Momma's Got a New Bag

That is RIGHT, or shall I say a new Bagless. The hubby and I turned in our credit card points to purchase a high end vacuum. Who needs airline miles to Italy when you can buy an over priced sucker like this beauty.

Say Hello to my little friend (In my best Al Pacino impression)

This is the “Animal” made by Dyson
Let me tell you with two dogs and a cat the hair in this cave is overwhelming. This vacuum is awesome. We brought it home yesterday and both Chris and I have been fighting over using it. Let me tell you my house is now completely vacuumed from corner to corner.

Cosmo is not one to pass up a new box.



A Look at the Garden

Today is such a gorgeous day outside, I could not help but venture out and see how the garden is doing in my absence.


Looks like my Daffodil bulbs are starting to come up. I hope there will not be a late frost. I enjoy planting bulbs. They usually are the first things in my garden to indicate Spring is not to far away.


This is the little Holly bush I planted last Fall. See the little berries. I am looking forward to having lots of berries in a couple of years. I have big plans to use them for decorating around Christmas. It is the little things that excite me.


Haley could not help enjoying the great weather by bringing outside her Christmas toy given to her from her grandma’s. No holes yet to report.


Not Much Knitting
This weekend I have been on the computer playing around, and looking at all the blogs listed on the SP4. So many great reads to add to my list of regulars.

I did pick up a new CD this weekend

Rachael Yamagata “Happenstance”
I love this CD. It is a great mellow listen. I have had it on all weekend. I am sure Hubby is sick of it by now. Her songs come from an emotional base. You can tell some one wronged her along the way. I would classify this CD along side my Norah Jones “Come Away with Me”. You can listen to samples of the songs on Rachael Yamagata “Happenstance” at Amazon Right Here.

Secret Pal 4 Questions

Are You a Yarn Snob (do you prefer high-end/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
I prefer natural fibers or natural fiber blends. I do use the cheap stuff for crafts and fun projects.

Do you have any allergies? Nope

What is your favorite scent? Right now I am hooked on Ylang-Ylang. They have a line of this scent at Bath and Body Works. I also love Gardenia, Lavender, Vanilla, Coconut, and anything tropical.

Do you have a sweet tooth? Yes, love candy and chocolate

What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? I also sew, and like working with fabrics. I like fabrics with oriental prints. I also garden and like to bake.

What kind of music do you like? Depending on my mood, I listen to all types of music including top 20, oldies, jazz, classical, blues & big band. No rap.

What is your favorite color? Or do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? I like pinks, reds, purples, blues, & pastels. I love color. I shy away from non-colors like black, brown, grey, and white.

What is your family situation? I am married and have two dogs & a cat.

What are your life dreams? To retire at a young age and travel the world.

What are your favorite yarns to knit with? I like Debbie Bliss, Jo Sharp, Rowan, Jaeger, Tahki, Filatura di Crosa, Lamb's Pride & GGH. Pretty much anything wool, alpaca, mohair, angora or cotton.

What fiber do you absolutely not like? 100% acrylic.

What is your current knitting obsession? I am hooked on small projects at the moment. Socks, mittens, hats.

What is your favorite item to knit? I really like making cables.

What are you knitting right now? A Hello Kitty handbag & the Irish Hiking Scarf

What do you think about ponchos? I am over them. (Poncho Over load)

Do you prefer straight or circular needles? I like both.

How did you learn to knit? I taught myself using the Stitch and Bitch handbook

How old is your oldest UFO? 5 months

What is the next thing you want to learn? Fair Isle knitting & more complicated pattern stitches

Rate yourself on a girly / fruh fruh factor from 1-10: I am a 9 ½

If you could have any “super power” which would it be? To breathe under water like Aqua Man.

Is there anything not covered above that you would like your SP to know about you? I like tea, coffee, and cocoa. I like anything Oriental or Eastern. I Like Disney stuff; my favorite characters at the moment are Tinkerbelle & Tigger. I also like Hello Kitty& French Kitty. I love Knitting and pretty much anything knitted related.

