Bathroom update

Well, although I did do some fun knitting stuff today (Web's Year End Blow Out sale, baby!) the camera is upstairs and I'm downstairs. Since I've been doing so much talking about the bathroom, I thought I'd post some progress shots. First, the before picture:

It may not look all that bad in the picture, but there is some pretty horrible linoleum on the floor, a toilet that swirls instead of flushes, and the cabinet with the sink - yep, it's exactly too big for the space, and the door rubs against it when you open and close it. On the left hand side, there are bifold doors which hid the washer/dryer(which we are NOT putting back in - they are so annoying. You have to close the door to the bathroom is be able to open the doors. Grrr.) . Oh, and there is different wallpaper in that part of the room (nice touch, huh?).

OK - here is the bathroom after removing the wallpaper and ripping up the floor. This was taken 2 days ago, from an angle that shows where the washer/dryer go - and no comments about the hair/tired smile/outfit: And finally, where we are today. The walls are done, and about 2/3rds of the floor is in! This picture shows more floor than the walls, but you can see the light blue color I picked, and that we painted all the trim white. Aaron and I will get the rest of the floor glued in place tomorrow, and depending on how long the glue takes to dry, maybe the grout also. Then, that needs to set for 24 -48 hours, and then comes the new pedestal sink and toilet! I just love the look of the new tile - and the walls came out great. I think I've finally conquered wallpaper removal - this time was almost painless. The only wall issues were due to the ridiculous amount of molly bolts that the previous owners had used, not me gouging the walls while removing the wallpaper.

Nice.

Tomorrow, back to knitting pictures, I promise.

Rewards

This week is vacation week. So what does that mean in this household? Well, ripping out a bathroom for starters, but also knitting for CECE, watching movies, and reading books. Actually, it's a little slice of heaven.

To reward myself for the hard work (both on all the holiday knitting AND in that bathroom), I'm knitting two very special projects - ones that I've wanted to knit for a long time. First on the list - the Marmalade Jacket. Cate is going to be totally jealous:

It is just as much fun to knit as you would expect. It's slip stitch pattern - so you never have to carry more than one color at a time. I'm actually almost done with that sleeve now - I was up into midnight knitting!

The other project? My pop up gloves out of the Lion and Lamb yarn from Loopy Yarns. Ohhhhh. The yarn is soft and strong and wonderful. The pattern is perfectly written, and easy to follow. I plan on making more than just one pairs of these! One thing I'm going to change from the picture you see here, is that I'm going to make the thumb open like the other fingers. It is too short, so I was going to rip it back anyway - but then I started working on the second one, and figured I might as well try it open-fingered, just to see. I like the feel and fit of that a lot better. If my thumb gets cold, I'll just hold onto it with my warm mitten!

I'm a bit pooped right now, Aaron and I have spent most of the day priming and putting color on the walls in the bathroom - it looks awesome. I've got to go sit down and do some relaxing! Well, and some more knitting on the Marmalade Jacket.

Christmas on Nantucket

Well, all the Secret surprises are done. Christmas has passed, and I survived both my mother and Aaron's family. We went to Nantucket and I drove Mom around the whole island to give her a tour. Here I am with the dogs on Brant Point:

Mom isn't so swift with the digital camera, and since I KNOW I'll get requests, here are some more 'dogs running on the beach" pictures. It was a fun time - even though we were only there for about 24 hours! Mostly, we went because Aaron's Grandfather is sick (he has a large tumor pressing on his kidneys) and we really felt like it was important for the whole family to get together this Christmas, if even just for dinner. It's surprising how quickly his health has been failing, but he is a fighter. He had his second chemo treatment yesterday, and we just pray that he makes it through. He and Aaron's grandmother has been married for 60 years - it will be a big blow to her when he passes.

Ok - looks like blooger isn't going to let me post all my pictures at once - let me try some tricks.

Finished!

Well, yesterday, at 2 in the afternoon, I was looking at this pile of fabric. I was wondering if I could turn it into Mom's Christmas present in 24 hours.
You see, my family has a cabin in the Berkshires, and my mom has asked for matching twin-sized quilts for the kid's room. So, I agreed - one quilt for Christmas, and the other for her birthday (Feb 5th). I wanted to make a quilt that was for both boys and girls, and had 'cabin stuff' in it. So - I found fabric with bees, butterflies, bugs, lizards, boats, flip flops, frogs, dogs, and trees. I'd already done most of the hard work (cutting) but still needed to make the blocks and put them together. Well, ten minutes ago, I finished it! Here is the picture, right outside my front door. Mom seems pretty happy, huh? It still needs to be machine quilted, but all I planned to have done for Christmas was the piecing.

