The Presents are Pouring In!

So, right before Christmas I finally made a decision on what spinning wheel I wanted.  At first I had myself convinced that I wanted an Ashford Kiwi, but then lo-and-behold the "Cadillac" of spinning wheels appeared on eBay and made me second guess.  A Schacht Matchless was up for auction!  I gave myself a maximum I could spend on it, did lots of research as to why this would be better than a Kiwi and decided to place a bid on the last day of the auction as long as it was below my max.

Well, sadly it wasn't.  So the Matchless slipped through my fingers.  Sad and pouty I went with Wino to work at the gallery in Carmel, and happened in on a quaint little knitting store to pick up the spare yarn for the rest of Salt's headband (see the previous post where I talk about that). In the corner of that store sat a fancy looking wheel.  Wino points to it and says "Is that the wheel you'd wanted?"  I looked at it and said "No, I think that's a Kromski, I'm looking at a Schacht."  Then I asked the owner of the shop if the wheel was indeed a Kromski and explained that I've been doing quite a bit of research on wheels lately.  She said she loved hers for many reasons but one was because it had a small footprint.

That little encounter got the wheels (pun intended) a-spinnin' (again, pun intended) in my little brain.  I got home and started looking at Kromskis and fell in love with the Minstrel.  It was reasonably priced, did everything that the Matchless did and came in a beautiful mahogany finish.  Lets just say that it took me less than a week to click the "Buy It Now" button on that one.  She arrived on the 23rd.

Everyone: I want you to meet Gwendolyn!

Isn't she just breathtaking!?  Sigh. I swoon each time I see her, even still.

I've been a bad spinner though, I haven't touched the poor thing since December 26th.  I've been all rush, rush, rush since then.  I go into the guest room to ogle her at least once a day though :)  I plan to spin some this weekend.

I've been a busy bee otherwise.  We took a trip to Napa (I was sick 100% of that trip, 'twas not that fun, but I still managed to get in some wine tasting).  Sadly, I was still sick for New Years Eve and spent it at home on the couch with Wino instead of with the "gang." That's ok, there's always next year.
I realized, on the first though that "this year" I'll be turning 30.  That made me panic for a moment (actually I've been panicking since then, but I'm trying not to show it!) I realized that I need to get my butt in gear and lose these last 23 or so pounds to make Lifetime in Weight Watchers.  So I've rededicated my efforts to get healthy again.  So far I've lost nearly half a pound....but getting back on this horse has been a struggle.

This past weekend we set up our new work out room.  Gotta get back to that running!

On to knitting progresses!
Salt ADORED her scarf/headband (yay!), and Pepper liked his scarf!  Joyous noise all around!

I finished my first sock:

There was no second sock syndrome, I cast on for sock #2 right away and was almost done with the leg ribbing, until I dropped a stitch and was too frustrated to pick it back up.  So I ripped the whole thing out.  The sock yarn is now resting at the bottom of my knitting bag.

I finally started the front of my sweater for the Lion Brand knit-a-long.  It's coming along slowly.

And finally, my LYS is hosting a year-long KAL for the Beekeeper's Quilt.  If you haven't heard of this, look it up.  It's awesome take-along knitting.  I even took mine to the airport with me to pick up a friend.  It's great way to pass the time and oh-so-adorable!

Ok, that's enough with the updates!  I'll be posting shortly announcing my new 365 days project (In which you're suppose to take a picture every day).  I'm going to try to post each picture here, beginning today (and I'll get you caught up from January 1).  Enjoy!

Flyin' By

How the heck did we get to December already?! That's what I want to know!  It's extremely difficult for me to believe that it's just over two weeks until Christmas!

Thankfully most of my shopping is done, I just need to get something for my dad, and wrap things for everyone else!  Go me!  I planned ahead this year!

As for knitting, I've pared down my original list.  The nieces will get no knitting this year, due to a technicality in finding an appropriate pattern for Girly.  Bro-in-law's scarf has now become Pepper's scarf, and I'm chugging away on Salt's scarf.  It will definitely be long enough with the amount of yarn I have left, and that makes me happy (especially after I ran out of yarn for Chicka's scarf!)

I had to take the picture in Instagram and use a fancy filter to get that color to come out remotely true.  It's still such a lovely yarn, I don't think I could get tired of it.  I still get gasps at Knitter's Anonymous on Wednesday nights, and usually at least one person comes by to pet it.  As you can see by the picture it's really long!  I'm so happy (and more realistically, relieved) that I had enough yarn.  My own mother was giving me a hard time because she didn't think I would have enough.  Boo-ya Mom!  Take that!

