I Smell Chocolate Cake

I smell chocolate cake. Today is Dad's birthday, and I have a cake in the oven for him. (Not from scratch -- Betty Crocker with matching frosting that came in my Chrisco Hampers.) I have some Candy Cane Hershey's Kisses for the boys to decorate it with. My parents are stopping in this evening, hopefully giving me enough time to finish his gift. I'm making him the man's hat on the cover of this book, but I'm using Patons Shetland Chunky in black because it's a wool/acrylic blend. (Didn't want all acrylic. That stuff is starting to give me the heebie jeebies.) After the hat I have to make his slippers. I haven't had a lot of knitting time this week with the holiday stuff going on, and I had to work the last three days.

Here's some Christmas pictures I couldn't get to upload the last few posts. See how much more stuff there is on the boys' side of the tree than ours? There's even a few of their things on our side! I conveniently left my Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in the closet for fear that the cats would get it. They have a thing for anything and everything under the tree -- walk on it, lay on it, knock it over... I took the tree down yesterday, and most of the other Christmas stuff is down, too. There are still a few things I will take down tomorrow. I light up my outside lights for the last time on New Year's Day. I figured the kids would be less upset if things disappeared bit by bit.

The boys got the Shake 'n Go Racetrack from my parents. Methinks they each may get a new car for it for their birthdays. The Littlest One also got the Shake 'n Go Offroad Big Rig.

I was saying the other day about my "new to me" chairs. My table and chair set is about 10, 11 years old. I bought it when I still lived at home for when the time came that I would be getting my own place. The table is still fine, but all of the chairs finally started falling apart (some with help). The only one that was left got knocked over the other day, and one of the rungs on the back of it smashed off. My parents looked in Halifax for new ones for me but didn't see any that looked sturdy. They ended up giving me the money to look on my own. One day at the store there was a man in who owns an antique/second-hand store just outside of town. I asked if he had any chairs, and he said he had twelve chairs that he had gotten from a church (can't remember where) that were 80 years old, in wonderful shape, solid wood, and some still had the box under the seat for a Bible. I got four of them, and only one is missing the Bible box. The kids love to put small toys under the seat. He gave me an even better deal than the price tags, and I saved about $34. I had quite a bit of money to boot left over, and I happened to mention I'd look for a computer chair with the rest of the money. He happened to have one of those, too, which I ended up getting. It's a grey, high backed chair made of a woven fabric, very comfortable. Every time I go to sit down in it I have to clear Simba and Pumba out of it. I guess they think I got it for them. He gave me a deal on that chair as well, so I came out with five chairs and $70 left. That money will go towards a new dehumidifier for the basement. Ours stopped working again, and I already paid $100 for it to be fixed once.

I put little felt stickies on the legs so they wouldn't cut in the kitchen floor or scratch my hardwood floor (as if it isn't scratched up already) if we needed to take them in the living room. (The boys insisted on sitting in them to watch TV when they first came home.) Here's a shot of the Bible box.

Don't forget -- anyone who wants dibs on the Lite Brite refills has til tomorrow night midnight. I have four names to enter in the draw so far. Here's the low-down on it for anyone who didn't read the other posts:

I also have a little bit of a contest to hold. Well, it's only a contest if I get more than one person who wants it. I ordered the boys some Lite Brite refills for Christmas from Toys R Us. One was a Star Wars refill kit (I know, more for me, the SW freak that I am), and the other one was supposed to be this plain one. When it came it was My Little Pony, which isn't even listed on their site. I don't have any little girls with Lite Brites to give it to. Anyhoo, all you have to do is leave me a comment or e-mail me saying you either have a little girl with a Lite Brite Classic, Cube, or Travel OR you know a little girl with said item(s) who would like to have it. If I get more than one person expressing interest then I will do the random draw thing to see who gets it. {darganknits at hotmail dot com}

I will pick a winner on New Year's Day.

Lastly a parting shot from Christmas Dinner. He still wasn't feeling well, and he only took two or three bites of the drumstick.

