My Wish for You

I hope you all have a wonderful, healthy, happy New Year! I'll be back in 2007 alive and kickin'!
Happy Knitting!

Christmas Swap Update

The second half of the Christmas Swap gift to Kathy has arrived. You'll have to go to her blog to see a picture of "her" because for some reason I can't find my picture in my computer. But, she liked it and I'm thrilled and I love her name!

Happy Knitting!

Caution:Knitting Content Ahead!

I had every intention of getting on here and doing a Christmas post but time just got away from me. My parents arrived last Thursday, the Baby Boy arrived Friday at noon and it was busy, busy until Tuesday when they left. Blogging is something I'm always thinking about (someone else said that on their blog this week - I'm not copying it, I'm agreeing with it) but just never seem to sit and do too often. The picture thing is a pain in my side and even though I have the new blogger and have a webshots account it still doesn't do what I tell it to. I'll try to get more organized in 2007 and blog more, but no promises. :o)This is one of 3 scarves I've made since just before Christmas. This one belongs to the Baby Girl who insisted she needed a red and white scarf as soon as she got home from College. It took me longer than any of them cause, well, I kind of had a heart attack right in the middle of it. There's a mistake in the middle of it too, I told her I wouldn't fix it, it would remind her of her Mom's rough night.
Specs: Cascade 220-1 skein in red
Telemark in off white - 2 skeins
Needles size 10 1/2
Pattern: Odd Ball Knitting; Silk Bamboo Ribbed Scarf
Of course hers looks totally different because of the double yarn and bigger needles but the pattern was fun and she loves it.

I also made a scarf for her best friend/roommate that was done in the Yarn Harlots one row pattern in blue (cotton ease) and white (telemark). She loved hers too, and of course, we forgot to take a picture before she went home with it. Same thing happened with the Baby Boys. His is done in a Heathery Cascade 220, black and rust colored and then black Telemark. He was surprised because I was knitting it sitting here visiting with him Tuesday morning before he left and then I cast off, wrapped it around his neck and said this is for you so you don't get cold. Probably thinks I'm nuts but one of these days he'll be very happy he has it. His was also done in the Yarn Harlots Pattern. Great pattern if any of you need a quick knit, if you hold 2 strands together and do them on 10 1/2 or 11 needle. The blue and white one took me 2 days.
This is what the Baby Girl gave me for Christmas, minus the bear. More on him below. She went to my FLYS and picked out all these yarns herself. Even picked out that blue one on the bottom right because it has music notes (remember? she's my muscian)on the band. I was doing a happy dance! The Alpaca Grand is SO soft and snuggly. The Atacama is hand died and beautiful and she even looked into the glass case where all the top notch stuff is and bought me this skein of red Angora! Then she went to the store with her Daddy and "helped" him fill my stocking and I got the most wonderful bunch of knitters "must haves." You know, the sticky notes, pens, mechanical pencils, all those things that have to be in the knitting bag. That was a great surprise.
And, this adorable little thing is from my Oldest Baby Girl and 3 grandkids. Isn't it cute? She has on a knitted poncho and it came with a poem my daughter wrote for me, which I can't type here cause I can't get thru the 1st sentance without crying. It's really sweet though and goes right to the heart! So, this is now sitting in my sunroom, where I do all my knitting, watching over me. I love it! It was a very special Christmas for her this year because she is now a single mom and managed to give her 3 little ones a great Christmas and spoiled all of us too!

From my Baby Boy I got a Starbucks gift card (YEAH) and can't wait to use it. He got us all one and we've made plans to go to the big City tomorrow so we can get some Starbucks anything! I also got a gift certificate to Bed, Bath and Beyond, which isn't that far from Starbucks, so I'll go in there tomorrow too and see if I can find any good bargains. My Baby Boy knows what his Mom likes, huh?

I got a bunch of other stuff but that's enough typing for one day. The Baby Girl is getting bored so I'll go find something for her to do! (that'll never happen) I hope everyone had a great Christmas and I hope I'm back before New Years Eve with another FO, also a Christmas present from the Baby Girl, but I want to get it done before I show it off.

