Merry Christmas!

Well, I managed to get all my Christmas knitting finished on time this year, phew! I think the gifts were very well received. Christmas Eve with the in-laws and Christmas day with my family were two days of  merriment. Ate a lot, laughed a lot and opened lot's of gifts, so who could possibly complain about that! At the moment, the snow is falling at a very rapid rate, making for a very cozy day. The recipients of said Christmas knits have agreed to model for me so all I need to do now is get a new memory card for my camera and set up the photo shoots!
Stay tuned for the pics...As for the new background for this blog, I thought the snow was very appropriate. However, I think I will probably be updating it again very soon so enjoy for now.

Quiet on the homefront

I have managed to complete a cowl and a sock is 75% done but it feels as though I haven't been up to much at all in regard to my knitting. Thanksgiving is over and I now have to get some serious Christmas knitting underway. I have kept the projects small and to a select few so I don't anticipate a major meltdown on Christmas eve but...we shall see. There are also a few small felt/embroidery numbers that I plan to whip up for those not receiving a knit item. Again, these are small and few so as long as I keep to a decent work schedule the sewing shouldn't interfere with the knitting. For one person I have a much needed item to buy. That person will also be receiving a knit item. As for the others...I have to admit that this may be the year of the gift cards. I put so much energy into last years gifts that I don't think I have it in me this year. Unless I have some great epiphany, that's my plan and I'm sticking to it!

YouTube - The Dandy Warhols live in Philly 11-7-10

YouTube - The Dandy Warhols live in Philly 11-7-10

Here's another sample, sorry, couldn't help myself. If you want to see more of this concert, go to you tube and type the caption above. There's a bunch of great videos!

YouTube - The Dandy Warhols - We used to be friends - live @ the Electric Factory

YouTube - The Dandy Warhols - We used to be friends - live @ the Electric Factory

This is a sample of the concert I saw at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. The Dandy Warhol's are awesome live and I can't wait to see them again!

Waxing Nostaligic

My trip to Philadelphia was bittersweet. Although it was nostalgic in every way possible, it was also very weird. My sweetie & I felt like tourists but not tourists. We lived there for eight years, both as students in art school and as newlyweds. We knew our way around, yet so many things had changed in our old neighborhood. We managed to plan our trip so effectively that we saw everything mostly in one day. That's the great thing about Philly, it has all the things NYC has but it doesn't overwhelm you. It's completely manageable. O.K. enough of my waxing...now for the pictures...

We used the GPS this time (like we didn't know where we were going?) and happened to find a new way into the city. We always go 287 to NJ Turnpike, which feels like an eternity...the GPS had us take 202 to I95. We ended up gaining 40 minutes which was great but we didn't take the Ben Franklin bridge into the city. There is something about driving over the bridge and seeing the skyline that gives me butterflies. So, these pictures are of the view driving into the city from the side basically.

This is the view of the city from our hotel room during the day...

and night.

What changes happened in our old neighborhood over the past six years you ask? Well, the church was knocked down and now there's a parking lot (isn't there a song about this?).

The Art Museum Diner, where we often had Sunday breakfast...

is now a pizza place.

Thank goodness some things stay the same. Our favorite used book store, Book Haven is still there. The owner remembered us after such a long time away.

Our favorite restaurant, Bridgid's, is still there. It doesn't look like much from the outside but I swear this is a place that doesn't disappoint (North 24th st.).

Philadelphia is a city known for their murals. Here are a few examples...

A mural on the avenue of the arts.

A mural on Market Street.

A mural on Rodman Street.

A mosaic that has everything in it...from pottery to mirror pieces. Not only is the building covered but so is the court yard. This is a must see (10th & South).

Philly also has great sculpture...
From Alexander Calder...

to Claes Oldenburg...

As if touring the city all day and taking in great art wasn't enough, we also managed to catch one of the best concerts I've ever seen...the Dandy Warhol's...

