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Showing posts from October, 2009

Cutest Halloween Costume this year.....VIOLET

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Huck always won this contest. Did I tell you I made a crying pumpkin? I didn't intend to, but I think it is appropriate! This year my good friend and knitter Diane showed me her granddog Violet in her WINNING costume. Violet took 2nd place at her PETSMART competition. Get this, someone brought a horse dressed as a dragon into the PETSMART. The horse took 3rd. I wont mention who took first because I think Violet should have gotten it. Violet is the sweetest boxer and best behaved ever! Oh, this is a knit blog.....so I think Diane should knit Violet a nice warm winter coat. :) I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Blanket Drive for Little pumpkins Update and a P.S.

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Here are the current places blankets have arrived from as of today Oct 28th. 3 Mailing Days left to enter. 5 days left if you plan to drive it here! Glenview IL WY Edison NJ London Montgomery AL Huntsville AL Morro Bay CA Springfield MO Eaton OH Glendale AZ British Colombia Ct Metchen NJ Darfrack NJ Evansville IN All Adorable. Still waiting for an idea for me to show them all to you...... P.S. I texted my son Zach from the car this morning at a decent hour of 10:30 a.m. {I brought you a treat, I'll be there in 10 minutes} No Response. {I am now in your dorm lobby.} No Response and then! {Who is this} I say {MOM! I am waiting in the lobby!} Response? {My mom? } Response {my mom! Judy B.field from the Bronx?} Now Im laughing hysterical with the girl at the Dorm desk my response "NO! SO SORRY" his response "No problem!" Someone who named Judy B.field, for short, raised a very polite boy whose mother did NOT meet him in the dorm lobby with treats this morning..

Anyone for a Trade?

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Some of the wools I need to swap out: Tahki Yarns Taos Color 005 95% Wool 5 % acrylic Two balls and nearly a third wt. 50g Filatura DiCrosa 501 !00% Wool Camel color 136 yard each Knit Picks Essential in Navy 75% Superwash Wool and 25% nylon sock weight 231 yards Each And The Vogue Knitting Caps & Hats. email me at harpnut@gmail.com if you have non itchy no wool yarns to trade or a book or an offer I cant refuse. No sheep for me...kathy b I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Go ahead, call me a pumpkin head!

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So I resumed Knitting after 9/11. There has been a long learning curve. (yet there has been learning and a curve!) I realized today that so much of what I have knit for myself is itchy. No amount of conditioner will do. I have the hives to prove it. So here's to my next step in Knitting. There will be no wools. No lushous alpacas, no incredible angoras, gasp, even merinos.. Only my feet and hands can handle the softest of wools. I'm so jealous of all of you. Yet, if this is my knitting cross to bear, so be it. Today I found some Great Adirondack Grenada in Cotton and Rayon. It is so soft. So this pumkin head has finally figured it out. Im genetically programmed to react to wools. I live in a climate that is so dry in winter we are itchy even without wools to irritate us. I think I am going to have a yarn sale . Right here on the blog. I'll call it the Smashing Pumpkin sale! I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Name Dropping

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Bianca of lansingerland.blogspot.com sent me these fingerless gloves a while back. I adore them. She wrote the pattern. She sells her patterns on clipperknits. The link is on her blog. (She a rockin pretend friend!) Fireman and I have been doing things we haven't done in awhile since Huck died. We tried to go golfing. The course was in Eagle Ridge, Galena. They have marvelous trails too. Fireman wanted to go for a walk. So we did and we both ended up crying because Huck would have loved it. There was a lake, and well, Huck loved to swim. Even when we go away, his memories well up in us. anyhow, back to name dropping. Grace of Lovin Comfort knits, another great pretend friend, gave our humble little knit blog an award. The Neno's Award. I hereby give the award on to Karen of musingsofaselftaughtknitter.com . We are supposed to say why we love to blog. My Answer: Because of the incredible pretend friends that you make. Pass it on Karen, pretend friend. Pass it

