Happy New Year

It is hard to believe that we are getting ready to start a new year. What should be my resolution? It should be something that I am actually going to do.

It is now two hours after I started my post and I think I have a resolution.

I have decided that I am going to work very hard on finishing many of my UFOs. Okay, now that I have made this decision I won't be able to start for a couple of weeks. I am working very hard on finishing something that I haven't talked about yet. There is a cardigan in Noro Taiyo on my needles. The plan is to have this done for next week when I go to the spring knitting trade show. I have both sleeves and the back done. Guess what I am doing tomorrow.

My huge scarf/shawl is knit and just needs to be blocked. I think that this will be tomorrow's job. Because of the length I will need to do it in parts.

Jack is knit in Rowan's Chunky Tweed. This was started at least 4 years ago and I have the back and one sleeve done. I love working with the yarn and really want to wear the sweater.

The Drop Collar Cable Jacket was from Debbie Bliss' first magazine. The pattern is now available online from Vogue Knitting. I have one sleeve done and am half way up the back.

Rochdale in Rowan Big Wool. 12mm needles. I am very close on this one.

Have a Happy New Year and we will talk in 2010.

Sarah's Shroom

Sarah came into the store this afternoon in her Shroom hat. She used Soapstone (off white).

Sarah also used the 6mm for the ribbing and 9mm for the top. She did four pattern repeats in the top to make a much bigger 'shroom than mine. As she was leaving she picked up two more skeins of Outer to make another hat in Flannel. For this one she said she is going to make the ribbing about half an inch shorter.

Shroom Hat take two

The second Shroom hat is done and the results are much better. I used 6mm for the rib (pattern says 5.5mm) and 9mm for the body (the pattern asks for 8mm).

Now I need to knit another and will be using Bayou-a new blue/green colour. I was planning on making 4 but have amended the plan to 2. The twins won't be getting hats-we gave them the coolest shoes for Christmas.

I am going to hit Publish now so that I can get the hat cast on.

Back to work

After a couple days of resting I am back at work. I don't think I could have stayed at home for another day. There was cleaning and accounting to do and I didn't feel like doing either.

Saturday was a very lazy day. I ran to Pier 1 to see what was on sale and bought a few Christmas decorations. I am very proud of myself-I could have spent a lot more but showed great restraint. The day was then spent loading and unloading the dishwasher (it really needs a vacation after the past few days), catching up on the Y&R (I am finally current-Sharon and Adam-WOW!!), watching a movie and sleeping. Beth and I watched Julie and Julia-it was okay but seemed to drag on. I was extremely bored by the end which is why I don't go to the theatre to see movies. They could have cut out at least 1/2 an hour and I don't think it would have affected the movie.

Sunday was spent knitting and watching football.

During Boxing Week (December 28-31) we will have some yarn and knitting bags on sale in the store.

Sock Yarn
All commercially dyed sock yarns are on sale.
Buy 3 get 1 free (the least expensive yarn will be the free ball)
Berroco Sox
Berroco Sox Metallic
Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine
Lang
Regia
Opal
Lana Grossa
Crystal Palace Panda Silk
Crystal Palace Mini Mochi
Tofutsies
Noro Kureyon Sock
Noro Silk Garden Sock
Spud and Chloe Fine

Offhand Designs
A couple of bags have been discontinued. I would like to clear what we have to make room for the new bags I will be buying in a few weeks.
Fiona Tote
Regular price is $185 and the sale price is $110.

Zelda Grand
Regular price is $160 and the sale price is $96.

Namaste Bags

Namaste has discontinued a few colours to get ready for the new spring bags coming in a few weeks. We are clearing these colours out.

Saddle (rust)
Charcoal
Turquoise (not Peacock)

All bags and accessories in these colours are on sale 25% off.

The special pricing is for in stock yarns and accessories only.
No lay aways.
No returns.
The special pricing will not be offered on the website but you can phone orders in.

Merry Christmas

The hat is finished but it is way too small. It might fit one of the twins. I have the ribbing done on a second hat. I went up half a size for this one. The top of the hat was supposed to be knit on an 8mm needle but I don't have one on the store so I used a 7mm. The shipment of needles hasn't arrived so I am going to use 9mm for the top-this will make a big mushroom and I think the kids will like that.

The store is closing at 2 today and then the fun begins. We have quite a bit of prep work to do to get ready for tomorrow.

Have a Merry Christmas.

