Merry Christmas

A Very Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Merry Christmas to Me!!!!

Just look what I received in the mail today - not one, but two Whoduknit Holiday Swap packages. They both arrived perfectly timed on Christmas Eve, and I was overwhelmed by both of them. I opened Barbara's first (we swapped with each other), and could not believe all that was in it - couldn't even get it all in one picture. There were ornaments - wooden ones, a beautiful embroidered felt bird, a cute

nutcracker, and toy soldier. A kit to make a beaded medicine bag, some Plymouth cotton yarn, body wash,lotion and lip balm, candy, coffee, a beautiful fabric decoupaged serving dish, The Knit It Holiday issue, and the book, Shrouds of Holly by Kate Kingsbury, which I can't wait to read. And some great recipes I can't wait to try.

I am really overwhelmed by Barbara's generosity - thank you so much Barbara.





But there is more!

Next I opened the package from Karen - and once again was overwhelmed! And once again could not fit everything in one picture. There were little notes on each package - lots of fun.
There was a container of Ginger Snaps, and some Cinnamon Plum tea - which was inspired by the book she sent - A Stephanie Plum novel by Janet Evanovich - Visions of Sugar Plums (how clever is she!) a recipe for Lebkuchen (German Honey Bars) a pop-up magnifier to help with that small print, an adorable keychain sock blocker with a pattern for making a mini sock to put on it - and some Opal sock yarn to make it with! I think that will turn into big socks for me though! There was also a cute mini stocking that I have turned around the wrong way in the picture - it has a star on the front of it.

And, if you look closely, under all of those goodies is a Trader Joe's bag - I never have enough project bags!
Thank you so much Karen - again, I am overwhelmed by your generosity!

Two Days Until Christmas

Two days left and I'm still
knitting - The Blanket Buddy from the One Skein Wonder's Book.

Still wrapping - this book is for Jordyn along with some yarn and needles. Still cleaning, haven't even started baking yet. Tonight we are having friends over for dinner. Tomorrow I have to pick up my oldest son, who is flying in from Austin, at the airport (a two hour round trip) - it's 2 p.m. and I'm not even dressed yet!Believe it or not there are still more gifts to put under the tree!
So why am I playing with my digital camera and posting on my blog? Because I love you all and just had to wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!!!

Thank You!

Thanks for all of your birthday wishes! To answer some of your questions - yes, the meal was a delicious as it sounded! And, yes, there was some chocolate - Moosetrack IceCream! I didn't think I could possibly have dessert - but somehow managed!
Today I received a gift certificate from my sister-in-law to Knitpicks! I was dumbfounded because she is not a knitter and really doesn't know a crochet hook from a knitting needle so I had no idea how she knew about Knitpicks. A phone call solved the mystery. I had mailed her present in a knitpicks box that I had received an order in (really - I didn't do that intentionally!) and she got the address off it and ordered the gift certificate. So now I am pouring over the catalog deciding what to order.

It's My Birthday

We survived the snow storm yesterday. The power was out most of the day, but came back on at 9 o'clock last night. I thought I'd get the day off for my birthday - but the snow stopped and the power came back on and school was not cancelled - bummer! The roads were still pretty horrible and I think school SHOULD have been cancelled!!! I guess a lot of parents thought so too, since we only had 8 kids in our class today.

Having a birthday a week before Christmas pretty much sucks! But I'm at an age where it really doesn't matter anymore - just grateful for one more birthday LOL. My DH gave me a big basket full of Bath & Body products, which is really luxury, since he is usually much more practical than that, (think kitchen appliance) and my Daughter gave me a yummy terry cloth robe - so soft and comfy. My sister gave me the 2008 Knitting Pattern a Day calendar - can't wait to browse through that, and my other sister gave me a beautiful leather bag. But best of all, my DH is cooking dinner - some sort of pork flambe dish, Latkes (potato pancakes), and roasted asparagus - he even has the dining room table set with candles!

So...Happy Birthday to Me!

Snow and Love

We are being bombarded with a Nor'easter today that is supposed to last into tomorrow. Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm thinking a nice gift would be a snow day! I have wrapping, decorating, and maybe even baking to do and could sure use the day.

