STUFF

A good way to start out my blog today will be with some:

Knitting Goodness

I received more packages last week. AND they are still unopened. Thursday Dec 6 I received two packages. Here is what they look like.The white box contains my Hand Dyed Yarn Swap 2 from Tammy in Alberta and the brown box is my Christmas Around the World Swap from Chris M.Then Friday I received my Monkey Swap package from Caryn H. I don't actually know if my monkey socks are in the box and I won't know until I open it on Christmas day. So I now have four packages waiting to be opened.

I did mail out my Christmas Around the World Swap, my Winter Wonderland Swap and my Dishcloth group holiday swap last Thursday Dec 6 to my partners.

Tomorrow I will be mailing out my Lovetoknit dishcloth holiday package and some cards and a birthday gift for a gal in my pen pal group. On Wednesday I will be mailing out my weluvknitting final four or four packages to Sharon. I need to pick up something first tomorrow for the box. I will also try to mail out my girlfriend Rori in Florida her package. Then I will be just about caught up. PHEW!!!!!

On the knitting front I am working on several items. I am sewing in linings in two bags and have completed sewing a lining in another bag already. Two of these are for my friends in Florida and one is for one of my swaps. Photos to come when the linings in the other two have been completed. Then I intend to work on my whoduknit project for my November book The Dead of Midnight by Catherine Hunter. I am making a bookmark since the story line of the mystery is selling a series of mystery books in a book store cafe. So why not sell or give away book marks???? For Christmas I want to knit my Solara a sweater from here: http://www.christinelandry.com/?p=5. I also want to finish my Mixed Jelly Bean Socks before the end of the month. I have a few projects decided on for the new year all ready. I even know what I am going to do for my December whoduknit book project which will be due Jan 15.

Past News

The little knitting group I go to twice a month had it Christmas Dinner on Sunday November 25. We had the restaurant to ourselves mostly since it was Grey Cup Day here in Canada. The food was wonderful, the service great and the camaraderie terrific. There were 17 of us in attendance. AND I did take some photos to share with everyone. Yes we knit while we gab and eat.




AND here is Mona with Pat at our dinner.
I think these photos will be quite dark but I can't tell how bad with this monitor. I am sorry about that. AND the restaurant seemed brighter than when we were at Paradise Restaurant the last three years. I am sure the vote is already in to return to Pembina Village next year.

This next photo is easier to see. It is of the second skein of yarn I spun (on November 18) at my second spinning class. AND one day I will get myself a spinning wheel. It was so much fun and relaxing. By the end of the day I really was getting the knack of spinning. Only with having to purchase this new computer and needing to save for the co-op fee I feel it will be quite a while until I can even consider a spinning wheel now. I just can't seem to get the hang of using the hand spindle. I was able to use one years ago when I was younger but I definitely seem unable to master it now.

Here is a photo of something I put in a swap I sent out. Actually it is crocheted. I am very proud of myself. I do not crochet very much. They are icicles. It would have been nicer if I sewed a small backing on the the reverse side of where the berries and leaves were sewn on but I didn't think of it until after I sent it out. Here is a close up of the crocheted icicles.
I don't crochet much and I am unable to crochet items that have a lot of shaping so when I do I try to make it worth it. In a group I was in we had a hat swap and my partner requested a specific hat. I explained I would do the best I could being a non crocheter and she wanted a crocheted hat. I asked my girlfriend to help me with the directions. She did a great job except the pattern was in the British terms and neither one of us picked up on that. I finally did after completing the first section of the hat and it was big enough to be the entire hat. ANYWHO, have a good laugh as here it is completed in the colors she chose pink and purple. It is called the Hat of Horns and you can find the pattern here: http://www.theanticraft.com/archive/samhain06/horned.htmm/

Here is a front view of the hat.

Here is a side view of the hat.
AND here is a close up of the hat.
I wonder how many times she was brave enough to wear it outside.

I would like to close with a photo of Solara but she is sleeping somewhere. She is quite tuckered out from her evening of excitement. It seems she was stalking a mouse. Yes a real live one. AND in my kitchen!!! She wouldn't leave the dresser I have in my kitchen (it is filled with plastic stuff and dish towels and cloths). I just couldn't get her to go away from it. A while later when I came into the kitchen there she was as proud as can be sitting over a now dead mouse. I had to take a dozen or more plastic bags to pick it up and toss it while trying not to upchuck. YUCK!! YUCK!! YUCK!! Solara wasn't very happy with me but was quite pleased with herself. I thought if you had a cat in your apartment mice tended to stay away. Guess that is an urban legend also.