I Feel Like An Elf

I can't post any pictures of my knitting on the blog cause they're all gifts. Most of the recipients of these gifts sometimes visit this blog. So, how about some cute puppy pictures? Will that do?

This cute little thing is my new "Grandpup", a purebred Boxer named Callie Mae. Isn't she adorable? She belongs to my oldest granddaughter and is very spoiled, very loved and a wild little thing. This is her on Thanksgiving Day, leaning up against Grandpa after dinner. Yes, she sleeps with a blanket.
This cute little one is my "Sisterpup", she's part black lab and part schnauzer and her name is Margie. She belongs to my Mom who has always loved dogs and after losing Sadie I knew it wouldn't be long before she had another one. Margie is perfect, they go for long walks several times a day and my Mom is losing weight faster than I am now! I need to borrow Margie for awhile.
Cause this one would rather hide here than go outside and walk. This is where I found her when she was missing. Is that not one sad looking little pug? What a ham.
All of the sweaters I showed you in my last post were sent home with my Mom when she was here for Thanksgiving. Every one of them, except the multicolored one, fit her perfectly and she loved them so I sent them home with her. No more sweaters for me until I figure out why they're either too big or too small.

I'm trying real hard to get into the Christmas thing but it's harder this year than it was last year. There's alot going on around here, the temperatures have been in the 80's and I just can't get going with the shopping and all. I've only got one person finished and 1/2 of another one. I really need to get going.

Here's my Christmas card to all of my on-line friends. I hope to blog again before the big day but if not, have a wonderful, fun filled, Merry Christmas.............
and Happy Knitting!

Eat, Knit and be Merry!

To all my knitting friends and all my non-knitting friends, from my house to yours:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Eat well, knit fast and take a nice long walk for your heart.
Then do what Libby does, take a nap.

Happy Knitting!

Behind The Scenes

Someone said they were checking my blog and nothing was happening. You're right, the blog takes time and I've been busy. And, Ravelry doesn't help at all! Wanna see what I've been up to?
This was a prize I won on YarnBeans blog. It's Somoko yarn from Handmaiden. Gorgeous! Thank you so much YarnBean! I love it.
Horcrux Pattern at I'm Knitting as Fast as I Can Yarn: Elann Peruvian Sierra Aran This is my second pair. They keep my feet nice and warm in the winter.

I think the pattern for this was in last summers Interweave Knit. It was "something" Latte' so I call it Pink Latte'. It's too big and I'm not sure if it's made for this body. Might try it with a t-shirt underneath and see what happens. I started this last summer and just got around to doing the front bands, twisted cord and putting it all together.
Close up of the twisted cord woven thru the edging. The pictures will all get bigger if you click on them, for more detail.
Peek-A-Boo Sweater by Knit One, Crochet Too, Yarn is Italian Ice. I made a 44" size and it's too big. Guess I've lost something with all this exercise I've been doing, or, I keep picking sizes too big. I also started this last summer while at my Mother's. Might make it again with different yarn. That Italian Ice is too expensive when I can't seem to get anything to fit.
The backside.
Flower Basket Shawl, made from 3 skeins of di-Ve' yarn, Blues. It's not on their web site so maybe it's discontinued. It's a worsted weight yarn so was very fast. Beautiful colors. This is for my oldest daughters friends Mom who is battling an illness.
This is all the yarn I had left, with one stitch to go!
This is for the oldest granddaughter. Just a simple shrug to keep her warm in school. Made from Lion Brand Cotton Ease
The Baby Girl came home for a weekend and woke up freezing and hungry. She got an omelet and Mom's MS3 Stole, to borrow.
Crochet? On a knitting blog? Well, I do crochet, and this yarn from Fearless Fibers is wonderful and such a pretty color. It's a merino lace weight in the color called Miracle. I'm knitting the Olde Peddlers Shawl, which can be found on her Etsy shop.
The beads go on at the end, with the edging.
There's a few more pictures but it's bedtime so I'll try to get them on here sometime before the weeks over. I still have lots to show and lots to talk about. So, till next time..............
Happy Knitting!