And the love....a thank you note from the cheerleaders for the hats. I taught a lot of them when they were in Kindergarten and First grade, and although I shouldn't admit it, taught some of their parents too, including their coach! So it was an act of love to crochet the hats for them, and they returned it! That's the way life should be!

Package from Norway

Out of over 100 participants in the Christmas Around the World Swap, would you believe that my Norwegian friend Vigdis got my name?
How great was that. I received my package today full of goodies from Norway.
How cute are the little hat and mitten ornaments - and how much patience does it take to knit something like that? More patience than I have! Then there was some candy, a snoman ornament, carved wooden spoon ornament a tiny folded star - some beautiful pewter ornaments:













And look at this adorable Norwegian Gnome! He will have a special place next to my computer.

And some Norwegian yarn and pattern book to make some full size versions of the little ornaments...and it's in Norwegian! Guaranteeing that Vigdis will be hearing from me often to interpret the pattern!
Thank you so much Vigdis -
it was a wonderful package from a wonderful friend.

SNOW

No snow? Here is some for you!http://www.riversongs.com/christmas/snowball.html

AND THE WINNER IS...............

Rachel! who is anti-technology. She wrote, "I very rarely watch TV (only a show here or there online), I despise phones (I don't like to be accessible), I have to deal with the computer but outside of blogland, it's only out of necessity. I'm happiest when I'm living in the woods doing research, miles from any type of gadget, electricity, etc." Congratulations Rachel! Send me your mailing address (grammieknits@yahoo.com) and I will mail off your prize.
And, once again, thanks to all of you who entered my contest and shared your weird habits with me (and the world!) It was so much fun - I'm already thinking up another contest!

You Are an Angel

A truly giving soul, you understand the spirit of Christmas.

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

Brrr...It's Cold Outside

We've got a couple of feet of snow on the group and temps in the teens. But I did finish the hats on time and the girls wore them in the parade.

300th Post Contest

I'm overwhelmed by the number of responses to my contest - 101 to be exact! I had no idea there were so many of you weird people out there LOL. But seriously, thank you all so much for sharing your weird habits with me. This has been so much fun! Some of you made me laugh, some of you really scared me! But I am enjoying reading every one of them, and following the links to your blogs to 'meet' you. It will take me a few more days to go through them all and I will try to comment on each of your blogs (if I can find you). I'll announce the winner next weekend so be sure to check in then. Again, thank you all so much for taking the time to post your comments and sharing your idiosyncrasies - it really has been a lot of fun!

300th Post Contest!

This is a Sticky - scroll down for new posts.

This is it - my 300th post - all about ME! So, of course, I'm having a contest. If you read my blog you know lots of weird stuff about me so to enter the contest leave a comment telling me one weird thing about you.

And, If you link my contest on your blog, you will get two chances to win. I'll leave the contest open until Dec. 1 and make it a sticky until then so it will be easy to find. The prize:
This Knitting Needle Knitting Bag from Bag Style, two skeins of Paton's SWS Soy Wool Stripes, 24-Hour Knitting Projects by Rita Weiss, a pair of Bamboo knitting needles....and, there may be some other treats hidden in that bag!

C IS FOR...........

C is for...Cute! (bet you thought I was going to say chocolate!)

C is for...Crocheted Cap(grammiecrochets too!)

C is for...

Cheerleaders (my 14 year-old Freshman granddaughter (not the one on the right - that's Tori) made the varsity cheering squad - go Jordyn!!!)

C is for ....Christmas Parade (the cheerleaders are marching in a Christmas parade on December 1).

So where is this post heading? Well, when the Cheerleaders
saw Tori's cute hat, they loved it and thought it would be great if they all wore one in the Christmas parade next Saturday...so guess who is crocheting 16 hats this week? The pattern is from 24-hour Crochet Projects by Rita Weiss. I'm using Red Heart SuperSaver (this is worse than you thought, isn't it?) @ $2.29 a skein and I can get four hats out of one skein. It's taking me less than an hour to make one and I've finished four so far. Think I'll make it?

well, okay - C is for... Chocolate, which I will reward myself with each time I Crochet a Cap!