Here is wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas! Mom, Aaron, the dogs and I are heading to Nantucket early tomorrow morning. We want to spend Christmas dinner with Aaron's grandparents - and then Monday, we'll be back here for a week of rest and relaxation!

Wonderful night

Tonight, I went to dinner with my quilting friends. They are so much fun! We drank wine, caught up, and just in general, had fun. They are a really funny group of people right now (well, more than normal), as they all have kids, and are starting to 'lose it' with Christmas quickly approaching. Karen, who has 3 boys, said that they have school tomorrow, and she feels bad for the teachers - they school is going to be like a 'holding pen' before the weekend. Too funny. Of course, when you get together with a bunch of crafty people, crafty gifts are given. I gave away my Booga bag to Amanda, and she LOVED it. I also had made another beaded knitted bracelet for Karen, who was very excited. I love having friends who truly appreciate handmade gifts... I know that it is rare!

I also realized that I forget to post about my visit to Loopy Yarns in Chicago. First- I will say that this place has A LOT of Lonra's Laces. More than you can even imagine. Of course, their computer told me that they had two skiens of the color I was looking for, and we could find only one! In this picture - you see the owner of the store sitting in a HUGE pile of Lorna's Laces:

We never found that second skein, but I'll tell you what. I blew into that store like a hurricane. With only 30 minute to spare, a totally out of town gal, with luggage in tow, on my way to a business dinner, and these woman greeted me with open arms. We were digging through bins, ohing and ahing over the other (WRONG) colors, it was a fun time. They have a lot of other yarns also - I must admit to adding some Lion and Lamb (silk/wool mix) and a little bit of sock yarn to my stash - I just had to make all of their work worth it! Once I finish with the Super Secret Gifts, I'm using that silk yarn to make myself some Pop Up Paws. That's right, a little knitting for ME ME ME!

TGIF, folks - tomorrow is my last day of work for the next 10 days! Vacation, glorious vacation.

Slammed.

I feel as though I've been slammed by a bus or something. It's not a cold in the true sense of the word, or the flu, but I am SO tired! So cranky! And just praying that I snap out of it VERY soon, considering my mother is arriving on Saturday for a weekend of Christmas fun. I went to bed at 8 PM last night, and couldn't drag myself out of bed this morning until 8 AM, and I'm STILL tired! What is UP with that?

Anyway - I only have the 2 holiday presents to go, one is Super Secret Surprise that only needs to be sewn up, and the other is the Super Secret Surprise that I hadn't cast on for. Well, yesterday, I cast on, and made good progress! Most of the other (knitted at least) gifts are already out the door. I got this report from China on the Father In Law scarf:
I cannot tell you how much I LOVE the scarf. It has been very cold and windy these past two days. When I wrap it around and pull my hat down over my ears, I could stay outside with no problems. It is a true delight and many people who have seen it are jealous.

Now, responses like that, I love!

Last night, Aaron and I picked out the tile for the bathroom floor - here is a link to something close, but I want to use blue grout, to make the floor less white. Looks like it's going to take about a week to come in, so we will see if we get it in time to get the bathroom done during this vacation.

Drumroll please.....

And the winners of my Cookie Contest are (that is right, there are 2!) Shannon and Kristi!

Although there were several wonderful entries, let me give you the reasons why I picked Shannon and Kristi. Shannon's cookies are both chocolate AND easy to 'make pretty'. Kristi, well, her entry had NUMEROUS wonderful AND Swedish recipes. My heritage is 50% Swedish (my mother's parents were right off the boat), and 25% German and 25% Scottish (on my father's side). So, my mother is all about the Swedish cookies, and Kristi had a few that I hadn't heard of!

Since there are two winners, you guys are going to have to SHARE the prize. Shannon gets the quilting book (since, if can believe it, she doesn't knit! Don't worry, we are working on converting her) and Kristi, the yarn for the Branching Out Scarf. Shannon, I have your address, but Kristi, if you can send me yours (ceceruth AT comcast DOT net), I'll get those prizes out as soon as I can.

I'm home from Chicago. I have a bit of a cold, but trying to fight it off, as I have next week off work! I have some pictures of my trip to Loopy Yarns - but those will have to wait until tonight. Got some work to catch up on here.