It is now 11pm, Christmas night. I didn't get this posted so I am going to add to it.

We had 28 for dinner this afternoon. Everything went smooth. All the food was ready at the same time. Everyone had enough to eat. Nothing was spilled. It was a great day with family and friends.

I am extremely tired now but not tired enough to actually go to sleep so I am moving to the couch to unwind and watch a movie. I hope everyone had a great day.

Christmas Knitting

I started my Christmas knitting last night. There are still a couple of days to get it done. This is the new Shroom slouchy tuque from the latest Knitty. Two skeins of Spud & Chloe Outer. I have 6 more rows to do and then start the top decreases.

I think the kids will like this hat. I am going to finish it and then they can decide if they want the same colour or a different one and I will make them after Christmas. Who am I kidding? There is no way to get 4 done by Friday. I also have to get the house ready-the dinner numbers are around 30 right now.

You know that I have a small Offhand Design problem-I want all of her bags. The new fabrics for spring are on her website now. Oh My!!! I can't wait to see them for real in California in a couple of weeks.

Gatsby (my favourite bag) in Madeleine. WOW!! I have already done an order (the first in line) and am told that the bags could be shipping by the end of January. See all the new fabrics.

Another new fabric-Judy. Now this is going to be a tough decision. Which fabric do I want??? Or do I get both?? Merry Christmas to me??

Olympic Torch

Last night we were scrambling to get everyone ready (5 teen aged girls and 4 adults) and be on our way to Brantford. John was running at 6:45 so we wanted to make sure we were there early enough to get parked and in position. I tried all afternoon to see if any roads were closed in Brantford but came up with nothing. On our way into town there was a line of police cars so we asked what was the best way to get downtown-we were assuming they had roads closed. No roads closed. We parked right where John was running. He sent us a text and told us what street corner to be on. I think about 30 of us were waiting for him.

The streets were lined with people-many dressed in red and white Canada gear from previous Olympics. Excitement was in the air.

Police cars and motorcycles came through first. Then some Royal Bank vehicles and Coke trucks handing out goodies. Then a bus stopped in front of us. A man jumped out and announced the name of the next runner. She came out very, very nervous. We asked the guy if John was running and he said yes-he should be at us in a few minutes and that poor John got out of the bus and no one was there to cheer for him. Dad and Beth took off (up a hill) to be at the start of John's run. Then there were more police cars, a couple of vans and then at the top of the hill we could see the flame. Being dark out was a big plus because the flame stood out. We started yelling and John came down the hill with the torch held high above his head. John ran his leg a little too fast so we were allowed to run into the street for pictures before he was to pass of the flame.

After the flame was passed John was back on the bus and we met up with him at City Hall. Well, we tried to meet up with him. All the runners were being mobbed. People wanted pictures with the runner and the torch. It was about half an hour before we could get close to John.

Lynda took lots of pictures (her camera has a flash) and I will get them later this week. I will definitely be putting them up-it was an amazing experience.

Afterwards we all met up at Rousseaux House. This is John in his 'uniform' with the torch. He said it was the best day of his life behind the births of his daughters.

Thanks Mom and Dad

This is my Christmas present from Mom and Dad. We have had a hand written sign on the door for many years. Dee Signs made my new sign for the knitting shows and I contacted them to make me a sign for our hours.

The neat thing about the sign is that I can remove the hours sign and change it when our hours change to being closed on Mondays for the summer.

There is a blackboard as well so that I can write notes-special hours, new yarns or store sales. Now I need to get some chalk.

I did not sleep well last night. There was too much anger in my body. Russell didn't win Survivor?? How was that possible?? He played an amazing game. When Natalie's name was read as the winner it looked as if Russell was going to cry. I was going to cry!!!

The Olympic Torch is traveling through Southern Ontario right now and our friend John is running it tonight in Brantford. Standing in the cold doesn't excite me but it is an amazing sight that we won't miss. Even Dad is coming with us.

I saw the torch being run in San Diego six years ago. We didn't know anything about the torch but there was a big commotion on our way to dinner. I went to see what was going on and the torch was being passed from one runner to the next. I turned to the people I was with and told them I needed a pen and paper. They asked why and I told them that Tony Hawk had just passed off the torch and was signing autographs. They didn't understand and continued on to dinner but I stood patiently behind the kids and did get his autograph. When I got to dinner I tried to explain who Tony Hawk was but they didn't get it. If you don't know who he is then ask your kids-they will know. :)

Tumbling Blocks afghan

Jane finished my Tumbling Blocks afghan. AMAZING!!!