Happy Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving I'm grateful for 43 years of marriage, three children, three grandchildren, my sisters, my friends, my co-workers, my students, yarn, books, the Internet, chocolate, red wine, the Red Sox, digital cameras , dishwashers, microwave ovens, and you my blogging friends who live in my computer. Though I've never met you in person, I'm grateful I've found this wonderful community of knitters who are so free to share their creative ideas, help solve my knitting problems, and are perfectly comfortable telling me weird things about themselves! I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving and hope that you have a long list of things to be thankful for too.

Chocolate

So I'm at the check-out in the grocery store and the cashier comes to this box of chocolate (which I bought to put in a swap package) and the conversation between her and the bagger goes like this:

Cashier - ooohh look at this box of chocolate.

Bagger - grabs the box and says - wow! My girlfriend would love this. She says chocolate is good for you.

Me - Put the chocolate down!

Cashier - Every woman knows that chocolate is good for you. (the bagger is walking away with my chocolate)

Me - come back here with my chocolate!

Bagger (reading the label) - this is really good for you because it's dark

chocolate.

Cashier - Of course it is good for you - if we didn't have chocolate we would have to hurt people.

Me - Can I please have my chocolate!

Bagger finishes bagging my food and I have my eye on the chocolate.

Me - That chocolate better be in the bag when I get home or someone is going to get hurt!

Cashier rings up the total and I swipe my credit card and sign for it.

Me - Where is my chocolate? I check the bags and find it in there and get out of there fast!

Now - after all that - the box of chocolate will not fit in the flat rate box I am filling up for my swap pal! What am I going to do now - don't tell me I am going to have to eat it all myself! At least I know it's good for me - after all the cashier and the bagger both said so!

Merry Minis

Here are some of my finished "Merry Minis"

An Inside Look

Thank you for your kind words about my Christmas Rose Gift Bag. Some of you asked what the inside looked like (since I said it was a mess) so I took a photo - and much to my surprise, when I looked at the picture I could actually see a pattern in all of those strands - maybe I did it right after all????

I knit up a few of Carol Bristol's Merry Minis and felted them this morning. They still need some embellishing - buttons, miniature knitting needles, etc. but I think they are adorable. And..I'm using up all those little balls of leftover yarn that are taking up room in my stash, therefore making room for more stash!

Dandy's 500 post contest

Vicki at Purple is a Fruit is having a contest to celebrate her 500th post! Go on over and enter. And...this post gets me closer to 300 and my own contest!

Christmas Rose and Merry Minis

I finished my Christmas Rose Gift Bag from Handknit Holidays. Looks pretty good from the outside - but...the inside- well I just don't know about that. Maybe I should line it.

I'm also working on some Christmas ornaments - Merry Minis from Carol Bristol Designs.

The are so cute and a great way to use up all the leftover wool yarn I have from felting projects.

This is post #295 - be looking for a contest when I reach post #300!

Three Day Weekend

I'm really looking forward to this three day weekend (one day gone already!) Last weekend was busy and I see that I haven't posted since. My sister and her DH came up from NJ for the weekend. On Friday night we celebrated my DH's 65th birthday with a small dinner party at our favorite restaurant. Saturday, Hurricane Noel made a pass through Downeast Maine, leaving us without power for 15 hours. On Sunday, I went to see "Clue, the Musical" at our community theater. It was great! Each night that it played there was a different outcome, and the audience got to play along with clues given after each scene. The night I went it turned out to be Miss Scarlet in the kitchen with a wrench - and I did guess it!


And some knitting content - I finished two pairs of felted ballet slippers for my sister's granddaughters in time to send them back down to NJ with her, along with the other presents headed that way.

I also knit this "Knot a Scarf" from some beautiful ribbon yarn that my Irish friend Fiadhnat sent me from Ireland.

Treats

Some Halloween treats for me - the new Knit Simple Holiday 2007 magazine, with some really cute knit Christmas balls, and an adorable sheep afghan in it and a new One-Skein Wonder book - 101 Designer one-skein Wonders. As with the first one, I want to knit just about everything in it.

And DH's birthday present - what else!

Happy Halloween

From the Statue of Liberty

And Little Red Riding Hood, who did not go near the big bad wolf!

