Wonderful Thanksgiving with the Families

My niece McKayla loved her new scarf that I made and put it on immediately. Lil’ Krista was not so crazy about her red one, but hey, she is three, and she has better stuff to do… Here is McKayla opening up some of her belated birthday presents from Auntie Lolly and Uncle Kris on Thanksgiving morning. We met the girls and the rest of the family at Kris’ parents’ house. Yummy dinner and dessert, and lots of time to play with the greatest nieces ever!

In regular Thanksgiving fashion, we stuffed ourselves at one place, and migrated to the next family’s house to do the whole thing over again. Our parents live about 8 minutes apart, so there was not too much time to let the food settle! We had a nice time with my sisters and my dad and mom.

After stuffing ourselves, we had some time to do some crafty things! Maryn is doing a cute cross-stitch, Kris is sitting pretty, and I am knitting (surprise!)

We visited my sweet Nana in her assisted living home the next morning. She recently turned 88 years old. She is a beautiful little lady and I was so happy to spend time with her. She recognized my face, and after several prompts from my mother, she seemed to remember my name. We sang Christmas carols (which she really remembered well!) and talked about her family. Maryn and I found some of her old jewelry and brought it over for her to wear. She loved the black pearl necklace and put it on immediately.

College Flashback

My Becca-Boo (aka Rebecca) was in town for the holiday! We went to college together, went abroad together, and we are now starting the path of “adulthood” together. We (Kris, Becca and me) went to a great new vegetarian restaraunt in Clarksville, Great Sage. Check it out! The food was great, but I have to say that the company was even better.

We went back to Bec’s parents’ house for some tea and chatting. I miss you already Bec! Note the scarves in the pic: they are among my first knitted items–I made one for Bec for Hanukkah last year, and then one for me too!

Kris and I were not feeling well over the long weekend, but we did not let that stop our holiday cheer… so we put up our decorations. This is a big deal because we did not decorate last year, and this year we needed to rearrange our whole living room to make the tree fit… but once again, it looks cute–albeit kind of lop-sided, short and awkward. Kris put the tree together, and then we decorated it. We also put greenery and lights around the banister.

Even though we were feeling crummy, we had a little reunion night! Bec came over and so did our other college friend, Denton! We had not seen him in a couple of months, so it was so fun to hang out and catch up with each other. All four of us went to school together. Denton lived in the same dorm, and we hung out together all of the time. Those were the days…

Knitty News

Well, if you made it this far, thanks for reading about my holiday break… I did get some knitting done!

Lolly Wristlets Patons Divine in Floral Fantasy My own design and my first DPN project!

…and I finished a Christmas present that was really fun to work on. I love the colors and the design… I might have to make one for me! The picture is a little blurry, but you get the idea–stockinette or reverse stockinette can face out, and there is this 5-edge stitch that unravels to become a fringe in the end. I finished this up last night during Desperate Housewives (last night’s episode was finally the suspense and mystery I have been waiting for!)

Thanks for all of the notes about Kris and his new knitting! He is still working on the ribbed scarf–it is actually going to be adapted to be a collar for our Jenny dog! Pictures when he completes it!

Big school project and research this week, so I hope to get some knitting done on the train, and I hope to be able to squeeze in time to check out my bloggy friends as well as make my own journal entry… *crossing fingers*

All of your well-wishes and good lucks worked! My first week (only three days) at my new job really worked–things went great! I was so happy to find out that they have all of the same systems as my previous job, so I did not have to learn all the ins and outs (and bugs) in the new systems. I think I can say that it has been a successful transition–even though I miss my peeps in B’more!

Long time no update–honestly I have not had much time to sit and run through all of my bloglines, much less update my own bloggy blog. The new job requires a very early start in the morning, and I am usually dragging by the end of the day (especially the nights I have class…) …so much so that I have had to turn down TWO KNIT DATES! Sorry Knitibrarians! Sorry H and Ei–I would not have been good company. I was a zombie on both nights. I am hoping to adjust to the new schedule soon, and I can plan accordingly.

