Pictureless.

b/c I'm too lazy RIGHT NOW. I'm hoping this weekend, I can show a few pics. of what?

1) birthday presents!! I turned a year older in early-mid December.

A Mat & Nat wallet from my brother/sister in law. I love their stuff that feels like leather, but isn't.

yarn gifties from Michelle, Stacey, Tiffany, Jeni (aka, what I bought at Colorful with their gift certificate)

a holiday mug and sock yarn from Wanda

and a project bag (Stacey) and hand sewn ginormous knitting bag (michelle). Michelle made me my very own birdie swing bag! Not sure if the birdy swing was an Xmas or b-day gift... but gifts are good!

a pretty pad of paper for making lists from my friend Ann.

my gift to myself: a new Offhand Design bag (Weekender in a lovely aqua and brown fabric). Tiffany is a bit evil and a bit of an enabler, and gave me a wee discount to make it impossible for me to say no.

hmm. pic of the "old" weekender (left) and "new" weekender (right)



*both pics from the offhand designs site

No one can tell what my favorite color combos are, can they?

2) Christmas pressies:
tons and tons of foodstuffs. One of my friends made me a huge batch of ground turkey and basil tomato sauce (I normally don't like red pasta sauce, but she doesn't add sugar. it's sooo good!) plus one big thing of her "christmas pasta sauce" which contains beef, pork, veal, and PANCETTA. Yum. She also gifted me with homemade biscotti, and spiced walnuts.

Oiyi surprised me with a box of Christmas goodies! Check her blog to see pics (b/c I already ate most of it) of homemade vanilla marshmallows, some yummy choc. chip pecan cookies, and some toffee! The marshmallows are SO decadent in a big mug of hot cocoa.

and a funny water bottle my friends in NYC got me from the onion. Captioned: "I will never take this camping." ha ha ha.

*pic from the Onion online store.

I also have some FO pics to post. My Hanami made with Woolen Rabbit lace weight, the peapod sweater I made for my niece, and a DB hooded cardi I made for my niece too.

hope everyone enjoyed their holidays!!!

with friends like these....

I'm sure all of you think you have great friends. I feel very bad having to do this, but um, you lose. I am absolutely, positively, eleventy billion percent sure that I have the BESTEST of friends.

Over the last three weeks, I've been fairly non-existent. School, sleep. Those were just about the only two domains of my life. This week, I had to prepare an hour long power point presentation on conduct disorder (otherwise known as very difficult teenager disorder), a 10 page paper on the same topic, and a two hour long power point presentation on cognitive behavioral therapy. Wheee! What fun, right? I've had quite a few sleepless nights and many long days.

On top of all that, one of my furbabies has been pretending to be anorexic lately. He's lost a lot of weight and is too skinny... so when I have a moment to breathe, we've been schlepping to the vet. Did you know they have vet specialists? It'd be kinda funny to watch me chasing after him with bowls of food (wet and dry) if I wasn't so worried about him.

I've never been so happy for a Wednesday in my life as I was this week (I'm on 'break' now... which means a week of no classes during which I can catch up with all the schoolwork and stuff I've neglected.)

What did I see when I got home from my long day? (I'm at school from 9am til 7pm Monday through Wednesdays).

Sheep mail!!
Stacey, Tiffany and Carmen, and Michelle sent me a care package!!! I love getting sheep mail, b/c Stacey always takes the time to make the box very distinctive and cute. The cute sheep (so that I know it's from sheep in the city)

Then the cute little icons of them... I especially like how she felt she needed to put their names under them... like I couldn't figure out who was who? :) -- oh! you know what I just noticed (shame shame). I just noticed that Michelle doesn't have her glasses on... b/c she got her eyes fixed!



What was inside? Two lovely skeins of some new yarn at the shop, which is very soft and in BEAUTIFUL colors. They knew I had lost my so called scarf during my last trip to NYC, and got me this yarn as replacement!!



Aren't these CUTE?? I don't use straights that often, but I do on occasion. And I don't have US10s... so, these'll work in a pinch! I'm not really sure I want my cats to love my knitting... but the needles sure are adorable.

the rest of the package included my favorite Lexie Barnes pattern (little Miss Perfect) zipper bag, another pair of needles (US11s), a couple bags of my favorite Easter candy (the Cadbury mini eggs), and a bunch of homemade M&M cookies (thanks Carmen!!!)

