Jazzy Bear Is Ready To Go

I decided to make another of the Jean Greenhowe bears to go with "The Fuzzy Pink Baby Blanket That Never Grows". These bears are so quick to knit so I knew getting him done would be no problem. This one I knitted with Bernat Berella "4" on US Size 8 needles. He's about 9" tall and perfect for baby sized hugs. All I have to do now is make this darn blanket grow a little more and I am done. Either way...I'm done tomorrow....the shower is at 4:00 pm.

I broke down and went to the crochet class today. It wasn't exactly what I expected but I did learn some tricks I would never have learned on my own. Kelsey taught the class and she is so sweet and so patient. I know that if I needed extra help...she would take a moment to point me in the right direction. We left with a scarf pattern and I hope when I get some things done...I can give it a try. She did take a minute to show me a little about making granny squares. If I can ever get the hang of that one thing...I think I'll be satisfied. I could make them to donate or put them together myself and donate the blanket or afghan. Then again, being able to crochet a baby blanket would sure help me out a lot in the near future. I just need to try to fit in some time to practice what I learned today and then go from there.

I took my double points that I purchased not so long ago back (one of them broke the first time I used them). Margaret (my LYS owner) graciously took them back and let me get different ones. I settled on a set of "addi" premium US #2/3.00mm and these are (I think) bamboo. The ones I returned were made of birch....very thin and fragile. I think I'm going to like these much better...I sure hope so cuz they were even more expensive. :P

Okay...back to the blanket. Hugs!!!

Goodbye Duck....Hello Turkey

It's been a rather sad day for lilduckie...he has to say Goodbye to Spike. Spike will be on his way to his new home tomorrow. Christopher's birthday is Sunday so Froggie will take Spike home and hide him away until her little one goes to sleep Saturday night and then...she's going to sneak in later and put Spike on his pillow so he finds him when he wakes up. I can't wait to find out if they bond. *sigh*

Progress photo of "The Fuzzy Pink Baby Blanket That Never Grows". It has grown...finally. I've decided that I will knit on it off and on until Saturday morning and then cast off. It will be whatever size that happens to be. I found out the shower isn't until Sunday so I may even knit on until Sunday morning. We'll see how it goes.

And the turkey... Being a Southern girl...I do love me some turkey and sage dressing but it never fails that the dressing is gone long before the turkey so what to do? Make turkey salad. Don't get me wrong, I love my chicken salad sandwiches but if you've never tried it with turkey...you don't know what you're missing. Once you get the turkey all chopped up to your liking....it's quick and easy from there. Add what you like in the amount that makes you happy and get to fixing some sandwiches. Good eating...trust me.

*Oh, the texture cloth is the Diagonal Ripple Dishcloth . Thanks to hakucho for spotting it right away. She pointed me to it so I got to finish mine early. :)

Hugs!

I'm Back With My Little Friend.

Well since blogging was forbidden yesterday...I had to shut up and sit on my hands. It was surprisingly hard to NOT blog. Whew...glad that's over! Here's lilduckie's little brother done and ready for birthday gifting. His name is "Spike". Froggie suggested the hair and I thought it was a cute idea....turns out that it is kinda cute. It also makes him a one-of-a-kind duckie. For him I used a piece of yarn on his bow...didn't think ribbon was quite appropriate for a little boy.

Skaterboy helped me out with my leap day photo that I posted on my photo blog and was going to use here too but...refer to the No Blog rule. It took a lot of tries to get this one right and I know he had to be tired when we finally got it but he's a trooper and it was worth the effort.

I've been planning on using tomorrow to catch up on my Icelandic Shawl since I used the wrong gray...DUH. Now, I am seriously considering frogging the whole thing and starting over from scratch. I'm hoping someone will slap me to my senses and stop me from doing this. lol
There's a lot of talk about the pattern lining up right and to be honest...I don't know if mine is lined up or not or even how to know for sure. I've never done anything of this size before or one so complicated.

For now, it's back to the baby cloths. My cousin is on bed rest and I gotta hurry!

Contest Goodies....Woo Hoo!

I got my contest goodies yesterday for guessing which animal Cat was knitting for her Cocoa Swap partner. There was an extra goodie if you guessed the Industry name of the pattern. It was Shaun The Sheep. Lilduckie jumped right on the goodies...like it was for him. I mean, who does he think he is anyway? Pfftt!

These are the prettiest stitch markers. I don't have any even remotely like these. Most of my pretties are the small little beads...which I love but this is a nice little change.

Could she have picked a more appropriate set of stitch markers? They are so cute! Perfect for knitting more duckies. lol

There was also a cute little flower button in with the stitch markers. You can see who got that and tried to steal the littlest duckies. I got the stitch markers back but I think the button is going to stay right where it is.

