Sunny Day

The Soiree was a big hit, with all attendees thoroughly enjoying themselves and lots of great compliments on the 'make and take' projects. I'm definitely due for a raise!! I was so pooped out after the event, that I was completely useless the following day and did nothing but lay around in my sweats and drink tea. All is well now, and I'm up and at it again! Thanks for your lovely comments about the projects! I've yet to meet another knitter who didn't have another craft or talent up his/her sleeve. We're just a multi-talented bunch!

It's a beautiful sunny day, here in the Pacific Northwest, albeit freezing cold. It was -6 C this morning when I woke up. Thank goodness for down duvets! Too bad I'm not finished my Silver Belle yet, because it would have been the perfect day to wear it. The first sleeve and one front are finished and the 2nd one is about 3/4's complete. What an enormous amount of knitting! I have a permanent cramp in my mouth from holding onto the cable needle between required uses. My husband is actually starting to understand my clenched responses to his questions. It took me awhile, but I've pretty much memorized the pattern which makes it so much easier. I'm about 'done' with the seed stitch pattern, though. Definitely not my favorite. I can see that I'm going to have to do some serious blocking once I'm done knitting this. That ripple has got to go!

To me, the edge of the sleeve looks a bit too unfinished, so I think I may do a horizontal cable trim to finish it off. I saw it elsewhere and thought it was brilliant, so I'm just going to be a copy-cat!

I finished knitting this bamboo lace scarf ages ago, but didn't get around to blocking it until this week. I decided to take the plunge and do a full wet block, which worked out beautifully! This pattern was created by a friend of mine and is quite effective and easily memorized.

Modeling, while taking a self portrait is no small feat! I love the softness and sheen of this yarn ... it was purchased as a gift for me by a friend while she was in Germany.
Lastly, a package arrived from 'over the pond' yesterday, with 20 more balls of Jaeger Extra Fine Aran in a lovely Aubergine shade. Think 'merlot' rather than purple. I really like this yarn and since it's been discontinued thought I'd take the opportunity to snap it up. I'm thinking it may become a "Rogue Hoodie" (minus the pouch in the front). I'm definitely on a 'cable kick' at the moment.

Soiree

I think I've mentioned before that I work part-time for a large photo finishing/scrapbooking store as a designer. I've been tasked with organizing and designing the product for a 'Soiree' at work for our top 30 clients, so have been hunkered down in my workroom at home, all week. We are going to have various stations at which each client can create a 'make & take' project, using a variety of Quickutz tools & die cuts. The theme is "Pink, Black and Hearts", in honour of upcoming Valentine's day. Every one will come wearing the above colours and the store will be decorated the same. All food will be pink/red ... example: red/white veggie tray; red fruit, pink mini cupcakes; heart shaped cookies, etc.

I had the idea that each attendee create a valentine card as their entry into the big draw, which would then be sent to our soldiers serving overseas, with a message inside that says something like: "With heartfelt thanks for serving our country". We are also going to open this to all customers and have told them that they can drop a card off at the store up until Jan. 25th. Then, I'll collect them all and send them off to the troops ... likely in Afghanistan. Whether or not they agree with the war, we want our soldiers to know that they are thought of and have our support here at home.

Here are a two of the 6 projects that I designed.

This 'french fry' container was created using the Silhouette die cut printer which attaches to your computer. You can get download cards with all kinds of die cuts, plus there are lots of free downloads on-line. This is currently on my 'wish list' and next time it's on special offer, I think I'll have to indulge myself :) It retails for about $390.00. It's tough having two obsessions (knitting & scrapbooking) ... too many toy options and too little space/time!

I've been working on my "Silver Belle" in the evening ... boy, what a lot of knitting with all those cables!! I've just about finished the first sleeve/bodice, so will have pics to show you very shortly.

I went to an Intro. to Photography course Wed. night and learned a lot about programming my camera, when to use the flash, etc. If I even retain half of what I heard, I'll be good to go!

Enjoy your weekend!

Cutie Pie

Didn't get any knitting done today as I was too busy taking pictures of our grandson! Then, it was kind of hard to knit, considering he was konked out in my arms for over an hour ... didn't dare move him for fear he'd wake up :). Oh, but there is some knitting content ... notice the Christmas booties????!

Next post, I'll show you how far I've got on my "Silver Belle.

A WIP ... with a problem ...

Thank you to all of you who take the time to leave such lovely comments on my blog! It is such a pleasure to read them all.