Umm... maybe the cookies are not pictured because there are far fewer cookies now than when I unpacked. And maybe someone didn't want photographic evidence of how quickly someone might've scarfed down some cookies. Maybe.


A second box at my door was chock full of books (I can imagine no better vacation than to snuggle in my bed for a week, with a pile of books) from another friend. I can't wait to dig into the books and knit up a new 'my so called scarf'!!

And, when it rains, it pours, b/c my friend from NYC is coming up this weekend for a visit! We're gonna shop and eat and hang out and gab and shop and gab some more.

Happiness truly is.... great friends. No one could want for better friends than the ones I've got (b/c I'm also expecting a care package from the mom of the LRHM... containing Thin Mints). The only thing I could really wish for is that they lived closer!

Ok. Will update on some KNITTING content tomorrow. Front and back of Kolsva!

on why extensions are a good thing

Extensions on my taxes, extensions on my assignments.... good things.

The best thing? An extension of my birthday celebration!!! Lookee what the postman (quickly becoming my FAVORITE person in Boston) brought me today!

Of course, I knew a box was winging it's way from Denver, b/c a little sheepie told me so. But this is a big old box. Who else, besides a knitter, gets a birthday present in a BROWN SHEEP YARN COMPANY box?



Inside (and i'm sorry I couldn't contain my excitement and take a picture of the box JUST opened, but well...) the box had SO many goodies! it took me over 30 minutes to unwrap it all.

Here's the loot:


You see how SOMEONE thinks that all of this stuff is for him? He's actually mostly concentrating on that bit of ribbon sitting in front of his face. Curling ribbon is his most favorite thing ever, even if he has to hork it up later (sorry). Even if it means incurring the wrath of mommykhan (oh, did I just let loose what a big ST geek I am?)... b/c I definitely smacked him a good one for chewing on my presents.

Let's get some details of the goodies!!
First up, a big tin o cookies, handmade by Tiffany and her mom, Carmen. I immediately had to sample (gingersnaps? ( i think, i don't know names of cookies very well, but i'm an expert in taste.), chocolate and butterscotch/peanut butter cookies, AND these yummy coconut cookie bars). Oh MY.

Touchme touchmetouchmetouchmetouchme. From Stacey, her mom Marsha, Jeni, Michelle, and Tiffany. I can JUST barely manage to not cast on this very second, minute. It's in a beautiful steel-blue-grey which will go with both of my winter coats! I hear tell that there was some concern about color choice, but I always trust Michelle.

Stacey got me these BEEYOOTIFUL ginghers! I have a pair in a a light green, but these are SO much more me! And besides, who doesn't need a few good pairs of sharp scissors?



Joanne sent the awesome Knitting Expereince color book (so fitting... esp since I just joined the Stranded KAL), Michelle got me a copy of Yarn Harlot's latest bookbookbook, and Kim sent the Bug's Life movie (woohoo!!). Big plans this weekend to sit around, knit on the endpaper mitts (after referencing the new colorwork book to see if I'm doing it right), then watch A Bug's Life and cast on for the Touch Me Scarf (from scarf style). And eat cookies. of course.
Last, but not least, what will I be wearing while I do all that? These cute as all get out sheepy pajama pants! I have a thing about pajama pants. I love buying them and wearing them. I think maybe I should call them lounging pants, b/c I actually don't wear them while I'm sleeping (i hate it when stuff bunches up when I twist and turn). ANYWAY! Do you see the cute little sheepies on these? They're from Nachaele!!!

I am so fortunate to have such awesome friends. I feel a little peevish/ungrateful when I wish that I could still be in Denver too, but gifts like these only show you (and me) the tip of the iceberg in how much these people mean to me. I know I've got 5-6 yrs ahead of me in this doctoral program, but I'm already looking forward to moving home when I'm done.

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes and presents. I wish I could've celebrated it with all of you!

Sunday Surprises!!!

