sheep in the city

Knit Happens in Denver!

Yipppeee! I got home from work on Thursday and there was a package in the mail from Anne over at Fidget! She visited Denver back in November, right after Thanksgiving. We met up and did a little yarn shopping together, and I remember talking about just having seen the limited edition Knit Happens Lorna's Laces sock yarn. And she remembered and sent me some! This is the first Christmas present I've received from a blogging buddy! Thanks Anne! I can't wait to knit it up into a fabulous pair of pink and green socks!

*And I just realized that this is a momentous post for more than just fun blogging buddy mail...it's my 100th post! Wowee! I love all the people that I have met through this blog...thanks everybody for visiting and constantly encouraging me! Keep knitting and blogging!

Fry Up anyone?

I know that this pattern has made the rounds before, but I am just fascinated by it! I am thinking that I need to make one! Wouldn't seeing someone walk down the street with a breakfast plate purse make you smile. I know it would for me. Libby made one last Christmas for a friend, check it out! Here's my mini-stash inhancement, I say mini because it was so cheap...some of the yarn only cost 89 cents! What? Yarn for less than a dollar?! This bag just screams to be made with acrylic yarn, doesn't it?

Yeah Baby!! Let me know if we should make this a knit along, or if anyone wants to make a button for it, or has some ideas for a button?! I'm going to start "cooking" mine after the New Year!

3•2•1 Sale!

So my favorite knit shop had their 2nd annual 3•2•1 sale this morning where from 6:30 am to 8:00 everything, absolutely everything in the shop is 30% off and then from 8:00 to 10:00am everything is 20% off, and then from then on the whole day, everything is 10% off! Then for the following week they are closed for inventory. You have never seen a knitting shop so filled with women.Here's a glimpse of the inside of the shop, and this doesn't even do it justice as far as how crowded it was, but here's the picture I got from inside. My mom and I got there about 6:20am and we stood in line, in the dark, on the sidewalk with about 60 people in the cold. I'm bummed that none of my pictures of the line came out, but believe me there were tons of people! Then they opened the doors and everyone flooded in. Holy cow...knitters are usually so sweet and kind, but get them around a 30% off sale and their inner-knitting beasts comes out. The needle area was swarmed with people, and so was the Brown Sheep wool wall. I kept thinking that the fire department better not show up because I'm sure that the shop had reached maximum capacity...have you ever seen a maximum occupancy sign in a knitting store? It was crazy!! I did manage to find a couple goodies for a little post Christmas, Merry Christmas to me present...ha! Here's what I got:

•Knitting on the Edge by Nicky Epstein
•Not Just Socks...an interesting looking book with "not just sock patterns" for sock yarn!
•2 skeins of Koigu...mmmm...Koigu, because I always need more of it!
•and a box of knitting note cards with kids patterns on them.
I was actually quite proud of the restraint I showed...sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the chaos and grab too much, but I kept it together!

After the sale, I hung out with my cousin Ruthie. We shopped, bought some yarn for her to make a poncho and went home to knit and watch "13 Going on 30". A great movie to knit by, especially if you grew up in the 80's like I did! Here's Ruthie, what a cutie!

Christmas fun!

In my family we have a long running tradition that all the girls in the family have matching Christmas pajamas. It started when my sister and I were very little, my mom actually made our pajamas (this is amazing to me now, in the age when not very many moms sew, although a lot of the people who read my blog do...props to the sewing moms!)...I remember one Christmas my mom even made little matching pajamas for our dolls! So the tradition continues, but we now buy our Christmas pajamas a year in advance, at the after Christmas sales...we have definitely smartened up! Here we are in this years pj's...my grandma even cut up an adult pair and made some for Alice!!

I got some really fun gifts for Christmas this year...my family is so generous and good to me!

