People Know Me

They also know what I like, and that is more things to knit and knit with. The holidays were good to me this year. The book and calendar are from my secret santa at work (thanks Jesse!). The Lime & Violet Sasquatch Sock Yarn in Nuggies is from my friend Maura (Thanks!) and the Claudia Hand Painted Yarns in Eat Your Veggies (acquired through kpixie) is from my Mom, along with all the needles and that really cute sock blocker keychain (it came with a pattern to make socks that fit it!)





Speaking of my Mom, these are the socks I made for her, as modeled by me. She loved them and the fact that they are machine washable! My Dad's, however, did not get done. I'm actually going to have to order another skein of yarn to finish them (I did not pay attention to yardage. Bad Tina.) My dad got to see them in progress though and he really liked how they looked, so that is good.

Not all of my gifts were knitterly. From Ray I got the Philip Pullman "His Dark Materials" Trilogy (The Golden Compass is the first book in the trilogy) in a nice box set, and this really awesome wireless mouse for my laptop. He also fixed the CD drive on my laptop so that I can put music on it and he reinstalled/upgraded my OS to Tiger and basically made my computer run like new! He's so amazing.

My brother, Doug, got me a $30 gift card to Barnes & Noble which may go to knitting books, but I'm not quite sure yet because there are some "actual" books that I've had my eye on. We shall see.

Overall, it was a nice holiday. We went to my parents house on Christmas Eve, and were at Ray's sister's house for Christmas Day. She made us a really good dinner and sent us home with leftover's and wine.

Today, it was back to work and while we were quite busy at times I'm sure it was not even a fraction of the madness that was out in the "mall area". I'm so glad I don't work out there anymore. Tomorrow night is our work party at Chiante, a new Italian restaurant. It'll be fun to relax and eat with my co-workers and friends. And now I'm off to play with my new yarn and my new mouse. I should probably continue working on my Dad's sock too.

Happy holidays everyone, and to those of you who could not have a happy holiday this year I hope that, in the future, the happiness you experience more than makes up for the sadness you're experiencing now. My heart is with you.

Falling in Love and a Little Introspection

Ok, let's just ignore the fact that I have neglected my blog for the last 3 weeks. I know. I've actually written about three or four different posts in my head while at work or working on my holiday knitting. I need to figure out a way to post to my blog directly from my brain, without having to type. Can we get some people working on this please? (actually there probably already are)

Anyway, onto the reason I've set aside time to use my fingers for something other than knitting: The New Knitty!!!!!!!! Wow. I'm much more impressed with this issue than the last one. There is quite an extensive list of projects that I would like to make and it's going to take some real willpower not to start casting on while I'm in the middle of making gifts (1 down, 2 2/3 to go). Let me share with you my favorites. I have the perfect yarn (I think) and beads to make Ice Queen, I've always wanted to try entrelac so Quant is definitely on the list. Halcyon is gorgeous and involves ribbon (I'm a sucker for lace knit and ribbon), Stardust is just girly enough to be acceptable, Fair Isle Rapids would look great in a chocolate brown and lime or light blue, and Azure and Slippery are just the socks I'm looking for. And then there's Jeanie. Oh Jeanie. I haven't felt this way about a knitting pattern since......well, I don't think I've ever felt this way about a pattern. Love at first sight. This is the pattern that is going to take ALL of my willpower not to start. Look at it and TRY not to fall in love. If you're in the same boat as me and need to finish knitting holiday gifts, don't say I didn't warn you.

One of the cool things about this issue of knitty is that there are several designs from high school students. They are good designs too, Slippery is one. It's so great to see young people so excited and devoted to this craft. I wish that I had not been so concerned with avoiding anything I deemed "girly" when I was a teenager. My mom tried to teach me to sew, but I refused because "I'm not going to be a housewife, why do I need to know this?" Well, because I could have made all those "alternative" clothes that I wanted but couldn't afford or buy because the only clothing store in town was Wal-Mart. Instead, I learned how to piss off my parents, smoke cigarettes, get into trouble, and generally have a bad attitude. Skills, I have learned, that didn't really help me get anywhere. I'm not speaking with regret, however, because I know that due to several of these "skills" I came to move to La Crosse, and met the people I've met. I'm not that same person anymore (although I know my attitude is not always exactly sunny) and have learned a lot from being that person. I sometimes have to wonder though what kind of person I would be now if I was this person then. (got that?) All of this from an online knitting magazine. Hmm.

No pictures this time. It's late, and I need to sleep, not wait for photos to load. Besides, knitty's pictures are much better than any of mine anyway.