Frog Pond and a Prize

I'm still alive! We had a great vacation, I got to go to a yarn shop, went "grubbin' " and found some ruby's, saw my Baby Boy, saw my parents, walked alot and did some knitting. But, if you remember the "blueberry sock" I had on my last blog entry, well, it's a ball of yarn again. I had both of them finished up to and includingthe toe but I didn't like the toes, they were too pointy, so I frogged them both. I'll try again when I'm over it.

I got an e-mail today from Yarnbeans and I was so excited I was screeching. I won her birthday contest! Scared poor BTB, he didn't know what was wrong with me. Go see my skein of yarn, it's gorgeous! Scroll down a ways after reading todays entry, it's the Sokomo, which I've never heard of but love those colors. Thank you so much Yarnbeans!

I'm into this cast-on-itis but nothing's getting done. I've still got a good 5 or 6 inches to go on the last sleeve of Kauna, but I'm getting there, little by little. It's still in the 80's here so it'll be a long time before I can wear it. I've started the beautiful Bee Fields Shawl and I'm loving it. What a fun knit, I haven't gotten bored with this one! I also started the Flower Basket Shawl with some big yarn I had. I only have 3 skeins of it, 360 yards, so it won't be delicate, it'll be to keep me warm. Might save it as a gift or might use it myself. Haven't decided. I've finished my granddaughters shrug except sewing together the little sleeves, so I can give it to her on Thursday. I still have my Dale sweater to finish, but again, it's still so warm here I'm not thinking sweaters. I've got so many things started and everything is growing but nothing is growing real fast. I'm also trying to get 4 things sewn together that have been kicking around for a year or more. I guess when you knit, sewing takes a back seat. I'd rather knit it than sew it together.

So, that's it from here. I'll try to do better at posting but when I don't feel like taking a bunch of pictures and being on the computer for hours, I just don't get the blogging done. I'm bad, but, I do read everyones blogs almost every day so I can keep up with what you're all knitting, sewing or making.

I'm also one of those that gets on Ravelry and forgets the rest of the world! Wow, that is an amazing site. Visit me, come be my friend, my name is......what else? ScrappyKnitter All one word. Hope to see you there.

Happy Knitting!

One Down, One to Go!

Look what I finished this week........I call it the Blueberry Sock cause this yarn really reminds me of them. Click it to bigger it. The second one is cast on already and is about 1/2" long.

Yarn: Kroy 4ply sock yarn, no color name, just a number
64 sts cast on
3x2 rib down the sock.
Size 1 Inox needles (my favorite for socks)
I not only made socks, I made up the pattern! Yea me!

Only 2 more pairs to go to get my 7. Problem is, someone is home for the weekend and she said it was her turn for socks (it's always her turn) and her roommate/best friend would love a pair too. Of course, when the oldest hears this (or reads my blog) I'll have an order for her and her 3 little ones who aren't so little. As a matter of fact the oldest one (granddaughter) has feet bigger than her mother and her mother has BIG feet! I see way too many socks in my future and did I ever tell you, I hate knitting socks?

Off on another camping trip this week so I won't be blogging till next week, but I'll be knitting. I started another lace project this morning and another smaller project. I'm tired of making sweaters so going to stick with little things for awhile. I have got to use up some of this stash! BTB is taking me to a couple of yarn shops but I'll try really hard not to come home with yarn, just yarny stuff.

Have a great week and I'll be back next week with some FO's.

Happy Knitting!

Many Thanks!

Thank you all who left comments regarding the Swan Lake MS3 shawl/stole. We're not real good about taking pictures here but we love showing off the knitting to you. Your comments were very much appreciated!

I got my invitation to Ravelry this week so I've been busy trying to figure that out. Trying real hard not to spend so much time on the computer but shoot, that website doesn't help at all! For those of you on there already my screen name is ScrappyKnitter (all one word), so stop by and say hello. I'll try to figure out how to read it.

Just cause she's so dang cute!

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Knitting!

Introducing Swan Lake

Stats: Yarn: Zephyr Wool Silk, color suede, about 1 -1/4 skeins
Beads: Beadwrangler, #217 (clear with copper center) size 8 Seed Beads
Needles: Size 5 addi turbo (the old ones, I don't have the new lace ones)
Started: June 29, 2007 , finished it on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
Pattern: Mystery Stole 3 by Melanie, named Swan Lake Stole
For: Me

I really enjoyed knitting this stole and was amazed at the beautiful pattern that emerged as I went from chart to chart. This is the first time I've knit lace with this tiny, tiny yarn. I usually use fingering weight. I loved working with it and can't wait to find another lace project since I have another hank of it in a pale pinky/mauve color.