My parents gave me a PINK iPod mini!! Yipppppeeee! I have been wanting/needing/coveting one of these for a long time! Now I can knit with some tunes and or audio books...which solves my long running dilemma of how to read and knit at the same time. Sweet! They also gave me 2 skeins of Blue Heron yarn (I need to check the tag to see what it is exactly) and the cutest tin suitcase with dressed up sock monkey's all over it and a sock/pattern to make my own sock monkey! Thanks mom and dad! I got some great TV on DVD, season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...which completes my collection since that was the only one I didn't have and Season 3 of Dawson's Creek. I love those shows and am sad that they are no longer on TV, but how cool that I can watch them whenever I want now. I think I see a Buffy/Dawsons/knitting marathon in the near future. And last, but not least, is the afghan that everything is sitting on. Genia's grandma crocheted it for me!! It matches my bedspread perfectly! Am I spoiled or what?!
Continue on for more photos and funny stories about Christmas at my house...

I failed...this is the scarf that will never end...or at least that's what it feels like. I tried to get it done for Christmas, but it just didn't happen. I have never had a project take so long, I'm starting to think that big needles don't neccessarily mean faster, but here's the progress I made on my Collinette scarf for mom:

For the past few years, my mom and sister and I have been wrapping our gifts "creatively". This year I wrote who the gift was for on Kazoos that I bought in the party favor section at Target, and attached them to the top of the package with lots of curly ribbon. Here's a shot of my brother Chad and my dad kazooing Christmas songs as we opened presents. It was hilarious! You can't tell they're much alike, huh?!

Here's Chad singing a ballad (his # one song is Wind Beneath My Wings) as we played Karaoke Revolution...one of the funnest games EVER! It was sooo hilarious, we all played and some (ok my sister) didn't want to stop...I'm thinking the power of the microphone went to her head! That microphone is a powerful thing...danger-esque even!

Mini-Weasley's done!

I finished putting the H's on the mini-Weasley's just in time to give them to my roomates sister and mom for Christmas. Mandy's reaction was priceless, she was so excited! I mean come on, every Harry Potter fan needs a mini-Weasley in my opinion. Now I just need to decide if I'm actually going to get the yarn to make an adult version for myself. I think I'd need about 15 skeins...yikes, that's alot of yarn and money. So...I'm going to think about it a little more and continue working on projects from the stash.

Long time, no blog.

What have I been doing, where have I been, what am I knitting...well I have been madly trying to finish Christmas knits (who isn't doing that?), hanging with family, planning Christmas parties, attending Christmas parties...you know, the usual holiday rush. So I live in total awe of the women who can do it all. Knit, blog, keep up with friends, have a career. When I am knitting with a deadline rapidly approaching, the blog is the first to be put on hold. Family and friends are much more vocal than my computer about being set aside while I try to finish projects. Plus I can talk to them at the same time...if only I could type and knit at the same time...hmmm...some one needs to figure that one out!

So, here are a few pictures of what I have been up to:

•First...check out my new zippered bag to put my knitting gadgets in, oh yes, it is mini underpants! Recently aquired on sale at Urban Outfitters, love that store!

•More work done on the "Secret Christmas Glittery project". I can't show you pictures, because I have it on good authority that my mom reads this blog everyday...sorry mom, you'll have to wait until Christmas! Here's a little peek at a certain someone playing with said glittery yarn...he knows how to keep a secret though and he also knows who feeds him...he's not tellin'!

•Almost done with the ridiculously late gifts...so late that they are now Christmas presents instead of birthday/mother's day presents. Kidsilk haze/Colinette scarf and Koigu wristlets. (photos after the holidays)

•Two more mini-weasley's done...I just need to overstitch the initials on them. I love knitting tiny sweaters, they are quick, easy, and super cute!! After the holidays, I may start thinking about making some for me since all of these are for gifts.

•I got mail!! My scarf from the scarf swap arrived in the mail yesterday...I love it!! It is knit in a "mistake rib" and has 4 flowers on the ends, 2 on each side. It was from none other than Blog-O-Rama! Thank you so much lady...you way surpassed any expectation that I had!! Going into any kind of swap is always a little bit scary to me, I have been burned before, but this was fun! Now I just need to get movin' and finish my Wavy scarf! It is coming along...I'm going to try to take some better pictures of it in the next few days. Every time I think to take a picture it's in the evening, and too dark at my house. (check out the yellowy pictures from previous posts...ewww) Thanks again Michelle for the fabulous scarf!! It made my holiday!