Six Bags Full

Hello Kitty Progress



I have started the front of the Hello Kitty hand bag. Can you tell those are little kitty feet and the bottom of a heart starting to appear. I decided I am going to change the pattern a little and I plan to make a cable handle for the bag. Also I am thinking of changing the motif design just a little. In the pattern Hello Kitty has a bow in her hair. I am thinking of changing it to a flower instead. Individuality is the spice of life my friends. I have got to be me. (My husband rolls his eyes).


Six Bags Full
This week I interviewed a couple of candidates for a position at our dental practice. One interview I had must have been the most enjoyable interview I have ever had, and that is both ways whether I was the interviewee or the one being interviewed. The lady tells me she has a little sheep farm. I immediately asked her if she knits. She said no. We got to talking about her sheep and then she says “I have six bags full of wool and I can’t figure out how to get rid of it.” That just sounded like crazy talk to me. I told her there is a ton of knitters out there and some of them like to spin their own yarn. I also told her about a website that I have seen were you can adopt a sheep for a year and then you get the wool at the end of that time period once the sheep is shaved. I also told her eBay might be a good idea also. Crazy talk, don’t know what to do with the wool. Gees, can you imagine?

Anyway we had a great talk. Unfortunately there was not much talk about the actual position I was hiring for. I also decided it would be selfish of me to hire her and should hire the best person for the job. I feel like sending her a letter saying I am sorry you are not the right person for the job but I was wondering can I come over to your house and visit with your sheep. 8)


Sheep Art

I think that if I am ever able to have a room in my house devoted to my crafts, I plan to put up a painting of sheep. Kind of a salute to knitting.

Here are some I have found.


Holidays in Switzerland by Donald Brun
How cute is that. That little guy is having way too much fun. When I look at this one I feel like playing hooky from work.



Lean on Me by Dan Campanelli
This one makes me feel like jumping in the middle and taking a nap. The colors are very calming.



The Sledding Party by Robert Duncan
Look at those fat biddies. They look so plump and warm. When I look at this picture I can almost hear the sheep talking to each other. “I want to ride first” “No I am going first, you went first last time.”



Shortening Winter Days by Joseph Farquharson
This is my favorite out of the four. The lighting and the shadows are just perfect. I love the details of the trees covered in snow.

Finished my Cabled Hat

Brandy helped me out by modeling it for the picture.


I really like the way it came out.


Hello Kitty

I started the Hello Kitty handbag.



The fabric in the background I picked up to line the inside of the bag. I like the pastel pink yarn. It knits up real quick. I started the back of the bag first so I would have the front & intarsia to look forward to.


Knitting Art

I found this painting named “Kitty Knit” by Ken Brown

Sweet Tooth

I have a sweet tooth. Or shall I say many sweet teeth, or how about go ahead and shovel the sugar my way please. Luckily I married a man whom shares my joy of candy and sweets. Both of us have memories as kids spending our allowance at the local corner store on candy. Lots of candy. It seemed like there was more candy back then. Or maybe now that I am bigger the candy aisle just looks smaller.

Anyway hubby and I went to lunch at the Crackle Barrel last weekend. They have an old time store there that has many candy choices you might remember as a kid. Here is what we got



Chris chose the Valomilk cups, peanut block & sky bar. I chose the Watermelon candy drops, and two candy sticks in flavors passion fruit, and strawberry.

I love chocolate but when I pick out special candy I tend to always go for the hard candy. A little piece of hard candy lasts a long time. One piece will due just fine to sweeten your day. Usually chocolate no matter how big or small only lasts me a couple of seconds and I always wish I had more. But hard candy lasts a long time and is very satisfying.


Next up on the Knitting Agenda

Once I finished my Weasley sweater I was so excited about starting a new knitted project. So many options, so many things I plan to make this year. I decided that I would work on a couple of smaller things that do not take so long to finish. The sweater took me over four months. I think I will wait a little while before starting another time consuming project like a knitted sweater.

