Happy Brithday to Meeeeeeee!!!

Well another year has gone by like a blur....I don't even remember how old I am...and my mom wants to forget because that makes her 20-something years older than me!!! :)

Before we get to the knitting, I wanted to do a holiday season in review type thing.....and then there will be some knitting at the end I promise!!!

Here we see one of my favorite "aunties" passed out on our porch on Thanksgiving. She'd already had a nip at the ol' hip flask, before she even got to our house.


And here we see her husband passed out right next to her....he wanted to keep her company...awe isn't that sweet. :)


Here we see a person who will remain nameless' closet o' shoes.....if you can believe it this is only one of several!!!!

This sleepy Pierce has been really tuckered out by all these holiday celebrations.....I'm considering having an intervention and sending him to sleepers annonymous. :)

Here we see my honey(s) passed out.....Pierce was totally passed out, but the sounds from the camera made him open his eyes and say "Huh! What? I'm awake!!!"

And now to the knitting......

These came for me over the holidays!!! The cotton is just your basic dishcloth cotton, that various family members have requested. Then we have...my first three pairs of Addi Turbos (sizes 1,2, and 3)!!!!! I can't wait to get knitting.....I think my first project on these may be the following Socks That Rock!!

You guys knew I'd deliver the details on my adventure to The Fold!!!!! Let me just tell you that this shop was just AWESOME!!! Toni was just wonderful. I called her from Chicago to let her know that I was on my way and that I may be there a little before closing time.....she said "No problem, I'll keep the shop open since I know you are coming!!!" She was wonderful! I conned my Dad into driving out there and we were greeted by Toni and her friendly German Shepard!!! I walked around the shop and drooled over everything. Toni and I being fiber addicts petted and discussed the merits of certain yarns vs. others (mostly it was her educating me, and me throwing in a smartass remark). My DAD even had fun. He remarked that it was a very pleasant expierence, even though he doesn't knit!!!! I had a great time, bought lots of yarn, got some stuff for free, and came away with a huge yarn high. The above picture is just part of my Socks that Rock haul (2 skeins of Cotton Candy and Spring Fling).

Here we see some Austrailian Heirloom Breeze Shade 13 yarn that is 30/69.6 wool/cotton with .4% Lycra thrown in for elasticity....there was a sock made of it at the store and it made a really pleasant fabric that would be great for Houston weater. The other two skeins are Socks that Rock that I brought back for Cathrine as a request (Colors: Farmhouse, and Watermelon Tourmaline)....Just beautiful!!

And here we see some more Socks That Rock for me!!!! Colors are ( from left to right): Tonalite, Ms. LaRock, Peacock, and Black Onyx. I can't wait to knit these up but I don't feel like my knitting will do these colorways justice.


The above I got the other day at Barnes and Noble.....IT WAS HALF PRICE!!!! Along with all the other calenders so you crocheters and scrapbookers get down there and scoop these up!!!

Why is it that I can't stop knitting tiny socks? I got this one skein of Classic Elite Yarns Premiere to test out and it is JUST FREAKING WONDERFUL!!!! I like it even better than Calmer! It's wonderful....it's 50% Pima Cotton and 50% Tencel, color: 5226. The fabric is so soft and lovely and the color is just perfect for my new Cousin. If I had more time I'd do a baby blanket but she's due in Jan.....I don't think I'd have enough time.

Well that's it for now...I'll post later on since I don't go to work for like 3 weeks....Plus, in the near future we will be going on vacation to Tahoe....get ready for pics of Martha on skis trying not to fall on her butt!

Chirstmas Gifts!

The picture of the blue sweater below, was the major part of my Christmas knitting (for my Dad). The knitting was done 2 months ago but I did the finishing while I was in Chicago.....I hated every second....it wasn't done til the day after Christmas.



Look how excited he looks about his new sweater!!!

And here is the rear view. :) (Notice all the ends that needed to be weaved in.....Mom did that, bless her.)

But the above picture is how he really feels about the sweater. The sweater turned out to be a bit big, but he doesn't seem to mind.

In the picture below we have a scarf that I am working on for a gift...it's the Irish Hiking Scarf! I love this Scarf!!! I love the pattern and the yarn (Debbie Bliss Merino Aran). The one thing I don't like is the color.....I don't like it but it's one of the recipient's favorite colors.

