Presenting.........

Pasha the penguin!


Check out her chest! hehe or do they call that the tuxedo part?



Obligitory sideways pose!


Look a penguin in a tree!

Knit in Lamb's Pride Worsted in black, lemon yellow, and winter white, scarf in Spice. My first knitted toy! Yikes.. all those pieces and ends and seaming it. Um...glad I don't make a lot of stuffed, knitted anything. Don't plan on it!

It was well worth it! DD loves her!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Just in case....

You haven't noticed on my side bar, the new sign ups for SAM5 have started.




I've taken the plunge into hostessing world and if you'd like to join, email me at
SAM5for2008 AT gmail DOT com

Membership is currently at 143 and I'll be closing the KAL to new members once or if we reach 250.

I like the KAL, and have been participating since it's inception. Pretty easy to do, just post a finished pair of socks in a month, get credit, possibly win a prize. The best part is seeing new and different sock yarn and patterns, plus meeting new people from all over the world.

Well, I am off to sewing and knitting world this weekend! FO pics to come soon! A certain penquin wants to meet you!

YPF-The Jittery Version

This color had me jittery from the start! I saw this and kept putting it down, I mean I can order this stuff online, why buy it on my trip. Well, I went back and forth, and on and on..

When it finally found it's way home with me...I was much calmer. ;)


Colinette Jitterbug
Gauguin Colorway
291meters 110 grams
fingering weight





Sometimes I have no idea why colors can excite me..make me blush..hmmmm!


Hoping for some good sun this coming weekend! I have a few skeins of reddish yarns that need their proper exposure too!

It's Wednesday...

Here's the WIP's of the week!

The very last mug cozie!! I would have finished it in time for gifting, but you know that story about a certain animal..

The culprit in question!


My sock in progress since February 2007. Yes, it is sad it's been sitting there that long. I won't allow myself any new socks until this pair is done! More details upon it's finish!


Basket o'WIP's! There are 2 that are not in here, 1 will be publicly frogged later this week, the other hoping to be back knitting it soon! Basket lovingly gifted to me by hubby for Christmas. He thought it was good to store my yarn in, well, um..it's better off for storing projects...good idea though honey ;)


I was amazed he picked this out while we were on our quick trip to Maine. He thought it would be good to take my knitting stuff with me while I'm KIPing, talk about pockets! I guess he finally figured out, if you can't beat them..just buy them more stuff for their hobby! ;)

I'll be knitting and sewing like a fiend this week!! Prizes to finish, custom orders to finish, store to stock up again, and a new interest in getting some old WIP's done! I even have a few FO's to post...soon!

A Retrofit Bird

A few of you recognize this Bird Case! A few suggested a contest with this as the prize...yeah it was a good idea, but when a certain Bird case gets over 203 hits and no sale...um..not a good PR move to "prize" it away IMHO. Odds are they may not like it. But someday, I knew someone would come along and actually want this.


However, enter my co-worker who loved this from the get go (I showed her my site) and didn't have an interchangeable set, or the inkling to purchase one anytime soon. (she's a knitting natural BTW! Already knitting socks and other stuff with little help from me, I thought she had knitted before, she says after watching me for a year, she kinda just did it.. that and she's not afraid to search the web for help if I'm not around)



Anyhow...My first choice was to rip the bias edging off and use the birdy material to make another case for her, then use the inside for another... But I realized that the inner first row was in birdy fabric, so I had not other choice but to retrofit it.

You can see my seam ripper armed at the ready. (I love the new tweaking you can do on blurry photos now on flickr!)



See, I ripped away a few of the seams between the prior tip slots and voila....room for a small circular needle or dpns. I continued this on the rest of the case as you can see below.


So other than really long needles, this is perfectly retrofitted for her. She loves it!!! I mean was so floored that I would gift it to her...well it went to a good home and it save me from winning the award for the most viewed item on Etsy.

The kids and I have been baking and chilling out. Hubby and I are toasting our 22nd Anniversary with a bottle of champagne...all is ok in NC

Yeah, I still have some seaming and knitting to do..hmmm maybe I can teach DD to seam.... Speaking of DD, here's her latest arteest work. She free-handed all these characters for our door contest at work.. and nope we didn' win...

