sheep in the city

Where has Sheep in the City been...

...and what exactly have I been doing? Well, it has been a crazy couple of weeks around here, so let me take you through it.

First there were the parties, some just attended by me, but one that was hosted by my mom and I. So much fun, not to mention so much food!

Then there was a little thing called a blizzard here in Denver. What a storm! I should have taken pictures in the midst of it, but I was too busy knitting and being cozy in my house for 2+ days. What a great time to be stuck at your house though. More time to get Christmas knitting done! (which I did!) I also spent some time baking cookies. And yes, I spent some time eating all those cookies in the days to come.

By the time I was able to get out of my house, or I should say out of my neighborhood (poor plowing on the city's part, but I won't get into that rant right now), I had a lot to do to get ready for Christmas. At this point it was only days away! It was definitely time for some power shopping and a quick haircut.

This year we had a special visitor from the North Pole...who came especially to see Alice. The pictures say it all!

Christmas Eve, our whole family went out to dinner in downtown Denver...all 15 of us!(Whitney's husband's family joined us this year!) It was a great meal, not without it's dramatic moments, mostly brought on by the fact that the kiddo's didn't take good naps. But they sure looked cute!

At dinner that night, my mom presented all of us girls with our Christmas pajamas for this year. We even got special shirts with our name embroidered on them! Cool, huh?! (if you want to check out the last couple years of Christmas pj's click on 2004 or 2005) My grandparents and I all spent the night at my parent's house on Christmas Eve. You can see my grandma brought along her new fleece pj's from Nachaele...and her Einstein coat that she's knitting away on!

Christmas morning dawned...and the traditional family fun began.

Everyone showed up, we opened our stockings, and then had a huge breakfast before opening presents. Here is the hat that I knit for my brother.

Specifics:

Pattern: Ann Norling, Spiral Rib Hat: #54

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in the color Cardinal-6234. This yarn is quickly becoming one of my new favorite yarns!

Needle used: US 6 40", Addi Turbo, magic loop all the way! I cast on for this hat, and three days later...I was finished! I'm planning on making at least 2 more of these. It's a great pattern. Thanks Michelle for showing it to me.

I'm over at my parent's house now...gearing up for part 2 of the snow storm. I decided it'd be much better to get snowed in with them than being home by myself. I've (of course) brought along enough projects to keep me busy through the New Year...but more on those and what I got for Christmas later.

Christmas cheer...comes in all forms.

Sometimes it comes in the form of Malabrigo yarn. Like yesterday, when this arrived at my house. Ahhh...two bags of yummy Malabrigo in the colors Lettuce and Rhodesian. I've been dreaming of this yarn delivery for weeks now. Pretty soon, if I'm not careful, my Malabrigo stash is going to overtake my Koigu stash.

Sometimes Christmas cheer comes in the form of a family tradition that I love. It's my Christmas charm bracelet that my mom started for me years ago. All the girls in my family have one. This year's charm is the tree with stars all over it. All the charms come from one of my favorite jewelry companies, James Avery. (I've included more close-up pics of each charm: Colorado snowflake, tea cup and teapot to represent when we used to host big Christmas teas each year, this years charm and a nutcracker, partridge in a pear tree, wrapped gift, and a manger.)

Last, but certainly not least, Christmas cheer can come in the form of a finished secret project...that took less than three days to knit! I love that one most of all! I'm almost done with my Christmas knitting...and I still have 11 days to go!

I'm not going to get to knit that much tonight...it's our office Christmas party. Tonight is the first in a series of fun holiday get togethers...I just love the Christmas season!

*I will be updating the bloggers afghan in the coming weeks...I feel terrible that I haven't worked on it lately. But as soon as the holiday knits are knocked out and knit up...those afghans are coming back out!*

Cutie Patooties!

It's so fun to have visiting bloggers come into town. Cristina arrived in Denver last night, and with just a few phone calls, made the trek from the airport to Colorful Yarns. We did a little shopping, headed to dinner, and then went back to my place for a little peek at my stash of yarn and books. It's always interesting to see your stash from the perspective of a newcomer. She asked me if I ever de-stash. Hmmm, I may have to think about that for the new year. We'll see. So, back to Cristina...she shows up in her super cute rendition of Forecast with a sassy little scarf around her neck...cuteness personified! (click here for a close up!) Seeing her in that sweater though reminds me that I want to knit a Forecast sweater too! (for my version, smaller bobbles and more length on the body, like the one pictured here) Also...this must wait for the new year. When the time comes I have in my posession two perfect yarns for this project. Rowan Cork in the color Pleasure (047) and Cascade 220 Quatro in color #9433. Lovely stuff...you'll have to help me decide.

Thanks for hanging out Cristina...I can't wait to do it again!

In other cute news, it's time for some pics of the niece and nephew. Come on...everyone say it all together now...Awwww!

Does your car ever look like this?

