in the spirit of the sharing season....

i am sharing this info with you all. even thought i really really want to win, if it can't be me, i would want it to go to one of you, my dear friends. so - click over to Knit Purl Gurl and sign up to win a fabulous Namaste knitting bag. i have coveted one of these bags for a long time. could anything be more decadent than a beautiful leather knitting bag? in my humble opinion, coach & dooney have nothing on these lovelies. let me know if you win!

boy, am i ever thankful...

that i finished these babies. even more, i am thankful that they are the RIGHT SIZE!!!!! yes, they fit, and they are finished! and what about this yarn folks??? if it was food, i know it would rock the calorie scales. i think i gained weight just knitting with it. it is a noro yarn, i have always wanted to try a noro yarn, but felt i needed to reach a certain level of, i don't know, knittingness i guess. the knitting god was with me, because it all sure came together in these mittens.

even chuck loves these mittens. look at him rubbing his hands together, the little stinker

have a wonderful, happy thanksgiving everyone!

it's winter!

we have our first snow! folks around here are either tickled and jolly about, or grinchy mcgrinches. surprisingly, i'm one of the tickled ones. i've always believed if it's going to be cold, we might as well have snow. cullan and i hauled all our snowboarding gear down from the attic yesterday. in this season of being thankful, i am very very thankful i still fit in my snowboarding pants. for now.

my boot camp son got a 10 minute phone call a few days ago. he says he has never been so hot in his life. they get 4 minutes to eat their meals. he and his wing man are the best bedmakers in their flight. and the whole flight has to do push ups if someone leaves the toilet seats down. for pete's sake, does the air force have any idea how much time mother's spend ranting at their boys for leaving them UP???

i'm still working on bella mittens #2, forcing myself to knit loose.... i'm using a nice fat Noro yarn and the colors are too wonderful.

and i just finished my annual volunteer project, a raffle quilt for the Kodiak Kingfishers Swim Team. the team has been a big part of our family since devon started swimming in the 3rd grade, and even though i don't have a swimmer right now, i feel it's important to support such a great organization for our kids. i hope it goes to a nice home, and makes some travel money for the team too.

oh rats.

i really want to be able to knit. i have been trying hard the past year or so. i've bought a lot of books that assure me i can do it. i've collected some beautiful needles in many sizes. and lord knows purchasing yarn is not what is holding me back, i have lots. thick soft fat stuff, slinky slidey lacy stuff, boy can i buy yarn. i've managed a few hats, some scarves, one pair of socks that look like they were purchased at a store in Who-ville. when i get to a place in a pattern i don't understand, i just make something up. so far, it has worked okay for me. now, my mom can knit like a goddess. i swear she could knit wings for the angels. i didn't get the knitting gene from her. and when she tried to impart her knowledge to me, it's like a door slams in my face. i just can't follow her. so, i signed up for a mitten class. chris told me i just had to be able to cast on, knit & purl. i can do those 3 things. they were cabled mittens, and she was going to show us how to knit two at a time on circular needles. perfect. it was a fun group of ladies, kindof varied in skill levels, and everyone has been helping each other along. i've learned that i can't knit and talk at the same time. even listening to other people talk while i knit can lead to heinous errors. but, i've managed to keep up class by class, with some interesting detours from the pattern, which wonderful chris helps me remedy as needed. finally, tuesday night, i finished the thumbs, wove in the ends, and there they were, finished & in my eye, beautiful. only one problem.

they are too small.