All the Good Stuff

Look at what I won from Knittymuggins????

I entered her 200 posts contest and I won! And I NEVER win anything from blog contests so this was very very cool! :) She sent me one skein of Farmhouse Yarn Silk Blend in Turkey Red, lots of Dove chocolates and two Soak! :) Thank you so much!

So I wanted to amend the meme I did few days ago. If I have a billion dollars, the FIRST THING I would so is to hire myself a chauffeur!!!! How could I forget!? That will give me more time to knit while going to places!!!! :)

And here are a couple of things I forgot to mentioned from our trip -

We stopped at Grandma Nancy's on the way to the 1000 Islands, and also on the way home, since she is literally on the way. And on our way home, I got some grandma's famous molasses cookies and she also gave us a little birdhouse wind chime to take home. What is so very special about this is grandma painted it herself!

Isn't it beautiful? I can't paint for anything and it's so awesome to have a piece of art hanging outside our house.

Another thing I forgot to post about is a good find I got from the antique store where I got my yarn winder.

I don't know exactly what it's called, but it holds the cone steady and let it spin while I knit from it! The yarn came with the gadget feels like cotton to me, but I don't really know for sure. I know that it will be perfect when I knit with my zephyr cones.

And I suppose I should really post some knitting progress:

The Woodland shawl is coming along, although not as fast as I would have liked. I am itching for this one to be done so I can start something else, with fat needles and fat yarn that can be finished in a few days! We'll see when that can happen!

With that said, I should really get some knitting in before the day ends. I got quite a few things done in the garden and also I went to the farmer's market, but that means no knitting has been done!!!! Not good! Me Go, NOW!

Memorial Weekend

Memorial weekend last year was a big weekend for David and I. Our truck broke down in the Finger Lakes region and we made it up to 1000 Islands in time to go to all the appointments for looking at locations for our wedding!

This year, we went to up to check out some hotels and properties for potential vacation home/land. So instead of camping, we stayed at The Wooden Boat Inn in Clayton. It is a cute little place that has five rooms with a garage and patio with a fireplace. The Inn Owner Diane and the housekeeper Sue were both super nice and friendly. We arrived around 11:30pm on Friday night. I got the key from where Diane told me is going to be and walked into the room we have. Each room has a handmade quilt bedspread with matching pillows. Our room also had a rocking chair with a crocheted blanket. The room isn't super big, but it was very comfortable and clean, with a touch of "home" feel, which was very nice.

The garage has a microwave and a fridge for guest use. We went shopping the next day for some burger for grilling. Yes, they also had a grill for us to use! Plates, cups, utensils were all provided as well! It was ALMOST camping except we are staying in a room. On the second night, we actually got some firewood and started a fire at the fire place and sat outside and enjoy the sky and quietness.

Needless to say, we really liked this place. We are actually going to stay there when we go up before our wedding! I highly recommend this place to anyone who travels up to the 1000 Islands and need a place to stay.

Besides checking out Wooden Boat Inn, we also went to see a Captain Simon's B&B down the street. The place is gorgeous and the owner Bonnie is a sweetheart. She gave me a quick tour of the house and was eager to have my friends and family to stay there.

We went back to the Hart House to refresh our memory of what the place look like, and also how we can hang some of the lanterns we bought for the outside. Jo, the inn keeper was out working in the yard when we arrived so she showed us around again and gave us some ideas on what we could do with the house and yard. I was getting excited just talking to Jo about all the plans I want to have!

While we were on the Wellesley Island, we stopped at Park Antiques in the Thousand Island Park, a private community on the Island. I love going in there because they ahve real antique stuff, not junk as you think of most of the antique stores. I bought a pearl ring there, but silly me forgot to take a picture before I send it to the jeweler for resizing. But I did take a picture of this:

Yes, that's a GIANT spinning wheel! A very old style one. I wish I have the room to buy it. It was a very good price and even for decoration for a craft area would have been very very cool. But it's okay, I did buy this:

A primitive yarn winder! I know, it's a little backwards to buy a yarn winder first, when I don't have a spinning wheel, but this way I can be sure to get the spinning wheel!! See my logic? ;)

On Sunday, David and I drove to Cape Vincent to see the Tibbetts Point Lighthouse since we've never been and it was only 20 mins away!

It was a little cold but gorgeous there. We looked through the telescope and saw another lighthouse on the lake:

I know, not the best picture, but I tried.

After leaving Cape Vincent, we headed to Theresa for the Home Again Farm. It is an alpaca farm, which isn't too far from where we were.

Of course, I couldn't leave without some yarn!!!

So soft! And pretty! I'm thinking of making the Heartland Lace Shawl with it but I'm not sure if I have enough yardage. I'll have to be creative about this.

So overall, it was a productive and relaxing weekend. We love it up there and it would be awesome if we can just spend the whole summer there!!! So if you are looking for a cool place to go, I highly recommend you to travel up to the 1000 Islands!

Anticipation

Look what came in the mail!!!!

