What kind of knitting needles ARE THESE???

…and where did this maniacal child come from?  (welcome to my child’s “wide eyed” look – you should see his 2nd grade picture)

Seriously, look at those tree trunks!!!  My friend Christina gave these to me today.  They are from her late Grandmother’s stash.  Does anyone know what size these knitting needles are?  I have never seen such big needles!  I keep thinking that these would be perfect for Hagrid (from Harry Potter) to knit with.  Need a scarf?  I’ll whip it up in 15 minutes.  Afghan?  2 hours!!!!

The neat thing about Christina’s gift is that her Grandmother was from England, so most of the needles are English – still with original sleeves and all in metric measurements.  Amazing.  Christina, I’ll hold them until you decide to join me in making that Christmas angel sweater!!!

Folks, I have a confession.  In addition to having a large yarn stash, I have….a large notebook stash.

Ahh….notebooks.  Page after page of inviting blank space, just waiting for a meaningful to-do list or project list.  And I am especially drawn to them if I can find them on…..gasp……clearance.  To put this into another perspective:

The pile keeps growing…..and I still don’t seem to get anything done.

Happy 4th birthday, my Lainie bug!

Introducing you to your big brother….what an wonderful day!

Having fun in the tub.

At Kimmie’s house with your buddha belly.

Christmas in your red plaid dress.

And today, patiently putting up with me trying to get a good picture while watching Dora the Explorer.

 I love you, sweetie!

Saturday night, 12:27 a.m.

When I was younger, I used to be a “late night person”.  Now I’m just a “wanna be late night person” (meaning that I am bleary by 11:00 p.m. but don’t want to give in and go to bed so I stay up far too late).  I had a busy day today.  Want to hear about it? No?  Well, too bad.  Here we go:

8:20 a.m. – arrive at Haish Gym for Cole’s basketball practice

8:35 a.m. – spend the next 50 minutes on a treadmill (at Haish Gym)

9:45 a.m. – run to Lincoln Elementary to pick up Market Day

10:00 a.m. – arrive home, unpack Market Day, shower

11:20 a.m. – leave for Somonauk to see Cousin Johnny play basketball (they got smeared).  After the game, go to Golden Coins restaurant in Sandwich (no longer by that name, but it’s what I know it as) with Craig, Cole, Lainie, my father in law and his girlfriend, Johnny and my brother-in-law Weez for lunch.  Afterwards, Cole goes home with Weez and Johnny.  Lainie accompanies us to Cooper Home Furnishings in Plano.  Wander around store.  Find chair we like.  Look through custom fabrics and end up with massive headache.  (I find furniture shopping to be very stressful).  Walk out with lamp in hand and 2 chairs on order.  Very nice store, by the way.  Nice people and reasonable prices.  The building is actually 3 buildings – and part of the second floor is an old gymnasium/ scout club/dance club/hangout for kids in the 1950’s….the floor still has the free throw line marks.

4:05 p.m. – Head to Uncle Weez’s house (still with massive headache) to pick up Cole.  Hang out for next couple of hours watching basketball and making (awesome) s’mores in their fireplace.  YUM.

7:30 p.m. – pick up Burger King as a poor dinner substitute (yuk) and head home.  Put children to bed by 8:37 p.m.  Jump on internet only to find I HAVE NO EMAILS AND THERE ARE FEW BLOG UPDATES TO BE READ.  PERUSE ETSY AND FEEL PATHETICALLY FRIENDLESS. 

I then decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and go knit, drink jasmine tea and enjoy Sat. night tv with Craig.  And actually, there was a very cool show on PBS – which rats, I forgot the name.  It was about 70’s music.

I have never been a fan of 70’s music, but after watching this, it makes me realize how throw away most of the 1980’s music is.  Some of the best 1970’s songs still sound as fresh as they did back then.  Then again, some of it is just crap.

But enough about music!  Let’s talk knitting!!!

While watching Project Runway on Wednesday night, I knit for over an hour on the sock, only to find a big hole.  I had to rip back everything I had done.  That killed any enthusiasm I had for sock knitting at that point, so I turned to an easy and more immediately gratifying project:  a scarf knit on size 8 needles.  From the stash yarn, it’s a black/white cotton yarn:

Look at that scarf so artfully arranged! (even in bad lighting)  I am making a simple K1, P1 rib for maxium flatness.  The super cute bag is from Bungle Bear .  Also, I must show you this super cute needle holder I bought from ReFabulous.  It’s made from old quilt pieces.   Here’s a closer picture:

She recycles items into the coolest stuff, like the cookbook page made into a little envelope.  And I got the keychain as a little gift!  She has some little pouches made out of vintage skirts that I’m totally coveting right now.  Her specialty seems to be book covers made into credit card holders.

