FREEDOM!

The kiddos were asleep..... The husband was at poker night..... I enjoyed wine, cheese, and knitted a cute purse while watching my favorite movie BRAVEHEART! As you can see Birch made an appearance but she got a little feisty when I casted on and finished a project right infront of her! Poor old girl :) I was invited to a Mary Kay party and wanted to show up with a little something cute... I got the idea from Sheryl... It is made of 1 ball of Lampes Lumps using Sz 10 needles to get a tight weave.... Of course it was the hit of the party!






On Thursday night the "Katy" and "Richmond" group knitters were invited to Amy and Sheryl's yarn shop and help knit swatches! Oh I was soooo there! What fun, they have so much yarn already and we got to poke through everything and knitted with some truly exquisite yarn! While I was there Brynne gave me a birthday gift isn't it the cutest?(pic below) She hand made it, like the woman doesn't have enough talent ;) I got another giftie from Jenni while I was there, lavender fabric softener... You guys know I am APE about LAVENDER! It smells soooooo good.




So who joined the Rockin Sock Club? I have to confess that I emailed them on Friday to sign up for a year... I know for a fact that they wouldn't accept 2 payments to ease the pain of the $173 but I had to ask! I had also said "please send the invoice and I will pay ASAP".... Kaci wrote back and said that's not an option this year....Still waiting for my invoice to pay!

Want to know how I can afford to pay for the year? I sold my husbands old XBOX on ebay to raise half of the funds... Now I am selling a few other things to raise the old Paypal account balance!

Extra! Extra!

Read all about it....Catherine gets bagged, A new customer, and Birch is a slow go'er.....

Socks that Rock Sock Club!!!!!!!!! You can thank me later :)
Needle Exchange Info
I am a failure as a hostess!!! Brianne caught me redhanded! She is my needle exchange pal and wrote me to post my questionnaire ;) I was answering the questions and I really thought about it this time... I want to be surprised! Really I do! I would knit with anything kind of needles you send me, I am not picky.... I have used aluminum, bamboo, Addis, and Lantern Moons.....I haven't used Brittany Birch yet, or those "horn made" ones form Mango Moon..... I am easy going just pick something you would like or find interesting and send it on!

Exciting Business News
On my new business front I picked up another customer last week! KPIXIE! Is that just the most exciting thing? I have two customers! WOW... I think my stuff will be available on the web site sometime soon... When they put it up I will make sure to link it in a post! Okay enough about that stuff I know y'all are probably sick of it ;)

Check out the gift!I got this great bag from Shannon! It just popped right in the mail one day and it is really cute... Check out her bag blog......I had to use her picture b/c I can't find my darned camera! The bag she sent to me is the top right one... Very cute huh?


Birch
The knitting Olympics aren't over yet!That's what I have to keep reminding myself atleast... Not lookin' good for the home team! I have about 20 more 8row repeats to go...and those of you with small children know you can do lace only at night! I have faltered and chose to sleep these past few nights :) When I find the camera I will post pics of birches progress... All I have to say is that I love this pattern and I can't wait to wear this shawl...Yeah me!

Finally Exposed!

Okay folks, I finally met with my peeps, so I feel confident showing these pictures now ;) So with out further ado, prepare your eyes for a feast of craftiness! The first photo is Birch...This is my official knitting olympics choice as of yesterday! I casted on.... I love knitting this shawl!!! I even made special stitch markers and a row counting bracelet especially for it!































So I hope you guys got a good taste of things to come! Birch, and a new business venture!

Knitting Drama! HELP!

Yep folks , I am posting two days in one week can you imagine! I really had to post so I could get some good advice. I was casting on for the knitting olympics yesterday.... I am doing the Chevron Rib Tank. I got a little confused by the pattern so looked up other blogger who have knitted this. OMG! Had no clue that it looked that way in the back!ICK! That would look terrible on me! I loved the front, but lets face it I just can't wear the front around town :) So what do I do?

I have to make something else! Bad Penny? I could make it work, right? So I just did a swatch for st. stitch and came up with 18.75 stitches/4"... I need 20stitches/4"... And I don't have a size 6 needle in my needle stash! How does that happen? I have dozens of needles in there but I have no 16" or 24" sz 6 circs! So I grabbed my sz 7 addis 24" circs and got to calculating..... MATH! Double ICK! I can make bad penny in one size smaller and it should work..... So I ask you guys is this legal? Can I minipulate patterns and gauge and actually have this to wear when it is finished? Or will it be a disaster?

You maybe wondering, Catherine, what about finishing a project before starting one! Well, thats a good thought huh?

Valentines day was amazing :) Chris had ordered flowers a week ago with a box of chocolates..... He kept calling all day yesterday kind of hinting if anything had been delivered.. I said no! Finally at 7:30pm the boxes arrive, and Chris was pretty mad! They were suppose to come in the moring while he was at work. I didn't care, I got a dozen red roses and a box of chocolates :)

Hope this post finds you all well, I will be waiting for your suggestions before i cast on for Bad Penny....

Jibberish!

