I'm So Excited.....

Look what's on the way to the shop today..........exclusive colorways just for Pick Up Sticks in a brand new yarn! Whoa baby!

This is 6 of 12 colors on their way!

2007 is going to be very exciting for us!

Where Do I Begin?

Here I go again - wondering where the time is gone - how could it be that I posted on December 18 and not since? Hmm, must have something to do with Christmas!

Canada Post has continued to annoy me - we ordered a Nintendo DS for our daughter on December 21, paid for Priority Courier to have it delivered on December 23 and where did I come home to find it. Blowing in the breeze at the end of our driveway attached to our mailbox for all the world to see! Now I have no idea if a signature was required or not, but I do know that we have lock boxes available across the road and in fact, no longer have rural delivery because it's too dangerous for the mail delivery person. I will tell you what's dangerous, being anywhere near the road when that mail person is driving by - when she was delivering to our boxes at the end of the driveway, she had worn a rut in the road right by the post that holds the box. You know why? Because she screeched up to it every day and spun her tires pulling out! Thankfully, no one took the bag and Emma was thrilled with her DS.

I love online shopping - not just because I have an online shop but because it's so convenient and so stress free. These DS game systems were a hot item and I got it in my head at the last minute that Emma should have one. Probably because she wrote it on her Santa list. I went to Best Buy, Future Shop, Walmart, Zellers - sold out everywhere and especially the pink ones. Everyone said I would never get a pink one. So I come home, search online and find a lovely pink one at Amazon.ca - clickity, click, click - it's on the way and I'm relaxed, drinking tea, and contemplating what to make for dinner - not dealing with grumpy sales people who can't stand their jobs! Hurray for online shopping!

Christmas passed without a hitch - my first turkey was a success - can you believe that? 46 and never cooked a turkey! I can cook and I think I can cook pretty well but for some reason a turkey just seemed too overwhelming! Everyone loved their knitted gifts - Grandma especially loved the scarf -phew! I gave socks to one relative and she opened the box and said, cute! Cute? What kind of word is cute to describe Claudian Handpainted home made, 1,000,000,000 stitch socks? Guess what? Off my knitted gift list - NOT an appropriate response for a knitted gift! In fact, I have come to the conclusion that the only people worthy of hand knitting are other knitters - who else can understand what goes into a pair of socks? Next year - I'm only knitting for my knitting friends!

No knitting pictures - but I am going to cast on a big, comfy Debbie Bliss cabled cardigan in cashmerino chunky! And....my resolution for 2007 is to at least blog every other day - every day would be good - but let's be realistic!

Monday's Ramblings

I finished my aunt's socks and am working madly on my grandmother's scarf. And now - my grandmother says my grandfather could use a hat - she can't find his hat. I'm torn between buying it and trying to make it. Anyone out there have a super easy, super fast hat pattern for a chunky yarn? Oh - and the Mission Falls Log Cabin throw is blocking.

My daughter is still home sick - her flu turned into a bad cough and cold. I am just getting more and more and more behind everyday. Thursday is my grandson's first birthday and guess who's hosting - me! Yup! About 30 people = pizza and wings delivered. I'm also having Christmas dinner for family so there is only so much cooking a girl can do. Well, actually only so much cooking a girl is willing to do!

And....I do have a serious bone to pick with Canada Post. Yesterday I did the postage for all the sock club packages and I cannot understand how they figure things out. Here - you try:

British Columbia, Canada - over $9.00
Ontario, about 15 minutes drive from me - over $6.00
US, anywhere $5.95
Australia $7.30

All the packages weighed the same. The service I used in Canada is Expedited which might sound really fancy but it's the same price as regular mail. For the US and Australia, I used Airmail which is the quickest.

Weird, eh? Annoying? Definitely!

More Charity Knitting!

Look what arrived in the mail yesterday! This is Isobel's charity knitting! Isn't it amazing? Matching mitts and socks! Beautiful grown-up mitts! Thank you Isobel - you went way and above the call of duty!

