My SP6 Reveals!

I arrived home from a business trip last night to find a very fun package from my secret pal! She is Alison and check out all the goodies she sent me in the photo! She was so thoughtful to send me all kinds of fun Christmas goodies including candies and the cutest Santa and snowman salt and pepper shakers (among other Christmas doo-dads!) I love the baking book (Alison, did you know I LOVE to cook and bake???) I didn't do a very good job in the photo but check out the magazine holder - there are several more to go with it and Alison created little stickers to go on them for various magazines. It's almost as if she has seen the chaos I call my sewing / craft / knitting room! I love the blue squishy guy. I asked my kids if it was the cell phone guy (cingular maybe?) and my 11-year old informed me (in a tone that implied I'm not very bright) "Mommy, it's a HUG buddy." Oh... I didn't know. LOL!

The yarn was some samples of Karaoke from Southwest Trading Company and another cool little novelty yarn. I can't believe how soft the Karaoke is! I'm going to knit it up and compare it to Noro's silk garden!

Alison, You outdid yourself on all my packages. It was so much fun to receive them. But darlin', ya gotta tell me how you had all those postcards postmarked in different cities!! I'm stumped! There had to be 20 of them from different cities!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Merry Christmas!

Here's the family photo we'll be sending in our Christmas cards this year. Yes, the boys seriously need haircuts but they like the shaggy look! We have nicknamed our youngest, Ringo, for obvious reasons! I'm hoping it makes him mad enough to agree to a cut!

Quicky scarf - Good News / Bad News

On Saturday, my good friend asked me to make her daughter a scarf in the colors of the team for which she cheers. I told her I didn't think I would have time before Christmas but lo and behold, my airplane time thiw week was very fruitful. VOILA! A frou frou royal blue / yellow / white scarf. The yarn is yellow Cotton Ease, royal blue Lion Brand Fun Fur and white Moda Dea Tutu knit on 13s in garter stitch. Although the base of the scarf is predominately blue, the yellow and white do show up better in person. I added yellow and white fringe to highlight those colors. I finished it at 6 tonight, had my daughter delivered it at 9 and heard from my friend at 9:20 that it was a huge hit. She couldn't wait until Christmas so she gave it to her daughter tonight. Too funny!

That's the good news. The bad news... oldest daughter has put in an order for an orange / black Bengals scarf (already bought the yarn) and asked tonight if I can ALSO make her a pink scarf for her friend's secret santa gift - next Wednesday. Ugh. I am halfway through my husband's scarf but haven't even started my daughter's fingerless gloves. Oh well, January gifts will be nice!

Cheerleading Champs

Molly's cheerleading team has a perfect streak this year. First place in all four competitions so far! She's the highest one in the picture; second flyer from the left.

Finished items - 4 of them!!

I calculated that I was in airports or on airplanes for 22 hours last week. Add on 3 nights in a hotel room and I got a lot of knitting done! The top photo shows two scarves. The one on the left was the one I started when I had my teaching lesson for my two co-workers. It's a moda dea yarn that I bought at Michael's. Nice colors. So nice in fact, that I realized I bought a different yarn in almost the exact same color scheme to make the Airy Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. This is a mohair but not Rowan - can't remember the brand. Not sure what I'll do with either of these scarves. Possibly, they'll end up in Christmas gift exchanges. Quick quiz.... Guess what Bonnie's two favorite colors are?....... Oh My! Did you guess pink and purple? You ARE clever!

The next photo is the Jester hat from Lion Brand yarns (pattern available on line for purchase) made with Cottonease popsicle, orangeade and vanilla. I have started the sweater and it's working up very fast (see previous post.) This ensemble will be for my co-worker who is delivering on December 28th. (The model is my childhood stuffed animal. He has seen better days!)

I also finished my Good Bias Shrug but haven't taken a picture of it yet.

The miracle known as twisting your yarn!