I dove into my stash and decided to try my hand at knitting a hat.

I started the Coronet pattern from Knitty.


You can find the pattern here.

I am using Lambs Pride 85% wool/15% Mohair in color M-29 Jack’s Plum

Here is my progress so far.



I finished the cabled strip and attached it end to end. Now I need to pick up the stitches around the edge. I really love working with this yarn. It feels weird to switch form a lighter yarn to a more heavy yarn. It knits up so much easier. Plus I can clearly see the stitches. Also while making the cable strip one came out a little long and it was so easy ripping it down a couple of rows and putting the stitches back on the needles. I will definitely use this cable pattern again. I might use it for the handle on my Hello Kitty bag I have not started yet.

Good Deed

Webshots photo of a maltese

While I was out running errands for the business I did my good deed for the week. I was leaving the post office and was about to get back into my car when I spotted a run away dog. He was a white Maltese, and he was running full speed down the road. I noticed he was dragging his leash. I had a moment where I was not sure if I should chase after him, but then I knew I had to because if I did not I would have worried about what happened to him the rest of the day. So I got in my car and quickly went down the road after him. I pulled over and jumped out but by the time I got out of the car he had already run another two blocks. So I jumped back in the car and sped up closer to him and he turned down a street. I jumped out of my car again and tried calling to him. Finally he turned around and came up to me.

Unfortunately he had no tag. There was a man standing outside his home. I asked if he had seen this dog before he said no. I looked at the little pooch and I said looks like your coming with me. I told the dog you better go potty before I let you into my car. The dog instantly lifted his leg and went tinkle. Smart Dog. The dog got into my car and made himself at home, like he had been doing it for years.

I was a little worried about taking the dog back to the office, but I had no choice my house was 70 miles away. I brought him in my office and Chris was sitting in there. I told him we have a situation. I found a dog. Chris being a dentist he immediately spotted the dog had a little bit of blood near its mouth. He checked him out and the dog appeared OK. There was a small cut on his leg. The dog made himself at home in my office. Such a cutie. Mentally I had already decided I was going to keep him. In a short period of time I had fallen in love with this lump of fur with a bit of mud smudge on his face.

I decided to take him to a vet to get checked out and possibly get a bath. I am not that familiar with the area so I asked some of the employees where a good vet was. So me and my new love went for a ride to the vet. I pulled up to the vet and took him inside. I walked up to the lady that was on the phone and said I found this dog and he has a cut on his leg. The lady behind the desk said “you are not going to believe this but I have the owner of the dog on the phone right now.” WHAT! Can you imagine? The owner was an elderly lady and the dog had jumped out of the car window. I am sure the owner was broken hearted for loosing such a great dog. The owner was calling around to all the vets to tell them she lost her dog. So I had to say good buy to my little buddy and leave him at the vet for his owner to come and get him. I am happy for them both I know if I had lost one of my babies I would hope someone would pick them up and do the right thing.

I sadly went back to the office. It all worked out for the best I really don’t need the added stress of bringing home a new dog. My good deed is done.



Yarn Info
I received some e-mails requesting info on the yarn I used for the Harry Potter Sweater.



I used Sisik Tweed in color Aubergine. The letter H was done in color camel. The pattern was a Rown pattern named “the Harry Potter Sweater”. I don’t believe they sell it anymore. I tried to look for it again and can’t seem to find it.

Finished the Weasley

TA DA! I finally finished my Harry Potter Sweater started after joining the Weasley knit along.



The bonus is it fits and it is comfortable. Yippee!


Please disregard the headless woman in the photo trying to take a picture of her-self. Focus your attention on the fine craftsmanship of the sweater. Now while wearing the sweater I will amuse myself by continually saying Harry Potter in my best British accent. If only I could whip up a spell or two making the weekend a couple days longer.