Thanks for the awesome goodies, Cat! We both love em!

*Other duckie update....got the body seamed and the wings and beak on. Just need to finish the legs, stuff the duck and add some eyes. Froggie had a really cute idea for a little something extra for this new duckie. I love the idea...totally cute....if it works out, I think it's going to be the perfect addition to the new guy. Shouldn't be long before he's ready.

Baby Cloths And Duckie Parts....

I got started on my baby knitting right away since the little one seems to be in a hurry. I considered doing a handful of cutesy little baby cloths but given the rush I thought just quick little garter stitch cloths might be best. I can always do some cutesy ones later. I have a skein of Cotton Tots in Confetti...it's the first time I've knitted with this yarn. I have heard some complaints but I have to say that I really like it. It does seem to fuzz up a bit but I've been able to easily brush off the bits of fuzz so far. It's very soft and I like the feel of it while knitting. I think I have a skein of pink around here somewhere....will have to stash dive and get it out to make more.

I still don't have lilduckie's brother seamed and stuffed yet but I thought I would post a picture of the duckie parts....give ya an idea of what he's gonna look like. It's really not such a neat pile of parts but I hid all the ends underneath so it would look all neat and tidy. :P *Froggie, DON"T LET CHRISTOPHER SEE THIS POST!!!*

*Still haven't touched my Icelandic Shawl yet. I am so disgusted about having to frog back. I will get back on track...not to worry.

It was an awesome warm, sunny day today. 64 degrees F and I can check the mail without swimming out to the mailbox or renting a boat. YAY!!

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

I know we need rain...good for the environment, raise lake levels, etc, etc..BUT! If it doesn't soon stop - this (see photo above) is only going to keep getting bigger and bigger. I do not own a boat. I do not have plans to own a boat. I cannot borrow a boat. I do, however, need to check the mail. This puddle (pond wannabe) is standing in my way. Rumor has it...tomorrow will be sunny. I've got my fingers crossed.

Duckie progress....need two wings and a foot and then put him together

I did finish the teddy but forgot to take a photo....maybe I'll remember to do that tomorrow when the light is better.

Shoot The Moon

I hope everyone got the chance to see the lunar eclipse last night. I made many pathetic attempts to take a photo. I'm sharing with you all a couple of the better ones. This is about as close-up as I could get and still be able to tell what it was. It really looked better with the naked eye but the camera just doesn't like to shoot the moon. lol

I don't know how or why it's orange in this photo but I thought it looked kinda cool. I got some tips from a friend and hopefully in the future I might some decent moon photos. I'll keep trying.

Ms Thang wore her socks to school today and showed them off to her friends, her interpreter and her teachers. She tells me her interpreter wants me to teach her how to knit. I don't know if this is true or not, the awesome interpreter hasn't mentioned it to me.

Almost finished with the other half of duckie #2's body....then on to the wings, beak and feet. Hopefully, he will finished soon.

AND.....I am sooooo excited!!! I learned to do the long tail cast on today!!!!!!!! YAY ME!!! It wasn't really hard at all. Man, the things I fear and then end up feeling so "DUH". lol I'm working on casting on my second pair of socks...hope socks #2 go as well or better then the first ones.

Hugs!

Teddy Beat The Socks Off My Needles....

As of this post, I still don't have that second sock finished. Not to worry, I have done a little knitting on it though...it will not fall victim to SSS. Ms Thang has decided that a Teddy was a bit more urgent than that second sock. (She's still wearing the first one to bed...lol) Today, I knitted my fingers off to get this little fella ready...he's waiting on one more ear and he's all done.

The color is nowhere near true in the photo but it's late and the lighting really stinks right now. He's/She's a very pretty pale mauve color knitted with more of the wonderful yarn that Shirls sent me from South Africa. It's called Lollipop yarn but there's no color listed on the label. It's 100 % acrylic...yeah, acrylic......and I love this stuff! It's so soft and it's an absolute pleasure to knit. I used some scrap Sugar & Cream in Black for the face. I think I need to invest in something a little lighter for faces if this toy knitting continues. The cotton looks a little bulky to me.

Oh yeah, almost forgot...he's/she's going to need a little scarf or a ribbon around that little neck. I'll have to get that figured out too. I like the way a little scarf looks on the teddies...maybe that will be okay with Ms Thang. I'll be sure to ask first.

*Got half of the body done for the next duckie....March will be here soon so I need to get busy. Froggie's little one is having that birthday whether I finish or not and I want to be finished. He's gonna love it!

Okay, gotta get some rows done on my Icelandic Shawl tonight because Friday will be here even sooner than March. lol Then there's the sock.....can I borrow some knitting hands? Somebody? Anybody? Hellooooooooooo? :P

My Cocoa Package Has Arrived!