In Chicago

Well, I'm here in Chicago for the next two days. I have plans of visiting Loopy Yarns tonight, but we'll have to see how my meetings go.

Just wanted to give a quick update on the Christmas Knitting!

Secret Surprise #1 = Done
Secret Surprise #2 = Knitting done, need to sew up seams
Secret Surprise #3 = Still haven't cast on
Bracelet = Done
Scarf for Dad = Done!
Booga Bags = One totally done (felted and DRY) second not started.

That is good, right? Of course, my arm is a bit sore from all that knitting - but now I'm sure I'll get everything done in time.

In non-knitting news, my mom and I went to the Black Nativity on Saturday - and it was wonderful. A great show to help get you in the holiday spirit, and the singing was FANTASTIC!

Where I knit (and the Trade Afghan!)

For Chris, here is my knitting spot. When I'm in the house, there is no other place I will knit. First, what you CAN'T see. This spot doesn't reflect any of my knitting books or yarn - those are all upstairs. The chair, yep, it reclines. And, it's facing the TV - I love to just sit there and knit and watch my shows off the DVR. Also, tucked on the right hand side is a cable for my laptop and a power cord... just in case I need to check something online.

Then from left to right:
- The little table there - it always has a drink of some sort, and in the little drawer are stitch markers, an extra dpn, a darning needle, and chocolate!
- Below the table, you see a covered basket?! In the 6 months that Henry has lived with us, I've learned to keep my yarn a little more contained! In that basket are the beginnings of 2 sweaters and my Jaywalker socks. (Plus a few books, needles and a needle sizer). On top, the container I'm keeping the knitting bracelet stuff, and the cordless phone.
- On the right? There is my Ott light (love it) and dumped on the side are all my in-flight projects. They SHOULD be in the basket for safety, but the basket couldn't fit them all right now.
- On the chair? Besides the remote control for the TV? Oh why yes - it's the Trade Afghan! Isn't it beautiful?! And doesn't it just match the room perfectly!? I love it, and USE it!

I thought I'd also share the funny poem that Sherryl included when she sent the Afghan:

I hope this keeps you nice and warm

and cozy

And also covers your toe-z's.

Made extra long for my tall friend

Hoping to cover her from end to end.

I hope you like this afghan as it was tough

To match your colors it was rough

Steph and I shopped and shopped

Until she wanted to bust both our chops.

We picked the colors and I went to work

Crocheting quickly with a little smirk.

Completing the project to deliver on time

And even wrote you this little rhyme.

I hope you enjoy this for years and years

And that your home is filled with Holiday Cheer!

The holiday knitting continues. I worked on one of the Surprises last night - and yes Laurie, one is for you - and it is the one that I keep changing my mind on!

Oh - and tagged for the "Where I knit" - Annie, Amysue, and Rox.

Christmas Knitting Update

Well, the Christmas knitting has been going along swimmingly (pun intended, haha FiberFish blog haha). Here are the updates, with 'deadlines' next to each:

Booga Bags - one finished last night. One to go. (12/21)
Knitted Bracelet - just need to cast off, took the second off the list (hurrah! 12/21)
Super Secret Surprise #1 - 2/3 complete (1/7)
Super Secret Surprise #2 - sadly, I've changed my mind on what this is going to be, and we are now down to 0% (1/7)
Super Secret Surprise #3 - Started today. (1/7)
Dad Scarf - 1/3 done (12/21)

So, I'd say I have about 22 knitting hours left to do. But do you notice the deadlines? Most of the stuff is for an AFTER Christmas get-together! Which is also AFTER my week off!

* insert evil laugh here*

Looks like the competition for the Cookie Contest is fierce! There is still LOTS of time to enter!

Tomorrow - I'll finally post a picture of my knitting space (Chris tagged me for the meme) and, my Trade Afghan! I got it! It's wonderful!

My first ever Blog Contest

As the Secret Knitting progresses, I offer this Blog Contest as a diversion.

For my family, Christmas cookies are a HUGE part of the holiday. We have 5 cookies that we always make (Russian Tea Cookies, Tollhouse, Festive Cherry-etts, Spritz, and Chocolate Macaroons). This year, I'm making them all by myself. Now, since I'm not a fan of the Russian Tea Cookies or the Chocolate Macaroons, I challenge you to give me a cookie recipe that can take their place.

The rules:
1. I need the full recipe and I picture. You can either e-mail me the picture, or post it on your blog. I think the look of the cookie is as important as the taste at Christmas-time!
2. Entries MUST be received by Midnight on Monday, Dec 19th (I need time to bake!)

