Hope your Christmas was fantastic

We had a wonderful Christmas. The weather was warm (yeah, we missed a white Christmas again!) which made for easy travel to both of my grandmother's houses and my inlaws. The knitted gifts were warmly welcomed and I was asked to knit a few other items for family and friends. I promise, I will get to these sometime this year.

A few pictures of the inlaws and my family and of my boys doing the annual modeling show of new clothing.

Catch Up Day

I promised my Aunt I would post a picture of my yarn stash, so I am doing that today, along with the newest yarn acquisitions. My dear Hubby went out on Black Friday and hit JoAnn's. He picked up alot of wool for me to felt with.

The scrapbooking has been put on the back burner till after Christmas. I had a lot of Christmas knitting to do and am down to the last gift. Feeling pretty good about that, but it will be done in the knick of time as we will be celebrating Christmas with my side of the family on Sunday. For your amusement, here is a picture of the annual ugly socks for my dad.

And last but most def. not least - a picture of my boys which I put in our Christmas cards this year. Handsome aren't they?

Sophie's Fine Yarn Retreat

It has been ages since my last post, and there is really no excuse - everyone is busy. So, no excuse. This past weekend I attended a retreat thru Sophie's Fine Yarn in Louisville, KY. The retreat was held at Clifty Falls State Park in Madision, IN. This was the best weekend. Relaxing, full of knitting, wonderful people, and laughter. The Inn at Clifty Falls was awesome. The accomidations were great, food was fantastic and the staff very nice.

Barb from Sophie's sure knows how to put on a wonderful weekend. There were 48 ladies in attendance and I know everyone enjoyed themselves.

Friday night was meet and greet, goodie bags were given out, we had a yarn swap and we all sat and knitted. Saturday morning Anastasia Blaes, author of Yarn Coctails taught modular knitting and in the afternoon she taught finishing techniques. What a funny, enjoyable lady. I learned a lot from her classes. Saturday evening was sharing of the blooper knits. Also prizes were awarded for stash size, and best hiding places. I won a Stitch and Bitch book on CD. Now, I know I have alot of stash, but...I really thought I wouldn't have one of the biggest. LOL.

Pictures are from the Inn - what a view of the Ohio River, and of the bloopers.

Thanks again Barb, for putting on this retreat. It was fantastic.

Yarn and Caffeine

It doesn't get better than this. We got home from taking my son to the doctor and this wonderful package was sitting on my doorstep. My Caffeine Addict Swap partner on Ravelry really spoiled me. I love Lorna's Laces and I don't have either of these colorways. Yarny Goodness. And the coffee - can you read the label? It is Knitch coffee. The package says "Our friends at Java Vino created this special roast to support our desire to STAY UP LATE AND KNIT! Whatever you're working on, Knitch roast will help you finish that last row". How cool is this? you know, as a scrapbooker - I will be scrapping that label. I love the pattern, the dark chocolate (my downfall) and the note cards. I also have to say thanks from my Tattoo - he loves his chew toy. My son was so excited that my swap partner thought of our pouch. And the candy I will share with my guys. The mug is beautiful! It will probably stay in my scrapbook/knitting room. Thanks so much partner - this was wonderful. Oh, and the ecard sent last week was too funny.

ScrapPink Week

Hi there. The LSS here in town, Memories a la Mode, is hosting a ScrapPink week in conjunction with Scrapbooks ETC. I was asked to organize this week long event. We are selling pink ribbons for $1 in honor of or in memory of someone who has been touched by cancer. We are having a class every night during the week, a portion of each participants class fee will be donated to the Susan G. Kormen foundation. All of this ends with an all day crop on September 29, again, a donation is being made for each participant. I am teaching a Basic Grey layout class. One of the layouts is here for you to look at. Thanks for looking.

Bad Blogger

I know, I know, it has been awhile since I have posted on my blog. The only excuse I have - Life. We are in full swing of school and all the activities that this entails. S has piano lessons, band, Men's Ensemble, play practice, and the gazillion clubs he belongs to. M has soccer and guitar lessons and his garage band practices. These sometimes require ear plugs. LOL. I have been knitting and scrapping as much as I can. You can tell by the date on this layout that I am behind on my scrapping. Tonight M got popped in the eye with a baseball when he and some neighbor boys were playing. He is going to have a real shiner. (Note to self: Take a picture). He is so upset that he is going to have a black eye on Saturday when we host the U of K vs U of L football game party. Go University of Louisville!

My caffeine lover's swap package will be in the mail in the morning. Hope my swap partner enjoys it - yummy bourbon flavored coffee.

Textured Turtle Challenge

From my sister in law's etsy site:


http://www.texturedturtle.etsy.com
The challenge is to create something using a kit and post a photo of it either on a blog, Flickr, or other on-line source. With your permission I would also like to showcase your entry on my blog.

These are my original Fiber Art kits at a 50% discount. When you order a kit you will receive a hand painted piece of cloth which has been distressed and stitched to a base of batting or felt, along with an assortment of coordinated fibers, mesh, lace, tyvek, and perhaps a surprise item or two; you may add things from your personal stash as needed.

There are 10 challenge kits available that have been numbered 1 to 10 and will be shipped in that order. Please note: each kit is numbered so you may not receive your favorite color which will make the challenge even more interesting.I find that experimenting with a small kit often opens the door to new and exciting techniques, thus the premise for my Fiber Experimentation Kits.

