I love being spoiled!

Look what the nice postman bought me today:

I was totally blown away when I opened it. I LOVE Three Irish Girls yarn. I have been drooling over their yarns and colourway for so long but can't seem to bring myself to indulge. My secret pal sure knows how to read my mind! I can't wait to cast on something for Aliana. I am picturing a bolero with a solid trimming. The angel is so adorable and she's perfected for my tree.

Thank you Secret Pal - I can't wait to find out who you are.


I am making quite a headway on Max's Fair Isle Sweater. This is my first colour strand knitting so I am quite nervous. So far so good.

Now the bad news is - I only have two skeins left and still have two arms to do. This yarn is Shepherd Colour 4 Me which I got from Coat and Clark Sale. It was $7 for a bag for this wool. A complete bargain. The downside? It's damn hard to get!!!! No one seems to carry them.

At this point I am not even worry about the dyelot, I just need to locate 1 more skeins.

I was ableto find an online store that has it. It's only about $3 but it's in Australia. The shipping is going to $15! I think I like being in Denial mode more than Panic Mode.

Holy Snowstorm Batman!

My little boy was quite sick last night. He was muttering something in his sleep and when I went to check on him, he was running a temperature of 104 F. So of course I strip him down and he moved into my bed to watch cartoon (at 3am).

All day yesterday and all night last night, a snow blizzard had hit our area and I woke up to find this:

That is a shot of our garage. Once Arison saw the snow, miraculously his fever is gone. Who needs FDA-approved drug when a good, old fashion snow storm can cure all illness?

What a great day to cocoon myself inside and knit (while hubby is out there fighting with the snow blower). Hot chocolate, anyone?

A Natural Libra

Being born under the astrological sign Libra has it's many advantage. We make friends easily and we are always the one that people turn to when they need a logical advise. In other aspect, us Librans are also horribly indecisive. Our sign symbols is the balance scale. We naturally seek all side and options before making a decision. This trait can be really be useful in a court of law, but it can also be a curse in any grocery store, mall, lys or anything that involve buying something over another. I normally find myself so indecisive about the most trivial things that it even drives myself crazy.

For example, Aliana had a class show today and I had volunteered to bring cupcakes to her class. I think her Kindergarten teacher used mind control method to get me to agree to it. I found myself in the baking aisle at the grocery store contemplating whether I should use Chocolate Icing with Snowflakes sprinkles, or buttercream with rainbow sprinkles, or chocolate sprinkles with Vanilla frosting. I mean.... come on...... these were just cupcakes for a room full of 4 years old who are going to shove it into their mouth without a second thought anyway. Sometime I even amaze myself
I decided to make both because I am incapable to make a decision. My life motto is: When in doubt, buy all the options. Maybe this is why my yarn stash is completely out of control?

Knittings at the Bookstore

I have a fondness for books and I have a fondness for knitting. When I am able to combine two of my passions together, I get a bit giddy. While browsing along my local Indigo Book Store, I came across these two things:

traveling organiser for toiletries. The pouches detached. How perfect is it for a knitting tool organizer? I mean, even the tassel resembled a ball of yarn.

At 30% off, I scored it for $16 CAD. Another little gadget is this book light

I can clip this to my shirt and knit during a movie. We have a projector and my hubby insist that everything be completely dark when a movie is playing. Now I can continue to knit this sweater for him. It's my first Fair Isle and it's knitted from the top down. I must confess, for one to really enjoy the Fair Isle process, one must enjoy a few glasses of wine before starting. It really helps mellow you out. Especially when you get an urge to throw this thing across the room because you're off by one stinking stitch and you've already frogged 5 times.

While I was cursing through out last night, it started to snow. It snowed the whole night and I woke up to find this:.......so I decided to bake these:

Now please excuse me but a cup of coffee and buttery croissants are calling me.

too much x-mas cheers?

All weekend long, my family and I participated in X-mas activities. Starting with making ginger bread house at 10 am on Saturday morningI did most of the decorating and Aliana mostly sat there and snuck candies into her mouth. Our family is living proof that a cranky 4 years old and artificial-flavoured candies does not mix well first thing in the morning. What was I smoking when I signed us up for that so early in the morning?

Later on that day, we celebrated Christmas at my Mother in-law's house. She will be "missing" Christmas this year because she will soon be leaving to an all-inclusive resort in Dominican Republic for two weeks during the Holidays. Yeah, we all feel really bad for her. The kids went frenzy with opening presents and I ate myself into a comatose state. Who knew that 10 lbs would come early this year?

On Sunday, we attended hubby's X-mas party for the kids and both kids met Santa

After the kids were pumped full of cotton candies, candy cane and assorted junked food. It was time to go home.

