Surprises!

Sometimes when friends or relatives take a trip, they come home with surprises. My little bear, Koda, took a trip to Georgia and arrived home on my doorstep Monday.

This yarn was in the box with him - what an unexpected WOW! So, I will leave these nice bright colors out near my desk until they "tell me" what they want to be. The sunshiny colors will be welcome cheer on dreary, cold days.

I have read glowing reviews on Spud and Chloe yarn, even looked for it locally, to no avail. I think they stock it at Loops in Tulsa (a great yarn shop if you are in the 'hood), but that's a 2.5 hr haul from here. I am always hesitant to mail order yarn that I haven't had the chance to pet and snuggle against my skin, and I haven't had an excuse to go to or through Tulsa lately. This yarn passes the snuggle test with flying colors (ooo.. pun intended!).

Re: my last post.... DD called Sunday.... her cell phone died for no apparent reason. I think it's contagious. Bleh!

A Tale of Woe

We seem to be on a roll around here when it comes to destroying cell phones before our contracts are up.

Last Sunday I was trying to multi-task: wash dishes and talk on the phone at the same time. Oops! There went the phone into the dishwater, and no, it didn't survive.

It was an old phone, one that I resurrected last spring after leaning off our porch to take a pan of weather stain from DH when my then-new and very shiny red phone fell out of my shirt pocket into the weather stain. That phone didn't survive the fall into sticky mess. (My ipod also fell into the stain, and it still works.... most of the time.) ::Sigh::

My phone being my lifeline, I promptly replaced it. We're out of old phones, so off to the store I went and came out with a new and improved phone that works. New phone means a quick phone cover felting project. I **think** the yarn is Wisdom Sonnet, but it doesn't have a skein wrapper, so that's just a somewhat educated guess.

I bought a hands-free thingy for this phone... now I can multi-task over hot water without investing any more $$$ in the cell phone makers!

Better yet, I can knit and talk at the same time. That's not a bad thing!

Grand Prix Racing

Little boys are so special and their excitement is contagious!

I knit this set about a month ago, based loosely on my Pop Top Mittens, with a hat added for good measure. They are custom knit for my nephew (my Godson) who is 3 1/2 and crazy about cars. The last time I talked to him on the phone, he told me all about Disney movie "Cars". And when we visited last summer, he got really excited about the wheels on our rental car. We had a good laugh over that because we didn't like the car at all! I figured he'd like the car theme on some mittens.

Not having a model readily available, I snagged the lion from DS16's closet just to snap a couple of quick pictures before finally putting these in the mail.

The yarn is Berroco Comfort (except for the red, which is Universal Yarn Classic Worsted). The appliques are perfect for the recipient and I found them at the local fabric store. It's all machine washable - an important consideration for little boys (or, should I say for their mothers)!!!

::sigh:: I remember when my boys were little!

The Big Thaw?

I don't think so! Knitting weather continues. : )

frosty prairie grass

This is what we awoke to this morning. This frost looked positively hairy!

frosty pines

And this fountain was the backdrop for homecoming pictures a couple of months ago. No dresses and ties on happy-go-lucky young couples on this day!

So, it has been "stay inside and knit" weather, and I have complied.

First, a cowl (pardon the awful exposure, but that is snow glare!). This was my contribution for a Cowl Swap with my Saturday morning knitting group. The yarn is Araucania Panguipulli in color #2. I l-o-v-e this yarn. Actually, I think I love every yarn this company makes. One of my friends at the swap was knitting with the same yarn in the same colorway, and it looked completely different, in part because her pattern didn't have purl bumps on the right side. The yarn is definitely a splurge, but is totally worth it; as Forrest Gump would say, "you never know what you're gonna get" when you knit with it! The knitter who got my cowl was headed to the yarn store to buy this exact yarn. Since she got the cowl, she decided to go ahead and get more yarn and make a matching hat. Fun!

I should have taken a picture of the cowl I received in the swap (another thing for my to-do list) -- it has diagonal columns of yarn overs, and it's made in a vintage yarn of a blend of alpaca and merino in gray and black and a little bit of brown - perfect with a black wool coat. Thanks, Laura!

As if all the mittens I've been making for little hands weren't enough, DD#1 confessed to losing her fingerless gloves that I made last year, so I obliged with another pair. I don't think the originals are permanently lost... rather the right drawer or bin hasn't been opened and they will eventually emerge from hiding. ::Sigh:: I hope so, anyway!

I knit these from Lang Yarns Mille Colori - fuzzy and fun, and DD was pleased.

I have lots more irons in the fire, but I can't spill the beans about all of it quite yet.

Check back, and in the meantime, happy knitting with no knots!

Lots and lots of Mittens

If I counted correctly, I have made 8 pairs of mittens over the last several weeks. Whew! I am tired of knitting mittens for a while.

All but 2 pairs were for my newest pattern, Pop Top Mittens (available here). They're knit in worsted/medium weight yarn and instructions are included for kids sizes 2-10. These are a quick project for young family members or for charity!

So now I have moved on to a new project.... gloves for me. I must be in a rut of keeping hands warm! But our near-chronic snow makes mittens or gloves a necessity. I think of my Dad telling me the best way to warm your whole body is over a sink of hot dish water. Bleh! I'd rather knit and wear gloves/mittens! After all, you can't stand over a sink and walk the dogs at the same time.

On a totally unrelated note, I finished my year of swimming at a grand total of 210.23 miles. Yea! The pool has been a popular place lately, but the kids are almost ready to head back to school, so I am hoping to find smoother water this week. Should I push for 250 miles in 2010?

Happy New Year of Knitting!