Rainy Saturday

A great day to be doing housework - NOT! I had to go into town to go to the bank and food shopping - and had to drive right by my LYS. I picked up some yarn for my Mystery Ball SP. Now I have to gather up all of the things to go in it and start winding!

While I was there I found some yarn for my Time Traveler's Wife project. I'm almost finished reading it. I love this book. It so intriguing - I know I will be reading it again. I thought of several projects - like socks for Henry because when he time travels he has to leave all his possessions behind including his clothes and his feet are always cold. But when I found this passage I knew I had found my project. Henry is talking about a poem, "Bamboo without mind, yet sends thoughts soaring among clouds. Standing on the lone mountain, quiet, dignified, it typifies the will of a gentleman." I remembered that early on in the book Henry compares time travel to a mobius - So my project will be a mobius scarf knit with this beautiful bamboo yarn. It is so soft it could very well be soaring among clouds and would blend with the color of the sky. Now all I have to do is find the right pattern.

I finished the bag for my daughter's sister-in-law. This is a smaller version of the It felt it Random Bag using the random stripe generator. I used Paton's Classic Wool. I have orders for two more of these bags for Christmas presents.

Whoduknit? I Did!

We had some really exciting news on Whoduknit this week. The author of this month's book, "Knit One Kill Two" has joined our group! If you like to read mysteries and like to knit and have not joined us yet come on over and check it out.
We also have a Whoduknit Blog.
I have my SP for the Whoduknit Mystery Ball Swap and I'm trying to decide on the yarn to use for the ball. I have a lot of ideas about what to put inside it, but still undecided on the yarn.
Speaking of yarn. I found this Bernat Handicrafter Cotton in Walmart at under $6.00 for a 12 oz. skein. It looks and feels just like Sugar and Cream so I can't wait to try it.

I received the new Lion Brand Catalog in the mail today. I know a lot of knitters turn their noses up at LB yarn, but they are certainly giving knitpicks some competition with their new yarns, patterns, and catalog.


I finished my first ballband 'warshcloth' from Mason-Dixon with S&C yarn, and I'm hooked! I will probably have one of these on my needles at all times. And some of them will turn into bibs, which I think would be adorable.

You Are A Fig Tree

You are very independent and strong minded. A hard worker when you want to be, you play hard too. You are honest and loyal. You hate contradiction or arguments. You love life, and you live for your friends, children, and animals. A great sense of humor, artistic talent, and intelligence are all gifts you possess.

What's Your Celtic Horoscope?

And the Winner is........

I am so excited! My granddaughter, Jordyn, won her first ever x-country race yesterday - #1 in a field of 40 girls! Now her twin brother, Jacob, has been running for 3 years, and is a good runner, usually up in the top 5 and has had one win. Yesterday he came in 8th - good - but a little competition from his sister won't hurt!

Scrapbooking

I have been neglecting my other obsession - scrapbooking - lately. I've got as much scrapbooking stash as I have yarn stash, but like yarn, I keep buying more for 'someday'. Saturday I went to the grand opening of a new scrapbooking store. I didn't need anything, but the new owner is the daughter of our cook at school - so I really had to make an appearance- right? There were 'mystery' prizes, and I actually won one - All these scrapbooking supplies!
I also bought a kit for making a tag album - too cute to resist - and I actually went home and made it. There are pictures on both sides of the tags so there is room for 16 pictures, but I had to print them out small to fit. They are pictures from our trip to NJ this summer.

You Know Summer is Over When......

The JCPenney Wish Book arrives! All the telltale signs of fall are here - the days are cooler, it's getting darker earlier, the leaves are changing, and....the Christmas catalogs are arriving! Christmas!!! The JCPenney Wish book is here, along with this stack of catalogs received just this past week. Toy catalogs, Lillian Vernon, Personal Creations, etc. etc. but the one that popped right out at me was the Patternworks Catalog - oh the yarns, the patterns, the tools,And... the reminder that I have not started knitting any Christmas presents yet. Last year I gave felted bags, felted hats, and Eros scarves. This year I was thinking about socks and felted slippers, but I keep getting distracted by other things I want to make. Maybe gift cards would be a good choice this year:)

First Week of School

We made it through the first week of school - but next week has FIVE days! Having my granddaughter in my class seems fine for her, but challenging for me, as I try to keep a balance between giving her too much attention and ignoring her completely. So far she has not tried to take advantage of having her 'grammie' as her teacher.
Fortunately I team teach with another teacher, so that she can do all the evaluating, and disciplining (if it becomes necessary, which of course it won't LOL), and I won't have to worry about either being too lenient or too critical of her. She says 2nd grade is awesome! So that's a good thing.