The Prize:
A quilting book and a kit to make the Branching Out scarf from Knitty.

I'll start it off. Here is a picture of a Festive Cherry-ette from tonight's baking:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter

tsp salt

1/2 cup Powered sugar

2 Tsp vanilla

Beat the above ingredients together, slowly adding 2 cups sifted flour and 1 cup finely chopped pecans.

Roll dough into 1 inch diameter balls, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press a candied cherry into the top of each cookie. Bake at 325 for 25 minutes.

I got 4 dozen cookies when I made these tonight, my mom claims to get 5 1/2 dozen - but she is an over-achiever.

The List

Ok. So I wrote it down, and the list of Christmas knitting that I have decided to do, it's not so bad. Here it is:

2 Booga Bags (1 already 50% complete)
2 knit bracelets (one is 90% complete, other not started)
1 Dad Scarf (similar to the scarf I made Bernie, but for my own father, not started)
2 Secret Knits. Both are significant in the time taken to knit, but aren't 'due' till AFTER Christmas. One is 10% done, the other 50% done.

I'm trying to get in touch with Swallow Hill Creations to get more supplies for the knit bracelets. They are located in Canada - don't know how long the shipping may take, but I'll just start with the Scarf for now....

See - that isn't TOO bad, right?

Something new...

This weekend, I took 2 classes with Melissa Leapman - she is wonderful! The first class, Fully Fashioned and Fabulous - was really great. She showed us some great ways to make the shaping of a item become a part of the design. Although that class was 'fabulous' (haha) and I met fun new people ( hi Anne!), it was the second part of the day, Crochet for Cowards where I learned the most.

I have been trying to figure out crochet for years - and hadn't yet been successful. I have no idea how she did it, but Melissa just managed to explain it to me in a way I could understand - and here is proof - a famous knitter picture with Melissa, and the beginnings of bag that I had crocheted MYSELF. That's right folks, the left handed gal got the hang of it. Melissa did ask for my blog address - so if you read this - thank you thank you thank you! Crochet DOESN'T suck. I even went to Willow Books and bought their last copy of Cool Crochet. I would love any other crochet book recommendations you folks may have.

Oh, and one last thing - I've got to add my little Knitty picture in here. Ruth sat with Laurie and I for the crochet class, and I had to post this picture for Amy. Here I am, wearing my finished Samus (which is turning into my weekend sweater - I just love it) with Ruth, who is wearing her very beautiful Clapotis, out of Silk Garden. As usual, another fun fiber person to meet in person. We actually had spoken at the last Yarn Harlot book signing, but you do get to know someone while struggling to learn a new skill! Hello again Ruth!

It was a great weekend all around, but for some strange reason, I've got it in my head that I can knit a large number of Christmas gifts in the next two weeks. Many will be 'secret' knitting - so it'll be interesting to see how it progress over the next 14 days..... I've never burdened myself with Christmas knitting before - I don't know what's come over me!

Help!?

Henry Likes Yarn

I was sitting at my desk working. I turn around and see this on the floor:

Huh?! Why is that yarn on the floor, I think to myself? I was really concentrating on something, so it didn't click right away. That yarn is from my yarn room! UPSTAIRS! So I run into the living room, where I'm greeted with some hand-dyed ribbon yarn:

And I follow the trail up the stairs:

And look who I find:

Let's just say that he is lucky he is so cute.

2 'Fer

Tonight, I finished the Speed Scarf AND decorated the Christmas tree!

The Scarf is the required 7 ft long... and the tree is decorated just the way I like it - with lots of lights and an old-school jumble of Aaron and my ornaments from Christmases past. No color coordinated, 'themed' trees in this house.

Tomorrow we are expecting 4-8 inches of snow and we are going into Boston for Aaron's office Christmas party..... let the holiday's begin!

Stay tuned - I have a Christmas Blog contest in the works...

Random Thursday

No knitting occurred yesterday. So I shall distract you with random things:

1. The knitted bracelet was a hit, and fit perfectly. I love it when that happens.

2. Saturday, I'm going to a full day class with Laurie, taught by Melissa Leapman. First part of the day is Fully Fashoned and Fabulous, and the second part is Crochet for Cowards. I think there is homework. I lost the flyer when I 'organized' my desk.

3. I'm blissfully ignoring the Trade2 sweater. I haven't touched it since we had that disagreement over gauge over 2 weeks ago. The good news is that I got an 'extension' from my mother-in-law - we are trading on Valentine's Day instead. Of course, I'm not sure that makes it any better.

