One Down, So Many More to Go

I finished Pat's present this weekend. I was going to make her the Hello New York scarf but the pattern seemed like a lot of fuss for something that didn't look all that great. A lot of yarn-overs but not a lot of ooh factor at the end. Instead I made this simple ribbed scarf. I am very pleased with it.

Princess Ivi was kind enough to model it as long as I didn't take a picture of her head since she was very upset with her air-drying hair (a curly, unruly mess).

Scarf: 27 stitches on size 8.0 mm needles, K3, p3 ribbing

Yarn: Grampian DK held double throughout

Back to Business....

My Christmas was wonderful. I hope everyone else’s was good as well.

On Christmas Eve, I got home from work and my brother Dan and his three kids were there. We opened presents with them and had chili for dinner. Yum.

My niece Emily picked out a very nice knitting book for me and did a great job wrapping it. The label said “To: Aunt Lennie From: The Family”. She cracks me up.

After they went home, we talked to my sister (in Massachusetts) while they opened their Christmas gifts. It was great to hear my nephew “singing” in the background. He really enjoyed his gifts including the Florida Gators t-shirt I found for him. My sister loved the lemur and the movie. And of course, Rob loved his pistachios and his book. My mom bought my sister a Go Phone so we can all talk to each other for free which is always a good thing.

Then, Princess Ivi and I watched movies (although I can’t remember which ones) while Mom finished wrapping her presents.

We woke up early Christmas morning and opened our stockings (mine was filled with nail polish, cotton balls, remover, nail files, etc.) and then said “what the heck” and opened our gifts. Princess Ivi gave me new pjs, the winter edition of Interweave Knits and Creative Knitting, and a new hairbrush. Mom gave me a pen set and handmade stitch holders (which were beautiful). I also got a new tote bag filled with yarn, lotion, a spa set, and body wash from Pat and Barry. The bag is now my new “bring to work bag to collect all the junk I accumulate throughout the day”.

Princess Ivi liked her keyboard and her Ipod but she really loved The Nightmare Before Christmas. We watched it Christmas afternoon. We have decided that when we find the dog to add to our family, he (or she) will be named Zero in honor of Jack’s trusty pooch.

Later that day, Dan came down to deliver the lawnmower and his plants (weeds, dying plants, etc.) and had dinner with us. Mom made a pork roast with roasted potatoes and broccoli. It was good.

I took advantage of the beautiful weather and did lots of laundry (all weekend actually because it was perfect line drying weather).

We also went to a new bookstore in Palatka and I bought Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Lady Susan all by Jane Austen and The Seven Wonders of Sassafrass Springs. I also bought my nephew some books and Princess Ivi got two books.

I splurged on myself and Princess Ivi this weekend as well. I bought myself two shirts for work and a pair of pajamas. I bought Princess Ivi a new purse. I also purchased Speed, The Replacements, The Da Vinci Code, Stardust, and Stand By Me to add to our DVD collection.

Then we watched movies and I knit.

I am working on the Cranberry Biscotti socks. They are coming along. I have turned the heel on the first sock and will start on the gusset tonight.

I also have a scarf in the works for Pat with the wonderful yarn she bought for me. It started out as a basket weave scarf but I am bored with the pattern already so I thought I would do stockinette stitch and do the same length of basket weave on the other end.

Oh, I almost forgot. I found a wonderful magazine. It is called Life: Beautiful. It is a faith based magazine with no advertisements. There are great articles and wonderful quotes from the Bible. I love it and I am going to subscribe to it. It is $18.95 for 4 issues but with no advertisements and such wonderful articles, I think it is definitely worth it. I think it will add to my walk with Christ.

I just realized today though that I did not take any pictures of Christmas. I think I am not inspired to take pictures because my camera is broken. I can’t see the pictures in the little digital screen after I take them. It really stinks. Sears has a sale on a great Canon camera. It is $179 and I am trying to decide if I should get it or not. I am worried that if I buy it now, I will need the money for something else but I am worried that if I don’t get it now, I won’t find such a good deal. Hmmm.....decisions, decisions.

A New Yarn Shop and cooking blogs

I visited Hank’s Yarn and Fiber yesterday. I was shopping for my swap partner in the Rachel’s Knitting Room Christmas Gift Exchange which I organized through elfster. I feel bad. The deadline to send the package is December 7 and I am mailing mine on December 6. However, given everything that is going on in my life, I am surprised I am sending anything.

Anyway, Hank’s is a wonderful little shop that used to be either a photo/camera store or a coffee shop. (I can’t remember.) Now though, it is a shop filled with a selection of yarn that is in the most beautiful colors. I fell in love with so many of them. There is also a nice collection of patterns, books and fleece. Oh, and they have some really nice handmade soap. I bought some.

I picked up a flier for an Introduction to Spinning class. I have decided that since I have all of that alpaca and llama fleece in my closet, I am going to learn to spin. I am hoping I can register after Christmas. If not, I will have to wait until the next class.

I have been working on the Special Olympics Scarf Project. I am over halfway finished. I was working on it last night and I felt very good about my progress and then I noticed a mistake. I had to undo about 6 rows so I could fix it but I will work on it more tonight and hopefully not make another mistake.

On a totally different note, I am in search of a dog. Preferably a smallish dog that would like to sleep with me. See I have been having night terrors for as long as I can remember (at least 10 or 11) and they can get pretty scary for everyone. My thought is that if I had a dog sleeping with me, they may be able to sense when I am having a night terror and will wake me up. Or if not, the dog will be a presence I can sense and it will help with the night terrors. I have spoken to sleep specialists and nothing else is working so I thought that the dog can’t hurt things.

My job is very boring. So on my downtime, which I have a lot of, I regularly visit the blogs listed here but I also search the web for more interesting reading. I have found some great cooking blogs which I have added to my favorites. One I especially like is Snackreligious . I think I like this one so much because I am a big snack food fan. When I think of snack food, I think of penny candy, those "french fry" shaped chips with Andy Capp on the bag, Poppycock, smoked almonds, soft pretzels with mustard...mmm, I am getting hungry.

I also love the variety of recipes on Tastespotting.

Here are a few more that I check out at least weekly:

The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Smitten Kitchen
Simply Recipes
The Good Mood Food Blog