This is the progress I've made on the rug for Princess' room. It doesn't look like a lot but each circle is 12 inches across. Two down and I think 10 to go. The rug is crocheted around a washline core. Very simple, very quick single crochet. I found bright pink washline for the core so if it does show through, it'll still match Princess' room. I'm just using recycled scrap yarn for the rug, so it should be very bright and colorful when I"m done. There's a blend of cotton, wool, and acrylic in this rug. It's very soft and should make her floor warmer to walk on. I need to hit the hardware store again soon. I can get 2 circles out of 50 yards of washline. I have enough washline to make 2 more circles.

The Holiday knitting is going well. I have presents done for 2 people. I've taken to working on my holiday knitting in the evenings while watching TV. Last night I watched "A Nightmare Before Christmas" and knit away. It's keeps me from getting antsy and eating while watching TV.

Labels: Crochet, Holiday Knitting, Princess

Or is it...Stay Off the Sidewalks!

Congratulations to my niece, Miss C., who became an official licenced driver yesterday. The 4th time was the charm. Drive safely and enjoy it!

Labels: family

Meet Iona. Iona is my husband's new used car. Isn't she pretty. She's very comfortable and the inside looks like a shuttle craft. We are now a Saturn family. I've only driven her once and she drives like a dream. The picture is of the sales man, Larry Snyder, giving my hubby the keys to the car. By the way, if you go to Jack Giambalvo on Industrial Highway in York for a car, ask for Larry Snyder and tell him Mr. & Mrs. Wittmann sent you. Honest, I was inpressed with how well he helped us get a nice car.

What else did I do this weekend, other than car shopping? I crocheted Princess a pair of slippers. They are crocheted from Caron Simply Soft Quick yarn on a size J hook. I like the way the slippers turned out, Princess loves them. But the yarn sucked. It was a pain to crochet with. It might also have to do with the fact that I'm not a chunky yarn type of person. In their defence, the socks were done in about 2 hours. The left foot was started before Dr. Who came on and was finished by the time the Tarsis vanished at the end. The right one was whipped up on Saturday afternoon.

I usually hate how I look in pictures. Darling hubby took this picture of me this weekend with my jack-o-latern. I love this pic. My hair looks good, my smile doesn't look dorky, and I don't look like Shamu's sister. I just wanted to share my official photograph.

Yesterday was a day off school for Princess. She had a ball helping me run errands. First was our promised lunch at McDonald's. I can't figure out why, but she's addicted to McDonald's chicken nuggets.

After lunch we ran over to Columbia for our last visit to Sunshine Corners Gallery. The owner is having her third child and wants to focus more on family. Needless to say, that means the Gallery is closing. We had a wonderful year and a half there and will miss the place.

Did you know that there are no roadside stands open on Rt. 462 between Wrightsville and York on a Thursday? I was hoping to buy some local apples. I guess I'll have to pick them up at our usual roadside stand tomorrow. I love buying produce from roadside stands. Not only does it seem to taste better, but it's just fun.

Of course, no trip in the afternoon would be complete without a stop at Starbucks! A girl needs her caffine, and a Princess needs a potty break. Princess just loves coffee houses. I think she almost loves them more than me. She places her order and finds a comfortable seat to lounge in. Princess never just sits in a chair, she does this sprawled out lounge. I got some caffine and some sock knitting time in and Princess watched a bacgammon game. Princess even posed with my latest sock.

Then our day ended with some chocolate. What can I say, I love dark chocolate raspberry truffles almost as much as I love coffee. I have learned to limit my chocolate intake. It's just no good for the wasteline, dispite all the health benifits of dark chocolate.

It's my hope that as Princess grows older, she'll remember our road trips fondly. I don't believe in doing things with your kids, just to say you did them. I believe in making memories with your kids. They will need fun stories to tell their children someday. Life and childhood are too short to just do things, life should be lived memorably.

It's a bit of a rainy Autumn day here. Not bad weather if you are a duck, but miserable for us humans. I don't mind cold, I just mind damp cold and windy cold. I think this afternoon shall be dedicated to coffee and knitting.

I may not be posting a lot of works in progress until after the Holidays. I've begun my holiday gift crafting and several of the recipients read this blog (or at least have the address and could read it). I will share with you Princess's Surprise. The Princess has been begging me to knit her a pair of socks since I learned how to make them. For Christmas, she's gettting a pair of pink socks knit by me. She knows nothing about them and I plan to keep it that way. I feel that Princess has earned a pair of wool socks in blinding pink. I'm suing the geranium colorway from Knitpicks . It's a 100% merino wool and it is super soft.

I've decided to celebrate this Friday the 13th with a little sock porn. It's luck for all us sock knitters, but very unlucky for all the pervs using Google looking for a different type of sock porn. I so love to play with the search engine results.

Anyhow. The socks on the left are my Wine & Needles socks. I finished them at the end of September, but I'm just now getting around to posting them.