The next day I went to two local yarn stores, Rosie's Yarn Cellar (20th/Locust st) & Loop (19th/south st)

and finished off our visit by eating the best cheese steak in Philly, at Jim's steaks on 4th & South

and strolling famous South Street. If you're looking for something, you'll find it here...

Philadelphia is such a great city and it will always hold a special place in my heart. There of course is so much more to see. The next time we visit, we plan to do all the museums. If you've never been, then obviously you would also need to do all the historic sites like Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Betsy Ross House and Boat House Row, to name just a few.

Until the next time Philly...

Fall Back

I realized today that the clocks go back. This also made me realize that fall will soon be over and snow will be here before we know it. It's really cold today and while that makes for great knitting conditions, I am unable to devote any real time to my knitting lately. I've been errand running and making preparations for a quick weekend getaway. Of course, I will be taking some of my projects on the road with me. (That's what's getting me through). In the meantime however, I thought I'd take a quick break to make some overdue updates to the blog. It was looking very spring-like so I added fall leaves to the background...in an attempt to hang on to what's left of the season.  So, until I return to share some photo's...Happy Fall Everyone!

And the winner's are...

As I posted yesterday, Maya D won the first prize in my first blog giveaway. Today I am pleased to announce that Amybel and Jobo Designs have won the second and third prizes. Thanks so much for following me! Congratulations and I will be sending your prize shortly.

YAY and UGH all at the same time

YAY! :
 For Maya D who is the first follower of this blog and the winner of my very first giveaway. As per my announcement on Ravelry there are two more prizes for the 2nd and 3rd followers.  (Maya please email at the address above as to where I can send your prize. Congrats!)

UGH! : 
For the fact that I have spent an entire day trying to put a Ravelry link onto this blog. Honestly, I think I've gone cross eyed! I may have to admit defeat, at least for today anyway....

Rhinebeck Update (better late than never...)

So, this post is a bit late but...here are my pics from Rhinebeck's Sheep & Wool Festival!
First let me start with the beautiful fall colors...

My fleece friends that make it all happen...

A broom demonstration (which I've never caught before)...

(I love this pic,see all the straw in mid air as he cuts it)




Me hanging out with my friends...

An awesome sand castle ...

and last but certainly not least, my goodies...

Since it's a little hard to tell what I purchased, here's a list;
1. Cowlgirls (book of cowl patterns) by Cathy Carron   2. A renewal subscription to WildFibers   3. Stitch markers from Waters Edge Jewelry (I bought them for the knit charms to add to #4)   4. A knit themed charm bracelet from   5. Three pins (they say: I'm a naughty knitter, Will knit for wine and Rhinebeck Rocks and a bumper sticker that says If knitting were exercise you could bounce a quarter off my ass  6. Yarn from Shel B. & Anita (iloveyarn.com) in green 7. a Pattern from Helen Hamann for the cork screw scarf     and 7. Fearful Symmetry Sock kit from Tsarina of Tsocks.
I guess that should keep me busy for a while right?

Can't Wait!!!!!

I am SOooooooo excited!!!!!

Of course, this year the NYS sheep/wool fest is Oct. 16&17 but...you get the general idea.

What's On The Needles?

Well...I'm almost finished with a cowl to keep my sweetie's neck warm...

A pair of two toned socks for me...

And then a sock mate for the previous pair I was working on for myself... 

I also have some knitting projects I need to start for my etsy shop so basically, I feel as though I've knit myself into a corner with all these projects. I don't know what pair of needles to pick up first. I need to prioritize...unfortunately my socks can wait. Since it's getting colder by the minute and as it's almost done, the cowl should come first. Then I need to crank out some shop items. At that point, I should be able to sit back and finish the socks. Unless I start more projects of course. My new mantra shall be 'finish before starting new knits' . 