I am not getting in too much knitting, but did make my first Baby Bib O' Love from the Mason-Dixon book, and have started on a pink one - nice mindless knitting! My nephew and his wife, and two teachers from school are expecting babies in February and I think these bibs are great. I would also love to make the Moderne Baby Blankets, and the Heartbreakingly Cute Kimonos, - all out of Peaches and Creme Cotton, inexpensive and very washable, although I'd like to try the Rowan Handknit Cotton too. I love that book and would like to make everything in it!

Another It Felt Bag

This is a smaller version of Turtlegirls It Felt Random Bag I CO 38 sts, knit 38 rows (19 ridges) in garter st. then PU 18 sts. along the side, 38 sts on the CO row and 18 sts on the other side. Then knit in the round. I used the random stripe generator and chose olive green, pink, and aqua, (Paton's Classic Wool) with 2,4,& 8" stripes and 64 rows. It's 15"x15"x6" before felting. I Haven't made the i-cord handle yet. I think I'm going to invest in one of those handy little thingys that make i-cords. Anyone know of a good one?

My Amazon Order Arrived Today!

Which to read first! I think The Time Traveler's Wife, since that is this month's KTC book, and I have heard such raves about it. The Serpents Trail is the book that came before The Tooth of Time and I've been wanting to read that, and of course the next two in the Maggie Sefton series.

One Skein Angel Assignment Completed!

I put together the final package for my one skein orphan, and will be mailing it out tomorrow. The felted purse is 'Sophie' from MagKnits made with one skein of Cascade 220, and needle-felted flowers. Inside I put a copy of this month's Whoduknit - Knit One Kill Two by Maggie Sefton with an invitation to join our group and three other items with connections to the book - Earl Gray tea, a Cinnamon bun candle, and a washcloth. I hope she likes it!

Whoduknit Mystery Ball Swap

We're having a lot of fun over at Whoduknit. If you are not a member yet and you love to read mysteries and knit - come on over and join us, and sign up for the Mystery Ball Swap.

Whoduknit Mystery Ball Swap

This is a quick, easy, inexpensive swap that I think will be a lot of fun.
It is not a mutual swap - you will have an upstream (someone who sends to you) and a downstream (someone you send to). It's a "Mystery" swap - so you will keep your identity a secret. You will need to do some detective work to find out what kinds of things your victim likes to knit, colors she likes, hobbies, interests, etc. You can stalk her blog, or you can send anonymous e-mails to interrogate her.
Here's how it will work:
You will purchase or rescue from your stash, enough yarn to make a small, easy, project. (Probably one skein, or two if it is a small skein). You will need to make sure your victim is not allergic to the yarn (we really don't want to kill anyone).
Then you will make a 'mystery ball' with the yarn by starting at one end and winding it around small objects. The first object you should wind into the ball should be something that reveals your identity so that will be the last item she finds. Then the fun begins - finding all the mystery items to wind your ball of yarn around. Get creative - examples would be stitch markers, row counters, candy, charms, stickers, beads, ribbon, buttons, jokes, clues to your identity, fun websites, etc.
There is no minimum amount to spend. The only rule is that everything you send to your SP has to fit into the mystery ball, with one exception - a pattern that can be made with the yarn you send. And wouldn't it be fun if it was a mystery pattern! Once again, you will have to do some sleuthing to find out what your victim likes to knit. You probably wouldn't want to send a sock pattern to someone who hates knitting socks (or would you?) When you receive your mystery ball you will need to knit the pattern in order to find the mystery items hidden inside. (No fair unwinding it!). When you have knit your project and found all of your mystery items and the identity of your SP, post a picture in the Mystery Ball Photo Album.

Guidelines:

Sign-ups begin now. E-mail me (grammieknits@yahoo.com) with your name, e-mail, mailing address, and blog (if you have one) by September 16.

You will receive your victim's name by September 23. Please contact her and let her know she is being stalked! Since this is a "Mystery" Swap, you should try to remain anonymous. Use an anonymous e-mail or you can use me as a go-between to ask questions and get answers.

Deadline for mailing your mystery ball to your victim is October 31 (Happy Halloween!)