Tomorrow is fast arriving (actually, it’s here, but it doesn’t count until the children are up), so I had better head off to bed.  Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

Rick Rack Love

Did I spell that correctly?  We now zip back in history from December, 1992 (the last picture I posted) to September, 1974.  This is my kindergarten picture.

I have always loved rick rack.  And no wonder, I was wearing it when I was 5 years old.  My mom made our clothes.  Isn’t that a kick ass 70’s shirt?  Some of my favorite memories from childhood are not only the clothes my mom made for me and my sister but also how she embroidered animals and flowers onto our jeans.  I always swore I’d make clothes for a daughter if I ever had one, but I have yet to finish the 2 jumpers I started a few months ago for Lainie.  Call it the “working mom syndrome”.

Not much new to report on the yarn front:  I finished the hat and am wearing it.  I have 3 inches of ribbing done on the sock.  I have a cardigan I started for Lainie but it’s been ages since I tackled that project.

I will studiously work on these items and report back…with a picture!!!

I *heart* worsted weight yarn

Look how fast this hat is going!  I’m already to the decreases.  This is stash yarn from one of the first projects I did:  a buttery yellow to-the-knees ribbed scarf. 

So…the crushing weight of the arctic temperatures have been getting to me and alas, I have not blogged.  I’m too busy wearing sweater upon sweater and eating.  I know weather is a common theme with me, but how can it not be when it’s between -5 degrees and 5 degrees without the wind chill?  However, I had to take a trip up to Rockford yesterday to pick up some end tables/coffeetable that we recently ordered.  After 14 1/2 years of marriage, we’re buying our first coffee table & 2 end tables (we had some but they were given to us-I feel officially like an adult now).  After zipping through the furniture pickup (with no children, as I needed the seats down in the jeep) I decided to go shopping!  What’s a little cold, right?

First, I went to World Market and found some delectable items on sale:

I managed to get the cute Santa cookie jar for 75% off – like $5.00!  Also, the deep dish pie pan was 50% off for only $7.49.  I love the green glass jar because it’s made in Spain of recycled glass (though I discovered that it’s too small for the amount of buttons I wanted to put in it) and of course I had to get some fun soap.  I bought a footstool and some x-mas cookie tins – so…..the cool reusable canvas bag was free!  Gotta love that deal.  I even brought in my own bags as well.

Next stop, Hancock Fabrics.  My friend, Trixie, told me that Hancock Fabrics had some decent stuff and I wanted to see what somebody else in the fabric business sells besides Joann’s and Walmart.  Though a bit more pricey than what I usually spend, this is what I purchased:

I also got some cool green plaid on a 50% off sale.  Everything was going fine until the 75 year old woman cutting my fabric asked me:  “So what are you making with this?”  My answer:  “uhhhhh……” — I can’t say that I purchase much of anything with a plan.  I buy what I like and I think I might use in the future.  I would like to make the green plaid into a tote bag.  I have this obsession with cute tote bags, as you may have noticed from a previous post.  Sometime I’ll take some pictures of the cute bags I have found on etsy!

Finally, I decided to take Kristin’s advice and just start a massive “to do” list this morning.  It has all sorts of crafty stuff on it and in no particular order:

At least I’m putting it down on paper (we’ll see what I do with it).  Hopefully, the next thing to do is to narrow down the things I’d really like to get done by Christmas.  Really, planning craft projects isn’t such a chore.  It’s one of those fun things to surround yourself with, like your yarn stash.

Until next time, keep warm!!!!!

Thursday Night, 12:11 a.m.

After I got the kids to bed tonight, I sat under a blanket on the couch, carb loaded and knitted.  It’s a brisk 5 degrees outside with a strong wind.  All it makes me want to do is eat and hibernate.

I hit a small snag in the sock (meaning I made a mistake and I will have to look at it when I am not so tired to see if I can fix it) so I started a hat with stash yarn.  Do you ever have one of those knitting sessions where you’re not entirely satisfied with what you’re working on?  I’m getting that feeling.  Let’s hope I get more enthusiastic as I get further along.  It certainly is nice to knit with a size 8 needle after size 1 sock needles!  Here’s a badly-lit shot for you:

I have been wrestling as to what to put on a “to do” project list for 2008.  I really want a project list to use as a guide so I don’t get to next Christmas and say “oh, I wish I’d made that”.  But I can’t quite pin down why I can’t decide what to do.  I certainly have enough things in the stash- knitting, crosstitch and otherwise. There’s lots I want to do, too!  Does anyone else have this problem?  How do you deal with it?