Check it out!! A week ago I was complaining about how icky the yarn looked on the back of my jester hat and Karen, a friend in my knitting group (and an incredible! knitter), offered to show me a technique to make it neater. See the hat on the bottom (messy!)... see the back of the sweater (tres tidy!).... What a difference! The back of the sweater has a nice neat look to it now. Click on the photo to enlarge.

Thanks again, Karen for your help!

Jester hat in process - help with the yarn on back

Here are "in process" pictures of the Lion Brand Jester Hat (sweater to come!) that I'm making for a co-worker (baby son due at end of December). I've never worked with multiple yarns like this and I wasn't sure how to handle the change of each yarn. The back is so messy - is there a trick to making it look neater? (Please forgive the overexposed photo of the back - I'm too lazy to go upstairs and take another picture. Hopefully, you can see the yarns carried across.

BTW, my son picked the colors (Cottonease Popsicle, Orangeade and Vanilla). Kinda like the Miami Dolphins.

I joined the International Scarf Exchange

It looks like fun! You sign up to create and send either a scarf or a hat/mitten/scarf set to an international recipient. And of course, someone sends the same to you. I think the deadline to join is fast approaching. Here's the link. (I don't know how to do the button thingy.)

Knitting Notecards - too cute!

Look at the adorable note cards. Cheryl sent them to me as a thank you for entering her knitting raffle.

SP6

More postcards from my mystery knitting pal! The latest cards are from North Carolina and DC. And she's postmarking them from all different cities! Wonder if she travels a lot, like me! This is so much fun. Thanks Secret Pal for making the trip to the mailbox fun every day!

Fall Favorites

Found this fun Fall Contest at Princess Knits. Check it out! I love fall so this is definitely for me! I missed the deadline but I'm doing it anyway!!

1. favorite fall book to read - Not sure it's a fall book necessary but I'm enjoying The Virgin's Lover by Phillipa Gregory. If you've never read her books, YOU MUST!! The Other Boleyn Girl is on my top ten books of all time list. They fall in the historical fiction genre and specifically, they are fictional accounts of characters related to Henry VIII.
   


2. favorite fall soup to eat - SOUP SOUP SOUP!!! Love it! It's hard to pick a favorite but I do love potato soup - here's a decadent one. Oh wait, just remembered, I made this awesome squash soup for a dinner party a few weeks ago.
   


3. favorite fall stew to eat - I found a recipe for Burt Reynold's Beef Stew a few years ago and it is awesome. I don't have a link but I'll post it in a separate blog post.
   


4. favorite healthy muffin recipe - Sorry... these are not even a little bit healthy but DANG! Are they good! Banana Crumb Muffins - bet you can't eat just one.
   


5. favorite fall tree - I love oak trees because they remind me of when I was a kid. there were tons of them along the way as I walked to school. And at recess, we would design little houses, pushing the oak leaves into lines that represented the walls of the rooms.
   


6. favorite fall knit - I really need to start the cigar gloves for my husband for Christmas! There is even a knitalong.

Sitcom Chic is done!

Here it is - I finished it last night. I made the small size and it took almost 4 skeins of Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Popsical Blue. I wore it to work today. Hooray!

Holy Cow! It's a Bonanza!!

I received package number 1 from my Secret Pal today and GOOD GRIEF!!! Look at it all!!! She picked out the most adorable items - all selected based on my profile and emails. My absolute favorite item are the candy dishes made from old records! Can you see them in the photo? I poured the Life Saver candies in the larger one. And they are made from old John Travolta records (I loved him then and I still think he's adorable!!! Grease is one of my all time favorite movies and the music is awesome.)

There are two skeins of some very fun sock yarn from Knit Picks - the dancing line. I need to hurry up and finish the other Broad Ripple so I can start on a pair with this yarn.

There is also some Stella Doro chocolate cookies - I'm not familiar with that kind but I used to love the anise flavored ones. The cookies are going to work with me so the kids don't find them. I don't share very well!!