So today, I was TOTALLY surprised by the PACKAGES that came on a SUNDAY! From the USPS. I kid you not. Right before I was dashing out the door for my all day long meeting, the mailman rang the door and delivered two packages. One from Amazon.com (um... where I guess maybe I ordered myself a birthday present?) and one from Chris. I won a contest over on her blog on HER birthday, and the prize arrived on MY birthday!! Neat, huh?

Let's see what I got.



I got a skein of STR in the Rainforest Jasper colorway. A tin (a cute tin!) of Sinamints (with our favorite black cat mascot), black pawprinted tape measure (very handy, even though I own 5-6 of these, but can never find one when I need one), and two bars of YUMMILICIOUS dark chocolate. AND two mix CDs!! I can't wait to pop them in and listen, which I'll do a soon as finals are over. I guess I could listen to them now, but I have to concentrate on finals instead of my music (have you noticed how you need to pay more attention to 'new' music?)

The choc. definitely came just in time, seeing as I am not a HUGE lover of choc., and usually only crave it when my friend George comes for his monthly visit. Well, he's visiting now, the inconsiderate wretch! If you look close enough, you'll notice that one bar of chocolate looks a litte... disheveled.

I also treated myself, on my birthday (thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone!), and cast on for the endpaper mitts.



It took me longer to cast on than to knit the cuff and the first repeat of color work. That italian tubular cast on, while ingenious in it's simplicity, is also maddeningly difficult to keep straight (did my right hand go left or right last time? DANG IT!) I love working on it, but i need to set it aside for now, so that i can focus on school. My goal is to make it to the SnB meeting tonight. (b/c now it's monday, b/c it took me a day to take pics and blog)

Still feasting

but the famine will begin tomorrow. Both in food, knitting, and posting on the blog. I've been working on the clapotis redux (um... retrois?) almost non stop. can't stop knitting on it. I love the colors and the hand of this yarn. Initially, I was concerned about the thinness (i'm using US3s, which is for most ppl, a US2) but it's alpaca, and it's plenty warm. No pics, b/c I'm not smart enough to remember to take one in the midst of all the picture taking

The biggest news of the day... my mittens, hand knit by Celia came today!! They're my early b-day pressie from her. I love the color, I love the cable, and I love the fit!! I'm especially glad she did the thumb gusset on the side, b/c it feels unnatural (to me) for the gusset to be in the front.




aren't they purty??

Please, Please Mister Postman

Everyone's curious about what was in that airmail for me!!



Celia sent me a thank you gift! When I went to WEBS a couple weeks ago, I had all good intention of only buying yarn for Celia... she wants to make her bun in the oven a Lizard Ridge baby blanky out of Silk Garden. Unfortunately, I was unable to control myself, and got myself quite a bit o yarn. Anyway, she picked out this lovely Online Cashmerino (14% cashmere, 56% superwash merino, 30% microfiber) and sent me a skein of handpainted sock yarn (in her jungle colorway). I can't wait to knit something up with this OH SO SOFT yarn, in such a rich beautiful red color. Any suggestions for patterns? I have enough for a shell or tank. Let's please not mention the fact that those Tim Tam's have already been broken into... and no one can see how many have already been consumed (inhaled...). Now I know what the fuss is all about!!!

With the yarn that Ms Sheepiness sent me a few weeks ago, I started the Irish Hiking Scarf. After working on the Matthew Shepard Seaman scarf with the Rowan Wool/Cotton on US3s... the Irish Hiking Scarf feels like it's going miraculously fast. I knit on it a bit last night and I've already got over 4-5 inches knit up.

My brain has gone numb, which means it has stopped hurting. My eye twitch has gone away.... Sounds like things are improving, no? I think my body has re-acclimated it's basal level of stress, so that I feel less... overwhelmed. I take pleasure in the very small things in life now... like being able to knit 4-5 rows between classes on Thursday. And, having a few of my classmates compliment my Noro Shrug (the one I made out of the Paintbox). I love having knitters compliment it (b/c they know how much work went into knitting it) and having a non-knitter compliment it makes me feel like they can't tell it's handmade. Why is that important to me?

