Still in Birmingham and having a good visit with the ‘rents. Very mellow. Lots of knitting time. Oh! I managed to finish all the presents in time. I was casting off the Irish Hiking Scarf for dad as we were taxiing into the gate in Atlanta and I had time to sew in the ends before the connection to B’ham. It wasn’t blocked (I did that on Tuesday) but I had a finished knit item for everyone! Go me!

They all seem to enjoy their presents. I felted the fuzzyfeet to fit my father-in-law’s feet that Festivus night and he clearly loved them - kept looking down and playing with them. That Crystal Palace Labrador felted beautifully - BEAUTIFULLY!! It has these really cool spots which would explain why the color is called “Jaguar” I was kinda wondering that. So hopefully I’ll get a photo of them sometime.

Mom loved her mini clapotis, my sister was very happy with her poncho, and my brother-in-law seemed to enjoy his scarf. They all looked much better after being blocked - particularly the clapotis and poncho. And my mother-in-law an Dad enjoyed their presents too! I don’t think I’ll be knitting presents for Xmas again. Ok I probably will.

I think I have a few photos on my camera of my family enjoying their new knits but I know I didn’t get them of my in-laws. Way too many distractions going on. But I’ll see if I can get everyone to send me a photo of the giftee wearing their present.

I had a very generous giftmas. I received so many cool, useful, and thoughtful prezzies that I’m almost embarassed to list them all. I will probably get over it when I’m not sneaking in some computer time before I go to sleep. The good news is my parents have a sweet wireless DSL setup for their different PCs so I’m not having to read all my friends’ blogs on dialup. Thank you bloglines! My parents were computer geeks when geeky wasn’t cool.

I thought I’d be able to fill out this neat meme I found on Carole’s site. I’ll undoubtedly forget some and have to add them later. But to help myself I’m going to go from head to toe. And I’m using Flickr.

Items I’ve knit in 2005 (in order of corresponding body part)

Head
SNB’s Kitchy Kerchief
Baby Hat (from Last Minute Knitted Gifts)
Baby Bucket Hat
Funky Page Boy Hat
So-called headband
Reversible Autumnal Hat
Jayne Cobb Hat

Neck
very first garter stitch scarf (in February)
Ribbed for her pleasure scarf
2 Tequila Sunrise Summer Scarves
Beaded Lacy Zig Zag Scarf
Fun Fur Boa
Raspberry Mocha Chevron Scarf
Craaaaaaaaaazy Scarf
Knit Grape Kool Aid Neck Tube
Beaded X Scarf
Ziggy Zaggy Scarf
Biased Eyelash Scarf
Sloppy Slubby Scarf
So-called Scarf
Fuzzy Navel Mohair Scarf
Bird’s Nest Scarf (TV Eye Scarf)
Color Fiesta Stole
Autumnal Crossover Scarf
2 glamrock Scarves
Irish Hiking Scarf
2 Manly Racing Stripe Scarves
Mini Clapotis
Finished a Noro Iro “Opposing Biases Scarf” last night

Shoulders
Fiesta biased stole
Knit Black Purse
Baby One Skein Wonder
Boucle Nouveau Poncho
La Boheme Nouveau Poncho
Silk Garden Nouveau Poncho

Chest
Baby Kimono
plus sized ballet tee

Hands
Felted Lopi Tote
2 felted bamboo handled mini purses
Kitten Mittens
Felted Fiesta Tote

Feet
Baby Booties
3 pairs of fuzzyfeet

Misc
Ipod Cozy
felted cat bed
knit flower pin
6 pairs of mini mittens and 6 mini stockings
Teddy Bear Scarf
Knit Fun Fur Stuffed Hedgehog
Knit Chenille Stuffed Pumpkin

I’ll post about my planned 2006 knits later I’m pretty distracted here so if I don’t get to post before I get back on Monday have a safe and happy new year’s eve!

I’m a fairly new convert to Seinfeld. And Will and Grace actually. I haven’t watched local network affiliate channels since 1997 and I have very little patience for shows that aren’t in syndication. It takes a lot to convince me that I need to remember when a show comes on every week (Project Runway being one of the very, very few exceptions). But when it’s in syndication all I have to remember is four o’clock on TBS or every damn five minutes on Lifetime. No need to wait a whole week! I get two right in a row and two more coming tomorrow! So I may not know what you’re talking about with all this Desperate Housewives nonsense but in a few years I’ll be able to watch the entire series in a matter of months!