To all of you wizards out there, Have a magical week!

Hello Kitty and Thoughts of Home

I am making the Hello Kitty Handbag in the HK Knit-along. I picked up the yarn I will use for the pattern. Bernat Softee baby in colors white & pink. Also Red Heart Soft Baby in color Pinkie.




Here is the intarsia motif for the bag


It will be a real cute fun summer handbag. After all I still am a girly girl when you get down to it. I am not afraid of pinks, flowers, lace or frills. Men are afraid of these things, or at least curious at a distance. They do not call it girl power for nothing. 8)


Thank You
I wanted to give a shout out to my MIL & Step Mom. I know they read my blog. Thank you so much for the Anthropologie gift certificate I got for Christmas. I finally narrowed down my list on the site and spent my gift card. I received the package this week.

Here is what I got


Elena a-line skirt
I LOVE this skirt. It fits great. It is super special; the picture does not do it justice.



Sequin sash
This sash was a must have. I found it in the sale bin. I plan to use it as a belt. SWEEET!



Thoughts of Home

Lately I have been trying to get use to spending lots of time away from my home. Now that we are running our own business, I think this is the hardest thing for me to get use to. My home means so much to me. I am not talking about the actual building or the rooms inside. I am talking about the feeling of home. You know that feeling you get when you have had a long day at the office and you pull up to your drive way. Once you walk inside your home and that feeling that wraps around you like a warm blanket. Sigh of relief followed by “I am Home”.

I thought I would share some art that portray Homes


Rural Country sides III by John Zacceo
This feels to me like a fantasy. The house is nestled in a perfect out of reach environment. I am drawn to the warmth inside the house. The lights are so bright flowing out of the windows it looks almost to be on fire. The water at night time appeals to me. I often have dreams of swimming at night time. If I lived in this house I would take many a midnight dips in the water under the moon light.



Cottages by the Sea by Albert Swayhoover
This feels to me like a retirement home. Or at least what type of home I hope to have when I retire. I long to have a home on water front property. Preferably a lake to the ocean but I will take whatever I end up with. These houses make me think about sitting inside them looking out the windows. The view one has looking out their windows can shape your life. People whom have views of the ocean or mountains I feel have thoughts of endless life possibilities.



Late Snow at Riverwood by Bob Timberlake
This feels to me like a memory straight out of my childhood home. I was born in Upstate NY. When I look at this painting I am instantly transported back to the age of 5. Back then how one entertained themselves was to go outside and play. This was my toy box. My feeling of home encompassed a large area. I could spend hours walking around exploring nature. The quietness is so calming and very comforting. As a child I was a tree climber. Always on the look out for large trees with big branches to perch my self on to watch the world with a birds eye view. The key to a good tree is to have several large branches and a few smaller branches low to the ground making it easier to get up into the tree.


Back to Knitting
Now to get off the computer and get back to my knitting. I will be blocking the Weasley pieces and sewing the seams. I will post progress in my next post.

Weasly Update

Here is a photo of my progress on the Weasley Sweater. I am very excited. I only have about 6 cm left on the sleeves. Then I can block the pieces. After that I can seam it together and knit the collar. Hopefully if I can keep at it I will be wearing my sweater next week. 8)

Patterns
I had some requests for where the sock pattern came from in my earlier post.



It is from the book Folk Socks by Nancy Bush

This book is great. I actually like every one of the patterns in this book and hopefully over time I will be able to make each of the socks in it.


I found an awesome pattern over at one of my favorite knit blogs.


You can find the pattern over at savannahchik, where she has graciously given us her pattern for Women’s Gauntlets. There are two variations. You can either do mitts or partial fingers. I am adding this to my 2005 things to knit list.

LYS & Movie

I made a little date with myself and treated to a movie and checked out the new LYS.

The Movie

Finding Neverland



The movie was based on the story of J.M. Barrie’s friendship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan. Cast included Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, & Dustin Hoffman. This was a great movie. It is wonderful to witness someone’s imagination as it unfolds into a creation of a story.

