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!