Why hello there!

So since I'm done shopping for my swap partner, Wolf and I went to the mall with Wolf's sister yesterday. And I decided to throw money caution into the wind and see if I could find a child to help from the Christmas tree. See, every year, they set up a booth and a tree and on the tree they hang up cards for children who come from families who don't have enough money to buy things for their kids for the holiday. We used to pick a kid all the time when we were little but haven't done it lately. So I just started browsing through the cards. Now, they give a line for things the kids need like clothes and such and then things that are wish list items. Now I was thinking about being odd and getting a boy. But all the boys wanted iPods and palm pilots and new bikes etc. As much as I would love to give a child an item like that, I can't even afford one for myself. And I wanted to be able to get the kid something from their wish list.
I went around the tree for about 5 minutes until I found the perfect child. I mean perfect. She needed clothes and jackets and wanted arts and crafts supplies. I jumped a little when I found it and read it over 10 times to make sure I was reading it right. So I decided to give her gifts. The cool thing about it is that the mall is actually getting involved now, so they give you a list of stores in the mall that will give you a discount if you buy things for your child from their store. Then they also give you a book full of coupons that you can use at stores in the mall for yourself. So I was extra excited about that. So we got everything we needed yesterday because we're silly like that.


You can make the images larger, too. That way you can actually see better. Haha. I bought her the gray sweater (ok, I know I could have made her one, but I have enough on my plate and I don't have any access to her so I can't exactly measure her to make sure it fits right), the pink hearts necklace, the heart box kit and the art set. Wolf's sister bought the jeans because I was wary of buying them from the first store we entered into. So yay for her chipping in because it was very out of character. Then since Payless was having their Bogo sale, I figured I could get her some new shoes as well. So we got her some nice black dressy shoes and some Hannah Montana slip-on shoes. And please note that going shopping for this darling has made me want to have a young one of my own. BEWARE! Lol.


Then we got her this black jacket that's like a regular sweatshirt on the outside, but inside it's line with faux fur so it'll be nice and warm. A jacket was specifically listed on her card, so I figured a jacket and the sweater would do perfectly. So then we also got her the butterfly shirt you see underneath the jacket there. And the scarf? I made that when I was first beginning to seriously get into knitting and it's been sitting around for a while waiting for a use. And I thought this would be a perfect time to hand it off to someone that can use it! Sure, it's Fancy Fur, but they'll be able to wash it like normal and all that good stuff. :] All-in-all, I think she'll be happy. I wanted to get her more stuff, but you can't give too much or they'll split up some of the gifts and give them to other kids who didn't get a whole lot or who's cards weren't selected. Yupyup. So she got clothes, a jacket, shoes (which weren't on her list, but shoes are always nice to have), and a little craft kit and an art set. I think I did pretty well.

And this monstrosity here? This is the sweater I'm making up for Wolf's sister. And I know I completely messed up a bit on the ribbing (go ahead and enlarge it...it will just right out at you) but I decided to just leave it since I'd already ripped it back about 14 times before. And she said she didn't mind if there were little mistakes through it because it would made it look more "handmade". It still drives me nuts and I want to fix it, but I just keep looking at the pile of yarn I still need to knit with before Christmas and that fuels my drive to just get through it. Lol. But it is my first sweater, so hopefully it'll come out ok. Crossing my fingers!

CRAZY!!! + WWCS Topic # 4

Have I ever mentioned that I hate Black Friday? Of coarse not, because this blog is too new. But I hate it! With a passion! Buuut at least I'm out of retail now, so I just had to go cause havoc throughout other stores! ;) I'm excited because I have everything set up for the WWCS gal that I get to spoil the hell out of! Hopefully they like it, or I'll just ask for some of it back! Lol! I may have a 4-day weekend going on, but it doesn't mean that I get to enjoy it. Nope. All day tomorrow I'll be cleaning. And knitting. But as far as everyone else is concerned, I'm just cleaning. I'll just tell them what they want to hear!

Now, onto the topic of the week!

What is the ideal setting for enjoying the perfect cup of coffee? Who would be there - or would you be alone? Inside or out? Morning or night? With food or just the steaming cup of joe?

Honestly, I love any setting for coffee! I love going to little cafe's, I love curling up and reading a book or watching a movie, I love shopping with it, anything goes! I just love having coffee anywhere and thus shows my insane love for it. And I rarely ever drink coffee with food. I don't know why, but for some reason it mixes weird with the food and I wind up getting sick. That doesn't mean no sweets with it, just no actual food food. ;)

And with that I must be running off to prepare for my knitting cleaning day tomorrow!

---

Found you!

• You signed up on November 1, 2007
• You are #51566 on the list.
• 186 people are ahead of you in line.
• 9768 people are behind you in line.
• 83% of the list has been invited so far

Wow! This isn't taking overly long at all! :)

Almost.

Found you!

