Major Knitter

Gifts from Around the World

I have two very generous friends whom I met through blogging who live very far from here.  They are both so good to me and each sent me a Christmas present.

The yarn is a signature yarn for James' store JOY (Joy of Yarn) in New Zealand.  The knitting needles are to support breast cancer awareness.  Here's a close-up of each.

Isn't it amazing?  I wish you could feel this yumy yarn.

OK - you get the idea of the purpose of this needle.

And Jane sent me this wonderful multi-purpose shopping bag, slash knitting bag made out of recycled plastic bottles.  It's sold to raise money for Marie Curie breast cancer research

Tis the year to give gifts that keep on giving.  What a wonderful idea!  Thanks so much.

Fleece Navidad!

So yesterday was all about the Christmas Mass at my Church with a one-man performance by Jose Feliciano.  It was quite honestly the highlight of my holiday.  I really enjoyed it.  But today is all about the reason for the season... and of course, the gifts.  We spent a lovely day at home opening presents and having family time.  There was a lot of knitting-related gifts this year.  Some were given.  Some were received.  Here is a peak at just a few of the fibre related joys this season.

Here's Primogeniture with his hat.

And Secundogeniture with his hat.

BF got a Scouter's Husband award from the original Scoutmaster of our troop and I finished the black cashmere socks for him... just about 30 minutes before we opened our gifts.

I managed to knit up two miniature sock ornaments with leftover cashmere yarn from BF's socks.  The steel gray was a Valentine's gift and the black was today's Christmas gift.

Here are some knitting related gifts I received

• The cable knit mug from Starbucks
• a gift card for Knitting Central
• one skein of Red variegated Aliseo for another Turn a Square hat
• a Moving Mud glass button for a hat for Yours Truly
• A snowman ornament made out of a yarn ball
• Best of all - this hilarious picture frame with all things knitting and a picture of me as Scoutmaster.  This was a gift from one of my Scouts and it has me in stitches.

More pictures tomorrow from my knitting blogging buddies, but for now, Fleece Navidad.

P.S.  We played Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? and I didn't even get past the FIRST GRADE.  I'm going to bed now to see if I can rejuvenate some brain cells.  It was so demoralizing!

P.P.S.  The question was "Where was the Pied Piper from?

Feliz Navidad!

We celebrated Christmas Eve in the best possible manner.  First we went to church and celebrated Christmas with the good news mixed with a wonderful Christmas concert treat from this parishioner.

After Mass, we went to my friend Elizabeth's annual Christmas Eve open house with good friends, good food and lots of fun.  It was a wonderful way to spend the evening.  Now the boys are eager to sleep so they can wake up early and open their gifts.  I still have a bit more knitting to do...  but in the meantime I'll leave you with this:

I want to wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart.

Cocoa Michelle Stockings

Today I delivered a few little gifts to my favorite chocolaterie in town - Cocoa Michelle

Here are some goodies sitting on top of BF's wedding blanket.  It's 2/3 done... but there are still fifteen skeins left to knit.  Not even I can knit fifteen skeins in 48 hours.  But I digress.  Back to the miniature stockings.  Here's another shot with more of a contrast.

If you haven't stopped by Cocoa Michelle yet, please do.  She now has two locations in town - one on Main Street in downtown Westport and the other right by the Westport train station.  Try the Euro Cocoa while you're there.  You'll be glad you did. 

You can see my two ornaments hanging from the tree on the Main Street location.  If you're not from Connecticut, never fear.  You can order Michelle's delicious chocolates HERE.

Super Stealth Strikes Again

My how productive things have been at my house! 

I whipped up another one of the Turn A Square Hats - this time in black and shades of gray.

I used some unlabeled yarn from my stash.  I think it's Paton's Classic Wool Merino in black and ArtYarns Merino variegated black, white and gray.  I used US size 4 and 5 needles again. 

I hope Secundogeniture likes his new hat as much as Curious George does. 

