WooHoo!

First things first, HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!! You have always been such a pillar of strength in my life and I'm so grateful to have such an amazing mom like you! I hope you have a fantastic day and that you enjoy it to the fullest!

My parents at the National Harbor. They are both so YOUNG looking, I'm one lucky lady!

The start of a Thorpe for Niece L. The construction of the hat with the top down is awesome! it's a little difficult to get it going with 1 stitch on 4 different needles, but once it's past that, it's smooth sailing!

The color is so pretty and it will look just fantastic on little L. And that Malabrigo.. well, I don't think I have to say anything else about it! So soft!

Here are the completed hats together. They coordinate so well together and the girls will look so cute in them! I'm not sure if they will actually fit the girls, they might be too big, but they will work for more than one winter that way.

I love them both! I can't wait to get modeled shots of the girls with their new hats on! And tonight, I will be starting the blue hat for my brother. I haven't quite decided what color trim will go on the hat yet... Brown? Green? Decisions, Decisions!!

Here is the updated Christmas List:

1. Thorpe for Brother- Blue Malabrigo bulky
2. Thorpe for Dad- Green and Gold (no yarn yet)
3. Thorpe for Niece A- Dream in Color Fatty, Happy Forest, trim in Malabrigo chunky in hollyhock (Finished)
4. Thorpe for Niece L-Malabrigo chunky, Hollyhock, trim Dream in Color Fatty, Happy Forest
5. Foliage for SIL- Pink Frost Chunky Malabrigo
6. Koolhaas for Brother- Malabrigo
7. Scruncable Scarf for Cousin's Husband- Berroco Comfort
8. Basic Hat for Cousin's Husband- Berroco Comfort
9. Purple Socks for Mom- Lorna's Laces (1/2 done with 1 sock)
10. Basic Hat for Brother- Berroco Comfort
11. Unoriginal Hat for SIL- Pink Frost Malabrigo Chunky
12. Annual Scarf for Mom- ??
13. Toasty for housemate- Sunny Lime Green Malabrigo (1 mitt done, 1 1/3 of the way)
14. Toasty for Cousin A- Sunny Lime Green Malabrigo
15. Clappotis for Cousin A- Knit Picks Gossamer (just need to weave in the ends)
16. WVU scarf for best friend- blue and gold Berroco Comfort
17. WVU Scarf for best friend's GF- blue and gold Berroco Comfort
18. WVU Hat for best friend- blue and gold Berroco Comfort
19. WVU Hat for best friend's GF- blue and gold Berroco Comfort
20. February Baby Sweater for Niece A- ??
21. February Baby Sweater for Niece L- ??


Oh yeah.. One more thing.. My college Alma Mater is now 11-0 for the football Season... AMAZING!!!! GO BALL STATE!!!!!! I hope we can keep that going and end the season with a HUGE BANG!!!!!!

So proud of Ball State!

Christmas Knits...

The joy of the holiday season! :) I am very excited about this holiday season because I am doing a lot of holiday knitting for loved ones and it's going well. I have a LONG list of things to complete. I finally made a list to get my going.

I ordered a swift and ball winder to get all my holiday knitting yarn into cakes so I could start knitting, but they were on back order, so while waiting for them to come.. I decided to cast on for some Toasty (pdf) mitts. I saw them on A friend to knit with's blog and knew I needed a pair or a few pairs! I already had some Carrot Glaze Malabrigo into a cake and was wondering what I could do with it.. so I made Toasty (Rav) . They went so fast, that I was able to check the stash at the apartment in WV and cast on for another pair in this sunny lime green! I have finished one and I'm just about 1/3 of the way through the second mitt.

They had to be put on hold because I finally received my Swift and ball winder on Monday night and that's what I did all night! Wound lots of beautiful cakes! They also, have already been claim, so have have the Glazed Carrot Toasty's. I may have to get some action shots with them and the recipients.

On to the Christmas Knit List... it's a LONG list but small projects... with some of them possibly taking just 1 night to get finished... this should prove to be a good thing for me. Here is the list in all it's glory...

Christmas Knit List:

1. Thorpe for Brother- Blue Malabrigo bulky

2. Thorpe for Dad- Green and Gold (no yarn yet)

3. Thorpe for Niece A- Dream in Color Fatty, Happy Forest, trim in Malabrigo chunky in hollyhock (Finished)

4. Thorpe for Niece L-Malabrigo chunky, Hollyhock, trim Dream in Color Fatty, Happy Forest

5. Foliage for SIL- Pink Frost Chunky Malabrigo

6. Koolhaas for Brother- Malabrigo

7. Scruncable Scarf for Cousin's Husband- Berroco Comfort

8. Basic Hat for Cousin's Husband- Berroco Comfort

9. Purple Socks for Mom- Lorna's Laces (1/2 done with 1 sock)

10. Basic Hat for Brother- Berroco Comfort

11. Unoriginal Hat for SIL- Pink Frost Malabrigo Chunky

12. Annual Scarf for Mom- ??

13. Toasty for housemate- Sunny Lime Green Malabrigo (1 mitt done, 1 1/3 of the way)

14. Toasty for Cousin A- Sunny Lime Green Malabrigo

15. Clappotis for Cousin A- Knit Picks Gossamer (just need to weave in the ends)

16. WVU scarf for best friend- blue and gold Berroco Comfort

17. WVU Scarf for best friend's GF- blue and gold Berroco Comfort

18. WVU Hat for best friend- blue and gold Berroco Comfort

19. WVU Hat for best friend's GF- blue and gold Berroco Comfort

20. February Baby Sweater for Niece A- ??

21. February Baby Sweater for Niece L- ??

That's the list for now... I'm sure it will shrink... or maybe it will grow once I get things finished. I'm not sure how to put a slash through words... so the BOLD items are finished... if anyone knows how to slash through the words, let me know!

Below is one of the finished items... the THORPE for Niece A :) She is totally going to love this hat! It's the cutest thing ever, and I'm sure her sisters will be super cute too since it has to be smaller! I cast on and cast off on this last night.. That's what happens when using bulky yarn and size 9's!

Such a lovely lady to model it for me!

Here are two hats I finished for the DBF. He already got them because it's COLD in WV. He was very happy with them, although I didn't take any pictures of him in the hats... maybe this weekend? I love the blue and green.. GO IRISH hat! It's the second one I've done and they just turn out so well. The yarn is berroco comfort, which I Love for making hats!

Another shot of the all back hat... it's basic and will go well with anything!

Here is a shot that I took on my drive home from work a week or so ago... Such a cool picture!!! I was very impressed when I looked at it. (I was stopped in traffic when I took this, don't worry)

Hopefully, I will have lots of finished Christmas knits next time... I have good feelings! Especially having 5 days off the week of Thanksgiving... I will be knitting the entire holiday!

West Virginia

My DBF is moving the Morgantown, WV... As of this week, all of his stuff in there and he will going back this weekend to official start his new job on Monday! He is so excited to have this opportunity to be happier in the job he has...

We took the opportunity to go hiking at Cooper's State Park. With a great reference from my best friend who lives in Morgantown now, we took the Raven's Rock trail...

Here are a few pictures from our adventure...

The DBF and myself at the top of the trail.. such an amazing view!

S and K, what great friends to help us move all of our stuff into the new apartment!! THANKS AGAIN!!!

Group Shot at the top...

A nice picture that will definitely be going into a frame for the new apartment :)

Yarn!!!

Since this is what the blog is really about... Knitting and yarn! I am showing off my new purchases from the FFF in Orange, VA.

First up is the Uruguay Chunky, 5 balls to be exact. This yarn is sooo soft! I have no idea what I will make with it, a hat and scarf combo? A neck warmer? It's 73 yards each and its just excellent!

This is some really nice natural wool I picked up for a sweater for my dad. I think it will become the Cobblestone, but it will probably have to wait until after Christmas.

GO IRISH!!!!! This is the Notre Dame sock yarn :) Really its called Zucchini, but I thought it looked just like ND colors, so that's what I renamed it.

This is Creatively Dyed's sock yarn and it's soo pretty! There is to much light the yarn in this picture, but it's a nice purple color, which I was looking for. It will make such great socks for sure.

Creatively Dyed again, but LUXURY, with CASHMERE! It kind of looks like a Peacock, which is also want I wanted. It's so pretty and SOOO soft. I don't know what I will make with it...

Up next is my latest order from Eat.Sleep.Knit. I just love that store. It's such a great place to order from, not to mention, it's FAST, like order on Wednesday, get it Friday, kind of fast.

Some Dream in Color Fatty in Happy Forest for 2 hats for the nieces. They have pink coats, so I thought Green would go well with it.. And some Malabrigo Chunky for the brother for a Thorpe. It's such a bright blue and it will be nice for those Chicago winters!

This is Yarn Love in Anne Shirley and the colorway is Fairtale. I bought 5 skeins for some kind of sweater. I am thinking a hoodie sweater with really neat buttons. I might wait a while to start this, but at least I have the yarn now.

More MMMalabrigo in Sapphire Green. I was thinking a sweater for me, but when my parents were visiting two weeks ago, my mom was like, oh I like that green yarn, then I showed her my Feburary Lady Sweater and she just raved, so this will become a Lady Sweater for a Special Lady! And while visiting Annapolis, MD with the parents, we stopped at a yarn store and I picked up GREAT buttons for my FLS and my mom picked some for hers too. They are so beauitful.

And just a bit of Sock yarn enhancement for the "stash". Some Shibui in a great bright pink! I might make some socks for a neighbor of mine from home. She is a breast cancer survivor and while this is not exactly the breast cancer signature color, I think she would love them!

