More Giftie FO's!

Well, only two...

El Capitan Hat knit with Aran tweed (a little over 3 50g. skeins), and Easy-cable knit Hat knit with Lamb's Pride Bulky (note: added an extra 4 rows and converted pattern to knit in the round)

But that makes two more than I had before!

And the "Solly hat" is now the "Benny hat", since I plan to give it to Benjamyn, instead. It's the green cabled hat that I has become a deviation from the Cabled Baby hat it was supposed to be. Unfortunately, I had copied down the cable pattern WRONG and discovered this, oh, 14 or so rows into it. Luckily, I can just tear down the 18 stitches of the cable pattern for the 14 rows and rebuild them. It's just that 'thinky' patterns take a bit longer to knit. You all know what I mean...

And in case you missed my Black Friday adventures reported on IrishGirlie's blog, let me briefly review for you...

Arriving at Purlescence Yarns between 6-7am rewarded you with the greatest savings: 35% off! (Sadly, BMFA is never included, nor are accessories-but what can we expect? Can't be too greedy, you know?)

And BMFA yarn there was! In addition to lots of gorgeous Socks that Rock in varying weights, there was also LSS (Luscious Silk Single) and WooBu!



There was a line, and sizable; but it moved fairly quickly and besides, I'm sure it is nothing compared to what other Black Friday shoppers were experiencing at the same time!



I was fairly good and left out of there with this...

(the purse was my 'treat'...Nartian had me pick up a coveted merino/cashmere Yarn Daze yarn for here and the rest of my purchases were a few balls of Aran tweed and some bulky yarns for quick gift-hats...I'm sure you will see them featured here soon!)

Irish Girlie was better. She was SO good, that she STILL snuck in a STR Hurdy Gurdy that I thought Cupcakefaerie and I had dissuaded her from purchasing!

Cupcakefaerie had left with a bag of gorgeous, red shades of yarn.

And even having had to be there early to open shop, Sandi and Cathy bid us adieu with smiles on their faces!

IrishGirlie, Cupcakefaerie and I left there content and ready to enjoy a nice breakfast together!

The only thing that would have made this a more perfect way to start our Black Friday is if Nartian had been able to join us!

A Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Americans!!! I'm sure no one is reading this tonight since you are proabably all preparing for the big feast!

For the first Thanksgiving in a long time, I didn't have to make a thing! But here's what I did...

I got an Eggnog Brandy cheesecake from Gregory's Gourmet Desserts across from where I work! The big question is...will it actually make it to dinner with us tomorrow? There is a major chance it won't!-lol! Yeah, I'm bad! That's why I didn't bother mentioning to my cousin that I'd be bringing it, even though it was on order two weeks ago. And that's why I have a big box of chocolate-laced oatmeal cookies from Ikea that I could always bring instead!...They'll never know...

Oh, and for a bit of knitting content: I opened my newsletter from Rob at Threadbear and discovered a new-to-me source for knitting patterns when I checked out his link to an easy cabled hat pattern. I thnk this will be the pattern I use for one of my younger boy-cousin's gift.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Mel!!!

My Uncle Mel turned 80 and we went to his house to celebrate! At one point, one of my cousins passed out favors he had made: hand-crafted wooden pens! He purchased the metal pen components, then turned the wood to make the barrels. The tag on it was leaf-shaped and read, "We extend this branch of our family tree in celebration of Melvin's 80th Birthday...". Then I heard him say something about apricot wood! I was thrilled and thought, 'No, not our apricot wood!' and proceeded to ask him if this meant he had used wood from apricot trees that had been grown on our family farm and indeed, he had! What a thrill! This pen is so much more meaningful and precious to me because it not only is made of wood my cousin carefully crafted into its pen shape, but also wood that his father had grown!

My grandfather was a fruit farmer in Solano County who had a repair garage on the farm. Though his two sons ended up mechanics for UPS, they continued to farm the property that the siblings had all purchased together probably some 50+ years ago. My grandfather's small 'ranch' is now developed into a commercial building site and long gone, but the "other ranch" is still around. At least for now, though I know it will probably not be forever.

It means alot to me to have this small piece of my family's history!

And speaking of birthdays, TODAY is Nartian's birthday, so go hop on over and wish her a happy one! You've got less than 2 hours!

ETA: and, btw, I forgot that this was kinda knit-related in topic. Spinning-related, really, since my cousin's girlfriend weaves, spins and now knits. She is hoping he'll make her a spinning wheel one day and I am flat-out begging him to make me a spindle! I think his GF would settle for a spindle, too...

Glorious GREED!

And here it is! My recent Seven Deadly S(p)ins Club shipment--GREED! This yarn is a "Tinsel Toes" yarn (merino/tencel) in the colorway Precious Metals! The pattern is for a beaded clutch and comes complete with the silk lining, beads, button--everything to make it! And, of course, there are extra goodies: chocolate coins, bracelets, a currency bill stitch marker, and magnetic bookmark.

I'm not much of a 'yellow' person, but this is a wonderful color combination and is perfect for the theme and pattern!

Stinkin' Cute!

These have got to be the cutest little things! If you go to the Rav page, the ones shown are even CUTER! And now, onto the meat of this post...

OK, I realized there were a few pics I'd taken and never shared. I'd like to share with you now...

The other week (specifically, the first Saturday of this month) it was raining. And I mean raining. Heavy rain. Big drops of water rain.

Of course, this meant that this was the day my friend HAD to go to Cotati (a 45 minute drive or so from the City...). So, being the good friend that I am, I accompanied her.

See the puddle of water? and you can't tell, but it is still RAINING in this picture...