I am HOOKED on putting beads on lace. This new way of doing it is so much better than stringing 2000 beads onto your yarn before you even start knitting. I had a great time with my Great Grandmother's crochet hooks. I had ordered some to use for this KAL but half way thru I looked to see if Nannie ever used hooks that little and sure enough, she used some really small ones, so I used one of hers. Made it all the more special.

I've only been knitting lace with charts and lace weight/fingering weight yarn for about 2 years! My very first blog entry, all the way back to 2005, last entry, is my first lace shawl. I never thought I'd be able to figure out all those little symbols. Now, I can't do it any other way. I'm so glad I took that class from Needlecraft University and that shawl pattern was their lace class. I've been hooked since.

Now, without further adieu, Swan Lake. (You can click on picture for closer inspection)




My little helpers
Happy Knitting!

MS3 FO

Get it? LOL
After the bath.
The wing. See the Baby Girls hedgehog at the end? He got to stay home with me this year.
Close up of those gorgeous beads.
MS3, a finished object.
I will get "glamour" shots tomorrow when it's all dry and ready for the public view. BTB was putting up the trim on the stairs so I had to use the Baby Girls room, which is still jam packed with her things, instead of the hallway as I usually do, so the pictures aren't as clear. This gives you an idea of what it looks like. More pictures later.

And, I'd like to thank the following for all their help in the knitting and blocking of my MS3. I couldn't have done it without them. Thanks guys! (see Maggi over pugs back? she helped, too)
Not one taker for the Rebecca magazine! Jeesh, what is it with you guys? I have stuff to get rid of, I have to get my house cleaned and I can't even GIVE stuff away! One more try - first one to say they want it in the comments gets it. My 2 daughters don't count.

Happy Knitting!

I Held Her Travel Sock!

I had such a good time! Stephanie Pearl McPhee is the best speaker I've ever heard and she had me in stitches thru her entire hour and a 1/2 talk. She tells the funniest stories about knitters, knitting, people related to knitters and strangers and the tears are running down my face and she never EVER cracks a smile. She is amazing.

The Welcome sign on stage. It was put on by Knitch, a yarn shop in Atlanta that is AWESOME and has a huge selection of yarn.

The Yarn Harlot! And yes, she kept her smile thru about 2 1/2 hours of signing her name!
The Scrappy Knitter and The Yarn Harlot. I got to hold her sock! Ha! I'd like to thank BTB for taking the picture. He got to come in after she spoke and hang out with me while we waited in line for her to sign my book. Thanks Darlin'!
The stash! I am trying to be very careful about buying more yarn. My closet has no more room for anything. I did buy some Fino (alpaca and silk) in a beautiful plum color, some Louet kid mohair and linen called KidLin in a pinkish color (really soft), a skein of Noro Daria in a multi color to make the pug a leash (yes, she's a little spoiled, but it's a beautiful leash), 2 Brittany crochet hooks, Brittany double points, size 6, for the leash, an SSK magnet for my car, a Rebecca magazine which I do not like and probably will not buy again (if you want it, leave an e-mail, be the first and I'll mail it out to you), coilless pins, a pad, a kit to learn entrelac and, are you ready? AND, a BLACK SHEEP measuring tape! Yippy! Finally.
Here's the pug, in her "traveling outfit." We all had a great time, enjoyed Atlanta (but NOT the traffic) and I loved the 2 yarn shops. Oh, we went to Macon on Thursday and found a yarn shop there. It's called Creative Yarns and is another must see yarn shop. Nice people, LOTS of beautiful yarn, fiber for you spinners and several kits. I love kits.
I am now onto clue 7 of my MS3 stole so hope to have that done by the end of the weekend. I sat outside with the pug all day Wednesday and knit in the sunshine and cool breezes while BTB and the Baby Boy and his 2 friends went to a Sporting Clay club. Camping is a relaxing passtime that our family has enjoyed from the beginning of time. It's great for a day of knitting!

Happy Knitting!

See Ya!

