Wordless Wednesday

YIP

So I probably will keep up with this for about a week... but what the heck. I joined the flickr group "YIP, the knitterly and crafty types" where the goal (don't know why my font has gone weird...) is to take a picture every day of the year. Well, I'm already 5 days behind, but we're going to ignore that! So, if you are on flickr, my username is MooseInSocks.  I will probably post a few of the pictures here (ohhh... actually, maybe Wordless Wednesday will return!) and on twitter, so if you are on there you can check them out. 

And because I love to enable other fiber addicts, here is what I have been coveting lately. 

This fiber from Fiber Fancy called conversation hearts. I would love to ply it with a semi-solid pink or yellow... yum. 

And I actually did buy this... a very cute orifice hook for my spinning wheel.  There are more available and she is SUPER fast! I wanted a white sheep, but it was already sold. I convo'ed her and it was done by the end of the day! WOW!

And, these batts from Desert Garden Farms. LOVE. I actually will probably wind up with these by the end of the week if they are still available. They just look so soft....

Now I am off to go spin... 

Un-Resolutions

I don't like to make new year's resolutions. I'm not sure that I've ever been successful with any... and I feel like if it's something I really want to do, I should start then, not wait until the new year. I do sometimes set goals for myself for the new year, such as to knit with more of my own handspun... but I feel like that is because a calendar year is an easy way to measure time, and because it is something that is pretty flexible (I only used my handspun for one project this past year, so if I knit TWO things, done!) and attainable. Maybe they are the same thing, and I just like the word goal more... who knows. ANYWAY. My goals for the year are (drumroll please):

*Knit with more of my handspun yarn
*Be more budget-wise
*Knit a shawl
*Get my sewing room under control (which has been a goal for a while, but I recently have come up with some concrete ideas that I think will help.)
*Finish one of the two sweaters I have started for myself
*Spin more often (I have gotten out of the 10 mins a day habit...)
*Learn to weave!

I think that is really a good start. I have been dreaming of knitting a Sweet Georgia (rav link) with my handspun yarn for a while now, and I want to get it done before Jan. In fact, I might go look in my closet and try to find an appropriate yarn for it tonight...

I have also joined some Spin-A-Longs lately that I think will help keep me on track with my spinning goals. They are all from the wonderful etsy shop Desert Garden Farms and have amazing themes.  The one for this month is Shel Silverstein poems, and I am also in the Create-A-Pirate SAL.  I will probably be joining the Murder Mystery SAL because that just sounds like TOO much fun! I've even put some thought into how I'm going to spin my poem batts and I think they will be awesome!!

I had some other things to blog about, but the dogs whining has distracted me, and I have now forgotten them. I better take them out walking before they drive me insane.

Quick Crazy Dog Post

Just popping in to tell you about my crazy dogs. Last night, at 2 am, I awoke to strange crunching noises. I asked W what was going on, and he said Frito had a rawhide. Knowing we don't have any rawhide in the house, I asked where he got it.  Upon further investigation, we found out that Frito had somehow evolved, was able to open the dog cabinet (where we keep treats, leashes, nail clippers, etc) and steal one of the bully sticks I had in there for a special occasion.  He hadn't evolved enough to take the plastic off, which is why the noises were so odd that woke me up. He is such a fat-minded dog...

One day when we were driving to go skiing, Snickers learned how to open the window of the car. I was not amused.

I think I may have to stop getting my dogs "smart" toys... it is looking like if I don't they may take over the house.... more than they already have... alright, off to work!!

Also, go take a look at this shoe tutorial! I am definitely going to be trying my hand at these in a few weeks.

Mystery Quilt

I love mystery quilts. What you do is you sign up for the class, get a list of fabric to buy, and then follow the directions step by step (in class) to have the quilt revealed to you.  Choosing fabric for a mystery quilt is a bit tough, since you have no idea what the quilt will look like, but I think it is fun.  I have done quite a few mystery quilts, and I don't think that I have ever made one that I don't like. There had been one that was a HUGE pain in the butt because it had a million pieces, but when it was done (well, the top... it still needs to be quilted) it was pretty amazing. So the picture above is of the fabric for my New Year's Mystery.  It will be the first quilt class I've taken in a while. I'm pretty excited. The flower-y fabric is the border, the creme the background, and the others are ?? who knows... but I think it will be pretty amazing. It isn't what I would normally pick out, but I fell in love with the border fabric, and it was 60% off, AND it was the exact amount I needed... so it came home with me. Even W said that it was a pretty different color scheme for me, but he really likes it as well. So I will hopefully be adding another quilt to my home soon... who knows what it will look like, I will keep you posted!

Insert Title Here

Christmakah is officially over.... it was fun.  Now all that is left is to clean up! We will probably take down the tree tomorrow and possibly burn it on New Year's... it is pretty fun to watch it burn for about three seconds...

W did wind up getting me something.  He got me the special edition Mama Mia! Blu-Ray DVD. It is pretty awesome. And the best part... it comes with the soundtrack so I can sing along in my car! He is constantly surprising me at how amazing he is. I watched the movie while he was away deer hunting and kept raving about how fun it was! (for about a day... then it was done...) And he remembered... amazing.

We had Christmas with W's parents about a week ago and we got a lot of pampered chef stuff, which was great! We also got some ski passes for Aleyska and movie passes, so we will be enjoying those while we have some time off.

Yesterday we went and saw Sherlock Holmes, as the Bennett family tradition is to see a movie on Christmas. It was ok. I felt like they were trying so hard to set up for a sequel that they made this one about 25 mins too long. I would see it at Bear's Tooth, but I would not buy it. I was a bit bummed, because I had pretty high hopes for the movie... I love Robert Downy Jr. and it looked like it was going to be quite the blockbuster. Oh well!

I think that is about it. I am almost done with my Knotty but Nice hat... 9 rows to go! So maybe that will be done before I go to bed. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Ruining Christmas

Apparently I ruined Christmas by buying myself this:

It is the interchangeable needle set from Hiya Hiya and I am totally in love. I think they are amazing. I had mentioned to W that I had my eye on these and apparently he was planning on getting them for my for Christmas. I thought he would forget and I went and bought them for myself. Oops! So W said that I ruined Christmas and now I wasn't getting anything... :) Which is fine, I already got my needles!

On another ruining Christmas note, I finished two little quilts this week.  I have one more left to quilt and then I will be done with my gift sewing! So I am posting pictures here (but K, don't show your kiddos! They are wrapped and under my tree for when you feel better!) so everyone can enjoy them, and so I can brag. :)

These are of C's quilt. He loves fire trucks... I designed it as I went and I am really happy with it. My favorite fabric is the puppy one. Too cute! The back is the fabric with all of the equipment.

These are of N's quilt. He loves dogs and this fabric was just too cute to cut up! The back is a blue flannel and the binding has little paw prints. I'm also totally in love with this one! I can't wait until the kiddos get to snuggle with them.

The mascot of Christmaka!

We have to take Snickers to the vet today for his rabies shot... I'm not looking forward to it. The last time we took him to the vet he wouldn't let the vet touch him... so hopefully he does better this time. We are taking Frito and a bunch of his favorite treats. So keep your fingers crossed that he doesn't have to be held down like a WWF wrestler and things go smoothly....