Happy knitting!

Center Square

Center Square from Winter Knitty 2006. Patons Classic Wool in winter white and chestnut brown, two strands held throughout on 8mm needles. I followed the pattern to a T. Started December 26, finished December 27. I'm wondering if I have enough leftover yarn to do another one reversing the colors. I also toyed with the idea of doing another one and felting it to make a child's hat for the Dulaan Project. I'll think about it. (Oh, yes, this is mine! Finally something for me!) I think colorwork could become addictive. I really kinda liked this (even though I'm not the greatest at it), and now I'm looking at this pattern. We have some superwash wool at the store that will work. Maybe someday I'll get as good as some other people at this!

I'm glad I made myself this nice, warm hat. The weather turned quite chilly. Hubby and I also went to the free adult public skate today, and I wore it there. I need new skates really badly. I have white figure skates I got when I was in high school, and they hurt my feet now. I want those new boot skates. I'll probably wait til they start marking them down before I buy a pair. I don't go skating enough to spend too much on a new pair. I think I saw a pair in the Wal-Mart flyer the other week that were a different brand and a lot cheaper. I don't need a fancy name.

Been playing with the ball winder. I wound the yarn for Dad's belated Christmas slippers. I had some help, as you can see in the picture. I really want a swift. My chairs don't allow the yarn to flow smoothly off the backs, so I have to unwind it by hand a little bit, leave it on the floor, wind it on the winder, etc, etc, til I'm finished. I did have hubby holding the last skein, and it did go much better. He's gone so much, though, that I'll have to do all my winding when he's home! (I'll talk about these chairs in the next post maybe. There's a story behind them. My old chairs had straight backs and would have been a breeze to use as a swift. Unfortunately they are all broken, thus the replacement chairs.)

Got my eBay yarn yesterday for Karen's Sugar-Free Socks. I cannot wait to start these! I've never used this yarn before, and it is soooooo soft. It will be nice to have a pair of socks on the needles, especially warm ones for me since the weather has gotten chilly.

I hear it calling from the closet....

Here's a copy and paste job from yesterday's post on a little contest of a sort I have going on:

I also have a little bit of a contest to hold. Well, it's only a contest if I get more than one person who wants it. I ordered the boys some Lite Brite refills for Christmas from Toys R Us. One was a Star Wars refill kit (I know, more for me, the SW freak that I am), and the other one was supposed to be this plain one. When it came it was My Little Pony, which isn't even listed on their site. I don't have any little girls with Lite Brites to give it to. Anyhoo, all you have to do is leave me a comment or e-mail me saying you either have a little girl with a Lite Brite Classic, Cube, or Travel OR you know a little girl with said item(s) who would like to have it. If I get more than one person expressing interest then I will do the random draw thing to see who gets it. {darganknits at hotmail dot com}

I will run this until New Year's Day, then make the draw. So far there are three people who have expressed interest in it. I'm glad it will be going to someone's little girl -- it's more bother than it's worth for me to return it.

I have more pictures to share, but Blogger crapped out on me. Off to start Dad's slippers or his birthday hat. I'm also a Coronation Street fan. Tonight is a sad one. Mike Baldwin dies. He's been in the show for thirty years. (We're months and months behind England, and I always cheat and go on the ITV site to see what's going on.)

Ho, ho, ho!

Happy knitting!

Boxing Day

Well, it's all over for another year, isn't it? I'm definitely starting Christmas knitting no later than summer next year. (I said that last year -- see where it got me?) I have a list going of some ideas for some people. That will most likely change considering it's a whole year away! We got this book in the other day. I'd like to do the Hat, Mittens and Scarf for my SIL. Pattern calls for Canadiana, but I will switch it to a nice wool in an aran color. Was thinking maybe Cascade or something of the like.