I also used to travel a lot in the early nineties and never really watched The Simpsons or Seinfeld. I heard a lot about Seinfeld mostly because I have a loose family connection with one of the directors/producers so I would hear about stuff that would sometimes end up in the show, or so I was told. A lot of the jokes and catchphrases slowly crept into my life through conversations or blog reading. And sometimes I’d even know what the hell they were talking about!

Anyway I amused the hell out of Cody a few months ago when I said “I’ve been watching this Seinfeld show and ya know? It’s pretty damned funny!” Now that I have my own DVR in the den I’m getting like six episodes a day to watch. And I have to admit, I love the whole festivus thing. I’d heard a few references to it before but Cody had bought the Festivus book for me off the bargain rack in October and I got to watch the Festivus episode last night.

Ironically we’re going to be spending our Festivus evening with Cody’s parents in Los Lunas tonight. He said I can bring the aluminum pole but the only feats of strength that will be performed will be in the avoidance of the airing of grievances. Now that I have these great new meds I think that will be a fairly easy task!

Speaking of meds, I saw the doc today and he gave me a new thyroid hormone to take. I’ve actually heard a lot about this one from the thyroid activist lady on about.com. I have mixed feelings about the new pills because these contain ground up animal thyroids. Creepy, yes, but I’ve heard these are pretty damned effective. And if it works it works right?

Cody and I’ll be doing our Giftmas morning present opening tomorrow night and I’m flying to B’ham on Sunday so not sure if I’ll have time to post again until Monday. I will be posting a completely self-absorbed brag fest of all my phat lewt sometime because what else is a personal weblog for anyway?

So Happy Festivus, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and Happy Kwanza (not sure when that is exactly), Merry Yule, and have a good weekend.

So we decorated a tabletop tree the other night. We wanted some kind of tree but didn’t want to commit to the full thing this year. Since redecorating the office we have an extra desk in the living room which is handy for all the yarn mailing I’ve been doing but is in the exact spot where we usually put the tree. I also didn’t think I was up for putting up and taking down a full sized damn tree this year.

I’m coming to realize that while I’ve managed to commit to interpersonal relationships with comparative ease I have trouble committing to, among other things, paint colors, decorating schemes in general, and what I want to eat. Even though we bought a tree two years ago in the post-xmas sales and I have yet to take it out of the box and put it together. We were out of town last year and I just didn’t want to put up a tree to leave and come back weeks later to just have to take it down. It would’ve just been a giant hazardous cat toy. So the other day we bought a tabletop tree at Target. It was on sale and it involved a lot less heavy lifting. And there was no having to go into the scary shed business which was the main thing. We also decided to just use the ornaments I’ve acquired at the last two Aunts’ ornament parties because..the other ornaments are in the dreaded shed.

Yes the innocuous little aluminum shed in the backyard is becoming Dirk Gently’s refrigerator in The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul. Someday it will produce a brand new God of Denial. But while I sit around in my ugly hat pondering the interconnectedness of all things I still want a shiny tree to help secure a feeling of holiday cheer because to be honest I haven’t been feelin’ it this year. Not at all.

So on Monday night we went on a quest for my favorite holiday movie on DVD (which we didn’t have in the lost pile of movies anyway). I love that version of A Christmas Carol - mostly because it’s scary and there are musical numbers. And the musical numbers aren’t even what makes it scary. After four stores we found it. And a wonderfully silly string of lights (more on that later). Then we went home to decorate the tree, wrap presents, and watch movies.

The tree took all of thirty minutes to decorate. And I forsee easy taking down as well. Now that’s what I like. We can’t have a real tree anyway because of pets an a severely allergic husband. And I hate hate hate wrestling with lights and broken lights and tangled lights. So I’m all about the prelit trees I don’t give a shit what the tree purists say. I just want to get the tree up and decorated so I can sit and look at the pretty lights then move on to the next task. So this was ideal. Hell, we may do this from now on.