*I just realized that the picture I posted is not the greatest shot to let you fully appreciate the beauty that is this scarf. Over lunch I'll try to get some better pictures...action shots even!

•Next up...my friend RayLynn knows me so well...lookee what she gave me before she left town for Christmas. Do I need a new purse? No. Do I always want a new purse? Yes. So what did she give me? A fun purse with some sassy girls on it (we can pretend it's our little knitting crew), a cute crocheted beanie because she knows that I can't make one myself (I just can't get the hang of crocheting), and a pink tweed flower pin (not pictured, because it's already on my winter coat!). Thanks Lynnerd!!

*Here's a parting shot of the beanie on me, but there was no one home to help take a pic, so this is what you get!!* Love the hat, don't like the fact that in this picture it looks like I have a mullett. Maybe it's time for a trim.

Try, try again

I have been looking forward to knitting with these girls for the last month, since we met the last time. It is such a creative group of women...here they are around the table (l to r, starting with the girl in the black sweater) Libby (who I have to gush over one more time because I am sooo proud of her, and a little in awe, check out here beautiful pattern in the current knitty called Belle Epoque ...hello gorgeous!), Anne brought her "wiggle" cardigan that she had to rip out last week...aawww, but it's restarted and looking great Anne! Tamara was the resident knitting help for the evening, she helped both Anne and I fix some problems. Thanks Tamara! Karen was next to her and new to the group last night. She was knitting on a black moss stitch scarf with homespun Alpaca. Michelle was working really hard on a Noro scarf that you work length-wise, instead of width-wise. I love, love, love the color she was using. Check it out, this is the Booga Bag that she finished a while ago using the same color as her scarf. I have a stash of this colorway that I have been hoarding for about a year now. I still need to find the perfect project for it, but it needs to be just the right thing. Do you ever have yarn that you like so much it's hard to knit something with it? There is a fear inside of me that the finished garment won't live up to the love I had for the yarn when I first purchased it. Am I a total weirdo, or what? So, I digress...Cathi who I now think of as the craft queen, especially after last night...I can't talk about the project that she was working on...let me just say that she is a knitting/crafting rock star! wow!, And, last but not least, BJ...new to the group and so fun with her pretty beaded necklace that she made!

So...my knitting issue of the day is with Wavy...how can I get so far, go to my knitting group, and go home with a smaller, much shorter scarf. Dang! Here's how: I was cruising along this week, knitting away as fast as my small fingers would go...oops, mistake...oops, huge mistake. Must rip out large section of scarf. Back on track...oops...have to rip out again. What is my problem? Well, it could be too much late night knitting. Have you heard that old adage "don't knit after 10:00pm"? Yeah, I should have listened to whoever comes up with these rules, or at least don't knit after 1:00am, sheesh! Sorry I don't have pictures, but basically what happened is that somewhere between the first and second repeat I switched sides. I'm thinking that I forgot to check off one of the odd rows (where you K the knits, P the purls), so my right side was now my wrong side. That was the first problem...fixed that. Couple days later, knitting right along...oops, I somehow have the ribbing off by one stitch which made the wave not turn back in the right direction! (you can see this a little bit in the last post, my wave should have gone back to the right, but it just keeps going up to the left, big oops!!) So last night, sitting at Barnes and Noble I ribbed...i mean ripped, out two pattern repeats (ouch!). Note to self: pay attention, and mark rows off like the author of the pattern suggests. This pattern is not hard, but you are making it more difficult Stacey...pay attention, and no more late night knitting!

Survivor Finale...

...means 3 hours of knitting, baby! My roomate and I went and had Mexican for dinner...mmm...mexican dinner, and came home to my sweet TiVo that had already started to record the 2 hour season finale and 1 hour reunion show! I never thought the day would come that I would willingly sit down and watch 3 hours of any reality show. But, I was sucked in by the "All Star" show last season, and now I'm throughly addicted to Survivor. It is so entertaining. I was happy with the winner...anybody but Twila. She was really obnoxious and has bugged me throughout the game. I am so glad she didn't win.

