Odd Bits

Lynne's Christmas Knit In was so much fun! Be sure to follow the link to her blog to see pics of the event...and pics of me! She is such a doll! Lisa, her daughter Carol Grace, and I carpooled over together. Carol Grace picked out the best gift for me in the exchange...yarn and a pattern to make butterfly socks! I really want to learn how to make socks. I am really excited to start! Chris got a super cool gift that I think I may want to try too, she got yarn to dye and Koolaid to dye it with!

So since the knit in, it's been pretty hectic. Interview Wednesday morning, and then my family came up to visit. My mom and I went to Joanne's on the Ridge, while my dad, brother, and John went to Circuit City and Dick's. Mom got some gorgeous fabric to make another quilt; when I talked to her today she already had part of it pieced together. Then we regrouped and we went to A.C. Moore and the boys went to Media Play. All in all, it was a very productive day. Then we came back and had leftover turkey they brought with them. Mmmm turkey leftovers! Then Thursday, I had another interview for a different job at the same company. I REALLY hope I get that one, the position and the department both sound great. GAH! Keep your fingers crossed for me. When I got home, we met up with Karen, Eric, Owen, Shawnee and Marc for dinner in Spencerport. I got some kind of alfredo chicken broccoli sundried tomatoe pasta dish and it was fab! Thankfully there was so much that I have leftovers!

So that brings us to today. We put away Christmas this morning and now I'm just running around doing odd jobs that unfortunately have to be done around the house. John is setting up our DVR that we got for Christmas. It seems to be going well. I am about to start my own little knit-a-thon to get that stupid (yes, we are calling it stupid now) poncho done! GAH! Okay, must go and knit....

Almost a new year...

Christmas was very nice this year. John and I were able to spend time with both of our families and we had a great time. We just got back last night from my parents' place. I realized when I was home and I saw Kim and her growing family that I haven't really been home all that much since I moved. I think I may tentatively make that my resolution - to stay in better touch with old friends and work towards making new friends here in WNY.

My unofficial Naked Stix by 2006 progress is slow and steady. I really hope I can finish the last project off. Wish me luck!

So tonight is the Christmas Knit In at Lynne's house, and then I have an interview tomorrow at 9:00 am and then my family is coming to visit in the early afternoon. The only thing I know that we are doing is that we are going to Joanne's for my mom to get quilting fabric. It should be a good time!

Merry Christmas!

Last present knitted up last night +
Last item made up for my gift to pass for the Christmas Knit in (I hope my recipient likes it, because I am excited!) +
Hopefully last shopping trip for last minute ingredients and wrapping stuff (Ridge Road was insane!) +
Last presents wrapped with bows and tags and stashed under the tree (even though all of the presents under the tree are going somewhere else, I just think it looks more festive) +
Christmas sweets baking completed =

Finally relaxing with some Bailey's Creme Caramel (man, it is ever good) on the rocks under a nice blanket near the lit up Christmas tree with my darn poncho that I will have done by January 1!

Well, I do have a bit more work tomorrow. I'm making Chocolate Cheesecake muffins for Christmas morning because I insist that John and I make a tradition for breakfast on Christmas morning and even though I really like Cranberry Orange muffins John said that we really need to start our own tradition and not just carry on my mother's. I've never tried this recipe before, let's hope it's good. And I have to make Eclair cake to take to Karen's for the Markle Christmas gathering, and make up a sweet tray but that's easy.

Merry Christmas!

A Finished Project!

Finally, I have finished the scarf for Eric for Christmas. I hope he likes it, but more importantly I hope he wears it! There isn't much to it, but frankly he's a guy and guys don't really care about pretty things, they care about functional things. I had a hard time taking this picture, Marmelade kept trying to jump on and lick the scarf. GAH!

I finished that bad boy up last night so now I only have one more project on sticks. And that is the summer poncho. I have made good progress though, I hope that it too will be done by 2006.

I'm really proud of myself for actually working towards finishing things. It normally takes me forever!

