Merry Christmas to all!

Here's wishing every one a happy, healthy, and safe holiday.

We're off to dinner and Midnight Mass.

Hope everyone gets lots of yarn in their stockings!

Birthdays and goodbyes

We celebrated Frick’s 7th birthday last night.

Many thanks to Nittany Knits for her fab “fruit cake” saving the day yet again!

Frick has a severe egg allergy, and, I think as a defense mechanism, she doesn’t like cake or cookies, (except Oreos. I raised my kid right.) so Nittany came up with the idea to cut up all her favorite fruits, cover it with whipped cream, and V I O L A instant fruit cake!
Crazy fun to be had as usual.

Lots of pizza, friends, family, games, presents, and whipped cream.

Happy birthday baby girl!

This should have been posted yesterday, but as usual here at LMSFG, things don’t always run as they should. I went to a funeral for a friend yesterday afternoon.
Good bye Uncle Bob. You will be missed.

Of all the knits in all the world

How much have I missed

You Knit What?!?

I'm so glad someone came up with THIS!

See!?!

It's real!

Finished!

I can't believe it, but in a week, I finished my version of the Seamless Yoke Sweater!

Since I finished it at around 2 in the morning, it so counts as a Monday for Me project!

My version –

4 rows of seed stitch for the cuffs, bottom, and neck of sweater.

No color work since the yarn that I had planned to use for the contrast ended up being totally wrong.

I ended up with only 2 rounds of decreases on the yoke.

It's just the kind I wanted, but I think that I'll make it a little bigger next time. I might also make the neckline come up a bit more.

Or not.

I wanted something I could pull on those days that I just needed to be warm and comfortable, but not really dressed.

Overall, I'm happy with this one.

Life for the technology challenged

A'int easy!

Get this:

I FINSHED my EZ Seamless Yoke Sweater! It took a week!
I’m still in shock, and I wore it today.
So I had the blog written out on the laptop. All set and waiting to post.
CFO took pictures.
Fire up El Machino since it’s easier to upload pictures from the PC than the laptop and,
BAM.
Technology up and slaps me in the head.
First the card reader will not corporate.
Tried cleaning, jiggling, technically tapping.
Nothing.
Then I can’t find the cable to connect the camera to the laptop.
Then I find said cable and use it to connect camera.
Laptop freezes and will not even accept the fall back “ctrl-alt-del” maneuver.

Damn.

Hoping to have CFO/CTO work on laptop in the morning and find correct cable…

I really did finish the sweater.
Honest.
I even have witnesses.

Too much to knit – not enough time!

These past 3 weeks have gone by in a blur!

Thank goodness for “Monday for me day” because obligatory knitting had me by the neck.
I started my seamless yolk sweater by the divine Miss EZ. Frogged the sleeve and a half along with the 4 inches of body when I realized that it was WAY too big. I redid the numbers, and I’m almost there.
I have been afraid of knitting a “real” sweater. The miles of straight knitting seemed like too much of a chore since that’s the part that always gets me when I’m knitting socks.
I am surprised and relieved to report that it’s been oddly refreshing! I’ve actually become addicted and constantly have to fight the urge to do just. One. More. Round.
I’ll post pics as soon as I can find the time to download them…

So tonight I’m out Christmas shopping with Nittany and she mentions over dinner, “So, did you see the kilt hose?”
I’ve had very little computer time of late, so I didn’t even know the new Knitty was out!

Naturally, the moment I got home, I kissed the girls, got grounded till we get to FL by Frack since I took too long to get home tonight, and checked it out.

I think I now know what to make myself out of the Jitterbug I got!

And, oddly, I love these.

And this!

And this!

And this!

And this! I think I have to cast it on tonight.

Is it me, or did they have a lot more patterns than usual to offer?

Not that I’m complaining…

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. You get to eat, eat, eat, eat with family and everyone is mostly on their best behavior!

I have many things to be thankful for and I enjoy cooking, so with turkey day, you can’t go wrong!

The two tops things on my “grateful for” list this year are my #1 & #2 nephews.

Naturally, things here at LMSFG ran their smoothest!

Waking up Thanksgiving day to no electricity presented a bit of a challenge.

