Nicole the Knitting Goddess

Stash Additions!!!!!!

I'm up early this morning with stomach issues, so I thought I'd post about my yarny Christmas.  Just for a little health update, my new hematologist has determined that the reason that I've had so many medical problems this year is because my body isn't absorbing food properly.  So sometimes my tummy is a bit testy.  Oh, and fun fact: my doctor is on a billboard.   In Orlando, when the 417 turns into the 408 there is a billboard for the Oncology department at Florida Hospital and my doctor is the only woman on there.  Hematology and Oncology go hand in hand because blood diseases and cancers often overlap.

This was my first Christmas waking up next to Michael and spending it with his family.   Last year I was at my parents for most of Christmas day but rushed home that night because I missed Michael so much.  We had a wonderful Christmas and I received some very nice additions to my stash.  I threw some of my other presents into the pictures for visual interest.

 

6 skeins of Knitpicks Elegance in Barn Red from Michael and a Hello Kitty teacup.   This yarn is destined to be a Ms. Marigold.

 

4 skeins of Wool of the Andes Bulky in Emerald from Michael and Pushing Daisies Season 1.  Yarn is destined to be a Belle Cardigan.

 

4 skeins Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande in Burgundy from Michael and Peppermint Bath Fizzies.   Yarn is destined to be a Carrie Cropped Cardigan.

 

2 skeins Knitpicks Gloss in Porcini from Michael with sleepy and stress relieving bath salts.   This yarn is destined to be Bayerische Socks.

 

4 mini skeins with beads and sequins from Michael!!!!  Super cute.   With the fortune cat that my kittens gave me for Christmas.

 

2 skeins Fun Fur in Black and Gold from my brother-in-law.   Pictured with a University of Central Florida (our Alma Matter) sweatshirt that I got Michael for Christmas.   Yarn is destined to be a striped scarf.

Add these gifts to the 8 skeins of Knitpicks Swish Bulky in Cashew that I ordered today and I've got enough yarn for a long while now.   My sister-in-law and her husband are building a house and I plan on knitting them a blanket as a housewarming gift.   I really loved Beverly's Totally Autumn and that was my inspiration!  I also gifted myself with a subscription to Interweave Knits this morning!  So I have lots of knitting to look forward to.  I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas!

My last Christmas day decor picture is my favorite.

Christmas Eve Photo Post

Michael cleaned today and I baked.  The house is sparkling clean and smells wonderful.  

DONE - 5 pans of homemade cinnamon rolls, 3 dozen snickerdoodles, and a batch of fudge.

IN PROGRESS - baking sweet potatos and mixing banana bread.

REMAINING - finishing the sweet potato casserole, baking the banana bread, green bean casserole.

Michael always takes breaks to snap a couple of pics(I'm not complaining!).   And today he got a new lens for our SLR so we should have crazy good pictures of tonight and tomorrow but today we just have a couple of pics from our point and shoot.

 

Percy in a box, avoiding the chaos.   Or causing it.

 

My Christmas flowers

 

The closest to a white Christmas that we're going to get.

 

These Snickerdoodles will soon be to cool for school.

 

Pre-baked!

 

On a roll.

 

Will this dough rise to the occasion?

 

I'm very impressed with my rolling skills.

My precious!

 

Michael loves to clean.

 

And I love to make a mess!!!!!

Early WIP Wednesday

I'm not sure if I'll have time to post tomorrow so I'm going to do an early WIP Wednesday.  I'm going on a cooking/baking marathon Christmas Eve making Cinnamon Rolls, snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, banana bread, green bean casserole, and sweet potato casserole.   I love casseroles.  Today I made fudge, cleaned out the fridge, and laundry.

Vine Lace Baby Hat - 50% complete I also cast on for this wee hat today.  My best friend from middle school is due in June and I plan on gifting this to her with some wee socks made from the same yarn (Knitpicks Gloss).  The yarn is leftover from my Branching Out scarf.

Owl Fetching - 40% complete  I have finished the palm of the first mitt and am about to hold the stitches for the thumb.

Vanilla Gelato socks - 80% complete  I've turned the heels and gotten a good bit of leg on there.  I plan on going until I run out of yarn.   Right now they reach about the middle of my calf so I'm going to start increasing soon.  They're a great for socializing because it's just knit knit knit and everyone seems amazed by them.   I guess it just looks impressive!

I do love free patterns.  Only 38 out of my 183 Raveled projects have been from a pattern.   That's only 20% of my knitted items!  And all of my current WIP's patterns are for free, just click on the links above.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite Christmas ornaments, a gift from my mom.

We're Back!

