October.

 Yay! An update! I keep meaning to do this and meaning to do this but it never seems to happen. Grrr! I lost a bit of time there in September due to a vacation week and - even more importantly - a BRAND NEW COMPUTER. I am no longer computing like it's 2006, people! 

My old computer actually wasn't in terrible shape, aside from being nervous of a hardware meltdown happening at any time because, you know, that stuff wasn't built to last forever and 7-8 years is asking a bit much of it. *ahem* The bigger issue was that more and more things weren't working with Windows Vista now that it's no longer supported so, rather than upgrade an old computer, we just got a new one! (A Windows 7 machine though because, MAN!, have I heard horrible no good things about Windows 8.) I was dreading moving everything over but apparently things have changed a LOT since I last bought one of these dang machines and it was actually pretty easy. *blink*

ANYWAY. I'm in a good mood today (mostly) because tomorrow is the Stitches East show and I looooooooooooooooooovveeeeeeeeeeeee the Stitches East show. And now it's here and I'm excited, even though I haven't been knitting much lately. I did so much knitting over the summer that I decided to take a break from it for a little while and get more stitching done. 

Turns out when you work on stitching a little bit each day (or most days) you actually FINISH THINGS UP. I know, right? It's miraculous.

These finishes here are the L*K Song of Spring kit , the rabbity 'small' that comes with that and the 2nd part of the BBD Honeybee Hill. (I haven't had occasion to use that sparkly green linen before and I quite like it here with Mr. Rabbit. )

I finished another piece as well but that may/may not be a gift so I don't want to post it and I have a big Plum Street piece 'in progress' that I am plugging along on. I can't go to the SE show without something on the needles though so stitching progress might be halted for a bit while I get my sock knitting on. :)

Relatedly, that new iPhone x-stitch app making the rounds is quite brilliant. An online/device accessible detailed accounting of everything in your stash?  YOU KNOW I had to snap that up immediately because I *LOVE* a good spreadsheeting, organizing, finger snapping, alphabetizing project. 

I went through pretty much everything I have pattern wise, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap and.......

Honestly, it's not AS BAD as I thought it was going to be! Of the 315 patterns I own, about 75-80 have already been stitched. Now, that is still more than I can probably REALISTICALLY finish in the years I have left to me (or have left in my eyesight/hand dexterity). And it doesn't take into account that I own 14 years of the JCS ornament issues which, well, have a lot of stuff in them. But. It's STILL not as bad as I thought. I would have guessed I had no less than 500 patterns to get to, so, yay? Buy more? ;)

(Also not counted: the patterns I have given away over the years. I gave away a GIANT stack of used Shepherd's Bush/misc. patterns at some point, a fact I am a little bitter about, to be honest, because REASONS. Things did not turn out well on that one. *sigh*)

After the patterns were done, I did my hand dyed threads but not my DMC. (Because I own ALL OF IT so I don't need a stinking list for that. ) All of the info is in that mysterious Cloud thingy now  and I can open it up on my phone or Mini so I have NO EXCUSES not to keep up on it. The app is really great and I wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone with Apple devices and a wish to have an easily searchable database of their stash.

OH well. I probably had a million other things to say but this will do for now, right? :)

BTW - those little guys at the top are the new Mummy beads I posted on Etsy/my site this week. Cuties! :)

Happy New Year everyone!!!

 Hope everyone had a great one. :)

It's been fab having the last week or so off but now it's back to the grind, eh? Booo!

It was a fun week of making things, listening to 923413123421 Xmas songs on the Sirius Holly channel and enjoying lots of cookies OMG I'M FAT FAT FAT enjoying Santa's presents. He was much too good to me this year. Literally. I suspect *he* was the bad one this year and I'm giving him the side eye just in case because why so good? WHY? lol

This sleek little thing is quite fun. QUITE fun. I do really  need to find someone who could use my first generation Kindle now though because I have THREE Kindles now, which is a bit ridiculous, yes? I swear I don't know ANYONE in my 'real' life who really reads anymore and is interested in it. :(

Oh ho ho ho, and what is this?

Only the thing I've been lusting, drooling and price checking daily for the longest time. What is it?

A Breville Tea Maker. 