Genia and I knitted and talked about Christmas gifts and wishlists while we watched. She finished her 4th cat bed (she's making them for all of her relatives cats!) and Jesse promptly claimed it as his own and sat in between us on the couch the whole time the show was on. Of course I had to take a picture! You can see the fabulous colors that Genia picked out for the latest kittybed...it may just be because it has pink in it, but I think this one is my favorite!

I worked on my Wavy scarf during the marathon of TiVo watching. It is a bit longer than the last time...the picture is dark so that you can see the "waves" better, the multi-colored yarn doesn't seem to like having its picture taken. So, I am about to start the third repeat of nine. I am getting the hang of the pattern finally, finding a rythmn, so it is knitting up a bit faster. I can't tell if it is the yarn or me, but there are a couple spots in the ribbing that look a little bit weird to me. Kinda wonky. Do any of you have a problem when you bring the yarn forward and back (while ribbing) with the yarn "poking" out a little. I've tried pulling the stitch a little bit more as I knit it. I've tried just about everything. I think that I'm probably just hyper-analyzing every stitch because I know that this scarf is destined for someone else...I don't know. Here's the progress though:

Ok...I have got to go to bed at a reasonable time tonight...it's time to put this computer away.

Oh yeah...by the way, it's Meet Up day tomorrow! You know the drill...come join us if you are in the Littleton area and want to hang out with a bunch of really cool knitters;-)

Weekend Update

My friend RayLynn, after seeing my colinette scarf for my mom, wanted to make one for her mom! So last Friday she bought a skein of Kidsilk Haze and 2 skeins of some kind of Gedifra yarn. Here's the progress she made when we got together at Panara to knit and catch up(if you look closely at the bottom of the screen, you can see my Wavy scarf that I worked on) I also "planned out" my flower pin for the Flower Swap:

She is about half finished, here's a closeup...and she'll probably finish before I do. Why? Is it because she knits so much faster than me? Probably not, but we determined that she tends to knit on one project until she completes it, whereas I usually have multiple projects going on at once. I know that I have said this before but I'm really going to try to get my WIP's under control.

Here are the project's that I have in process right now:
•Mom's Koigu Wristlet's, they're about 80% done.
•Collinette Scarf
•Klaralund
•Salt Peanuts...which I put down so long ago that I need to really sit down and think about where I am in the pattern! I hate it when I don't make good notes!
•Felted Clogs for Genia
•Wavy Scarf
•Thrum Mittens
•Mini Weasley's
•Flower Swap Pin
•and finally...my Poetry in Stitches sweater.
My goal is to get this list under control and some of these almost finished projects done!!! I know that I can do it...I can! (do you hear the desperation in my voice? I'm trying to convince myself) You know this list doesn't include the projects that I have put on hold indefinitely, they don't count,right? ;-)

My Mini Weasley

Here's my first finished mini-Weasley!! It was such a quick knit, I plan on making some more of these for Christmas gifts. This one just needs to have the initial over-stitched/duplicate stitched on the top. I haven't ever done a duplicate stitch, so this is a learning project too...gotta love projects where you learn new knitting techniques!

I also joined the Wavy Knitalong that is going on over at Wollsucht.

Her blog is written in German, but I kind of like the idea of knitting along with people in other countries. There are always programs like Babblefish out there that can translate whole webpages into English. I'll post more about the progress of my Wavy scarf hopefully this evening...I'm off to a baby shower and some knitting and hang out time with my friend RayLynn!

Don't rock the boat...

