Knittin news

So, as you can tell, I have changed the name of my blog. Based on an existing Ravelry discussion, I decided to google my blog name and discovered that another young lady was using the same blog name, and even the pink layout! Yikes!! So I decided to rename it. Hence the new name. No one has this name, as far as I can tell, so here's to hoping that I can keep this!

A few weekends ago (Sat Oct 20) I got my very first swap package from my partner! It was chock full of goodies including a very interesting sock yarn that I've never seen before (but heard a lot about). It is Kate Austermann Step sock yarn. It has aloe vera in the fibers! How cool is that! Check out this pic for the whole package:

Then on Sat Nov 4 I got my Ravelry Scorpio Birthday Swap package from my secret partner:

Thank you so much! I really love it :) I think I might finally tackle the Monkey socks. What a beautiful yarn! Please let me know who you are so that I can thank you in person :)

As for my knitting news, well, I finished the blue mohair scarf. I have yet to take a picture of the finished item, but I am hoping to actually wear it soon.

I finished knitting the Lucy Lu sweater, and now I just have to seam it. First I have to block it, though. I am hoping to do that some time this week so that I can sew it up this weekend.

I will post some more pics soon!

They did it again!!!

Congrats to the Red Sox! What a sweep!

Boston, you know we love you madly...

Although I am a NY Yankees fan, I am sooo happy that Boston won the ALCS. I love the city of Boston, and it treated me very well for many years. Plus I love the song "Tessie" - it's a big part of my morning routine. That is a really fun song to belt out at the top of your lungs to get your day going!! I can only imagine how crazy it is in Boston right now! Congrats to the Sox. I hope you take it all the way!

I will make a knitting related post tomorrow :) But now I am going to bed - DH kept me up while watching the game.

Anyone know where I can buy a time machine?

Against my better judgement, I bought "Georgia Rule" on OnDemand. I want those two hours of my life back. What a terrible movie. What a waste of $4. I never liked Jane Fonda, but I love Felicity Huffman. And Lindsay is a train wreck, so I figured it might be worth it. After all, I am a sucker for chick flicks. But this was just beyond terrible. Is she lying? Is she telling the truth? The stepfather is a child abuser! Wow, what an original story. It had potential - but the characters were one dimentional, and full of cliches.

Well, at least I am getting through the scarf - I should be finished by Sunday night. Something tells me that Sunday will be chick-flick marathon day. Especially if it doesn't stop raining!!

Still no progress but I am moving on...

Since my Lucy Lu sweater will take time to figure out, I have decided to move on to the blue mohair scarf. Wouldn't it be nice to polish it off tonight?! At this point, I would really like to start knocking things off the list. Just to feel like I've accomplished something. And I forgot that I bought yarn to make a hat that would coordinate with the scarf. But I don't like it, since they are completely different shades of blue. It would be nice to turn that into a gift set. Ohh - maybe matching gloves!!! Arrgh - here I go again...it's sooo easy to do!

My Ravelry Fiberflix swap partner loved the package I sent her :) That made me happy, since that was my first swap.

In DH news, he won the title of Best Pizza in town for his restaurant, and will be featured in a national magazine. We celebrated last night for sure! He brought home FOUR DOZEN ROSES for me!! And Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame to celebrate with. Only the third time in our lives that we've had nice champagne :) And boy, we drank it all!!! Well, almost...

Gonna log off now and put the roast in the oven. It's a cold and rainy day so a nice home-style roast would be perfect right about now. Nighty-night!

No Lucy Lu progress so far...

I have just been running ragged this week. Tuesday afternoon I got a piece of code at work to, well, work :) And this is the first automation code that we are writing for the new product. With the help of my team lead, we now have code that does one very small thing, but it is a HUGE victory. So, needless to say Monday night I was playing around with it.

Today, I went into the office and found out that there was a big party in the afternoon. Right when I was supposed to meet my new manager and team lead (in person). It was cool, but had I known that there was a party, I wouldn't have gone because I wanted to spend the time at the office with people doing work. But it was nice to have a glass of wine and a burger with people I haven't seen in a while. And get a free t-shirt!! That always helps!

Tonight for dinner I made this A-MAZ-ING!!! soup I saw last Friday night on "Good Eats" (I luv Alton Brown!) It's called the Garden Vegtable Soup. There were a few things I did differently:
1. Instead of regular chicken broth, I found chicken broth with lemon and herbs in it. So I used 2 cups of that, and the other 6 cups of plain chicken broth.
2. Added in some lemon zest - just a couple of swipes with the grater.
3. Didn't add the potatoes (for my own reasons - I am having a really hard time with carbs in general with this medicine I am taking)
4. Added some pieces of leftover roast chicken to the bottom of the bowl and pour the soup on top. It heats it right up.
5. Added a pinch of leftover parmesean cheese to the top - adds a bit more salt, and so tasty!
BAM! What a fantastic soup!! I could eat the whole pot. But I won't because I want to have this for lunch and dinner for the rest of the week. I need to find out if I can freeze this...

Back to knitting news...since I have been crazy busy this week, I haven't taken the time to map out my plan for Lucy Lu. And after realizing that my terribly long list of UFOs is growing, I've made a decision to finish this before moving on. I am almost done, after all!