We got home late last night, but had a blast at my mom's house.  I brought the camera but forgot to take pictures.  I had a fun time introducing Michael to lifelong family friends at our engagement party.   Some kids that I used to babysit for showed up too!

The gifts I gave were a big hit.  Everyone loved the lacy scarves (almost all my scarves have been gifted now) and I got many compliments on them.   The men all liked their beanies.  My great-grandfather liked his snickerdoodles.

My great-grandparents gave us a gorgeous quilt for Christmas.   It will be our guest quilt since pineapples are a symbol of hospitality.  Funny story, my great-grandparents are in their 90's so sometimes they forget things.   At the bottom of our gift bag there were some leftovers that had to be at least a month old!  Yuck!!!

I also got a Soduko puzzle book from my sister.   It's supposed to be for our flight to Arizona but I've already started it.   I'm hooked!

But my favorite gift of all this weekend has to be my wedding tiara.   Look how it sparkles.... oooooohhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Today's our First Christmas

Today we are celebrating Christmas with my family.   This Christmas Day will be the first one that I'm not spending with my mother and sisters.   This Christmas season is the first one I'll be spending without my father.   He is very busy with his new family.   We're pretty busy too so it's not all his fault.

Tomorrow I will be working, but I'll be the only one on my team.  My boss, co-workers, and customers are all on vacation.   And Wednesday starts my 2 week vacation so hooray for that! 

Attn: East Orlando Area Residents

Go see the house with the dancing lights off of Fox Knoll (link is to last years, but it has a map)!   They're really awesome.  We saw them last night and plan on adding it to our Christmas Eve extravaganza plan (we also go to the house off of Tangerine and Dike that's crazy crazy).  We made some Ghirardelli hot chocolate, threw on some Mannheim Steamroller, and found some pretty awesome houses.   But I think that our house is the best (I'm biased).

Have a Good Weekend!

Continuing in the Christmas spirit, I got this Hello Kitty snow-kitten at Target a couple of years ago.  It is cute and glittery and one of my favorite decorations.

3 More Working Days until I'm on Vacation!!! Woot!!!!!!

I got these simple vases from IKEA and filled them with glass balls that we got at Old Time Pottery.   I think they look very festive and it's nice to see them when I'm coming down the stairs in the morning. 

Time to get my Christmas cookies started.   These chocolate candy cane cookies look delish!

WIP Wednesday: The Buck Stops in 2 Days.

Megaknits and I made these one year for a knitting group party.   They're very simple.   Just buy some clear ornaments at a craft store and fill them with some yarn!   We used mainly novelty yarns but you could use whatever floated your boat.

A good use for leftover orange mohair.

This time of year is crazy at work because there's a lot of annual finance reporting going on and where that shouldn't affect me (hey, I just write the software) it does because people lose their minds.   And then they call me freaking out that they can't find their order for some super expensive equipment, the system must have ate it!!!!   The system never eats it.   Either they didn't save it or they wrote down the wrong order number.   *sigh*  And then there are tons of last minute requests... every one of them is supposedly urgent.   Also there was a murder-suicide at one of our plants yesterday and it's very sad and everyone keeps talking about it.  I'm very ready to be done with work.   On the plus side I just put a message up on our website that basically says "Place an order after noon on the 19th and we'll get to it next year".  AND everyone is going on vacation after this week.   AND I only have to work 2 days next week and then it's Christmas and our Arizona trip!  A 2 week vacation is very much in order.

I've been having some knitting issues.   The scarf that I was making for one of my aunt's wasn't turning out the way I wanted it too.   I was trying to make her a skinny Wisp but it was just looking like a big tangle of yarn.   And the Swell that I made for my sisters boyfriend turned out too small.  So now I'm making a ribbed hat for him out of black Wool-ease.   I don't have time to whip out another present for my aunt so I'll have to go out and grab her something.

See!   There's no definition at all.

Who has ears that tiny?

My Lace-up Opera Gloves are disappointingly small as well.   Maybe my gauge is changing and getting tighter?  The only successful project I've had lately is my Sedona scarf, which I love beyond measure.   It's long and warm and that's a good thing because it's currently snowing in Sedona.  I haven't dealt with snow since Vday 2000.

I've started some Fetchings that have owl cables on the bottom.   So far so good on those.  And I've made it to the heel on the Gelato socks.   I hope to have the heel turned by this Saturday.

This Saturday we'll be leaving for my mom's house to have an early Christmas with my family so if I have the heels turned I can just knit away on the leg in the car.  Sunday night we'll see my favorite thing in all of Cape Coral, the boat parade, where people decorate their boats and drive them through a canal route.  My mom is also holding a little engagement soiree' for us on Sunday.  It'll be a weekend of fun, food, presents, and boats!