Roving at Hobby Lobby

Who would have thought...

A friend and I went to Hobby Lobby today to check out if the rumor we heard was true. And yes it was: Hobby Lobby sells roving for needle felting. Sweet! So, we bought styrofoam balls and roving to make needle-felted ornaments:


And YAY - this is the last day of November. National Blog Posting Month is over and I somehow managed to post a new blog entry every day!. YAY again! ;-)

Big City Pictures

Well - I finally remembered to take the camera to work and then, of course, the weather was crappy. Anyway, here is something for you to look at - impressions on my way to work.



And this is my new office space:


Still a bit sparse, but I am working on the decorations. And at least the Bavarian flag is still there. My boss told me that I can decorate however I want. Hubby is going to lend me some of his treasured jigsaw puzzles. He owns a bunch with pictures of my hometown. That'll be nice. ;-)

And some knitting news. I am almost done with the first Goldilocks sock. Three more rows and then the bind off. Pixie can try it on this weekend. And - I inspired two co-workers to start knitting again. One of them has been knitting for years. She is from Germany as well, actually from the former East Germany. It was interesting today because I was wearing a pinkish novelty yarn scarf (I think I used Bernat Boa) and she told me how amazing it was after the wall came down 1989 and all of a sudden all these wonderful yarns were available in the Easterm part of Germany. It's hard to imagine how limited people there were before then.

A Handspindle Treasury

When I came home tonight - after returning crappy faulty merchandise to Fry's and shopping for advent wreaths for the office - I found a package from amazon.com. YAY - more books! Well, not all of them are for me. But this one is:


I am looking forward to some reading during my Christmas break.

I am off to watch a movie with hubby - we got The Twelve Chairs, a Mel Brooks movie from 1970. Here is some cute trivia from the movie:

Mel Brooks had problems with Yugoslavian extras who did not speak English. Some extras playing museum guards were to walk through the museum ringing a bell and shouting, "Closing time! Closing time!" The extras misunderstood and walked through the scene shouting "Cloakie Bye! Cloakie Bye!" Brooks decided "Cloakie Bye" was funnier, so he left it in the movie.

Off you go - have a good night - Cloakie Bye...

What Not to Do...

I finished the tree last night - got compliments from hubby. He better like it - he-he-he - since I spent most of my Sunday decorating it.

What not to do:

• Drink a lot of caffinated beverages to stay awake and finish chores around the house, but then you can't slow down
  
• Knit after midnight on US #2 dpns and find out that you added a stitch somewhere and you have to rip 5 rows of your dainty cashmere mitten before you finally decide to give up
  
• Leave the house at 6am the next morning without the fourth dpn to knit on the mitten

Luckily I brought another project with me to knit on the bus. At least my brain was working slightly.

Traffic was a zoo today - I am so thankful to sit on the express bus and watch everybody else crawl along. Sorry...

BUT - today was the first day that both my new/old boss and I were at the office. He's been travelling the last couple weeks. It's really funny because some things never change. He said something really nice when he left this afternoon. He said good bye and then he smiled and said that it's nice to say good bye to me knowing that I will be back in the morning. Nice, huh?

So, and here is some eye candy from our Christmas tree for you:


This is one of hubby's crystal ornaments, a mid-1950's Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, made by Mikasa.

No caffinated beverages tonight - I am actually sipping a glass of red wine. ;-)

Deck the Halls

After spending all day decorating the house for the Holidays - Christmas and a little bit of Hanukkah - I am finally at a point where I can take a break and blog a little. I am not done with the tree yet. There is still one entire box of ornaments to go through and pick the ones for this year. One of hubby's other collections (besides the jigsaw puzzles) is ornaments, and he has a ton of beautiful crystal and china ones.

So, now, the outside of our house looks like this:


And here are some pictures of the inside:

A couple of years ago hubby gave me a collection of Cirque Du Soleil ornaments. They are very cool. We both love their shows. I know one is coming to Atlanta in Spring - I wanna go!




Before decorating the tree with the lights, we tested them to see if they still worked:


They are a pain to wrap aorund the tree. Hubby likes a lot of lights, so I strung 5 sets of 100 bulbs each on the tree for him.


We have an artificial tree - my hands were in pretty bad shape after that and I decided to take a break and get a manicure. Ahhhh...