This is MY original cube from Schrodinger. I totally forgot that today is the Sock Pentathlon pattern 2 release and I was suppose to be sitting around all day and knit that pattern until it is done! But with Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival being this weekend, I don't think that is going to happen! So I needed something that I can knit and walk with. After lots of searching Monday night, I decided on this cube. I absolutely love it! I can't wait to give it a test "walk"!

The other thing that came in the mail today is the summer issue of the Interweave Knits. I already saw the preview and I can't wait to be able to knit some of the pattern in it! So if you don't have a subscription, go out and get one when it's released in the stores!

So I've been reading on the Ravelry group of MDS&W and learning what to bring and wear, and I can't wait to go! I'll be taking Amtrak down to Baltimore, take a taxi to see MamaE's at her open studio, meet up with Sneaksleep, go to her house, chat/sleep, get up and go to the festival! I also plan on going to the Ravelry Party at Columbia if I'm not completely pooped out after day 1 of the festival. I still need to figure out where I want to go though - I want to try out some spinning wheel during this festival, and save up the $$ this year to get one next year. Oh I can't wait!!!

I better go get ready for that sock pattern. The next time I post, hopefully I will have some socks to show!!! And lots of pictures and loot I'm sure! :)

Updated New Ceations

Well... Just pictures anyways. I finally remember taking pictures before the sun goes down and here are the pictures for the new stitch markers - true representation of what they look like.

The last set was from before, but the picture didn't turn out that great back a few posts either so I decided to retake the picture. Due to the lighter colors, it was hard to show the difference. Oh well.

No other news to report... Time to rest my nose.

New Creations

So I played with the new beads that I acquired the other day -

I really don't know how to photograph these to make it show better. How do people take such great pictures on things so shiny? I tried it with no flash, but it just doesn't look good. Any suggestion would be welcomed.

There is a President's Sale on Artbeads.com so I ordered a bunch of beads to play more. I can't wait for them to get here!

And here is a very dark picture of a stitch pattern I've been practicing -

I really like this stitch pattern. It is the Diagonal Knot Stitch from my "365 Knitting Stitches A Year Perpetual Calendar" that I receive from Itchy 2 years ago for Christmas. This pattern gives quite a depth, and the back is pretty as well.

See! It's pretty :) I'm thinking of using this stitch pattern to make a scarf... Hmmm... Maybe it will be my Smidge along.

Well, I'm gonna go snuggle with my monkey blanket and drink some cocoa and watch some TV, and maybe even knit some... Oh, yeah, and let my nose and the tissues have a party... ::sigh::

Thank You My Cocoa Swap Pal!

I came home and found a big box in front of the door, and inside it contained these:

All the presents were nicely wrapped and presented

It's my Hot Cocoa swap package!!!!

Can you tell she really took care of me? So here is the list of what InsanKnitty put together for me:

• Homemade cocoa mix
  
• Photo travel mug - instead of pictures, she put in a piece of hand knitted stockinette swatch.
• Mousepad calendar with doggies on them
• 2 Marshmallow men - my "Beat the Winter Blahs" buddies
• 2 sets of stitch markers and 1 set of keychains made by InsanKnitty
• Honey Sticks!
• Werther's Original hard candies
• Homemade Marshmallows - So yummy, already dived in~
• Cocoa mixes - 2 from Hershey's Cocoa Reserve (Mayan and Aztec), 4 Candycane Cocoa with real peppermint candycane from Sephen's, which is the kind David's mom got me for Christmas and I finished and wanted for me but couldn't find!!! And a pack of Chocolate Royale by For Giving Souls.
• 1 package of sticky notes in mug shape
• 1 package of recipe cards with her homemade cocoa mix recipe on it
• 1 tube of chocolate cover sunflower seeds
• A felted mug - that will be my pen holder at work for sure!
• 2 skeins of yarn - of course yarn!!! Blue one is from NH Knitting Mama and the Orange one is from Glass Hedge Studios.
• 2 package of Chew Cheez Rolls - she even remembers my puppies!

Here is the close-up of the stitch markers and keychains - although apparently my photo taking skill isn't really quite to par...

So I want to just give a shout out to InsanKnitty - Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!! I love EVERYTHING! Even David was impressed with the thought you put into putting this package! And here are Mick and Vanilla saying their thank you's -

Random Thoughts

WHAT HAPPENED? ::sigh:: There is always next year for the Patriots!

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So I've been busy making stitch markers!!! Here are the two sets I made:

The color is hard to photograph. The beads on the left are provided by Archiknist and the crystals were mine. I am planning to give one set to my cocoa swap pal and one set to Archiknist for being so generous to let me borrow her whole set of jewelry making kit - she just doesn't know it yet (until she reads my post).

