I had grand plans for this post

I did. I was going to write all about my Christmas vacation. And how everyone traded hats until they found one that fit. (except that Shedir. No one's head is that small.) I was going to recap this year in knitting, stash, and maybe even aspirations for 2008.

But I'm just plain wiped out. I haven't been this sick for this long in probably 10 years. I'm pretty amazed by the whole thing. Even my teeth and jaw seem to be sore from trying to pop my ears. Thank goodness I got that flu shot, huh?

But I didn't want this year to end without thanking you who read my blathering. I'm grateful that I have a community to share my knitting where I don't feel the need to censor myself. I get more inspiration from you all than you will ever know. So for that, I am profoundly thankful.

Hopefully, I will make it the 52 minutes until midnight here on the west coast without my nose falling off from tissue chafing. I hope the celebration is much more lively wherever you are. And I wish you all the best for a blessed 2008.

Good to be Home

We arrived home without incident last night around midnight. Although the flight was fine, I am not. I'm sick. Copious amounts of yellow goo kind of sick. Sorry to be gross but it is gross. I thought my ear was going to fall off last night as we landed in SF. Then, the giant pop was almost as painful. I slept from about midnight last night to 3 pm today. And I don't think I'll be going dancing tomorrow night.

And let me tell you, my husband is a SAINT. I'm not a pacient person to begin with but add sickness and air travel and I can be downright mean. I'm not proud of that. It's one of my many flaws that I'm always working on. Frankly, the scientists need to get on that tele-portation device. Air travel is just too much. Thank goodness we don't have children. I'll tell you the full story of how we got home tomorrow. It's too much for today.

Now that the complaints are done. I had a lovely trip. Good food. Spent lots of time with family. Slept and ate and watched movies. (There's not much else to do.)

Finally, I wanted to thank you all for the 444 new posts in my bloglines. Since I feel shredded, I won't be going anywhere and you all will be my entertainment for the next couple of days. I really appreciate it!

I hope all of you had a lovely holiday and are looking forward to a wonderful New Year!

Only One Left

WARNING! At the end of this post I'll show the December package for the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock club! I'll make it a clickable link (just figured that one out.) But fair warning. Read the rest while you decide whether you want to see or not.

I finished Odessa last night. That means I only have my MIL's scarf to finish and I won't see her until the New Year. And since we're traveling for Christmas, there will be plenty of knitting time! I think I'm going to get it all done!!



Pattern: Odessa by Grumperina
Yarn: Rowan Calmer in Onyx. I love Calmer!
Needles: KP Options size 4 for the ribbing and 6 for the rest
Date Started: 12/16/07
Date Finished: 12/21/07
Mods: I left off the beads because 1. my sister probably won't like them and 2. Joann's was a nightmare when I went to buy them.

I'm pretty happy with the hats for my family. I'm still worried that the Shedir for my little sister is too small. But I don't think she'll mind if I have to knit her something else!

I also a winner at Trish's blog contest! Just look at the great package that landed here yesterday!



A project pouch in perfectly seasonal fabric, knitted scrubby, knitted pouch (filled with chocolate!), and a North Pole dish cloth. But that's not all...



Perchance to Knit sock yarn in Deep Sea. The label says this is exclusively dyed for The Loopy Ewe. The colors are so up my ally! I love it!



Here's a closeup of the stitch markers. I love this style of marker because they don't hang down into the work very far. So I don't feel like I'm juggling them. Thank you so much, Trish!!!

Finally, the last package of the Rockin' Sock Club came yesterday. Click here to see the colorway. Don't click if you don't want to see! I have to say, this is my favorite so far. And I'm psyched to be in for next year as well. (Because we all know I need more sock yarn!)

I'm traveling tomorrow and for the next little bit. We have someone coming to stay with the cats. (In case you were planning to raid my stash!) I'll try to blog from my Dad's crappy dial up. But no promises.

Have a wonderful holiday!!!!

Lucky Duck

I've won a couple of blog contests lately! And the package from Marisol at Purls Just Wanna Have Fun came today with lots of goodies...

Some yarny goodies...



Dream in Color Classy in Lipstick Lava. Now I know what all the hype is about! This is soft and smooshy and wonderful!

There were tasty goodies too...



Yummy! These aren't going to last too long around here.

