pjbknit

Prizes!

DH picked three names at random, and here are the prizes and winners.
3rd prize is a set of four hanks of wool sportweight yarn. Karen S won this. It is going all the way to Denmark. From eBay listing: 4  skeins of fine quality  sock 100% wool yarn. It will felt. Total weight is 7  ounces. Colors:   white, blush, pink and burgundy. Each color is one skein. Sport weight. Yardage is 1,350  yards per pound

Second prize is Andromeda silk/merino yarn, Turquoise Dreams, from Stitches Under the Sun on Etsy. The winner is Jen C

And, drum roll please, Lisa won first prize.
Here are the fabric choices for a sock bag sewn by me (also useful for other small projects)

Kittens and yarn

Cherry blossoms

Mary Engelbreit teapots

Tag, You're It

I was tagged by  Mary Beth with a meme. Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 or more pages. I picked up Debbie Macomber's 74 Seaside Avenue, and opened it. I happened to open on page 123

2. Open the book to page 123 and find the 5th sentence. "Dad?" Jolene cut into his musings.

3. Post the next 3 sentences.
"What?"
You're standing up but you're not going anywhere."
"I am?" He hadn't been aware that he was on his feet until Jolene pointed it out.

Well, there ya go.  It is a little more interesting than the 2008 Accord Owner' s Manual that was a little closer to hand.
If anyone in blogland has not done this, you are tagged. :)

I Had to Have It

So I found this button on Cafe Press. I also got an oval bumper sticker that says RSS. Love my blog feeds. The cell phone camera is my new toy, though Verizon is making lots of extra $$ from me from picture messages. I tried to blog from the cell phone today using Flickr. Oh well.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

DH got me my entire Amazon wish list, I believe. From left to right, Not Your Mother's Slow-Cooker Cookbook For Two (I have three Crock-Pots in varying sizes), Teach Yourself Visually Knitting Design, One Skein, Obsession, Deceit and Very Dark Chocolate; Vogue's Ultimate Sock Book, and Sheila MacGregor's Traditional Scandinavian Knitting.

I have been trying to use up some stash yarn, so I started Maine Morning Mitts with Karaoke (50% wool, 50% Soysilk.) . Somewhere there is purple in this skein. Match? ha.

Gratuitous Amaryllis Photos, Xmas Tree and Etc.

We got a new ornament for the Christmas tree, a gift from friends. BTW, DH's sister gave us a trip to Las Vegas for Xmas. It is so nice to go in March for Spring Break, when the temps can be half what they are in the summer- like 112 degrees F.

The amaryllis are still buds, but are getting taller. The other greenery is my rosemary cuttings, with which I always have trouble. We have not seen the sun for days, so I had to do something when it came out.

And oh yes, I keep forgetting to post that our bank was robbed Thursday at midmorning, by men armed with a pistol and assault rifle. DH is usually there around that time. The bag of money was thrown out in the middle of Main Street when red dye started spurting from it. You can see photos here if you desire. It's the most wonderful time of the year, right?

Presents and flowers

Well, I got one present! (Just sounded better in plural in the title) A knitting book, KnitKnit: Profiles + Projects from Knitting's New Wave, given to me by two of my co-workers.  There are neat and funky things in here.  I have heard of some of the knit designers featured in here.

Lookie here! There is a bud and/or blossom on every dang branch. This after I forgot to give the Christmas cactus extra darkness in the fall.

I feel better

I am feeling a lot better, after having bronchitis. At least the awful sinus pressure went away. Last week was fun, with 3 migraines followed immediately by an upper respiratory infection. DH and I don't know if our Christmas present to ourselves,  the fancy Simmons Beautyrest mattress with modal, (like in Knitpicks Shine) cashmere, silk, alpaca and wool is really comfortable, because we have been coughing too much to get much rest. Anyway, my package from Bibby, my partner in the Alabama Knitbloggers Christmas ornament swap, came today.  Everything was great! A cute sheep-y mug, chocolate, holiday tissues (really appreciated right now) and a handknit ball, bell and wreath.  Did I say everything is wonderful? Look at the cute card. We also haven't felt up to decorating, so I had to look for a red backdrop.

The only thing that I have felt like working on while sick and cold medication impaired is the Toe Jazz sock. There are cables down the back, and ribs on the front. I have almost finished the larger part of the toe section here. I really like this Lang Jawoll cotton blend yarn.

Secret Pal Package and Reveal

My Secret Pal 11, Deborah, sent me a great package today. It is cold and gray, and the goodies helped cheer me up immensely. She sent me tea, chocolate, yarn..what else do ya need? She also made me Christmas ornament, and sent a mug for my collection, and Crazy Aunt Purl's book, which I have been wanting. Thanks for a great SP 11, Deborah.  I decided not to reveal myself for a few days to my SP, as I found such a cute Secret Pal card.

New Toy

Here is my new toy, a Garmin nuvi 650. I should have had this GPS in Atlanta. No Bluetooth-we don't need no stinkin' Bluetooth ...yet.  This post is even slightly knitting related. Hey, I have an Audible subscription and used a credit to get this book free. I also have Alexander McCall Smith's Blue Shoes and Happiness on here.  (DH tells me to download Gone with the Wind. ) And I got to work OK this morning. It startled me once to hear a voice in the car telling me to turn.

Miscellany

I frogged Ariann and cast on for another felted pumpkin last night. Ariann lives on, on this blog and Ravelry. I started Mr. Greenjeans from Knitty the other day, with the yarn that was formerly Ariann. I can do top-down raglans, bottom-up not so much.

I donated to several worthy causes, including Aimee's Walk with Us to Cure Lupus. I read about Aimee on Wendy's blog, and probably saw her in Atlanta at the Yarn Harlot event. There are lots of yummy prizes being donated. Check out the Web site.

Oh yeah, I said I was knitting more pumpkins. The bigger one is from  Carol Bristol's Felted Pumpkin Pair in Lion Wool Pumpkin, and the smaller one is the Minature Felted Pumpkin from Wool Windings, in Wool of the Andes Pumpkin. The leaf and tendril are in Patons Classic Wool.