Junkie

I am such a craft junkie. I switch crafts as easily as I change my nail polish and you never know when I will get the desire to craft. right. this. minute. So....it's no surprise that a Saturday off with no plan in mind and just aimless wandering would lead to this:

which hopefuly will be turning into this sometime this weekend. I have enough to do aprons. The milk print (second from the right) is what started it all. I think it is way too cute. The fabric store we went to is having an entire store 50% off sale the first week of April, so stay tuned for an expanding fabric stash in the near future. If you live anywhere near Charlotesville, check it out, they said they have people come from all over for their "famous" sale. Sounds like a party to me! (The store is called Valley Fabrics in Stuarts Draft.)

I know that this is really a knitting blog though, so lest you think I've abandoned the pointy sticks altogether....

One more completed Christmas knit! These are the legwarmers from "Last Minute Knitted Gifts". Now, I have a disclaimer about these legwarmers. They are in the two-hour to four-hour chapter. I definitely worked on these way longer than four hours. I'm not exactly a slow knitter, either. Has anyone else knit anything out of that book and have any comments on how long it took them to knit the item vs. how long the book said it should take? I was a little miffed and now I'm a little weary of trying anything else that is supposed to be a "quick knit".

PS. Mom, I swear I am almost done with your Christmas present...hang in there, you are such a good sport! You will be getting a little something extra to commend your patience!

Eight inches

.....that's how much knitting you can get done on the drive to Snowshoe in these conditions. That is, your tires are z-rated for speed and balding at that and road is icy and curvy and you don't know where you are going but your husband is an experienced bad-weather driver, so you know you will be fine, but you can't help but be nervous anyway so you just knit as fast as you can. My husband and my honda are wonderful though, because somehow we got here in one piece. We are staying at a hotel at the bottom of the mountain, so whenever we want to go skiing we have to drive to the top. This morning when we went up the mountain to go skiing, the roads were even worse. People were passing us because we were going very slowly and spinning tires most of the way. There was a very nice Jeep behind us that followed us all the way to the top even though they could have easily passed us. I think they were worried that we wouldn't make it and were following us incase we needed help. It's nice to know that some people still have goodness in them. Here I am posing with the little car that could.

Anyway, we are having a great time. The wind here is unbelievable. The average wind speed is 20-30 mph with gusts up to 40-50 mph. We skiied for a while this morning before the wind got the better of us. We even watched the wind blow a guy completely off his feet. That's when we decided to take a break until dinner.

There is a cute store across the street that sells all kinds of homemade jams, jellies, and relishes that I can't wait to pick through and take some home.

That's it for now. I'm going to go hit the slopes again after I do some more knitting! Having a great time! Hope you all have a great Valentine's Day!

Odds and Ends

This past week has been pretty busy, but filled with lots of fun stuff. Tuesday night it snowed a couple of inches. I'm still a little disappointed that we haven't gotten a MAJOR snow storm yet this year, but we had fun anyway. Both of my parents were sick with yucky colds and Doug and I both coincidentally had the day off so we went and picked up my brother for some snowy fun. First there was a snowball fight.....
I got completely nailed by the way. They ganged up on me as soon as I stepped outside and I got pelted by a million snowballs.
Then there was sledding.....


We live across the street from an elementary school with a fabulous hill down to a soccer field. There was no sled to be found, so we improvised with a tub that we used to mix cemente this summer. It actually worked quite nicely. After all the sledding we retreated to the warm house for hot chocolate and cartoons.

The next day was the long-awaited baby shower. Look at this cute cake that one of the guests made! It was a surprise shower for the mom-to-be (we had to get daddy in on the planning to get them out there) and she was very surprised! Here are the proud parents-to-be after the initial shock.

I knit them a hat from a Knit-Whits kit that I found at my LYS. I actually substituted colors from my stash to personalize it. I had to give it to them with the ends unwoven because I barely finished it in time, but after the gift-opening I wove them in while everyone else was socializing.Last, but not least. The first of the finished Christmas Knits. The others aren't too far off, I swear! This is the shadow-knit football scarf, modeled by its recipient, my father-in-law.

Time to return to painting! Doug and I are painting the interior of a house as a side job. This house is huge..4 bedrooms, three stories. Ugh! It's not too bad though, since it is only a half block away from my favorite Thai restaurant. We have a big trip planned this week to celebrate Valentine's Day. I'll post lots of pictures when I get back!

SP 10 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I am currently LOVING sproingy, squishy basic fibers like merino and such. I am not such a big fan of furry yarns like mohair or angora, but I love alpaca. Oh yeah, no acrylic please :)

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have a two hand-made needle rolls, one for my straights, one for my dpns, and my circs are just kept in their plastic baggies.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting for about three years. I taught myself using a "teach yourself to knit" kit I got at a craft store with cheapo acrylic yarn. I consider myself to be intermediate. I've made a couple of sweaters and know the basics of lace knitting, but have never ventured into the hard core colorwork stuff.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Not currently, but can create one if needed.

