The furniture is out of the box! Yippee!

Only 3 hours later but the rug is down. . .table and chairs are up. . .whew. . .and I am tired! But I just love it. . .I am soooooooooooooo happy!!!

The floor. . .not so pretty. . .but nothing a rug can't fix. . .for now. See what I mean. . .right around the rug that was there at one point. . .weird? It will be beautiful once we have it finished though.

After the second coat of red.

Habitat hat complete . . .putting up furniture soon. . .just in time for tax season to kick off. . .whew!

Such a long two weeks since my last post. I finished the habitat hat which came out nice. I did how ever change the needle size since my husband has a small head. I knitted the entire hat in a size 7 instead of a size 8. I don't have photos of it actually on his head because it is on display at Green Mountain Fibers right now in Rutland. So stop by and check it out. It was knitted in Debbie Bliss luxury tweed in gray. I really wanted chocolate but that was on back order. . .

So then when that came in last week. . .I started the central park hoodie. The chocolate is very yummy. . .I am going through my chocolate phase right now. Haven't gotten very far on this sweater yer . . . .but that happens this time of year for me.

Open house for Green Mountain Fibers is on Saturday, January 31st. . . .lots of sales and prizes . . please stop by. It is going to be great! I was there yesterday afternoon helping out with bookkeeping and getting prepared. I think I talked Kathleen into doing a chicks, sticks, and flicks night at some point . . ..like we use to do at Stitchy Women when my friends owned it. It was so much fun! I really miss it. Especially Sue and Marlee :(

On the house front. . . we have the dining room primed. . .

and the first coat of red on. . ..

. . .got the second coat too but I didn't have the energy to even pick up the camera. Joel pulled the carpet up on Monday . . . . .but they finished the floors around the rug that was apparently there at one point. . .who does that? So I am off today to target to get a rug to put down to cover the unfinished floor . . . for now. Then the furniture comes out of the box! Woohoo!

I can't wait to be done with this. . then it is no more painting until after tax season . . .I can not do anymore . . .I just can't. Even as I look into my kitchen from my newly painted dinning room to baby blue cabinets and yellow and blue flowered and striped wallpaper. . .and a stove from 1970. . .spring. . .it has to wait until spring.

I did get to see Julie this weekend and finally give her and her family their xmas gift which I refused to put on my blog until I had given it to her. I not only knit but I stamp and scrapbook so . . . .

Everyone got a bag of reindeer poop, a jar of cocoa, a mug. . . and they all got this years Danforth ornament.

Now don't think I came up with this idea all on my own . . . the master mind behind the stamped items would be my extremely talented stampin up rep Trena. . .I took a class and then used her ideas to put a basket together. . .Trena is brilliant!

ok. . .off to Target!

Some progress this week. . .but not as much as I would like

Well I have some progress this week. . .but really not as much as I would have liked to have done. If I only didn't have to sleep! I could get so much done. I am studying for my CPA exam . . .which I booked over xmas for February 28th (so it is final now) and I just went back to the gym. Two things that are very important but yet another thing to my massive list of duties. If I didn't go back to the gym. . .I will never make it through tax season. . the stress would build up so bad I would burst.

Cambridge vest. . ..

This came out very nice and I am really happy with it. Looks great with a dress shirt and pants. I wore it to work and got many complements . . .and most people think it is store bought. That is always a nice complement.

Then after an hour of deliberating on what to start next I decided to try the Habitat hat by Jared Flood.

Note, I placed markers at the end of each pattern repeat. . .there is 5 of them. This just makes it easier to focus when you are trying to multi-task . . .something I do all the time. There are many cables in this pattern . . .which I love but it does require a little mental attention. This is made using Debbie Bliss luxury tweed purchased at Green Mountain Fibers in Rutland.

Katie came over and I finally took a couple quick snap shots of her in the sifting sands scarf that I made for her for xmas. This pattern is available for free. . . check it out on ravelry. Made from malabrigo which I purchased at webs (www.yarn.com). Green Mountain Fibers just purchased some punta yarn that is very similar and I am dieing to know how that will look in this pattern.

Katie loves it. . .it is soft and purple. . .what more could she ask for.

The dining room is coming together. . .Joel just finished the sanding yesterday (8 hours worth). I will spend a few hours today washing the dust from the walls so we can prime next weekend. Dining room table. . .ya that is still in the box. Grrrrrr. . .I so wanted to paint this weekend. . .again the time thing.

Progress. . .and new project decisions

Well the week has been quite busy as usual. Our office was closed on Thursday and I spent the day at the yarn shop even though it was closed entering the remainder of the inventory into the POS system. Joel spent the day skim coating the plaster walls and painting his hunting/fishing room. Needless to say. . .not a day of rest. . . but you have to take these days as opportunities to get things done or they will never happen.


I spent most of the week last on the phone with tech support at our office. I have now developed a close relationship with a guy named Chris since i spent at least 8 hours on the phone with him this week alone! Finally we figured it out. . .you see we have decided to go paperless at our office . . which will be great. . .once the bugs are worked out. But right now it is sooooo time consuming. Especially when there are so many things I want to get a jump on before tax season starts.

