The Reveal

Finally, the reveal of my secret pal! I have been particpating in Secret Pal since August and today I received my last package from my Pal. She's no other than Lesley. She has been spoiling me since September with thoughtful gift and wonderful yarns. Here's my last packageLindt Chocolates (how did you know????), hand cream, lip balm, pampered foot and leg cream (I drafted my hubby to massage it in), ornaments, Beads and DB yarn for a hat pattern. (I must admit, the dental floss threw me off until I read the instructions for them) LOL and cute and wonderul stitch markers.

and my absolute fave:

Personalized stitch markers! I ADORE them! I have an obsession about stitch markers lately and this was the icing cake! Oh thank you!

I can't wait to get to know my pal a bit more. However, the family is off to a ski chalet for Christmas week and we're leaving this Friday. I would not have any access to the net for a while - how primitive!!! LOL.

Mommy's Little Helper

This weekend had flew by. It was filled with putting up the Christmas tree, decorating it, putting up Christmas lights and shopping. Good thing I had my two little elves to help me:

While shopping for additional ornaments for the tree, the knitter in me can't resist this

Of course, in a perfect world, these ornaments would be knitted by yours truly, but instant gratification won the vote on this one. Decorating the tree with a toddler and pre-schooler took longer than expected but it truly bought out the magic of the holidays. Complete with broken ornaments, screaming toddler and frazzled mom. However, the finished product ain't half bad.After putting the kids to bed, I started this sweater for a friend who's wife will be delivering in February. This original designed is by Anny Purl. I volunteer to test-knit the Hickery Dickery Dot in size 3 months. I am knitting this in a simple cotton from Cottontot. The front is done and I am finishing up the back. I'm hoping to have this finish by next week.

Winter Wonderland

Over the past few days, we officially had our first snow. Like every other city in North America that ever experienced the first snow of the season - no one knew how to drive, everyone and their brothers stocked up on bread and milk, we all ran to Home Depot panicking that the last snow shovel might be sold out. When I tuned into the weather channel and they announce a winter storm watch, the whole city braced for a gruesome .....1/2 day of storm. Yep, we're a paranoid bunch!

The snow was beautiful, well, at least from the inside anyway. Since this was the first snow and Aliana is a bit obsessed about Frosty the Snowman lately, Max took her out to build one.

I can't even take credit for this snowman because I didn't go out at all. My little boy, who's future looks promising as a couch potato, opted to stay in with a bowl of popcorn and an episode of Blue's Clue. I had no choice but to sit with him, right?

Awwww - he sures takes after his mommy when it comes to his laziness! (notice the hand movement from bowl to mouth!)

While Hubby and Aliana was out playing, I stayed in and made Beef Stew. They both came in red cheeked and I sat them down for a nice hearty meal. My goodness, all I was missing was a film crew since it really felt like another Campbell Soup commercial.

I've made some progress on the Fleece Artist Northumberland sweater. I must admit, knitting in the round with just ribbing of K4, P4... my brain was slipping into comatose. I'm sure eventually I will finish this sweater. My goal would be Winter 2010!

Since I developed this love for the Continental method, I decide to knit Max a yoke sweater. This one is knitted from Dream in Color in Dusky Aurora. I figure I'll keep knitting this up to the arm hole and I'll figure out a texture stitch for the yoke later. That's me - knitting on the fly. I can barely follow a pattern so I'm not sure what possess me to knit this sweater without one. As with all handpainted yarn, they always recommended that I use 2 balls and alternate between rows so the color all blend together. It says it on all the label, my LYS had mentioned it when I bought it, all the blogs I read had talked about it.

Since I think that I am always the exception to the rules and that the knitting gods is smiling on

me, I proceed to knit this using one ball at a time. I guess I shouldn't whine as much since it was expected. There's a HUGE color difference halfway up the sweater. Oh well, if my Hubby mentions it, I will tell him it's an artistic intention.

Knitting VS. Hoarding

In the past couple of months, it seems I have been hoarding yarns more than I have been knitting them. (Trust me, I haven't blogged about all my purchases) It just seems denial is more effective. Once the yarns are bought, I'll just stick them in the back of my stash and forget about them. There... no guilt feeling...see no evil, hear no evil. Must buy more yarn!!!

Well, I actually took the time and entered it into Ravelry. The grand total is: 485 balls of yarns, 56,663 meters of yarns!!!

There - I said it - My name is Joy and I have a Yarn Addiction! Of course, the only way to rectify this was to start knitting because there's no way in hell would I go on a yarn diet! If I start knitting more, my stash would start to deplete, which will allow me to buy yarn guilt-free.....well, less guilt anyway!

