December Already?

Hi everyone....can you believe that tomorrow is going to be December 2015?  Just 32 more days and we will be in 2016....crazy!

I am going to jump right into my stash enhancements.

I got my last 3 skeins of yarn from Desert Vista Dyeworks....this will make 13 skeins of DVD yarn so I can participate in the pair of socks a month next year (Yes, I know I only need 12, but I have one spare).  There is Color Accents Orange, Zombody Says Boo, and Laduree Macaroons:

Then, Knit Picks brought back their felici yarn for a limited time, so I got 4 in the Time Traveler colorway and 4 in the Rainbow colorway:

I think I have told you guys before that I am not doing the Strickmich!Club for 2016....one thing that Martina does is send 4 club color beads with each shipment.  I have not used these beads yet, but I have a friend (Paula) that does not use her beads and she has sent me hers....she sent me her last two sets recently....THANK YOU PAULA!  You Rock!

Last week I told you that I was doing a HiyaHiya New products swap.  Basically, I send out an envelope with some new HiyaHiya products and that person sends me some sock yarn....well, I got my first package.  This is a skein of Opal Yarn.

My last stash enhancement is not knitting related.....I have worn glasses from about the age of 9 to 32.  I had Lasik Surgery in January of 2004....well, the told me that when I hit my 40's I would need reading glasses, and it was very probable that I would need distance glasses again.  I am 43 now (soon to be 44) and it was time.....so I went to the eye dr and she said I need my first pair of progressives.  They came in on Friday and I have been trying to get used to them since.  They give me a headache and I think I see worse with them....but I will give them another week or so and see if I can get used to them.

Now, on to the knitting!  I told you last week that I moved into a new building at work and showed you my wonderful view.....well, I did not tell you that it is  FREEZING in this building....so, I decided to make myself a pair of Fingerless Mitts with some of my new Felici Yarn.  I finished one, but still need to do the gusset and hand on the second one.

Darlene wants to make her daughter a pair of these along with a sockhead hat for Christmas, so I told her I would get her mitts started:

I think I may have done one or two more cables on my Doodler Shawl.....I think this shawl may go on the back burner for a while.

That is pretty much it for the knitting....however, I more things coming down the pipeline that will start tomorrow (the 1st of December).

My sister called to tell me that my niece wants a pair of hand knit socks for Christmas.....I wish she would have told me that like a month ago.....so I will be starting those tomorrow for my December pair of socks.

Then, Paige loved her baggy black socks and apparently so did her boyfriend (Chris)...she sent me this text:

So, her boyfriend wanted some socks with a pattern on it (funny, I know!).....but he is going to settle on just grey....for December in the Bags By Awesome Grannie Forum, there is a contest to use Biscotte Cie yarn.....well, I found this grey Biscotte Cie yarn and he likes it...so I am going to try to get some men's size baggy socks made....here is the color that is on it's way to me from Canada!

Yesterday was Jaime's Birthday....and while I am certain he does not read my blog (heck, he has enough of my knitting on a daily basis), I still want to say Happy Birthday Jaime!

Well, that is all I have....I leave you with a few pictures of the kids playing on Thanksgiving at my  aunt's house (You should recognize Antonio and Celeste)!

Happy Happy Happy Knitting!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Is everyone ready for Turkey Day?  I am NOT!  Thankfully I am going to my aunt's house so I do not have too much to do!  I only have to make 2 dishes, but I still need to go grocery shopping....Yikes!  I did want to say Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!  I hope you have a wonderful time!

I had a pretty busy week at work last week.....and it seriously affected my knitting time.  I moved from one building to another at work (right across a parking lot and driveway).  It was not far, but I was the "Move Coordinator" and that sucked up my time, and it make me super tired in the evenings (what's up with that?)!  In my old building I never saw daylight.....the building was made of concrete with very few windows.....well, the new building is made of lots of glass and look at my new view from my desk!  I am super excited!

I have some pretty exciting semi-stash enhancements....first, do you remember when I was going to try to crochet a hippo for Darlene?  Well, I failed miserably...but I met a wonderful lady on ravelry named Denise.....she made the hippo for Darlene and one for me (Can you guess mine is the longhorn color one?)