I did not finish my parents' felted slippers. I told them Christmas Eve that I was making them. My mother's were finished yesterday. Here's a picture of them pre-defuzzing. I trimmed off quite a bit of fuzz with the scissors. These were made with Briggs & Little Regal in lilac and grape. I find the B&L takes a lot of runs through the wash to felt, thus the major fuzzing. I have enough left to make myself a pair, I think, but reversing the colors. We don't have any more grape in the same dye lot at the store, and the other dye lot is noticeably different.


I got some holiday cheer for bookkeeping for the business. I had a few Monkey's Lunches Saturday night before the firemen's Christmas party. Yum! (Equal parts banana liqeuer and Kamora/Kahlua with milk.) I also got a flat of Schooner which I in turn gave to hubby. (Who is contemplating giving up alcohol in the New Year since the fiasco the other night and the illness that followed the next day. Yeah, right! That's a temporary thought on his part that I've heard before.)

Got a wool winder -- finally! -- and got to try it on its maiden voyage last night on the hank of cashmere sock yarn I won from the first Sock-A-Month KAL. This afternoon I wound five skeins of Briggs & Little Regal for Dad's slippers (with a couple of helpers). I'd like to get a swift eventually. I do have a birthday March 1, plus there's Valentine's Day and our anniversary on February 26. Could be a combination gift!


Now here's some eye candy. This is what I got from The Sweet Sheep during their 20% off sale just before Christmas. It was shipped really fast! I half didn't expect it til after Christmas. I have this in my closet still. I figured if it was under the tree the cats may get at it. I have Baudelaires planned for the red, Lobster Pot Socks for the blue (I foresee a couple of pairs of these!), and I haven't decided anything for the three variagateds. (Feel free to recommend stuff!)


I also churned out one more pair of felted mittens for my MIL. I'm not crazy about the stripes on the body of the mitten, but I didn't have enough brown yarn left (Patons Classic Wool). After nine or ten pairs of these in a row the mind sort of hazes over on ideas for striping or different effects. I didn't have time to get too fancy. I started another pair with some odds and ends that I was going to give to one of my SILs, but I didn't like how they were looking. I'm going to keep them for me. They'll be good to wear playing outside with the boys or shovelling snow. (By the way -- the last several days have been like +10Celsius and raining. No White Christmas.)

I think tonight I will start Center Square for myself. Though the weather has been nice, according to the forecast Thursday and Friday are going to be cold, highs only of -5Celsius. (The weather always changes after Christmas!) That pattern didn't really catch me eye at first. Maybe it's the colors shown, dunno. But I saw it here and liked it. I have Patons Classic Wool, of course, in winter white and chestnut brown. (I probably will have some brown left over that could have been used for stripeless MIL mittens, but alas the hat comes last. Knowing my luck if I'd have robbed a bit for the mittens I'd run out on the hat. I think I bought most of the good colors we have. And there was a lady in the store one Saturday I didn't work who bought over $100 of it. Definitely needs restocking -- after the dreaded inventory taking.) I'm leaning towards a new winter jacket that is brown. I also am waiting for the yarn to arrive that I ordered off eBay for Karen's Sugar Free Socks and two balls of Rowan Calmer I ordered for two hats for me. I also have the stitch marker order coming from acloset.com. (She e-mailed me to say it was shipped and to say there's a surprise in it for me!)

I also have a little bit of a contest to hold. Well, it's only a contest if I get more than one person who wants it. I ordered the boys some Lite Brite refills for Christmas from Toys R Us. One was a Star Wars refill kit (I know, more for me, the SW freak that I am), and the other one was supposed to be this plain one. When it came it was My Little Pony, which isn't even listed on their site. I don't have any little girls with Lite Brites to give it to. Anyhoo, all you have to do is leave me a comment or e-mail me saying you either have a little girl with a Lite Brite Classic, Cube, or Travel OR you know a little girl with said item(s) who would like to have it. If I get more than one person expressing interest then I will do the random draw thing to see who gets it. {darganknits at hotmail dot com}

Pop on over to The YoYo Knits to congratulate Alyson on her engagement!