It was Dad and Beth's job to hang it today. We have discussed this for many days but didn't know what would actually work until they started hanging it.

We thought about wooden dowels but this came with 2 problems. The blanket is over 7' wide and the dowels are only 6' long. Also, the weight (11 pounds-Jane weighed it) could cause the dowel to bend.

Dad decided to use metal pipe. In this picture there is a pipe through the top but no where else.

Because of the size Dad and Beth decided to put pipes through all the sides.

I was in the store working so Beth kept emailing me pictures of the progress. It took 4 hours for the to get it centred and attached to the wall. It is attached at the top, along the sides and on the bottom.

Jane is currently in Florida so she won't be able to see this live until she gets home. I emailed her the pictures so she can see how her hard work looks hanging on my wall.

Thanks Jane!!!!

Busy start to the day

It is only 10:30 and I feel like I have put a full day in already. Up at 7 to get ready for breakfast. Write a cheque to Visa (I like to keep them happy), breakfast at Cora's at 8:30, stop at the bank to drop off the cheque and home for a couple of minutes before going to work.

Why an 8:30 breakfast you ask. Mom and dad arranged it-there were 18 of us. Ken and Maria, Ken's son Kevin, Kevin's wife Elizabeth and their 10 children. You did read that right-10 kids and number 11 is on the way. They have 4 of their own children, 2 adopted from China and 4 adopted from Ethiopia. It's not something I think I could deal with but they are all very happy. The kids are very polite and well behaved but boy can they eat!!

I don't have any knitting pictures but here are the last few from Vegas. This is in the Mirage. When you walk into the hotel there is an Atrium leading to the casino and guest rooms. I love walking through this area. The smell is amazing-there are always fresh flowers.

I need to run now. I wasn't in the store for very long yesterday-Cathy worked so I could do some errands (have my nails done) and then go to dad's Christmas party. This holiday stuff is starting to wear me out and there is still a week to go.

I thought we said no gifts this year

What is that really big package beside the tree???

On Monday night Beth and I set out to Golf Town to look for a present for our friend John. John didn't get anything but his girls (also referred to as my kids) did. They had the most amazing set of Junior Calloway golf clubs. Beth and I were so jealous. When we learned to golf they didn't have these great clubs in a great golf bag!!! They have an Odyssey Two Ball putter-the same as Beth uses. If you aren't a golfer this doesn't mean anything to you but ask a friend/spouse who does golf. They will explain.

The tree has many other presents under it as well. So much for less this Christmas.

Wrapping Paper

I am someone who likes everything to match like trying to carry a brown purse when wearing brown shoes.

The main room in our house is browns and pale turquoise. For our first Christmas in the house I went out and bought Christmas decorations that matched. The house looked great last Christmas. This year we are setting up the tree in the basement. Beth and I are hosting Christmas dinner (for 25-30) and most people will be eating downstairs. We also do a gift exchange so that way the gifts will all be under the tree. The other reason for putting the tree downstairs is purely lazy. This way I don't have to carry all the boxes of decorations upstairs. Big problem. The basement is painted hunter green. The decorations don't go. Today I went out and bought new red and gold tree decorations at Pier 1. I definitely didn't pay what I did for the original decorations!!!

You are probably wondering why I have included a picture of wrapping paper. Well, I wanted my paper to match the tree. I have been collecting all year. Beth started wrapping gifts tonight and after the first one proclaimed that there was a problem. The paper won't look good under the new tree. I put these all away and pulled out all the other wrapping paper that was in greens and reds (the traditional stuff).

After rereading this I think that I might need to talk to someone very soon. There might be a problem.

Mirage Volcano

There are a bunch of Vegas pictures (close to 50) that I downloaded to my computer today.

These are from our last night. The Mirage opened 20 years ago. The huge draw was the volcano out front that erupted every 15 minutes once it got dark out. They just redid the 'show' so we decided that we better see it before coming home.

Sorry that the pictures are a bit fuzzy. My phone doesn't have a flash.

The show now goes off once an hour. People start lining the streets early to make sure they can get a good view.

Beth and I had Christmas dinner with Jane and her family last night. The food was great and my present was amazing. I will have pictures tomorrow-Jane finished my Tumbling Blocks afghan. Dad is coming tomorrow night so we can figure out how to hang it. Beth and I are hosting Christmas dinner again (for 25-30) and I want it on the wall.