It's ridiculously expensive (for real - I'm not EVEN going to link it so if you're curious you'll have to do your own Googles on it), hence my hesitation to buy it for myself. But OH BOY HOWDY is this thing a whiz-bang-dangity-dang heart stealing winner. I *heart* it just so much. I love love loves my loose tea and this makes it as easy to make as a regular coffee maker. Fill the hopper, pick your tea type (or go custom), pick your brew strength and BAM! It perfectly heats the water, the filter comes down and steeps it for the perfect amount of time, going up again when it's done, making the most perfect pot of tea. You don't EVEN want to know how much tea I've had in the last week because of this jobber. It's so bloody perfect I would marry it if it were allowable by law. lol

I failed miserably at any stitchy goals I had for 2011 but I managed to slip under the new year wire and..........drum roll please............finish off the last 2 pairs of knitted socks for the year - making an EVEN DOZEN for 2011. Sweeeeeeeeeeeet!!!!

I suspect though I won't be as diligent with this for 2012. It was a bit of a chore some months to try and 'race' to finish that month's pair, etc. I gave over half of them away as gifts and the other few have been put away for future gifts and/or to replace any of mine that 'die'. (I couldn't fit another pair in my sock drawer if I wanted to it's so stuffed full of knitted socks. lol)

Although, having said that...................I'm elbow deep in another sort of sock obsession at the moment.......

More on that later if/when the obsession passes. :)

Patch job success!

From these holey heels:

To two new life-saving patches:

Annnnnnnnnd my favorite pair of socks are back in action for a little while longer.

I even had some of the original yarn left in my cupboard to use for the darning! (Though, obviously, we've got some MAJOR fading going on here over the three years these socks have been in use.) 

You basically use a lot of duplicate stitching with a regular sewing needle to 'fill' the hole. The heel with the totally disintegrated stitches was a bear to do, not gonna lie. (Creating new knit stitches out of thin air is NOT fun). That one is clearly not as neat as the other but I'm fairly certain it will hold so I'm happy with it. I can always get back in there and widen it a bit if needed.

HUGE thanks to Jackie for pointing me in the direction of Knit Picks darning tutorials.They worked like a charm. :)

Got luck?

I struggled all week last week to get one stinking sleeve done for the sweater (more on this later I'm sure) and needed  a break from the !OMG KNITTING! madness so when Paulette of Plum Street Samplers posted this little freebie chart on Monday, I was off and running. I not only got it stitched up since then............I ACTUALLY FINISHED IT OFF TOO. Most definitely a new record for me. lol

 

You knew I was going to get some buttons on there somewhere, right? 

I kind of had to after all that 'button madness' stuff. It would be disappointing if I didn't.

I originally was going to do the 'got luck?' in gold but ended up going with a little 'pot o' gold' colored ribbon instead. :)

I just grabbed a teeny scrap of linen and two greens from the first box of DMC that hit my hand to make it easy-peasy, which ended up being.....

#319/320

Very 'shamrocky'. I approve. lol

The linen is gods' knows what. Something-something-something.

So now I guess it's back to the sweater. I finally finished that first sleeve at 2am last night. (Thank you Joy Behar and Chelsea Lately late night repeats. lol) Second one should go much faster now that I've figured out, well, JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT EVER WAS when it comes to knitting a sleeve. *crosses fingers*

NOM NOM NOM

We don't really watch the Super Bowl in this house (we're more of a NASCAR family and nothing else, though I'm tired of that too now) but I do love the lead-up to it as people post all the yummy-nummy foodie things they are planning to make or want to make, etc. 

One thing I saw last week was these Buffalo Chicken meatballs on the Martha Stewart show. DING! DING! DING! I loves me some Buffalo Wings and Frank's Red Hot sauce so I *had* to make these. 

Oh. My. God. are they good! 

NOM. NOM. NOM.

I followed the recipe as is EXCEPT instead of using the ONE STICK of butter it calls for - I used 4 tablespoons. You won't miss the extra butter - I swear. (Though if you are on good speaking terms with your cardiologist, maybe go for the full stick?) Oh and I ditched the 2 TB olive oil for the sheet pan. Uhh, spray oil anyone? lol
Doing it that way they came out to be 51 calories each with 44 total meatballs**. I figure I can shave that down even more next time (AND THERE WILL BE A NEXT TIME) if I use Egg Beaters instead of 2 whole eggs and maybe trim the breadcrumbs a little.(Anyone have any experience using Egg Beaters in meatloaves and the like instead of whole eggs? I've been meaning to try that out to cut down on calories/cholesterol but *keep forgetting*. Grrr!)