Going to see the Yarn Harlot. Decided to make a trip out of it so we're taking the camper and puppies and spending 5 days in the Big, Big city. Get to see the Baby Boy too. I'll try to blog when we get back. Do I need to say I'M EXCITED? It's like going to see an old friend and she doesn't know me from Adam!
Happy Knitting!

I'm Maggi. I get to go camping! We have to take that little spoiled bratt too, but that's okay, she likes to take walks with me around the campground. See Ya!

Birthday Weekend

Happy Birthday Lyssa Cirrie!
She was 10 yesterday.

Happy Birthday Oldest Daughter!
She is 30 today!

I don't have any pictures in this computer of either of them. I also don't have any of my knitting today but I'm working on it. I've been making lots of progress and will hopefully have a FO report on something soon. I keep running out of yarn, or need further directions on something and then have to wait. So, soon.

I didn't sell one single book, so, I guess that's not the way to get rid of knitting books. Some people are really good at it (and have a ton of readers) and some, like me, aren't.

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend and Happy Knitting!

Knitting Books List

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Calling All Knitters!

She's Cleaning House! Oh NO!

I have a whole packing box of knitting books that I was going to sell on e-bay but then decided I would try listing them on my blog first. So, if you're in need of some knitting books, stay tuned, I'll be listing them tomorrow afternoon. Most of them will be $5.00 and the actual shipping cost (if I can figure that out) and I will send them "media mail" to keep the prices reasonable. So, call all your friends and watch the blog tomorrow afternoon for some great bargains! I'm cleaning house.
Happy Knitting!

Fresh Air and Sunshine Does a Body Good!

What a great 2 weeks I've had! Really it's been 3 weeks but it takes me a while to get over "vacation mode" and to get back into the swing of things. I learned something while I was up in the beautiful, cool North Georgia Mountains without internet access. I can get a lot of knitting done in 2 weeks without it.
This is the Kauna sweater, although now I've got one sleeve about finished and the steeking is done. Yeah, steeking is something you have to try once to get over the butterflies in your belly, but after that, piece of cake! But, I was nervous! More pictures of this one next time. It's a great pattern, awesome yarn and I'll definitely be making another one, um, cause, I don't think this one is going to fit, but, we'll see.
Taking pictures while driving is different!

I'm way behind the norm for the MS3 stole but still loving it and can't wait to see "my" wing. I'm going to do it as written, there's enough oblong and triangular shawls out there, this one looks amazing in the finished photo's that are popping up. Melanie is awesome and a great designer! I'm just starting clue 4 but I'll show pictures soon.
Funnel Cake at an Arts and Crafts Festival

I'm so excited about this one! The Yarn Harlot, aka Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is coming to Knitch in Atlanta! I have no idea where Knitch is and I have no idea how to get around Atlanta but BTB loves nothing more than a challenge, a nice ride and camping so I went ahead and reserved a spot at Knitch for September 19th to meet Stephanie! Maybe I should call her Ms Stephanie, I don't even know her, but I feel like I'm going to Atlanta to visit a friend! I'm so excited. This will only be the second time that I've met a "famous" knitter, the first being Nicki Epstein. So, I'm off to the big, big city in about a month with camper, pug, dachshund and BTB in tow to spend a day yarn shop hopping, meeting the Yarn Harlot, I'm sure seeing my Baby Boy and Knitting! I love being retired. YIPPY!
Beautiful Mountain views up there!

The Baby Girl is back at school for her sophmore year of college. The summer went by too fast, we feel like we hardly got to visit with her while she was home. She's almost directly across from Starbucks, so she's happy. The Oldest Daughter is also back in school for her 3rd semester. She's considered an Adult Student so doesn't go by years, but by semesters. She went for the 6 week summer course, too. I have no clue how she does it with 3 kids, and 2 of them with special needs, but she's doing it and loving every minute of it. We love teasing them both, the 19 year old college student and her 30 year old (almost, not quite) college student sister. The Baby Boy is also taking college courses, on-line, so we may have 3 kids all graduating from college; 2 at the same time.
My Dads cat, Toby. This is how he sleeps.