4. I'm working more on quilting things than knitting. And I realize that I should show you some of that stuff in progress - because I lot of it takes just as long, if not longer than my knitting.

5. I somehow have my mother visiting two weekends in a row. Hopefully that doesn't turn into a disaster. But I was missing her, and bought her tickets to the Black Nativity for the 17th. I thought she would only come for the day. But she is all excited, and is planning on staying overnight - in addition to coming for Christmas weekend.

6. I'm thinking of going to this. Knitting and yoga - seems like fun! Anybody want to join me? Discounts to groups of 5!

That's it for today. No plans tonight, so I think I'll get Bernie's scarf finished up, and relax for a bit.

Scarf Update

I'm totally going to make it. He replied back that by 'long' he means 7 ft. It's currently at 6. I knit constantly from noon until 10 PM. (I was working from home today) Turns out, if you don't use thin yarn and a super complicated pattern, you can finish a scarf in 6 hours!

I'm just into the 3rd skein with less than a foot to go. I'm thinking of including a matching hat.

Stop me now.

I also neglected to show you guys my first knitted bracelet. Here it is! It's too small for me, so I've decided to give it to a friend for a birthday present. She is a little 'finer boned' then I am, and also a knitter - she'll love it. It is surprisingly easy to make one of these - the most time consuming bit is stringing the beads, and the hardest part is casting on (you need to place a bead in between each cast on stitch). I like the result, and have already cast on for another for me!

Speed Knitting

This morning, while reading my e-mail, I open the message from my father-in- law. This is a man who has helped Aaron and I get on our feet, when he visits he does MAJOR house work with Aaron, and he lives thousands of miles away, in Shanghai, China. Where the weather is similar to Seattle - very cold and wet all winter. We are sending him a package with Christmas presents, and he writes:

If there is still time, I have one request. This is not critical, but I would like a LONG scarf. I have two normal size menÂ’s scarves, but once around the neck and that is it. Color is not the issue here. I am not picky. If there is no time or if this poses a difficult shopping problem, do not worry about it. it was only an idea.

Yeah, you guessed it, I'm already knitting. I'm using Encore Chunky in Brown, 24 stitches (since he wants to wrap it twice around his neck - I figure 6.5 inches is a good width), in a Basketweave Pattern. It's seems to be about 5 rows to the inch, for a 72 inch scarf, that is 360 rows... and is taking meapproximatelyy 1 minute a row - does that really mean only 6 hours to a finished scarf?

I think I'm going to time myself. This package gets sent on Saturday. No time for pictures.

Not So Secret Pal

Well - here we are! Amysue and I met up at the Tea Place today for her final 'package'! It was so wonderful to get to meet her in person... fun and interesting! She brought loads of things to show off - a beautiful sock for her husband in trekking XXL (grumble grumble, wish I could get my husband to wear hand knitted socks), she is wearing a sweatshirt that she embellished herself (oh - did I mention!? She quilts too!) - along the same lines as my sweatshirt jacket but hers is a pullover.... and a new I-Pod! I'm still not convinced I need one, but she told me a told about the knitting Podcasts... and I'm starting to warm up to the idea. Oh - and see in the picture - my finished Samus. I'll get Aaron to take a better picture to show it off, but this was it's first outing now the temperatures are back to where they should be!

After finishing up our tea and scones, we headed to the Woolpack.
I am definitely going to run out of the Koigu for the Anti-Christmas Knitting sock (which is what the Jaywalker socks have become), so I was praying that they had one more skein of my color. They did! Yippeee! Amysue was loving the buttons... and truth be told, that although I did need to buy two presents, I left the store with more than that. I've been really interested by all the knitted bracelets I've been seeing around blog land, and they had kits! I got 2 kits, plus the size 000 needles you need to knit them - and yep, that is what I'm going to be doing the minute I log off ! But a nice relaxing day - thanks Amysue!

Tagged by Shannon

Well, no new knitting pictures today, so I thought I'd throw up a meme that I saw at Shannon's blog:

Name 3 people you absolutely miss right this moment that you haven't seen in some time.
1. My Mom - she only lives 2 hours away - but haven't seen her since my birthday in September
2. My brother RJ - he lives to far away to visit often (Philly)
3. I'm going to cheat here - my friends Amanda and Paula. I used to get to see Amanda once a week - and we have been to busy to get together lately, and that sucks. And Paula - we don't get together too often, but when we do, it's a BLAST!