I'm currently in Carmel, we're at the gallery.  I'm knitting in the office (and catching up on my podcasts--knitting of course) and I'm hoping to have this critter pretty well done by the time we leave here at 5pm (I've got two hours....can I make it?!)  I mention where I'm at because I actually need another skein of this Malabrigo wonder!  Salt put in an extra request to have a head band (a la our other friend Giggles'), made out of the same yarn as her mitts (which yes, I finally did finish and sewed the buttons on!).  So I found a LYS in Monterey that sells Malabrigo yarns and plan to hit it up before we leave.

I will have a post soon showing all the delicious food we had at Thanksgiving.  I've been knitting my fingers to the bone lately so I haven't gotten around to writing that up.

Until next update, and hopefully with Salt's scarf and head band finished!

Ta-ta!

Edited 12/11

So guess who finished Salt's scarf before she left Carmel.....I'll wait while you think.....*whistles*

You're right!!  Me!!!  Plus I got another ball of Malabrigo in the same color way and have 10 inches of a headband on the needles!  Woot for progress!!

Prepping For The Feast

I'd rather not talk about November.....especially the NaNoWriMo portion of it.  I'll get into the details of what happened some other time.  I just can't bring myself to talk about it at this moment.

Instead, I am going to prepare you for the hilarity that may ensue at our house the day after tomorrow (otherwise known as "Thanksgiving" here in the US of A).  I shall see if I'm still thankful after Thursday....we may need to rename the day.

So here's my menu for the day.  It is gleaned mostly from the Food and Wine November 2011 issue.

For the main attraction (the Bird) I will be serving a Cider-Glazed Turkey with Lager Gravy.  Next up is the veggie dish.  Now here I will put in an aside...I am trying something new and unique...I've never eaten a Brussels Sprout in my life.  Why then am I cooking them for Thanksgiving?  'Cause I'm adventurous (I hope the rest of our guests are just as adventurous!).  I am making Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Capers, Walnuts and Anchovies.  Don't everyone scream at once!!  I know, I know, "anchovies," but take a look at that picture and tell me that doesn't look delicious!  I will also be making mashed potatoes from our Anthony Bordain cooking class from Sur la Table (they are scrumptious).  I'm going for a "heartland" theme, so to go with that I picked up some mac & cheese from Costco.  I'm also going to bake some bread.  Finally, for the icing on the cake (literally), I will make a Pumpkin Spice Cake, a recipe I found on Country Living.

We will be hosting 7 people to our home: Wino and me (obviously), my parents, and Wino's parents & grandma.  It should be quite a nice time, very low-key.

Wish me luck, here's hoping there are no disasters that involve smoke detectors!

Day 3 - Midday update (Or: Lameness)

Alrighty, let's just call me lame and get it over with.  I soldiered on yesterday and hit 3,555 words at the end of my lunch break.  (Yay me!), but today I just wasn't feeling it.  Here is my list of excuses:

1) I was HUNGRY!  My dang English muffin, with 3 slices of Canadian bacon and a slice of provolone cheese was not enough.  My tummy wanted more and it distracted my head and hands from writing;

2) I'm recovering from a massive sinus related headache that tore through my poor body yesterday afternoon.  It was so bad I felt like hurling all the way home (thank God Tex, my carpool buddy, decided to drive this week, otherwise she would have been driving my car home for me.) and fell asleep the minute I got home.  Anyway, my brain was still shot at lunch from the pain, and frankly I can still feel that darn headache in there pounding away quietly, waiting for a vulnerable moment to reemerge in my life.

3) I am at the period in my job where all I do is type endless numbers of emails to disgruntled students for hours on end.....the thought of pounding away on my laptop keyboard sounded like pure torture (then why am I typing this blog post...??!!)

So, that's it...plain and simple I didn't write at lunch today.  But that's ok, because if my headache doesn't wreak havoc on my evening again I will write when I get home.  Though come to think of it we may be having a "Congrats" party for Pepper....hmmm.....it'll get done, even if I have to pull an all-nighter tomorrow night!

My word is true! 

Peace, Love, and Busy Fingers!  I'm out!

NaNoWriMo Day 1 - Midday Update

As planned I didn't get a chance to start on my novel until lunch-time today.  I managed to crank out 1843 words in about 45 minutes though.  Off to a great start.  Now back to work!

Pre-NaNoWriMo Goodness

Ack!!!  Where the heck did October go?!  Less than 15 hours to go until NaNoWriMo officially begins!!

Before I begin panicking over November being literally tomorrow, here is a picture of my Halloween costume.



I'm SO happy with the way it came out!  I'll wear it tonight to pass out candy.  I thought about wearing it at work, but decided not to.  I just took it to show off :)

So now to the November panic: I frantically cleaned off my desk yesterday in anticipation of the day.  I'll start writing tomorrow during my lunch break.  When NaNo starts on a Friday or Saturday I usually sit up until Midnight to start, but when it's during the week, I just can't manage it.