I'm Lucy and my coworker is Sally...yeah the only girls there!

You Snag!!!

by Pixieriot


DB Baby Cashmerino in black
US 2 Inox Circulars-magic looped..heh, what else lately!
Started Dec. 6-Finished Dec. 11-road trip knitting
For Darling Daughter, who loves almost anything in black!

See them flat!

Not too bad for taking the picture yourself huh!! It was so liberating to drop those stitches..hehe..nope you can see I have not knit a Clapotis yet.

I had only one skein of the yarn that I got in a recent swap, I could have made them a bit longer, but you know they sure aren't for warmth, but for look.

Her penquin is going well..hoping to lock myself in my bedroom today to finish, then I must oil my serger and get crackin' on 3 cuddlewraps and her penguin fleece blankey!! I think I am going to try some fingering weight yarn to use on it. You see I use serger yarn (hehe way before I even started to knit) and it is pretty expensive when you use 2-3 cones (tiny ones) per project...I thought..hmm for those yarns you have that you may not like to knit with, you can serge with (upper/lower loopers only)

Oh, another reason for the title besides DD's pressie....my DS snagged his SAT results!! Yes, he is now qualified for the next step in getting a NROTC scholarship. (which if he chooses either school we visited this month..um..he's gonna need it!!)

So now the waiting continues to see if he is offered it. He also heard from VMI, and he's accepted there. He now has 4 colleges to choose from, 1 instate (and still waiting to hear from another one), and 3 out of state. He knows the weight of his decision and what accepting a scholarship like that entails, so even though we know what we want him to do..well he's 18 now (sniff) and the decision is his......

Well I'm off to take care of him, 4 wisdom teeth out before the holidays...eeek! Grocery shopping, then back to sew/knit/cook/clean for the rest of the weekend. Oh and have I got a Happy Bird ending for you, but that'll have to wait....

YPF-The Northern Version

Cherry Tree Hill Supersock


Northern Lights Colorway
Fingering weight
420 yds

I bought this in Maine at Yardgoods in Waterville, place of my birth (random factoid ;) I used to visit this store all the time for other fiber of the fabric version, cross stitch, and basket weaving supplies...yes, I avoided that yarn area....

Well, not this time. I had about 30 mins to shop, and this skein kept calling my name. I've recently seen it knit up and I do like it a lot. Into the queue now!





I was so glad to see a wide variety of yarns here! My beloved Lamb's Pride, Cascade, Patons, etc., plus everything I'll need when I move...when...hmmm no time soon sadly!

Look...there's more knitting here!!

Heh, hard to believe huh!!

Carrie's Thuja Inspired Wrist Warmers

US 5 Addi circ-Magic Loop again, told ya I had a loopy feeling lately! Sorry for the bad pose, we call this one, self portrait on a pillow in a hotel room. Yes, they were finished and mailed while on the road. The only mod's were adding about 4 rows of ribbing on the hand part before cast off to prevent rolling. Thanks Carrie!!


See them flat. Knit with Claudia's Hand Painted Yarns - Sportweight in the Ooops! colorway. I used all of one skein and about 1/4 of the second one...I am going to order 1 more skein later and will still be able to make a pair of socks..and they are Ooops!es so they don't need to match too well LOL!

These were sent to my Sno'flake pal and from what I hear, they were needed and fit well. Mine will follow after the holidays..I have the yarn..now to find the time.

Christine This one's for you! I forgot this picture yesterday! Mug cozies make great kitty hats (she looks really impressed doesn't she ;) They also would make great doll hats, preemie baby hats...the possibilities are endless...wish time was ;)

Real Cozy Like.....

Can't show you any WIP's as this is all I've done since the socks have been done!!

The Teacher gifts....well, they are done! All except for 1, I fell asleep and couldn't finish.