2007 World Champions!

CONGRATULATIONS BOSTON RED SOX

2007 WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!!

Switch Knitter

In spite of all of the years that I have been knitting, I have never learned to knit Continental style - I'm a thrower and I like it that way - gets rid of a lot of aggression! Another thing I've never done is Fair Isle or stranded knitting, always preferring to cross-stitch the design on a plain stockinette background. But today......I have become a two handed knitter! I'm making the Christmas Rose Gift Bag from Last Minute Knitted Gifts and after reading up on some Fair Isle techniques decided to give it a go. One suggestion for two color Fair Isle was to knit one color with the right hand and one with the left hand - yeah right! But it didn't hurt to try, and it wasn't long before I was throwing one color with my right hand and knitting continental with the other. The two colors don't get all twisted up, the design repeats enough so I can carry the yarn across the back, and I'm reall enjoying this! I have no idea if I am doing this correctly - but here's what I have so far.

Knitting on to Victory!

While staying up way too late and watching the Sox win their way to the world series I've been getting some knitting done too. I finished this felted bag for my granddaughter's chiropractor. She has scoliosis and goes to Nichole three times a week, so they have become good friends! She admired a bag I had made for my DD, so I was commissioned to make her one for Christmas. I happened to have the colors she wanted in my stash, so I just knit the basic Booga Bag, added a pocket to the inside and braided the handles instead of i-cord.

Talk to the Sock

These "Cell Socks" are really cute and a great way to use up that leftover sock yarn. I think they would go over very well with the teen set! This one was knit with some leftover Knitpicks Parade.

Unraveling Ravelry

I have to admit that I was a little skeptical about Ravelry. After all, there are so many knitting communities on the internet - how could this one be so different. And then, seeing there were thousands ahead of me on the list to get in - I just didn't get it. But now that I'm in - I'm starting to!

I have a lot more to learn about Ravelry - but here are some of the things I love about it. "Friends" - just click on this and there you all are! I can click on you and find your pages, see what you are knitting and what you are planning to knit. I can even send you a message. I can click on "Friends Blogs" and there you are again - with one glance I can tell if you have a new entry on your blog and head on over there to read it.

Another favorite is my 'queue'. This is how I justify all of the time I spend on Revelry. It's where I can enter all of those projects I want to make, and.. this is the best part...where I can find them when I'm ready.
I can't tell you how many hours I have spent searching for a pattern that I remember seeing someplace - looking through all of my knitting books, knitting magazines, notebooks, and internet sites. From now on, whenever I see something I want to make someday - I will enter it in my queue, and will forever more know where to find that pattern! There is still so much more to explore on Ravelry, but I know that I am hooked!
See you all on Ravelry!

Christmas Knitting

That ticker on the top of my page is beginning to scare me! I haven't made a lot of progress on my Christmas knitting so I decided to start knitting for the kids on my list this weekend.

I used the inspiration on the cover of this book to knit this toddler hat and mitten set. It's for the youngest member of our family - my sister's first grandchild, who will be 8 months old by Christmas. They knit up quickly with Bernat Softee Chunky. Gotta use a washable yarn when it's for a toddler, and it's really quite soft.

The Poet Goes to Fenway

The poet goes to Fenway
By Mary Oliver October 13, 2007

In the language of baseball
I am 3 and 2,
and not so nimble
as I was once
and the game,
at the moment,
is indecisive.
There are many poets
who love baseball
which is, after all,
a metaphor
for many things
that happen when there isn't a game.
The ball gleams forth,
and high,
and maybe it's a hit
or maybe the runner is out.
Nothing is certain
except the way
the old players hang onto their smarts,
their prowess, as long as they can
while the luminous young
keep showing up,
so swift, so quick,
with such light in their eyes
and such beautiful swings.

Knitting Needle Knitting Bag

Here is my first completed bag from the Bag Style KAL. Since I don't have my book yet (on it's way from Amazon) this is the sneak peek pattern from Knitting Daily for the Knitting Needle Knitting Bag. It was a quick, easy knit, and the knitting needle handles really make it unique (except that all of you will have one too of course!) I found the lining material in my stash left over from my sewing days - before I developed OCKS (obsessive compulsive knitting syndrome). I would make more of these -great gifts for knitters - in different patterns. Maybe a cable pattern, or even just plain garter in a multi-colored yarn.