Such exciting news to share: Kris asked me to teach him to KNIT! It was completely out of the blue, but of course I jumped on it. He picked it up so fast! Within 20 minutes, he had cast on, and knitted about 4 rows of garter! I was so amazed. He also picked up purling in a few seconds. The only thing that need work is his tension… but that is pretty natural. I was just so excited that he even took an interest See his scarf here–knitting for less than 24 hours and already a ribbed scarf!

…and what is Lolly working on, pray tell!

It’s a mystery (aka Christmas present) for a certain someone who might look at my little blog and see it… so the only clue:

Knit with the fun and fabulous K1C2 Tartelette in a lovely pattern (All will be revealed in due time, dearies!) But in the meantime, I think this yarn is pretty, and I think the recipient of this knitted object will like it too! (I hope!)

Since I have not blogged recently, I was not able to show all of my weekend activities! I was loving life and Kool-Aid on Sunday! I was part of the Project Kool-Aid Dye-Along and became quite addicted to this little experiment. I love the colors that came out with this “dye lot”.

All balled up!

Short update today… hopefully more to come as I have the 4-day weekend to knit, Knit, KNIT (and do homework…)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The title of this post was inspired by the song I am listening to right now… check out Franz Ferdinand–they make me wanna dance. Kris always laughs when this CD is in, because my feet immediately start tapping, and my legs start dancing

I just got back from a lovely afternoon with the wonderful Miss H and her best friend, Kelly. H made reservations at the lovely and quaint Tea on the Tiber in historic Ellicott City for the full-service Afternoon Tea. We had such a lovely time in this beautiful place!

We each got our own lovely teapot (here is mine–PINK!) We tried different teas and shared them. My choice was Apricot–and it was so great. We also got a full service of finger sandwiches, fruits, scones, and desserts. H told them that we were celebrating birthdays (November girls!) and they included a little candle on top of one of the cheesecakes…

After our spot of tea, we did a little shopping. Heather and Kelly both bought lovely teapots and cups.

We headed over to a new little shop in the area, the Yuppy Puppy Pet Boutique. An adorable addition to the storefronts in the historic part of town, this little shop has matching clothes for dogs and owners, as well as gourmet foods, toys, etc. This little doggie and HIS owner were wearing the same knit sweater!

I picked up some goodies (the one is a present for Kris, shhh!) and the other is doggy perfume! My puppy princesses will love it–I hope!

Thanks for the lovely afternoon, H!

I really had such a nice time! I needed a pick-me-up after my sad day yesterday…it was my last day at JHU, a job that I really loved, but was a really hard commute for me. I start my new job on Monday (ah!), and I am nervous, but excited at the same time. Thank goodness it is only a three-day week with Thanksgiving!

Saying goodbye was hard… I cried a lot (surprise surprise–I always do that). I have so many nice friends there. They gave me some little gifties to remember them by. Thanks!

Speaking of little gifties, Heather gave me some lovely (and useful) things! I am always losing notions (I think Jen and Bella eat them!) so I am in constant need–love the cable needles–I am lovin’ the cables! She also got me the AC Moore specialty Cashmere Aran. This stuff is SO nice! To top it off, that little sweety gave me some cupcakes from a bakery too! They are delish! Thanks so much, H!

… and I have TWO FOs to report…

I know it is hard to believe–it has been awhile. So that means my WIP gallery is down one picture!

Christmas scarves!

Jen Supermodel Dog

Quince is more interested in playing with the pillow tassles than modeling…

They are small FOs… I am still undecided about the embroidery part. I initially planned to do a snowflake embroidery on them, or a small snow man, but I am a little unsure of myself. They are simple seed stitch that I was just thinking I could stitch directly onto the scarf. My nieces will look adorable (the pets are just modeling them now) Any suggestions? or should I just leave them plain? Let me know what you think, darlings!

I am off to finish up to more things, hopefully I can wrap them up and photo for an entry tomorrow!

Hope you all are having a lovely weekend!