Just wondering? Does your car ever get so filled with knitting "stuff" that it seems to be overflowing and everywhere? I opened my trunk today when I arrived at work...and this is what I saw. When did this happen? How did every knitting bag I own get in my car? (okay, that's a slight exaggeration. That's not every knitting bag that I own...but it's a lot of them.)

That would be felted house slippers drying in the back window of my car, as well as a bunch of bags that I tote to and from all the knit groups that I go to. Sheesh. I think that I need to clean my trunk out this weekend and see what forgotten projects I unearth!

Look who else showed up at the office! My brothers dog, Oreo! He was all decked out in what my brother calls his "Christmas Spirit". Too funny.

House slippers in the house!

I knit up the first house slipper (pattern is in the amazing book Knit 2 Together) last night in my marathon of knitting and catching up on TiVo. What a great night. I'll start the second one over my lunch hour today, and finish it tonight. Lot's of knitting happening this weekend between knit groups, working at the shop Saturday, and the Holiday Open House at the shop on Sunday. Fun, fun! Then on Monday...Cristina is coming for a visit! Yay! I'm knitting away on some Christmas knits (sshhh, it's a secret!) and trying to resist the urge to cast on immediately for new projects from the Winter Knitty that went live this morning! Love all those winter hats, mittens, and sweaters!

Have a great weekend everyone!

More winter cuteness...

I was given this little Good to be Girl mascot last year, by the goodgirl herself, Amy. Since then she has resided (the snowman, not Amy silly!) in my yarn loft, living amongst my massive collection of straight needles. Well...in the spirit of the season, I've brought her down to the living room. She now lives in a coned yarn, winter wonderland. Who says you can't decorate with yarn? I beg to differ...don't those cones look like trees? I'd love to make some little trees (designed by the talented Stephanie), but I just don't have enough hours in the day. All I want to do right now is go home, get on my new Counting Sheep fleece pants (I also have the sock monkeys!), knit and watch TV. Is it 5:00pm yet?!

Stranded.

I've joined another knitalong. I just can't help myself. It's called Stranded: The Colorwork Challenge. I've been wanting to pick up a little fair isle knitting lately, so this seemed like the perfect time. Plus, Michelle and Wanda are both participating, so that makes it even more fun! My plan was to work on my We Call Them Pirates hat that I am re-knitting. (remember when both Michelle and I made hats last year that were too small?!) But then there is the amazing pattern for the Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang, and I have Koigu in my stash to make them. Also, have you seen the Anemoi mittens that she just posted about? So beautiful...I think I need those too! There is also always my Poetry in Stitches cardigan that I need to start over on. So, you see, lots of choices!

What did I do though? I met Michelle yesterday for lunch at the yarn shop. Does anyone else do that? It's the greatest thing. An hour of knitting in the middle of the day. So great. Anyway, laying on the table where I just happen to sit down are the new Noni patterns. Oh. My. Check out the Prism bag. That is what is going to be my December stranded project...it just has to be. I picked out my yarn then and there and brought it home with me.

**I may decide to use a different accent color, other than the brown...what do you all think? Should I stick with the brown and pink, or go with pink and another color?**

Here are a few answers to the questions that they posted over on the knitlong blog:

What are your projects for this knitalong?
•Well...I'm going to work on 2 projects, the first being the large Prism bag from Noni Designs (it's pictured under the Fall 2006 collection) The second project is the We Call Them Pirates re-do.

Is this your first colorwork project? If it isn't, what was your first, and has it survived the test of time?
•No, this isn't my first Fair Isle project. My first was a Poetry in Stitches cardigan/class that I took about 3 years ago. I made a nice little sleeve, and then stopped, because my tension was too tight. I have since then knit a number of projects with smaller fair isle sections in them. I feel like I have a better handle on my tension now. I'm ready to tackle this stranded knitting head on! (it kind of helps that it's felted though! That's not really cheating, right?)

Christmas time is here!

This past weekend went by way too fast. Between the decorating for Christmas, my new roommate moving in (she's not a knitter folks! How long do you think she'll hold out?!), and working/teaching at the shop, it just flew by! I did manage to work on a number of projects, but the photos are all kind of boring and look almost the same since the last time I took pictures. What do you get then? Pictures of Christmasy goodness, that's what!

First we have the mantel. I've gone with a more silvery theme this year and it has been so fun to play with. The "Let it Snow" sign is one of my favorite things. It's all glittery and happy.

The tree. Ahhh. What can I say? I love my all white Christmas tree. I went and bought a new tree this year (yes it's fake) just for fun, and I'm so glad that I did! The only colors on the tree are silver and green. It's really hard to take a good picture of a lit Christmas tree. Any suggestions from you photographer people? Most items pictured on the tree were purchased at Big Lots...my new favorite store. You can't beat 16 green ornaments for $1.50. The silver starbursts were only $1.00. It's so thrilling to me to decorate my whole tree for under $20.00!

I did make a few ornaments for the tree this year though. I used Trendsetter Aura in Lime (color 9329). All I did was make little tiny yarn balls, just like you would if you were going to wind a skein by hand.

Ok, more on the knitting/Christmas front later...gotta get to work.