And there are some very thoughtful travel related items - lip balm and mouth spray (which two of my kids have already tried to steal.) And the cutest little address book (purple and shoes - gotta love that!) I love the pink accesory bags and you're right, they will be perfect for knitting notions. Finally, the socks are adorable - I love fun socks!!

Can you see all the little yellow sticky notes? My SP wrote a note on each one!!

Wow, thanks for making my day. I haven't yet sent my first package out to my SP but now, the bar is raised. It might take me another whole week to get something together!

SP6 - Where is this person???

My SP6 sent me two more post cards. One from Arizona and one from Las Vegas! So now, I'm confused. I guess they don't live in Hamilton after all. Hmmmm..... what's going on??

Broad Ripple Sock

Does one sock count as a finished object? I think it does! Here is Broad Ripple Sock #1 done in Purple Varigated Cascade Fixation. On to #2!

Pumpkin dishcloth

I made this dishcloth out of orange Cotton Ease. It might be a little hard to see but it has an adorable Jack-O-Lattern face on it. I haven't tried to get it wet to check absorbancy but I've heard from quite a few people who recommend Cotton Ease for dishcloths so I'm sure it will be fine. I'm going to give this one to my nail stylist as she's doing me a favor today. The pattern for this dishcloth can be found here.

I'm going to make some more as they are adorable and very quick.

My SP6 has spoken!!

I was a little worried that I wasn't going to hear from my SP6 spoiler because the deadline had passed but found out she (I assume she!) was having computer issues. I received a lovely email from her (I'm just going to assume you are female!) in which she taunts me by saying she has seen my blog. Hmmmm....... that narrows it down a bit and then... check out the clever little tidbit I received from her in the mail today:A cute little postcard, indeed, of Alexander Hamilton but why is it clever, you ask? Well because it is FROM THE NEXT TOWN OVER!! Yeah, probably 15 miles from where I live! Hmmm, is it a trick like my SP5 who made me think she was from England but actually lives in Singapore? Or is this truly a neighbor knitter who lives in the town that has THE best LYS in the whole country? Somebody from my knitting group even? Wouldn't that be funny! The plot thickens...... Stay tuned.

SP6 Questions

All in all, SP5 was a good experience so I decided to do SP6. My spoiler was wonderful!! She sent such wonderful goodies and was so friendly! I didn't hear much from the person I spoiled but I had fun shopping for her. My answers are not much different than last time.

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?

I have seemed to develop a preference for the nicer stuff. I like silk blends a lot.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?

No.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)

No.

4. How long have you been knitting?

Since November 2004.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

No, I have a few books but I check a lot out of the library to review first and I haven’t found too many that I really need to own.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

I like vanilla and citrus and cinnamon. I don’t like florals or other fruits.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?

Yes, I like dark chocolate, butter creams, caramels, coconut. And COOKIES!!

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?

I sew and I read a lot.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I mostly listen to new country but radio is fine for me. I don’t have an MP3 player.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

Purple and pink. I prefer brights to pastels and I can’t stand brown.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

Married, 5 kids, 3 cats and a fish pond.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)

To raise happy, responsible kids that remain close to me.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?

Wool blends, silk blends. I like cottons, too but built a huge stash this summer of various cottons and cotton blends.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

Acrylic.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?

Shrugs! Love them! I also like ponchos and shawls.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

No favorite.

17. What are you knitting right now?

Oh boy – a bunch. A Sitcom Chic Cardigan in turquoise CottonEase; a Good Bias Shrug in a silky wool blend; Broad Ripple Socks in purple variegated Cascade Fixation; Clapotis in Iris Garden Lion and Lamb; a Cozy shawl in ecru Andean Silk; a cotton dish cloth. I have knitter’s ADD.

