So this happened yesterday...

...my latest Knit Picks order arrived!!  I definitely use yarn as a way to relieve myself of stress. (Hey it's better than many addictions!)  Last week I had a couple of stressful days at work and definitely took refuge in the Knit Picks summer sale and a gift card I had :)

Here are the knitty-gritty details and planned projects!

-14 skeins of Wool of the Andes Sport in Mai Tai Heather for my Humboldt Raglan
-14 skeins of Wool of the Andes Sport in Marina for a Larch Cardigan
-Curio in Ash and Bluebell for who knows what (it’s super soft btw)
-6 skeins of Comfy Fingering in Lilac Mist for an Elvira All Grown Up
-9 skeins of Wool of the Andes Worsted in Claret Heather for a Washington Square Vest
-two balls of Galileo in Nebula for something (can’t remember what I planned to use it for…perhaps a cowl)
-and finally 3 skeins of Felici in the colorways High Tide, Aquarium, and Fizz (I’m thinking of using all of my Felici to make some sort of blanket…perhaps a Babette-esque blanket).

Welcome new stash! You're already very loved!!!

Christmas 2011

Yesterday was Christmas.  As you all know I've been knitting, crocheting, and other sorts of hand crafting most of the gifts that I was giving for Christmas.  I was so excited to give my mom the vest that I had knit for her!  Our family has a nice dinner and celebration for Christmas Eve, then I sleep at my mom's house in my childhood room, and then Christmas morning my mom and I open our gifts to each other and the ones that Santa brought.

So without further ado, here is my Christmas 2011 recap (and yes, my mom might not be so happy with the "Christmas Morning" pictures of her I'm posting...)

Here we have my mom's Christmas tree and the presents on Christmas morning! Yep, it's just my mom and I.....we really love each other :) (not that material items = love...just saying).

My stocking was packed from Santa!  He even wrapped these gifts in a very special way....

A lovely mirror picture of me before present time :).  I figure that if I put a picture of my mom up, I might as well include myself in my pjs :).  I love them! All of my favorite colors!!!  (Note the Christmas tree in the background....).

I just love pictures of presents up close....I love to wrap!  I wonder if you can tell which ones my mom wrapped and which ones I did.... here's a hint, I get more creative with my bows than my mom does :). I also like owls....and sparkly things :).

 

And here is my favorite picture of the day!  This is the moment when my mom opened the vest :).  As you can see, she is sooooooo excited.  (Mom, if you ever read this, I'm sorry that I posted a picture of you on the internet on Christmas morning...I love you!!)

After my mom opened my vest, I got to open my stocking.  As you can see, Santa decided to wrap my stocking stuffers with a new material this year...aluminum foil, the heavy duty kind.  While very ingenious....aluminum foil DOES NOT make for good wrapping material.  The large gash on my index finger is proof ;).

After all of the unwrapping was over, we were left with a GIANT pile of papers and other packaging materials.  (Of course we recycled what we could!)

Nothing could make Christmas better than my mom's excitement to wear her new vest!  I was thrilled when she said that she wanted to wear it for Christmas!! She even asked me to make her another one this summer in a different color!  My mom's so cute :).  She made me so happy!

After visiting family after Christmas breakfast and gift opening, my mom and I headed back to my apartment to make our traditional Christmas Day dinner.  We've been having this for years and years....I can remember how much my Baba (grandma) loved it!  What was it, you ask?  Well, we had cornish hens baked over seasoned (cream of chicken soup and italian seasoning) rice, with green beans, carrots, cranberry sauce, and an amazing jello mold that my mom made!

2011 was really a nice Christmas!  I'm super thankful for my amazing family, a mother that loves me more than I can ever understand, and great friends!  OH...and the Knit Picks harmony wood interchangeable knitting needle set that I got from Santa!

Central Park Hoodie KAL, first meeting!

On Sunday my KAL group had our "first meeting" :).  Our group consists of me, Lindsey, Alex, and Alex's mom!!   I'm very excited about this because this is my first knit OR crocheted adult size sweater---and it is for me!  We met on Sunday, had some lunch, and got to knitting!  Some of us had cast on prior to this first meeting to begin the ribbing--because ribbing can be a bit boring/annoying/blah...  Well, Alex was a bit gung-ho and finished the back of her sweater DURING our first meeting.... :) Way to go ALEX!  You can see her finished pieces in the picture below :).  The rest of us either completed at least all of the ribbing during this first meeting and began the pattern repeats.

Pictured here is Alex and her mom.  I'm so happy that we have Alex's mom on board, we can learn so much from her!!!!  She is a wonderful knitter and it makes me very excited that she decided to join us!  Both Alex and her mom decided to use Knit Picks Wool of the Andes for their sweaters.  Alex's is a purple/red heather color (Claret Heather) and her mom's is a light blue/gray color (Lake Ice Heather)

Lindsey got a good amount of her sweater done. (Notice her stitch markers!! I made those :).  Lindsey is using Caron One Pound in a navy blue color.  I'm also using the Caron One Pound, but in white.  I had a bunch of this yarn in my stash (3 pound in each color) and we figured that since this was our first real big sweater project, it was best to try and use up a stash yarn instead of buying something new :).  A bit plus is that this yarn is machine washable and dry-able!!

From left to right: Alex, me,  and Lindsey.  We are all so proud of our progress on these sweaters!  This was taken at the end of our knitting session!

Finally, here is my progress (by the end of Sunday night) on my sweater!  This is the back.  I'm slightly nervous that this might be too small since this pattern is said to run about 4 inches too small.  I went up a size and got a slightly larger gauge with my yarn than the patter, so I'm hoping that it will be ok.

Our next meeting is on June 19th!  We made an agreement not to have more than the back and two front sides made by this time.  Alex is really knitting this quickly and we thought it would be best to try to stay at a similar pace for this project.  I hope that I can do the back and the fronts by the next meeting!!!  I think I might take this to work with me :) so I can knit on the train!  WOOHOO!!!

Until next time!

My Knit Picks order came!!!

YAY!!! I was delighted to come home from work on Friday and find my Knit Picks order waiting at my door!  Even though I have enough yarn to last me a few years (I need to reorganize my stash....maybe in a month or two I will do that and post all of what I own **gulp**), it is always nice to receive some in the mail or buy it in the store or get it as a gift...you get the idea :)!  All of the yarn in the order is sock yarn--which I plan on using to make more Easter eggs...(for next year) :) and I also tried a set of interchangeable needles (which I am loving!!) and some new stitch markers!!!

::Drool!!!::

Mmmmmmm all the yummy yarn!!!!! KP <3!

Felici in "Moonlit"

Felici in "Rainbow"

Stroll Multi in "Meadow"

And Imagination in "Fairy Princess"

"Mermaid Lagoon"

"Pixie Dust"

and "Unicorn"

When I get new yarn it reminds me how far I have come with knitting and crocheting.  I'm not sure if everyone else is like me, but I know that I started out using yarns from craft stores like A.C. Moore and Michaels (which I still use btw because they are quite useful!) and as I got more skilled I advanced to using more "special" yarns.  I love yarn, knitting, and crocheting so much and I'm so excited to use this new yarn!!