Happy Knitting!

Late?

Here's hoping you had a very Merry Christmas!

Blue Skies Over Georgia

I keep telling myself that it's December 16th but look at this sky! Beautiful! That is one of our 7 pecan trees. No leaves and no pecans. Not one pecan from 7 trees this year. That's not good cause I'm not paying for pecans!

What was the temperature you might ask? I'm not sure, see if you can figure it out. These are all within 10 feet of my deck. Go figure!
I'm working on a REALLY BIG sock and then I'm going to try really hard to get the Bistrow sweater sewn up. Maybe after a short little nap. I didn't take Beth's advice (forgot about it really) about the Chia Tea Latte before bedtime. Well, had one last night around 7 and watched that dang clock go around all night long. Finally said the heck with it at 5:30 and got up. Now I'm really, really sleepy.

Happy Knitting!

12 Days to Go!

This is my 2006 Snowman. I collect snowmen and usually only the ones that say Let it Snow but this one was so cute I couldn't resist. And, it came from a school fundraiser and how can you say no to your granddaughter when she asks you to buy something so she can win a prize. Win she did, too, a huge stuffed tiger from some kids movie. Anyway, 12 Days till Christmas. Are you ready?


This soap was in a box of goodies my Baby Boy sent me to help pass the time when I got home from the hospital. I was so surprised! I wish I had taken a picture of everything but I forgot. I got 3 magazines, some yummy German cookies, this soap, a Saduku book and the neatest bar of chocolate you've ever seen. Dang, I meant to take a picture of that and I forgot. Hold on, I'll go get the camera, you have to see this chocolate bar....
I haven't touched it yet, as you can see, cause I'm trying really hard to stick to the no fat, no fried, no fast food heart disease patients rules. So far I guess I've done pretty good, I've lost 8 pounds (yippy) and haven't missed the junk food too much. Just knowing that this chocolate "Emergency Bar" is in my drawer helps lots though!
These arrived yesterday amidst all the Christmas packages. The UPS guy must be sick of our address by now. I ordered them as my reward for sticking to all the new rules for 2 whole weeks! I'm going to gift myself every week until, well, until I run out of gifts to me! The Artic Lace is very interesting to read and there are some gorgeous patterns in it I can't wait to try. This is my 3rd book of the Barbara Walker series and although I haven't looked thru it yet I'm sure it's great. #4 might be next weeks gift. The Victorian Lace Today book is like going on a trip and the pictures are beautiful! There's lots in there I want to make too.
This cute little couple was made for my mother-in-law, by me, several years ago (like 15) and I got them back when she passed away this past June. The color is aweful but I wanted to put them in here and didn't want to go outside. (Lazy) Her dress is actually peach and his pants are tan with dark brown trim. I made both my mother and mother-in-law a pair of them for Christmas that year. They're all crochet and were lots of fun. I always wanted to do a pair for me but never got around to it. So, now I have a pair, passed down after 15 years. My Mom's are done in blue and sit on a little childs potty chair in her room.

I'm working on my swap pals Christmas present, the handmade part and hoping to finish it up today. Better late than never!! She's been a great sport about it and I'm glad I'm still around to make it. :o) Thanks again Kathy!

Might just work on putting together my Bistrow sweater this afternoon if I'm up to it. It's all done, just the dreaded part of putting it all together.

Hope you're all enjoying your Christmas preperations and taking it all with a grain of salt! Don't forget, chill out every now and again and relax FOR YOU! Stress causes Heart Disease in women......I didn't even know that the indigestion I was having so much was a sign of heart disease! There's a great web site that is full of info and even though this might bore you to death, if you don't read it you might find yourself in my shoes and believe me, that was NO fun!

Happy Knitting!
Women's Heart Health

Accents and Sunday Drives

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
The Midland
The Inland North
Philadelphia
Boston
The South
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I really had fun with this! I'm from Rhode Island, so this was pretty good. Even after living in the Southeast for 15 years I've still got it. But, I knew that, everyone in the South reminds me of it every time I open my mouth.