• You signed up on November 1, 2007
• You are #51566 on the list.
• 1698 people are ahead of you in line.
• 8117 people are behind you in line.
• 83% of the list has been invited so far

-squeal- + WWCS Topic # 3

Ok, so I think I'm almost done with goodies for my WWCS Swap Partner. xD I just found the most perfect gift to give. I'm sure she'll get a kick out of it. I'd post it up, but I don't want to run the risk of ruining it for her! But I've ordered the yarn, bought a ton of goodies to stuff in the box, and so all I have left to do is snag up some coffee. The easy part! ;) So hopefully she'll love it all. I'm super worried since it's my first swap. I don't want to wind up being a horrible partner!

No matter what, though, I can't wait for 2007 to be over. It's been a horrible year. My grandmother died in January, my dog, Shadow, died on Easter, my fiance and I split up the day after my birthday (but we've worked things out and are back together again, but starting over), my great aunt died a few weeks ago, and both of my grandfathers have been in and out of the hospital and ICU's nonstop. And my mother just informed me that my grandfather on her side is now in the hospital because he can't stand up or walk. All tests that they've run show nothing horrible, but he can't get up. So it's probably only a matter of time. And I love my mom's parents. I always loved spending time with them and I've been suffering under the delusion that they'll live forever because they're my grandparents. Ugh! I just don't want any more deaths this year. It's making me emo!

Now onto the WWCS topic of the week!

The Thursday upcoming is Thanksgiving in the U.S., so let's all - American and not alike! - just share a post with what it is we're thankful for. A wonderful thing to do any time of year, I thought it'd be a nice thing to share for this week with the group!

Hmmmm....things I'm thankful for...there's an awful lot of them! We'll start off with the usual and then onto some of the weird and wacky. I'm thankful for my family and friends and for everything they do for me and for putting up with my increasing sarcasm. I'm thankful for my dog who's just so stupid and cute but also really smart because she shows me that it's ok to bonk your head into things as long as you pretend like no one saw, and that if people are laughing at you over it, the best thing to do is slobber them with kisses. I'm thankful for knitting because without it, my yarn obsession would just be weird. But I'm not thankful for yarn because it's spawned many fights and has almost turned me into a yarn-obsessed version of Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Ah! And I'm thankful for Wolf who's put up with so much of my crap and still manages to stick by my side. Awwww. And I'm also thankful for toilets because without them, we'd be having to run outside and squat in a hole to go to the bathroom. Ew. And I think I'll leave it off there because I'm pretty much thankful for everything! xD

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

The harsh truth.

So these are my -known- UFO's right now.
-Wolf's Blanket
-Zu's Scarf
-Zu's Hat
-K's Condom Critter
-3 Scarves for me
-Fluff's Scarf
-Panada's Scarf
-Sweater for Wolf's sister
-Scarf for Zully (Just have to finish fringe)
-Purse for Zully (Have to line with fabric and attach handles)

So that's 9. And that's only what I know of.

Now add on the Christmas presents I was planning to throw together.
-Mom's Sweater
-Dad's Sweater
-Baseball Socks for mom
-Poncho for Kenna
-Bunny for Gmo
-Ball Gag for Nass
-Poncho for X
-Hat for Ducks

Suddenly my positive outlook on actually managing to get all of these done in time for Christmas has severely dropped. :( I'm going to knit a little bit now to try and make myself feel better.

But before I do, I just find this insanely funny. I decided to check out Feist's performance on SNL on youtube, and first off she sounds amazing live, so that made me love her even more. It's just sad that most people only know her from the iPod commercial. Because she has other songs that are simply amazing. But it just made me laugh because as soon as she finished 1234, I turned on the tv to her music video for that song playing. Haha. Made me giggle.

Alright, enough insanity. I'm off to knit for a bit!

"Gentleness is the key to the golden egg!" - Wolf

First things first, Gnat's holding a contest so make sure you go and enter! :) And don't forget about Vicky's as well!

Ok, so still no update on the condom critter. I wound up working on Saturday and spent Sunday enjoying what little time of the day I had after sleeping like a medicated baby (yes, I know that's horrible, but this is why I'm not a mom right now xD) and enjoying some time without the parents being home. Oh what joyous fun I had. I'll be dragging a ton of crap with me on Thanksgiving though since I'll be at someone's house and since I'm the one of the odd age where I'm too young to hang with the adults and too old to hang with the youngins, I'm sure I'll need something to do.

So I was just browsing around online and making a list of all the cross stitch kits I want to try and pick up eventually, and I found this.

I apologize for the freakishly huge picture, but I'm too lazy to shrink it down right now. That should be my motto though. Because it fits me on so many days. ;)

I haven't picked up a single needle to knit this week. And it's frankly depressing me a bit. :( I need my therapy! Guess I have to settle for flaming hot cheetos for now. Poo.

Contest Alert! ;)

So Vicky's holding a contest for her 500th blog post!
And I think you should all go check it out! ;)

Duckies!

Are these not just the cutest friggin' stitch markers ever?! I love them! Of coarse, my obsession with rubber duckies tends to help with that. ;) One day I'll have to take a picture of my duckie collection to share with you all.