Today was spent watching football and doing a bit of knitting. Tomorrow is running around doing errands-mail, banking, paying bills and having my nails done. Maybe some Christmas shopping. It is my last Monday off until February so I better make the best of it.

New Cotton

Blue Sky Alpacas has a new yarn out. The shipment has left the US and it will hopefully be in the store on Monday or Tuesday.

Multi Cotton is Dyed Cotton with multi-colours.

From the Blue Sky Alpacas website, "You love our Dyed Cottons, the new Multis have the same springy feel and softness you expect with even more inviting colors."

What a great baby pattern!! The blanket takes 3 skeins of a solid colour and 2 skeins of another solid for the border. I am thinking of the whole blanket in a Multi. The Kimono takes 2-3 skeins of Multi-Cotton and 1 skein of Dyed Cotton for the borders.

This season of Survivor is the best ever. Russell is amazing. Everyone doubts him yet they never talk about voting him out. It is hard to believe that at the merge Foa Foa was outnumbered 8-4 and now they have the numbers 4-3. What was Galu thinking??

Vacation knitting

I did take some knitting away with me. In my carry on bag (coming and going) was a ball of Noro Kureyon and Lantern Moon circulars. They didn't ask any questions about the knitting needles at the airport.

I started a square for the Log Cabin Afghan in colour 254. I knit for most of the flight to Vegas and almost finished the square. The knitting needles went untouched while we were in Vegas-we were only in the room to sleep. The plan was to knit on the way home but I read instead.

Today has been spent unpacking orders.

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Baby

Rowan

-Big Wool

-Lima

-Kidsilk Aura

-magazines

Berroco

-Seduce Colors

-Ultra Alpaca

-Blackstone Tweed

-magazines

I have also been working on the website. Yarns have been added and I am waiting for Korey to get the shade cards up.

Naturally

-Vienna

-Aspire DK

-Aspire Super Chunky

Noro

-Taiyo

-Chirimen

-Silk Garden Lite is tonight's job

Trendsetter

-Dune

-Minestrone

I can't wait for Survivor tonight. Will Russell make it another week? Who will get blindsided tonight?

Nascar in Vegas

Along the strip in Vegas there are pedestrian bridges built at all major intersections. People walking in Vegas pay no attention to traffic signals. We see it all the time where a family with a baby in a buggy walk against a red light.

Wednesday morning we went back to the mall to buy some Christmas gifts for our kids. On the way home (walking over the bridge from Fashion Show to Treasure Island) we saw a billboard at the Palazzo mentioning Nascar. I saw 3:30, Beth saw 2:30 but we didn't catch anything else. The billboards change frequently and it can take a long time before the ad comes up again. We decided to come back the next day at 2:30 to see what was happening.

At 3:30 they were closing the Strip (something that is never done) and the drivers were driving from Mandalay Bay up to Fashion Show where Jimmie Johnson was going to do some burnouts. They would then travel back to Mandalay Bay.

When we arrived at 2:30 people were already lining the street. We went out around 3 and were close-only one row of people in front of us. We didn't think we were going to be outside and just had on long sleeve shirts. It was freezing!! There was a cold wind blowing and the temperature wasn't warm to start.

The people in front of us jumped up on the barrier to the street so we could look between their legs. Jimmie came down the strip and started his burnouts. When he was done he parked his car. OOPS. He blew the engine.

The other drivers were sitting not knowing what to do. Jimmie jumped on the back of a truck and a flatbed came in to get his car.

Mark Martin must have been sitting in his car wondering why Jimmie hadn't done that in one of the previous races.

The other drivers just did the U-turn and started down in the other direction until the end when Carl Edwards did a few burn outs. Then Brian Vickers came around the corner and we were sure they would hit but they didn't.

You can read more about this from a reporter who rode with Jimmie in his car.

Della Q

I spent yesterday running around doing errands. The first thing that had to be done was go and pay for my car. It is so much smaller than my Expedition. I can park it almost anywhere :) Bluetooth is set up so now I can use my phone while driving.

Then I spent time in the store going through notes and doing orders. There were a few boxes to be unpacked as well. A few new things came in from Della Q.

This cute bag is called Rosemary and is made of 100% Taffeta Silk. Della says "This cute little bag looks great on the arm as you knit on the go. The closure serves as a perfect way to feed your yarn, tangle-free. An outer pocket holds any notions!"