Testing,Testing, 1... 2... 3

O.K, so I think I may have figured out the problem...needed to put all my pics in picasa, then select the ones I want to post on blog. I kinda figured this out by pure accident but whatever, just so glad I don't have to relocate my blog...at least for the moment. Hopefully I will be glitch free from now on.

The above pics are of the items I now have in my etsy store. Sadly, I didn't realize that my pics were too large for etsy's format so they are a bit blurry. One day it will all come together for me and I will laugh at how pathetic I once was. Or at least this is how I figure it in my head, we shall see...

I've decided that the first person who follows me (officially by clicking the option on the right) will get a free gift (handmade item) from me. At the moment I don't know if there is anyone out there even reading this but I promise to keep my word no matter how long it takes. This offer has no experation date!   

Where's the pic?

It's been a while and yet there is still a problem loading pictures onto my blog. All I have to say is;
Thanks Blogger! Thanks for nothing! At this point I have no urge to continue to post anything new without a photo so until I can get this thing resolved (and keep in mind, I may have to move my whole blog) you probably will not be hearing from me for a while. To all those who stop by, stay well and I will be in touch soon.

Finally!

Well...here they are, the long awaited labels!!!! Yay!

Now all I have to do is iron them onto the back of the pins, take some more detailed photo's of each item and upload them to my etsy shop. Of course that will be no problem if all goes well...but if anyone out there knows me, then they know it's not going to be that simple.
Let's take today for instance. I have spent about 4 hours trying to remove a virus from my computer (I think I got it looking up a local Thai restaruant, can you imagine!) as well as trying to get blogger to work. I wasn't even able to publish a post until about 5 minutes ago and now that I seem to be able to do that much, I am currently having problems loading images from my desktop onto this post. What I want to know is, why would someone change things if they were fine before. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!!!! And by the way I know it isn't an error on my part because I am doing the same thing I always do. AHHHHHH the frustration!

(This post was written on Moday but I never posted it because I was having difficulties loading my photo's. I thought the problem would be fixed by now but it is not. At this point I am thinking that blogger is to unpredictable and I may have to change my blog address. I've decided to publish this post anyway without the pics and continue to work on a solution for this problem)

Rest In Peace My Sweet Eakins

I know I've been MIA but I just couldn't talk about it for a while. On September 13th we had to put our little Eakins down. I guess I just didn't want to face the fact that he was thirteen years old, he still had such a baby face. The sad news is that he had a tumor which explains why he had been losing weight. Fluid was building up in his chest from the tumor as well. He wasn't able to expand his lungs fully and I'm sure he was uncomfortable. We didn't want to see him in any pain so we felt we had no choice. It has taken me a while to get back to my old self again. This was really a very difficult thing for me to deal with. I felt (still do really) as though my heart had a huge hole in it. But he has a beautiful resting place under the peach tree. He has chimes and a birdbath along with bright flowers and a special plaque.
He will always be our 1st baby and we have many special memories of him to last a lifetime.

See...

I told you I was busy making stuff. I made 5 pins in all but I didn't take a photo of the last one yet. Anyway, the ones pictured here are going to be sold on etsy just as soon as my labels arrive in the mail (and I figure out how to get everything onto etsy of course) hopefully it won't take too long. The last pin was actually a custom order for my mom who wanted a pin to wear to her red hat club. I will try to post a picture in the next day or two. Who knows, maybe her red hat friends will want a pin too!

As for these pins, I spent a few hours making each one. I started by selecting the buttons and then just let the piece "speak" to me. The brown and gold one has a real art deco feel to me.
The checkered one has a very traditional feel.

The orange and teal one just makes me happy.

Seeing it on my denim jacket makes me almost not want to part with  it!                                                                                                                                            

This pink and black one seems to be the favorite. I showed all the completed pins to three people on seperate occassions and that was the one they seemed to like the best, go figure. I also had a lot of fun with the photo shoot.  I took the pins outside and tried to put them in the most natural setting. After all, they are flowers!

(sorry for the wierd break in the text. Just can't seem to figure that out yet!)