Here's my latest:

A basic yoke sweater made with the softest Malabrigo. I made it in a Size 4 for Aliana. This sweater may be a very basic and plain sweater but I wanted to knit this while learning a new technique. I knitted this whole sweater using the Continental method. Wow! Talk about knitting in double the time! I don't think I will ever go back to the English method. However, I haven't quite mastered the purl stitch yet in Continental. It's still awkward and I still find myself switching hand for purling. This was my first time knitting a yoke sweater and I think my next one would be a lopi sweater.

Also, Michael's had a huge sale on yarn recently and I bought a bunch of Lion Brand Cotton-Ease to knit baby hats. I just started this for Arison today:

Oh, so much knitting, so little time!

Halifax and Halloween

This past week has been a whirlwind! I find myself constantly trying to catch up. I just came back from another business trip, this time to Halifax! Of course, I don’t have many pictures to show since I forgot my camera at home, but then again, I was also packing in the middle of the night and wildly throwing irrelevant clothes into a luggage. Needless to say, I was a wee bit unprepared for this trip.

I was only there for 2 days and my agenda was jammed packed, This was a FAM trip for one of my hotels that I sell for, so they want to make sure that I get the full scope of Halifax while I was there. I was told that they had fitted a weeks worth of Halifax in 2 days. Fun!

During all the meetings, eating, walking and seeing…. I was able to sneak out to a LYS called The Loop Café. There I was able to get a locally hand-dyed, hand-spun sock yarn called Celestrial Merino. Also, I checked out their local Farmer’s Market. I was very impress and surprised to see how many little craft booths sells hand knitted items. Thrum mittens seems to be a popular item there. As much as I love hand-knitted item, I can’t seem to buy it from someone else knowing that I can make that myself. Weird!

I also spotted a small booth that sells wools that was spun from a local farm. I LOVE Farmer’s Market! Also, this thank you is long over due! My Halloween Swap Pal is no other than Curlytop!! She sent me an awesome package for Halloween. I just luuurrve the Mango tea! Also, in the package were Halloween Tattoos and Candy Corn which my 2 kids took off with it before I can get a picture of it.

Speaking of Halloween, here we are:

Tea surpirses

Look what Debbie, my tea swap partner sent me. An awesome package packed with so much goodies and yarns! The teas are awesome! Organic Green Earl Grey and Earl Grey infused with Lavender and 2 bags of Forte. I can't wait to try all of them. I imagine myself sitting back with a fine cuppa early grey and knitting!

Also, she included a bag of chocolate chip cookies and a box of chocolate dipped biscuits (that was consumed in one sitting!) A very cute and clever mug was in the box too. It's a "memo" cup that came with chalk to jot down all my To-Do list. *sigh*, if only my to-do list was 4 lines long!

Along with all these great things, she included 5 balls of Callista that would be perfect for Arison's next sweater. Thank you thank you sooo much!

A long post......

It's been almost 2 weeks since I last posted but I have good reason.....pure laziness. First and fore most, look what came in the mail last night from my awesome secret pal - I love to knit baby items so the pattern book was a great idea. So many cute patterns in there. Also a blue/green malabrigo. Now, I don't know how she know this but Malabrigo is one of my favorite yarns of all time. It knits up beautifully and so butter soft. On her note to me, she told me that she bought it at 100purewool.com.

I have never heard of this website and didn't realized that they are the original Malabrigo. What an enabler! After reading this, I dropped everything and logged on. $100 later...... well, I digress.

Along with the wool, she also included a felted pattern purse. Of course, due to the softness of Malabrigo, I had never had the heart to felt it but I think I will give it a try. Along with these wonderful gifts, she also included 2 pumpkin sippy cups for my two munchkins. The picture only showed one because my oldest had already taken off with one of them. Of course, it wouldn't really be Halloween without candies and that's just what she included. Some Halloween chocolate. Thanks Pal! You're the best!

In other news, I was in Chicago all week last week for a conference. Well, not really Chicago, but the suburbs of it called Oak Brook Hills. Since I was going to be there the whole week, I was able to buy some really nice yarns from one of the Swaps site. I had it shipped directly to myself at the hotel to avoid heavy shipping fees and duties to Canada. Here's the haul:

A bunch of Debbie Bliss, Gedifra and Skacels. At checked in, the front desk agent handed me the box. I love getting yarns at a hotel!!!

Of course, since I wasn't in Downtown and did not rented a car, a Chicago yarn crawl was out of the question. My scheduled was packed full the whole week but I managed to slipped out to Knitche, a cute little store in Downers Grove, IL. I got my souvenir -

In other news, when I came home, I decided to finish this sweater by sewing on the zipper.

I couldn't get Aliana to stop making silly faces at me so this was the best picture I can take. After taking this picture, I find myself sounding just like my mother, " Young lady, if you keep crossing your eyes, it's going to stay that way!"

I also started this sweater a few weeks ago and haven't touched it since.

Ahhh - Knitting ADD strikes again!