L-R- Lamb's Pride in Wild Oak, Noro Silver Thaw (unknown colorway), LP- Roasted Coffee


LP in Spice, 100% Purewool no clue on the colorway, and Cascade 220 in Granny Smith


LP in Spice, Cashmere Luxury Aran in Green, Patons Classic Merino in Rosewood

Oh and the other one...you know the one I didn't finish...well the chocolate sniffing dog took care of it. I awoke this morning to the contents of the naked mug gone...2nd time this week!! ARGH!!! Both animals have been strange since coming home last week and eating everything in site...sigh....

Now to knit a penquin, start my holiday socks, a fluffy pillow, and sew a few things, shop for a few more items...good thing I have a long weekend coming up!! Geesh!

Swirly fun!

Swirl Socks for Maggie. When I first signed up to knit socks for her, I wanted to do this pattern. I had yarn and was ready to go. Sock 1 about killed me! Sock 2 was knit on my trip and a breeze compared to the first one. But isn't that almost always what happens when learning a new pattern. I learned to do a RT and LT, which is Right Twist and Left Twist. I kept calling them turns though..no idea why?? I feared that R&LT....badly...then one day it clicked!

The swirl pattern looks a bit weird this way, but if you click on the pattern link above, you'll see how it is supposed to look. I took pictures then shipped the package out before I uploaded and fixed so you won't see them frontways. They took forever to dry as it's so hot and humid here...I'm not a happy camper about that..


Twisted DK Sock yarn in the Netherfield Colorway, Mutating Variegate (she names each striping pattern the yarn is dyed in, pretty cool I think!)
US 3 Addi 40" circ, magic looped (been feeling loopy lately, therefore almost everything I've been knitting is ML!)

I love this yarn, it's so soft and the organic striping of the yarn is wild. I did have to frog a bit and it got a bit splitty, but what yarn doesn't! After knitting with fingering for so many pairs of socks, I welcomed dk weight! I didn't try to match up the striping at all, mainly due to Maggie wanting wild socks. I have quite a bit of her yarns in different weights and stripings and can't wait to use it all!


My first picot edge! Not half bad...well after knitting it 3 times on sock 1. I tell you this stuff not to show you how great I am at frogging, but hoping someone else can learn by my mistakes. They were too tight on US 4's I ended up using US 6's for the bind off. The stitching inside went smooth. Definately not my last ones...thinking mini-monkeys in the future.


Ahhhh my old nemesis the Short Row Heel. I used to try the yarn over one, as I had the worst time seeing the wraps...still do and often have to use markers, but it was worse on the purl row.
Enter Cristi showing me on the ride to SAFF how to pick them up on the public side of the sock. She's my short row heel rescuer that girl is! ;) I got even better at it as sock 1's SRH was frogged 3 times!!

The only thing I feel to remember when using a SRH and having to pickup extra stitches for the gap....figure in the decreasing of said "extra" stitches into the pattern. Sock 1 has a set of swirls a bit closer than Sock 2 due to this. I tried to decrease all "extra" stitches in the first 2 rounds, but it still messed it up a bit. Any solutions to figuring that part out. Sock 2 went much better, but it took me a bit to figure it out.


Here they are packed up and ready to go! No heat on here so they took forever to dry after their spa bath.

2nd Blogiversary to me!!

Still hard to believe it's only been 2 years blogging and 3 years knitting! I've learned so much and met so many friends either online or IRL and sometimes both! :) Some from different countries too, which I love as I learn so much about their life, and often swap for different things with them. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to stop by and read and most of all comment, I love it when I get comments, even if you just say hi, it makes my day and I love getting new readers/commenters.

As for the results of the contest! Well, with that huge bag 'o yarn and projects, one would think I would be knitting like a fiend. Well, I did for me LOL, but as you know, sometimes knitting relaxes me so much, that I ...um...fall asleep. Riding in a back seat, watching the snow...suffice it to say, I did sleep quite a bit on this trip, making up for lost sleep I think.

Thanks to all of you who dreamed big for me!! Sadly it wasn't the case, but oh well!


The grand total is 4! Don't get confused by the 2 mug cozies. Those 2, plus the black You Snag wrist warmers were all started and finished on the trip. The other 2, which will be posted in full later this week (well actually you'll see all these projects again this week with their own time to shine). You see the "other" 2 had only 1 done of each pair. So...my math is 3 full FO's, plus 2-1/2 FO's (which eventually equal 1 FO) brings the grand total 4. A few of you were close, don't be sad!

