The WIPs have taken over

There are way Way WAY too many WIPs hanging around over here. I have got to stop starting and start finishing.

I joined Secret of the Stole ii KAL and here is my progress on that as of a couple of days ago. I am a little further along now, but I am still in danger of getting behind if I don't get busy.



I am enjoying the pattern. I am using Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud it is rather nice to work with, very soft and light. This pattern seems better suited to my skill level than the Swallowtail Shawl. Speaking of which, here it is in progress:



I'm using Alpaca with a Twist for this one and I'm in love with it, it is beautiful. I am hoping that by the time I finish The Secret of the Stole ii I will have gained the skills that I need to finish the Swallowtail.

I have a TV knitting project that needs to be finished. A little project bag. All it needs is for the attached I-cord to be finished, a strap and to be felted. Maybe I can finish it this weekend.



It's just some cheesey Hobby Lobby wool that works so well for felting.

Next is the first in a pair of house socks. I'm using Berocco Comfort and have applied the cable and rib pattern from Fetching to these socks. I don't have a picture of it right now, I am about 75% done with the first sock and then of course I have to make the second one.

That's all of the WIPs I have right now to share, but I have some beautiful yarn that I would like to share:


AND



These both came to me all the way from Norway. Tone sent them to me and I have to find just the perfect thing to make. She is such a sweetheart and a genius of a knitter. Whatever I pick to make with it I am sure will not hold a candle to anything she knits.

Here's what I am thankful for today:

1. I am thankful for sweetheart Norwegian women that send beautiful Norwegian yarn.
2. I am thnkful the Montgomery GI Bill.
3. I am thankful for the snow that we are supposed to get tomorrow, even though it will probably be gone by Friday.

First the prize and then the winner

Thanks so much to everyone that played along in my little trivia contest. Here are the the answers.

1. August or September 2007 - either month is acceptable because I finished them in August while on vacation, but blogged about them in September when we got home.

2. Ford EXP

3. For everyone to be home for Christmas. And diamond earrings.

4. Blowfish

5. Iraq

6. Brickknithouse

7. 24 years old

8. Lemon

BONUS - I don't remember

A lot of you got all of the right answers, so we resorted to drawing a name out of a hat. Here is what the winner will receive:



I am so in love with Malabrigo this stuff is like a cloud, it is so soft. My favorite LYS just started carrying it, yay for me!

And the winner is...


Emma

So Ms. Emma, how you wanna do this? I can mail it to you...I can bring it to you...I can bring it to knitnite...I can take with with me to Crow Creek one day after work and you could meet me there and get it...it's your call.

Blogbirthday contest!!

To celebrate my blogbirthday I have come up with a little contest. Here is how it's gonna work:

Below are some questions about me. They aren't hard questions, someone that has never met me can easily find the answers right here on my blog. You will get one point for every question that you answer correctly and you can get additional points for sending others over to participate. All your friends have to do is tell me that you sent them.

At the end of it all the person with the most points will receive whatever it is that I get at the yarn store today, it's gonna be something cool...just don't know exactly what yet. A tie will be settled with a random drawing.

Email your answers to collier39(at)cox(dot)net.

Good luck!

1. When did I finish my first pair of socks?

2. What was my first car?

3. What did I want for Christmas?

4. What is my dog's name?

5. Where did my husband spend last summer?

6. What is my Ravelry ID?

7. How old is my daughter, Kate?

8. What kind of pie did I bake for my MIL for Mother's Day last year?

BONUS (worth two points)

When asked about my natural hair color, what is my reply?

The points will be totaled up and the winner announced on Monday (01/28). Thanks for playing and thanks for making this blog so much fun for me!

Pay It Forward

I used a random number generator to help me pick three people to received handmade gifts. 9, 5 and 1.

The 9th, 5th and 1st comments were left by:

Turtle

Julie

Cole

Email me at collier39(at)cox(dot)net with your favorite colors I will start on my Pay It Forward projects.

It's been kinda crazy around here the last several days and by crazy I mean pitiful and pathetic and whiny and sick, but I won't bore you with the details of our last few days.

Be watching, I haven't forgotten about the blogbirthday contest, I am just a day or two behind.

On Saturday I got some beautiful yarn in the mail from Norway, more about that and some pictures later. Thank you, Tone.

I'm way behind on blog reading, I'll catch up.