Lucky for me CFO is also known around these here parts as OUTDOOR MAN, so he cracked out his camping stuff and we had coffee, hot chocolate and toasted bagels for breakfast.

It finally got fixed at 11:30, so I was only about an hour behind on my cooking deadline.

The only thing that got me down all day was the 74 degree weather! I was planning on wearing my Tubey sweater, but it was too darn hot!

Hope everyone is enjoying the left-overs as much as we are!!!

Birthdays – they ain’t for grownups anymore!

I had a wonderful time on my birthday redneck yarn crawl.
Unfortunately, coming home to reality kicked me in the butt!

Over the weekend, Frack came into contact with some wonderful gastro-intestinal thing that had her creating loads of extra laundry opportunities.


Did I mention that my dryer kicked the bucket the week before?
Luckily, it’s still under warranty, but the next available appointment isn’t till the 20th!!!
Naturally, the same day as Frick’s first parent/teacher meeting!


Monday was my usual crazy school/piano lessons/CCD mess.
Tuesday I had to do a laundry mat run and a Brownie Troop parent meeting.
Wednesday was the actual Troop meeting where I had to help out.
Then Wednesday night proved yet again, how much Frack loves to share!
Luckily, I got to sleep lots on Thursday, which is a rare thing, and I think I kicked it in record time.
Not so lucky, I still do not have a working dryer, so it’s off to the in-law’s on Sunday to do some much needed laundry.

So, I did manage to get some knitting in. Also got me some souvenir sock yarn, some great patterns: Adrienne Vittadini fall 2004 book, and this sweater pattern that I had to start as soon as I got home.
It's rather simple and with luck, I might actually have it done sometime before summer sets in. I’m even using some of my S&W stash from 2005!


Urleene, Flo & Miss Kitty, thanks for helping me celebrate my last 30th birthday with style!


If I win the lottery next year we can plan one that lasts longer 'cause it's the only way to top this one!

Birthday weekend

So I’m heading out for a birthday weekend with some friends.

Get this –
Around 40 hours of nothing but eating, knitting, drinking, knitting, yarn shopping, knitting, sleeping, drinking and knitting with NO HUSBANDS, CHILDREN, OR PETS!!!

Question is – what to bring?!?



added in later:

This is SOOOO COOL!!! I wish I had the balls!
Maybe next year to celebrate the big four oh :O)

Happy Birthday CFO!

and many more...


I also have pics of an ACTUAL FO!!!
Didn't know they existed in these here parts did ya?!

a better shot of #2 nephew

Can't wait till Christmas to meet him!!!

He’s here!!!

After much more than I think Jan wants to even ever think about again, my very handsome (if I do say so myself) nephew made his much anticipated arrival last night.
Momma and baby are doing well.

Waiting for the better pics to come in, so here’s a quick camera shot that I was sent.

Welcome to the family #2 nephew!

Finally!

It was a great time to be had by all – the other side of the table was fab!

Although I would have been happier without the concrete floors!

Meting all the people was great – even the ones who tried to trample us on Saturday morning getting to the Universal!

Those Raverly folks are a hoot!
NO, I still won’t go over to the other side!

How much do I love Karida and her mom!

And sweet, incredibly talanted, nice, tall, cute Phoenix Bess.
How old do I feel?!?!?!?


One of the highlights was meeting Ninja Knitter. That tricky assassin from the first sock wars.
STT happened to be sitting next to her and they started talking about Sock Wars II. When she groused about having to kill people with black yarn that someone else had purchased, STT shouted, “You killed Large Marge!”
She came by to say hello and I got to give her a hug.

Does that sound weird to anyone else?

Speaking of Sock Wars, the final combatant list came out and

I wasn’t on it!!!!!!!

I was so very bitter until I realized I would not have been able to start it until Monday anyway.
I’m still a bit bitter, but I'm much more relieved!


Guild Cathy caught me adding to my stalker list.

Rick Mondragon and I at Jojoland.

He’s in good company with Nicky Epstein, Debbie Stoller, and the Yarn Harlot.

Purchase wise – I think I did well.

I make the mistake of telling STT Thursday night that I did not need to purchase any more lace weight yarns.
Friday, she had a class that started at 8:30. Since the floor didn’t open until 10, I had some time to roam around.
At 10:05 I was at Newton's amd made my first purchase of 6 skeins of lace weight cashmere/merino.