So....the winners are.....Carol and Cristi They both guessed 4 each and well you know, I'm feeling in the spirit (about darned time!) so they both get a prize...Cristi you know what your getting ;), well you actually don't but we've been in talks on something this week! (oh and sorry Aimee if she taunts you by singing 'bout her prize winnings again!!) and Carol, I'm emailing you to find out your choice.

Thanks everyone again!! It's early morning and about time for bed LOL! What can I say, I'm a nite owl! More later this week, I've got so much to show and talk about!

YPF-The Cane Version

Not candy, but Raspberry!


Miss Babs (I got this at SAFF, but the link is to the only online place I've seen it sold. They don't have this colorway now, but it is usually there... )Oh Carrie, stay away from there ;)
Yummy fingering weight
Raspberry Cane Colorway
100% merino Superwash Sock
400 yds




Nice colors!! I really wanted the sportweight, but put it down and walked away, (I was trying to be good!!) by the time I returned, only fingering weight was left...oh well.

My soundtrack life??

I read this on Karen's blog who was told suggested by Sonya (hehe) to answer. I wanted to give it a whirl so for some pointless post, here ya go!!

If your life were a soundtrack, what would the music be?

Here’s how it works:
1. open your library (iTunes, winamp, media player, iPod)
2. put it on shuffle
3. press play
4. for every section, type the song that’s playing
5. next section — press the next button
6. don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool

opening credits: Linger - Cranberries

waking up: Someday I'll be Saturday Night - Bon Jovi

first day at school: Cowboy - Rock Stars - hehe, I got the explicit version by mistake

falling in love: Woke up this Morning - Nickelback

breaking up: Makes Me Wonder - Maroon 5

prom: Too Bad - Nickelback, about the extent of my 2 prom's...dates were not my boyfriends and well, they were ok.

life’s okay: Killer Queen - Queen

mental breakdown: Badlands - Bruce Springsteen, kind of appropriate for the song I think.

driving: Analyse - Cranberries, yeah, I'm analysing the way these yahoo's drive around here!

flashback: Whiskey in the Jar - Metallica, well I never liked Whiskey, but um....it coulda been vodka or kahlua

getting back together: This Hard Land - Bruce Springsteen, how true!

wedding: Livin' La Vida Loca - Ricky Martin...hehe in spanish (no I don't speak it)

birth of child: Drive - Incubus

final battle: Lawyers, Guns, and Money - Warren Zevon

death scene: Put Your Lights On - Santana, Everlast

end credits: Sax and Violins - Talking Heads....um interesting

Well, there you have it, my electic music taste. A lot are a throwback from the 80's and thanks to my darling daughter, I am kinda current with music.

Feel free to join in!!

Wip it Wednesday-I'm home version

Hiya!! I'm home! Not the happiest to be here, but I'll survive. I missed my daughter a lot and the animals, well they missed us! Both hubby and I miss the snow, the other weather, the people, and the life in Maine. It was so good to smell a woodstove fire again! Snow greeted us into the state and kicked us out on Monday! We really wished we had never left, and until we can make it back, life will go on! Most importantly the trip was successful and accomplished what it needed to.

Ok, enough of my whining before you ask me if I want some cheese to go with it!

Oh yeah, you wanna know my WIP's!


Tilted Duster - This is my boob swatch. I was given the idea from Aimee to just go ahead and knit it for the gauge swatch and you all know I dislike knitting them, so any shortcut is well appreciated. However, I have a dilemma! I always use long-tail cast on and you know since it is considered a knitted row I purled the first row when I started. My main reason for doing so is that it calls to begin and end this piece with a WS row. So did I do this right? The reason I am asking is when I look at the progress the angled part (on your left) is supposed to be on the other side as I am starting the R front. I looked at the L front directions and they seem the same so I will finish this and figure out what to do to make the real right. Should I use another cast on?? help me please....

Mug Cozee's

Holiday IK 2007 This one in Lamb's Pride...yeah you know I gotta stop looking at it and knit with it LOL! Can't tell you how many are done...you have to wait until Sunday's blogiversary post!