I gave Darlene hers this morning....I was going to wait till Christmas, but I just couldn't....she loved it.

Denise, I have no clue if you read my blog or not...but THANK YOU SO MUCH!  You ROCK!

I got my 4th and final shipment from Strickmich!Club 2015.  As I have said all along, I did not join for 2016, but the funny party was......I did not even get an invite to join again (usually current members get to sign up first)....so I am guessing they did not want me back!

I had a SNB a my house a few weeks ago and a good friend of mine showed up with a backpack that looked like cable knitted fabric......no, I did not NEED a backpack....but I got one!  LOL!  Isn't it cute?

I am also doing a New Products for Hiya Hiya.....so Qianer sent me 10 silk eye masks, 10 Octopus Snips, and 10 Sheep Needle Gauges.....I am keeping one set and swapping the other 9 sets....you can read all about it here.  Thank you Qianer!

The stash enhancement I am most excited about is a large bag that Darlene made for me.  Her hubby made her a large bag like this....it was meant to be a sweater bag for an awesome sweater that she was making her hubby (more on that later)...but it is so large, you can carry anything in it......well, this was pretty much a one of a kind and she is not selling it in her shop....but I found the cutest sheep material and I asked her if she would make me one if I paid her.....of course she said yes (because she is awesome) and I am soooooo thankful to her for everything she does for me.....This bag is so awesome....I just love it...and it has straps!!  I already have my stuff in it ready to go.  Thank you so much Darlene!

As for the knitting.....well, I finished the socks for Paige.....I know this seems kind of minor, but these socks are much  larger than any other socks I have knit....she wanted them 'baggy' and 'loose'.  These socks were about 350 yards of BLACK!

I also worked on my doodler.....I finally finished wedge 17 and I only had 6 grams of yarn left!  WOW!  Now I am onto clue 2.....seems I am staying a clue behind because clue 3 is already out and I am not even 1/2 done with clue 2.....but here it is...it is a little hard to see because clue 2 is all black (I must be crazy to knit with so much black)...but it is coming along!

Okay.....so remember I told you about the awesome sweater that Darlene was making her hubby?  Well, she finished it and it is just phenomenal!  It fits her hubby perfect and he loves it....Way to Go Darlene!

Well, that is it....sad, I know.  I had Antonio all weekend, and I have Celeste and Cat tonight, then Antonio again tomorrow...so I am not sure when I will ever be able to knit again!  Ha, Ha!

I leave you with some fun pics.....

Happy Happy Happy Knitting!

Happy Birthday Celeste!

Hello everyone!  How was your week?  Well, mine was productive....but not so much in the knitting area.

I have only knit on one thing all week, and that is my Doodler Clue 1....yes, Clue 2 has come out, and I have not even started it....I am on my last and final wedge of clue 1 (Number 17)...

I was productive in my yarn stash!  First, I acquired a few more skeins of yarn.  Here are a few stash enhancements......

The most exciting part was I also had friends come over and help me get my Ravelry Yarn Stash up to date.....no, it is not 100% up to date, but I know what is done and what is not...and it is much more manageable now!

Here are a few photos......Thank you so much to Tami and Melissa!

Then, I got some more Hiya Hiya Needles for hostessing KAL's for Qianer.....thank you Qianer....these are the Large needle sets in both 5" and 4" with "Knitphomaniac" lasered on the tips....they are awesome!

Then, it was grandchildren time.....Jaime and I were going to go out to Red Lobster on Thursday night...but someone missed me (and I missed him too), so look who met me to eat dinner with me?  Best Date Ever!

Celeste's birthday is Nov 22, but she had her party a little early.....she was having a double party with her cousin, Mia.  They booked a whole skating rink just for the party after hours.

First, I told Antonio I would pick him up and take him with me (since mom works later than when it started)....boy was he tired.....

It is good he got a little nap in...cuz next it was time to skate:

I think it was a great party.....Celeste had a great time and even Cataleya got into the dancing spirit...and Paige got roller skates on too.....Antonio enjoyed chasing her around the rink in tennis shoes....LOL!

And no skating event would be completely without the Hokie Pokie...even if Antonio does not know his right from his left!

Happy Birthday Celeste!  I hope you had a great time!

Have a great week everyone!