Name 3 things you miss about home during the holidays (be it people, smells, foods, whatever).
1. My mother's living room. We would decorate it to the 9's and have candles lit and the fireplace roaring. On Christmas Eve, I would pull out my sleeping bag and sleep right in front of the fireplace, if case Santa tripped over me in the middle of the night!
2. Assembling the tins of Christmas Cookies. My mother makes about 100 dozen cookies to give out as presents to friends and neighbors. There are 7 different types, and we would put them all on plates on our kitchen table, and walk around in circles making up the tins.
3. Somehow, my small family (my mother, brother and I) never got involved in family faimly politics. Now that I've married into a BIG family (there were 18 people at thanksgiving dinner) it's very different. We would just get together and have fun. No gossiping or anything.

Name 1 holiday memory that you have from childhood that you will never forget Well - my family has a cabin in the Berkshires. It's in a small community, and one year, one of the father's dressed up as Santa Claus and went from house to house giving presents. Well... I heard him walking up the porch, and I peaked out the window, saw it was Santa and RAN to my bed and closed my eyes (my mom was just trying to get me to go to bed by saying if I wasn't sleeping when Santa came, no presents!). I really and truly thought the I was getting to meet the real Santa. He gave my a teddy bear called Toby - my favorite stuffed animal!

Name at least 1 favorite book or movie that always reminds you of the holidays:
A Christmas Carol. If you can believe it, I played Scrooge in my middle school play!

Name your top 3 favorite holiday songs that get you in the mood to celebrate. Let's see - Santa Baby, The First Noel, and I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas.

If you could go anywhere other than home for the holidays, where would you choose to go and who would you want to bring along? The Cabin (to make it even more perfect - right after a fluffy snowfall)... with my Mom, my husband's Father (who is in China now) and my brother and his family.

The Grinch or Rudolph? Rudolph

Formal holiday dinner or casual get-together food? Casual dinner, but with gourmet food. We do it every year - cook great food, but we are wearing sweatpants and jeans!

Name the best holiday gift you ever received and why. When I was 10 years old, I wanted a special Swim Team Jacket - I remember that it cost $30 and my mother said she couldn't justify getting me a second jacket when I already had one. I wanted this thing SO bad. Well, my brother (who is 12 years older than me) ordered it for me, and gave it to me for Christmas. I was so happy to get that.

Describe the funniest holiday moment you've ever had. Hmmm. Maybe when my cat Gus climbed up my tree and then knocked it over! Scared the crap out of him. Now he lives with my mom (Aaron's allergies), and she doesn't even get a tree because he is such a PITA about it.

Name a holiday memory that truly warms your heart. Taking my mom to our annual Christmas Show. Some years we see the Nutcracker, once we went to Radio City Music Hall, and this year, to the The Black Nativity . But I know for a fact that she looks forward to going, and I get excited planning it.

Name your top 3 favorite TV specials that frequent the airwaves during the holiday season. A Christmas Story.. and that is about it, truth be told.

Sledding, snowball fight, snow angels or building a snowman? Sledding!

Eggnog, hot chocolate, or hot cider? Hot Chocolate (with peppermint schnapps, heh heh)
Candy canes or fruit cake?Neither.
Favorite holiday cookie: Mom's!

Well - this helped me get in the holiday spirit!

Annie - I tag you!

Ta Dah!

Well, here is a bag that has been in the works for a long while. I got this kit for Christmas last year. One of my friends actually is the designer - and when I went up for my quilting weekend, she bought her finished bag. Seeing it in all it's glory got me inspired to finish up mine. I would say that when I brought this with me to Nantucket, I was about 30% done, and finished the rest in no time.

Although I absolutely LOVE the finished product - I don't think I'll be doing another hooking project. I can't even really explain what it is I don't like about the process... It's just not for me, I guess. So, last night I sewed up the purse, connected the handles, and handstitched the lining. I'm SO happy with this purse! I'm considering putting a snap closure, but I'm going to wait and see if it's necessary.

For other Jaywalkers - you see what is already living in that bag? My WIP - the Jaywalker socks. I fully admit to putting Trade2 on hold for a little. My sleeve, I mean swatch, wasn't working up to gauge - so had to rip out. And I don't know the pattern well enough to have it as a travel project just yet.... tonight it may get some attention - but only if it's well behaved!

I have a bunch of other things to say, but for some reason, having trouble putting them into words. I hate it when that happens! I'll try again later. Hope everyone is having a happy day.....