Got more pictures to show next time.

Happy knitting!

Ever So Close

I don't have any pictures today. I just wanted to make a quick post before Chirstmas. I do have pictures of some more mittens (which everyone is probably sick of seeing!) and my Cherry Tree Hill order from The Sweet Sheep.

I have to make my Ma and Pa felted slippers. Do I think I will get them done? No. If I had tonight to knit, maybe, but we have the fire hall Christmas party later. Tomorrow we have a bit of running around to do. I figure if I don't get them finished I will just tell them about them Christmas Eve when they come here for our annual tradition of gathering here to watch the boys each open one present. (We put a firelog on and have cheese and pepperoni, chips, and some sweets.) They come down Christmas morning to watch the boys open their gifts, plus they are coming here for Christmas dinner. The plan now is to have them finished and maybe felt them while they are here on Christmas day. (That way I can custom fit them.)

Today was the last day of work til Wednesday. We got free Chinese food for lunch, got our Christmas bonus, plus we got to have some holiday cheer, if you know what I mean. The boss man made Death By Chocolate. It was good but rather on the rich side. I didn't feel so good after eating it, and it cut into my drinking. It's settled down now, so I'm good to go in a couple of hours for the fire hall party. Hubby is having a nap as he was "drunk sick" as a friend of mine calls it. He had too much of the good stuff last night and is feeling it today. (Boo, hoo. Is that the world's smallest violin I hear playing?) He's trying to come around so he can do it all over again. (Well, probably not to that extent.)

Anyhoo, probably no more posts til after Christmas. Maybe one Christmas Eve if the boys co-operate.

This stuff didn't come in time for Christmas. I'll probably get it next week. (It was shipped.) Now they will become birthday presents, which is only two and three weeks away! Good thing I ordered it when I did (November 30) cuz now I see they don't ship til February 15. They had this one at Wal-Mart yesterday. No one can keep the other two in stock.

Have a good one, everybody!

Happy knitting!

Are We There Yet?

Still working on -- you guessed it! -- mittens. I was up til almost midnight last night finishing the Oldest One's teacher's mittens. I put them in front of the fan all night so they would be dry to wrap in the morning. Then there's two more pairs, one pair needing to be done and wrapped for pick up on Friday morning. I also finished step FIL's mittens, but I can't get the photo uploaded. Next time. Then onto felted slippers!


Here are some pictures I took the other day of the Littlest One's preschool Christmas concert. Afterwards we did a craft together. He did the glue and some of the decorating. I just did a little decorating. Then he did some eating of the decorations. (Not the ones with glue on them.)


Here's a picture of our finished tree. Blogger crapped out on me last post and wouldn't upload this one. Decorations keep getting rearranged.


Sunday was the kids' Christmas party at the fire hall. They got to have hot dogs, pop/milk/chocolate milk, decorate cookies with frosting and sprinkles, and Santa at the end, of course. Santa hands out treat bags consisting of a bag of chips, can of pop, chocolate bar, orange, candy canes, and this year some dollar store kind of toys. They got coloring books, dinky cars, yo-yos, squirt guns, styrofoam airplanes, and more.


I finally heard from my Knit Mitt Swap Pal. She didn't get my previous e-mails. Maybe they were blocked by a spam filter or something. Everything is a go, so all is well in the land of knitting swaps once again.

I ordered some new stitch markers from acloset.com. This is my second order with them. I'll post pictures when the order arrives. I had to get a new Piggy cuz I dropped mine and broke it where the ring hooks on. (Now he's an ornament on my living room shelf.) I also got each color of ladybug in the Bling Bling series. I think I have everything ordered on-line now except for two Spongebob Lego sets (been shipped, if not here for Christmas will become birthday gifts), some dvds from Columbia House, and my eBay yarn and stitch markers. Our post office will be open Saturday morning, so I have my fingers crossed. I got my Canadian Tire order today (thankfully -- Christmas gifts, two needing to be delivered out of town tomorrow) and also my Sweet Sheep order!! I'll have to post that eye candy next time. I forgot to take a picture of it. :(

Happy knitting!

