Major Knitter

One Gift Down - Several More to Go

I now have three finished socks!  I'm quite pleased with the final results.

I hope the gift recipient likes them, too.

The Official Kick-Off of the Holiday Season

BF and I kicked off our annual holiday season with our dear friend by going to see the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.

It's such a wonderful show that each year it warms me down to my toes.  After we leave, I'm officially prepared to put up the Christmas tree and start singing Christmas Carols.    Have you ever been to the Christmas Spectacular?  If you come to New York, please make it a part of your holiday tradition.

Finishing Friday - Erik's Socks

I finished two of the socks for our friend Erik.  Now I just have one more sock to go.

What?  That sounds a lot like three socks.  OK - one is Erik's size 12 sock.  The other is the Miniature Christmas Stocking out of the same yarn.  I altered the miniature sock pattern by using the fingering weight yarn and US Size 1 needles.   Otherwise it's the same pattern.  It's so cute.  I really love making these mini socks.  They make such cute little gifts.  Oh, and I love the large Man's sock.  I just hope Erik likes his new socks, too.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is my favorite holiday.  It gives me a moment to sit back, relax, and reflect on the things I am thankful for.  That list is very long.  I don't have a handknit Thanksgiving themed sweater, but I do have this personalized apron.  It keeps the smile on my face from the moment the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade begins until the last dish is cleaned.  I hope you have a smile on your face, too, this Thanksgiving.

Free Reinforcement Yarn - Who Knew?

So, after doing my Thanksgiving Shopping Round I (as there is inevitably Round II for things forgotten during said Round I), I decided to browse thoroughly through my sock yarn stash in search of some appropriate contrast yarn for the socks.  I made a mess of things.  This is generally not a good idea when you're already in charge of cleaning up the house for holiday guests.  So I put everything away and caved.  I rushed to The Needlework Shoppe and picked out three skeins of yarn.  I liked Barbara Kay 's idea of a golden complementary yarn and I even found one, but it was trekking and too thin and didn't match my unknown sock yarn.  In the end I chose the chocolate brown from Lang Jawoll. 

Imagine my surprise when I got home (ignoring the pile of dishes in the kitchen sink) and sat down on the sofa and started pulling the yarn from the center of the skein.  Out popped a little bobbin.  Strange.  I thought.  Then I looked closely and realized it was REINFORCEMENT YARN.  Whoa.  That's cool.  I am so psyched about this.  In fact, since having holes appear in my first pair of socks, I've been reconsidering how I wear my socks and how I knit the heels.  I obviously can whip out another pair at a moment's notice, but would prefer NOT to have my hard work reduced to holes. 

I know.  You all knew about this little extra surprise inside the Jawoll and I am the last to know.  But it's the little things in life that make me happy.  And I am very, very happy. 

Redux

Thanks for your get well wishes for Primogeniture.  Boys will be boys - but it's never fun to watch your child hurt.  Of course, being a teenager, he has that uncanny knack for sleeping.  He slept until noon today, which I think is exactly what the doctor ordered.  I, on the other hand, was busy running Thanksgiving errands and knitting my socks.

I decided that the black contrast heel was too stark, so I ripped it out, deciding instead, to knit it in the brown yarn I was certain I had in my stash.  After stash diving, I discovered that the brown sock yarn is nowhere to be seen.  But I did find some Regia 4fadig yarn, which is very similar to the unlabeled yarn I'm knitting, but is a slightly different color.  The Regia yarn seems to have more black and grey and less brown.  Hmmmmm.

ER Knitting

Nothing like a little visit to the Emergency Room to accomplish some knitting.  Fortunately, everything's OK - but Primogeniture got his second concussion in two weeks and was in a great deal of pain so last night at 9:40 p.m. we rushed to the hospital to have the doctor look at it.  The CT scan showed that his brain housing group is still intact - so after a bit of sleep today, he should be back to normal.  In the meantime, I managed to knit nearly half a sock.

The striped yarn is unlabeled from my stash.  I really don't remember what it is.  I originally thought it was some Knit Picks (which is what the black yarn is), but now I'm not certain.  At any rate, this simple pair of stockinette socks is going to be a gift for a friend in Portland who has yet to receive a pair of handknit socks.  He is a size 11 or 12 so I'm a bit worried about the amount of yarn I have.  I might have to be creative when I get to that part. 

Gifts Galore at the 2008 Creative Arts Festival

After 3 days of straight baking, I managed to spend the last hour of the craft fair doing a little shopping for myself.  In fact, I bought this little something just for me:

I've always wanted my very own tea set and I adore hand crafted pottery, so when I saw Barbara Getsinger's Handcrafted Designs, I stopped to chat with her.  This lightly green hued set is just the thing I needed for my knitting get togethers.  Oops - I'm a few mugs short.  Barbara!  I'll be re-ordering very soon.

The gorgeous curly cherry tray is my first find of the day.  It's from The Shade Tree and they sell some amazing wooden handcrafts.  I am so thrilled to pieces with my combo order - I think they go so well together.  Don't you want to come over for some tea and knitting now?

Oh, and that woolly brown sheep ornament?  It's from Theresa's Woolen Crafts.  You can order your very own sheep - in white or brown - by emailing Theresa.  Tell her I sent you.

My dear friend Elizabeth of The Felted Garden was there with her fiber-fantastic-felted goodies.  My favorite item was a deep purple lattice-work scarf (that I forgot to photograph).  It's simply spellbinding.

And despite the fact that I baked 22 batches of brownies, 2 banana breads, 4 cakes, 2 coffee cakes, 2 batches of oatmeal cookies and 2 batches of chocolate chip cookies for the Artisan Lounge, I still managed to purchase some goodies from the fair:

• Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pies from Michele's Pies
• Magic Bars from Nelle's Nibbles
• Kettle Korn from the Popcorn Man

It was an inspiring fair.  I hope it was successful for everyone involved, in spite of the economy.  The net proceeds from this entire fair go to help local charities.  It's wonderful to know that your holiday shopping can actually make a huge difference to those in need.   

Ads on the Blog

Here's a question I've been toying with for quite some time.  Should I place ads on the blog?  When I started blogging four years ago, it was virtually unheard of.  If someone did have advertising on their blog, it was a turn-off.  Now I notice ads on other blogs.  I think the tide has changed on this.  What do you think?

Do you have advertising on your blog?  Are you happy with it?  Have you used Six Apart Media?  Which service would you recommend?

OK.  It's out there.  Now you know what I'm thinking and where I'm heading.

Blogging Buddy Meet Up

Estella and I have been blogging buddies for quite some time now.  We live less than tweny minutes from each other but had never met in person.  That all changed when she came to the Craft Fair today. 

She emailed to let me know she was planning on attending, so I gave her my cell phone number.  I was thrilled when it rang.  We got to meet briefly.  We're each wearing some handknits.  Look at Estella's gorgeous scarf.  I'm wearing my felted derby from 2004. 

Estella - it was great to finally meet you in person.  Next time we should get together for some coffee and knitting.