I sent my Ravelry FiberFlix swap package out to Kelly last Friday. She should have gotten it today. I hope she likes it!

The Ravelry Scorpio Birthday swap package for Laura is *almost* finished. Just one more thing to add :)

OK, I'm going back for a little more broth :) See ya lata!

Life's a garden...dig it

I know, I know...So it has been a while. A Loooong while. The summer came and went, fall is upon us, and D and I just had our one year anniversary. We went to Montauk, NY for a few days to celebrate. We wanted to go somewhere else for longer, but the timing with work did not cooperate. But it was still nice. We arrived on Sunday, and it was just one of those days where everything just worked out. Apparently, Montauk's fourth of July fireworks were postponed due to weather, and kept getting postponed up until their Fall Festival the previous night. Which meant, there were fireworks on Oct 7 - Our anniversary!!! So we found a restaurant by asking the gas station attendant, that overlooked the water where we could the fireworks - outdoors. It was beautiful - how many people can say there were fireworks on their first anniversary! We went to The Harvest, and were able to sit outside. http://www.harvest2000.com/hfp/ That was a beautiful restaurant. The food was delish! All in all, the perfect night! If are ever in Montauk, I highly suggest you go there, and to their other restaurant, North by Northwest. We went there two nights in a row when we were in Montauk over the summer. And of course no trip I take is complete without a visit to a yarn shop. So I went to Purl by The Sea in Montauk!! What a lovely store. I love it! Everyone is so friendly and helpful - it's great! I highly recommend it if you ever find yourself at the very tip of Long Island!

Things on the homefront are, well, overgrown. D and I have no experience with gardening, and it shows. Our front and backyard are veritable forests. I am quite ashamed, but we have a lot of work to do. Considering D is hardly ever home anymore, and I hate hate HATE bugs, we are pretty much screwed. I just wish these weeds would go away, but it is going to take a lot more than hoping and wishing. I got one quote to do the work from our (very overpriced) landscaper, and it would cost more than my bi-montly salary to fix our yard, not including the mulch we would need!!! So, I think we need to do this work ourselves. No way around it. I would like to work on it this weekend, but let's see what D says about that.

So...back to knitting. I finished a lot during my blogging hiatus. Two pairs of socks, a baby blanket, threw a baby shower for a friend, and more. Thanks to Ravelry I can keep track of it all! What a wonderful community that is! Casey and Jess really have a hit on their hands. Anywho, I may have finished a lot of projects this summer, but I sure have been neglecting a lot. Including the Lucy Lu sweater I started back in 2004!! So I have decided not to pick up any more projects until I start back on my UFOs (UnFinished Objects). I want to finish the Lucy Lu sweater, felt Mom's hat and my Noni Adventure bag, among other UFOs listed to the right.

So, this week I will be working on the Lucy Lu sweater. I hope I can find someone to help me with it though since I don't really understand how to knit the front right panel. Anyone out there knit this yet? If so, lemme know :) I could use some help!

Reveling in Ravelry!

I just got my Beta invite to Ravelry! I am so excited!!! I signed up for it a long time ago - I am just so glad that I get to be a part of their Beta process. Please check it out - and contribute if you can!!! Casey and Jess put a lot of time and money in this project, and deserve our praise :) I've already added my books, needles, and some projects to my profile. Hopefully will finish before I go on vacation this weekend! Woo-hoo!!

I will pack my Noni project for the drive out to Montauk. I don't think I will take it out of the car, though, as my nephews are very curious to see me knit and I don't want to see the Noni being frogged by my them :) Although, I could never be angry at them since I love them too much. Anyway, 7+ hours in the car should give me the time to make a lot of progress! This week is already shaping up to be a knit-free week...

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Independence Day!




I hope wherever you are, you had good weather. We woke up with the sun in our eyes again, and about 15 minutes later, it became overcast. The rain held up long enough for us to grill some dogs and burgers for lunch. As soon as the last dog was put on the plate, it started raining. And didn't stop. We didn't even get a chance to light our sparklers! Yes, sparklers...it never fails. Shiny and sparkly things always distract me. I will have to do it tomorrow! And just hope I don't set the deck on fire!

No knitting progress made lately, which is why I haven't blogged in a while. That, and a lot of family events have taken up my free time. I think I have time over the next two days to finish the sweater (yes, you read that right, baby is almost 4 weeks old, and I still haven't finished the neckband - what a bad aunty!), and try to get through the next 45 rows of the Noro Weekend adventure bag. I have the next two days off from work, and I hope that I can plow through some knitting! I am also going to try and clean up the other two bedrooms so that I can start decorating. I am trying to convice hubby that we need a new living room set, but it will take some convincing ;-)

What's Your Power Element?

A friend sent me this one...pretty on the mark!

Your Power Element is Earth

Your power color: yellow Your energy: balancing Your season: changing of seasons Dedicated and responsible, you are a rock to your friends. You are skilled at working out even the most difficult problems. Low key and calm, you are happiest when you are around loved ones. Ambitious and goal oriented, you have long term plans to be successful.

What's Your Power Element?