YPF - Quiet and Hungry

My boys loved books when they were little and loved to be read to.  I made many, many trips to the library with them and spent many, many hours reading to them!  When they were in pre-school they loved the books by Eric Carle and I think we owned his entire collection.

The Sanguine Gryphon has a number of winter colors named after literature, so when I read the update that the color The Very Quiet Cricket was going to be available in unlimited quantities a couple weeks ago, I couldn't resist!

Add to that, The Very Hungry Caterpillar was also available, and well... that jumped in my cart too! It only made sense to buy this one also since I was already paying for shipping :-)

I couldn't be happier with both of these skeins!  The colors are gorgeous!  Add to that the happy memories of snuggling with my boys, enjoying these wonderful books, and I have a great addition to my stash!

Happy Friday!

WIP Wednesday

There are 4 projects that are getting my attention right now.  The first is the Mystery Socks that I showed you on Monday.

The second project is the Twisted Mockery socks.  I finished the leg last night of the second sock and I'm ready to work the heel.  I'm hoping to finish these by the weekend.

The third project is a pair of mittens.  I'm trying to improve my color-work skills with these so I try to work on them a little every day.  This is the palm side and you can see the pink waste yarn  where the thumb will be placed.

This is the back of the hand side.  I kept dropping it in the snow trying to get it set up for a picture!

The fourth project is a sweater.  The pattern is Flint. It's a top down design and I'm still adding stitches, working my way to being able to split off the sleeves.  The color is off in this picture.  It's a light navy blue in real life.

I just noticed looking at these pictures together, that 3 of my 4 projects are blue!  Isn't it funny what you notice when you look at something from a different perspective?

10 on Tuesday

10 Favorite Health & Beauty Products

 

When this topic came across my email from Carole my first thought was "Crap.  I got nothin'"  Health & Beauty.  Making both of those ideals more important in my life is always at the top of my list when I think about what I'd like to change in my life.  But like everyone else I do need to function with everyday life, regardless, so there must be some things that I use and enjoy.  So, here it goes......

1. Bath & Body Works foaming Anti-bacterial soap.  Love this suff.  A little goes a long way and the foam is fun.

2. Crest with Scope toothpaste.  It's really minty fresh and I can't start my day without that feeling/taste.

3 & 4. My Oral B electric toothbrush with the Floss-Action head.  I like the timer that lets me know when to move to the next quadrant of my mouth and smiles at me after 2 minutes. Pathethic, huh? And the floss action head is like a little gum massage twice a day.  I admit that my dental cleanings seem easier since I switched to this toothbrush too :-)

5. Q-tips.  You can use them for about anything!

 

6. Vaseline. A godsend during the winter for my chapped nose or cracked skin.  Also a great substitute for antibiotic ointments!

7. Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Cream.  I've found that this really does last several hours for me and my skin feels much better within a day or two.

8. OPI nail polish.  Great colors! I also find it to be more durable for me than other brands.

9. Fructis Hair Spray.  My new favorite hairspray to keep my bangs out of my eyes!

10. Blistex The medicated lip ointment is my favorite and a staple item during the winter.  It doesn't have the waxy feel that Chapstick has.

I honestly didn't think I'd come up with 10 things!  What I wish I loved was my blow-dryer, but the switch is in a place that I'm constantly bumping and turning my dryer off while I'm using it.  Do you have one you love and would buy again?  I'd love to know because I secretly wish every day that mine would die and I would have a good excuse to buy a new one :-)

Mystery Monday

Clue 4 was posted Saturday and it was for the foot.  We had a quiet day Sunday so I got to knit most of the afternoon while we watched football.  Let me apologize for the craptastic pictures, but it is 5 degrees this afternoon and feels like -9 deg with the windchill.  I wimped out and decided to go with indoor pictures today!

Like the heel last week, the cables wound back out to the side of the foot which made the foot a mirror image of the leg.  Very clever and I love it!

A little close up of the foot, and........

the sock from the side on the blocker.  I like this view because you can really see how the design on the heel flap and the top of the foot work so nicely together.

The final clue will be posted on Saturday! I'm hoping to start the second sock this week.  But then again,  I'm so close to having the first sock finished that I may just wait and start the second sock then.  That way I'll be pulling the yarn form the same direction off the ball.  I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not in the appearance of the finished project.  Do you know?

A Finished Sweater!

I finally finished my February Lady Sweater!  I started it, decided it was too big, ripped it out and started it again last February during the Winter Olympics.  I've worked on it off and on since then and finally finished it last week.

I had bought these great buttons right after I bought the yarn and put them "someplace safe".  I had to check a lot of safe places before I found them.  You know what they say.... It's always in the last place you look! 

I'm really happy with how it came out and I've worn it almost every day this week.  It's comfortable, cozy and warm.  I know it will get a lot of wear!

Here's the details:
Pattern: February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne
Yarn: Luscious Single Silk
Color: Jasper
Mods: None

10 on Tuesday

This week's topic is 10 Favorite Games from your Childhood!

1. Monopoly.  We played this over and over and over again!  My kids love to play it now.
2. Crazy 8's.
3. Memory.  We played this with a regular deck of cards.  Sometimes we would even play with 2 decks, upping the challenge level to find not only another 4, but another 4 of clubs!
4. Yahtzee!
5. Uno! My Mom would even play this game with us.
6. Chinese Jump Rope
7. Double dutch jump rope.  The jump rope games I would only get to play when my across-the-street neighbors' grand-daughter was visiting.  Lucky for me it was a couple times a week during the summer, because the boys really did not want to play :-)  (I was the only girl in my age group in the neighborhood)
8. Marbles. I had quite a collection of Tiger Eyes at one time :-)
9. Parcheesi.
10. Mastermind. 