18. What do you think about ponchos?

Love them.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?

circular.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I like them all. I like bamboo double pointed needles for socks, Addi Turbos for wools and I picked up a set of Denise Interchangeable needles that are plastic. I’v e learned over the last year that no one needle is perfect for every yarn and have managed to accumulate quite a collection that probably suits all my knitting needs!!

21. Are you a sock knitter?

I’ve knit one and a half socks so I think I can call myself a sock knitter. Great project for airplanes – small and easy to carry.

22. How did you learn to knit?

My friend taught me to knit a scarf and I was hooked after that. I received a couple books and relied on the internet instructions a lot.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?

I started the dishcloth last December. I pick it up every once in awhile and I can see the quality of my knitting improving!

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?

Not into any animated characters. I guess rabbits are my favorite.

25. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas.

26. Is there anything that you collect?

No (unless you count shoes.)

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

None but I like to read Interweave and Family Circle Easy Knitting. Oh and Vogue.

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?

No

29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another??

I love the White Lies Angelina cardigan – GOR-JUSSSS! And I also saw the cutest mini poncho at a site called chiagu.com. It appears to have cables and that scares me – not sure why!

30. What are your foot measurements, and what kind of socks do you like?

I wear size 8 or 8 ½ medium (9 ½ “). Love warm fuzzy socks to wear around the house in the winter.

My Secret Pal reveals!

Look at this cool stuff! Found out that the adorable Chrissie from Singapore was my spoiler from SP5! She sent me this gorgeous yarn and a nice pattern to make a scarf. See the beads that look like a bracelet? Well, it IS a bracelet but it's a cool row-counting bracelet. Clever, huh?

Chrissie, if you stop in.... you're the best! Thank you so much for spoiling me (you did an excellent job!) I can't wait to jump into the goodies.


Dear Mr. Boss:
I am quitting today because I have an awful lot of knitting to do.

Sincerely,
Bonnie

P.S. I would appreciate it if you would please continue to pay me...... the bills and all.

Not much knitting lately

Just got back today from a four day girls' trip. These are three of my best friends (isn't it nice that they let me be a token member of their blonde club!) and we had a blast staying at a beachfront home in the Isle of Palms (barrier island off of Charleston, SC.) Aren't our pink shirts cute? They say FLIP 2005 with a little palm tree. I had them made at EmbroidMe for a very reasonable price! FLIP stands for Fabulous Ladies in Isle of Palms. We narrowly escaped hurricane Ophelia and ended up enjoying wonderful weather. See the lovely ocean behind me? That was a view off of one of our decks. Does that look like hurricane weather to you? I don't think so!

I brought three knitting projects intending to make good use of some relaxation time away from the kids and husband but probably didn't knit more than 15 minutes total.

This last picture is three of us (dear Kimmie had to leave a day before the rest of us) having lunch at Vickery's which is on Shem Creek. Fun place - good food - very sweet server (order the cashew crusted tuna salad - it's AWESOME!) You can see all the shrimp boats behind us and the beautiful reeds in the water. Fabulous way to end our trip.

My New Ride!

14 years of mini-vans are D-O-N-E!! I've been tossing around the idea of looking at convertibles for a few months and last Tuesday, talked my husband into stopping at the "Auto Mall" to start the hunt. Two and a half hours later, I drove my brand new Toyota Solara home (didn't even test drive it first!) Check it out!

I actually still have the minivan. Will be taking the oldest off to college this weekend - she has a lot of stuff! ["Honey, did you READ the dorm room dimensions?"] Plus there's the drywall hauling that my husband will continue to do. I need a bigger garage..... hmmmm..... "Sweetheart, have you given any thought to a new house?" I'm just sayin'!

One Skein Wonder is done!

Wow, all you people who made this already are correct - this is fun! I picked up some Brown Sheep Co. Lamb's Pride Super Wash at a LYS clearance sale for about $3. I bought the purple you see here and a lovely sunflower yellow color (OSW #2?)