Your birthday wishes really made my day very special–thank you!

My co-workers threw a party for me today, and it was so nice. It was half birthday, half farewell. Since Monday was my birthday, and Friday is my last day… Wednesday was the party day! I will miss working there, but I do look forward to the shorter commute, and the proximity to school. I have made some really nice friends, and I hope we can keep in touch as I head southward.

One of those friends you know very well, dear sweet Holly…

Miss Holly is working on an adorable little baby hat. So cute! She also bestowed a very wonderful gift upon me today… she knows me so well!

Lovely wool from a local farmers’ market–handspun, hand-dyed PINK yarn! It even smells like herbs because she bought it with homemade soap… yum! Thank you so much Holly Llama–you are the bestest.

While Holly churned out the lovely baby hat, I tried to figure out my new Embellish-Knit giftie. So, Holly and I are intelligent girls (at least we think so!) and we could not figure this thing out! I was not so happy…

Big Knot Big Problem. It took a long time to get it out… nearly all of my lunch break (and then some–sshhh!)

Enter Kris who has been called a Boy Wonder on many occasions… and before long I had lovely I-cord streaming out everywhere. To my credit: he failed two times before figuring it out. I am a go-getter… but even I know that I am not good at everything (almost) and I know when to pass it off…

I-CORD EXTRAVAGANZA

This little machine really churns it out, after you get the directions down. One little hook makes the whole difference.

Moral of the story: Follow the directions to a “T” especially the part about the little hooks in Step 5. Then you can avoid a huge knot.

So the possibilities are endless! I-Cord is so fun! My mind is full of ideas! Perhaps I will actually follow up on a few of them… stay tuned!

I stopped by JoAnn today to spend the gift certificate that my little sis gave me (Thanks Si!). I got some things that I have needed for a while now…

Bag liners

Handles for the Lanscapes purse

Got home and I had mail (I adore MAIL!)

A Scrabble stitch marker from Carolyn! How thoughful–thank you very much!

My reading material (amidst the school reading material…) for the next few days. I have to space it out so I can enjoy it over several days!

Thursday knitty night will resume after my absence in New Orleans, and Eilene’s trip to Las Vegas (check out her pics!). We will have plenty to talk about–like Heather’s engagement! (check out her ring pic!) and plenty to knit!

Thanks again for all of your comments–I am still thinking of a name for Old Man Puppet… I am taking your suggestions into consideration.

CIAO!

…I was born in a small East Tennessee town to a pair of cute parents…

My sister and I went out on Friday night. We went to dinner and then saw The Incredibles (highly recommended). We had a great time–it was an early birthday celebration, and a chance for us to get together and have some fun.

Maryn bought this lovely bracelet for me while she was in Azerbaijan this past summer. This is amazing and exactly the one I would have chosen…

I got some pics of her too, in a scarf I gave her for her birthday.

You see a resemblance?

I think she likes it.

On Sunday, I headed over to my parents’ house for a nice little get-together. My mom and dad were making a lovely dinner (tons of veggies für mich!)

Here is my youngest sister, Sarah, Mom, and Maryn. Sorry Dad (LBD)… I will get a good one of you next time… IOU.

Meet ______ (yet to be named)–My new puppet! I used to be a puppeteer and I really loved the work. It always makes people smile! I never had my own puppet, but my dad found this awesome guy at a specialty store in North Carolina. He is so expressive! You can expect to see much more of _____ (Help me come up with a name for him!)

Sarah picked up some lovely coffee mugs for me, as well as a JoAnn gift certificate (see this for a hint of what I will get with the certificate) Thanks Si! Mom and Dad picked up a beautiful clock with a pretty chime. Kris and I need to find the perfect place to put it. Thanks!

Kris, knowing the depth of my knitting addiction, gave me these knitty things:

Can’t wait to try this Embellish-Knit. I will report with the results (and pics)!

Thanks to all of my knitty friends who sent e-cards, well wishes, and snail mail cards. You all are so great! You sure know how to make a girl feel special. Aww shucks

Have a good week!