More yarn was added to the site yesterday as well! Butternut Woolens - it's really nice stuff - very rustic! I love the dyeing! It comes from small farms in the US and Canada - supporting rural communities is a good thing!

Claudia Handpainted has been re-stocked as well.

My little one is home sick today - poor thing! She's got a big dose of the flu! I was up most of the night with her - while my husband slept soundly. Funny how that works!

Gift Exchange!

Last night was my little knitting group's gift exchange! It was really fun and everyone was so creative with their gifts!

My sister got me the box in the background - just the perfect size for dpn's, scissors, etc. Meghan got us a pattern for fingerless gloves, a ball of Sublime Cashmere/Silk to knit them with and stitch markers. Sarah and Debbie went together and got us all personalized mugs - mine says, The princess is knitting! Sarah also made us beaded stitch markers and lots of home baking from Debbie! Yum, yum!


What is the weather like in the rest of the world? Here it is the furthest thing from winter! It's mild and looks like the grass is coming back. Weird!

I'm almost ready for Christmas - no tree yet - that's this weekend! Still some knitting to do - 3/4 of a sock, my grandmother's scarf and sewing in the ends of the Mission Falls log cabin for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Oh and that wrapping.....wrapping, wrapping, wrapping!

New yarn is on the way - very new yarn and some surprises for the New Year have been ordered! Stay tuned for the update!

Catching Up!

Some of the charity knitting is starting to come in - I'm so excited and so happy! Thanks to Michelle (mitts & socks) and Monika (hats) for these cute cute cute things! Meghan and I will be going to Yellow Brick House to deliver what I have before Christmas and then take the rest after.


I finished a sock on the weekend - it's one of a pair for my Aunt made from My Personal Stash - Socks That Rock Sock Candy - it's a cotton/elite blend! Nice! Twisted rib cuff, two cables down the front, Eye of Partridge heel - right out of my own little head! Ha!














Many asked for the pattern for Grandma's Koigu Shawl - here's the specifics.

Yarn: Koigu Kersti 4 skeins (cuz she wants it long)
Stitches Cast On: 36 (any multiple of 10 stitches plus 6 will work)
Pattern:
Row 1 & 2: Knit
Row 3: (RS) K6,*YO, K1 (YO x2), K1, (YO x3), K1 (YO x2), K1, YO, K6 : rep from * to end.
Row 4: Knit, dropping all YO's
Row 5 & 6: Knit
Row 7: K1, *YO, K1, (YO x2), K1, (YO x3), K1, (YO x2), K1, YO, K6: rep from * to end, K1 (instead of K6)
Row 8: Knit, dropping all YO's.
Repeat rows 1-8 until desired length.

This could be made wider, narrower, any size needles - for myself I picture VvS 2 ply Merino used in a wider shawl! Yummy!

Oh yes, and just so no one is ever bored with my shop - I've just arranged to two new yarns - exciting! I'm pretty sure they won't be here until the New Year - but I do have one other that should arrive this week. Stay tuned!

Christmas Knitting Compounded

Not only is my Christmas knitting been compounded so has posting to this blog. This is my third try for the same post - last night I had the posts finished twice and when I clicked Publish Post I lost them both!

See this? It's a lovely Fable Handknits Baby Alpaca Log Cabin that I "was" making for my grandmother. She watches TV in a room that gets cold in winter so I thought this would be nice and warm. However....my dad and daughter visited her last week and apparently, she's hoping I knit her a Koigu Lace Shawl - which I made the huge mistake of wearing when I was visiting her. So now.....

I'm knitting this - not a shawl - but a Koigu scarf of my own design. I'd really love this scarf..........hopefully, it will be a good substitute for a lace shawl which I don't have the time or the inclination to make right now. Last Christmas I knit my grandma a scarf which she does wear but she would have liked it longer and with fringes. This one will definitely be longer but no fringes!