...it's gettin' kinda "Wavy" in here. Of course, by now probably everyone knows that the new Knitty is out. Can I just say, wow...so many fun patterns! I told myself when I first looked at it, that I wouldn't start anything until after Christmas. Well...I had been looking for a scarf pattern that was a little bit different, fun, but different to make a scarf for the "Scarf Swap" that I'm participating in. Nothing was working with the yarn that I had been sent, arrgh. The deadline was/is approaching fairly quickly...yeah, Knitty to the rescue! May I present you with Wavy:

I am loving how this knits up! I had to restart it once because I wasn't paying attention while I was riding to the basketball game on the Lite Rail on Monday night. It's a little slow going at first, but now that I repeated the pattern, I'm on a roll. I'm using Cascade Yarns Quatro in color #9432. Here's a picture that is a little bit closer! I noticed yesterday that Carolyn over at Split Yarn is making a Wavy scarf using Noro Silk Garden...and it is bee-u-tee-ful!! Go cheeck it out!! Seriously...that girl is super talented, check out her fun "Scrabble" stitch markers that she has for sale!! I NEED some of those;-) All right, I have to get ready for work now...I'll keep everyone posted on how the wavy scarf knits up, but so far, so good!

AND...last, but certainly not least...there is a pattern by Libby of Creazativity in this issue of Knitty! It's called Belle Epoque Yeah Libby! Your pattern is amazing and the pictures of you are so fun...what a cutie! I feel like I know a knitting rockstar since she comes to one of my knitting groups...does that make me a groupie? Congrats Libby!!

Short and Sweet

No knitting content, but look at the group of fun girls that I went to a Denver Nuggets game with tonight!!I'm not a big sports fan (unlike 2 of the girls who were sportin' Nuggets gear), but I like the experience of sitting in an arena with all those people and watching a game. It was great because I love watching people...and there are some freaky/interesting people at sports events.

And look who came to the game too...her very first professional sporting event! It's my almost 4 month old niece!! Isn't she precious?! You don't have to answer that...I already know it!! It was so funny watching her watch the crowd, her eyes got all big, and she didn't cry at all. Towards the end she even fell asleep!

I almost busted out my knitting at one point because I was getting a little bored, but I just couldn't do it. Do you have places that you still won't knit in public? I think a basketball game is one of them for me. The way the seats are arranged, I felt too exposed. I can't really explain it, but I did knit all the way home on the train. I restarted my "wavy" scarf...more details on that later;-)

Weasley's "CONKER" all!

Sorry to leave everyone hanging about the yarn choice for my Weasley sweater. I was overwhelmed by all the comments and everybody gave me great advice! I had a total of 19 comments left, that's an all time high for me! You put a question out there, not really knowing who will respond, so thanks everybody!! Genia and I went to the yarn shop on Friday evening, and I was a little disappointed at the color selection. They didn't have Conker or Rage (both of the red shades). So I just bought one skein of "Crush" (it was too appropriate since I have a tiny one on Ron;-) and a skein of "Pickle" (Corn was too light, and not exactly what I was looking for). The colors were MUCH different in person than the swatches I found online. It kind of makes me nervous about ordering yarn online if I haven't seen it in person?! Does anyone have any advice about this? The colors pictured below are Crush and Pickle. The swatch from Thursday's post was pictured as being much darker.

My plan right now is to knit a few mini-weasley's, using the two skeins that I have, so that I can be just like Alison who is one super-cool knitting blogger. If you haven't checked her out, get to it!! (although I don't know anyone who knits and blogs that doesn't read The Blue Blog on a regular basis...it's a staple... you know, like yarn and needles...can't blog without it!) I'll stop gushing in just a moment, she also has a great "leftover" pattern in the brand new issue of Knitty!! Congrats Alison!

Back to the Weasley's and my search for the perfect yarn...my next stop (which should have been my first, I know better) was my all time favorite shop "A Knitted Peace" who HAD the color I wanted in the first place. Oh well, live and learn. I discussed it with Peggy, the owner, and I'm going to order enough CONKER to make my "Ron" in January after the first of the year. This works better for me in two ways, 1-I can save up my Christmas money to buy the yarn, and 2-I desperately need to finish some Christmas presents!! Only 20 more days until Christmas...Yikes!! I need to get cracking! I ran across some different blogs who had made lists of projects that they are trying to get done, don't be surprised if one turns up here next week sometime. I love making lists!!

And the secret pal goes to...