Thank you so much, Marisol!!!

A Suprise Compliment

Today, I went to lunch with my carpool buddy- Martha. She gave me a Crazy Creek Chair. I am so psyched!!! I gave her the malabrigo scarf and hat set. She loved them. YAY! The funniest part was when a lady one table over asked me where I had gotten the scarf. HeeHee! I got to proudly say I made that! I've never had that happen. Usually you can totally tell that I knitted it. So I was really surprised. (I'm not trying to boast. I was really surprised.)

I tried to take a picture of my new hair. But self portraits are not my forte apparently. And my cell phone takes small pictures.

Here's the best I could do...



I'm so serious about trying to get a decent picture. This was the 25th try!



Here I'm being silly. I know you can't really see the difference but I lost 3-4 inches and gained more red. Hopefully I can get a good picture over the holidays.



My new PJ's from Target. I was informed there are matching slippers. Hmmmmm.... I may have to go back into the fray.

I finished Christmas shopping today. Well, I have one more thing to get but I can't pick it up until I'm in Michigan. So I'll still be shopping on Christmas Eve. But that's not too stressful! Thanks to Weezalana for the great idea for my Dad. The automatic wrench from Black and Decker. I think it's a clever twist on a old favorite.

Here are my recent stash enhancements. Warning! The Booty Club picture will be the last one. Don't scroll all the way down if you don't want to see!



Three Irish Girls. Adorn Sock yarn in the Nora colorway.



The same yarn in the Adara colorway. I really like the combination of colors they use. Very creative and unique.

Finally... The Yarn Pirate Booty Club shipment for December...












Merino/Tencel in Icicle. Delish. And perfect for the season!

5 Things

No pics today. Sorry! Tomorrow for sure since my Booty Club shipment arrived!!!

So, here are 5 things I'm thinking about today.

1. I love my new hair color! I'm a natural red head but the color has been fading as I get older. So I decided to go more red. It's very bright and I LOVE it. Maybe a before and after tomorrow too!

2. I'm watching Frosty the Snowman. It's the same one I've watched since I was a kid. Ah.... Christmas nostalgia.

3. In my quest to never have to get properly dressed again, I bought the cutest flannel pj's at Target today. They have sock monkeys on them. So cute!!! Nick and Nora make the cutest pj's.

4. I won't see my mother-in-law until New Year's. So the pressure to finish her scarf before we leave for Michigan is off. YAY! I have a week in the Michigan snow to finish it.

5. Grades are posted. I'm still a straight A student. Phew! Seriously, I wasn't sure there for awhile.

I love being on vacation. So much got done around the house today. Laundry, cleaning, and there are 4 trash bags of my old clothes and shoes to go to The Salvation Army. It's so funny, I don't really need my old clothes anymore. My office outfits will just sit in the closet. So it'll be better if someone else gets a chance to use them.

A Flurry of FO's

OK- Really, there are only two FO's for today. I just wanted to get a snow reference in since we don't have any.

First up, the Child's Placket Neck Sweater. This was knit from the frogged Baby Surprise Jacket that really surprised me with its hideousness!



Pattern: Child's Placket Neck Sweater from LMKG
Yarn: Royale Hare Sock yarn in Bloomfield Blues
Needles: Size 5 Addi Turbos
Date Started: 12/13/07
Date Finished: 12/16/07
Mods: Not really. I probably won't add the beads that are supposed to look like buttons. I like the split neck look the sweater has without them.



I love how this turned out. The yarn did a nice stripy effect. And the pattern was easy to follow and knit in the round for minimal seaming. YAY! The yarn is very soft but it did do this to my fingers.



Trust me, they are a LOT bluer than this picture shows. Good thing I don't have to work for awhile. No one wants a nurse who looks like she has smurf disease!

Here's the Koolhaas Revised...



Pattern: Koolhaas Hat from IK Holiday 2007
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Salt & Pepper
Needles: Size 7 KP Options Magic loop style
Date Started: 11/25/07
Date Finished: 11/26/07 then revised to 12/16/07
Mods: Because of my family's giant heads, I added 2 pattern repeats. That's why the hat looks so long and thin. But it looks really cute on. Not like a cone head.

I'm casting on for Odessa tonight. No beads. I decided my sister won't like it.

Hope you are all keeping warm!

