Endpaper Mitts Completed

Phew! They're done. I can't believe I actually completed them, and ON TIME! Yes these are for a swap. I am going to give them away!!

You can find the pattern HERE
They were a lot of work but the knitting went quick. These were my second stranding project and I have gotten quite good at it. If I haven't mentioned before, I am a continental knitter and am self taught. Anytime I need to learn something new, I look at all of the different ways it can be done and I choose the way that seems most natural for me. I strand with both yarns in my left hand. Some people knit with one in each hand.






This is a shot of the inside. No bunching and no long floats. I guess this is a sign of an experienced strander??? Everyone always turns my stuff inside out and inspects it. Is this good? I have no idea!

Presenting........the 2007 Bobby Awards Prizes

Here are my prizes from the Bobby Awards...

This is the only picture with the bag in it. I LOVE it! It's Lime green with longish handles and a pocket on th front where the Ravelry logo is.

Here is my award. :) Under "The Bobbys 2007" it says "the official inaugral year of the unofficial ravelry awards". (Have a mentioned yet how stinking excited I am to have won this honor???)

These are probably my favoritist part of my prize (yeah I know it's not a word, get over knit hehehe SNORT) I plan on getting "frogged" asap so I can use these babies. :) (for you non-knitters, frogging is ripping out your knitting to fix a mistake or, in this case, it means something entirely different) ;0)

Then I got these pins... (I typed my name on this one with Photoshop)


I think this one is WICKED cute!
and this one is Ravelry's "motto"

Here are two cool lapel pins. The doggie is "bob", Ravelry's official mascot and the other is the Ravelry symbol.

and this is a sticker with Bob on it

This prize is better than I could have hoped for. Definitely not something I could pick up just anywhere, and they made me feel special. :)

I always thought I was funny. It's nice to know other people think so too. LOL (my husband thinks that he's funny as long as he's laughing. it's nice to have some validation to support my claims)

I saw "The Bucket List" this weekend

You have to see this movie. It's funny, it's poignant, it's REAL!

I absolutely love Jack Nicholson, and this movie is one of his finest. Morgan Freeman was also great and it was a pleasant surprise to see Sean Hayes, of Will & Grace fame.

My favorite quote form the movie is, "There are three things to remember when you are old; never pass up a bathroom, never waste a hard on and never trust a fart".

If you see the movie, let me know what you thought about it. And don't forget to see my bucket list posted below.

Regarding the Bobby Awards on Ravelry

I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON - I WON -


lol!

I am so stinking excited!!!

LMAO@ME!!!

When walking into work the other morning, it was FREEZING and pretty icy. I came upon the large containers that they have at the entry way of work that always host really pretty flower arrangements year round. Because of the time of year, they currently have Pine branches and other branches with red berries all over them. I was awestruck by how beautiful they looked because there was ice all over the berries. See below...

So, as I walked into work, I thought how wonderful and beautiful the world is. :)

Fast forward to this morning, not so chilly.....the berries still had the same AMOUNT of ice on them. So, I bent down for a closer look and reached forward and touched them. THEY'RE PLASTIC!!!! Ice and ALL!!! LOL

MORON.....

Are you on Ravelry?

If so, can you help? I am knitiot over there.

I was nominated for a Bobby Award for funniest Ravatar.

I am in the lead, right now but the margin is slim. If you think it's funny can you please go on over and click on agree under my Ravatar? It's number 45 at http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/the-bobbys/63865/26-50



This is it...


If you already voted for me, THANKS SO MUCH!!!

(I would be so happy to win this title!!!)

UPDATE - It's Wednesday night and I have over 500 votes (HOLY COW!!!). Thank you all so much! Please keep the votes coming. 2nd place is only 20 votes behind me last time I checked! YIKES!

Kris - I will blog soon. Been busy with work, etc. Lost another two pounds this week and my knitting group is up and off the ground with quite a few wonderful women. I couldn't be happier (even though I turn 37 on Friday!!!)

Courtesy of my good friend Pam...

AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES

1. If you're choking on an ice cube simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat. Presto! The blockage will instantly remove itself.

2. Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold while you chop.

3. Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat by using the sink.

4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use a timer.

5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives, then you'll be afraid to cough.

7. You only need two tools in life - WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.

8. Remember: Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

9. If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.

Daily Thought: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS

Winter Wonderland

This is what I woke up to this morning. This is what it looked like out my front door....



...and this is what it looked like out my back door. Look at that tree! GORGEOUS! and the fence to the left and the right of the tree is a metal chain link fence. It's completely covered.



