State Fair Socks Update

****note I actually wrote this post from my laptop and even though I said publish post it did not and so I was able to recover them and post now****

The two pairs of socks in the previous posts took 4th place at the Minnesota state fair. The blue in the plain or ribbed category and the red in the textured category. Jeanne took first in the plain or ribbed category.

Warning Long Post

Let's start off with my trip for work to Chisholm Minnesota:





Yes, it is Bob Dylan drive located in Hibbing, MN
and it is in front of the house where he grew up.

The family that lives there has a real sense of humor check
out the garage









Next up is a short trip to California to see my sister and her family

We went to San Francisco to see the Wave Organ



Colin really liked trying to hear the waves through the pipes



Then a walk on the beach and back to Minnesota.





On to finished objects. While I was in Singapore I made a baby bib for one of the reservation agents who was expecting












Next two pairs of finished socks

The blue is Lucy Neatby's Celestial Merino and the red is Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Ruby River.






















Final finished object a cute baby hat modeling by Malena with the the help of a friend.


So tomorrow is the Minnesota State Fair and I can't wait to see who won in the knitting categories.







One last picture if you have a cat you need one of these:



Although you want one without the scratcher having been destroyed by Boo and the girls. Hours of fun for the cats and for only $8

Happy Birthday Mom

In honor of what would have been My mom's 90th birthday yesterday, I am posting a picture of the house where she was born and lived all of her life. We sold the house in April and the weekend before closing in May I took this picture.



How many of us can say we stayed in one place that long?

Finished Objects coming soon as Megan gets back with my camera.

Bob's Birthday

I am posting this from Las Vegas. Bob for his Birthday wanted to go to Carmel, California and especially to the
Big Sur Roadhouse for dinner....well...the airline in Minneapolis who I work for had other plans...as an employee we fly standby and could not get on a flight to San Jose or San Francisco so....we went to Los Angeles and then caught a flight on Southwest to Vegas....not quite the same ambiance but we got here now How We will get home remains to be seen....

Temperature in Las Vegas today 90 with an expected high of 106....While it is hot it is not as hot as Singapore and no humidity to speak of....Also no yarn stores within walking distance of the Strip. More to come and when I get back a post with some FO's

Finally Pictures of Singapore

I am still waiting for my friend to send me some pictures, but I was able to recover these few from my camera.


The MerLion from Sentosa Island



Bob on Sentosa with the Singapore skyline in the background



A temple in Little India




Final Picture my favorite dinner Kashmiri Rice and a chicken curry made with coconut and mangoes.



I have some finished objects but I have to wait until I can get a camera to use.

I also received my KTS3 package from Doborah. It contained so many good things, 2 skeins of Kroy in a denim blue, a skein of varigated in primary colors, some red mohair yarn, bannock bread mix, a bar of locally made soap, a knitted washcloth, bannock bread mix, a candle and tea two kinds of republic of tea, and some local Montana tea. Thanks Doborah

Next week I am off to Chisholm Minnesota for work. I will post some more when I return.

I.ve been tagged

Adrienne from Singapore tagged me....First time being tagged so here goes

7 random things about me

1) I don't care for 99% of the dogs I meet the two exceptions are Charlie and Sam Bono

2)I have always had a cat or two, when I was little we had around 10 in our backyard but they were not allowed inside the house.

3) I love dark chocolate.

4) My least favorite color is purple. My favorite color is red.

5) I have quit biting my nails with the help of some acrylic ones while some grow out.

6) I live in a 625 square foot house with one child, my husband and 3 cats.

7) I don't play any instruments but used to sing with a gospel group at church

I am tagging

Christie P of Ghostknitter
Chris of Stumbling over Chaos
Jeanne
Deb
Julie
Lu
Kathy in DC

I am waiting for pictures of Singapore from my friend Robin then I will post some more about that.

Boo and the girls

Well while I was in Singapore Megan and Baby (ducky's sister) moved home so I thought I would share a picture of Boo with his girls




Most of the time they fight growling hissing and howling but this one time I caught them in the lie. They really do get along.