What is this place? Oh...we entered through the wrong door?


And here, is the front of the building!

And inside, a freezer with a sign reading, "We trust you...please take what you need and leave the money on the table". GEEZ! No way! Dorothy, we're not in San Francisco anymore!

By the way, the lasagne is ok. The ravioli pretty stinking good! But the real reason we were there?

To claim her 1/4 cow that had just been freshly slaughtered! (sorry, Vegetarians...) Yeah, we were there to pick up, oh...100 pounds or so of organic beef!


And to prove I am not a yarn snob, look what I had caved and bought when I saw it on sale at Joann's the other week?
I'm a total sucker for the Vanna White yarn colors! And, as always, was inspired to buy an afghans worth of it! Gotta love crochet-I crocheted up one of the popcorn squares quite quickly. But alas, it is not a gift for this year and I need to keep the gift knitting priority, so this now sits.

But look what else I kinda had to add to the stash?
But allow me to clarify: the center red color is some Malabrigo Worsted in Pagoda and came out from my stash. I used these for a Capitan hat (picture later...). You see, that same rainy day was the same day I lost a favorite crocheted (not by me) hat and was sad. I decided that this capitan hat could justifiably jump ahead of the gifties so I could make myself a new hat.

Admittedly, the two plain yarns on the left were grabbed up at Dharma Trading Co. for future dying. And I'll again point out that I am a big sucker for the garish (some call it 'clear') colors of some of the Malabrigo Privada collection. I decided I needed to again go beyond my comfort zone of colors and get two more from the ImagiKnit sale wall. So I did. And while at it, I threw in a Malabrigo Worsted Tartuga to round out the purchase!

I have a great project in mind for the Privada and am excited to eventually knit it up!

I'm feeling a bit spoiled...

Rav love and Knitterly love abound and I reap the rewards many times over...

Cupcakefaerie was able to procure this and sent it to me...

Wollmeise, Poison Nr. 5-and it's mine, all MINE!!!

It was packaged up all lovely with gummi bears, even, as if I had place a Woolgirl order! And she is my kinda gal with her wonderful taste in cards it leads me to suspect that she is as much of a stationery fiend as I am. I also suspect that she enjoys the lost art of written corraspondence as much as I do. I don't consider myself to be a very literary person, but I have always enjoyed written correspondence. You are an absolute doll, Cupcakefaerie!!! I so heart you!

And remember how I had whined around about being just yards short for my Mystic Light Shawl? I was a bit reluctant to purchase a skein on-line since I had seen such wide variations of shading with this colorway.

I got the bright idea of looking up the yarn on Ravelry and found it in someone's stash-and it was 1/2 a skein! I pm'd her and asked if she would be willing to part with it in trade or sell it to me. Guess what? She sends it to me-from Sweeden! And doesn't want a thing for it!
Of course, this calls for a DAK to go out her way in the future (I don't dare say near, as I am a bit slow in getting things out...), but I will definitely have to send something wonderful her way! Wanna know something funny? Turns out she is in IrishGirlieKnits' "friends" list on Rav-sandikins, you ROCK!

I'll confess that I was impatient and since I was able to see the skeins at Purlescence, I purchased one last weekend while I was there! This is truly a gorgeous yarn and I am sure I will be able to make a scarf or some other lovely item with the yarn.

So I also get THIS package in the mail from a member on my Rav Monthly Adventures group...

We are celebrating our one year anniversary and my name was picked for a prize! I feel unworthy since I've not been very active on that list since the first swap, but I will be donating a prize so I can pay it forward and again be a participating member!

And I know this blog is mostly knitting, but I have to share this...
My latest wine club shipment from Benziger/Imagery wineries! I long-ago signed up as a charter wine club member and (though I drink much less these days...), have not had the heart to give up this club! But the big thrill was this recent shipment: Oonapais (a red wind blend of Cab, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot)--I had tried this one a year or two ago when I was last out to the winery and LOVED it! I'm so glad that this recent 2006 release was part of the shipment! And the other bottle is a Petite Sirah Port! Me loveses me ports!!!

I usually enjoy the wines I get from the club, but since I am familiar with these two varietals and favor them, I am especially thrilled about this shipment!

Holiday projects are chugging along; cast-off, cast-on...

I'll show you where I'm at next time...

BIG THRILL!!!

Though not yet blocked, I am happy to report that the Mystic Light Shawl is DONE!!! Nartian witnessed the cast-off on Monday afternoon. I thought I would not be able to resist and would block it soon after but alas, it still is in a lump, unblocked.

This was a KAL I had started back in March and am quite proud to have plugged through this. See guys? I finish things...eventually! It's kinda my first "Big Girl Knitter" lace! I mean, I did do the Forsest Canapy, but that was maybe 1/2-1/3 the yardage, smaller, and done with heavier yarn.

I made one of my work buds model this for me.
She's waaaaay tinier than me in size, but maybe a tad taller than me.

I wasn't happy showing just ONE pic, but I realize you can't see much from this!
So what was the point, really...?

And look what arrived at Purlescence last week and is now a part of my stash?!

STR lightweight: Potomac, Jubilation, The Cookie Next Door,
Muckity Muck (much more of a rich, deep reddish-tinged orange
than what is shown at the BMFA site-me LOVESES this!)

And more gifties on the needles...all are quick-to-knit projects for yarn-rich, cash-po' me!

A second Capitan hat! (Oh...these are so quick that I don't think
I even posted the one I made for me which is nearly finished!
Next time...maybe even modeled!)

And a Silky Malabrigo "Ivy" cowl knit in the "Mint Frappe" colorway...
funny, too...not a hint of green in this yarn!