Back to work tomorrow!! Yay for short weeks!

YPF-The early and away version

Hi! Finally here in cold, cold Maine, but I love it! :) I could move back here in a heartbeat! Unfortunately, it'll be many millions of heartbeats before I can...sigh.. Tomorrow it is off to the coast and to see where it's 98% a good chance where my son will be spending the next 4 years!

Oh..yeah, you came here for the pr0n. Good thing for stored pr0n you haven't seen yet and for free high-speed internet! The boys are passed out and snoring...geesh!




225 yds Sport Merino
Indigo Over Powder
2 skeins
5-6 sts per inch

This was the last shipment of Sundara's sportweight I was able to score. She's out of it for a while. Which is good in a way! ;)

Snow!! :)

Ok, I know not everyone likes snow, but I do! This is the first time in 18 years that I'll be home during the winter! Today's trip did not dissapoint either! Once we hit Virginia about 8 am, the snow showers started and got worse/better along the way to New York which is where we are now! The roads were pretty good! I even got to drive for a bit, but hubby was desperate for a nap, he doesn't like me driving with 18 wheelers...hehe..he was fearing for his life LOL!

Anyhow, it's all good with me, I can go back to my backseat driving knitting..well I did save him from going the wrong way after getting gas...yeah, perfect timing looking up from my knitting! I am minutes away from an FO.... It got dark here pretty early, and I forgot my reading light, so I had to quit the car knitting sooner than I wanted to...oh well!

Here's my son getting a snowball ready to throw at me! Boy am I out of practice!
It was good for him to see snow all around and life just happening as usual, I mean, people were driving more carefully, but you see we come from an area not used to snow and everything shuts down. So he needs to get used to seeing how people live with it on a daily basis. He should be in for a real treat in the next few days. hehe!!

It's almost time....

Time to leave for our college visit trip, and for my 2 year Blogiversary on the 16th.

We are visiting Maine Maritime Academy (he's already been accepted to and we hope he chooses to go here) and Virginia Military Institute...yikes! And from what I hear snow has arrived in Maine and a few other areas we'll be traveling through! It will be a very quick trip and hoping to visit a few relatives and at least one LYS!

My FO of the week so far---Unoriginal Hat

for Maggie, whose socks are close to being done also! I wanted her to have a wildly colored hat to go out and about with, or just stay home and warm.
100% pure wool in a Mystery Colorway (an RAK) but very soft. US 11 dpn's
I'm glad I made it for someone else first as I know I need it a bit bigger/longer.

Oh and what is this!! Um..er..*cough* my 1 knitting bag (well other than my normal tote I carry everywhere) I allowed myself for trip knitting. Also, this is my Blogiversary contest.

Inside are 2 sock WIP's from as far as last year, 1 M/D washcloth in progress, yarn for 4 more; 1 more Unoriginal hat for Moi!; yarn for 2 armwarmers--one short and one long; yarn for a penquin for DD, yarn for my holiday socks; for 10 coffee cozies for teacher gifts, and to start the fronts for my Tilted Duster. In the other knitting bag (not shown) is the 2nd Maggie sock, which will be finished first, and an SP gift. So quite the choice and potential there huh!! So your mission, should you choose to participate, is just how many FO's will I accomplish! We are talking about at least 8 hrs of back seat driving uh..knitting for 2 days each way and since no sewing machine around who knows. (T.Duster doesn't really count as I am not taking all the yarn) but hey, you could call it a 1/2 FO and the penguin too cause it won't get stuffed til I get home either...

Just comment on what your guess is and I'll post the finished pieces on the 16th and the winner who either guesses correctly or close enough and not over. You will have your choice of yarn or a needle case...heh and I promise it will not be the bird one that no one loves...well actually someone does love it..but more on that on another post. I'll just keep you in suspense till then!

Not sure if I'll get to post any on the road, but I'm taking le'camera and we'll see!

I'll have a small shop update tonite with a few cases, but most likely not until after the next episode of Tin Man is over. sigh..tin man ;) Yeah, I know I can record it, but I want to see it live!