Today I'm thankful for:

1. The unbelievably helpful, caring, friendly surgical staff at Southcrest.

2. Tamiflu.

3. Sprite.

Go ahead...make my day

Hobbygaasa has bestowed upon me a great honor:



In true spirit of this little award, I will name 10 people that make MY day.

Let's see, there are the great knitting friends I have made at knitnite:

Annie
Eric and Tony
Sue
Marianne
Emma
Kathy

And then there are the great non-local knitting friends I have made:

Kristina
Angie
Tone
Jaye
Cole
Julie
Shanna
Bea

Well, I guess that's more than 10. How can I shorten the list? I don't think I can. There are SO many others that make my day also, but they don't have blogs (or read this one for that matter) so I will have to think of another way to let them know that I am glad to have them as a part of my life.

I read about this on Marianne's blog. Have you seen this out the in the blogiverse?



The main idea of the plan is to do something nice, in this case a handmade gift, for 3 random people over the next six months in the hopes that those three people will do something nice for three random people, etc. etc.

Here is how this is gonna work, leave a comment, tell all of your other blog friends to leave a comment and I will pick three people at random from the comments and send them (sometime within the next six months) a handmade gift. You are probably safe in assuming that it will be knitted.

Next week is my blog-birthday. Wake the kids and phone the neighbors because there is gonna be a contest, there are gonna be prizes. I don't know yet what the contest will be (feel free to email me if you have any ideas) but you are probably safe in assuming that it will be all about me.

Finally, here are the three things that I am thankful for today (besides the people listed above, of course):

1. I am thankful that I have been able to work from home for the last nine years.
2. I am thankful for Kettle Corn.
3. I am thankful for my dog, Blowfish.

Lots to be thankful for

My knitting group is so much fun. It is a great group of people, you would have to look long and hard to find a kinder, more generous group of people. We meet on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month and I always look so forward to going.

I can't go tonight though, my Uncle (dad's brother) Chuck had a mild heart attack earlier this week and had a heart cath and a stint placed yesterday and one of my daughter's friends had a baby girl yesterday. So tonight I am making the hospital rounds.

I hope my friends at knitnite have fun tonight and I will see them next time.

Three things I am thankful for today:
1. I am thankful that there is such a thing as a MILD heart attack.
2. I am thankful for brand new baby girls.
3. I am thankful for my knitting group.

It's so little and cute

I have a lot A.LOT. of girl birthdays in the next couple of months so I thought I would start working on a pair of Fetching for each of them. Some of the girls having birthdays are little girls so I had to come up with a smaller version. Introducing Little Miss Fetching shown here next to the larger version for perspective.



It cracks me up, it is so little and cute. I can't wait to see them on their little recipients.

Let's see...what am I thankful for today...

1. I am thankful that the forecast for Sunday is 69F (20C) and sunny.

2. I am thankful that my sisters have little kids because the holidays just aren't the same without little kids.

3. I am thankful for people that thrive on drama and devote all of their spare time to keeping everyone around them in a constant state of unrest.

Alright, alright, #3 might have been a little sarcastic (a little) so I will come up with an extra one.

4. I am thankful for the people that I met through this blog that I would have never in a million years had the opportunity to get acquainted with otherwise.

As if I were someone important

I found a new (at least new to me) yarn this last week and I am going to review it here for you as if I were the Yarn Harlot or the Keyboard Biologist or somebody.

The yarn I found is Berroco Comfort.




50% Super Fine Nylon and 50% Super Fine Acrylic
about $6 for 210 yards
Worsted weight

I am not a big fan of the synthetics as a rule. However, it has a very nice feel to it, not at all scratchy and has a pretty good memory. It is machine washable, so it is good for gifts for busy people and non-knitters that don't understand our obsession for the alpacas and the llamas and such. It seems to soften up even more with washing.

This one tends to split rather easily and requires a little extra care when knitting to prevent that, but overall I think it is worth it.

I hope everyone had a happy, warm, safe, comfortable holiday.

This year I am going to start focusing on the great things in my life, so each time I post I am going to find 3 things that I am thankful for. I have stolen this idea from Cole.

1. I am thankful my family is my family (I have seen some of the alternatives and sheesh)

2. I am thankful that I know how to knit.

3. I am thankful that I was born after the discovery of electricity.