Sweep

A Knitter is Born!

The knitting gene missed a generation in my family. I was never able to interest my daughter in knitting (although she is very happy to receive the results of my knitting!). I taught my oldest granddaughter to knit a couple of years ago. But the first couple of times I tried to teach my youngest to knit she really wasn't very interested. Today she said "I think I can knit now". So I handed her some size 10 needles and some bulky yarn, cast on for her and showed her what to do - then walked away......

After a short while I heard the words "I did it!"

Getting pretty comfortable here! I've never actually tried to knit in this position, but it seems to work for her!

A Knitter is Born!

Ravelry and Stash Management

As I wander around Ravelry I'm discovering a lot of things! I've decided there is no way to put all of my FOs on there - so I'm just adding a few of the latest ones and then I'll add new ones as I start them. Cataloging my yarn stash is indeed eye-opening! There, I've decided there is no sense uploading pictures of each skein of yarn and posting them, since they are all right here in my house, just the name, weight, color, # of skeins, etc. will do it , but - it's where they are stored that is amazing me.

So far the answer to that question about various skeins of yarn I have entered are- 'in the plastic tote in my bedroom' 'in the magazine rack' 'in the hat box' 'in the basket that I won in the Chinese Auction' ' in the basket on my night stand' - wow - am I in need of some serious stash management! I've been looking for an excuse to put in my retirement papers, and this may be it! Last night I tried to start entering items in my "Queue" - ideas for future projects...up until now I have just been stuffing them in notebooks...and you know - that's really not such a bad idea!

I'll leave you with a couple of photos - maybe they will help you feel better about your stash organization. Of course you realize this is just temporary storage - I'm going to get it all organized as soon as Ravelry lets me upload the actual stash to my notebook instead of just photos of it.
My hatbox stash:


My magazine rack stash:

Manny being.....

A walk-off home run hero!

KTC Fall Swap & The Yarn Harlot

The Fall KTC Swap was a children's book swap and my pal, Amy sent me a copy of Shell Silverstein's "The Missing Piece" which will be a great addition to my children's book collection. She also sent some LB Moonlight Mohair and some Sugar n' Cream yarn - both will be put to good use! And, as an extra surprise there was an autographed copy of The Yarn Harlot's "At Knit's End". I love this passage (which I think is okay to share, as a review of the book)
"It is some kind of miracle that all knitting is constructed of only two stitches: knit and purl. Sure, you throw in some yarn overs, and sometimes you knit the stitches out of order, but when it really comes down to it, knitting is simplicity. The most incredible gossamer lace shawl...the trickiest aran...a humble sock...each just made with knit and purl. Know these two stitches; Rule the world."

Treats from Ireland

I received my Whoduknit fall 'trick or treat' package from Fiadhnat today! And I really got treated! Just look at all of my goodies. For the swap we were to send a book with a Halloween theme, yarn in a fall color and a pattern to go with it, and a trick and a treat.

The book is The Fires and the Shadows - which looks very spooky - perfect for Halloween reading. It is really of treasury of short stories from some of the best mystery writers, Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, among others. I can't wait to read it. The other book was actually her 'trick'. It's a book of short stories by Irish women writers with a portion of the profits going to the aid of Tsunami victims. Another real treasury of famous authors including one of my favorites - Maeve Binchy. The trick is that about half way through the book, there are about 140 upside down pages! See that chocolate? One of those candy bars is gone already (and I haven't even had my dinner yet). The little magnetic recipe book is so cute - and actually has some great recipes in it that I am hoping my DH will 'treat' me to. The little lamb is actually soap, which I really don't want to melt down in the shower because he smells so good. Right now he is sitting next to my computer. And the yarn! It is a gorgeous ribbon yarn called Organza by Sirdar in a beautiful golden fall color. She also included a pattern for a "Knot a Scarf" which is kind of a necklace scarf. And...best of all, she included a picture of herself wearing a scarf she had made from the pattern. I'm not posting that picture without her permission, but I can tell you she has red hair (are you surprised) and is holding two beautiful red-headed children in the pictures! (Actually, I think we are related VBG) Thank you so much Fiadhnat - I love my trick or treat package!