PS.

Happy New Year!!!!! (I'll be back!)

The little angel on the wash clothes was from Target (1.99).

The baby sweater yarn was DROPS Alpaca, color number 7300, lime - and
color number 7120, light mint. It's incredibly soft!

Sheesh. It's done.

This little darling took F.O.R.E.V.E.R to knit. The 1.5 mm needles did not speed things along.
However, it's done. It's cute. It's soft.

The pattern is free. (Drops Jacket - knit sideways) It's a clever pattern and easy. But because of the tiny needles, it is not for the feint of heart. (faint/feint? oh who cares) The only seaming I had to do was under the arms. The buttons won't fit through the holes, so I'm off to my LYS to find a smaller set. There are a pair of pants that are supposed to go with this sweater, but you won't find me knitting them.

And some gratuitous photos of our last winter storm. I LOVE snow, so I'm very happy!!

Dancing Around the Christmas Tree with Jolasveinar

Each December, the local Icelandic community puts together a Christmas ball for the children. I don't know exactly how traditional this is. Do they do this in Iceland? Or is this nostalgic longing brought to life in the form of New World Christmas traditions.

It begins with singing and dancing around the Christmas tree. This is a little awkward since most of us don't speak a lick of Icelandic and know none of the songs. This year, they included some more well-known favorites like Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.


At some point in the dancing, the Jolasveinar show up to play tricks and make children laugh (or cry, depending . . .) They share candy treats and join us in the dancing and singing.

These two darlings were decked out in the Icelandic national costume. There are variations - I wore one for my mother-in-law the first year I was married, but I thought it was supposed to be tied like Swiss Miss and was soundly pounced on when I entered the room by little old Icelandic ladies letting me know in no uncertain words (mostly in Icelandic, so it went over my head) that I was wearing it all wrong. Let's let these darling girls carry on the tradition, shall we?

The best part - my boys are still not to old and cynical to join in the revelry.

The Christmas Presents that WERE.

I really didn't get much knitting done in time for Christmas. Isn't that the way of things . . .

However, I managed to send off this Clapotis to my BFF who moved to Texas without me.Let's see. I used a US size 7 and the yarn is Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton & Silk - Hand Paint. It's a soft as butter, by the way. I did not get a great picture, so I'm hoping my beautiful pal will take an amazing picture of her wearing it so I can post it here! hint hint

And then there were the dish rags which one can knit while watching Heroes or Dexter or Lost . . . which starts soon.


I used a US 9 and some of that cotton yarn you can buy at Micheal's Craft Store. The one in the middle is a solid purple and a mixed yarn held together to make a sort of hot pad. If I did it again, I'd go down a needle size or so to make it a bit tighter and I'd make the hot pad bigger.

TTFN

ps. oh, that baby sweater? As soon as I publish this post, I'm going to finish it. I'm on the last button band! Can you believe it? And yes, it is knit sideways. I'll post the details here soon!!!

Happiness is a dog park on Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas.

Holidazzle

It is a dark and quiet morning. The kids are still sleeping and I'll be waking them soon for their last day of school in 2009. There are only a few days until Christmas. There is a savage snowstorm moving in soon and all is peaceful. There is still much do to - wrap up the last gifts, clean the house, bake and cook - but for now, I'm enjoying this quiet moment. Happy holidays and merry Christmas. Take a minute for yourself to just sit and enjoy the season.

These are pictures from the Minneapolis Hollidazzle parade. It marches down Nicollet Avenue every night for several weeks each Christmas season. It's your typical parade with the exception that everything is covered in Christmas lights, including the people volunteering to be in the parade.

There are people inside those Christmas bulbs. These were a favorite.
Heh heh. Even public transportation was decked out. It is getting dark around 4:30 now, so what a treat for our pale eyes!

HEH HEH

I got this from No Patterns who got this from Panopticon. I'm knitting like a mo-fo on that #$@# baby sweater on 2mm needles and the baby is growing bigger every day! Yes! Postpone Christmas!!!

He's gonna find out who's naughty . . .

Destashing is like going on a cold-turkey diet. It just doesn't work! So of all things, I bought some more roving. It's called Vixen the Reindeer and it's Wensleydale wool. I have no idea what that is, but I loved the name and the color. Think I'm going to spin it into a single ply and then knit a Lacey Baktus (rav link) for myself.

You can purchase your own lovely reindeer colorway over at Sheepish Creation. 4.3 ounces for $15 - not with shipping.

