New Year WIP'ing

Here's the knitting plans for 2008...

Tubey - love the construction on this one!

Cashmerino Vest - that I'm designing

Earth Scarf - that I'm designing

1 pair of finished socks - just to start dipping into the sock yarn stash I accumulated last year

Blue socks - a gift for a friend, should they ever be finished

3 current WIP's -
Bed Jacket - 2/3 done
Unseamly Sweater - 2/3 done (from Happy Hooker, couldn't find a pic link)
Jade Sapphire Top - 2/3 done - my own design
(Apparently, I get almost done and must move on to something new.)

Prosperous Tank - swatched already

Thermal or Henley Perfected - haven't decided which yet

Wicked - love this pattern and the yarn I have for it!

Slippers for me - haven't decided which pattern yet

That should keep me occupied for awhile!

Linkety, link, link - link, link, Ruth!

Literacy 2008

Here's my list of books I want to read this year...

January - Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Gregory Maguire
February - She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
March - The Shivered Sky - Matt Dinniman
April - The Bonesetter's Daughter - Amy Tan
May - Tom Jones - Tom Fielding
June - Beloved - Toni Morrison
July - The Saving Graces - Patricia Gaffney
August - Where The Heart Is - Billie Letts
September - The Book of Ruth - Jane Hamilton
October - Shadow Man - Cody McFayden
November - Lord of the Dead - Tom Holland
December - Roots - Alex Haley

Plus other assorted goodies...

Couldn't Keep It To Myself - Wally Lamb (editor)
Cast-Off - The Yarn Harlot
48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene

I'm already cheating on this as I was about 15 pages in to Confessions and Rachel told me about this really fast-paced thriller written by one of my favorites (James Patterson and some other guy). It's called Quickie and Rachel was right - super fast! I'll probably have it finished by Monday and then I'll go and finish Confessions. I'm also reading Grimm's Fairy Tales - 210 plus 40 never before released in English. Dig it!

All linked out, Ruth!

Pitter Patter of Little Feet

4 of them!

We have a new family member. His name is Jedi and he is about 4 months old. Here's how it happened...

A few months ago, my husband started mentioning how the boys might need a kitten. I was pretty shocked considering Dave doesn't particularly like cats (or so he says). My old cat, Oscar, died a couple of years ago - he was 13 and I'd had him for 10 years. He was super cool. He thought he was a dog! He'd wrestle with my husband like a dog and he'd growl when strangers came to the door. Dave said he didn't like cats but Oscar was cool.

Dave was making noises about getting the boys a kitten for Xmas. I said it wasn't a great idea because think of the logistics of it! Where would we hide the thing until Xmas morning? In the basement? No, the boys would hear it meowing. Rachel's house? No, her daughter would be heartbroken when it had to leave their house.

So we waited until after Xmas and we took the boys to the Dumb Friends League. Amazing place! It's Denver's version of an animal shelter but it seems like a giant pet store! It's very clean, they have viewing rooms and a pet shop where you can buy toys, food, leashes, etc. We looked at all the cats and kittens and small animals (rabbits, hamsters, etc.) and all the dogs. (My favorite dog was an ugly little beastie. He had the head, ears, and bulgy eyes of a chihuahua, but was about twice the size of a big chihuahua. His coloring was that of an Australian cattle dog and he was missing one of his back legs. His name was Splinter! I would've named him Tripod.) I gotta say, they grow 'em BIG out here when it comes to cats and rabbits. There were so many enormous cats and rabbits! Not just fat, either - I'm talking 2 feet tall, softball head things. Must be all that mountain air.

We couldn't find anything that really spoke to Dave and I was leaving the choosing up to him. So we went home and the next day (Sunday, Dec. 30) we went to the Dumb Friends League in Castle Rock. We looked at 3 kittens there - the first was a brown tabby and he was sort of timid and went you picked him up, he'd rag doll and if you sat him in your lap, he'd stay there until you moved him. I looked at Dave and said, "I don't think he'd survive the boys."

So the next one was an all-black male and he was a nut job. He kept attacking my legs when the boys were playing with him!

Then the third one came - he was right in between the other two. Playful but willing to sit and be petted as well. He's black and white and the shelter had named him Roger (for the Jolly Roger?) but we renamed him Jedi (the boys are really into the Lego Star Wars Xbox game). He's got these really beautiful eyes. They're blue around the pupil, going to green, going to yellow at the edges.

Well, turns out he's a little crazier then we thought. He will come rocketing across the room, leap onto your body, fly up your chest and head butt you! He loves to rub his head against your face and lick and nibble at you! We should've named him Ricochet.

He also thinks he's a parrot...

It's nice to have a pet again, Ruth!

Knit Night

So last night was the first official Knit Night get-together at the new yarn store - Purls of Wisdom. Kelly was there first, then me, then Leslie and Rachel showed up for a little while to show off her new knitting!

Yes, Rachel has crossed over from crochet to knitting and she. Is. Rocking it! I brought my camera to take pictures of the festivities but was having such a good time, I forgot to take any pic's. I'm a geek.

I brought my Never-Ending Blanket to work on. This will be the first FO of the year (not counting a coupla scarves I already cranked out). I already promised Dave that it'd be finished by the end of this month. I'm done with all the knitting, now I'm just using the last skein of yarn to go 'round and 'round the edges. I did a crochet slip stitch around the whole beast and now I'll be single crocheting around until the last skein is used up. Should be done by Sunday!