I was hoping to post earlier this weekend but got a little bogged down, didn't even have time to read my bloglines! OH NO! I played a little catch up today with some blogs, but I have more to go :) thinking of you guys! I have decided to split this post up in three sections, Please feel free to read the sections that peak your interest and comment! BTW, blogger doesn't give me your emails so I can't reply to most of your comments... Sorry if you don't get a reply I do read all of the comments and I LOVE getting your input, Thank you:)

Section 1: Bone Marrow Transplant
Actually I should correct myself and say Stem Cell Donation...Chris went for his physical and did the "Orientation" with the National Marrow Donor Program. He had an "abnormal liver" read out on his blood work so they are getting back to him, it shouldn't hinder his donation though. So mark your calendars Chris goes the 13th and 14th of March and in that time frame the recipient will be getting mega doses of chemo.... This man is in his 50's and lives somewhere in Europe. Chris and he are never to know who each other are... They can write one letter to each other but can not reveal any identity. This is the rule of the Country that this man lives in. So there you go! Our entire extended family already feels an emotional attachment to this man, and we don't even know who he is... We just know that Chris may save his life, and life is precious.

Section 2: Knitting
I went to knitting group last Thursday and the gang was there...I brought Boogie, as promised, to have them teach me to seam...Amy was such a brilliant whiz and helped me right away. I have one word for her, Goddess! She is a great teacher b/c I am sewing invisible seams already :)Here is a photo...Can you see the seam? I can't either! Thanks Amy....



While we were busy doing that Martha and Sheryl looked on. Sheryl is our resident crocheter and she taught me the single crochet for edging Boogie.... After a half hour of that I gave up! My yarn kept splitting and my hook was to big to get a proper fit in the stitches!
I haven't knitted since then! eek, and I haven't started my knitting olympics tank top! gees, may have to miss out the gold medal this year :( I will try to cast on tonight before bed!

Section 3:Big Secret
I know you guys forgot about it until now! Sorry to leave you hanging, guess I shouldn't have brought it up ;) I didn't want to wait any longer to post, so secret still remains zipped up until next post.

Update I have decided to let the cat out of the bag...We told the knitting group so I can only surmmize that it only fair I tell you guys my good news:) Amy and Sheryl are opening a yarn shop in April... They have asked me If I would sell some of my knitting accessories in Yarntopia! I nearly flipped out :) Now granted they haven't even got their first sample yet, I am sooooo excited!.....I think candsmom is the only one who has commented so far, sorry to pop this news on here after her read ;)

Seven days already?

Wow time sure does fly by when your working on a project! So many wonderful things have happened this past week! I had my 32nd birthday and I have had offers I just couldn't refuse!
First I wanted to Thank everyone for the birthday wishes and presents! I got socks that rock sock yarn from Martha (cotton candy). I got a felted hat kit From Amy It is a kit made by " Pick Up Siticks) I have casted on already!, Cherry Tree Hill Sock yarn from Jenn, those are going to jaywalkers very soon ;) Some lavender soap from Jenni, and last but not least a knitting bag from Wendy.
I was in Rice Village researching a few things and when I got home there was a surprise package from Wendy! Boy, was it a surprise! I feel very blessed for the new and old friends that I have made with my hobby, both knitting and blogging! Thanks you sooooo much!
Second, a friend of mine made me an offer I couldn't refuse, and I don't want to say too much right now... I don't jinx things! But I have been working really hard to get my ducks in a row :)Hopefully I can unveil pretty soon what's in the works :)
Third, a neighbor dropped by yesterday and asked if I could watch her little girl once a week, and she would compensate me! Oh, how did she know we needed the money? She is a lovely woman and her family is really down to earth, I accepted right away to watch her daughter... I love it that she felt comfortable enough to ask me....
For my birthday we kept it small, my twin and I celebrated together with the family and boiled crawfish... It was a really good time! You guys have a great week and I will be posting again with knitting Olympic swatches and Picivoli up date!

Shout out for SockapalOOOza!

Okay guys am I pumped or what!I have THE perfect pal to send for...Her favorite color is blue and guess what I have lurking in my sock stash? Lorna's Laces, China Blue Shepard Sock yarn! I think its calling her name ;) I totally didn't read all the fine print when I signed up so the sock sister threw me for a loop...Not only do I get a secret pal, but I get a whole new buddy to boot!

If my pal is reading this now I wasn't very specific on my foot sizing and I apologize here are my measurements... From heel to big toe: 9" circumference of my foot at the arch: 9" circumference of my ankle: 9" okay that's wired! Never measured my foot before apparently my measurements will not be hard to remember!
So does anyone want to see what I finished during All My Children today?

Gotta admit he's a looker right? I haven't done the side seems yet, I hate to sew, and apparently I didn't read the fine print again and this little number had single crochet around it...WHAT? CROCHET? Are you insane? I will bring it to knitting group and have the ladies teach me to sew seams and single crochet edging....Consider this your warning ladies ;)
I am going to get a "pound of love" baby yarn and try to make some booties and hats for The Preemie Project this month... Remember I mentioned a certain contest in my previous post? Well I love contests, can't win if you don't enter!
Jenn showed me this neat tidbit: a SP exchange but a little different go here to read more about it, of course I signed up.It has to do with sock yarn!..I honestly feel like a blog, KAL and swap junkie now-a-days!
Once again I am soooo excited about sockapalOOOza and can't wait to start my pals socks.
P>S> I just discoverd that I have spell check in my blogger tool bar...now you guys don't have suffer through my typos anymore!..If I remember to use it ;)