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With Strings

This really is a brown paper package and it's tied up with string. There is a wonderful woman from Norway with an amazing blog "On The Needles" - really, amazing - I'm not just saying that like it's some old cliche. She lives in a fjord in Norway and paints a lovely portrait of her life there, among the sheep and the children and the boats and the weather and, of course, her knitting and sewing.

A few months back, Marit asked for 'volunteers' for a Pay-It-Forward. Are you kidding me? I said YES! And so yesterday, I found a brown paper package with Norwegian stamps and I jumped for joy.This is a bit of the card that her daughter made for us. It is just so . . . so . . . Norwegian!
There were two skeins of lovely Norwegian wool in a deep evergreen color that will make a toasty pair of socks . . . or maybe mittens. . . Hmmmmm. I'll have to think about that.

She made tiny stockings for each of my children with their name stitched on one side and the year on the other. There was chocolate and lollipops - I did not get my camera in time. The candy was devoured!
There were treats for my husband and myself as well. She had also sewn little cone shaped bags (I call them May-Day bags, but they must have another name). And there was some chocolate involved there, too. I'm not sure - we eat chocolate so quickly here that it really was all a blur. I have a new favorite chocolate - Krokan Rull by Freira. Ooooooooh so fudgy and delicious with bits of toffee to boot.Now, best of all - she stitched up a fabulous bag - lined with bright fabric and pockets for all of my knitty things! I think I'll use it as my school bag too. It's huge, roomy and sturdy. I. LOVE. IT. It smells of lavender because she also included a luxurious bar of soap made by Norwegian nuns. And it's MINE ALL MINE! I plan on lighting some candles and having a nice hot bath soon.

Marit, you are an angel! God Jul to you and yours!!!!!!!

HAPPY KNITTING!

Hellooooooo out there!

I am still here. And for those of you who requested yarn, I have your addresses and yarn I'll eventually get off my duff and mail those to you. I have not forgotten!!

Knitty has their new winter issue out and I was tickled by a few. Especially one that was meant to show off off the random think and think spinning I've been trying out. It's a sweater called King of Confidence. I want to show you a picture, but it's from Knitty's website and I'm pretty sure that kind of borrowing is not allowed. . . (anyone? anyone?)

There is a sock pattern for handspun yarn, too! Although I think that a Noro sock yarn would work, too . . . but I've sworn that off forever...

AND believe it or not, I have been looking for a hot water bottle cover and lo and behold - there is a penguin knitting pattern for exactly that!

OK. That's all. I know I've been gone. I am still working on a certain teeny sweater for my niece and something else for my BF, but it can't be shown until after Christmas.

Happy Holidays!

A Minnesota Packer Fan. It could happen to you...

Sometimes the acorn does fall far FAR from the tree.

our son - a cheese head

In this case, all the way from Viking Territory to the east side of Wisconsin. We think it's possible that he was abducted by aliens.

Something I forgot to tell you.

I am still here and I am still checking out your blogs, but I have not had as much time as I'd like to keep in touch and to post.

I made this sweater a few months back for my daughter's tutor. It's the first baby sweater I ever made without a pattern! I found an old wool baby sweater that was stained beyond repair, so I knit my own version. It took only about two days. Maybe someday, I'll post the pattern if anyone is interested.
I added little wooden buttons. It was perfect!

ps. the lamb toy was a Fiber Trend pattern called A Felt Flock (206x) by Bev Galeskas

Do you believe in miracles?

Well, try being 43, falling in love, getting married, finishing your masters and having a baby all in one year! Here was a little gift for my newborn niece who just spent three nerve-wracking days in Children's Hospital with a strange fever. She's back home in our arms, safe and healthy, and we are so happy. We do believe in miracles!

Excuses, Excuses

I am sorry about my little absence. There was a massive candy hang-over followed by a few guilt driven work-outs that have left me fairly immobile for a few days.

And so I took this downtime and began to deconstruct my personality flaws in general and found that on top of my lack of self control with all things chocolate and peanut-butter, I am also lazy, and I have a tendency to thrive in clutter of the worst kind.

Hence Rani's Reconstruction '09 has begun. On top of trying to exercise - something I've never really done, I began throwing things out. I used Flyladys declutter system (it's free and simple). Grab three laundry baskets - give away, throw away, put away. Set your timer for 15 minutes and move like a bat out of hell or a woman after a Reese's Peanut-butter Cup.

How is this at all related to my knitting blog? I have some mighty fine yarn that I am getting rid of. There is nothing wrong with it. In fact, a few of the skeins are some of my favorites, but I'm no longer kidding myself about knitting those into anything because my Ravelry queue is 6 pages long and I only finish about 4-5 projects a year. Who am I kidding?