I finally found a store that sells yarn in hanks! People laughed at me because I squealed when I saw them. But I haven't been able to find a store that sells any yarn other then Lion, Patons, Moda Dea, and those retail brands. So I was delighted to find them! And it's affordable! It's still a far cry from a LYS since it's only a little selection up against the back of the store, but it's better then what I've had to choose from so far. So I'm happy.

I haven't been able to knit anymore since my last post, so I'm almost done with the i-cord for that condom critter and then I'll be able to put that thing together 100% and set it aside to be mailed off for Christmas! Yay! But now I'm off to get a bit of sleep. Hope you all enjoy your holiday! I'll be stuck working again. :(

WWCS Topic #2

As the cold of winter approaches, do you change the projects you work on? Do you work on gifts for others or do you continue working on projects for yourself? Can't wait to see all the replies. Nice meeting each and everyone of you.

I can't really say that I change the projects that I work on since my skills are still really limited as to what I can do. One of the joys of being a self-taught knitter who doesn't take directions overly well. But I do mainly work on gifts for others. I really don't think I've ever made anything for myself just yet. All the projects I have worked on have been intended for other people. But this year I did decide to make Christmas presents for my close friends and family. So hopefully I'll be able to get them all done, especially since my time frame to knit is really limited with this new job. Wah.

Hooray!

Crappy picture as usual, but at least you can see the progress. This is for the condom critter. The pink that I'm ribbing right there is going to be the inside for the lining since there's an area where you can stash things at. ;) So I've got about another 4 inches to knit in the pink and then I can sew it all together and make it start to look like something. Then I just have to make the pocket and the feet (just need to learn about the i cord) and then it's done. It's super easy to knit and I've done all of this is just a matter of hours. So these may go on a list of quick little last-minute gifts to hand out to friends. Yay. So once I'm done embellishing it and such I'll have to share it. ;) Then I need to start on 2 scarves and then make a skull cap to go with a scarf I've already made. So there may be some heavy picture posts coming up. Hoorah. Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

WWCS Topic # 1

When did you first start drinking coffee? What age were you? Was it about the caffeine, or do you love the taste and smell? Tell us how your passion began!

Ah, lovely memories with this one. I was about 10 years old when I first drank coffee. And I was about 16 when I became addicted. I started off when I was waiting in the car for my dad to finish talking to my mother while he was picking me up from school. I'd always thought coffee looked funny and thought it tasted awful since I always saw daddy putting sugar in it. So I'd strayed from tapping into his source. Well, one this one fateful day, he was taking forever to finish speaking with her, so I was sitting in the car by myself with this yummy smelling coffee mug filled to the brim with coffee. Now, as a young child, I didn't care for overly hot drinks. But I noticed that on this day, the coffee wasn't steaming. So I picked up the mug and held it in my hands to gauge about how hot it was. It was still hot, but not scorching. So I decided to smell it. Mmmm it smelled so good, so I finally sucked it up (after looking to make sure dad wasn't coming back to find me drinking his coffee) and took my first sip. It was wonderful and I kept taking sip after sip after sip until, you guessed it, it was all gone. I was grounded for a week because of that, but every time my dad would make coffee in the morning, I would sneak out and make a little cup before he was done getting ready for work and would sneak it into my room and drink it before "wake-up time". And that was my first introduction to coffee. And while some people swear up and down that decaf is for wimps, I don't think that's the case. Frankly, my body and I get along with the less amount of caffeine that I pump into it. So I'm definitely a smell and taste kinda person. ;)

Yay!

My yarn finally came in! :) Now it's time for crappy pictures since I'm cursed with my camera phone. Huzzah!

This lovely little bundle I managed to snag up from Hello Yarn. It's called Fruit Punch in their Maisy Day Handspun and it's a yummy 100% merino. This I bought with a plan in mind, because it's going towards the condom critter I'm making my friend for Christmas (from the Naughty Needles book). So I'll probably be diving into this asap. I can't wait!

This gorgeous number was also purchased from Hello Yarn. The color is called Hot Fuzz and it's 100% corriedale wool. It's also from their Maisy Day Handspun yarn. Frankly, I'm in love with all the yarn on their site. And I've been dreaming of more. I think we're going to be in trouble soon! ;) I just bought this for myself, even though I have no idea what I'll use it for. But I haven't really spoiled my stash lately so I decided it could use something like this.

This was my last yarn purchase that I've received. The bag on the far left is the Jaeger Aqua yarn in the color 328. It's a package of 10 that I got for about $23. It's 100% mercerized cotton and it's super soft. I'm thinking about a baby project. Or maybe another number for my little cousin. The other two bags are part of the yarn I need for my cousin's Honcho Poncho for Christmas. It's two skeins each of the Jaeger Baby Merino DK in the color 213 (the red) and the bag on the top is Jaeger Matchmaker Merino DK in the color 856. I'm still waiting on the other colors to arrive but hopefully I'll get those soon so I can also start up on that poncho. Yay! It's pretty sad that when I walked in and saw the package from Hello Yarn when I got home from work, that I ran it out to the car to show it off to my friend and hugged onto the skeins like they were babies from my own womb.
I think I need help. But I don't want it. :) I'm perfectly happy being obsessed.