And - of course - the fiber dogs had to be put through some silliness...


I don't think they really want to be elves...

And in between I had to knit some - on the Goldilocks Socks and the Cashmere Mitts - and I finished the tweed beret. Ooh-la-la - it turned out pretty cute.


AND - the package for Germany is ready to be shipped tomorrow. Nine pounds of knitted goodies and some other gifts are all boxed. Hubby will go to the post office for me tomorrow. Such a sweetie!

Have a great Sunday evening and a wonderful week! See ya knitting somewhere. ;-)

Watkinsville Fiber Crawl

It is Saturday, 11:00am. 12 knitters, 3 cars - hit the road, baby. Off we went to Watkinsville, near Athens. Never mind that THE football game was going to happen in Athens in the afternoon. Nothing keeps a knitter away from a yarn store...

As always, it was wonderful at Main Street Yarns. After some serious shopping (everything was 20% off and I, of course, hearing the S-word, had to get a few things), we all sat down for some serious knitting. Look at the wonderful knitting group first and then I'll flash the new stash. ;-)





I just love to hang out with those gals!
Shari bought some Blue Skies chunky yarn and whipped out this really cool hat on size US #15 needles - within an hour... So fun!


I knitted on the Tweed Beret from the lastest Interweave Knits issue:


I still have 5 balls left from the Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed I used for the Entrelac Poncho and I thought that would be a cute hat for me.

Yesterday, I also started the Wine and Roses Mitts from the same magazine:


I splurged at Knitch when I went knitting (and shopping) with Pixie. They had the exact yarn the pattern calls for - Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere, so I could not help buying it. It is so soft... Don't ask about the price - I do feel guilty. But I will so wear these mitts.

I also knitted some on the Goldilocks socks. Since Pixie's foot was available for a fitting, we tried the sock on and, adding 10 stitches after turning the heel, they fit like they were made for her tiny feet. ;-)


OK - and here is today's loot:


I bought some Harmony, highly recommended from Ruth, the store owner, for felting. She showed me a felted bag she made from that yarn and it was gorgeous. I also got some frou-frou yarn to add some flair to felting projects. Also some merino roving and some merino/tussah roving:


Pixie said: "Look there are 4 bags, two for you and two for me." Thanks for sharing, my friend! I also bought a needle-felting starter kit, some Addi Turbo Naturals and Addi Turbos for knitting socks on a magic loop. And a bunch of knitting notions - somehow I misplaced my Knit Chek. Uh-h-h-h, and then I also bought 1,300 yards of bright red Merino Oro for a lace shawl.

And lastly - meet Shaun:


He came home with me and will add some baa-baa-baa to our Christmas tree. Which hubby and I will put up tomorrow. YAY!

I AM SO IN THE MOOD FOR THE HOLIDAYS!!! I wonder if that has anything to do with having finished my Xmas knitting for the Germans. Sure makes for less pressure and stress...

Magical Mystery Knitting

After today, only 5 more daily blogs for National Blog Posting Month. Whew... That was fun but I don't think I want to do it again any time soon. I have really run out of ideas... But since I started and I am compulsive, I am going to blog until the bitter end of November. And then I am going to relax for a bit.

I have a bunch of projects planned over the Christmas holidays. I will be off work from December 24 'til January 2. Yes, that's long and, yes, I just started a new job. Sometimes even a blind chicken finds a grain - as we say in Germany for when you get really lucky.

One of my projects is photographing all of my stash and listing it in a spreadsheet, then choosing patterns for the different yarns. At the same time, I want to organize my closet and maybe make a trip to IKEA for more storage stuff. And I am going to move my blog. I already bought a domain. Stay tuned - I think this will be cool.

So, here is some Magical Mystery Knitting - no, I am not going to take you on a tour... Sorry - not enough content for a tour...

Guess what this is:




More pictures of the field trip to Main Street Yarns in Watkinsville tomorrow. Last time I counted, we will be 10 knitters from the SNB-NEGA group. WOO-HOO!

Burp...