The movie was a big tear jerker. I tried very hard to hold back the tears, knowing I had plans to go to the new yarn shop after the movie. I failed and was amongst the masses at the end blowing my nose and trying to pull my self together. I went into the bathroom to excess the situation. My skin was all blotchy and topped off with a red nose and eyes. Normally I would wait until the movie came out on video and watch it in the comfort of my home. Especially if it is going to have some sad parts, that way I can fully sob out load and get the full affect of the moment. But this movie is rumored to be up for best picture of the year and also best actor and actress. I hate that when I have not seen at least one of the movies nominated for best picture. Being such a movie lover, I would feel like a fraud. This movie was wonderful and it evoked lots of thoughts on time and how big a role it plays in our lives. It gets a big thumbs up from me.


LYS

The new yarn shop was located in the old down town area. It was not easy to locate because some of the stores are on top of each other and kind of wind around instead of in a straight row. I finally found the entrance. I walked inside and had a deer in head lights moment.



It was a large room with tons of YUMMY YARN. I am talking Real yarn. The lady was very nice and came up to me several times asking if I needed any help. I was lost, and overwhelmed. I walked around and probably touched each type of yarn at least twice. Next time I definitely need to go in with a list of what I need for future projects. I can see how people can get carried away and buy tons of pretty yarn and not have a plan on what to use it for.

In the shop there was also a seating area for some knitting in public. Also the sales lady gave me a class schedule. There were many different types of crochet and knitting classes listed. Some of the classes listed were Fair Isle Knitting Technique, sock workshop, Bead Knitting, Rainbow dye class, & also a spinning class.

Here are my additions to my stash I brought home with such glee.


Lambs Pride 100% wool in colors Alabaster & Romantic Ruby

I plan to use these for this pattern





Lambs Pride 85% wool/15% Mohair in color M-29 Jack’s Plum

I plan to use this for this pattern

Coronet from Knitty



Chenille in colors Dusty Blue, Purple, grey, & Antique White

I plan to use these for this pattern


I also picked up a skacel addi turbo circular needle in size US#8/16”

Also this book

Knitting On the Road by Nancy Bush

I am so glad to have found this shop and feel I will be spending lots of time there. Hopefully more time hanging out and knitting then emptying my wallet.


Not all fun and Knitting

I wish my weekend was all about fun and knitting. Unfortunately I live in the real world, and that world can get pretty dirty when left unattended. This weekend we also cleaned the house which I lovingly refer to as the CAVE. The amount of dust is unbelievable. Now it is clean and I can relax and work on my Weasley Sweater.

Cosmo’s favorite part of cleaning day is removing the sheets from the bed. He likes to play Hidden Tiger Crouching Kitten in the bundle of sheets.

I don’t see him, do you? You must watch out for the trade mark Cosmo move that involves stealth stillness followed by a wiggle of the back end followed in turn with a leap into the air with a lethal pounce on his victim.

TGIF

Oh Yea! Living for the weekend’s baby!


Take Cosmo’s advice and give your self time for a couple of cat naps and lots of R&R this weekend.

I am on a mission to finish my Weasley Sweater as soon as possible. I am also just like Lisa stuck out in Sleeve Island.

I too am doing both sleeves at the same time. I have been working on them non stop every spare moment I have. It is taking forever. Although Lisa feels her island is like the cold tundra, I on the other hand feel I am stuck out in the desert. Dry sand all around with just an occasional tumble weed that blows by my feet. I feel I am in an old western and the only weapons I have are my knitting needles tucked safely in my gun holsters. It is a cliffhanger, Will I ever finish these sleeves and reach my oasis? I will show a picture of my progress in the next post.


