come out exactly even on the repeats, without even counting the stitches first. That will NEVER happen again. I don't deserve such serendipity twice.

So, back to Booga. Next posting will be all about the Cheetos sweater from hell.