Holiday Parties Rock!!! (Picture heavy post)

I had so much fun at the Sit N Knit Holiday party. Here are a few highlights.

Here is Penelope, organizing the raffle, and takin' care of business.


Chante and Judy were helping to organize the raffle and gift exchange entries as well.

Tina, of Interweave's Central Park Hoodie fame is seen here knitting a sock.Here is Tawana and Tomo, causing knitting trouble in the corner of the room. The martini on the table is mine. Tawana was filling up on herbal tea, so the little one can be happy.
Chante and I. Chante created a drop spindle kit that was raffled off later on that night.

Gift Exchange

Here is the gift that I received from Judy (behind me in the black sweater). The scarf is super-duper soft. I love it.

My foliage hat gift went to Maria. Would you believe someone tried to buy it from her that night? People, it is a free pattern on Knitty. We all have the power to knit. She absolutely loved the hat, and together, they make a supercute pair.

Jane received this purple hat that incorporated the butterfly stitch in it. I almost made this hat. How cool is it that it matches her sweater perfectly??

Tawana recieved fingerless mittens from Jane. The colorway looks like one I have seen on SWS yarn.

Penelope recieved Tawana's gift of Thrummed Mittens. Everyone was going crazy over them. I'm so jealous, I am going to have to make my own.

Hope recieved a cute little bag with a sewn and finished inner lining.

And since she's hiding, here is a picture of her, full of excitement after winning the raffle. Noro sock yarn. oooohhhh... aaaaahhhhh!!! I'm putting that on my christmas list.

Meet my new friend Martha, who was sitting across from me. We share a love for thrummed mittens. She won a tape measure from one of the raffles. We had a really lucky corner that evening.
Tawana won some laceweight yarn as well.

Well, I did manage to finish that baby hat. I am thinking about sucking it up, doing the math, and creating an adult version for me. That is of course, after I finish my Mary J. Blige hat that I am swatching for.

And, to my surprise.... today at work, Deborah gave me my Christmas gift early -a hat and ruffle scarf set, along with some great homemade cookies. Good thing I didn't wait until Christmas to open it up!! I am so greedy that I ate them all already..hehe!!! Deborah will recieve a very special gift, because so much love went into her present. Thank you so much Deborah!!

Whew!!! I am overwhelmed with excitement. I am just reflecting on my knitting experiences this past year. I used to be so afraid of the Purl stitch, and now I am super-confident that I can face any challenging pattern. I have met such wonderful friends through this blog universe, and I just thank everyone so much for leaving comments as time has progressed. I am so happy that I have friends that I can call on a whim to visit a yarn store or knitting event. It really means a lot to me to be able to open up to you about my crazy and funny life experiences. Happy holidays to everyone!!!

Finished Object Update

I just wanted to let you all know of a few projects that I have finished since my last post.

Here is my Foliage hat that I made for the Sit N' Knit swap. We will be exchanging gifts at the Annual Holiday party. I am so excited. This is made from leftover Cascade 220 that I used for my Central Park Hoodie. Stashbusting feels great. I followed the pattern exactly as stated. Keep in mind that if you try this pattern, it is best to use stitch markers between each pattern repeat, and don't forget to Yarn over. I ran into a few issues where I had to frog a row or two because of missed YO's. However, I still think that this is a great pattern. It was a quick knit. I am very happy with the finished product. I am sure that the swap recipient will be very pleased. This took about 4 days to complete, because I had very little time where I could actually sit still and focus.
Here is the Peapod baby set that I made for my Cousin's baby, who will be born in January. I used Knitpicks Shine Sport in Orchid, using size 5 needles. I managed to knit the sweater in 2.5 days, to make the deadline for her baby shower last weekend. Whew!! I initially bought 5 skeins of yarn, and I have about 1.5 skeins left. Hmmmm.....maybe I can make another baby hat.


Here is the second Peapod Baby Set that I am making for Tawana's little one who also is scheduled to arrive in January. I used Knitpicks ShineSport in Crocus. All that is left to do is sew on buttons, and weave in the ends.


And here is the hat in progress, modeled by my Goddaughter/cousin Symara. She is anxious for this hat to be done, because I need to use the needles to make a hat for her birthday gift, which is the day after christmas. Whew!!! Holiday knitting never ends.


Here is a closeup of the hat. The stitch pattern looks beautiful. I just have about 4 more rows to go before I do the decreases. This will become a finished object soon enough.

Next on the list....

• Top Down hat for Symara with fun fur edging (Jaeger Baby Merino DK - Color -YoYo- variegated pink)
• Top Down hat for Carissa (Symara's sister) with fun fur edging (Jaeger baby Merino DK - Color - Hula Hoop - variegated purple and lilac)
• Mary J. Blige hat - there is no way I am backing down from that challenge. (Cascade Magnum)