They were great with baked potatoes, celery sticks and more Frank's dribbled over them.
ENJOY YOUR GAME DAY WEEKEND, Y'ALL, no matter what you are doing!! :)

**This is based on grinding my own chicken breast. I can't find pre-ground chicken in the supermarkets around here but once in a blue moon so we ran skinless chicken breasts through the grinder attachment for my KA mixer instead. (Which is INDESCRIBABLY GROSS BY THE WAY. I don't even like the *sound* of meat grinding. *hurl* ) I have no idea what parts they use for store-bought ground chicken so the calories when using that might be higher?

Ahhhh, my poor neglected lil blog. *pets*

Time does get away from you sometimes, doesn't it? I don't know where the days go lately. We did manage to make our annual trek this weekend to the Country Folk Art show in Sturbridge, MA, though, in the end, it was a tiny bit depressing.  :(

 We've (meaning *I* want to go and he gets dragged along, albeit in a very good natured way) been going to that show (or it's twin show in November) for at least 12-13 years in a row now and and the large majority of artisans are the same, year after year. This year, with the economy being the way it is, half (!!!!!!) the people were gone and the show was much smaller. It was a little painful to see. I don't buy a TON of stuff from the show but I always find something I really like or something I needed. (Depending, of course, on  your definition of *need*. lol) The year I wanted to get a hutch, I found a perfect one there. Made by ACTUAL PEOPLE. That you could talk to, person to person. Ditto for a three shelf vegetable bin and lots of other little decorative things. None of those people showed up this year. It was very disheartening. It wasn't all bad though. My beloved Sydney & Co. (no link) was there, so that was nice. They are a married couple who do nice primitive woodwork items, with very reasonable prices, that I've been buying here and there since forever. The company is named after a cat they used to own and each piece is marked with the stamp of a paw print somewhere on the back or bottom of the item. :)

I just happened to break my paper towel holder last week and I found a perfect one from them to replace it. And then I saw some clocks waaaaay up high (remember: I'm only 5 ft tall so EVERYTHING is 'way up high') and I got one of those too. I've been meaning to replace my mantel clock for a looooong time, to something a little nicer and something that matches a little better. This one fits just perfectly with everything up there and I love it. (The paper towel holder, a standing one, is very similiar, except the tree on that is more of a weeping willow.) I also got some new place mats for my dining room table from another long-time vendor and then a few wee Blossom Bucket figurines that I love dearly. I'M DOING MY PART, PEOPLES, TO PROP UP THE ECONOMY. Y'ALL GOTTA HELP OUT WITH IT. lol We don't always go to both shows every year but I've marked the November one off as a 'do' and hopefully things will be a wee bit better then? It's nice to think it will be so anyway. :)

I also have 'encouraged' the husband to work through his grief by shopping..........specifically for things for me. (This is all tongue in cheek, of course.) It's only natural and organic to want to buy things for others in such circumstances, right? ;^) To that end, he bought me a new purse when we went to the mall last week to see a movie. I saw these the last time I was there (and we're not mall people, really, so we're talking 3-4 times a year tops) and should have grabbed it then. I know not everyone loves stripes. In bold colors even.

 But is it any wonder I fell in love with this considering the many, many, MANY striped socks I have knit? Kinda a given, right? Hahaha. It's like a stripey sock.......FOR MY SHOULDER. ;)

(I do believe the "D&G" on the front is supposed to be a faux rendering of a Dolce & Gabbana? Any one??? I fail as a 'girl' on all sorts of levels, so my only exposure to 'fashionable' purses is from what's on the shelf at the local Target. lolol It was only $40 and it looks good and holds all mah crap so I'm happy.)

It's official: I'm NUTS

Officially, I seem to have come to this official conclusion many times before but it never seems to stick and needs to be, uhhhh, reconcluded every so often. Or maybe frequently. Which I suppose just reinforces the fact that I'm nuts. lol

The scarf is long enough, says the hubby, and he thinks I'm insane to think otherwise. And I have to say...............the math is working out in his favor as blocked and unpinned it measures out to be 82 inches in length........keeping in mind that *I* am a Shorty McShorterson person of 61 inches in height. So, uh. I guess I've made my peace with it and the scarf is done. HALLELUJAH and all that jazz. Details are on Ravelry if you like. Onward to eye candy pics. :)

There is no doubt I love the color changes in this. I need to get a couple more balls of this to do a pair of socks at some point because the amount of color from the same skein of yarn is ridiculous.