I don't want to charge anything for the yarn - you can just have it. I'll post pictures of the first few and see what kind of response I get. I probably don't want to ship to Canada or overseas, but I'm not a complete arse. So if you really want one of these skeins, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

First up:
A fabulously soft and squooshy yarn from The Unique Sheep in Tinsel Toes
colorway: Precious Metals
50/50 superwash merino/tencel
367 yds/100 g.
fingerling





Next: Opal Cotton sock yarn
It says 48% Baumwolle, 39% Schurwolle and 13% Polymid
wool/cotton blend?
colorway: 1956
100 g./412 m.





Next: Spunky Eclectic - Super Nova
Colorway: Irish Dreams
superwash sport with 10% nylon
360 yards/6 st per inch
(says sport but feels a bit thinner - I'd use a US 1-3 needle)




Next: Dashing Dachs: Fingerling Superwash Merino
Colorway: Froggin'
560 yards, 4 oz.



And guess what. I have so much more, but I wasn't sure how to do this. I'll see what kind of a response I get and go from there.

If you are interested, leave your name/e-mail in the comment section. I WON'T PUBLISH IT!!!! I'll contact you via e-mail and delete your comment for your privacy.

Happy November!!!

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Look at what I won! I am the luckiest girl in the knitty world! This lovely yarn is from my Up North bloggy friend Senja. She had a blog contest on her Imagine Knit and I was the lucky winner.

I won THIS:"Spice"

But that's not all. Senja did the dye job herself! She has her own Esty shop and is an talented lady. Go check out the shop (which has been recently updated). You'll find a very pretty semi-solid green called "Green Lantern" - OH, and another called "Birch Trees" and "Apricot Blush" and "Chocolate Covered Cherries". Christmas socks and gloves and mittens need to be started soon, people - check out her delicious, hand-dyed yarn. We have to support our Minnesota sisters!

Oh, and I got a little denim knit-take-along back that I love but forgot to take a picture of it.

Sweater Specs

Here are the sweater specs:

b14-27 Jacket and Trousers in Alpaca

Yarn:
Drops Alpaca lime (#7300)
Drops Alpaca mint (#7120) - it's called light gray green I think
Needles: US 1 1/2 or 2.5 mm
I bought mine at Nordic Mart for $5.65 p/skein (three skeins total for the sweater)

What I'm working on...

I decided that of all my UFO's, the baby stuff has to be finished first. There is nothing more frustrating to my inner-knitter than starting a bunch of baby clothes only to finish them when they head off to college. So my goal - stated here, publicly, is to finish this sweater in time for Christmas for my new baby niece.

I started it over in pinks and purples, but I don't like how it's turning out. So there. I WILL finish this sweater before Little Lizzy outgrows the damn thing.

Go ahead and laugh, why dontcha

Ok, you can go ahead and laugh, cuz in some silly way, it's funny. I knitted my sleeves too long.
When you make these kinds of mistakes on something you've laboriously made by hand, it has to be recognized. I ignored it hoping that either I'd wake up the next day to find that I was mistaken - a trick of the eye - and the sleeves would miraculously be the right length. Or maybe my arms would grown five inches and the sweater would magically fit. My hubby had a good laugh at that one.

Then, thanks to blogland, a bloggy friend pointed out that I can rip back from the cuffs, and pick up the stitches and finish the cuffs going the other directions. PHEW! I can actually do that. A few years ago, I would have dumped this in my UFO pile, but I can honestly and safely call myself an intermediate knitter and the thought of cutting off those cuffs does not daunt me! HA HA!

These are a teeny pair of Classic Mittens (free - all sizes) I made for my darling niece for her 4th birthday. I love the pattern but the yarn was a compulsive, much-too-expensive purchase that I shouldn't have done. Grrrr. It's Claudia Handpainted (I know! What was I thinking!). So there you go.

My Great Escape!

Mr. Flu Bug moved into my house this week. I have donned a uniform of yellow rubber gloves, running shoes and a frazzled facial expression that makes you wonder. . . crazy person? or mother with sick kids?

So I grabbed The-Prince-Of-Poopness and we ran away.

Come on, little buddy. Let's get outta here.





Out the back door and into the woods. The sugar maples, in all their glorious vanity, took my mind off the thermometers and half-eaten Popsicles and left me feeling renewed and ready to fight onward.

They didn't turn their usual red, orange, yellow. This year they opted for the 'gold' look.
"Nature's first green is gold..." R.FrostFine by me.



And here is Prince of Poop all pooped out

. . . on my newly covered couch.

Would you have the heart to kick him off?