Stealth Knitting Accomplished

The boys and I baked some cookies yesterday.  We finished a batch of Toll House cookies and made a double batch of sugar cookies so we can cut them out, bake them and frost them this week for Christmas.  I also managed to finish Primogeniture's handknit hat for Christmas last night before I went to bed.  Of course, I didn't go to bed until after I finished the hat.  I really like this one.  In fact, I already cast on for a second one.

It's Jared's Turn a Square Hat.  I used:

• a navy blue Patons Classic Wool Merino
• blue two toned Aliseo for the stripes 
• US Size 4 needles for the cuff
• US Size 5 needles for the hat

I had to go down a few sizes on the needles in order to get gauge. I'm quite pleased with the way this hat turned out.  The real question is:  Will Primogeniture like it?

Violating Yarn Harlot's Rule #2

Are you busy trying to finish up your holiday knitting like I am?  After church today, Peg and Tricia and I were comparing our aches and pains from our extensive knitting, compounded by things like handwriting Christmas cards, shoveling snow and knitting ourselves into knots.  We're all overdoing it.  I'm actually knitting something that clearly violates the Yarn Harlot's Rule #2 of Things That Should Be Considered Before You Decide Knitting This Much Is Smart™.

"Rule #2 - Do not put people on the list who do not like your knitting, use your knitting or have dissed your knitting in any way in the past. This includes people who have said that your stuff looks good enough that "you could have bought it", People who have said that they "bought a scarf just like it" as well as people who say they love your knitting, but have never worn it even once. They are not knit appreciators, and the knits shall not be bestowed upon them."

I'm sorry Stephanie.  I should have listened.  I'm making a blue two-toned Turn A Square Hat for Primogeniture even though he doesn't like my handknits.  He tells me he'll just lose them.  He tells me why bother.  He tells me they might accidentally disappear.  And yet, I persist.  Silly, silly me.

Still, I secretly hope this will be the one project he might actually like. 

Felted Bulldog Brooch

My friend Andrea sent me this adorable felted brooch for the holidays.  Isn't it adorable?

The brooch is from PinkPandaMary's Etsy Shop and I think she's a genius! 

Thanks Andrea for the perfect gift.

Snow Day!

The superintendent called a snow day this morning at 5:30 a.m. in advance of the forecasted winter warning.  This morning, the boys and I ran all sorts of pre-snow storm errands to include breakfast at the Commuter Cafe; a run to the Army Navy store for new snow boots and waterproof winter gloves; and finally a trip to the grocery store.  Everyone always laughs at those of us who run to the store for milk and bread before a snowstorm but I say "You got to have your hot chocolate and peanut butter toast after playing in the snow!" so milk and bread it is.  But back to the snow storm.  We ran all our errands with nary a snowflake in sight.  By the time we got home, we saw a total of three (3) flakes.  These quickly turned into large flakes that were coming down in droves.  The skies got darker and there appears to be 4-6 inches of snow on the ground already.  How do I know this?  Because I went out with Wilma and the boys.

It was great fun.

Oh, and by the way, is it wrong that while we were running our errands this morning I thought a quick stop to Knitting Central was in order.  I pondered whether I possibly had enough yarn to get me through this winter wonderland storm.  But then I realized that might just be a bit much.

I did manage to knit all afternoon on BF's wedding blanket.  I sat in the Knit Nook and watched the snow come down while listening to Christmas Carols.  It was heavenly.  Oh, and the bottom half of BF's wedding blanket was draped over my legs keeping me toasty warm.

But with everyone home today, I didn't get any stealth holiday knitting accomplished.  I was calculating how many hours I have before Christmas to determine exactly which projects are do-able.  Is it fair to push back our celebration until the 25th just so I have more time to knit?  Do you think anyone would notice?

JOY to the World

I'm pleased to announce that my new favorite not-so-LYS just launched it's official online site.  Check out James' site for Joy of Yarn - in Greytown, New Zealand.

Congratulations James!  Here's wishing the best success possible.