This is what my dog Lila looked like when she came in after a romp in the snow. She bounds around the yard in it. It's hilarious to watch. (she's affectionately known around here as Wiwa woo-woo)



Then, it was even more hilarious to watch her try to eat the snow off of herself. hehe

tried a Cactus Pear tonight

Cactus Pear is the fruit of the cactus plant. The flesh is BRIGHT fuchsia! Boy that was unexpected. Isn't it beautiful? It has a bunch of seeds in it, that the web says are edible but they were like trying to chew on tiny pebbles so I didn't try too long. The flavor reminds me of watermelon. It was very wet with very little taste, so maybe they are "off-season". I'll try again in the summer, BUT AT LEAST I TRIED IT! Can you say the same?

Cast-ons Bind-Offs and Knitting Stitches

(if you have any suggestions for things I should try, please comment)

Cast Ons

Conquered
long tail (aka Double Cast-On or Continental Cast-On)
backward loop (aka Single cast on)
italian tubular
knitted
cable
turkish
provisional crochet


Need to try
Old Norwegian Cast-On (aka Twisted German Cast-On )
Alternate Cable Cast-On
Magic Cast-On
Moebius Cast-On
Braided Cast-On
Circular Cast-On
Lace Cast-On
Aloha (toe up socks)
Judy's Magic Cast On

Bind Offs

Conquered
Sewn Bind Off

Need to try
Russian cast-off


Stitches or Stitch Patterns

Conquered
garter
stockinette
rib
cables
twisted rib
simple lace
twisted stitch
slip stitch
dropped stitch
textured stitch patterns
stranding
intarsia
Lace
entrelac
double knitting

Need to try
smocking

FINISHED! Hilja's Mittens

I finished these a coouple weeks ago but am finally finding time to post them.



These are for my No-More-Humdrum Mittens Swap pal, Katie Franceschi of Yarn Love (OMG her yarn is to die for!! I am searching for Valentine and Plum Cake (I think that the name of it))



I hope she likes them.



Presenting......Hilja's Mittens from Folk Knitting of Estonia

My No-More-Humdrum Mittens

I received my beautiful mittens from the first round of the No-More-Humdrum Mittens Swap. They were knitted by Jenni in Finland. Aren't they gorgeous? I wear them everyday because they are super warm.

If you like these, you may want to consider joining our second round. The details are located on the blog. We'll be starting mid-January but it's not too early to sign up and get your questionnaire up on your blog.

Tee-Hee

I am hosting a new mitten swap

If you would like to join my next Mitten Swap, you can find it Here

This last one has been great. I learned a new technique (Stranding) and the next one I plan on converting a sock pattern to mittens with a technique I found online.

Come and join us and try something new!

Death of Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel

Not sure if you heard this or even remember who he is, but Evel Knievel passed away yesterday. I was watching a story on ESPN about his life and it brought back many memories from the 70’s. At the end, it said his real name was Robert Craig Knievel, son of Robert and Ann (Craig) Knievel of Montana. My maiden name is Craig so I sent an email to my sister and brothers saying, “I wonder if...”

One of my brothers just replied with this, “I thought you knew he was a relative of ours. Call dad and have him make a copy of his info from the Craig family book.” (a relative of ours did a complete genealogy of our family and made it into a book. My dad has a copy).

Isn’t that COOL?? If my family talked about it back in the 70’s, as young as I was, I wouldn’t remember it.

And now that I have been reading a little bit about him, I have found that before he started his daredevil career, he sold Insurance for “Combined Insurance Company of America”. Coincidentally, the company I work for acquired that Insurance Company a few years ago, so I work for the same Company as he did. WEIRD!!

Stitch Markers I made for my Coffee Swap pal Nancy

I have been waiting until Nancy got her package to post these. I made them out of clay. Don't they look like real coffee beans? LOL I also made a cup with a bit of brown atthe top to look like coffee. I am going to make a set of these for myself too!

Ugggghhh

My life is so boring I have not had anything to blog about lately.

I found out this weekend that we have been deserted for Thanksgiving. We usually celebrate at my IL's but overheard at a party this weekend that they are going somewhere else this year, inviting everyone form our usual dinner except us.

So, alas, i will be cooking Thanksgiving for the first time in years. It'll be the first since I married DH. I am ok with this, now that I have had time to get over the initial anger and resentment I felt earlier in the weekend.

The biggest perk of this is that i will have total control over the menu and am going to make it as healthy as I can while still allowing the splurge a holiday i famous for. I am making pies that will count as little points and will make things like my potatoes and squash as close to core as I possible can so I don't blow it too bad.

I went shopping this weekend. I can triumphantly say that I am now a blissful shopper on the "other" side of Fashion Bug. (Big gals on one side, sexy slim gals on the "other".

:)


Happy Monday everyone!

Red Sox - 2007 World Series Champions

Congratulations to all Red Sox fans out there!!!