I couldn’t resist a skein of Killer Queen in bulky weight from Storm Moon.

It’s a hat for frack. I'm thinking I might have to felt it.

And I got some incredible Jojoland patterns and 2 skeins of superwash sock yarn.

And finally, my coveted A Gathering of Lace book from the Manning's.

I'm using the lace I purchased at Springwater when we went to see the Harlot.

You know it’s bad when 4of the 5 of the people I stopped to touch their shawls got the pattern from that book.
The one lady was wearing her mystery stole. It was a stunning job, and when we asked her, she said that it was her first lace and first beading project ever.

I made her leave.

I will say, by the time Sunday afternoon arrived, I was done.
Luckily we’ve got 7 months till S&W!

Stitches East is over!

Wow!
It was great and all.
Met many cool people from everywhere, had a blast, got me some great yarn and patterns, but I’m so very glad it’s over that I don’t even want to think about knitting this week.
I’m going to help the house elf out with some laundry now. I’ll post pics as soon as I can!

Stitches East

We went yesterday to set up the booth at the convention center. I get to be on the other side of the table so to speak and it’s cool! (Check back with me Sunday night to see if I still feel the same way!)

I’m honored to help Storm Moon make her official debut. The talent that woman has is amazing to me. It’s not every day that you bump into someone like that.
And I can say I knew her when!!!

Knowing how much I love her yarn, do you know how hard it was to unpack it and not put it in the back of my truck and drive away? Maybe that would be why she blocked me in when she parked!

The blue container is nothing but sock yarn…

Here’s a sneak peek at what it’ll look like

And here are the samples that I knit for her. The sock is the one for the sock club.

If you come by to say hi and shop, and don’t see me there; chances are I’ll be here.:

Those first two tables are for Malabrigio and Mission Falls.

I took that picture from our booth.

Do you see the problem here?

Then when we finally went on a potty break, we decided to scope out the folks that were already there.

Imagine turning a corner and bumping into this:

I broke several commandments just looking at the stuff.
And committed some of the 7 deadly sins.
(Does it count if you just THINK it?)


And this I saw on my way to the truck as we were leaving.





It made me giggle.
Hope to see some of you folks there!

BTW - If you are a lurker, please say hey! I’m planning on doing the same to some of the folks I read.

Knit A Thon was awesome!!!

When we first picked a date, it seemed so far away. I can’t believe it’s done! Nittany Knits worked hard, the prizes this year were incredible, and I’m really glad it’s over.
I was so tired that I slept in until 10:30 on Sunday!

I promise to post pics one of these days. Till then, Nittany Knits has them on her blog.

Now, I just have to get through Stitches East so I can get some rest!

On a side note – proving YET AGAIN how small a town this is, my neighbor, MR. R was mocking me at the bus stop one afternoon when I told him about Sock Wars II. He’s telling one of the other moms about me walking around with sock yarn attached to me last year, and waiting for the FedEx truck to see if I’m dead yet, and going to see the Yarn Harlot in VA.
And she says…
“You went!?! I wanted to go but I couldn’t get away!” Turns out she’s an avid knitter as well. She came to the Knit-A-Thon, had fun, and hopefully will become a regular!

HA on you Mr. R!!!

Psst!

Want to get an extra raffle ticket for this years prizes at the Knit-A-Thon on Saturday????

Here's how...Along with your hand knit/crocheted items you are donating, simply raid your pantry and bring any of the following items:

cereal
jam/jelly
cooking oil
spaghetti O's
spaghetti sauce
milk (powdered or canned)
laundry detergent
toilet paper
toothpaste
toothbrushes
diapers
paper towels
juice
canned meat (no tuna please)
potatoes (powdered or canned)
syrup
pancake mix

These items will be going to help stock the FISH food pantry here in Howard County!!!
Spread the word and help make a difference in our community.

SOCK WARS II

I'm all signed up and ready to go!

Sock Wars II

who else is in this time?



BTW-
If your friend is heavily medicated, it's the best time to suggest a stash diving excursion.
he he he
Hmm, I wonder if Ms. Jackie is due in for anything anytime soon...