Then we had about 10,000 presents to wrap. Cody came up with a great idea this year for the present wrapping: he moved the room divider screen into the den so we could sit in the same room and watch movies but still keep our presents a secret! The pets were totally confused of course. But all present wrapping for everyone (except the ones I’m bringing to B’ham since I’ll be carrying it on the planes) are wrapped. Hooray hoorah. Then I put some on the desk under the tree and put the rest on the dining table.

So here are all the presents

and more presents. I am a bit of a snob when it comes to ribbons and bows. But I always buy good stuff and reuse them.

“What are those beige things hanging off your tree?” you ask?

That’s right! They’re leg lamps from A Christmas Story! A bunch of tiny examples of Glowing Electric Sex hanging off our tree! It was the fringe hanging off the bottom of the lampshades that sold us.

So yeah, now I’m feelin’ it. Still need to finish packing and just enjoy the pets in their cute holiday accoutrements but I’m feelin’ it.

Yule Cat

Perhaps searching for those
That live in a lightless world
Will give you a happy day
And a Merry, Merry Yule.

candlegrove

So. Good news all around. I finished my mom’s scarf on Saturday. (Don’t click this Mom!) I’m pretty proud of it. It’s a bit longer and wider than the mini pattern called for but that’s a good thing! And it’s soft. Soooo soft. But I haven’t blocked it yet. Not sure I will. Nor have I sewn the ends in. But I’m sure I’ll do that.

I also spun the last bit of holiday themed yarn, which is coincidently the last of Madison’s Romney wool that I dyed on Thanksgiving.

It’s called Hard Candy Christmas. Yeah I like Dolly Parton songs, particularly ones from that movie about a whorehouse. Hope that doesn’t blight your opinion of me.

It’s 216 yards, a light worsted weight and I’m selling it for 20 dollars even.
I’ll put it up in the shop tomorrow but, of course, I’m giving the blog friends a sneak preview. So let me know if you want to snag it before I put it up.

I managed to get to the lab this morning so they could do my hormone bloodtests after fasting all night. They’re still trying to get the thyroid hormones balanced. And checking some other hormonal stuff. The new doc thinks unbalanced hormones may be causing the anxiety attacks. Which are better thanks to new meds. But still. They’re scary as all shit when they come on me like they have. So it was nice to get that done this morning.

AND I scanned the Santa photos! Yay! These are the best two of the four they took.

Sorry about the larger sizes but they’re too cute to be shrunk.

So now all I have to do is work on dad’s cabled scarf, wrap some presents, and do some laundry for my trip to B’ham. We’re going to forego the big tree this year and just do a little tabletop one on the dining table. And apparently last year I stored the holiday movies somewhere really weird because I can’t find them. I’m sure at the time I was thinking how great a storage spot it was. Now I have no clue where they are.

Unfinished Knit Items

My Dad - Irish Walking Scarf in my handspun Muscadine Wine about 1/3 done

Finished Knit items

My Sister - Nouveau Poncho in Noro Silk Garden #234 #47 I got nervous the yarn wouldn’t get here in time so we picked out some more at Village Wools. Is it possible to have too much Silk Garden? I’m starting to prefer this color anyway.. done!.

My Mom (don’t look Mom!) - Chicknits new wave scarf Mini Clapotis in Noro Cash Iroha # 87 done!

Cody’s Mom - Fulled Fiesta Tote - done!

Cody’s Dad - Fuzzyfeet in Crystal Palace Labrador Print “Jaguar” - done!

My Sister’s husband - a variation on the Rustic Scarf just using the stout and string colors (I didn’t like the olive color and thought the scarf might be a bit wide anyway) done! I posted the pattern I made for it (it’s not the same pattern as the rustic scarf).

Jocelyn - got her fuzzyfeet and so-called set (which was sort of her Samhain present) when she was here - finished those, obviously

So yeah I think I’m pacing myself pretty nicely and even have time to do some spinning. I took the Yarn Noir off of Etsy since one of my SnB buddies wants to buy it. So I’ve decided I’m going to start giving a sneak peek on this site before listing them there. That way my local buddies and blogland friends can get first dibs
Non-knitting presents
I am DONE with the SHOPPING WOOOO! Now I just have to wait for it all to get shipped in

Mom’s birthday (Don’t click mom don’t click!) - this - done
The Niece (1.4 years old) - Stacrobats done but ordered from uncommon goods since flax ran out of stock
The Nephew (4.6 years old) - Boomwhackers Whack Pack - done!
Winter - Fleece Turtleneck from Orvis in Navy - done!
The Kitties - Beastie Bands the cats with presents design - done!
the Hedgehog! - she’ll be getting this little fleece tent to fit over her pigloo in the wintertime - done!