I can hardly believe that today is December 23. Today I have to figure out what we want to eat on Christmas morning, and I need to get some more materials for my secret project. And since my first try turned out so well, it will definitely be part of my gift to pass at the Christmas Knit In. Sorry, no more hints! :)

A good few days...

Lots of knitting was accomplished on the weekend. The Sound of Music on tv Saturday night definitely helped!

My sister just went home from visiting since Monday. We had such a great time! We went to see Harry Potter (I have wanted to see that for forever), checked out A.C. Moore (I've never been in there before, they have some pretty good deals), finished up my Christmas baking (we remade shortbread cookies and they turned out much better, and we also made nanaimo bars and these nutty cookies that are like brownies and shortbread together) and hung out in our matching pajamas (a gift from my mom last Christmas). I was sad to see her go, but it is snowing pretty hardcore and she wanted to get back before dark. Understandable.

So I am going to attempt to make something, but I don't want to go into detail because if it turns out, it may be one of my gifts to pass at the Christmas Knit In next week.

Sexy Knitters Club and Kim's Baby

I officially joined the Sexy Knitters Club today. Not that I have really ever knit anything that I would say is even remotely sexy, but I am a young, attractive knitter so therefore I count as a sexy knitter because I am debunking the myth that only old ladies knit. If you look today, or maybe even tomorrow, you will see my first post on the SKC website.

I have to give another thank you to Lisa for her assistance in getting my lovely Sexy Knitters Club and Knitty buttons on my website - it worked! YAY!

Oh, and I also found out something super exciting last night. My friend Kim gave birth to a baby girl on Monday. Her name is Bridgette Renee (not to sure on the spelling). Congratulations Kim and Patrick! Kim is my first close friend to have a baby, I can't wait to see her and the baby when I go back home at Christmas.

No Knit Knite for me

So due to the freezing rain/sleet that is coming down right now (or maybe it's snowing now, I'm not sure...I can hear the wind and I can't hear rain, so it must be snow now) I decided in the end that it was not a good idea to go to Knit Knite. I even called my mom to get confirmation that I was crazy to think that voluntarily driving when the conditions are bad would be a good idea. And she confirmed I was crazy. So I'm home in my nice warm house with my nice warm slippers and my nice warm kitty on my lap...and soon I'll go and knit with a nice warm blanket on me....ummmmm! I get warm fuzzies just thinking about it. Okay, now the cat is off of my lap and trying to jump at and eat my fingers as I'm typing. But I'm not finished typing yet.

So the shortbread I mentioned in my last post? Yeah...it tastes great! But the darn stuff wouldn't come out of the dish! I even greased it up extra well. I don't get it, like only two of the bars came out nicely. Oh well, John and I ate it right out of the pan, crumbs and all, but that doesn't exactly help the Christmas baking situation. That's okay, my sister is coming to visit next week (YAHOO! I CAN'T WAIT!) and she wants to help with the baking, and she's really good at that stuff, and normally I am too but anyways, we're going to bake and have a great time.

Okay, time to find a warm mug of tea to have with my knitting...

Ummmm shortbread! And knitting!

I made shortbread tonight. Bit of a different recipe, calls to bake it in a pan like squares and then cut them up into little bars. John absolutely loves shortbread! I hope this shortbread is up to par. I got the recipe from Chatelaine, this Canadian magazine for women that is so great! It has recipes, fashion tips, columns...and of course, I only started reading it like 2 months before I moved here and subscriptions are twice as expensive to have it delivered here in the US. I hope my mom will get it for me for Christmas...she could have it delivered to her house and then I could get it when I go up or when they come down...

I've been knitting most of the evening, and my black Christmas scarf is still not quite half done. I still have a whole other skein of yarn to work in. GAH! And it's December 13....I have to get my knit on, hardcore!

Gas on!

What a great weekend we just had! We went up to Old Forge, New York for Snodeo, which is basically the kickoff to the snowmobile season and it features a trade show and races and demos. And riding snowmobiles! We snowmobiled Saturday and Sunday.

