sheep in the city

What to say...

I've been in a bit of a slump for the past week. Over Thanksgiving some things happened that are making my heart hurt for one of my loved ones. Because I know that your thoughts will immediately jump to my Dad...it's not him. He is okay, or as okay as he can be while undergoing chemotherapy. He actually has such an amazing attitude about the whole thing.

This has to do with another loved one. This is the reason that the blog has been so quiet. I've just felt like being home, knitting, watching TV, crying, basically just being around family and my roommate. The Christmas knitting has progressed at a decent pace through all of this though. Just keep knitting...it's what I always do. I'm looking forward to the weekend. Working at the shop tomorrow, decorating the Christmas tree and going to see August Rush on Sunday...all normal things. Right now I love normal...but pretty soon I'm going to have to get used to a new normal. For those of you that pray...please keep my family in your prayers, I really appreciate it.

My first Christmas FO!!

I have finished the first in my list of holiday knits...and no it's not the big gift that I'm giving. (which many of you know about) But still...I can check one off the list! Yay! It's such a good feeling to be getting things done! My Mom brought down 3 sweaters (one for her and 2 baby sweaters) that just needed to be sewn up, so she's coming home with at least 3 FO's. We are on a roll!

Yesterday my Mom and I ran over to Jessica Knits, my favorite local Arizona yarn shop, and stayed for a couple hours. We looked through patterns, and books, and sale yarn. Plus they had a trunk show from Lace Style visiting the shop. I picked up an old Rowan magazine that I had been searching for and my Mom got a sweet deal on some chunky Rowan Tweed. I did walk out with one super fun thing...my new necklace! Love it. Gotta get back to my knitting, have a great weekend!

Just a few projects...

I have been making some good progress on the projects that I brought with me to Arizona...and I still have 3.5 days down here to knit. I actually have finished a surprise gift that I haven't talked about yet, and probably won't since the recipient reads this blog! Yay for finished Christmas gifts! My other Christmas knitting is progressing nicely. It looks like I'll be finishing up all the stuff that I want to give at Christmas on time. I think my Mom and I are going to hang and knit at the apartment this morning and then venture out to some knit shops/knitting related shops this afternoon. I still need to hit up IKEA...since for some crazy reason, Denver still doesn't have one. Hope that everyone is recovering from Turkey day. Okay...off to go and knit some more!

Happy Turkey Day!

My parents and I arrived in Arizona on Tuesday afternoon, just as the snow was arriving back home in Denver. Since it was such a heavy travel day, there were lots of people at the airport. I had plenty to keep me occupied though...just a few knitting projects that were all being toted to Arizona in my Piddleloop bags. Yes, my name is Stacey, and I'm addicted to Piddleloop.

My Mom and I have done some serious shopping, which we actually haven't done together in a while. We did some damage at Old Navy and The GAP. I bought something that I love, and hope to get a lot of use out of. It's something that I never would have made for myself...it's a knitted dress! Mine is a little longer than the one pictured...mostly because I'm not 6 feet tall like the model! I picture wearing this over a pair of jeans or with tights and boots. I don't have the boots yet...but maybe that will happen later this week. *wink wink* Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Good times with goofy friends...

We celebrated Jeni's birthday this past Friday night at Colorful Yarns, and boy did we have fun! I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some snacks and I saw that the People Magazines "Sexiest Man Alive" issue was out, so I grabbed it. Oh my...once the girls new that I had it, you've never heard so much laughing and talking about boys. It was hilarious. You can tell from the picture above where Wanda is showing someone, very pointedly, who she thought was sexy. Kim had some very strong ideas about Hugh Jackman. Good times were had by all.

Kelly and Terrie just sat back and watched the craziness unfold. On another topic, all last week I meant to post the pictures of the sock that Kim is knitting me. Seriously, I have the nicest knitting friends. Love them. She's using Red Rocks Fiber Works Aspen Sock...in the Sheep in the City colorway! I'm super excited and I can't wait to wear them! They are so bright and so very me.

Tomorrow I leave with my parents for Arizona. Just the three of us for 6 days. I can totally pretend that I'm an only child. Ha! (just kidding whit and chad, you know I love you both!)We'll be down there until Monday the 19th. Let me know if there is anyone out there in Arizona who wants to get together and knit...or if there are any particular places that my Mom and I should venture out to.

It's friday...and I am ready for the weekend!

Check out what I won at my local grocery store...an iPod shuffle! There is a brand new Safeway that went up near me, and seriously, it is the nicest grocery store that I've ever been to. There is a bread bar (where they will slice your bread to whatever thickness you want), an olive bar, a sushi bar, a nut bar, a liquor store, and even a gelato bar. What?! Plus, there is a Starbucks and a Jamba Juice. I think I'm going to move in. So, how did I win you ask? I went by to pick up some breakfast on Thursday morning before work and of course I grabbed a couple other essentials. I can't seem to make it out of the store for under 15 bucks. So 19.11 later...they said that I was a winner! She's little, silver, and I've named her Maude. She's good friends with Blanche, my laptop, and Pinky, my iPod mini. I'm such a dork! I hope that you all have a great weekend. I'm going to be knitting on secret Christmas projects and listening to some tunes.

For those of you that are going to ask...the little sheepy bag you can see in the corner of the picture is from Piddleloop, my favorite source of all things hand-made and cute. I got this one while I was in Chicago. And since so many of you requested that I show you the donut bag...here it is, in all it's glory!

Breakfast at Tiffany's!

Look what I got in the mail last week! It's my Special Swap movie-themed package from Lynne! The theme of my package was "Breakfast at Tiffany's". It included:
-the movie
-a knitting pattern booklet from the year that the movie came out
-some red hot needles
-candy and Cracker Jacks
-a pattern from Cherry Tree Hill called "Breakfast at Tiffany's"
-a sleep mask just like Holly Golightly wore in the movie
-an asian take-out box
-my favorite part...a skein of Sereknity Sock Options Perfect Sock in the "Breakfast at Tiffany's colorway! She did an awesome job of getting things all together. I loved every bit...thanks so much Lynne!

I took a goofy shot of myself wearing the sleep mask...be warned, I had just woken up. I guess I don't wake up as glamorous as Audrey Hepburn does! :)

Swimming in Lopi

Last night I went over to Colorful Yarns to help with a little reorganizing. I may have fallen under a pile of yarn while I was there. Ha! Seriously though...the shop has all the Lopi and Mauch Chunky on clearance for $4 from now until November 16th. Just thought that I'd share the love and the sale price with all of you! Enjoy!

Picture time!

First trip...Russia. Honestly I didn't take that many pictures. It was a bit of a rushed trip and I was busy helping my cousin with the baby, etc. But here are a few of them.

I started the Central Park Hoodie while flying across the Atlantic. I thought that it was very appropriate to be knitting with Peace Fleece yarn while traveling through Russia!

You can see a bunch of my pictures in a slide show here. Make sure that you click on the "i" in the middle of the page to see what I've labeled each picture. Go watch the slide show!

Little Isabelle, all bundled up and ready to go outside in the cold. This little snowsuit even had bunny ears! It was too cute.

Here is a mosaic of some of my favorite images from Russia.

Second trip...Chicago!

Look at my photos as a slide show. Again, these are just a sampling of the photos that I took, and actually one whole day in the city my camera ran out of batteries and I'm still waiting on my friends to send me their pics. Here goes.

I picked up a new bag at Colorful Yarns before I left for the trip, it's a Tepper Jackson. (because I needed a new travel bag! Ha!) There is the beautiful new Koigu. Yummy!