I haven't blocked it but to be honest, I probably won't. It's such a tight fitting item, I don't think it needs it (honest opinions on this are welcome!)


Anyway, this is a very easy pattern and is available here for $3.75. I started knitting about a week ago. It probably took me 5-6 hours (I'm a slow knitter!) I had hoped to get this done in time to wear with my little turquoise dress that I wore to our Caribbean party Saturday night but not quite.

Classic comment from the husband: "Is it going to get bigger?"

Ok, back to my Sitcom Chic cardigan ("which is a bigger sweater, sweetheart.")

Caribbean Dinner Club - the day after

Whew! My neighborhood dinner club met at our house last night for a Caribbean fest! It was great fun. I planned the menu and distributed recipes to the 6 couples. Food was great and company was terrific! Here's the menu:

Mojitos (Cuba) & Pina Coladas Coconut Shrimp With Tamarind Ginger Sauce Sir Clifford's Conch Salad (Bahamas) Jerk Pork Tenderloin (Jamaica) Pineapple Cole Slaw (Bahamas) Coconut Red Beans and Rice (U.S. Virgin Islands - St. Thomas) Bajan Sweet Bread (Barbados) Banana Flambé with vanilla ice cream (Martinique)

The pictures show before, during, and after. LOL! Can you see the cute little flags stuck in the candles? That's how everyone was assigned seats - they picked a flag out of a "hat" and matched it to the table setting. That's me in the turquoise dress (I swear my butt isn't really that big - it's the angle. No really, I'm just saying....) Unfortunately, my husband is missing from the photos (he was taking the photos) along with several other guests who were assisting with the flambe-ing or making after dinner drinks - manhattans and such.

Lots of knitting ..... nothing to show for it

This has been a productive knitting week. Attended oldest daughter's college orientation and much to her embarrassment, I knit through quite a few of the sessions. As a result, I finished the 4th straight section of my Clapotis (love that Lion and Lamb yarn!!) and am about halfway through the second sleeve on my Knitty Sitcom Chic. But it would be boring to post pictures cause it's still in process .... so I won't!

On the cooking scene, my good friend Linda is out of town so her husband (Charlie) had dinner with us tonight. He's another foodie kind of person, so we decided to experiment and made cedar planked salmon. Hubby went to Home Depot and purchased an 8 foot piece of untreated cedar and cut it down to the size we needed. Soaked it all day.... But alas, hubby cooked the glaze just a tad too long..... turned into burnt maple taffy! We persevered and planked the ole fish anyway. Lots of steaming and smoking and burnt cedar smellin' later, we had a delicious smoked salmon. Charlie and I tried to salvage the maple glaze to save hubby's feelings but egads! it was burnt for God's sake. LOL! We will definitely do the cedar plank thing again. Very tasty!

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Another quiz! Am I in junior high, or what?!

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who have a split personality - cold as ice on the outside but hot as fire in the heart.

In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you.

You'd like to your lover to think you are flexible and ready for anything!

You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.

Your ideal relationship is open. Both of you can talk about everything... no secrets.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage something you've always wanted... though you haven't really thought about it.

In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Where I've been

How cool is this! Here's a map of all the places I've been in my life. I've obviously skipped over the west. What's up with that?

create your own personalized map of the USA

Cocktail Napkin humor

Does anyone else love cocktail napkins like I do??? I have packages and packages of them cuz I love them so much. Well, look at the one my friend had at her house last night. This is so me! LOL!

Shaken..... not stirred

The Good and The Bad..... and knowing when to say ribbit!

The BAD..... I tried. Oh boy, I tried. I asked everyone I know about the clapotis in the pastely colors (see monstrosity on the right side of picture). No one.... not even the people who don't know me very well and oughta be trying to salvage my feelings would say "Bonnie, it's a LOVELY clapotis." Nope. The best I got was a bunch of stammering and stuttering. (The worst was outright laughter.) So I will be frogging said creation......