That was fun!  What were your favorites?

Mystery Monday

Clue 3 was released Saturday.  It was short and sweet, so I was able to get it knit up, even with all the family activities over the weekend.  Here is sock #1 with all 3 clues completed.....

And here is a closer look at heel flap......

I love how the cables wind back out toward the sides of the foot.  I can't wait to see what 's going to happen on the foot!  Hurry up Saturday!  I'm ready for clue #4!

Mystery Monday

My current Mystery KAL is the Hazel Knits group KAL.  Clue 2 was released Saturday and I managed to get it finished today.

I am really loving this pattern!  So pretty!

2010 in Review & 2011

It's the second week of January already and I realized I hadn't looked back at all the projects I finished in 2010! I put together a quick collage of some of my FO's, but here is a list.....

12 Pairs of socks
4 baby sweaters, all were gifted
2 shawls, both were gifted
16 hats, 15 were gifted including 8 for Chandler's hockey team and 2 of their little sisters

I've been thinking about knitting goals for 2011 and can't decide whether I want to set some or just "go with the flow" this year. When I start to think about what I WANT to do, the list gets overwhelming pretty quickly. I think I should call it my Wish List instead of my goal list. So what's on that list??

1. Knit all the Rockin Sock Club kits. Each one comes with 2 patterns, so this is 6-12 pairs of socks.
2. Knit all the Cookie A Sock Club kits. Again, each one will comewith 2 patterns, so 6-12 pairs of socks. Plus bake all the cookie recipes :-)
3. Participate with the Knit.Sock. Love. KAL group on Ravelry, which will be 1 pattern a month, for another 12 pairs of socks.
4. Mittens for me.
5. Hat for me.
6. Finish my February Lady Sweater, which only has 1 sleeve left.
7. Knit all the sweaters in the Sweater for All Seasons Club. The 2nd pattern will be released next week and I haven't cast on the first one yet! So 4 sweaters....
8. Knit Dark & Stormy, because I just love it and really want one myself.
9. Finish up some of my UFO's
10. Anything else that strikes my fancy, and I know several will!

Quick tally of my 2011 Wish List is 36+ pairs of socks, 6+ sweaters, a hat, a pair of mittens, and anything else that stikes my fancy.  I know my list is a little over the top, but what the heck.  As long as I enjoy what I'm doing, does it really matter?  I can't wait to see what my collage looks like at the end of 2011

WIP Wednesday

What's on my needles this week?  Something old and something new.

I put aside my February Lady Sweater to do some holiday knitting.  Now that the holiday's are over, I pulled it back out.  I finished the body and started on the first sleeve a few days ago.  I'm making some nice progress and think I can finish it some time this weekend!  Hopefully the next time you see this, it will be finished!

This weekend I started a second sock project.  This is Twisted Mockery by Lisa Stichweh.  It was the Mystery KAL on the Sock Knitters Anonymous group in November.  I was too busy to join the KAL then, but I love the pattern. The Hazel Knits group KAL is a mystery sock by Lisa Stichweh or any of her patterns.  I'm using one of the Hazel Knits December Club colors, Cloudy Day, for this sock.

What's on your needles right now?

10 on Tuesday

This week's topic is "10 Things You Wouldn't Want to Live Without" and people don't count.  There are many things that I certainly take for granted, but are there any I wouldn't want to live without?  How about...

1. My car.  I love where I live, but it's not walking distance to anything.  Except the lake :-)

2. My knitting.  There's nothing like the feeling of making something useful with your own hands.

3. My Chuck-It.  I have  a big dog with lots of energy who is ball obsessed.  I throw like a girl, maybe because I am one, but it is a god-send at my house.

4. NH Downloadable.  It's my State Public Library of audiobooks. It's so easy, and free!, to download books to listen to.

5. Ipod touch.  I like being able to take my music or audiobooks anywhere with me, from the laundry room to the back yard, or out and about. 

6. My Ugg Boots.  I just treated myself to a pair of these this winter and I really didn't know what I was missing!  It's like wearing my big fuzzy slippers everywhere :-)

7. My Computer with internet.  It keeps me connected to the world.

8. Chocolate.  It's my favorite treat.

9. My favorite chair.  It's my spot, my place in the house that is mine.  It's where I primarily knit, read, visit with my family, and watch TV.

10. Toothpaste. Good minty toothpaste.  I actually can't do anything in the morning until I brush my teeth.  With my electric toothbrush with the floss action head :-)

I read a couple other 10 on Tuesday entries this morning before I finished my list and one of the participants listed toilet paper.  I laughed out loud, probably because it's true, but I felt like I would be cheating if I put it on my list too.  But yeah, toilet paper too :-)

Happy Tuesday!

Mystery Monday

It's the beginning of the month and that means the beginning of new Knit-a-longs.  I'm so often tempted to join in, but I'm really trying not to over-commit myself with my knitting goals.  But the Hazel Knits group that I'm a member of on Ravelry  has a Mystery KAL this month with a pattern by Lisa Stichweh.  I love her designs and I love Hazel Knits yarns, so I decided to join in.  I thought it would be fun to share with you on Monday's the progress from the most recent clue.  The first clue was released on Saturday, the 1st, and it didn't take hardly any time at all to complete. I present....... the cuff.....

 Next Monday, I hope to have clue 2 finished!

Want to join the fun?  Come join us here on Ravelry.  The official KAL is limited to Hazel Knits yarns, but the pattern is free so you can knit along using your favorite yarn.  The hint we have gotten is that this pattern uses both cables AND lace.  I can't wait to see what the leg looks like!