That's all she wrote until I have actual progress pictures of my FLS. It's going slowly but surely. I have made it well into the lace section and try to do 1 to 2 repeats a night, when I can. I will be moving this weekend, so there will be lots of packing and not so much knitting, but after that... knitting will happen moree often!

Fall Fiber Festival

Sunday I went to my first ever, fiber festival. It was definitely an experience! I bought lots and yarn, but I'll show that in a different post. They had a display of different sheep and goats and llamas.. They were so cute!

I think he was bowing down... or embarrassed :)

These were the funny goats. They made the funniest noises and right after this picture... he got shaved!

The llamas were cute, but I wasn't going to pet them... Since I'm allergic to every animal, I decided to stay away from them...

And I finally met Chan in real life! She is such a great person and it was so great o finally meet her!! Wendy, Chan, and I had a great time!

I will have to agree with Chan though. I was underwhelmed with the turn out of vendors and people. I thought it would be more. I definitely picked up my fair share of yarn though.. 3 skeins of sock yarn, 6 skeins of this delicious purple goodness, and 8 skeins of a heather grey for a Cobblestone sweater for my Dad.

I have been dogsitting since Friday so I haven't been at home to take pictures or anything... It's definitely been interesting this week. I feel like I'm not ready to have a dog yet because I work long hours and can't go home for lunch. If I could go home, I wouldn't feel as bad, but at least they get to go on LONG walks when I get home! :)

Chicago...

What a weekend! I left on Thursday for Chicago and it was a great weekend. My flight was supposed to leave at 7:00 pm. EST but with the storm coming in I decided to call to see if I could get on a different flight, and luckily I got on the 1:29 p.m. EST flight and made it into Chicago at 2:30 p.m. CST. I was so happy to get there and see the girls!

Ava was so sweet. I walked in, put my arms out for a hug, and she came right to me! It was very sweet :)

This is Lila Olive. She was having some sleeping problems, but as long as I was holding her, she fell asleep right away. It surprised me that she is 9 lbs. 2 oz already, but really skinny.

This is my niece dog, Bella. She is an Anatolian Shepherd and all White. She is beautiful but a little crazy. She isn't like most anatolian's because she isn't as fierce and stuff.

Close up of her face. She is just such a beautiful dog.

Ava loves to eat, even if just a little something, she loves it! When I would eat my cereal in the morning, she would want bites of it.

We went to the beach on Saturday for about an hour. It was fun while we were there, but the girls started getting a little cranky. Ava had on her bathing suit and was ready to go swimming!

She is always giving stuff to everyone, but then she takes it back. It just makes me laugh. When she gets older, they will teach her to share.

I wanted to get some good pictures for Drew and Kristine to have delvoped and put on the wall going up the staircase in their house. This one I will turn to Black and White and then have it frame for them. Along with a few others I took.

Ava has a BMW car that she likes to ride in the driveway. I was puching her around the drivway, then she wanted to push me...

Lila is almost 8 weeks old and she is so alert. She has the biggest and most beautiful eyes I have ever seen :)

I still can't get over how much I love these little girls! I really feel like an aunt now and it feels great! I can't wait to see them again soon. I will need to plan another trip to Chicago as soon as I can!

In other news, I finished a hat for my brother and it fits him perfectly! It's a hat with a theme... GO IRISH! It's a Notre Dame hat because we are all big ND fans! I also think I will be signing up for a photography class from here to work on my skills and really get to know my camera better. I would take the intermediate class. We will see...

I will be back soon :)

Flashing my stash...

I was organizing all my yarn last week because I got an ich to do so and it was just a mess in the "knitting corner' we have. In this big basket is mostly my worsted weight yarn, malabrigo, Berroco Comfort, and Dream in Color Classy (for THE sweater). Most of it has homes to go to, but a few skeins are still waiting to becoming something beautiful.

Here you can see more of the MMMMalabrigo. I still haven't gotten over how soft this yarn is.

Here is all my great sock yarn. I have counted up the skeins and I have enough for 12 pairs of socks.. not including the socks I showed in my last post.

There are such good yarns in this basket (which is from TJMaxx and its awesome!). I have lots of Jitterbug, STR, The Unique Sheep, Koigu, Shibui, Lorna's Laces and few others.

And in this chair.. We have most of my project bags, knitting needles and notions bags. This still needs some good organizing. I think I will be getting some more needle cases for my circs and straights.. and maybe another DPN case too. They are soo handy! Although, this is just ANOTHER reason I wish I knew how to sew... Maybe I will take lessons or something...

Off to Chicago tomorrow to FINALLY meet my new niece, Lila, and to see Ava. I can't wait and just know there will be LOTS of pictures taken! And hopefully a few FO's as well...