Knittin' Along

Still knitting along on Christmas gifts. I ended up making two pairs of kids socks that I originally had planned, decided I didn't have time, then changed my mind and made them. They are for a brother and sister that belong to friends' of ours. Both are knit with Bernat Sox that I had in stash. The girl socks are Hippi Hot and are this free pattern in size 6-8 with about 1/2" added foot length. They boy socks are Navy Hot and are this free pattern in size 2-4. (I would say by the look of their web site that they have discontinued their Hot Sox yarn. It is no longer on their list of yarn, and although the patterns are still on the site they do not list the yarn used like they normally do.) This yarn has been in my stash awhile.



We finished decorating the tree. It's not the best tree I've ever had, but it's also not the worst, either. I had help, of course.


This is just the tree with the lights only. I tried to get Blogger to upload a finished picture, but I guess I hit my limit. Next post.

I have lots of ornaments that I made myself many moons ago. I painted six of these Rudolphs and eight penguins. They were kits I bought from Mary Maxim. I also have six Old World Santas. There's also lots of cross stitch ornaments, a few plastic canvas stars, and some other things I made. The trouble with these painted ornaments are that they are gypsum and quite heavy. They need sturdy branches that don't sag.

I lit the first firelog of the season tonight, so the boys had a "campout". (Rerun of Will & Grace on TV.)


Did anyone watch this movie the other night? I don't watch many made-for-tv movies, but this one was good. It's being rebroadcast on Sunday night on A&E. It was filmed here in Nova Scotia.

Well, must get back to the mitten grind.

Pop on over to Tonia's to cheer her up. She lost her great grandmother the other day and is feeling quite blue.

Happy knitting!

SALE!!! SALE!!!

20% off all Cherry Tree Hill yarns at The Sweet Sheep til December 20th! Guess what the four things on my wish list are! Guess what I'm going to do right now! Christmas gifts for me!

Happy knitting!

PS Nova Knitter picked me up a ball winder yesterday. I got it today, but I haven't tried it yet.

Invasion Begins

I'm being invaded, and I think the offspring are on their side...

They're even taking over my computer with their loud music and flashy dancing...

I'll be keeping my eye on them. Some play irritating music, some light up, and some do both. I understand there's like 18 different ones in all, but I don't think that many will be coming here.

I picked up a tree today. I'm sure it's not good enough for hubby. He's super fussy, but to me they all pretty much look the same once decorated (to a point). I'd like to get one of those artificial prelit ones that rotate, but I'm not allowed to have a fake tree. I do like the smell, but I feel bad that a tree gets cut down for a couple of week's pleasure. This one was just cut recently and baled, so I will leave it for a couple of days so the limbs relax. I want to get some new LED lights this year. I hate putting lights on the tree, that's usually hubby's job, but he probably won't be home til next week. I wouldn't have gotten the tree this early, but I decided best to do it while the Oldest One was in school and I had Nanny with me to help decide.

The Littlest One cleaned up the mess off the floor for me. He did a good job. I usually put the tree in the corner by the fireplace. This year I think I will keep it where hubby's chair used to be (before it went to the boneyard, no replacement yet). It will be more visible in my window here, and I won't have to move my chair, endtable, and fan. (I left the fan there cuz I use it to help dry felted stuff faster. I put the stuff on the back of my chair, and it lines up nicely with the fan. By morning they're usually dry.)

Last year we got one of those funky tree stands. I had to get the instructions out. I didn't have the foot pedal out the whole way, and I couldn't get it to swivel. Hubby usually does this, too. The tree will probably fall over after I get it decorated.

I made another pair of mittens. Here's the before and after. Patons Classic Wool, of course. Got another pair on the needles that I was hoping to get finished tonight, but I don't know.

I had a few more pictures to upload, but it crapped out on me. They'll have to wait til next time.

Happy knitting!