Coffee Swap Questionaires

QUESTIONS
1. Whole bean or ground? Ground

2. Fully-loaded or decaf? Loaded, please!

3. Regular or flavored? Both

4. How do you drink your coffee? sweet and creamy ( I like it to taste like a Haagan Daz coffee ice cream)

5. Favorite coffee ever? Thai Ice Coffee

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? Not fussy at all

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? Love croissants smothered with butter

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? I dont' really like strong coffee

9. Yarn/fiber you love? Natural and soft merino

10. Yarn/fiber you hate? I hate acrylics

11. What's on your needles? Oh - too many to count since I have severe knitting ADD

12. Favorite colors? at the moment, sage green

13. Allergies? None

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? Obviously I love knitting, well, actually, I love collecting yarn then the actual knitting. I know, weird!

The Rock - the golf course, not the actor

On Saturday, I was invited to join a team outing with my colleagues, which turns out to be an opportunity of a lifetime. We played a private 18 holes game of golf at The Rock in Muskoka, Ontario.

The Rock was designed by the legendary Nick Faldo and has became a destination place for many golf fanatics. After a 3 hour shuttle drive to Muskoka, we were greeted by the sales team. We went on a hard-hat tour of the soon-to-open JW Marriott Resort (make sense since we’re the off-site sales team)

Afterward, I was equipped with my own golf cart and rental clubs that would make most golf-pros beamed with pride. Apparently, they were Taylor-Made brand and I was told was one of the best. Of course, the last time yours truly was on a golf course was when I was 8 and I was playing putt-putt with mommy and daddy. It was the equivalent to handing over 50g of pure cashmere to a non-knitter. Absolutely no appreciation for it!

I took several pictures of me with the cart, the ball, and the club. Mind you, on several hole, I just literally threw the ball across the course since after 6 tries, all I have managed to do was tore up the turf without any contacts with the damn ball.

By the 8th hole and 30 golf balls later, I was getting the hang of it. I actually like it quite a lot and thinking about taking proper lessons come spring. I mean, for crying out loud, I am a hotel sales manager who doesn’t know how to play golf! What an embarrassment to the industry!

In knitting news, all I’ve manage was to knit was a combination of stocking-stitch and garter stitch sweater for Aliana. (I'll post pics soon) It’s been a bit hectic here in the household so I can’t follow any patterns lately. Also, I will be getting ready to fly out to Chicago for a 1 week sales training this weekend. Hopefully, I can do a Chicago yarn crawl.

By the way, today is the start of my diet (Ha – I let that one slipped in, didn’t I?)

.....and the winner is......

Rowen!

Check your e-mail, your invite is on it's way!

Ravelry Invite

I have been on Ravelry for about 2 months now and I can't get enough of it. However, there is still a huge waiting list for the invite.

I have another invite up for grab so please leave me a comment and I will be drawing names on Friday, October 12.

Weekend full of celebrations!

It's been a fun filled weekend thus far. October 5th was my birthday and I had seen 32 seasons come and gone. October tends to be a cold month which calls for a hot stew on a crisp, chilly fall day.

Not this year! It was 27 degrees on my birthday! I was out walking in shorts and T-shirt! I guess global warming is good for something. Just in time for my birthday, my Knit Pick Options Harmony arrived. I bought the whole set since I'm obsessively like that. I have the whole set in Addis and Options, since they came out with another materials, what the hell! Another set won't hurt! Of course, I had my birthday to justified it. I have so many straights bamboo that I would soon need to swap it since I don't use it anymore.

The harmonies are gorgeous. As much as I love wood, I still prefer my hold Options more since I knit a bit faster with metals. However, these needles would be great with really slick yarns like silk and bamboo. Speaking of bamboo, I started these in Sirdar Baby Bamboo for Arison -

Also, since it was my birthday, I dragged hubby to Spun Art (my LYS) and made him buy me this

I already casted on in a size 3 for Aliana. Yes, I know, I am suffering from sever knitting ADD. I have too many WIP to count.

Tomorrow's is Canadian Thanksgiving but our family decided to celebrate today. We all did a pot luck and I was in charge of one appetizer. I'd made Asparagus Puff Pastries which seems to be a hit. Here's the Recipe:

Coat asparagus in Olive oil, salt, pepper and some Parmesan cheese. Cut thawed frozen butter pastries (President's Choice is awesome!), wrap spiraled style on the asparagus, baked on parchment paper at 375 F until golden brown. Super easy and surely a crowd pleaser!

Voila! Bon Appetit! So easy and leaves more time for knitting! Happy Thanksgiving!

A Lust for Cable

Ok, Can't get my mind off this pattern: I really want to make this using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. It's going to be a very soft sweater. Maybe if I cast on today, I can finish this by the time the kids leave for college in 18 years.