Presents for Cody - not sure which of these I’m getting yet.
USB Port Replicator / KVM switch
Some little treats from thinkgeek - done!
Bootleg MST3K dvd set done! (different auction)
Swiss Army Geek Knife with 1 Gig USB Flash Drive
and um this!

Prezzies I got for some of my knitting buddies (since they’ve all gotten them now)
Beverly: a ballwinder (used my 50% off at Joann so it wasn’t THAT expensive)
Jeannie: 2 skeins of orange with yellow halo Manos Emma: some orange roving and a Spin it book. Also got some I heart Johnny Socks and button that have finally come in
Erin: Knitting for Anarchists!

What’s that? You want to buy ME a present? Well, who am I to say no to that? Oh okay here are my wishlists
Amazon lists
Crafty List
Target
Thinkgeek
Torrid

Was that shameless enough for ya? Yeah now I feel like a schmuck.

I haven’t been feeling very well this week. I’m still just exhaused but I am feeling a bit better. Despite being sick (in a completely non-communicable way I assure you) I accomplished a few things which is good, keeps the anxiety levels down.

First there’s yarn. I had a bunch ready for the Tuesday Stitch n Bitch but I didn’t make it. I’d already been sent to bed after seeing the doctor that afternoon. I’m feeling a lot better now though. So I’m giving ya’ll a preview before I put it up in the shop. If you’re interested in buying it just leave a comment with your email address (it doesn’t get published) or send an email to nolnoodle (at) comcast (dot) net and we’ll work out the details.

These are fairly small sets of yarn, roughly 150 yards. Enough for a hat or scarf. Maybe a One Skein Wonder. Speaking of OSW’s - check out the one Scout’s making with the Melting Grape Popsicle yarn!! She’ll look so amazing in it!

Christmas Crimson

is some of the yarn I dyed on Thanksgiving. This one was done “kettle-dye” style in the crockpot. It’s 158.24 yards of Romney from a sheep named Madison. I’d say this is bulky. I’m listing it at a (really cheap!) 18 dollars (+4.30 domestic shipping if you’re not in Albuquerque)

Elfin

This is also Romney from Madison that I dyed on Thanksgiving but was done using the oven method. Some fun blue / green variegation. This one is a light bulky.
116.96 total yards for 14 dollars (+4.30 domestic shipping if you’re not in Albuquerque)

Sugar Plum Fairy

Romney wool dyed in plum, pink, and blue carded with blue firestar and spun into a thick and thin mostly light bulky yarn. The firestar adds some fun sparkles that you can see better in this photo.
233.92 yards for 35 dollars (+4.30 domestic shipping if you’re not in Albuquerque)

Hell’s Angel Hair (sold!)

More Romney wool from Madison dyed bright red using the oven method then spun to an Aran/light bulky weight with mohair locks orange, red, and pink mohair spun in at random. Soft with variations on warm tones with a great halo and curly mohair bits. This one’s really cool.
176.08 total yds for 21 dollars (+4.30 domestic shipping if you’re not in Albuquerque)

So I’ll list that at the shop tomorrow or Saturday. They’ve been listed in the shop. And set a new lower price for the older yarns. I’ve also relisted the calico canine since that sale fell through. I’m going out of town from 12/25 to 1/2 though so better hurry if you want it shipped before the new year!

I also finished the poncho and I’m pretty happy with it. If you’re not my sister you can see it here. Oh, we took the hedgehog and puppy to see Santa on Sunday but I haven’t had a chance to scan the photos.

This is a photo of Winter in her new sweater though (she got her present early)

This is the shirt I’m wearing today

And Cody got new glasses.

isn’t he cute?

So this is the variation on the Rustic Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts that I made for my sister’s husband. Really the only similarity to the pattern in the book is the yarn I used and the fact that it’s knit lengthwise. Otherwise I just made this up as I went along.

I’m writing this out as I anxiously await an ebay bid to finish. I decided to surprise the crap out of my husband and buy something he is totally not expecting for giftmas so I have some nervous energy to spend.