Writing at work means not knitting at work, but that's ok.  I'm pretty well caught up with the holiday knitting, plus there's always Knitter's Anonymous on Wednesday nights to get stuff done.

Starting tomorrow I'll try to post daily word-count updates and thoughts on writing.  I know I say that every year, and last year I nearly did it.  I'm going to try again this year, though.  I don't give up that easily.

I love attending write-ins, but I'm not sure how many there will be that I can attend this year.  I went to the kick-off party, which was fun (especially when I could finally say that I reached 50K last year, that got some applause).  We'll see what my busy schedule will support.

Amongst all this crazy, I (for some unknown-ungodly-reason) decided to make Thanksgiving dinner this year at our house.  So besides cleaning off my desk, I also started planning my menu, it's looking good....but is also looking like a lot of work.  That's ok!  I'm up for the challenge.

So welcome everyone!  Please enjoy my scatter-brained, nutty posts for November, and have fun watching me drive myself insane!  Catch you tomorrow for Update #1!!!

Things

Alrighty, let's get down to business.  No fluff, no frills, just updates.

Here's what we've got on the table today: Knitting updates, stash updates, NaNoWriMo (!!), and running news.

Knitting updates:

1) Red Scarf Project scarf is complete!



It turned out beautiful, if I do say so!  I'm so in love with this pattern that I'm going to make up one for myself in a different color.  That will have to wait until after the first of the year though.

Once my mom finishes up her scarves we'll pack them up and ship them off.

2) I started on Chicka's scarf.  I'm not 100% convinced I will make her a beanie, nor am I 100% convinced I'll make Girly a scarf....we'll see (I'll explain in the next line item) though Girly will still get her mitts.



I'm making it in the same yarn that I made Chicka's mitts in, that way she has a matching set.  I'm using the Teaching Scarf pattern from Ravelry.  It's a simple pattern and that's what I was looking for.


3) After I finished the Red Scarf Project scarf (and rather than casting on another X-mas present!!) I decided to join a Lion Brand Knit-along.  We're making the Modern Lodge Pullover sweater.  It's my first endeavor into sweater-dom....and I'm nervous and excited.  I chose to use Lion Brand Wool-Ease yarn in the Forest Green Heather colorway.  The suggested yarn was way too expensive for my taste, so I went for "quality cheap" instead.

4) Halloween!  I have my Minion hat complete!  I just need to crochet the accessories then I'm ready to go!


That's it as far as knitting is concerned.  There has been little to no progress on Salt's scarf, but I do have a funny story for that one.  Just this past Sunday, while we were celebrating Wino's birthday, she made it known that she wants to go back to the shop we got her Malabrigo yarn from to get more so I can make her a matching scarf and hat....I told her it would have to wait until after the first of the year because of X-mas knitting....little does she know...teehee!

Stash Updates:

I went on a bit of a shopping spree at JoAnn's a couple of weeks ago. 

1) I wanted to get sweater quantities of a yarn to make my sweater so I got 8 balls of the Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Forest Green Heather.

2) I also got 2 skeins of Red Heart for my Halloween project this year: I'm going to make Minion hats for me and Wino (if you've ever seen Despicable Me, you'll know what I mean, if not...look it up!).  One in Yellow and the other in black to frame their goggles, I'm going to borrow some white from my mom.

3) I got some fluffy pink yarn for Girly's mitts.

4) And finally, I picked up 2 skeins of Wool Ease in a deep grey for my brother-in-law's scarf and hat set.

That should just about cover all of my X-mas knitting for this year!!

NaNoWriMo:

This topic is soon to make it's way to the top of my updates....or just be the update by itself.  You all know that this takes over my blog in November!  The countdown has begun: less than a week left until NaNoWriMo '11 begins!

I already have my plot generalized, and my title picked out: The Not-Your-Average-Vampire-Novel Novel.

Love it!  The plot came to me in a dream.  You see, I used to love one particular vampire series (which shall not be named for fear of being a plague upon my house, but let's just say it isn't the Sookie Stackhouse novels that I speak of).  Yes, I read all 4 of these Books-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, and absorbed every word.  Then I came to my senses and realized they were just drivel and not worth my time.  So I shall write the antithesis to these books this year for NaNoWriMo.  It will be comedy gold!

Running News:

I'm sorely disappointed with myself on this front!  I was short on dough near the end of September, and the deadline to sign up for the half-marathon walk was Sept 30 (the day I got paid), and I had intended to sign up for the walk that day....I wasn't feeling well, and totally forgot.  Now the price rose by $25 and frankly that's just too steep for my budget.  So, no half-marathon for me.

As yet I'm still unsure if I will run this year's 5K Race for the Cure.  I sort of just want to walk with my family this year, since none of them run with me.  We'll see.

So that's all the updates folks.  Catch ya on the flip side!