On the home front, we have a lot of progress on the walls. We should have them finished for painting next weekend. The skim coat worked great, the sanding just takes time and you have to let the skim coat dry a day. I am very impressed with my husband. He really has done a fantastic job and been a trooper! Especially since he does most of the work. I can paint but the skim coat and sanding. . .its just better that i don't go there.

I also finished the pawprints cardigan for my friend Rita's little boy Maddox. He was born in November but I have been dragging out the last part of the project. The sweater wasn't hard, just out of cotton and I just do not want to knit with cotton in the winter. . .I want my wool!

Maddox is absolutely adorable. . .he is such a little peanut just like her daughter Cadence was. A very good baby too. We ate dinner at the Palms and he barely fussed at all. . .she is so lucky . . .once again!




Almost finished with the Cambridge vest. I have one shoulder to do and then the edging. Excellent project and excellent yarn. Rowan really knows what the are doing.



With the Cambridge Vest almost done I am pondering the idea of the next project. Unfortunately even though working in a yarn store is fun and inspiring . . it is also hard to behave in. . .I have acquired the following and I am not sure what to knit next. I have also made the new years resolution to knit more from my stash so i have some room in my craft room to do things in. . . . We will see how that goes. . . .



Socks obviously. . .not sure on the pattern yet. or . . . . use this



to make these



http://www.knotions.com/issues/fall_2008/patterns/oak_leaf/directions.aspx



or make the habitat hat by Jared flood out of this. . . .


Haven't found a sock pattern for this either. . .

Or this yet. . . .


Or this one. . .




hmmm. . .or this one either


Since I am not religious . . I am now placing my hand on the fiber and repeating. . .I will knit from my stash. . my stash only (not the yarn stores) . . so help my fiber. K1P1.

Pretty and not so pretty

What did I do on my Christmas break? Well we had Christmas on Friday the 26th instead of Christmas day so I convinced my husband to start the dining room. . . .not so pretty underneath all that wallpaper though. . . .

This house was built in 1907 and this could very well be some of the original plaster walls for all I know. . .its dry and patched . ..everywhere!

I keep telling myself that it is like a big craft project. . .its fun . . . . really! It can only get better . . . . . .and before that . . . .it has to get worse to get better.

So needless to say . . .this is no weekend project. Joel is going to skim coat this week and hopefully next weekend we can paint.

If the skim coat doesn't work out we can always use the paintable wallpaper.

At least the friggin' flowers are gone!

On another note. . .the Cambridge vest is coming out great. . .I am actually on the front now. .and the yarn is such a treasure to knit with. Feels so nice!


I also finished Twilight this weekend. . .what an amazing book. . .I couldn't put it down. . .I read 300 pages this weekend! Highly recommended. . .if you love Harry Potter. . .you will love this series. Joel and I also went to see Marley and Me. . we both read the book and couldn't wait to see the movie. I am of course a huge Jennifer Aniston fan and wouldn't pass it up for a second. Be prepared to cry though. . but a good cry. . .I use to never cry at movies. . .we both left with puffy eyes and Barley spent the night snuggled in between us. How could you not love that face.

Embossed leaves socks and the cambridge vest. . .

I finally finished the embossed leaves socks from interweave knits last night and got to have photos taken with my new toy. . .yes. . . Santa came early at my house. . he always seems to and brought me a Canon rebel . . .amazing!

I have wanted a new camera for the last six months since mine has been unable to capture those crisp images that I want for my knitting. It really is a great camera and I got a great deal at http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/589048-REG/Canon__EOS_Rebel_XSi_a_k_a_.html#reviews. A very good friend of mine recommended this site and it really is the best!

Now the next plan is to take a photography class. . .now I know I can point and shoot a camera but understanding lighting and shutter speed. . .way above my head but I know I can learn.

Joel loves it. . .he couldn't put it down all evening long and he knows his stuff with photography. . his grandfather was an amazing photographer and Joel is the same way. His composition is just spectacular. Some of his nature shots just amaze me. So this camera will be perfect for him also.

So with the embossed leaves complete. . .now on to the Cambridge Vest in Rowan Baby Alpaca dk that I purchased at webs when I went to visit Julie in CT a few weeks ago. I got an amazing deal of it because they are discontinuing the yarn. Normally 11.95 a skein . . .try 8.00. . .ya. . exactly. It is fabulous. . .it feels so nice on the needles and knitting every stitch is a dream.

Our dining room table will be here in 3 weeks so we will be decorating the dining room next weekend during xmas break. Can you say good bye to this. . . . . .

I am just sooooo not about flowers. . .yuck. We will be painting it a earthy red and pull up the carpet (nice hardwood underneath) and adding a country style table and chairs. . . it is going to get great.

Christmas Cards

Finishing up Christmas cards this weekend. . . 45 cards in all. Whew! It's a lot of work let me tell you. . .first coming up with the design and then actually making them.

I really like how they came out. Took me forever do decide on whether to do something with snowflakes or the new mitten stamp I just got from Stampin Up. I also go to use some gems that I purchased forever ago which have been sitting in my eyelet and brad tackle box.

Now hopefully everyone likes them. . .or at least appreciates how much work goes into them.