Gosh it was cool

StormMoon and I started off at the shop where she showed us the yarn that she dyed for The Harlot.

Trust me when I say it’s even yummier in person!

We had fun walking around Alexandria for a bit. It took care of our exercise for the next few days.

It’s the first time I’ve been there since I moved here about 9 years ago. It’s perty.

Springwater and Knit Happens were great and I ended up getting me some more yarn. Like I really needed the 1250 yards of the Spectrum lace weight and 2 skeins of Lorna’s Laces. (pictures to follow)

Here’s pics of us at Borders:
Healthy dinner...


This is Daniel.
Daniel is not a knitter.
He’s wearing a hat that someone knit for him back in 1975.



He didn’t get the whole knitting thing, then he started reading the Yarn Harlot’s blog after she was booked for the store.
Then he saw all of us.
I think he kinda gets it now.

We saw lots of cool stuff.

Knitters everywhere

see anyone familiar?

Brave babies (cutest thing ever!!!)

Local celebs



BTW - when you’re knitting the monkey on 2 circs and talking, sometimes you forget and end up with only one.

Same thing happens when you’re starting a toe-up sock.

And THE HARLOT!



She was funny and nice and didn’t mind it at all when Storm Moon gave her the 2nd skein of her custom dyed yarn and I gloated casually mentioned that I had the 1st.

Wow

In my mad dash out the door this morning, I almost forgot the book!

Yes, she IS wonderfully fab in person!

We had a fun time field-tripping in VA. Finally got to go to Springwater and Knit Happens.

Met fellow bloggers and saw a few friends.

I’ll post everything tomorrow since photo bucket will take too long tonight and I’m dead on my feet.

I’m off to see the Harlot, the most wonderful harlot of all!

Camera – check
Batteries – check
Socks – check
Cooler with snacks – check
Socks - check (must ALWAYS have more than one pair)
Cash for yarn crawl – check

Promise MANY pictures!

The Yarn Harlot is coming, the Yarn Harlot is coming!!!

Thursday is the Yarn Harlot visit to VA.

Honestly, I’ve been so busy with the sock club, the Knit a Thon, and life, that I’ve had no time to get excited until Saturday. Then it hit me!

The Yarn Harlot is coming to a place that I can actually go see her!!!

I’m going with Storm Moon; we’re planning a mini-yarn crawl and hoping to get some food in us before we get to see her. No telling what time we’ll be getting back since we’re planning on staying for the signing. (I’ll be packing cooler)

After that, I’ll be busy knitting up some more things for the Knit a Thon, finishing my 2nd scarf for the Celtic Knot SOS project, then knitting me some fab yarn for samples for Stitches East where Storm Moon will be making her professional debut! How lucky am I?

Here’s a sneak peek of her yarn. This is The Great Pumpkin that she dyed for me for October’s sock. Isn’t it amazing?!?

Second Annual Knit-A-Thon

Saturday October 6th from 10am-4pm
Second Annual Knit-A-Thon

Lakeside Coffee & Cafe
10227 Wincopin Circle
Columbia, MD 21044
410-772-3694
In The American City Building, across from the mall.

If you cannot come, items can be dropped off ahead of time.
Prizes, contests, and a hoot-n-hollerin' good time!
Please spread the word to your fellow fiber enthusiast friends.


Let's make a difference in our community.

It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears…

I “met” Pumpkin Spice a while back when Carole told me about this New Yorker who comes to the shop every time she visits the area. Nosey me had to check out her blog and we started to chat back and forth. We met at S&W this year when she was in line for SWTC, and we hit it off immediately.

So naturally, when she had to find a good home for some Brooks Farm Mohair she purchased, I offered to take in the strays.
In going back and forth with addresses and the like, we found out that Mr. Spice and BroInLaw work in the same building in NYC!!!!
BroInLaw is easily swayed, so he agreed to be our middle man. The InLaws went to see him this weekend, so I now have them in my hot liitle hands!

Is it me, or can you se the possibilities?!?!?
I love that the world is getting smaller and smaller!

Happy 5th Birthday Frack!

My baby is no longer a baby!

I love you sweetie darling!