Look at this precious little goody!

I participated in Becky's February pin pillow exchange, with the pillows flying fast and furious all around the world to meet the April 1st deadline, and this is the stunning little pillow that my exchange partner stitched up for me:

(PLEASE click for original size to catch all the details!!!)

It's called a 'Pagoda' pin keep (by Gift of Stitching) and it's so delicious and such a charmer I'm absolutely floored by it. I can only imagine the trickiness of getting that top piece on so neatly in the corners............that takes a lot of skill and patience to make it look so effortless, let me tell you! (Sadly, the stitcher in question, Rafaella, does not have a blog so I can't link to her.) I just love love love it to death. It will definitely be appreciated and displayed for a long, long time to come.

I haven't been stitching myself too much the last few weeks (except for the pin pillow *I* finished for my secret person) but I did manage to finish up this old little goodie:

It's a Blacksheep kit (called, crazily enough, "Rose Topiary") that has been sitting in my stash for, ohhhhhhh, since 2002 or so. I originally pulled it out as a possible contender for the pin pillow thing but the dimensions were a little bigger than I wanted for that. I love that the 'roses' look just like the ones I do in glass though so I decided to just finish it up while I had it out. (Because otherwise we could be looking at ANOTHER 8 years before I got it done. lol) I did switch up the colors on it though. I switched out the super pale pink for something a little darker and ditched the heavy heavy black border for one using the green/fuschia instead. It seemed more fitting for springtime and my mind set right now. The black works but I wasn't feeling it right *now*. Now I just need to get the hubby to make me a frame for it. :)

It was actually quite NICE out this weekend, in the 50's temp wise. Dare I think that spring might be coming? I mean, the trees don't finish 'filling in' with leaves until the end of May around here so we're a long way off for springtime planting (early May) and grass growing but it will be VERY NICE if the super cold temps and snow are gone for good! The nicer temps were also good for figuring that the bees STILL LIVE. THEY MADE IT THROUGH THE WINTER, GUYS! WOOOOoo!***

 They were out in force this weekend and even coming back with pollen-packed leggies. WTF? We have NO IDEA where or how far they are going to get THAT seeing as there isn't a damn thing sprouting yet??? Only thing I could think of is maybe the nurseries in the area have some stock out they are pilfering from? Only the bees know.But it's a good sign that the queen is still doing her thing and making babies and stuff.


***Admittedly, this excites me mostly for the simple fact that 1) I don't have to listen to the hubby moaning about dead bees because he gets a *wee* bit obsessed over their care and 2) we don't have shell out $$$ for a new box of bees because bees? NOT CHEAP to buy!

FELLOW KNITTERS:

 Look at this craziness:



Cute mittens, right?

Now look closer:


It's cupcakes. CUPCAKES. The thought of knitting them scares the shit out of me because OMG ALL THAT COLORWORK but how flipping cute is that?

Link to the pattern is here.
Photos from the WEBS store blog here. 

Spiralbound for you.

Thanks for keeping me busy this week with the bead orders!! It's a nice way to start the year. Productive, feeling wanted. *sniff* I was never going to jump on the health resolution band wagon so I'll take productive instead. It's no sloppy seconds. :)

Did you know you can take a book to Staples and have it spiral bound for a small fee? I totally forgot that you can have this done until a knit blogger mentioned it the other day!! I've been meaning to do this to a lot of my knitting books, you know, just one here and there. I was going out to that plaza last night so I grabbed this one to be done.

Very nifty. This one only cost me $5 but each book is different depending on it's size. It's very very handy for knitting books that have charted patterns, cook books, any sort of tutorial book. Being able to flip it open and lay it flat? A VERY GOOD THING!! Be sure to keep it mind next time you are struggling with keeping a cook book open or something. :)

Ahhhhhhh this is awesome!!

Best.Site.Ever.

Nic Cage as Everyone.

Seriously? My head might explode from the LULZ.