BTB took me for a ride today for a change of scenery. I love "This Old House" but after 10 days I needed a change. It was cold (21 this morning) but a beautiful day so we took a drive, stopped at Starbucks to get me a Vanilla Chia Tea Latte (YUMMO) and then lunch at Applebee's. That was such a treat and since they have the Weight Watchers menu I didn't blow my low fat, low cholesterol way of eating. Oh, and if you're not a coffee drinker, like me (I have cocoa/hot choclate every morning) try the Starbucks Vanilla Chia Tea Latte. It's out of this world!!!! I'm not a tea drinker either but this is totally different than anything I've ever had before.

Hoping to finish my fathers Christmas present that I started last November tomorrow so maybe pictures of it if I can work up enough umph to take the pictures.

Happy Knitting!

Christmas Swap Gift

I'm not a photographer, although I always wished I were, but here's a picture of the pile of gorgeous Christmas gifts my Christmas Swap partner, Kathy, sent to me. I just wish I could have gotten a better shot. In the background is the cutest, silkiest scarf with my favorite Christmas collectibles, Snowmen, on it and Merry Christmas written on it. Then, to the right are some chocolate covered spoons! The Baby Girl and I dug into this package FAST! Kathy made the handbag in the center and it's lined in the softest, silkiest fabric and she put a little Ginger Bread pin on the front. You can't see the button too well - told you I was a terrible photographer. The little purple silk bag had Kathy's handmade earrings in it and 2 bracelets and a necklace. I wore the necklace the night the package arrived. It's the one hanging from the left corner of the bag. Kathy I can't thank you enough for such a terrific gift. I love each and every item you sent me and will cherish them as my first ever swap gifts. Thank you!
This is a Hermione mitten that I made for the Baby Girl cause she's freezing walking to classes in this very unseasonably freezing Georgia weather. Well, she came home for Thanksgiving, said she loved the mitten but she doesn't have anything purple, could I make some red ones to go with the scarf she also asked me to make? Well, the scarf is trying to get done but the mittens are going to have to wait cause I've got to get some stuff off the needles so I can quit thinking about them. But, this is a fun mitten to make and only took 2 nights. Next time around I'll do it without the bobbles, they're just not my style.



The only good thing that came out of this heart attack business is the gorgeous flowers I've gotten. I've never owned a Poinsettia before and this one came from our friends and I got another one just like it from my parents. There's actually 2 plants in that basket. See the little flowers getting ready to burst open in that bottom right leaf? Beautiful. The cut flowers above are from my good friend who lives in Atlanta and gave me heck for having the heart attack. She's a year older than me and like me, couldn't believe it when she got the call. I also got another cut flower arrangement in a basket from my daughters roommates family. So, I'm feeling a little special.

Thanks for all the well wishes that you've all left in my comments. It's so nice to hear from you all. I'm feeling better but hate this sitting around stuff. My exercise is walking for 5 mintues twice a day and the rest of the time I'm to take it easy. BTB is making darn sure of that so when I think I'm going to sneak in a minute of something besides sitting he gets after me. So, back to my perch I go. I'm starting to knit a little but dang, I just can't concentrate. It's kind of hard to count rows when your brain is still trying to figure out why you had a heart attack at 49 and you read all the stuff about the stents they put in you to save your life. Yeah, I have them, 3 of them, and the drug coated ones, so I'm worried. Oh well, seems stress helped me get to that point so now I need to learn to get over it. I'll let the Dr. figure out what he's going to do about them when the time comes.

Don't stress out over your Christmas plans and to-do list. It's not worth it. My Christmas shopping is about done and I've done every bit of it with the computer and a credit card. The UPS guy brings it to my door - no gas, no crouds, no stress. LOL Not my usual way of doing things, but, for this year it worked. ENJOY THE SEASON!

Happy Knitting!