But the good, OH SO GOOD!!! After "saving" SO much money at the Knit Happens going out of business sale, I splurged on some Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb yarn for a replacement clapotis. I found a beautiful colorway called iris garden and someone had 3 skeins for sale on ebay. I wish everyone could feel this yarn. It is scrumptious! I started the clapotis this morning. And I think everyone will agree these colors are more my style!

Menu Planning

I just notice someone's blog who also plans their meals for the week. If I didn't plan my meals, I'd spend 1/2 hour in front of the freezer every night wondering what to make before hustling the family off to a restaurant. I can even get my kids to help when I have it planned out!

Here's what I planned for this week:
Sunday:
Grilled beer can chicken
Red Skin mashed potatoes
Steamed green beans
5 cheese mac & cheese (for vegetarian daughter and eldest daughter who just had wisdom teeth pulled)
Macadamia-white chocolate chip and chocolate-chocolate chip cookies (cheated - from freezer dough)

Monday:
grillled brats & metts
cabbage au gratin

Tuesday:
Chicken Asian noodle salad
Asian cucumber salad (from Costco)

Wednesday:
Mexican short ribs, shredded & rolled in tortillas
Black beans with cilantro
Rice

Thursday:
Leftovers!

Friday:
Take out Pizza

I also made some awesome granola for breakfast (thanks, Linda - great recipe!!!) and some broccoli cheese soup for wisdom-teethless daughter.

Sitcom Chic Progress

Spent about an hour and a half on the cardigan over the weekend. Here are the results:

Time for a cat shot

I've noticed most knitters are cat people (as am I!) So here are some shots of our 3 cats and my son.

Knit Happens - Going out of Business!

A LYS is going out of business - owners moving to Florida. I went two different times and bought lots of goodies! I picked up a set of Denise Circular needles, a sock book, a scarf pattern set, some bulky yarn to make a big sweater, feltable yarn for my secret pal who likes to make felted purses, a couple cute baby patterns, and lots of fun yarn!

My Secret Pal strikes again!

Check out this beautiful yarn that my SP5 sent me. It's a combination of mohair, glitter and a fringy yarn. She sent instructions for what sounds like a lovely scarf. I can't wait to start it!!!!

By the way, she lives somewhere in England so if you're a praying sort, join me in prayer for her.

New Clapotis

Well, here's my second Clapotis. I'm really not crazy about the color of this yarn. It looks like a baby blanket. Can't decide whether I should continue or not. The yarn itself is a lovely soft merino wool from handpaintedyarn.com but ick on the color.

My Soleil is Finished!

Here are two shots of my Soleil. Not the most flattering shot of me (major bad hair day!!) but what the heck - it is what it is!! The blocking shot makes it look like it has white marks - but it doesn't. I'm very happy with my first fitted knit item. A little big in the armholes but that's ok. I wore it to work today with a white lacy camisole underneath it. I used Classic Elite Flash in Crocus. It's a periwinkle blue with a darker purpley color marbled in. I love the color.

Thank you SP5!!!

Look at my goodies! I received a lovely package from my secret pal. She's in England and send me some beautiful cashmere yarn and a felted bag. Both are in shades of purple - my favorite! Oh and a beautiful lace shawl pattern. Thanks Secret Pal!!

Blooming Water Lilies

The lilies in our pond are so beautiful right now! We have white, yellow, pink/white and bright magenta. My favorite thing to do is sit outside in the morning with my coffee and listen to the waterfall and the frogs croaking.

T-Shirt Pillow Front

This is what it said on the front of the T-shirt and the lion picture is on the back.

T-Shirt Pillow

I had planned to make my daughter a quilt for her high school graduation out of school t-shirts but couldn't find enough t-shirts. Instead I made her a pillow from one t-shirt. The plaid border is the same fabric from her uniform skirt. Cool, huh?