Naturally

she LOVED her first day of school. Came home telling of recess, lunchtime, learning about the flag, and 2 new best friends.

And we enjoyed our ice cream.

Ch Ch Changes

There’s been a lot going on here at LMSFG lately. With babies, illnesses, war, work, family and such, things have been a little stressful.

I was “advised” a few months ago that I should start to reduce the load a bit. It came with the “taking care of yourself first” speech that was handed out with the referrals… So I have had to make some changes in my lifestyle.

Unfortunately, the most major change is that I had to enroll Frick in school this year.

She’s over the moon about it.
Me?
Not so much.

Yes, I know she’s ready.
Yes, I know it’ll be good for both of us.
Yes, I know that I was going to do it eventually.
Yes, I know that she’s the kind of kid who will not only do well, but excel in that environment.

I just wanted to keep my baby girl close and safe in my arms for a little while longer.
Is that a crime?

I’m gonna go cry some more with Frack and Duckie now. Then we're going for ice cream to help ease the pain…

I’m really not good with deadlines.

My best friend is coming for a visit tomorrow. It’s the first time she’s coming to the house since we moved in.
Lucky for me, we’ve known each other since the 2nd grade, so she doesn’t expect the house to be spotless.
But I’m thinking she also doesn’t want to lose one of her children in the abyss that is the playroom, or the black hole where their bedroom should be…

So what am I doing?
-Sitting in front of the computer for the last 3 hrs. reading e-mails and blogs,
and
-getting ready to frog the sleeve of my sweater that I started last week out of my S&W Alpaca, so I can cast on again on bigger needles to get the correct gauge.

Time to turn off el Machino.

Rather cute...

...in a fetal kinda way if you ask me.



Here's the little man. His due date is 13 October.

Zimmermania

Tonight at the guild we started our first knit-a-long.
Since I have to get cracking on knitting for Baby B, I was thrilled to find out that it would be EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket.
After casting on 3 times and tinking 4 rows at the meeting tonight, I'm thinking it'll be done by the time the kid is awaiting the birth of HIS first child!

I do have his booties and 3/4 of his hat done. Both knit in Debbie Bliss' Baby Cashmere. This sweater is being done in Plymouth Encore.
The Warshrags are being knit in Sugar & Cream, and after I'm done with the second contrasting ball band one, I'll knit solid ones out of the remaining yarn.

I also made the command decision that the Aran Afghan that I was supposed to be knitting this year will now be his special blanket.
The idea is that he gets his first square for being born. After that, he'll get a new one for each b-day and all major milestones. By the time he's ready for college, I'll get them back and make him his blanket.

Great idea huh?

Yes, I'll do ANYTHING to get out of knitting the stinking blanket!

I love showers

We had a blast! It was a fun time despite the chaos with planning the shower long distance. Marsha and I did our best and things worked out well, if I do say so myself.

I found the cutest stamp at a shop and sent it to her to work her magic. The result was the neatest invite ever.

We worked the colors in everything else to make it a as much a non-traditional baby shower as possible. Sorry for the bad pic. The lady's belly says Puppy Dog Tails

Mom and I finished the cake Saturday night:

Then my Sunday started out with a good Dominican breakfast – mashed plantains, poached egg, and onion sauce over the whole thing to give it the right flavor. Mine still doesn’t come out tasting the same.

I’m glad I ate, since I never had more than a few slices of salami off the trays after that!

Mom had a few of her friends come early to help. If it wasn’t for that, I would never have gotten everything done on time!

Marsha made an advice box – where everyone puts their words of wisdom and encouragement in a handy dandy case!

Sorry, no picture - it's in the other camera.

Here are the flower pot favors I was up all night cutting and gluing tags for before I left:

Handy tip: make sure the box is securely placed on the dolly before you take it outside so it doesn’t fall off and half of them break on the concrete walkway…

Then Jan finally got there with her hubby and we started to party.

Usual party games…

What’s your favorite flavor?

Obviously not carrots!

Name that poop!

He ate the Milky Way one.

And it was off to presents!

STT and the twins got him a John Deere toy/book. Jan is not really happy with her trying to turn the baby into a red-neck before he even comes out!

Good time to be had by all – and now it’s just the waiting game.