two of two - Secret Pal!!

This morning there was ring at the door... kind of early so I was confused as I wasn't expecting anyone. It was Canada Post! I immeditately ran upstairs and jumped on the bed waking up Greg so we could open the package together, not that he cares too much, but I like to share my excitement even if it means waking him up :)

Secret Pal, you. are. amazing. Banana Fiber!

Left to Right, Banana Fibre which will be made into this, Peruvia which will be made into... something, little animal magnets (SO cute), kitty toys, and delicate wash stuff for my hand knits(I've been meaning to pick some of that up).

The colour for the banana fiber is definitely bold, but I still love it. Love it! I think the bag I'll make from it might be a bit smaller than the pattern says, but I was planning on doing that anyways. YAY, banana fiber!

The Peruvia is amazing, so soft. I'm not sure what to make out of it yet. So far mittens and hat have come to mind. But it's so nice... I may pick up some more of this and go for a full on sweater.

The magnets are already on my fridge and seem to be quite entertaining for Greg, LOL. So cute. And my kitties thank you for the toys, they are playing with them now even as I type.

one of two

Here is the finished scarf for Teresa. I'm so glad to be finished another Christmas present. This was actually a pretty easy knit once you get the hang of the pattern/charts.
Almost immediately after finishing I cast on for my mothers Christmas present. Bristow. It's going well so far although I have my concerns about size... oh well if it doesn't fit her at least it's something I would wear and I can just make her something else. So I will continue :) Plus you never know what will happen after blocking, maybe it really will be big enough.

Workin' Late

So I'm at work, and have been at work for 14 hours now... expect to be here for another 4-6 hours. Upside, a lot of it is just waiting so I was able to finish my Step-mom, Teresa's, scarf. It's beautiful. I'll block it and take some pictures to share with all. I'm proud of it. Now I'm off to do more waiting, er, working and knit away at the second sock for Greg.

My weekend in a photo-nutshell

Progress as of Friday night:

- 2 chocolate bars, 3 coffees, 2 hours of GuildWars and some sock progress

Saturday:

- Driving to Cowichan Fibre Fair... alone :(

- Sushi with AnnaK and then shopping at Beehive = yay!

- Sock and Scarf progress as well

Sunday:

- 3 hours at the inlaws trying to pry the china cabinet from their clutches, 4 hours of Guildwars and a bunch of time on the couch knitting (and sneezing damnit)

- Sylus approves of the progress thus far


I didn't quite accomplish the goals for the weekend as far as knitting goes, but I think it went well. One sock finished, the second started, and 14 repeats done on the scarf (only 6 to go). Scarf will be done by end of week... promise.... looking at calendar, 63 days left, ACK! Ok 4 more repeats WILL be finished tonight and the last two... tomorrow! Maybe.


In other news, I scored an amazing set of China with the cabinet we are getting from Greg's parents. I love it pretty, but not frilly. I already have China, but not nearly a full set. My mother has a similar pattern and is delighted to keep mine for me, for now. I managed to get Mother-in-law to empty the cabinet and put everything into three piles, sell, give away, and find new homes for... to clarify she offered the cabinet, I'm not forcing her to give it up LOL.


Christmas plans are starting to come in as well, my Aunt has 'booked' Christmas Day Dinner at her place, yay that means I don't have to do it! Birthday plans so far are to eat sushi and lots of it with Greg and Anna. I plan on being tipped over and rolled out the door after such a feast :) Although I'm still in denial about having to get any older. Every year I seem to get closer to 30 and I don't like how fast it's coming up on me.

Dear Weekend, I missed you!

Plans for the weekend:
- attend Cowichan Fibre Fair with the lovely Miss AnnaK
- finish step-mom's scarf (only 12 repeats to go... I think I can do it)
- finish one sock (I'm just working the heel flap now)

I was thinking about Christmas earlier this week and was excited about being only 70 days to go. Later this week, my mind went 'Holy Crap! 68 days! I better get knitting! Knit like the wind fingers, knit!' What has everyone else got on their Christmas knitting list? Here's what I have left:

Finish step-mom's scarf
Mom's Cardigan
Dad's Scarf
Somthing for husband.. socks? Sweater?
Something special for someone that reads my blog
Hat for friend

I think I can get that all done in time...