My awesome Secret Pal

Here's what my wonderful secret pal sent me:

She sent me the most softest yarn that I have ever petted. Blue Sky Alpacas Alpacas & Silk in the most exquisite shade. It's a very pale pink which goes very nicely with the yarn texture. Along with this skein is also a 10 1/2 needle and a pattern to make my very own lace scarf. I had never knitted lace before because I have always been intimidated by the small needles, so my pal got me to started off on a pattern that can be knitted on a larger needle. I have to admit, it doesn't seem that scary anymore *smile*. I can't wait to cast on! I think I would have to forsaken all other projects so I can play with this yarn. It's like she read my mind! I have been drooling over this yarn for a VERY long time and now I finally get to play with it! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

This yarn also comes in it's very own project bag. A satin, peach pouch that's perfect for me to tote it to work.
She also got my 2 munchkins a gift too. Aliana already begged me to read her the new book for bedtime tonight.

Last but not least - the coolest gadget every made!!! What a genius my pal is to come up with this:

a crochet hook key chain! How clever is that? I am forever dropping stitches when I knit that it's a wonder I ever finished anything, but with this handy, dandy key chain, I will always have a crochet hook. What a great idea! She should totally patent this idea!

My pal had put so much thought into this and I totally appreciate it! I was already tearing into the chocolate while I was reading her letter until I realize that it was suppose to be a reward for each repeats of the pattern. Oh well......*laugh* now I have more excuse to buy more chocolate!

A Package!

After a long and staggering day at the office, I came home at 8pm today to find a lovely package from my fabulous secret pal waiting for me! It's about 10 pm right now and I can't locate my camera so I would haveto wait and show it off tomorrow. *yawn*

I think I'll go to bed and take my new yarn with me to pet it! My husband will definitely think I leaped off the edge of the sane world.

Cherry Pickin'

Over the last few days, I've been obsessing about my kids not having any hats for the winter. Of course, they have about 5 hats each in their closet but none that was knitted by me. So off I went to dig in my stash and to find some cute patterns. I knitted this out of Itty-Bitty hat book and loved it, it was really fun to knit.

The pattern called for cotton but I wanted it to be a bit warm so I used good ol' sheep's wool.

Also, I found this cute little pattern on Ravelry for a backpack. I downloaded last Friday and hoping to cast on soon using the cheapest yarn I can find since my 2 toddler will probably drag it everywhere with them.

The finished product

When I had purchased the Dream in Color Tulip kit last Saturday, I was so excited that I casted on the very next day on the trip to Vancouver. I had used the knit pick needles to knit it and of course, I took the whole stinking binder with me through security. Needless to say, it took more than 2 security guards to approve of me taking several impaling objects on the plane.

I knitted the first half on the way there and knitted the rest of it on the way back. Here it is:

For the sleeves, it had called for US 7 DPN which I didn't have on me so I bought some at Urban Yarns in Vancouver. They are Crystal Palace Daisey needles which is made out of Resin. It feels like plastic to me but it a really great needles. I couldn't believe it but it was so flexible and so smooth that my stitches just glide along beautifully. I also love the whymsically colors that it comes in and I think I would need to get a few more sets in different sizes. Of course, after I put an order for the new Knit Pick Harmany needles. Is that a dream set or what?

Back home again....

What a week! I don't think I want to see another airport for a very long time! I started my business trip in Vancouver. What a gorgeous city. Here's the view from my seat:

Since this was the first leg of the 3 city tour, my energy and enthusiasm was high. Of course, instead of buying another city "shot glass" as a souvenir, I decided that I would need souvenir yarns. So, first stop is Urban Yarn in Vancouver:

I had dragged my colleague with me and she ended up buying a mitten kit. Yeh! Another converter! I also walked out with this:
Then it was off to Edmonton. What a great little city. I didn't know that they have the largest shopping mall in North America. They have several hundreds of store, but sadly, no yarn shop. Go figure! My secret pal recommended the River City Yarn shop in downtown. Of course, I can't pass that up. I went there with 3 other "non-knitting" colleague and decided to wait in the car. It must have been in a record since I was in and out of there in 7 minutes flat. I got this:

and this:

Not bad, for under 10 min, huh?

Then in Calgary, I hit 2 stores, Make 1 Yarn Studio. This little shop as a bit of warehouse feel.

While I was there, they had just received a bunch of Lorna's Lace shipment. There was a few die-hard knitter rummaging through them. I was quite good and only bought this:

Last but not least, I ended up at Pudding Yarns not too far from downtown Calgary. It was a cute little shop that carries a lot of the British names, even Roosters.

Since this was my last stop, I was dead tired but I still made out with a small purchase of this:

Now I'm home and finally sleeping in my own bed. My next business trip isn't until the end of October and I will be in Chicago for a whole week. Better start saving up!