Leaving on a jet plane

I am at the changi airport and for the first time since 9/11 I have no knitting to fly with, either it went into the checked bag or lose my addi's. Easy choice into the checked bag it went. They did let me keep my crochet hook though go figure.

still in Singapore

Hello from Singapore!

Yes, I am still here and will be back this weekend to post pictures and some updates.

Work has kept me busy but I have managed to find 2 yarn stores, I wanted to go to a third but am running out of time.

While I was gone Boo gained a roommate Baby, Ducky's sister and also Megan moved home. Bob says the house is covered in cat hair but they are all getting along. Baby has taken over the cat house and growls when Ducky tries to go in with her.

What can I say about Singapore...will I come back. Yes possibly for work in September but also maybe on vacation or holiday as they say here. The city and people are wonderful, safe and clean. The food is exceptional I have had food cooked in Banana Leaves, Curries, Chili Crabs and so much more. Today is multicultural day at work and it is a festival of all the nationalities employed here, so lots of variety of foods to try. yarn stores not many but the Singapore Knitters are a great group and adopted me as a member see Lois' blog www.peesnkays.blogspot.com for a picture of the group.

See you soon!!!!!!!!!!

Singapore

Hello from Singapore

It was a long flight and I tried not to sleep to avoid Jet Lag. I arrived on Sunday in the middle of the nite and was met by a car at the airport. Went to the apartment with the most beautiful pool and slept for about 3 hours. Then I got up and started my adventures by meeting with a group of Singapore knitters. Pictures will come when I get home. One of the knitters was from Roseville Mn and teaches at the International School here.....
29April:
all of that happened a week ago and all I have been doing in between until this past weekend is working....Saturday my husband came and we spent the day familarizing ourselves with the local MRT system as all I know how to do is get to work, then we went to dinner at an Indonesian Restaurant and Sunday I met again with the Singapore knitting group. They gave me some really beautiful self striping yarn as a gift. Then back to work on Monday while Bob is out having fun....see you all soon

So now it is April

I thought I should post before April goes away.

I have been really busy getting a training manual written, finishing up my training and organizing my life before I go to Singapore.

Yes, I did attend the Yarn Harlot gathering at William Mitchell. Funny thing she remembered me from California. Who would of thought she would remember anyone, after all the knitters she meets. Her talk was just as good here as it was there and while I waited in line to get my book signed I won a door prize. It was...a toe up sock pattern, now how perfect is that? Thank You Yarnery for sponsoring such a fun evening.

I also hosted a rescheduled retreat at the end of March and it was cold and rainy so perfect weather to be inside with your good friends.

Currently I am knitting C3 from Knitty and some socks out of Lucy Neatby's Celestial Merino yarn. I can't wait to see the yarn available in Singapore.

IS it March already

I have been so busy since the last post that until someone pointed out to me that it had been over 6 weeks I did not realize. So lets get up to speed...On January 29 I started a training for a newly created department at Northwest. It involves about 12 weeks of training, I am just finishing up week 8. I am learning how to price and ticket reservations,in addition to my old job functions and also WorldPerks functions. Besides that I am helping to edit and write training manuals for my previous position and they will be used to train the new agents in our Singapore office. The big news I am in the end of April traveling to Singapore to train the new agents for 2 weeks. I can hardly wait to see a part of the world I have not seen.

So on to knitting I finished my son's Garter Stitch Beanie from Never Knit your Man a Sweater















I made a flying trip out to see my sister and attend Stitches West the last weekend in February, and I do mean flying out on Friday night to San Jose and home on the red eye on Sunday morning. We took an all day sock class from Lucy Neatby and shopped the market. While at the market I met Lu
she was my spoiler for Sockret Pal. Although, I confess I knew who she was before because Full Thread Ahead is one of the stores my sister and I go to when I am in California. Visit the link to see the picture of us together and the wonderful socks she made me.

So what did I buy at stitches? No Socks that Rock, the booth was completely out of sock yarn by time we got there, I did pick up some of Cookie's Patterns and some
Lisa Souza yarn, some Ellen's Half Pint Yarn, a skein of Opal Huntwasser and cashmere and merino blend sock yarn from JoJoLand Yarns of Texas. It was a great buy at $10.00 per skein and oh so soft to touch. Of which I took no pictures sorry...