Pardon me... I am stuffed... Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful. I ate too much - but what's new... Before I go to bed, I wanted to let you know that I finished the last Christmas gift today. Here it is - a simple but elegant garter stitch scarf:




Yarn: Knitpicks Merino Style (100% Merino Wool)
Colors: Cinnamon, Petal & Asparagus
Needles: US #5

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in Germany. But since I live in the US now, I'm happy to take the long weekend coming up - we actually close at 1pm today. Very nice, and even nicer, I don't have to cook a single thing for tomorrow because hubby and I were invited to Jacquie's (you remember her - we shared a room at the knitting retreat in Pigeon Forge in September) with her family. Hubby made his famous from scratch Cranberry Sauce - YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY. I just have to bring myself - and some knitting for calorie-burning after dinner. I am soooooo looking forward to this.

Still no knitting pictures for you. You'll get a bunch over the weekend. Some knitters of the Stitch'N Bitch NEGA group will go to Main Street Yarns & Fibers in Watkinsville on Saturday for the After-Thanksgiving Sale and some knitting.

And hubby and I are planning to put up our Christmas Tree on Sunday. So, you see my weekend is already all planned.

Last night the dogs tried desperately to bring me back to life. No chance - I was too tired to play. Poor puppers... ;-)


HAPPY THANKSGIVING - gobble all you can! It's the season for eating good food and spending time with the people you love.

See what Lola from Lion Brand has to contribute to Thanksgiving.


Now, there is an idea... A fuzzy hat and scarf for the poor turkey...

Running Out of Ideas...

Y'all - posting every day is a bit strenuous... Well, today I am out of ideas and I have pictures to take. So, maybe tomorrow I'll have some knitting content. But I found this for Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving Horoscope for Cancer

You're the sign most likely to both dread and look forward to Thanksgiving. Your signature dish: Mashed potatoes Your signature dessert: Pecan pie This holiday: Don't let crazy family members get you down. Maintain your tough outer shell!

What's Your Thanksgiving Horoscope?

AND I also found this - which is shockingly true (about my weak spot...). Ask hubby what a paranoid person I can be at times. Sometimes I should just say - WTF!

Your Birthdate: July 10

Independent and dominant, you tend to be the alpha dog in most situations. You're very confident, and hardly anything ever shakes you. Mundane tasks tend to drain you - you prefer to be making great plans. You are quite original. When people don't "get" you, it bothers you a lot. Your strength: Your ability to gain respect Your weakness: Caring too much what others think Your power color: Orange-red Your power symbol: Letter X Your power month: October

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Officially a Busy Bee Again...

And I am loving it... This morning my work email said that I had 30+ emails from my boss over the weekend. And my messenger tool finally broke down. I guess that is a sign from the Cyper Gods that I shouldn't chat while I am at work, which is good. I'd rather be productive for my boss than twiddle my thumbs - since he is paying my bills. ;-) I can't tell you how happy I am. ;-)

Pixie took a picture of Jen and me yesterday at the Peachtree Handspinners Guild. Boy, look I serious... It's cool tho' how the wheels spin. ;-)


OK, I am typing this during my lunch break. I took a short walk to the post office and mailed my next Secret Pal package and my Sneaky Snarky Pal package. ;-) And now I am sitting here eating a sandwich at my desk. I try not to do that, but there's just no time today. Not all the time, tho' - I swear!

Happy Monday!!!

Sunday with Friends ...

... at an Irish pub, after an afternoon of spinning and knitting and a Pixie trying on the Goldilocks Socks.


I am glad she did because the foot is a little too short and I have to add stitches after the heel. With the cables it's a little too tight for the cuff. We don't her feet to suffocate, do we?

Sorry for the short entry - I am too tired and my head is ready to hit the pillow. I have a short week - the office is closed Thursday and Friday. YAYAYAYAY!!!

Socks It to Me, Baby...

Well - it seems like they are a perfect commuter project. While I am knitting away on Pixie's socks - I will need to consult her foot for a fitting before I continue - I am also working on a pair of socks for ME. Imagine that...

I bought some sock yarn at SAFF.



Miss Babs - Superwash Sock & Baby Yarn - 100% wool - 350 yds




It's a toe-up sock and I used one of the patterns from Sensational Socks by Charlene Schurch - one of my favorite sock books.

I am going to my first Peachtree Handspinners Guild meeting tomorrow. Will report back with pictures and stories. Have a great weekend!

