Lazy Days...

Not much going on here, I finished my Winter Warm Exchange Pal's gift. I'm just waiting on one thing I ordered on Etsy.com and I can send it out. I'm really excited about my first swap! I hope he/she likes it :-) I can't wait to see what I get!!!!

I've quit the beaded gloves until December first (I needed to seperate from them for awhile, after our torrid love affair), I hope I have enough time to finish them before Christmas. HelloYarn's Besotted Scarf has been stealing most of my attention right now, I really love working on cables. You don't have to pay too much attention, but you still get to do something fun every couple of rows. I don't remember what yarn I'm using, someone gave it to me a few months ago. The Ol' Moderne Log Cabin Blanket is still hanging out OTN also, I haven't forgotten about it. It just kind of... found it's way to the bottom of the basket.

I'm already ready tired of X-mas shopping, I work in retail and I've had just about enough. Most of my shopping is now being done via Amazon.com. I have a majority of my shopping done now. I just have to dedicate some time to finish up some handmade gifts and figuring out which cookies to bake. I got a billion books and movies for my birthday last month that I haven't even begun to think about.

I'm going to go get started on a meatloaf, I have an awesome recipe somewhere. We're cutting back on carbs in Casa de KnitXcorE, and it's kind of hard for me not to make pasta or rice with every meal. I'm going to have to get creative. Has anyone had success with one of those spaghetti squashes????

Currently Rockin':

Artist: Sufjan StevensAlbum: A Sun CameSong: We are What You Say "Sufjan Stevens (born July 1, 1975) is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Michigan. He is known for his lyrically focused and instrumentally rich songs that often relate to faith and family. He has enjoyed wide critical success in the United States. He is considered part of the folk revival in indie pop, but his influences are very broad. His music has been likened to electronica,[1] the jazz of Vince Guaraldi,[2] and the academic minimalism of Steve Reich.[3] Stevens has announced plans to make an album for each of the 50 U.S. states, having begun the series with the albums Michigan (2003) and Illinois (2005)." -Wikipedia.com

HaPPy ThanKsGiviNG!!!!

Sublime Stitching, Jenny Hart and Frozen Hot Choclate...

About a year ago, I bought Jenny Hart's Stitch-It Kit. There was a huge buzz about it on Craftster and in a few magazines I read (ReadyMade, Bust, Venus, et. al.). I whipped up a quick dishcloth with coffee cups and cakes on it, put the kit away and forgot it existed. Sometimes, I get craft burnout and just want to try something new for a little bit.



I collected dust until last week, when I got the first issue of Craft: transforming traditional crafts. First of all, this magazine rocked my socks. It had projects for everyone from beginners to crafty gods. I don't want to give anything away, because you should all buy it. I know $14.99 seems like serious cash for a magazine, but this is so much more than just a simple magazine. Anyway, there was an article about Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching. I'm sure you've all seen the embroidered portraits of Marianne Faithful and Dolly Parton. She's resposible for them. I couldn't stop thinking about that dusty kit, wayyyyy back on the bookshelf. Last night I pulled it out, dusted it off and immediately started a hanky sort of thing for a co-worker (she has a gross thing with clover on it that she uses to blow her nose... a lot!). She likes Day of the dead stuff and old tattoo flash, so this will be her gift :

I'm going to put a matching skull on the other side and a banner in the center that reads "The Red Death", as that is what she refers to herself as on occassion.
For my Birthday, I got a $10 gift certificate from Fred Flare. It was perfect timing because I had been eye-ing up Serendipity's Frozen Hot Choclate Gift Set. It was AMAZING! I am postive, however, that if I had been more creative in the kitchen, I would have come up with eventually. Basically, to make a frozen hot choclate, you put powdered hot choclate mix, milk, and ice into the blender in that order. And that's it!!!! Dave and I were crazy for it!!!!! TRY IT!!!

into the pond...

This is what's left of 4 hours of tiny needle knitting.... *sniffLE* Vintage Beaded gloves no more. I'll pick them back up in a few days. Thank you, anonymous, for pointing out that i missed those decreases.



I'd love to show you all what else I've been working on, but it's for Charles' Warm Winter Exchange . You should check out his shop, CooL Buddha Tonic, he's got some great hand dyes in beautiful colorways. I'll post pictures of my secret project as soon as my partner gets it.

I went thrifting today, and scored 20 records for $2. Everyone is getting record bowls and vinyl wrist cuffs for X-mas now :-) I also found a pretty awesome bag for $ .99!!!! Pretty great, eh?

I really don't have much for you guys today, so here's a video :-)

Belle & Sebastian featuring the Maisonettes - Legal Man

Erase Errata?

So here I am, minding my own business... Making my way thru the extensive X-mas knitting list, and I wonder why the glove I'm currently making is enormous? I used sport weight yarn (Knitpicks Ambrosia) and size 1 needles, I cast on exactly 90 stitches. Why does said glove have an almost 10 inch circumference??? Who's hand is this big??? Where on earth would this be considered a women's small?




I calmed down and remembered that Midnight Purls once had shown me the errata page for MDK. I was so happy to remember something useful for once, and not just something stupid like,"Leonardo Dicaprio is a scorpio". Armed with my new knowledge, I immediately googled "handknit holidays errata", to find out that there is NOT an errata page for this book. After a trip though blogland, it seems many of you have had this exact problem. What do we do now? How can I make these gloves not look stupid?

In light of today's events, I'll leave you with a sweet video for an ironically named band "Erase Errata::



any suggestions or secret errata pages will be rewarded.... :-)

7 Songs...

I saw this on Lani's Blog, and had to steal it:

Here are the rules: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre. Whether or not they have words or even if they are any good but they must be songs you’re really enjoying right now! Post these instructions in your blog along with with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

1. These Days - Nico
2. Drunk Kid Catholic - Bright Eyes
3. O Valencia - Decemberists
4. Bone Machine - Pixies
5. Jellybones - The Unicorns
6. The Price of Gas - Bloc Party
7. Misery is a Butterfly - Blonde Redhead

Now as per the rules, I'm supposed to tag 7 of you... I hate rules, do it if you want to :-)

Snowy Triangles...

I actually finished something!!!! Don't tell anyone it was on size 10.5 needles.... This scarf and pin are for a friends mom. It was just a quick knit to break up the monotony of the bigger, more involved projects I've been working on.

Pattern: Snowy Triangles and Pinwheel Flower from Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick
Yarn: Paton's Nuance in Cedar Rose Colorway
Needles: Clover Takumi US Size 10.5
Time: Total of about 3 hours

I haven't used a "craft store" yarn in awhile, and it wasn't really that big of a deal. Yeah, it was cheap and about 80% acrylic but I'm happy with what came out of it. I really liked the metallic thread it was plied with and it was very soft.