I also delivered this sweater to Colin
















Colin is my great nephew and has decided that hats are it...my sister (his grandma) made him this hat and it reminds me of an old mechanics hat my dad used to wear. Colin is just too cute for words.












So since I have been back from California I finished my Sockret Pal's socks






I have not really been doing much else, maybe next time I will be posting from Singapore.

Random Cat Generator

The random cat generator has a cold so was moving kind of slow, but at last results.

Ducky who is my cat that loves crumpled paper had her choice of 9 correct answers and chose Julie. The funny thing is Julie was my partner for the first swap I ever did the Knitters Tea Swap I. BUT to prove it was legitmate here are some pictures of Ducky in action.

The names waiting for the cat generator to appear




Ducky and her supervisor Boo checking them out

Finally, she has made her choice you can see it in her paws






So Julie from Maine if you send your Address to me I will send out your prize.

Other news, I have been knitting on sockret pal socks and I have been knitting on mittens and half mittens ...Pictures to follow of the mittens my memory card on my camera seems to be full.

New York

Rebecca and I had a great time in NYC. Rebecca thought I was never going to buy any yarn but I finally managed to buy 5 skeins, and she bought 5 skeins for a grand total of 10, so that means LimeDragon won the Birthday contest.

Now here is a second contest guess which picture below is Rebecca's yarn and which is my yarn purchased in NYC and a skein of yarn will be on its way to you. You have until midnite on Friday Feb 1 to guess....

Picture #1 to the left














Picture #2 to the right




So we went to 7 or so shops, we started at The Yarn Store on the upper west side, it is on the second floor up a steep flight of stairs. Personally an ok shop we have better here in Minneapolis. Then we went to The Point and Purl, in Greenwich Village and SoHo, both are cute little shops and both carry just a little bit of different stock from the other, The Point also has a coffee bar with soups and sandwiches and treats.

The next day we went to Seaport Yarns this one is my favorite. So much yarn that I am sure we missed some. It is at 135 William Street and on the fifth floor, it is one I visit almost everytime I am in NYC. Then we stopped at Habu, Stitches East and School House Products. We also went to the Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting exhibit at MAD (Mueseum of Art and Design) It was not your typical knitting, there are lace sculptures made from porcelain, a dress knitted of shredded dollar bills and some teeny tiny greek gloves. Check out the link above.

Next a preemie hat update I am finishing up number 12 and then I will be done

I told you red is my color, thanks Meg for letting me ride in your hood...D

And for the final one here it is . . . The Bow Tie Hat

Birthdays and Preemie Hats

First tomorrow I am going to NYC with my friend Rebecca to celebrate our birthdays. So I decided to have a small contest. The person who comments with the correct number of skeins of yarn we purchase while in NYC will get some yarn what else. I will be gone until Sunday so you have until midnite on Sunday to guess. Winner will be announced on Monday evening or Tuesday in the morning.

So for a preemie hat update...I am up to 10 and here with my son Nick are two of being modeled by Boo and Ducky.


Nick I think mom has really lost it
this is a girls hat....Boo







and I really like the red one better so why am I in this one..Ducky










They both survived the ordeal and to prove it here is Ducky hard at work supervising my blog writing




It is so hard to get a nap in around here all I do is work work work..D

It's Cold Outside

The cold weather has finally arrived in Minnesota, but still no snow.

After reading on many blogs about Knitting from your stash all year I decided I agree with Charris that moderation in yarn purchases is better than none at all. So I am not going to purchase any yarn until Stitches West in February, but I have two exceptions



1) The skein of Jitterbug I just purchased for my birthday present to me shown to your left in Mardi Gras colorway.

2) If I find some in New York next week for socks or mitten or a scarf



I am also in the midst of preemie hats, they are being collected by Michelle and Jeanne and will be taken to United and Children's Hospital in St Paul. I set a personal goal of 10 and am at number 9 almost there.