So today was the big day, the day I reveal who I've have been spoiling, and who has been spoiling me. And...drumroll please...I have been sending stuff to Omar of K2tog. He has the neatest blog that he shares with his girlfriend, hence the name K2tog. Clever, huh? I was definitely surprised when I was assigned a male secret pal, not that I minded, but I had to rethink some things. Some of the items that I had already picked up were too girly, I didn't think he'd appreciate a bunch of Hello Kitty stuff or pink yarn. Ha! It was really fun though trying to find just the right patterns and yarn, it helped that I have a brother-in-law who is an avid knitter and was willing to give me some pointers!! He should be receiving his final gift any day now!! I can't wait to find out if he liked it.

My secret pal that has been spoiling me is still a mystery. The only thing that I know about her is that she lives in California. Possibly L.A., or a suburb of L.A. I can't wait to know who you are Secret Pal! I have throughly enjoyed the comments you have left over the past few months, the journal (my roomate is jealous, she really wants one!), and Koigu...do I really need to say anything? I mean, it's Koigu?! Who wouldn't love that!!

What do you get...

...when you mix good friends, good wine, good food, and knitting? A ton of fun!!! So last night I was able to round up a bunch of my work friends that have been wanting to learn to knit for a long time, one of whom is moving in a week, so we had a combination knitting get together/goodbye Jane party. First of all, check out the spread...mmm, mmm good!!

It's always fun to me to watch people learn to knit for the first time. You can tell right away the people who are going to love it and the people who are going to probably never pick up a needle again. I think all the girls who came over are going to keep at it, they did great! A couple of the girls had knit before so they picked it right back up, and the other 2 who had never tried knitting before were really quick learners. Jane kept calling casting on, "signing on"...I think it just might stick...I kinda like that term, it's cute. The longer we knit, the sillier we got though. We were taking funny pictures, posing like the goofy pictures in knitting magazines, and we all had at least a glass of wine by then. (of course that wasn't the reason we were being silly;-) It was a fun evening...

...can't you tell?!

Here's a shot of all the girls right before they all took off for the night...leaving with smiling faces is a good thing, no tears of frustration, no throwing down the needles in despair...all in all it was a great night and I hope to repeat it soon!!

Carly, Suzy, Jess, Jane, and Susie...you ladies can come and knit with me anytime, I had a blast!!

I say Weasley, she say's Potter...

So, after looking and drooling over the fun Weasley sweaters that Alison and Jenn have been knitting I decided to join the fun! I ordered my pattern on Monday...it shipped yesterday, so it should be here any day!! My roomate Genia and I are HUGE Harry Potter fans, you could even say we have the tiniest of crushes on the two main boys...I know, I know...it's wrong on so many levels. I just think that Ron is the cutest thing and Genia thinks the same about Harry. So, what are we going to do about it? Make Harry Potter sweaters of course!! I will be modifying mine with the "R" pattern that Jenn has done up for everyone over at the Ron Along homepage. Thanks Jenn, I know that you understand what I'm talking about with the HP boys...they are too cute! Genia will of course be making hers with the traditional H on the front. I keep forgetting to take a picture of our POA scarves she and I are making...they are reaching the almost finished status, or at least Genia's is!! Yeah Genia...I love that you are almost as addicted to knitting as I am!!

So...I need some help from everyone who reads my blog, and/or is stopping by for the first time. I need to decide on a color for the main body of my sweater. I want to use Rowan's Felted Tweed...and check out these names! "Crush" and "Sigh"?!? I might have to choose one of those just because the name is so fitting! I am going to knit the letter R using the color "Corn", a kind of yellowy, golden color that I have had a hard time trying to track down. Genia and I are going to go to the yarn shop tomorrow to see the felted tweed in person because every online swatch I've seen has made colors look completely different. So give me some feedback...please!!

Crush

Sigh

Whisper

Conker

Ssshhh...it's a secret!

Can you keep a secret? Here's one of the secret projects that I have been working on. I can never keep a secret, man...it's eating me alive...so I had to post something! The big SPIII reveal is coming up, and I can hardly wait!! I'm thinking that it's supposed to be in the next week or so, right? I guess I should look into that...I have my final gift all picked out and put together, it just needs one last thing. I have more to talk about, but I'm running out the door...more later tonight!!