This pattern is easy peasy breezy mccheesy.

I used:
- two skeins of Rowan’s Yorkshire Tweed Chunky - one in string (beige) the other in stout (dk brown)
- a pair of 52″ circulars in size US 11

With beige yarn CO 150 stitches
Knit every stitch (the whole scarf is garter stitch) for 6 rows
Change to dk brown yarn and knit 8 rows
**Change to beige yarn and knit 2 rows (center row)
Change to dk brown yarn and knit 8 rows**
Change to beige yarn and knit 5 rows
Cast off loosely while knitting the 6th row

There will be a total of 30 rows - the yarn will be changed on the same end every time - creating a “right” and a “wrong” side but the stripes look really cool on either side.

** for a wider scarf repeat the stripes between the sets of asterisks as many times as you’d like.

weave in ends

That’s it! I cast this on Tuesday morning and worked on it while waiting for Cody at the dentist. My hygenist saw it and ordered one for her husband on the spot. I took a nap after the appointments and still finished it that same night at the Stitch n Bitch. Love projects like this. It’s a very appropriate brother-in-law scarf and it just takes a few hours overall. I’ll probably make one for Cody’s brother’s birthday as well so it really will be the official brother-in-law scarf.

I won the auction! Oh my god Cody’s gonna plotz when he opens his present! (shhhhit’sanipodshhhh)

It is so cold. So so so so cold. Cold. So. Damn. Cold.

Bottle of water in the car frozen solid cold. Opening the door for the be-sweatered dog and she looks at me like I’m completely insane cold. As Cody and I sometimes say: it is butt-ass cold.

Cold.

Just thought you’d want to know.

ETA: See?

That’s pretty much the state of our house at all times. We don’t have kids. We don’t feel the need to prove our social and/or financial status through how our house looks. We have a menagerie of pets and we have decorated (or not bothered to decorate much) to accomodate them. I also am completely unable to decide on the colors to paint our walls (the ultimate irony for an art major). Or save our money for new flooring instead of spending our disposable income on dvds, cool yarn or roving, or computer games and/or perepherals.

The house has changed some since I made that Sims replica of it in 2003. We lost most of our trees to a parasite and had to have them cut down, we acquired a hedgehog and completely redid the office. My parents bought a loveseat for our den Xmas before last. We installed a really cool cat door in the door to the laundry room. I turned our den into a cluttered craft room and the living room into a fiber storehouse and mailing center for my online store.

I guess the best way to describe our house (and our life) is comfortable chaos.

Scout tagged me for a fun meme she’s made up where the tagee takes photos of their usual knitting spot. Hehehe. I didn’t even tidy for it. How brave I am!

Old Coffee Table with books, patterns, basket of needles, interchangable needle sets (Denise and Boye), ballwinder, misc. stuff

My hedgehog needle holders. Well the one on the left is actually a little clay echidna toothpick holder from Australia but it makes an excellent tapestry and cable needle holder. The other one is a little gold pincushion

I usually sit and knit on the loveseat by the old coffee table with Winter sleeping to my left and a cat or two lounging on the back. It’s really cold today so I’m sporting my princess blanket.

Fireplace hearth where I keep projects I’ll be working on soon and my beloved Goko swift and skeinwinder

A closeup on the painting over the hearth. It’s a painting of the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe where Cody and I were married in 99. My friend Will painted it for us.

Closer view of the hearth. The red and purple roving is stuff I hope to spin before Giftmas. (The purple is sparkly!) Fun baskets and my Goko.

The Ottoman that holds my feet, bags of knitting projects, a cat, the dog, the remote control, a magazine or catalogue..

The built ins and tv stuff. And my beautiful wheel. The tv cabinet is where my big Giftmas present will be: TIVO!! Woo! The stacks of misc projects on the rocking chair and hanging on the cabinet door.

And the stash in the Living Room. The bin on the left has the “good” yarn - fancy stuff from Fiesta, Robin Pascal, Noro, handspuns, Colinette Giotto, and sock yarns (yes there’s Koigu). The middle contains spinning fiber and the Bin on the right has acrylics, synthetic blends and novelty yarns.

Now I have to find five people to tag. I’m not very good with the tagging part but I’ll try!