B&N You ROCK!!!

Barnes and Noble is an after-school (work) playground for me. Every Friday, directly after work, I go to Barnes & Noble to buy new magazines. I start with the celebrity trash mags (US Weekly, Star & OK!) and then move down to the Crafts/Hobbies section. On occasion I will see a new Knitting or Crocheting magazine. It's fantastic. Seriously...it's really exciting to look on the shelf and see a shiny new Interweave Knits. IK is the Grand-Daddy. If there's a new one of those out I practically sing out loud. (I wish I had the bollocks to do that because, well, wouldn't that be a great thing to see someone do at the book store?) Yesterday's after-work excursion didn't bring me that joy but it did bring me the new KnitSimple. You know what I like about this magazine? The title for starters. You know you're not in for a complicated lace pattern that will bring you to tears. While the title makes me feel safe & cozy, I generally don't find many patterns in it that I want to make. However, this issue has really surprised me. I actually gasped a few times when turning the pages. (**gasps are usually reserved for IK only**) There will be several items made from this issue. After picking one off the shelf (+1 for my Mum) I headed over to the Knitting book section. Much to my surprise I saw that 101 Designer One Skein Wonders was already out. I didn't think it was coming out for at least another month. Yippee!!! There's a lot of great patterns in here. I like this book as much as it's predecessor...One-Skein Wonders-101 Yarn Shop Favorites. I'm going to have to exercise some serious willpower to not start something out of this book until I've finished a few of my current wip's.

Speaking of wip's, I finished a couple last week. I finished my Mum's birthday scarf and then added a hat at the last minute. Her birthday was on 10/26 and she's going back to England for a visit in December, so I wanted her to have something to keep her warm. She's always wanted to wear beanie hats but thinks she's not "young enough" to wear them well. I think she'll look fantastic in one so I knitted one up after I finished the scarf. Hats are great. A couple of hours from start to finish. I think she will really like both items. I've been wanting to make the Irish Hiking Scarf for ages. I was always too afraid to try it because cables made me very uncomfortable. Now after knitting it I feel far less intimidated. Ta Da.....

That's my Meggie Moo posing in the hat. She's got a lot of sass that one. I love her to pieces.

I really am a Knitter!!

I actually finished something! It's the Two-Toned Ribbed Shrug from Fitted Knits....and guess what....it FITS!!!! I finished this little baby in 3 days. This is so unlike me. The ufo's from the graveyard (aka hall closet) are still screaming..."Why not us????" Poor things. If only they were more interesting. Hey...I took my Karaoke Cable Scarf out from the closet last night and did two...count em...two pattern repeats. So I don't feel sooo sooo bad for always starting something new. Besides, I got to wear the Ribbed Shrug to work and have co-workers oooh and aaah over my handiwork. They wouldn't have such a positive reaction if I was wearing bags of ufo's now would they? I think not.

I'm Such a Hooker

What a perfect Friday evening. A celeb mag, a glass of Pinot Noir, and an easy peasy crocheted scarf. The only thing ruining it for me is the god forsaken dog across the way who is currently trying for the Guiness world record for barking non-stop. I love dogs. I love my dogs. I would never ever harm a dog. But I am about two seconds away from throwing a handful of rocks over the wall. I don't want to actually hit the Labrador of Lucifer with said rocks. I just want to surprise it into silence. In other news, I have finished Juliet. I am more disappointed than I was when Rusted Root turned out to be infant sized. I was feeling mighty confident that Juliet would fit me. I didn't even break a sweat when I tried it on midway and thought, "Hmm seems a tad roomy". Alas, it is GINORMOUS on me. I'm going to give it to my Sister for Christmas. It breaks my heart to send it away. I will definitely try again though. Maybe this time I'll use the specified yarn instead of being a cheapskate and using Lionbrand Wool-Ease Chunky. Needless to say I've lost a bit of confidence in my knitting ability. What does one do when times are tough like this? You start hooking. It makes me feel a bit guilty. Making my knitting take a backseat to the hook. Crocheting is easy easy easy. I don't often feel like I'm the most brainless person alive while doing it. On the other hand, knitting challenges me. It's constantly pushing me to new levels. Mocking me when I make a mistake. Knitting is a snobby little bitch and I love her arrogance. Can't help myself. Note...Dear Knitting, I promise I will devote more time to you darling. Just let me get in these last few rows on my half double crochet scarf and I'll be right with you.

I love you Nikon

My hubby got me a Nikon D40 for my birthday. I was truly surprised because I didn't think I was going to get it. I used to have a little point and click Sony. It worked fine for quite a few years but the picture quality was never outstanding. One day it died and I was forced to take pictures with my Blackberry. Horrible photos. Then along came my sweet little Nikon. I can't even begin to describe how very much I love this camera. It really loves taking pictures of my knitting. Speaking of knitting. I've been quite the busy little beaver. I have actually finished some projects. Shocking, I know. My latest accomplishment is Juliet from Zephyr Style. Much to my dismay it is way to big for me. Yet another lesson in yarn substitution. Lucky for my sister though as she will now be getting it for Xmas. I'm going to order some Cotton Fleece to make one for myself and possibly go down a needle size. Fingers crossed it fits me this time.