Vacay Today

Tonight was my last clinical for Maternity. I didn't hate it as much as I expected. In fact, I'm pretty in love with NICU babies. And I could definitely do labor and delivery.

But for now, there are many hot chocolates and movies in my future.

Tomorrow, two FO's. The Child's Placket Neck Sweater and Koolhaas revised.

For now, I've got beer and the Godfather Part II. Bliss!

Catching up with you!

Oh my goodness! I just emerged from the crazy fog of finals. I still have 2 more clinical shifts this weekend. But all the class work is done. YAY! Starting Sunday, I'm on vacation until next year!!

First things first... I have to send out a HUGE thank you to Kristin from Knitting Kris. I was one of the random winners in her blog contest! The package arrived yesterday but I couldn't get it until today.



Her favorite Christmas movie- White Christmas. Yummy candy cane kisses. And a great card. The best thing? Inside that card is a gift certificate to The Loopy Ewe! That's the best gift EVER! And there's a certain yarn that I'm going to stalk in the next sneak up. I hope I can snag some.



Finally, check out these great earrings that were also in the package. They are the perfect color for me. I've been wearing lots of gray and blue lately. Thank you so much, Kris!!!!

Knitting Update- I ripped out the top of the Koolhaas to make it longer. I think 2 more repeats total will make it perfect.

The Baby Surprise Jacket for my friend Susan's son was finished in time. But it was a complete disaster. I forgot to take a picture before ripping it all out. The whole thing was misshapen and looked much more like a bolero than I was comfortable with. So I cast on last night for the Child's Placket Neck Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I'm making good time and although I missed the shower (there were back up gifts), I think I can get it to her before we are officially on break.

Finally, I learned to make cheese. I know. It's totally random. Once I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingslover, I wanted to make cheese, raise chickens, and live off the land. Unfortunately, the only land I have is a 4x6 concrete balcony. But cheese making I have the room and the means to try. So I ordered the 30 minute mozzarella kit from New England Cheese making. Last Monday night became home made pizza night. Plain dough from Trader Joe's, canned organic sauce, portabello mushrooms, and my cheese. Check it out!



Yummy! I made the pizza and then threw it in the freezer for 30 minutes so that the dough would crisp up on the oven rack. Even Brian raved. I think I'll be making cheese again soon.

Now, I'm just vegging out, knitting, and waiting for grades to be posted. More regular blogging to resume immediately!

Kicking My Butt

Between school and knitting, I'm wiped. I'm currently taking Maternity (Labor & Delivery, Post Partum, and NICU- all in 5 weeks) and Nursing Research. I have about a week and a half before school ends for the holidays. Maternity is totally kicking my butt by itself. I don't need research to compound the agony. Realize that, when it comes to school, I'm a total perfectionist. I just got a grade back. And, while it's pretty good, I'm on the bubble between grades. Hopefully the final on Tuesday will push me to the good side of the bubble.

I also have to finish knitting a Baby Surprise Jacket before next Wednesday for my friend's shower. There's just a lot to do.

I'm sorry if there's blog silence around here a little. I have confidence but there's a lot to do.

Whoppa Heads

I knew I'd get the knitting smack down for thinking I was ahead of the Christmas knitting. Little did I know it would be an anatomical issue. I just didn't realize how big my family's heads are. We are definitely Whoppa Heads. Take Koolhaas for example. I got gauge. I knitted it to the pattern. It's too small for my head and WAY too small for Brian's head. And I'm pretty sure my BIL's head is not smaller than mine. I'm probably going to rip back to before the decreases and add a couple of pattern repeats. Nuts. For now, I'm putting it in time out. I can't deal at the moment. Since it's actually done, I'm giving you the FO post. Although I may have to revise the post later. (Unless I can figure out a relative with a smaller noggin.)



Pattern: Koolhaas by Jared Flood
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Salt & Pepper
Needles: KP Options size 7
Date Started: 11/25/07
Date "Finished": 11/29/07
Mods: None really. Next time I'd pick a less hairy yarn to show off the pattern better. But the Ultra Alpaca is nice and soft. It'll be plenty warm if I can get it to fit over someone's ears!

I'm going to start on Odessa for my sister. I went to buy beads but Joann's was packed and I didn't want to wait in line for a $3 pack of beads. I'll start the ribbing and see.