I Heart Yarn

Woolgirl sent out her Charlie Brown Valentine kit and somehow, I had accidentally signed up for it, accidentally gave my credit card number and accidentally gave my address. achem.I couldn't help it! Look at all the fun goodies she included!
Now stop drooling and start knitting!

FOR DOG LOVERS ONLY:

You know that old saying, "Pride goeth before the fall." Well well well. In the last post, I brazenly told you about Leo, the Prince of Poopness, being accident free for five days. Not 1 hour after I posted that, he had two accidents (one of each kind) and has been having accidents almost every day. Last night, we put him into his kennel for bed and as soon as his paws hit the blanket - he peed. Doggy whisperer, help us!

Mornin' . . . blech.

Dang! It was so hard getting out of bed this morning! I love Minnesota, but some of these cold dark mornings are hard on the body. Even the kids protested more than usual when we woke them for school. It's about -4 F, clear and cold. Crunchy snow day. Too cold for a walk to the mailbox with Prince of Poopness (puppy). By the way, he is accident free now for 5 days!

Hubby setting up new dog kennel -

Leo playing with the box it came in.Another "puppy" playing in her box.

OK, so on to knitting. I immediately broke my pledge to start no new projects until my current deals were closed, but as any obsessive knitter/person knows, that is fairly impossible to do.

I went to buy a new "Fiber Trends - Felted Clog" pattern from the knitting store . . . the dog ate mine - no kidding. And low and behold, I found another kit for Norwegian mittens - bought it and cast on ASAP. (I also lost the pattern for my Ladies Mitts - grrrrrrrr).Mystery Orange Socks - so so cute but a tad bit tedious.
Pattern: Little Pumpkin Socks by Sabine Ruppert
(if you can't open this link, google "little pumpkin socks sabine ruppert" and it will take you to a pdf download.)

Hubby's Voyageur Boot SocksMy own pattern (but I totally copied Hanna Anderson's socks).

- And Sew It Is asked, "Did your hubby let you off your yarn diet?"

Not exactly. I received some "funding" for Christmas!

ALERT:
Noro Sock yarn at Knit Wits in Chanhassen. One word: yuck. It's beautiful yarn with an unfortunate texture for socks. Very scratchy and coarse.

Viewer Discretion Advised

Guinifer, don't look (she's on a yarn diet).

I love this. I love love love this. I think these will be my Christmas presents for next year. I've learned my novice knitting lesson: Start your Christmas knits in January. Several colors to choose from and the kit is $23 for the yarn and pattern.

But what color? Check out the website !

The Curse - Revisited

Those socks are Hanna Anderson socks for $12.50

My version is below - skein was $10.50 plus endless (and apparently unending) hours of labor. Doesn't that make you mad. And mine are not without the infamous 'husband-sock' curse. (Remember Chocosocks?!) This time, Leo-the-Prince-of-Poo grabbed my knitting and terrorized it for several minutes before I caught on.

1. He ripped out the needle. grrrrrrrrrrr2. See those little snags on that wire. That is my circular needle - trashed. The yarn snags horribly on those little snags. 3. He managed to create a huge mass of snarl and knot with the skein of yarn. Pulling the yarn to knit has because a process of tortured tedium. The curse is back!Alas, I will persevere! I managed to pick up the stitches - no easy task, mind you! And I knit on . . .By the way, my blog has become a monotonous sock knitting extravaganza. So I am going to try a few new projects. A sweater for my Belle and my first pair of Norwegian mittens. . . (I lost the pattern! GAH). More on those later. First, I have a few pair of socks to finish, so bear with me.

Minnesota Cold!

We are home after a quintessential Minnesota winter weekend. First stop: Pine Needles in Seely, WI where I picked up a delicious skein of yarn for a pair of birthday socks for hubby K. (On Your Toes - DK Boot Sock Yarn w/ Aloe Vera - 100 g. 75% superwash wool, 25% Nylon)

I love this yarn because it reminds me of the plaid wool coats from Bemidji Woolen Mills that every self-respecting Minnesota owns. It reminds me of the Voyageurs who traversed this state in their canoes so many years ago.

We did some sledding and cross-country skiing. It was Lunker's first time on the North American Birkibeiner trail. And of course, the dads took the kids ice-fishing. We were going for pan fish but caught a record walleye instead. A huge surprise since the lake was tiny.

By the way, we don't usually keep fish this big. This poor fella had an unfortunate incident with a 7 year old fisherman and an ice hole that was a tad too small. I don't know if it's the same for all fisherman, but generally, we would have taken a picture and returned this real lunker back to the deeps. Sorry old man.This hideous piece of knitting is supposed to turn into a felted slipper. We'll see. It's for Hubby's birthday, too.
And shhhhhh. Remember that orange wool I told you to keep an eye on? ("No.")
Well, it's knitting up nicely into a pair of socks for a dear friend 's birthday. I can't remember when her birthday is, but I know it's near the end of January, so I have to hustle and get these done!

Happy New Year!

I won't be posting until after the new year begins, so

Happy New Year!

PS. Woolgirl is starting a FABULOUS new sock club - you can start signing up for this after in January. Don't miss out!!

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care . . ."