If you can stand one more post about the Ruffled Shawl

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Oh consider yourself very nice. As you can see the Ruffle Shawl is a misnomer. There aint no ruffle no more! I simply couldn't bear to repeat the ruffle on the other side. I crocheted a simple edge and wove in ends. It is simple. I showed it to Fireman and he said, "Oh I liked the ruffle, why didn't you put one on the other side?" I did not respond. If Fireman regularly read the blog, he would know by now that I was grieving and I couldn't bear it. My sister Deb is modeling it for me to show you. I am delighted to give it to my Mentor next week. She's not a ruffly woman anyhow. I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

October knitting thoughts

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*You just cannot capture this color in yarn. It isn't possible. This is magic color time in Chicago. *Even though a squirrel on my screened porch, climbing the screens like a crazy, I finished a row before I screamed about it. *It is very difficult to take a bad picture for the blog in the Midwest right now. *Zach didn't think the hat I knit him was going to "work". Gave it to him over Parents Weekend. I swear just one circular project and my tendon was starting up. Fireman doesn't know it, but he may be learning to knit a hat soon.......don't tell him. yet *The cookie sheet blankets are arriving and they are one cuter than the next. How should I show them to you? *It took me just over one hulu sponsored episode of the Office, to frog the ruffle on the prayer shawl. That's alot of ruffle stitiches eh? I'll never be able to take ice from a hotel machine again, after seeing the wedding episode! and a question......have you ever had raisen pie?

Here are the prizes for the Cookie Sheet Blanket Contest

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Thank you jessie of CAKESPY.COM who happened to be awake when I was into the wee hours one night last week. She generously donated an original Cakespy framed art to the Winner. It is so cute! Cupcake wishing on a shooting star. Whose kitchen is it going to???? I am also donating 3 soft soft soft skeins of Touch Me. It looks too dark in the image. It is really a lighter dark blue. No one will complain that a scarf from this yarn will itch them! I have already received blankets from Darfark NJ, Metuchen NJ, Connecticut, British Colombia, Wyoming, and Glendale. Arizona. One cuter than the next. Some who sew have offered quilts. If you are a winner, I'll exchange the yarn in the prize for some fabrics. Thanks to all. Deadline November 1. Prize winner announced that same day, once the mail has been delivered. I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Talk Before Sleep

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(A Great Book by the way. Have you read it?) I've been talking to myself before I fall asleep. Apparently I talk during my sleep as well. This could be a direct result of being alone most of the time in the house lately. Not that I don't talk to the kitties, ad nauseam, I do. At any rate, it has been a relief because I have made some knitting choices because of it. Log Cabin blanket. Over. I'm stopping with the small piece I made last year. The arm just won't comply with the type of knitting, and yarn. It is all good however. I am flat knitting a baby blanket with the Riverstone yarn instead. Straight garter stitich, on straight needles. It will be wool and non machine washable, but it can be handwashed. I just can't give it to any infant that looks like it will or does have reflux.... Ruffled Prayer Shawl. Bye bye Ruffle. I am never going to force myself to do the second ruffle. I showed it to you already and yes it is impressive and lacey. But I t

Two hats for the Jack o lantern

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jack O's will need hats this Halloween if the weather here recently keeps up. It would be oh so cute to make a bunch of boy hats and line up pumkins for display. I'd have to put i'pods on them or something to make them seem with the times. Actually the boy hat is gong to Zach this parent's weekend! I get to hug that boy again! My father always says he needs to see the whites of my eyes. I think I understand him now. The other hat is my little costume for Halloween. I plan to wear all black and pin the little spider hat to my head. Sorry to deluge you with Halloween but I love it you know! And I have not eaten that Baby Ruth bar yet! Class and Coffee blog is looking for a good pumpkin recipe to try out. Do you have one for her? Boo! I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Sleepy Hollow Bridge

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These leaves crunch..... I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Why i like to make Holiday Christmas Stockings