I have only been snowmobiling one other time and that was like three years ago. There was a tonne of snow near Buffalo (like there isn't always a lot of snow near Buffalo, but I digress) so John and I went with a bunch of people to go riding. I rode on the back of John's sled. Let me just say it was not the best experience of my life; I didn't dress warmly enough, and by the end of the night I had motion sickness from being bounced around on the back of the sled. I was not a big fan.

Fast forward to 2005...this time I got to ride on my niece's sled (she was kind of disappointed because she was just licenced to ride by herself on the sled and she was really looking forward to it, but her parents told her that I was riding) and it was wicked. I still need to get a feel for leaning into the turns and getting comfortable with going a bit faster (I was really holding everyone back, I felt bad) but I did really well. And to top it off, I wasn't cold and I wasn't sick. So I bought the motion sickness medicine for nothing! :) That's okay. It is so beautiful in Old Forge. It is right at the start of the Adirondacks and some of the trails take you on big hills where you can see for miles. The trails for the most part are nice and wide and once they have a better base, are very well groomed. I'm excited to go again!

All this snowmobiling is really cutting into my knitting time though...it's December 12 and I still have at least half a scarf to go, if not more! GAH! Must get knitting...

I tried to make molasses crinkles today as part of my Christmas baking. I don't know why they turned out differently than when my mom makes them, but they just weren't quite right..and I messed a whole bunch of them up when I was taking them off of the cookie sheet. I was SO annoyed. They taste great though, so that's the important part.

Untitled

I woke up today to see what true lake effect snow is around here....it was freaking nuts! Snow everywhere! Big flakes, and a lot of them! GAH! Normally this would be cause for panic if I have to leave the house, but today John was driving so everything was okay. I still had to be the worst front-seat driver though, it's a wonder he puts up with it and doesn't make me drive myself. Well, the reason for the venture outdoors today was because we found a vehicle! For me! I say that it is mine because for some reason along the line I became not very good at sharing. It is OUR vehicle. We found a nice little 4 by 4 SUV which is exactly what we needed...4 by 4 for me and my distaste for driving in the snow, and 4 by 4 for John so he can tow his snowmobile around up north and tow anything else he might need to tow. I think we get to pick it up next Monday. I am SO EXCITED! By now you've no doubt learned that I get excited over pretty much everything, but this is pretty cool.

So it is once again Wednesday night, good TV night...that and Sunday are pretty much my must watch TV nights. And now Wednesdays are even better because Alias is on after Lost now. So One Tree Hill, followed by Lost, followed by Alias. I'm hoping to get a lot more of my scarf done. I knit so much last night that my hand was starting to cramp...it was a good pain! And it's really coming along. I'll definitely have it done in time for Christmas.

Monday, Monday

It definitely looks like snow. I was just out getting the mail and over the lake it is all dark and snowy looking. Oh, yep...here is comes. I can see it through the window now that I am back in the house. There are more flakes in the air now. I don't mind the snow as long as I am inside, nice and cozy under a blanket with a warm mug of tea and my knitting. I must find a blanket to cozy up under...I'm still chilly from being outside.

Knit Knite is knit-tastic!

I had SO much fun tonight. Everyone there was super nice and just about everyone has a blog link off of Lisa's blog, so I'll be checking those out for sure. I even bought yarn for a new project - a marsupial bag! It looks really great AND HARD! But I like a challenge. I picked teal and chocolate brown...my favorite color combination right now. And it teal truly is my favorite color, I have included a picfrom my house to prove it!

Okay, well, the one pic is sideways and you really can't see the yarn that well against that backdrop...well, you get the idea.

Knit Knite...it's tonight!

Tonight is my very first knitting group get-together and I am so excited. I am so thankful that I came across Lisa on the internet and that she was kind enough to invite me to join her and the rest of the group. I really miss getting together with my friend Kim back home to knit and chat and watch whatever was on TV, so it is so great to get out of the house and knit with some other people. I cannot thank Lisa enough for being so nice. I have to admit, I was starting to feel a little lonely around here because I haven't met that many new people yet, which makes tonight so much more special. Okay, I have to go and get ready but I'll write more when I get home. I'M SO EXCITED!