It's hard to believe that Christmas is already past ... I hope yours was enjoyable. I got one of those once-in-a-lifetime gifts where you open it up and absolutely freak out! Firstly, I was handed a package from our daughter which contained the new Celine Dion CD ... I thought "sweet", I'll enjoy that. Then came another package and it nearly blew my mind ... a ticket to her concert next October in Vancouver!!!!!! I couldn't believe it ... talk about doing the 'happy dance'! The best part will be the anticipation as it's still a ways off. She bought a ticket for herself, too, so we're going together, which is the other 'best part'. What a great kid.

I've started (and restarted!) the sleeve on my "Silver Belle" at least 3 times ... I thought I'd cracked it the 2nd time and was motoring along thinking this wasn't so bad :) until I got up this a.m. and looked at my progress, only to discover I'd wrongly crossed the cable on the left ... big fat raspberry :P********!

Phooey! There's no disguising that boo boo ... it's quite apparent. A frogging we will go ...

Anyhow, got that all sorted out and then knit about another 6 inches on it this evening. Hopefully, I won't have a repeat performance.
Our dog could be in a full 'coma' down the hall and all you have to do to wake him up is open a bag of chips somewhere in the house and he springs into action. Don't plan on opening one unless you plan on sharing! Hubby had the chip bag out, laying on the couch beside him. The dog stuck his head inside and was intently licking the salt out of the bag when it became attached to his face! It was on so tight that it would expand and contract with his breathing which gave him quite a fright, but didn't deter him from extracting every possible grain of salt.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

"For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given,
And his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace ..."

Isaiah 9:6

"Silver Belle's, Silver Belle's"

No, that is not a spelling error ... I'm referring to VK Debbie Bliss Silver Belle pattern. Go here to see and download the free pattern. Stacey at Crimson Purl let me know that she has a KAL for this amazing sweater ... so heads up girl, I'll be joining!

Last week I did a little online ebay Christmas shopping for myself :) and discovered this fabulous deal from one of my fave British vendors. Although the pattern calls for Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (my all time favorite!) this is a comparable quality yarn at half the price and, wait for it ... the shipping cost was included!

The yarn is called: "Jaeger Extra Fine Merino" and the colour is "Blue Star". Best of all, because it is extra fine merino, I can happily knit with wool without getting the sneezy, itchy, runny nose grumpies! Could life be any better? My sister is likely reading this and shaking her head. Not a knitter herself, she sometimes thinks I'm 'a brick short' ... when I 'wax eloquent' about my wool scores.

Oh, and a pair of Christmas 'Christine's booties' to go with the hat previously shown here. We're still waiting for the arrival of our son-in-law's, brother's first baby, who is actually due today. We don't know the sex, but I thought, being Christmas and all, that red would work for either and be kinda cute.

Specs:

approx. 1/2 ball Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in red
Set of size 3mm metal sock needles
Pattern: Christine's Booties
Changes: 2 x 2 rib for cuff
Crocheted a chain stitch for ribbon. Used yarn doubled.

As you know, I've made this same pattern several times over in the past few months :) and have to say that this yarn beats out any other to date. The stitch definition is incredible; the softness you want to drown in and best of all, it's machine washable! Just don't put it in the dryer. Also, it's the perfect size for newborn, but will stretch to fit to at least 3 months +, so they'll at least wear it longer than it took me to knit it!

Well, you may or may not hear from me again until after Christmas, so I'll take a moment now to wish you a happy holiday season as we celebrate the birth of the Saviour.
"May the Spirit of Christmas fill your heart with love and joy; and may the joy of the season last all year."

Here's a card I designed this morning to go along with the pinwheel blanket shown below in last entry. As my cousin is from Scotland, I thought the argyle paper appropriate! The baby is named after his grandfather, who passed away at the young age of 33, so it makes it even more special.

Guess who came to visit for a couple of hours last night, while mom and dad went to the dentist?

Here he is with grandma, modelling his new hat on which I embroidered a snowflake. I got the idea for the pattern from my christmas tea towel. I basically just eyeballed it and stitched it onto the front of the hat. Pretty cute, huh! BTW, how do you like my new 'do'?

That was the last smile we saw for over an hour ... he basically screamed, at full volume, until his parents returned. What a pleasure?! The dog was very agitated and kept running up to me as if to say 'can't you fix this'???

He hasn't been away from his mom much and he was positive that I wasn't her! My husband and I took turns walking the hall and I sang every Christmas carol (all the verses, too) I knew ... no go. Finally, after he'd worked himself into a real state, barfed on me & had a diaper change, here we are, 5 minutes before his parents returned ... out cold! Grandma needs a drink! And, guess what? We get to do this all over again on Saturday evening and maybe even overnight :) All you moms have my utmost respect. I was shattered after 2 hours and you all deal with this 24/7 ... wow.