Sneaky Snarky Pals Questionnaire

1. What kinds of things do you like to knit? Everything that does not involve a lot of sewing...
2. Is there any one thing that you are just dying to have and haven't/won't purchase for yourself? Well - usually hubby buys me the out-of-print knitting books.
3. What scents do you like? Lavender.
4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Nope.
5. When is your birthday? July 10 - next year is a big one...
6. Do you celebrate Chrismas/Hanukkah/Kwannza/Yule? I celebrate the holidays... A born and raised Catholic with a Jewish husband.
7. Do you have a favorite color? Black was/is a long-time favorite. But really, I like all kinds of colors.
8. Any colors that you absolutely hate? Baby poop colors...
9. Any allergies to fiber? Nope.
10. Anything else your pal should know? I knit and spin. ;-)

Katey - I am sorry it took me so long to post this. I have been so oveloaded with changing jobs - my head was spinning. I promise to do better. Sending you a big hug and thanks for organizing the Sneaky Snarky Pal Exchange!

Have a great weekend - y'all!

Beautiful Fall Weather

That was the view from our kitchen last Sunday morning.


It was cold today - I am lovin' it, sorry - and I was glad that I brought my chunky scarf along.


For the life of me I can't remember now what yarn this is. I have to go look if I can find the label somewhere in the house. I love the color - a very rich raspberry - and it is SOOOOO soft. I bought it at Main Street Yarns in Watkinsville on Labor Day. I think it's called ... something ... Soft Chunky ... DUH ... My brain is getting too old. ;-)

UPDATE ON THE SCARF YARN!!!! Thanks to Anita - who emailed me that the yarn is called Twinkle by Wenlan - I remember now. I used two balls. It's 100% Virgin Merino Wool (virgin means it is from the first time the sheep was shorn). It's great to have friends who work where you buy your yarn.

Update Christmas Knitting

OK - I haven't given you any new stats lately...

Here is the latest update on the Christmas gift list (I actually have a spreadsheet - makes the math easier and will let me keep track of when I sent what, etc.):

24 completed
2 under way
2 more, not yet started

So, I am doing pretty good, I'd say. Deadline for the Germans is Thanksgiving weekend. I am very confident that I will be able to wrap everything and send a big box to my Mom to hide until December 24 - which is the day in Germany when you open your gifts.

And I started my new job today. When I got to the new office this morning, I found a desk ready for me with a running PC and a big Bavarian flag from my boss as a welcome present. They have free Starbucks coffee all morning and I actually got to join everybody for their Thanksgiving luncheon. A great opportunity to meet everyone and socialize. A very interesting crowd of people. More soon!

Wild Dogs

Look at the wild fiber dogs at play - what a life...




Too bad there is no audio - Hermione likes to grunt when she plays with Noah. ;-)

After carding some of the Cotswold fleece at Pixie's on Sunday, I wanted to see how it spins up. Real nice, but... GREASY... BLEEEEHHH...


Now I am going to be a picky princess, too. I don't really like the feel of it. I thought - because the fleece is very clean - I could get around washing it. I don't think so... But I am not going to wash it myself - too much work and too little time. Pixie mentioned that she heard that you can send your fleece away for washing. Any suggestions?

Today was my last day at work - the new job starts tomorrow. I AM SO-O-O-O EXCITED!

Goldilocks Socks

I have a friend who I have knitted a pair of socks for. And my friend has a cat who peed on her socks.

So, because my friend is a dear friend, I offered to
a) try to rescue the socks and wash them for her and
b) knit her a new pair of socks.

On Saturday, I got the sock yarn from her and Sunday morning I sat down to create a pattern for her socks. After consulting my treasured Barbara Walker books, I came up with a cool pattern for the socks. It's a toe up sock with short rows at the toe and the heel. And since it's a pattern for a dear friend and she asked if I could make a cable sock, I found a pattern with XOXOX.

This is what I have accomplished so far:


When we showed the socks to her hubby, he just rolled his eyes and said that that is sooooo girly. With the Xs and Os. Ha-ha-ha... I like to be girly every once in a while.

If you bear with me and give me a little bit of time - probably until after Thanksgiving - I'll publish the pattern here. I am also working on the pattern for the fingerless mittens and the man's hat with cables. STAND BY...

Sorry to make you wait but I just have a ton of things going on right now and I would love to have a couple of clones to get everything done.... HELP... YELP... ;-)