...and the prize for least necessary purchase goes to...

Me!

I have had and loved my Lady B bag for about 9 months now, but when I saw that new "Baja" print (pink, white, and black floral with little skulls) I had to have it. As you know, Hubbo got me the new little "Gem" bag for Xmas, and I promptly spent my Xmas money from Grandma and Grandpa on a matching Lady B. Here they are together (my other Lexie Barnes bag, the "Flo" in the Little Miss Perfect print, did not get in the picture). I'm willing to let my old Lady B find a new home, you can email me if you'd like details- I really don't need them both.

I've been knitting my little brains out the past few days finishing up old projects and working on new designs (and got to see Spamalot at the Fisher last night too- plus a quick shop at City Knits while hanging around in the theater lobby). I wore Lady Eleanor and got pawed and awed by all the employees there, which was fun. In the interest of the CONTEST I'm got going to share any pics or info on my knitting just yet! If you haven't posted your guesses, get going! (Since blogland seems really quiet this week you'll probably win no matter what!)

CONTEST!

The end of the year is here again, and with it, a contest. As I did last December, fabulous prizes (shiny new knitting books!) will go to the lucky readers who are closest, but not over, to the correct:
1. Number of finished projects in 2006
2. Number of skeins in my stash
3. Number of unfinished projects still waiting to be finished

I have until the 31st to try to finish another project or two, of course! Winners will be announced January 1. (I probably should have said this earlier, but you have until you go to bed December 31 to get your guesses in.)

Good luck!

And now we sprawl on the couch, yes?

What a week! Monday and Tuesday I had rehearsals for tap, Wednesday was our tap performance, Thursday was Emma's school program, Friday was last-minute preparations for the holiday, Saturday we drove out to Grand Rapids to see the Nutcracker (a friend's daughter was in it), Sunday we went to the in-laws, and yesterday we went to my mom's for brunch and then my grandma's for dinner- whew!

I have only knit 1/2" all week, but I'm planning on doing something about that starting today! Hubbo and Emma have presents of their own to play with, so I'll be enjoying mine:



I also got a little Christmas money, which I've already used this morning to order a new Lady B bag to match my new Lexie Barnes purse (it's the new "Gem" bag). Yes, I already have a Lady B, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this new print- you can't tell but there's little skulls hidden in the flowers. As you can see, people were paying attention- my mother-in-law even went to the Knitting Den (in South Lyon) to get my gift- the Silk Garden, Addis, and 2 of the books). Hubbo got the rest, and yes those are pink Denise cords! My students also got me about a million Borders and Barnes and Noble gift cards so I think I'll be set in books for quite a while!

Everything was really nice and it was great to see people I don't get to see as often as I'd like. Emma remembered to thank everyone (she has a cute habit of exclaiming, "Just what I always wanted!" whenever she opens a gift) and is having a ball trying everything out. As for me, I have 2 sweaters on a deadline so I'd better get busy!

The Yarn Man Cometh

Yesterday I came home to 2 boxes, each bearing gigantic cones of SWTC yarn for the next 2 projects I'm doing for them. One was pink Love (one of the new Vickie Howell yarns) and the other 2 Inspiration (alpaca/soy) in some coordinating tealy-blue colors (I took a picture but Blogger is giving me a hard time at the moment).

Since I only have a few more days until school is out (and about a million things to do in the meantime- I have to go to rehearsals or performances on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, work all of those days, and finish 2 big heaps of paperwork), I decided to start on these on Friday.

I'm trying not to think about the gift knitting that remains unfinished.

Or the rising squalor levels around the house.

Guess I'd better get busy.

Sick!

I have spent the last 2 days in an unconscious, germy funk. This afternoon, however, I managed to stay awake long enough to put the finishing touches on Henry Rollins from Stitch n' Bitch Nation (Hubbo had better not be reading this!!) What a messed up pattern though- lots of mistakes!! Oh well, it turned out okay.


I also managed to finish the thumb of this (I started it over the weekend- I'm thinking these might make a good quick gift for someone...) It's a made-up-as-I-went-along pattern in the Zara Plus I picked up a few weeks ago on sale. I think I can finish the pair out of one ball. I'm thinking I'll do a pair for myself in Malabrigo.

Off to take another nap before dinner! Hopefully I'll feel a lot better tomorrow.

One down...

Finished a sock (this is the one in Brooklyn Handspun's Chocolate Covered Cherries) at Knitter's Night Out on Friday. It started out as a gift but got tired of making it long enough so now it's mine!

I also finished the swatches for TNNA- they're blocking quietly now. I'm on Hank's head and planning to start some fingerless gloves for moi right away because I keep wishing I had a shorter pair.

Over 8 pounds of yarn is on its way from SWTC- I've got until Thursday to work on my stuff before I'm up to my armpits in design projects!! I can't complain though.

Also, have you seen this? Now THAT is my kind of marathon! I just signed up-- let me know if you are going too!

Scarf Style, how I love thee

First it was Blue Collar. Then Lady Eleanor. Then Vintage Velvet (okay, it's not finished yet, but still) and now Ruffles. I've gotten so much use out of this book- must be that I'm a sucker for scarves (and yes, I'm wearing my bathrobe- so what?) It's long enough to wrap around twice and still hang down to my waist- and it's quite a bit shorter (about 12") than the pattern calls for- guess that would have been overkill, and would have taken another ball of yarn besides.

One more thing

I finished the scarf (the Ruffles one) last night. Didn't quite get the swatches done, but I'm working on it!

Plugging Away

First of all, I've been working on the Ruffles Scarf, now on the last ball of yarn (it won't be 80 some inches long like the pattern, but it will be long enough, I guess about 65 inches or so). This is in the Nashua Wooly Stripes I bought on the Yarn Crawl last weekend (color is Citrus).
Speaking of the Yarn Crawl, I'm proud to say I've knit 10 skeins already from my purchases last Friday. Nothing like new yarn to get you going, I guess! (I also have LOTS of yarn coming for design projects in the next week or so, so I'm loading up on personal knitting while I can!) Today I'm finishing up my swatches for the Great Wall of Yarn at TNNA and also a submission for Creative Knitting, we'll see how that goes.

What? A garter stitch scarf? Okay, okay, it's a little gift for someone who likes these things. I put together one of the balls of Trendsetter Dune I got on clearance last week with some Lambs Pride from my stash (on size 19 needles, no less) and voila! It's actually quite pretty in person, the colors match perfectly. Also, it took like 90 minutes to knit.

Last but not least, Emma decided to go for a new look- a "big girl haircut", she called it.