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So I've made some progress on The Yarn Wall. First, I got my domain names!!! No website yet, but at least it is search-able and it's out in the WWW. My friend Adam had given me a lot of pointers on the website stuff and I can't wait to get to work on it - but not until I have my business plan completed. Also, I've been reading "Start Your Own Business" from the Entrepreneur Magazines. Mine is actually an older version (3rd edition) as I had bought it under Adam's recommendation exactly 2 years ago when he was just about to quit Schick and work on his online business. (Make sure you check out all three links that I've put in here - they are all different!) I did the quiz at the beginning of the book and boy, am I now more ready than ever! I've read this book half way through and never finished it for some reason, and now I am re-reading it and are learning some of the things I didn't remember reading about. So if you ever consider starting your own business, be sure to pick this one up - definitely worth your money.

I also talked to the first Sales Rep for the yarn shop. I'm sure she won't be the last. She is fun and bubbly and I can't wait to meet her in person!

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On the knitting front - I've been working on a secret project - it is almost done and I won't be able to post anything about it until it is gifted. Lets just say it's 50% completed and it should be done soon. I haven't really worked on anything else though...

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Remember the Linky Love post? (scroll down couple of the posts) Well, it turned out that The Yarn Garden was listed twice so some people were linking them to one place, and some to the others. So you might want to go and check your links in Ravelry - if you clicked on the store and it only shows like 4 or 5 patrons? That's the wrong link and go back and just delete "in Meriden, Connecticut" and click on the little infinity symbol next to the text box, and it should show up "The Yarn Garden - Meriden, CT".

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On January 31st, my blog turned TWO! Happy Belated Birthday to Café Eclectic. And thank you all for reading.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to meeeee,
Happy Birthday to me!

I got quite a few nice messages from my SnB girls wishing me a happy birthday. Those messages put smiles on my face. Thanks girls!

Despite the fact that I really wanted to go to WEBs, I didn't. I didn't buy any yarn or visit any yarn stores, because I really have a lot of yarn that I haven't use yet! I did however went to Target and got an organizer for one of the cubby holes so now it is more orderly, instead of keep losing things in the pile. The drawers are mainly for loose needles, knitting notions and accessories, and swatches.

David is taking me out to Outback to dinner :) mmm Steak and Baked Sweet Potatoes...

Pretty Dogs and New Additions

We took the dogs to be groomed today. Look!

Aren't they pretty? They are soooooo soft! Mick is Elvis and Vanilla just plain darn cute with the two little bows!!!

And look what came in the mail!

I called KnitPicks right before Christmas about one of the cord not able to thread onto the needles, and the replacement came yesterday. There was hardly any wait on the phone and they didn't ask for the cord back at all!

And this came too!

But I can't reveal what's inside yet because it contains something for Anphoe!

Speaking of mail, I got an email from michou - she received the little package I put together for her. It was more of a Happy New Year present than Christmas, but it got there none the less. Her older son liked the Winnie the Pooh board book set I sent along with the package. Apparently he now thinks all women that has long black hair "Jenn!" So cute :) I must figure out a way meet them when we go on our honeymoon in 2009.

When we dropped off the dogs for grooming today, we went to Barnes and Noble and gotten these:

And I got these when we were in Michigan:

I want to experiment with cupcakes and hopefully come up with some gluten free processed-sugar free versions of them and maybe, just maybe, in time for the wedding and use those as wedding cakes. And see the doggie needles? They are so cute that David thought I should have them, even if I don't use them.

I made a little progress on the sock. But with the game on, I should probably make some great progress.

Go Patriots!

ps. One last thing - we worked on our wedding registry today on Amazon. Setting up a registry is a much harder task than I had anticipated!!!

A Great Day

Let me give you a run down of my day and you may agree with me on my title for today.

• I worked grand total of 2 and half hours today.
• I went to a nice lunch at Carmen Anthony's, had a nice Fillet Mignon and Creme Brulee, courtesy of Schick.
• I went to the post office and sent out the package for my new friend in Germany. Too bad it isn't going to be delivered by Christmas, but it's the best I can do.
  
• I got the beads I ordered for my Wedding Stole, but I think they are too big.

• I stamped up all the Save the Date so they are ready to be mailed.

• I got to watch David's nephew learning how to ride a bike on a DVD that arrived today in the mail along with a Christmas card.
• I got some Christmas presents from my coworkers.

• I got a swift as birthday present from David. No, it's not my birthday YET (12/31).

• I went to my Wednesday SnB and we had a nice cookie swap.

• Marla from Casting On came to SnB and brought the audio book of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife.

So yeah, I had a good day :) And I leave you one more photo so Bruno won't hijack my computer again...

Harmony

Look!

It came in the mail tonight. These were my motivation/payment to finish the two vests for my dad. The needles were really not as bright as it seems, it is more of a darker color and very rich. I really like them. Now only if they came a couple of days ago before I cast on Diamond Spires Shawl... Oh well. I'll be testing them out on Mystic Water Stole or maybe my Moondance Stole, which ever I decided to be my next project.

My Ravelry shirt came too - well, it went to Anphoe, but I accidentally left it at work. I'll post about it tomorrow when I remember to bring it home. And I'll also post about the progress made on Diamond Spires as well. Until then.