I have a lot of photos but I wanted to try to share everything. The mail lady brought my Cocoa Swap box of goodies today! First off, I was so totally shocked to find out that my secret swapper was none other than the awesome sweet Aunt Kathy . She spoiled me pretty darn good.
This first photo is not even all the goodies. I got my favorite candy...Ferrero Rocher....several different flavors of Holy Chocolate...sock knitting book....needles with the lighted tips...cute hot chocolate mug...mini marshmallows (yummy)...some luscious hand lotion, a cute Chihuahua fridge magnet, a magnetic bookmark and pretty stitch markers. She also included one of her own original dishcloth designs.

Here's a close-up of the bags...aren't they just too cute? The one on the left (darker pink) was made by Aunt Kathy. The one on the right is made of felt and has cute little flower cut outs. I love them both!

Here is the yarn goodness I got...some sock yarn in the brightest colors and 1 ball of cotton in a neutral color....sort of an ecru I think you would call it. I love em! Can't wait to knit something up.

Here are my pretty stitch markers. The pink ones are my cocoa swap markers and the blue ones are my prize for linking to her contest from my blog. I can't get enough of the pretty stitch markers...every girl needs a stash of shiny, girly things.

And last, but certainly not least......my Blah Buster Buddy and his own personal cup of hot cocoa.
He is just too cute. This is why I want to learn to crochet! There's even marshmallows in his cup of chocolate.....She thought of everything! And he's even the same color as my little chihuahua, Diva. Wow, I hope I didn't forget anything....there were so many goodies in my box and I was so excited....If I find anything I forgot I will post them later.

Thank you so much, AK....I 'm really glad you turned out to be my Secret Swapper. Love Ya!!

lilduckie

I tried to draw the suspense out for as long as possible but lilduckie really wanted to make his debut today.....so, meet my little mascot....."lilduckie". I finally got his eyes done and gave him a little ribbon to dress him up a bit. I am so proud of him....my first knitted toy.

He's very excited about being a part of my blog...I hope he doesn't try to take over. This is lilduckie giving me a not so subtle hint....blog...me....hellooooo. lol

I also finished my Blah Buster Buddy for my Hot Cocoa Swap today. I can get my package in the mail tomorrow. I will post photos of him when he gets to my partner...don't want to spoil any surprises.

lilduckie and I hope you all had a great weekend and we'll see you all soon. :)

New Book

I had so much fun knitting my little ducky (no, he has no eyes yet) that I thought I would try out some of Jean Greenhowe's patterns. I have heard a lot of wonderful things about her patterns and they are all so cute. I had such a hard time deciding which book to try first. She has so many and they all have the cutest littlest toys....I finally chose this book. You gotta admit, those are some cute chickies. Now, picking a book doesn't mean you've done the hard part. You still have to go through the book and pick the pattern you want to do first. My youngest daughter has had no problems whatsoever picking quite a few she wants. lol Easy for her to say.

I've a handful of dishcloths I have to go get finished and then to decide what's next. There's a felted camera cozy I've had my eye on for a while. Man, am I easily distracted. :)

Playing Catch Up

I haven't felt too great this weekend and so I've gotten a bit behind with my knitting. This is my progress on the KAL in Rachel's Knitting Room. I love the pattern and I'm looking forward to finishing this one. I think it will be a Valentine gift for my oldest son's girlfriend. I think she'll like it. I used Sugar & Cream in Hot Pink....love this color.

I thought I would tease you just a little with my duckie. I still don't have eyes on yet and I don't want to post a full photo until he has them. Eyes and a little and he's good to go....he's a real cutie if I say so myself.


Okay, just one more...he wanted to show you some leg. He's flirty that way. Hey, you know what they say about a duck with big feet, right? :P

Other Uses For Popcorn Tins

First of all, I have to admit that I totally stole this idea from Froggie . These were the Christmas popcorn tins at Walmart. They were on the markdown aisle for less than $2.oo and once you remove the bag of popcorn inside, they make awesome little knitting tins. I need to add a bit of velcro on the sides to hold the little wicker top on...it tends to slide a bit. Not a bad little "bag" for 2 bucks. Thanks, Froggie.

I almost finished knitting all the pieces for my little duck. Just have a foot and the beak left to knit and then put it all together and put the stuffing inside. I still have plans for the teddy bear just haven't started it yet. The first attempt got sent to the frog pond. Now if I can just get good at seaming...I think might actually enjoy knitting toys.

The weather man is running his mouth again. We're watching for some sleet and possibly a little snow tonight. Let's hope he's consistent and wrong...as usual. I don't want any more nasty sleet.
We brought in the wood for the fireplace just in case. Better safe than sorry.