Crabby is as Crabby Does

I recently posted a fabulous 7th grade picture of me circa 1981 or so.  Fast forward to December, 1992.  My fiancee (now my husband for 14 1/2 years) was graduating from college.  At the graduation,  his mother (of course) took pictures.  Here is the one she took of me:

She framed this as a Christmas gift to Craig, who kept it on his dresser for many years to remind him of his sweetie.

You know, the thing that sticks in my memory is this:  I bought this dress in early fall of 1992 from Marshall Fields.  It was an inexpensive but okay dress.  Then came the presidential election in November, 1992 and the night that Bill Clinton won the election, I saw my dress.  On Chelsea Clinton.  The only difference was that she was 12.  And I was 23.  

Loot….and a progress report.

Sat. night before the husband and kids arrived home from their snowy paradise (all we have here in Illinois is bitter cold),  my crafty buddy, Kristin and I were hanging out.  She is trying her hand at crosstitch but ran out of color #3768.  It was after 9:00 p.m. and Joann’s was closed.  No problem, I told her, let’s just zip out to Walmart and pick some up!

Folks, I put the ban on Walmart over a year ago after a particularly grueling Saturday shopping trip.  However, I knew they had DMC embroidery thread.  So, throwing my values and resolutions to the wind, we headed off.  I was surprised to find that Walmart does not carry embroidery thread anymore and that they’re getting rid of their craft department altogether.  Hmmm.  So, we didn’t end up getting what we came for, but I managed to spend $20.35 on unnecessary craft goodies:

Regular Fabric (clearanced to $2.00/yard), cheerful Christmas remnants, sequins (to further fuel the obsession), some gold and silver ribbon for future Christmas ornaments, a Country Gardens magazine, and a much needed toothbrush for .96 (a gal’s gotta be practical sometimes!).  Here’s a better shot of the fabric:

I keep buying baseball fabric in the hope that someday soon I’ll get around to making a quilt for my 7 year old’s bed.

Progress Report:  I met my fitness goal for Week #2 and at the gym tonight, I found that I have lost 2 pounds!  My husband was not as excited as me, but then again, he’s an athlete…and a guy. 

Ahh….a little bit of knitting

What do you do when your husband takes your kids to ski and swim at the pool?  You get together with your girlfriends and craft it up, that’s what!

My husband wanted to ski and I had to work.  So he packed the kids up on Friday, along with cousin Johnny (who’s 13) and my mother-in-law, drove to Wisconsin and went to play.  That left me with a day and a half of total freedom! 

This is what I accomplished after roughly 4 hours of work…

Drumroll please….

WOW!  Look at that production!!! 

MY FIRST SOCK.  It was a frustrating, humbling and exhiliarating experience all at the same time.  Frustrating because this was all I had to show for 4 hours of work (the first attempt was almost as big but was twisted so I had to rip out and start over), humbling because it just proved that knitting can still kick my butt(!) and exhiliarating because I have finally started my first sock….on toothpicks, practically!  Does anyone ever really get used to working on size 1 needles???? The really good news is that I’m using 5 year old stash yarn.

Let’s get another look at that sock:

Look at that cute sock bag!  You can’t knit socks without having the proper attire to store them in! (Thanks, Bea)  I got this at Bea Binney’s shop on etsy (click on Baa Baa Blacksheep on the side to see Bea’s blog)  And the cowboy novel I picked up at the Salvation Army.  I plan to cut pictures/words out and collage them onto bookmarks.  Christina, if you’re reading, this will be yours!

I leave you, dear reader, with one final picture of Archie,  who watched me taking pictures, patiently hoping that I would get off my duff and TAKE HIM FOR A WALK:

Let’s hope the sock flies from here on out or it’s gonna take me 20 years to finish two of them!!

Craft Inspiration (and a little bit of coveting)

One of the things I love about Etsy is the fact that I can find other crafters who I find inspirational.  There are so many talented crafters on etsy that produce unique and well made items.  They help to keep my enthusiasm going for crafting, especially when some cool little item arrives in my mailbox!

One of those inspirational sellers that I’m always checking for new items is Cornflower Creations:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5309962

Jacklyn does embroidery, which I love, esp. vintage images.  Here are a few things that I’ve bought from her shop:

Now, how cute is this?  Look at the little girl close up:

Another bag I purchased has this friendly dog:

and I got a tea towel — so cute for Christmas!

Possibly my favorite thing, though, has to be this apron:

Look at those awesome colors!  She made it from a Martha Stewart tea towel. (damn you, Martha!)

Right now I’m coveting two tea towels in her shop:  one of a tea pot eating a doughnut and one of a dancing red pot – they’re very vintage looking.  I love ‘em!