I've started a walking program to try to get rid of these dang 10 pounds that won't budge. I've discovered that the problem is my cholesterol medicine so I'm calling the Dr. tomorrow to find out what I can do. It's not only making me gain and hold on to this 10 pounds it's making my face and scalp break out terribly and at my age I certainly don't need to be worrying about pimples! So, I'll be trying to remember to post on here how I'm doing. I'm trying to walk 2 miles every other day and one mile the other days. So far I'm doing pretty good, but, this morning the scale says I've gained 14 ounces! I HATE SCALES!
The Baby Boy, who surprised my Mom at the restaurant, where we took her for her 70th B'Day

Glad to be back to blogland and even though I didn't miss the computer while I was away, I sure did miss reading your blogs and seeing what you were all up to. Hope all is well with you all and Happy Knitting!

July 19th, 1957

That was a good year! That was 50 years ago today. I am so glad that I'm here to share my 50th birthday with the world. I guess you could say I almost didn't make it, but, almost doesn't count. I'm here, that's the best part of this day.

My super wonderful kids had a surprise party for me on Saturday. The oldest daughter was supposed to be out of town and BTB and I had to go up and feed our grandkittens and our new grand guinea pig. Guess what? We forgot the house key. The oldest daughter had to let us in anyway. THAT was a surprise!

There were bunches of people standing in her kitchen, all around the table, including our Baby Boy, the Baby Girl and friends. The oldest said "the rest of your present is in the backyard" so I went to her backdoor and opened it and OH MY GOD! Her backyard was even more full of people than her kitchen was. What a great day. My parents were there, there bests friends were there, my good friend from the Atlanta area was there with her daughter and grandson, the Minister from the church the Baby Girl goes to was there with his daughter and granddaughter, there were so many people! I was speechless.

We had Chinese food and good old American food - hamburgers and hotdogs. And, my Mom's neighbor, who is also a friend of ours, made my birthday cake. Chocolate Cake people! With white frosting. THE BEST KIND OF CAKE!

And this folks is what BTB gave me! It's very special cause the ruby is actually shaped like a heart and BTB is very sentimental now about my heart. This one is perfect, as is BTB. What an amazing 50th Birthday! Thanks everyone, you made me feel very loved, very special and not so old.
And here's some more, just cause I know you want to see them. This is my newest Nantucket Basket my father made for me. I now have either 5 or 6! I've already put the Kauni yarn in it. That's last years MS2 behind it.
Coffee syrup and Dels. Do you know what that is? It's good! Came from RI. That's the lamb the Baby Girl gave me.
A huge bucket of Del's. This is from my Baby Boy. I'm going to make BTB and I one of these tonight. If I remember I'll take a picture. YUMMY!
This is from my parents. It's a Jim Shore lamb. Isn't it awesome? And Mom quilts, so I'll always remember it was from them.
This is from the Baby Girls best friend/roommate and is called the Liberty Pug. How cute is this? And it looks just like my Liberty.

I was going to post about my knitting tragedy's but this has been so much fun putting together I've decided they can wait, or maybe just get lost in the shuffle. I had pictures but haven't downloaded them yet. I've had to tear out almost 50 rows of my MS3 stole. After admiring several in blogland I realized I had a mistake way back down in the middle of chart 2. It's torn out and I'm now in the process of getting all the stitches back on the needles and figuring out where I am in the charts. Kauni had the same fate but only 7 rows had to be torn out. I only had one row in a box instead of 2 for some reason. That's all back together and those 7 rows have been reknit and knit right. That's what I've spent my 50th birthday doing, while watching movies with BTB, who took half the day off to spend with his bride.

Headed to the Mountains Saturday to spend a few weeks with my parents and to celebrate Mom's and my birthdays. She'll be 70 the 25th (she'd kill me for saying that in public) so we're spending our milestones together. If 50 is the new 30, 70 must be the new 50, right? Sounds right to me.

Happy Knitting everyone and I'll be back sometime in August.

I Cried, I Screamed, I danced!

Thursday, July 19th, is a special day for me. My kids (and husband) had a party. Some bloggers found out and sent stuff. I was overwhelmed! I've never been given so many great gifts from online friends. You guys rock!


Catherine dyed yarn just for me! I cried.
Beth sent a tissue holder for my purse. I screamed!
Today in the mail Susan sent me my very own school supplies/knitting equipment! I danced.

I cannot tell you guys how much I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I can't even think of words to say to you but hugs, kisses and all good wishes to you from me!

Happy Knitting! Update again on Thursday when I show you the rest of the goodies.