Today I received my Knit Mitt Kit Swap package

Grandma look it has your name on it and it smells like chocolate

Here is what was inside


Some Lorna's Laces in nearly solid a skein of Claudia's handpaints in the carousel colorway, those were meant to be for Lucy Neatby's Fiesta Mitten pattern that came too, two kinds of dark chocolate, a really neat index card holder to carry in my knitting bag and a great small red project bag for my mittens when I start them. Although when I emailed Sarah to say thank you I did tell her that as a sock knitter it will be hard for me to use the Lorna's Laces for mittens.

How Time Flies....

I know it has been a really long time since I last posted. What is new you ask? Not much. I have been still working 10 and 11 hour days and usually at least 4 hours on my days off. But I hear as of Next week it should slow down...because I don't have any new trainees out on the reservations floor until the first week in January.

So how are Ducky and Boo you ask...Presenting the Christmas Kitties













Remember Ducky's Birthday Present, the cat house from IKEA well one day I was in the kitchen and I heard this cross between mew and chirp and it sounded distressed. So I went to the living room and Ducky had tipped the house over with the butt in the air and she was caught inside and could not figure out how to tip it back ... She has done it many times since and still can't tip it back the other way. Unfortunately no pictures were taken do to laughing too hard at the cat but from the tent wiggling furiously and not getting anywhere.

So on to Christmas Knitting...I made a Scandinavian Sweater outfit for an American Girl Doll

Grandma I know this is not for me but red is my color..D

Also my sockret pal struck again some beautiful hand dyed yarn from South America


Happy Holidays to All and to all a good nite

November is almost gone...

I am again working and working and more working. So many things to finish before Christmas and when I looked at the calendar today I realized YIKES November is almost gone!!!!!!!!!!!

I just have to knit more and work less....

So an update on my knitting projects, I finished a pair of socks, almost have a second pair done, I turned the heels and am trying to decide what to do on the cuff. For both of these I used Lily Chin's short row heels. There seemed to be some missing directions, as I could not figure out how to do the second set of wraps to turn the heel. It appears I was reading them too fast...So I missed some important parts. It appears however that Jeanne and Kate and a few other knitters also read them too fast as none of us understood what to do after the first row of wraps, to get the heel to turn. So finally one night when no one else was home, I got out a sticky note and went through them line by line...Finally the light dawned on how she did the second set of wraps and I got the heel to work out. It really is a nice heel and I really do like it, now I am in the process of rewriting the directions so the normal knitter will understand and hope to post them here soon.

Update on Boo and Ducky still hanging out together...They are true soul mates.

I will post pictures later this week when I get my camera back.

The Sweetest Thing

This is how Boo and Ducky nap everyday.

It's a Knit Mitt Kit Swap

Here is my questionnaire for the Knit Mitt Kit Swap

The Questionnaire:

What are your favorite colors?
Reds and Primarys all but purple

Are you a new mitt knitter? How long have you been knitting mittens?
no about 5 yrs

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?
no preference

What fibers do you prefer in mitten yarn?
wool

Where do you usually knit mittens?
work or watching TV

How do you usually carry/store small projects?
Smaller bags with ties or zippers inside a larger bag

What are your favorite mitten patterns?
Latvian or color work

What are your favorite mitten knitting techniques?
Two at a time

What new techniques would you like to try?
Intarsia

What are your favorite needles for knitting mittens?
Two 24" circulars

What are some of your favorite yarns?
Paton's Merino for felted ones//Dale Falk and Heilo

What yarn do you totally covet?
Malabrigo or Manos del Uruguay

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?
Lucy Neatby's Fiesta or Paradoxal Mittens

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?
Addis for circulars because of the great joins//bamboo for double points//Wood for Straights

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?
Cashmere or Cashmere Blend or maybe Malabrigo it really depends on the day

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?
Dark Chocolate

What’s your favorite animal?
Cat specifically my cat Boo and then the grancat Ducky

Would you prefer super warm mittens or something more like fingerless mitts?
Warm Mittens

If you were a color what color would you be?
Red


What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?
Flowers not the shape but all the colors and color variations


Do you have a wishlist?
Not really

Anything else you’d like to share with the group today?
not really