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I think Aran knitting is my niche, I really enjoy it.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I had a great time in Chicago (the most awesomest place in the world). I visited the sacred place known as "THE FOLD". Toni and her lovely German Shepard were so welcoming and lovely!!! More about my adventure next time.

Sock Yarn: MIA

Dear Travelling Sock Yarn,

You should have told me that you wanted to continue travelling without me. I would have understood. Hiding in the seat back pocket on that plane was very childish of you. If you didn't want to be turned into the stripey sock (that Catherine loves) I would have understood. I would have set you free and ordered a new skein. Instead you hid from me.....when I realized that you were gone I was frantic. I turned my other skeins lives upside down. There were tears. I thought I had FORGOTTEN YOU ON A PLANE!!!! But alas I now know that you wanted to spread your wings and fly away from me. No worries....I'm not bitter....much....you have been replaced with just a few clicks of a mouse and a enterprising Ebay seller. So I hope you are happy now......I hope some flight attendant found you and depsoited you in the bag with the dirty cups and peanut wrappers (where you belong).

Regards,

Martha

P.S. Should you turn up and should all this be a charade to stress me out, you will be destroyed.

Unexpected disaster

Ok well I flew into Philly on Monday and was going about my business getting a car and I reached down to get my rolling bag from the car rental shuttle and pulled it up and felt such spectatcular pain that I have never felt....I sat down on the stairs to the shuttle for a few min because I was paralyzed. So after waiting in a line for 45 min with my back screaming to get my car (hint: NEVER NEVER NEVER RENT FROM DOLLAR AT THE PHILLY AIRPORT!!!) I decided that I didn't want to search the city for a hospital so I drove up to my work site and found a hospital there....Oh my god they were wonderful and there was NO ONE there.....with a shot in my butt I was out of there in under 2 hours!!! I didn't even have time to haul out my knitting! I went to work the next day, but flew home the day after that because there was no way I could do more work, Thank God for my Boss!!! He found someone else to do it for me....have I mentioned that I love him!? Anyway that is my sorted story....so I'm at home trying not to plant myself on the couch and knit because that would just make my back stiffen up.....but it's getting to the point of "would it be so bad for me to become ONE WITH THE COUCH?" Because on the plus side, I would get a hell of a lot of knitting done!

Unexpected Treat.

Due to a Boo Boo on the part of my boss, I got to be home for 24 hours AND on a day that my knit group meets!!! Whoo Whooo.

Now I'm back on the road again where my last second is scheduled......I'm in LA today and I guess there are worse places to be. However, let me share this.....I knit on my sock OVER half the time I was DRIVING.....most of it on the highway. My average speed was maybe 15 mph. [sigh] At least I'm getting work done on my sock (which will go to my mom for Christmas if it looks good or I will keep if it looks like crap, ripping out a sock right now would make me cry).

Those that may or may not be wondering about my knitting "crisis" from next time....well I didn't rip my wip's.....I'm trying to finish them as soon as possible so I can start on projects that are "correct". The bad news is that I cast on for "Branching Out" from Knitty like 6 times and I'm going to have to do something different for my secret pal from the ISE. It just didn't look right and I didn't have the courage to continue.....I think I've lost some knitting confidence. However, Catherine asked me to teach her a new (to her) knitting concept!!! That's a confidence boost. She, in return, will be teaching me "Magic Loop"!! Whooo Score....

I've had a sweater for my dad done for 2 months except for seaming......Do you think he would mind gettting a sweater for Christmas that hasn't been seamed? Ok just the picture in my head with my dad and threaded needle in his hand makes me laugh....But I still don't want to do it!!!!!

Baby steps

After a disscussion with one of my knitting friends, I have come to the realization that what I thought was "the knit stitch" is actually knitting thru the back loop, resulting in having all my stitches being twisted. Doing the actual knit stitch feels as foreign to me as driving on the wrong side of the road, and after doing months of the wrong thing and getting comfortable with it, it kills me that I have to start over now (because my perfectionist nature won't let me continue to do things the "wrong" way). I have to stop myself from ripping all my works in progress out. I feel really down about this and part of me doesn't want to start over.