Some Stockings for hanging. (My mother-in-law knit these)

Some socks for giving. (For my sister-in-law)
Lumpy and Bell waiting for their turn in the Christmas pageant.
Mary and JosephBy the way, do you see that real baby in the manger? It was promptly replaced by Bell's baby doll that she brought.
Peace on earth, good will to all!

'Tis the season

You are looking at a merry little gift that my good friend Tiffy gave me just because she's nice. Her talented sister "T" made this (and other clever things). She needs to get off her tushy and open an Etsy shop. achem. hint hint. By the way, that little tag was handmade - the stamp included. She drew and carved out that little stamped bird herself! Isn't it sweet?


I still have no knit items to show off because I'm just too darn busy. But I'm close to having a dull, but practical pair of socks completed. When I do, you'll be the first to know.

In the meantime, I was pleasantly surprised to receive another sock club kit from Woolgirl. It was entirely unexpected. I forgot I had signed up for this! Whoop whoop! I highly recommend her clubs. They are fabulously fun.
I didn't get a rich enough picture of the yarn. It's the perfect 'sprucey' color.
Here is a tiny stitch marker (she includes one in every kit).
And a new sock pattern that I can't wait to knit. I won't do the ruffled edge. I'm beginning to be a firm believer in the simple ribbed cuff (k2,p2) which can't be beat for fit and comfort. (All my non-knitting friends are starting to yawn).
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I will try to get one more post in before Christmas.

When the weather outside is frightful . . .

Thisplus this

Plus thisEquals a fine December morning.

Well, no knitting to speak of. There are things in a pile next to my bed, but nothing finished. So instead, I bring you some of our December antics.

Making cookies at Grandma's house:

My mom and I made Icelandic kleinur (clay-noor) for the first time. They are like doughnuts, only not as sweet and with cardamon. We had a fit of giggles when I suddenly noticed how phallic our kleinur were turning out to be.

See if you're imagination is as sick as my own:

What was Leo doing? Getting his ass kicked by my sister's pug. Ha ha.
Ok, I lied about not having any knitting news.

I bought this kit at Coldwater Collaborative. (Designed by Arnhild) These are traditional Norwegian mittens that suggest I use US size 0 needles. Do these even exist!? Yes. They do. And I'm not really looking forward to knitting with toothpicks, but I paid for the kit and I'm going to make these.
Peace Out!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr

Hands c-c-c-cold. Can't knit. Stiff f-fingers.

-4 degree F

Must knit mittens.

Lots of Doo Doo

OK OK! I'm back. I don't think anyone really missed me because it seems that all my bloggy friends are quite busy this time of year. We have been doing constant clean-up after Leo - who is doing his best impression of an out-of-control soft-serve ice-cream machine - from his back end. And I'll welcome advice (yes, we've crated him - yes, we take him out after every meal, playtime and every 20-40 minutes).

My consolation is that the vet said, "This behavior still falls under 'normal' for an 11 week old puppy." In fact, the vet told me to set our alarm every 2 hours during the night. This was met with my stony silence and then,

"Set the ala . . . . every 2 . . . . are you . . . . . am I . . . "

"You know, " said the vet sweetly, "It's just like having another baby."

"But we . . . . I . . . "

"OK then, we'll see you next week at Leo's appointment. And good luck."

(Guinifer, you were brilliant to wait).

And do you know what I found him chewing on?!? An OWL PELLET!!!!! Do you even know what an owl pellet is!?!?!? Well I do NOW - it's owl vomit and it looks like a ball of fur with tiny bones from mice and voles. Where is he finding these things?! I'd return the damn dog, but when I sit down on the floor, he flies across the room, abandoning his current chew toy and promptly curls up in my lap. See?It's so utterly charming and disarming that I can hardly stand it! Damn, he's cute. I won't give him back just yet.

Now moving on. Imagine lovingly knitting a pair of socks for your 7 year old (foreshadow: this is the kid who pulled out my needles from my choco-socks to use as light sabers). You finish them around 11 pm, sneak into his room and tenderly put the socks on his chubby little feet. You hear his joy upon waking and finding new socks on his feet. An hour later, there is a gaping hole where he fidgeted with a snag, snapped it and then unraveled it "to see what would happen". (insert red angry face)Do you think I can fix it? The ladies at Coldwater Collaborative challenged me to fix it myself (instead of paying them to do it). They said that if I did, I would most certainly promote my knitting prowess to a whole new level. They suggested KITCHNER stitch, but what do I do with the broken ends!? Advice? I'll keep you posted.

My niece's socks turned out to be too tight, so I'm giving them to my Belle who has skinny little legs and feet. They turned out nice - except I did not bother lining up the self-striping yarn. Too lazy.
CO 48
Needles: US 2
Yarn: ONline Supersocke 100 Holiday Color 90 (Self-striping)
Pattern: basic sock
size: child 13

And so I'm off. It will be another week, I think, before I post again. Keep on a-knittin' (or sewing or whatever it is that you do).

PS.
1. Another crafty idea to add to your Christmas list: Recycled Christmas Stocking
It's a great way to use up an old wool sweater. Check it out from Fluffy Flowers. (Beware: Loads of yummy, handmade items for sale!!)

2. "Pay it Forward" - this is a really fun thing to do. It is a random act of kindness in which you send someone a secret package of something you made. And you may receive one, too. Check this out at "And Sew It Is". You don't have to be a knitter!