Weblog Awards

They are having their fifth annual weblog awards if you have not voted for your favorites yet, go on over to The 2005 Bloggies. You have from now until 10:00 PM Eastern Time on Monday, January 10, 2005 to nominate your favorite weblogs in the different categories. On Thursday January 20th the finalists will be announced and voting will be open again to choose the winner. I have my fingers crossed that some of my favorite weblogs make the cut. I am also excited to maybe find some new weblogs.


Best Photographs of 2004

My grandparents sent me an e-mail that had the best photographs of 2004. Here are a couple of my favorites.


China Photo Via Reuters


Christian Carisus-Reuters


David McNew-Getty Images


Julie Lewis-Oneonta Daily Star


Richard Hertzler-Lancaster New Era


Sam Yeh-AFP-Getty Images

I love photography. I always wished I could paint pictures of my visions and feelings of beautiful things. Unfortunately I am no painter. Photography is like the next best thing. It is a way for artists to capture a moment and share it with others. Moments pass one right after another. They are all yours and everyone experiences them differently. With a photograph you can interpret that moment and let others see what you see in that moment.


New Commercial

Last night while knitting and watching the OC, I witnessed a great new commercial. To give you a little back ground on myself, when I was in High school I hung out with a guy that planned to get into advertising. We spent many long conversations on different slogans, jingles and visual advertising and its effects on people. Basically we would rate different advertising and give our input on how bad they were or how they really worked. Every since high school I have always looked at advertising from a different angle not as a consumer but I think about the person that thought up the idea and whether he was right on the money or a looser and needs to quit his job. My thoughts on commercials are that the majority of them are horrible, But every once in awhile one will stick out and I will say that was great the guy that thought that up is amazing and deserves a promotion. I prefer commercials that do not have a lot of talking but you clearly can tell what product the commercial is advertising.



Last night I witnessed the new DR PEPPER commercial. It was very entertaining and made me laugh out load. It starts out and there is a young man at a grocery store and he has a box of tampons in his hand and in the back ground that song “Anything for Love” by Meatloaf is blaring in the back ground. He goes up to the register and of course there is a price check on the tampons. Still the music is blaring “I would do anything for love” The guy coolly drinks his Dr. Pepper. Through out the commercial the guy continues to do things for his girlfriend while drinking his DR.PEPPER. They never talk it is always just the Meatloaf song in the background. Towards the end. The guy and the girl are cuddled up on the couch watching a movie, he is drinking a DR. PEPPER. She reaches for his DR.PEPPER and the song gets to the part that says, “ I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that, NO I won’t do that”. The guy grabs his DR.PEPPER and runs out of the house and down the street. Blaring in the background “NO I WON’T DO THAT”.

Brilliant, I Loved it. The guy or gal that thought of that one my hat is off to you. Thank You. I am not a big soda drinker but you can bet I will be buying a six pack of DR.PEPPER to show my appreciation of the fine advertisement that entertained me and did not make me want to throw the remote through the TV after drudging through the sea of horrid commercials we are incarcerated to watch.


The Best News I heard all Year

Last Sunday I was at the book store buying some magazines for the dental practice, when I got into a conversation with the checkout lady. Somehow we got talking about knitting. She asked me if I had been to the new local yarn shop. I nearly fainted. NOOOOOO! I had not. All of a sudden I felt like Elaine from Seinfeld and felt the urge to push her down with both hands and say SHUT UP! The counter between us prevented me from fulfilling my Elaine moment. Anyway she said it was really great and they even had hand dyed yarns and a great selection of yarns to choose from. I left the book store with butterflies in my stomach from a new found excitement and anticipation. Of course it was Sunday and of course it was a holiday weekend.

I went home and tried to find some info on the new shop via internet. I found the phone number and called them up. They were closed until Tuesday. So I would have to wait till the weekend to check them out. All week I have been so excited to check out our new Local Yarn Store. This will be our only local yarn store. I am starting to be hopeful that I might not need to move to a new state to experience a real yarn store, and the community of yarn people. I have my fingers crossed and have high hopes that this will open the door to meeting people in the area that share my love of knitting. I will tell you all about what I find in my next post.