When it's finished I'll measure it, take pictures and share with everyone the wondrous warmth that is Lion Brand's Homespun.

Never using Homespun again, Ruth!

Shuffle

The iPod meme.

itunes_2 src="http://kmkat.typepad.com/kmkat_and_her_kneedles/images/2007/12/15/071215_itunes_2.jpg" width=500 border=0>

How it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, winamp, media player, iPod)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every section, type the song that’s playing
5. Next section — press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool

Okay, here is the sound track for my life as determined by the iTunes God of Shuffle:

Opening credits:

• Hallelujah, I Love Her So - Ray Charles

Waking up:

• Looking for Clues - Robert Palmer [Usually!]

First day at school:

• Black Bob - Kid Rock

Falling in love:

• Solidify - Cheryl Crow [Well, we have been married over 7 years now!]

Breaking up:

• Whiplash - The Untouchables [how appropriate]

Prom:

• Don't Tell Me That Story - Judy Garland [how sad]

Life’s okay:

• Good Times - Chic [These are good times]

Mental breakdown:

• Joy To The World - Three Dog Night [this world could use a little more Joy and a little less breakdown, that's for sure]

Driving:

• Wild Thing - Tone-Loc [OK, now this is just getting embarrassing]

Flashback:

• Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me - Mac Davis [now that is a flashback!]

Getting back together:

• Wrapped Around Your Finger - The Police [another very appropriate one]

Wedding:

• Behind the Groove - Teena Marie [yea. I don't know either.]

Birth of child:

• Time Warp - Brad Paisley [I wish I could go back to those new baby days sometimes]

Final battle:

• All You Need is Love - The Beatles [LOL]

Death scene:

• Whatcha Gonna Do With A Cowboy - Chris Ledoux and Garth Brooks [I've seen both of them in concert -separately. Survived.]

End credits:

• Sleepwalk - Brian Setzer Orchestra [Now that's the way I wanna go - swing-dance/boogie-'in into the sunset]

* * * * *
Tag, you're next!

Got this from KMKat and Her Needles!

Cause it don't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing, Ruth!

Resolute

Every year, I make New Year's Resolutions. Here's my list for this year...

1. Exercise 4 days a week - So far, so good. FitTV has my favorite exercise show (Namaste Yoga) right before a new show called Shimmy. Shimmy is belly dancing and it's so much fun!

2. Blog 4 days a week - OK, so usually, it takes me a few days to decide on my resolutions and I start implementing them in the 2nd week of the year. Last night, I had a dream that there was this huge party at some guy's house. He was showing Dave and I the house and it kept going on and on and on. Room after room, sauna's, hot tubs, all kinds of rooms. Then everyone at the party got all excited and went outside. We went, too, to see what was the big deal. On the back lawn was this HUGE military helicopter and this actor that always plays a marine came out of the 'copter in dress greens. I love this actor, he's so cool! I was introduced to him and a bit star struck, I named about 10 movies he'd been in that I liked - said 'em like he didn't know what they were! Then I said, "I am SO blogging about this!" He said, "You have a blog?"
Me: Yea, I'm a geek.
Him: What's the name of it?
Me: 5elementknitr
Him: You're 5elementknitr? I read you all the time.
Then he blew my mind by recalling some recent entries. He said, "You've been slacking off lately."
Me: Yea, I know. I've been super-busy with this new business we have.
We talked a bit more and then, as he was leaving, he said, "Blog more often, now, y'hear?"

Sorry, my dreams have a big ego!

3. Stash Only - I tried this last year with the Stash-Out 2007. They gave an out of sock yarn and then I discovered hand-dyed sock yarn. sigh. Why didn't y'all warn me?? I have about 20 different skeins and I'm still not even sure how to knit socks, yet! This year for sure. I have 2 pre-planned outs and if anyone wants to get me this stuff, then I think I'll be safe!

4. Read A Book Per Month - I've made my list. You'll see it sometime soon, I'm sure.

5. Control Sweets - I'm usually not this vague with my resolutions but I've been doing OK with it. I've been trying to cut it down to one sweet a day. So far, so good.

6. Maintain Chore List - I'm tired of my house looking like a pig-sty. I used to have a chore list that I made for myself and it gave me a definite plan to follow. I've made a new list and so far, so good.

7. Organize 1 hour a week - See #6.

8. No face-picking - I have this bad compulsion where if I think there's a blemish, I'll pick at it until it is a big red spot! I'm 37 - I'm probably old enough to start taking better care of my skin.

9. Floss more - I always say this one. Since I bought those Reach Flossers 2 years ago, I've been doing it more and more.

10. Grow My New Business 20% - So far, so good with this one, too. I have 2 new companies that are working with me and I've already made a placement with one of them!

I'll be posting quite a few lists over the next few days. I make lots of new lists every January.

Love the New Year, Ruth!

2008

Well, another year has started. Rather auspiciously for me, as I was given a JenLa award! If you're visiting from there - Welcome!

How was your holidays? I got some rockin' snow boots and Rachel H. gave me 4 skeins of some beautiful yarn. I also got a gift card to Kohl's so I can buy some much-needed new jeans.

The boys liked their new hats that I knit...

All in all a happy holiday season.

So - what'd you get?

Happy New Year, Ruth!