Pattern: Broadripple Socks by Rob Matyska
Yarn: Vineyard by Knitpicks
Needles: Size 3 Bamboo by Crystal Palace

Notes: I really like this pattern. I may knit it in a size 2 needle next time. The sock feels a little loose for my taste. It was a nice easy pattern to knit. This was my first pair of pattern socks, up to this point, I only knitted basic socks. I love the feel of the yarn (it's a nice soft yarn) and the colors. This was also my first socks made from a self striping yarn. I will make this pattern again and I love Knitpicks sock yarn. Everywhere I wear these socks, I get compliments.




Sock on the Needles: This is a basic sock on size 1 metal needles. The Yarn is Pansy from Knitpicks.
I had my doubts about this yarn at first, the colors just seemed a little odd for me, but one I got a few rows done, I liked the way the colors played. The yarn is 100% Merino and it is so soft. I think I spend as much time fondling the socks as I do knitting them. I'm up to the heel flap on sock one. By the time Dr. Who is over tonight I expect to be on the foot.

I am finding that the more I knit socks, the faster I can knit them. It took me a month to knit my first sock and 3 weeks to knit it's mate. Now I can knit a sock in about 2 weeks. That's not bad considering I still think I am a slow knitter. For reference, I can crochet a sock in a day and a half.

I've been busy lately. I joined Socktober Fest. It seemed logical to me. I'm busy knitting my latest socks and I plan to start my daughter's Christmas socks tomorrow. Princess has been pestering me for a pair of handknit socks for a while (when Mommy makes something for herself, Princess feels she needs one made for her), so I decided to give her a pair of socks for Christmas. The other weeks we were cruising the Knitpicks site and she fell in love with this yarn called Geranium. It's 100% merino wool sock yarn. It is so yummy and soft, not to mention very pink. I just need to cast on and knit when she's not here.

I've been cleaning out my yarn stash lately. I bought 2 purple bins and I'm busy sorting my yarn into a bin of natural fibers and a bin of unnatural fibers (I mean man-made fibers). I plan to take the small balls and crochet a rug with them (something oval and colorful for the living room).

I've always loved cameos. I started collecting them when I was little. In fact, I bought my first cameo when my family stopped at a yard sale on the way to my sister Joan's wedding. From the moment I paid 25 cents for that plastic black and white cameo pin, I was hooked. I still collect them. Some I keep to wear and some I use for doll faces. My personal favorite ones are a jet cameo pin I own from the Victorian era and a cameo ring that was a Christmas gift from my parents when I was 13.

So, how does that relate to Isabella. Isabella is a combination of two of my favorite things: beading and cameos. She's my idea of a pimped-out cameo. Isabella's serene face is a polymer clay cabochon that I made using a mold. I then adhered her face to a base and beaded around it. She's surrounded by red and gold seed beads, glass beads, garnets, and jet beads. I even added a handdone fringe for extra sparkle. When I was finished, she is a 2 1/2 inch wide confection. She's perfect for wearing on a jacket, sweater, or shawl. Isabella is for sale. I posted her on Etsy.com and I will post her on The Earth Moon & Stars as soon as I can. If you would like to adopt her, let me know.

Yesterday morning, a man walked into a small Amish school in the next county over. He took the one room school hostage, released the male students, and three of the adult women working here. He then tired up the girls that were there, shot them, and then shot himself. It was a senseless act of violence. Please say a prayer for the victims and thier families.

It's easy to read about a shooting in another part of the country and go on with the attitude that things like that happen in other places. It shocks you to the core when it's less than 100 miles from your house. It becomes so much more real. My heart goes out to the families that lost a daughter yesterday, the families who have daughters fighting for their lives in hospitals, and to the gunman's family. He left behind a wife and three children who are as much a victim in this act of violent cowardice as the families of the girls. May the Divine hold them close and help them through this difficult time.

Allow me to introduce you to Noel. She's a little shy, but very sweet. Her base is a maple branch wrapped in cotton batting. Her body is then wrapped in a coat of glittery white velvet. Her hair is clear AB snowflake sequins and silver glass seed beads. Her shy little face is a polymer clay cab I created using a rubber stamp to imprint the face and markers to give her a little color. The stamp was originally of a spring maiden, but with a few tweeks and a few imbedded firpolished crystals, she makes a lovely now maiden. Noel is clothed in a flurry of silver thread, silver snowflake sequins, glass beads, and garlands of seedbeads. Her gown ends with icicle fringe. She even has a hoop on the back for hanging. My daughter names her Noel because she "looks like Christmas." She is also signed and has her name on the back. I'm thinking of putting Noel up for sale. She's beautiful and she's in my favorite colors to work with, but she doesn't belong here. She says she was designed for someone else.



On a personal note, hubby and I celebrated 12 years of wedded bliss this weekend. It's hard to believe that it's been that long, time flies when you are in love and having fun. We had a family weekend this year, Saturday we went out for sushi and ice cream. Last night we went out to see Cars at the theater. It's a funny moving, I want the DVD.