We have the big bag with shoulder straps but I have been asked for a smaller bag. Meet Lena. 100% Taffeta Silk. She is very pretty.
From Della's website "The stripes are now complimented with a solid band of fabric at the top. An updated look! The new inside pockets include two straight needle pockets, as well as four open pockets for circular needles or other tools."

Organize TWO sets of interchangeable needles in this stylish, plush and practical case. Includes 24 numbered pockets for your tips, six pockets for
your cords and a zip pocket for the accessories!

This case is only available in solid colours (no stripes). We received Purple, Seafoam, Brown and Pink.

I'm not sure that I am enjoying my first day back at work. :) I would like to be having lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and my Jackpot Party slot machine is calling my name. It is cold here too!! Thankfully I will be back in Vegas in less than a month.

Shoe shopping in Vegas

As many of you know I have a small shoe problem-I love them!!! I keep getting asked if I bought any shoes while away. Here is the story.

Tuesday morning we decided to go shopping at the Forum Shoppes in Caesar's Palace.

The first stop was the Coach store. I liked a few bags but they were out of the price range.

The next stop was Donald Pliner. Bad decision. We walked in and Beth pointed out a pair of boots. I really liked the boots but I already own the matching shoes. Beth wanted them but they didn't have her size. After trying on another pair of boots in her size she asked the ladies to order them for her.

These are the boots that I wanted. The ladies in the store were great and found the right sizes at different stores across the country. The boots were shipped by two day air to the store in Vegas for us to pick up on Friday.

Then we stopped at the Apple store so that they could update Beth's phone. The update was done quickly (at no cost because Apple is great) and then we were off to The Cheesecake Factory. I ate Craig's Crazy Carrot Cake Cheesecake. My favourite and I have it every time. There are about 50 different cheesecakes but I am afraid that I won't like a new one as good as this one.

Friday morning we went back to pick up the boots and surprise-my boots were now on sale. They refunded the difference which made my day.

Monday afternoon in Vegas

We arrived home late last night. Dad picked us up at the airport and took us to their house. A surprise was in their driveway for me-my car arrived. I didn't get to really check anything out last night but did play some this morning. My blue tooth is set up so now I can legally talk on the phone and drive.

Here are some pictures from Monday in Vegas. There are a lot of pictures to share so I will break them up into many posts.

Beth and I headed over to Fashion Show Mall. The shoes at Nordstroms were awful and you know they had to be bad for me to say that. The only thing I bought at the mall was mascara.

From the mall we headed over to the Palazzo. This is the new hotel beside the Venetian. Here is the registration area. Beth wanted to touch the pumpkins to see if they were real but her arms were too short to reach.

We then stopped in the Venetian. When walking through the shopping area there are living statues. This man stands there all day and doesn't move. Beth left him some money before taking his picture and he winked but other than that nothing.

I am in awe of their ability to stand there. I would want to talk with people as they walked by.

Monday night we returned to the Palazzo to watch the football game. There is a great sports bar called Lagasse's Stadium (yes Emeril). You know you are in a great sports bar when there are TVs in the bathroom. We had a great time and the right team winning made it even better.

At the airport

It's a sad day. We are sitting in the airport waiting for our plane to arrive from Toronto. I don't want to go home.

We talked to our parents every day and they would ask what we did that day. It was always hard to answer. We were busy all day but accomplished nothing.

I won't have any pictures until I get (there are lots) but here are a few highlights of the trip.
Our friend Denise (who we haven't seen in a while) was on our flight. She was in Vegas on business. We met up with her Tuesday night for dinner.
Thursday night Beth and I went to see The Lion King. The show was fabulous. If you get to Vegas mark it as a must see.

This week there were two big events. It is The National Finals Rodeo. There are cowboys everywhere-not a bad thing. It was also Nascar's champions week-didn't know this when we got here. I have a story about this but there are pictures to go with it so you will have to wait until later in the week.

The plane has arrived and it's almost time to go. Thankfully I will be back here in 33 days.

Tuesday in Vegas

Hello from Vegas. I am sitting in the Apple store. Beth is having problems with her phone and they are fixing it for her.

The first stop in the mall was Donald Pliner. We both bought boots but they didn't have our sizes so they will be here on Friday. Once the phone is fixed we are off to Cheesecake Factory for lunch.

I'm not really done but her phone is fixed so I'm signing off for now.