Goodbye and Goodluck

Jeni organized a goodbye dinner for me, which we had today at Pappadeaux's Seafood Kitchen. Nachaele, Kristina, Jeni, Michelle, her soon to be DH, Tiffany, Stacey, her mom Marsha, and sister Whitney (and baby Liam!), Michaele, Wanda and Kim all came to say goodbye. I feel so loved, so fortunate, and so privileged to have met, and befriended all of these wonderful folks.

I put most of my friends into certain categories.. I have my work friends, my school friends, college friends, party friends, and my knitting friends. What has been so amazing to me, is that even though I may always refer to these folks as my knitting friends, they've become so much more. While I have learned an inordinate amount of knitterly skills, techniques, and information from them, I have also learned much about life, people, and myself.

Even though I felt lucky enough that we could organize an event where so many people could/wanted to come, I was also showered with gifts! Literally, almost drowning in gifts. We remember that Tiffany got me all this stuff, which I'm still reeling over.

Michelle and her DH got me...



The project bag, hand made by Michelle, with her DH helping to finish. The wonderful smelling SOAK, some purple sock yarn she got from Etsy, and the RYC Classic Beach book!!! I wish I had taken a pic of the fabric on the inside too.



Marsha (Stacey's mom gave me this awesome ditty bag from Vera Bradely. I can't wait to cast on for a project that goes into that beautiful bag.



Since great minds think alike (and, i'm kinda predictable), Nachaele and Kristina got me a Vera Bradley as well! in the same colorway. I LOVE IT. Plus, two skeins of the Lorna's Laces shepard sock in Lakeview.

Wanda and Jeni got me a gift certificate to PB, which I can't wait to use. I'm hoping some of these in chocolate brown will help fade out the bathroom issues.


Here we've got my pressies from Stacey. The address book has already been put to use, as she suggested I pass it around the table to get everyone's address (she's so smart, that one!). I'm not sure when she snuck off to buy that skein of Koigu, but it wasn't in her stash last time I checked. The Dutch Blitz game is one she introduced me to... which I love, b/c it's competitive, it's fast, and it's fun.

Kim got me a gift card to Barnes and Noble, which will probably get used the day I get there. Since I don't know very many people (just one very friendly knitter and her husband), I think I'll have plenty of time to read, which I used to do a lot more pre-knitting days.

The funniest gift?

From Whitney, Drew, and their wee ones. Can you see what it says on the package of tissue? "I've got an ATTITUDE, and I'm not afraid to use it." I can't wait to offer someone a tissue now!!! And a million dollar cookie (ya think someone will take that as my rent payment?)

Michaele may be the sneakiest of the bunch. She left me a hint (which didn't photograph well) of my gift, which she's having shipped to my new address in Boston.

Here's a pic of all of us, except Nachaele, who's taking the picture.


Thanks to each and every one of you. I can't find the words to express how much your friendships mean to me. Though I love the view, the lack of humidity, and the general attitude in Colorado, it's really the thought of leaving all of you that makes leaving Denver so difficult for me.

Boston has some big shoes to fill.

Why don't I move more?

There are several things that make me ask this question of myself. The most obvious way to take the question for me, is to ask myself why I let myself gain weight back that I worked so hard to get off of me. Why did I stop going to the gym on a regular basis? Why don't I move more?

The second way I'm thinking this question involves... why don't I move, like pack up and move away, more?
Tiffany made my last day at the shop very memorable. Stacey, Jeni, and Michelle kept me company for the last couple hours of the day at the shop. We had a small feeding frenzy when we saw the new swag that Tiffany had ordered in. I got a complete set.




Then, Tiffany gave me a going away present! What more can a knitterly gal want besides to work in a yarn store you ask? Take a look



She made a couple cute stitchmarkers, got me an awesome seahorse magnet, and a lot of Godiva Chocolate. Yes, you read that right. GODIVA. But wait! There's more! (a la Ronco). What could top Godiva chocolates, you ask?



None other than a skein of ever loverly Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace. She gave me a choice between some Lonesome Star Alpaca Farm yarn (oh so loverly) or a skein of the LL. How can one go wrong?? Seriously, she's too generous. I've loved working there, and I wish I could've had that cush job the entire time I was in my master's program. Thanks a million Tiffany!!!