I’ve designed the Fiber Experimentation Kits in a way that allows your creativity to take over. "By treating a kit as if it were a puzzle my job is to play with the pieces until the puzzle falls into place." Anonymous.

After the due date of Nov.1, 2007 a name will be randomly chosen (from those who have sent me a photo of their project) to win a mosaic shawl pin or button in the color of your choice (similar to pic).

Weekend accomplishments

Hello! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. I finished the Dark Mark Scarf for S. As soon as it is blocked, I will put pictures up. I also test knitted a Candy Corn Scarf for a fellow Ravelry person. It was too cute. Don't you think so?

Also, a fellow FiberRAOK member is having a sale. Here is the link: http://www.pdxetsy.com/sale.html

Have a great week.

Yarn and scrapping!

Thought I would share another layout and some yarny goodness I purchased today. I started the yarn Christmas shopping. I am hoping to start on the Christmas gifts this next week. Am I nuts or what? It is 100 degrees outside and I want to knit with wool - yup must be nuts.

I finally scrapped

Mom came up yesterday and we started working on the New York albums. I was thrilled to get 8 pages done today. Seems like the mojo may be back. Here is one layout from the album. A total scraplift from Debbie Hingston - CK, Aug 2007. I just love it.

First Day of School

Here they are - the first day of school. Both said the really enjoyed it. And, believe it or not, they came home with a list of dates - so my calendar is filling up already with all of their activities. It has just begun!

Studio and Textured Turtle

This is my studio. It used to be the boys playroom and now it is my playroom. Lots of room to scrapbook, knit and curl up with a good book. And check out this great clutch my SIL made me. I love the texture and the color. She is so talented. Check out her Etsy store - Textured Turtle

Birthday Goodness

Flowers, yarn, a gift certificate to a LYS, and lots of scrapbooking goodies from my friend Patty (I need to take a picture of this too). A great day. Can't wait to knit some socks with the yarn, scrap some great layouts with the scrapping goodies. And the flowers from my sister and her family are beautiful. They look great on my antique ice chest.

98 degrees out and what do I do?

Yup, I take my youngest son to the Cinn. Bengals Training Camp. Oh my gosh, the weather was so horrible. Humid, hot, very little breeze, but you ask M. and he will tell you it was all worth it. Why? Well because of this. He loves Chad Johnson. He got his autograph on his football and his Chad Johnson book. I think his day was complete. And, isn't that what it is all about? Summer, your favorite sport, being around your favorite player. Yup that just about does it for a 12 year old. For me, it was seeing him - sweat pouring off his face, his hair soaking wet and the smile on his face.

Freedom

This layout is for my NYC album from our trip this summer. I also have used it for a design team challenge on accents2scrapbooking.com. I think the picture spoke the title to me. This is how I felt as we took the ferry over to Ellis Island. Freedom - what an awesome thing.

Scrapbooking and knitting update

There has been very little scrapbooking or card making done this week. Much more knitting - I am trying to catch up on the MS3. Almost done with Clue 3.

I have been working on cards for stamp club on Wed night. The theme has me stumped - citrus colors are the theme. I finally found some lime green and orange which I thought might work so that is my starting point. HMM, now where to go with this. Hopefully tomorrow, I can take pictures of my card, and my MS3.

I have to go register my sophmore for HS in the morning, work at the LSS after that, then my youngest, my dad and nephew and I are going to the Cinn. Bengals training camp for a few hours. Should get some good pictures of that as well. I know M is very excited about going. He has asked all summer for this. I wish S could be with me when I register him for school but, for some reason, registration at school is always when the kids are at band camp. You have 200 children who can't be there for registration and they still do it. And, the make up day is while they are still away. Geez. Oh well. I guess this way, there are fewer complaints about the schedules.

Birthday Meaning

Your Birthdate: August 6

You tend to be a the rock in relationships - people depend on you. Thoughtful and caring, you often put others needs first. You aren't content to help those you know... you want to give to the world. An idealist, you strive for positive change and dream about how much better things could be. Your strength: Your intuition Your weakness: You put yourself last Your power color: Rose Your power symbol: Cloud Your power month: June

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

On the Needles

Can I tell you that I am not happy if I have only one thing to knit? I think I am pretty normal that way don't you?

Currently on the needles - The Illusion Scarf by Shetha Nolke from the Stitch and Bitch book, the Mystery Stole 3 - yes I am behind but trying to catch up, Seduction Socks by Ann Budd from Interweave Knits, School Spirit Hat by Ellen Edwards Drechsler from Creative Knitting Magazine - Sept. 2006 issue.

Also, I am trying my best to clean up my studio. The scrapbooking items have taken over (and I haven't scrapbooked in ages - what is up with that?), the knitting patterns I have printed off the internet are stacking up, and need to be filed. So, today is my day to clean up. I hate to clean, but I need to - so off to the Studio.

The sorting hat says that I belong in Hufflepuff!

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot, and treat them just the same."

Hufflepuff students are friendly, fair-minded, modest, and hard-working. A well-known member was Cedric Digory, who represented Hogwarts in the most recent Triwizard Tournament.

Take the most scientific Harry Potter Quiz ever created.

Get Sorted Now!

MS3

This is my first KAL and I am having such a great time. The mystery stole is so much fun. I do believe this is the prettiest project I have ever knitted. Thanks Melanie for creating this project. You can see more of Melanie's work at http://www.pinklemontwist.blogspot.com/