All Better

I am feeling much better after a good weekend of rest and relaxation. There was much video games and knitting involved in my recovery :) And to prove it, take a look at the wicked progress on my Step-Mom's Christmas present. I am so excited at how fast this is coming along, I'm 40% finished already! And yes, it will be much longer - blocking works wonders... and yes, I know I made a mistake on one of the diamonds, but I don't care :)

I also started a new sock. The Jacket I made for Greg... well I gave it to him for his birthday instead of Christmas. I know, I know, but I just couldn't help it. It was finished two days prior to his bday and it was so wonderful and great. Anyways He's wearing it a lot which makes me SO happy. So now I need to knit him something for Christmas, therefore we have the beginnings of a sock:And here is the second attempt at Beth's socks... I think I will take my Secret Pals advice, finish them and give them away. I'll make Beth some different socks... something better.

I stopped taking the bus. I drove in one day last week cause I was sick and didn't feel like walking the 20min from bus to work. Well, I was hooked. I have a really nice car and I miss it. I really, really miss it. The heated leather seats are workin' their majic as winter weather sets in and I just can't help myself. So I talked it over with Greg and I'm going to drive to work, but park on the road to save on parking space costs. I get in early enough in the morning that getting a spot on the road isn't a problem. We'll see how it works out.

edit: As I sit here reading over my post, I wonder if anyone will actually see the error in the one diamond... Also 3 words for you Lace Blocking Wires! I guess I'll hop on Knit Picks later today.

Buying stocks in Halls cough drops

Yay, it's Friday. I've been off work for the last day and a half, sick, sick, sick! blah! I hate coughing, sneezing and generally feeling bad. It doesn't help that your generally more clumsy when sick... I made myself a nice bowl of turkey soup for lunch yesterday and managed to accidentally drop my glass of water, sploosh, right into my bowl. So water got into my soup, onto my accompanying bun (ruining my lunch) and of course turkey stew all over me, the table, the floor and even the wall. So now, not only am I feeling like crap, and lunchless, but I'm covered in turkey stew and have to clean it all up from the dinning room before having a shower to get herbs and turkey outta my hair... I hate being sick. My husband laughed when I told him last night. Fair enough, it really is quite hilarious.

I didn't even get much knitting done...I started a new sock for Beth as the pattern I had chose was annoying. I've decided I'm not a cabled sock knitter. Sock Cables make me unhappy. The new sock pattern is an ankle sock and I'm now worried about it being too small. It was knit on 2mm needles and well, it's small. Should I chaulk it up to knitting while sick and frog it yet again? arg, I don't want to, but at the same time I don't want to knit something that will never get worn. Thoughts? Ideas? Comfort?

Greg's Christmas present - done!

I was determined to finish this jacket with my 3.5 days off and I did it! I actually did it! Well, I still have to sew in the zipper and then do the two hems that cover the zipper, but there is no more knitting to be done. And the zipper/hems will only take me like an hour.

I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I'm going to enjoy this FO for the rest of the evening. I'll wait until tomorrow to start thinking about what Christmas present to cast on next.

Speaking of tomorrow, it's Knit Night tomorrow - eek! I must clean my house! One of the down sides to mad knitting all weekend, the housework/cooking/eating/sleeping all kinda went on hold :)

Thanksgiving long weekend

I got a head start on my long weekend by taking off at noon yesterday. I finished the second sleeve for Greg's jacket and started the yoke. Today was spent getting Halloween decorations and preparations for our annual pumpkin carving party. Then knitting the yoke and listening to an audio book. Pic of progress below, and just think I have two more full days of knitting which only have dinner plans nothing else. Anyone else think that I just might finish the jacket before the weekend is over? I'm hoping... but for now I'm off to watch Hockey Night in Canada! wahoo!

October? Really?

So did anyone else look at the calander on Monday and pretty much crap their pants? Where did September go? Wasn't it August just yesterday?

That means Socktoberfest has started. I was thinking about participating, but I simply have too much Christmas knitting to get done. I'm trying to avoid becoming a knitting zombie close to Christmas and have been working like mad to get the first project finished. Greg's Avast Jacket is knitting up very fast. I finished the body on Sunday night, and then finished the first sleeve last night. so. fast. What else am I knitting for Christmas? Henry for my dad, Estelle for my mom, Diamond Fantasy Scarf for my friend, and a scarf from Victorian Lace Today for my step-mom. Which doesn't sound like too much, but will still take a while to get it all done... I'm a fast knitter though, I think I can do it :)