5. What's your favorite scent?
I love, love, love citrus smells. I find them energizing and invigorating. I also love the comfy, homey smells like pumpkin pie and cinnamon apple.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Major sweet tooth. I'd have to say my favorite candy is probably skittles, but I love just about everything.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I haven't tried spinning yet, but would like to give it a whirl (ha ha). I also quilt, scrapbook, and do a little bit of beading.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I love all music, but if I have to be specific I'd say my two favorite genres are country and reggae (I know, opposite ends of the spectrum) Yes, I can listen to mp3s.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I am currently loving yellows and oranges, but I like to experiment with color. I am a participant of Project Spectrum 2.0, so I will be following those color guidelines as much as I can. I can't really like of any colors I don't like.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
No kids yet, been married for a little over a year. I have two giant loving doggies.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes, yes, yes, and not anymore. I have a couple of ponchos from when I first started knitting, but I haven't worn them in a long time.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I love socks, and that is usually my standby, but I'm also venturing out. I'd say I really like experimenting with classic style sweaters.

13. What are you knitting right now?
I am currently working on a baby hat, some leftover Christmas projects, and my Central Park Hoodie.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I switch around a lot between straight and circular, it depends on the project and if I intend on traveling with it. I use my circulars a lot more unless I'm making a scarf, then it's straights all the way. I never use plastic needles, can't stand them. I really really love wooden needles. Every once in a while I crave the slick addi turbos that everyone loves, but for the most part I love my basic bamboo and birch. I've never tried rosewood though, I hear it's divine.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yes, both thanks to my darling husband.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
It celebrated it's 10th birthday this year. It's a black crochet afghan from high school. My longest knit UFO is probably "Jesse's Flames" sweater that I'm making for my husband-its been lingering in the basket for about 2 years.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Probably Thanksgiving, but I love summer picnics and barbeques too, so maybe the Fourth of July is a close second.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
I collect shot glasses, but currently don't have anywhere to display them.
20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I currently don't subscribe to any magazines, but I love Interweave Knits. I've been trying to find a place that sells Rebecca, but no one around here seems to have it. I'm just curious what that magazine looks like, never seen it. I would like to try a simple stranded colorwork project, like maybe a hat kit. I'm also looking for a simple sweater pattern to use a beautiful purple Manos del Uruguay yarn I purchased recently. That's about all that's currently on my wish list, but I'm always seeing something that I'm dying to try next.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
As I mentioned earlier, I'd really like to try a stranded colorwork project. I think a hat might be a good beginner project. I was going to try mittens, but I don't know if that's a good first project.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I am a sock knitter, and I'm a size 6 1/2 women's. I don't know my exact foot measurments but could provide them if needed.

23. When is your birthday? Nov 15

The Yarn Room

I have been highly negligent in showing you pictures of the completed yarn room, so now since I am severely lacking in pictures of finished objects (because there are none) I will supplement with a photo show!

First up, my award-winning quilt. This quilt was hand-pieced by my great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother in the 40s. It was then quilted by professionals in the 90s and won third place at the pike county fair in Missouri. For Christmas my mother-in-law gave me a quilt rack so I could dipslay it proudly in my crafty room.
It hangs proudly behind the two oferstuffed armchairs that is the primary seating in the yarn room. If you are sitting in these chairs, this is your view:

The custom-designed shelving unit that my husband made, and the boob tube where I watch endless episodes of Friends and Scrubs while I knit. Surrounding that area on the floor are the numerous plastic containers that house the overflow of my craft obsessions. To the left is the sewing nook:

This side of the room gets the most natural daylight and is where all the quilting and sewing takes place. Speaking of the quilt, this little lady perches over the room, keeping things peaceful.


She was a gift from my mother-in-law for Christmas, inspired by the main fabric of the quilt we are making. Last but not least, is the newest decoration.

Shelf provided by Beth, to hang and display the pretty pretty Manos del Uruguay I bought a few weeks ago. The folded items on top are two ponchos I made a long time ago and will probably never wear, but are too pretty to be confined to a closet.

So that's the yarn room, where all the magic happens.
Not much else going on here, but I did make a huge splurge purchase yesterday.

Size US 2 DPNs, for sock knitting. The splurge part? Ebony. Mmmmm..... I can not wait to cast on!
Also, something I shouldn't even admit to knitting here, because I will get a comment or email from mom asking about her socks.....Illegal Knitting. No, the Christmas presents aren't done. Yes, I feel really bad knitting something for myself while they loom in the knitting basket. I know it's wrong, but it feels s..o........g..o..o..d! I'm not telling what it is, but I bet you can guess since I've mentioned it before!