A Shocking Beginning

Knitting

The first shock is that I bought the US magazine that rhymes with Schmitter's.

The second shock is that the reason I made such a purchase is because there are a couple of projects in it I actually want to knit.

I know.

The third shock is that I've already cast on the design on the cover. Although the name of the pattern sucks, is completely ridiculous - seems inappropriate, especially when the item is being knitted for anyone over the age of 19.

Shall we play Charades? The pattern name is 2 words. The first word is the abbreviated form of dormitory. The second word is the title of the daughter born to a king and queen. I see by the roll of your eyes that you've figured out the name.

Exactly.

The fourth shock is that I'm using stash.

I know!

I feel quite virtuous starting out the year like this.

The fifth shock is quite big.

You might want to sit down for this.

I swatched.

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. You'd normally expect the word "didn't" to appear in that sentence.

I KNOW!

But here's the sixth shock.

Warning: You may want to take a quick belt of any alcohol you have on hand - for the medicinal qualities - before reading further.

I WASHED AND BLOCKED that swatch.

(You were forewarned.)

And I've got photographic proof.



Here's the progress so far.



Make Your Own Junkfood
In an effort to eat healthier while trying to suppress cravings, I made our own oven fries as part of dinner the other night. Very easy.

Coat pan with olive oil, cut up potatoes into desired thickness, lay in pan, and sprinkle with your choice of seasonings. I take the simple way out and just sprinkle Mrs. Dash (original blend) on them. The cayenne pepper in the blend gives it enough kick for DH while not being too hot for me. Bake at 375 around 45 minutes to 1 hour until brown. Good winter comfort food.



Sorry - but I've got no "after" photo. They're that good.

I've also found a way to avoid snacking during my commute - the times of day I'm most likely to eat junk. I just started learning German and have found that it's surprisingly difficult to eat and correctly pronounce words at the same time when listening to the practice CDs in the car. When I'm listening to podcasts, there's chewing gum. We'll see how long I can keep this up.

Weather
We've had several days/nights of freezing fog (scroll halfway down the page to see the definition). I've come to realize I really hate driving in it...even more than a snowstorm. I don't like the feeling of being encapsulated in my car while having such limited visability while also dealing with slick roads.

The one positive aspect of freezing fog is it turns the entire countryside into a winter wonderland. Everything is encased with a light coat of ice and if you're lucky enough to be outside when the sun peeps out, it is a spectacular sight.




The Unanswered Question



What I want to know is who is Wayne and why does he rock?

Knits R' Us

Knitted toys. Feh.

At least that's what I used to think.

How can one resist the allure of these?




Our guild had Susan Anderson as the guest speaker this month. (I'd post a photo of her but mine were less than flattering. Click on her blog for more details and photos.)

I've never before had the urge to knit toys. Small, fiddly little things, I thought. Tons of parts and tons of sewing seams. What the heck do you stuff them with? Who wants to mess with all that?

According to Susan, I may be wrong. And her enthusiasm for small knitted items is catching. So I'm thinking of making some toys as I need gifts for some kids this coming summer. The only problem is finding her book in any local shops. Seems I'm not the only knitter she infected with her enthusiasm.

Watch this space for how this venture will turn out.

2010

The New Year brought a crowd of 17 to the Haus, food enough for twice that number (I think we'll be eating leftovers for another week), and games enough to keep everyone happily occupied. The crowd was all my family as we'd spent Christmas with DH's family. As big as the crowd was, not everyone from the immediate family was there!

All the nieces and nephews were a bit much for the cats, who sought shelter from the maddening crowd wherever they could find it.




As part of the anticlimactic end to it all, I've gotten the mother of all head colds.

And how were your holidays?

Christmas Eve ended at about 4 a.m. on December 25th. After we got home at 2 a.m. from the in-laws, I fortified myself with a little Christmas cheer,



got out my blocking tools - wires, pins, mats, -



and, yes, knee pads. They made the wood floor much more bearable.

Dane needed to be blocked as I was giving it to my MIL a few hours later.


The knitting gifts I received this year were from my swap partners from the Winter Solstice swap on Ravelry. What gifts they were!



The first package was from Kimberly and included 2 skeins of lovely purple Claudia's Handpainted Yarn, Debbie Bliss magazine, candies from her home state, a DVD with movies starring Barbara Stanwyck and Angela Lansbury, and a rooster charm.




The second package was from Sonia and included delicious hot chocolate (which I've been enjoying during today's snowstorm), three super soft skeins of British Breeds Blue Face Leicester DK (spun in Yorkshire), a skein of Wensleydale that she spun herself, 2 gorgeous buttons, a shawl pin, stitchmarkers, a coaster, and a cup cozy that she made. Can you believe she fit all this into a shoe box? I can't get it all back into the box!






Many thanks, Kimberly and Sonia, for making the holidays extra special!