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1. You only have to make one! 2. Big gauge, few dropped stitiches 3. So many options for adding interest for the knitter each time. 4. This Ann Norling pattern (I changed the snowflake design to trees) is easy peasy. 5. Quick, I knit it in a week with not much time to knit. 6. You can keep it OR give it away. 7. I made this one more masculine. 8. It will hold a lot of loot! 9. This pattern knits flat until the heel flap. 10. Someone will be very happy with it! I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Attempt at artsy picture

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I'll talk to you in the comments. :) These are the colors around me now. Fall in Chicago is magnificent. What color is that? Barbequed potato chip color. ???? There has been so much knitting content lately eh? I do have a nearly FO To show you....maybe tomorrow. I held a 10 week old golden retriever puppy today. At our town homecoming parade. Ahhhhhhh, he was wonderful. It was like a breathe of promise. We are not ready yet, but I'm so glad I got to see that pup today. Elaine sent the first Baby blanket for the Cookie Sheet contest. She is so speedy. It is adorable. Thanks! Have I told you I love the commercials where the babies talk to each othe? It is for etrade. So cute. I'm trying not to have a BabyRuth until Halloween. I won some lovely knitterly things this week. Evergreen sent me her lovely leaves baby blanket pattern. Thank you so much! I won yarn from Channon (chan Knits BLOG) from SpringValley Yarns. I got to choose the yarn. I choose a sportwe

Hey there Hollywood

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I'll talk to you in the comments. :) Isn't Karen's new Oat Couture Vest great? So cute with the beautiful bright blouse in hot pink! The yarn had flecks of the pink in it of course. She's an amazing knitter and what a great kind person. Thanks Carol for introducing us. The Cookie Sheet Blanket contest response has been ------- You insert the superlative. I have no words....but I will think of some. I cannot wait to see the blankets and bring them to our neonatal unit. You are a generous and powerful group of artists.

Oh my gosh socks

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I'll talk to you in the comments. :) I just have to show you Bianca's new sock pattern. Isn't she amazing? It has been published too. Go see her blog:: Lansingerland.blogspot. com. I think they are so different and adorable. Way to go Bianca.

Cookie Sheet Blanket Contest .....

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This is a call for knitters to knit a baby blanket no bigger than a cookie sheet. Blankets will be distributed in the NICU where I work. We just don't get many blankets. We need them. Traditional baby colors will do, but we'd love you to branch out a bit. Use up those leftovers if you wish. You could win a lovely prize. All who send a blanket by November 1st, ALL SAINTS DAY, you angels you, will be entered in the drawing. Here are the rules: Blanket must be made of yarn which is washable. Sorry, Hospital rules. It cannot be bigger than a cookie sheet. Smaller is welcome also. That's it. Those are the rules. I'll post the prize by next week. Mail a blanket to me Kathy B if you need my snail mail address,email me at Harpnut@gmail.com

Back to knitting..

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This adorable dress is at 3 Bags Full in Northbrook. You have to buy the yarn to get the pattern. It is so sweet, isn't it? I challenge Irisheyeslynn to make it for an upcoming co-workers baby. I think she can and she could and it would be adored. This is heirloom gift quality I think. Okay, maybe I challenge Al too. And any of you! I just love it. I'll talk to you in the comments. :)

Let the Games Begin!

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I mean the Halloween games! Who knows what will happen tomorrow for us in Chicago and the Olympic bid. Just a reminder that I love fall. I love all the goofiness of Halloween. Irish Tradition you know. They started it. It has Holy origins! I reserve the right to bore you all to death (ah ha ha ha ha ha) with October tomfoolery. I hope there will be knitting content too! While we are in this vein, (ah ha ha ha ha ha) I have to tell you a cute Al story from the ER. A sweet little old lady was brought in and Al did the usual alert and oriented times 3 questions: What is your name?......confidentiality you know I cant say! Who is the president? Obama and finally Do you know where you are? And this sweet little old lady says "OH YES!" "I'm in the crematorium" I kid you not!. I'll talk to you in the comments. :)