Meanwhile, I am complete smitten with this pattern and yarn. I am knitting Nutkin with Malabrigo Socks in Velvet Grapes. I can't seem to put it down. The yarn is super soft and the pattern is easy to memorize. This will be my first socks using the Short Row Heel. Hopefully, it'll fit a human foot!

Old St. Nick

Being married to a Romanian definitely has its perks. For one thing, my Mother in-law's cooking will make any Chef on the Food Network cry. Her Dips, cabbage rolls, and desserts are yummy enough to be publish. Also, Eastern Europeans are famous for their DIY abilities. My husband had renovated 2 of the bathrooms, kitchen and recently build a stone fireplace in the basement. All with the help of Home Depot and his own personal ingenuity.

Along with his other great qualities, he also bring several traditions that I have adopted. One of the cutest tradition is celebrating St. Nicholas. Apparently, in European culture, St. Nicholas day is celebrated on the eve of December 6th. Children will polish their boots and leave them out next to the front door. In the morning, they will find small goodies that St. Nick had left for them in their boots.

This tradition is very similar to our Santa Clause leaving treats and small goodies in our stockings during Christmas. I think the efficiency traits of N. Americans just merged St. Nick and Jesus Christ's birthday together into one holiday and called it a day. My husband told me that when he was a kid, he will look forward to this day all year and take great care in cleaning his boot in anticipation for St. Nick. Then 3 weeks later, they will celebrate Christmas as it was intended (a religious holiday filled with gifts, families and a feast).

Well, on the night of the December 5th, I ran out to the local drug store in a panic and filled the boots up. Almost $100 later, I got what I need. Who said that this day was cheap?

I also finished decorating my tree. The kids "helped". They each took two ornaments, fought over it, "I'm going to tell mommy" twice, got bored and then promptly sat on the couch watching Dora while I finished the rest. Aaahhhhh... the holidays are finally here.

Housework be damned

I've always convinced myself that the reason my house is such a pig's sty is because hubby and I both have demanding careers and 2 young kids. I mean, between commutting, whiney bosses, impossible clients and 2 kids under school age, who can keep up right? Housework tends to be the least important thing on my "to do list". I figure that clothing, feeding and sheltering your kids while resisting the urge to drop them off at the nearest orphanage is a great accomplishment.

During the first week off, I cleaned the house. Everything was Pledged, Swifted and Febreezed. I vowed to myself that I will never let this house succumb to dirt ever again. Then.....came the 2nd and 3rd week........ I sat on my ass and knit all day. My once clean and polished house reverted back to it's own state faster than you can say Mr. Clean. As it turns out, my kids and job was not the cause of my untidiness. It's me and my knitting. Well, to be completely honest, probably just me.

Next Monday I start my new job. Turns out that I am sadistic enough to go back to my same position but just in another different hotels. All I ever want is to own a cute little yarn shop with a kick-ass coffee bar in the middle of it. I guess I would have to put that dream on hold since that doesn't pay the bills. Yet.

In the last 2 days I was able to finish my hubby's bulky sweater. It is knitted from Rowan Big Wool in Aster and the pattern is from Lionbrand.

This was suppose to be a Christmas Sweater for him but I gave it to him now because

A) I want to see him try it on

B) I can't block it without him stumbling onto it eventually

and C) for the last weeks, he heard be bitched every time I lost my cable needle knitting this thing.

I also finished Arison's socks. It's knitted from Paton Kroy:

I think it's time to knit myself a little something.

An Outlet For My Restlessness

It's been a whole week since my employer served me my termination papers and told be that they need to "restructure". I knew that this would eventually come since I have a sales position within the hotel industry and we are very disposable, especially when there is a recession emerging. For the last week while hubby and the kids are at school/daycare and work, I have turned this house upside down and cleaned every nooks and crannies. I've done about 13 loads of laundry and disinfect every thing that even Martha Stewart would be proud. Funny how one episode of "How clean is your house" can totally motivate someone. With two kids under 4 years old, both parent holding down a full and demanding careers, my cleanliness standards had slipped a few notches. Oh what the hell.... who am I kidding? For the last 3 years, we have been living on the brink of a health hazard.

Towards the end of the week, I was starting to get restless with just cleaning and knitting all day. Then I got an email from Coats & Clarks outlet letting me know that they would be celebrating their 2nd anniversary at the warehouse. Well, I grabbed my key and dashed out the door. Mere moments later and I present to you:

I love this place! It has it's shares of acrylics but every now and then, I will stumple upon some great deals. I've bought many Rowans from there when they had bought Westminster Fibre liquidations. Today I bought Colour 4 Me. It's a DK weight Austrianlian Wool for $7 a bag! That's .70 a ball! You can't even buy dish cottons for that price. Plus it's superwashed and soft. I have this in mind for two of the colours:

I even bought a bag of Nashua Handknit Painted Forest for $15. I think I will make a nice bulky sweater for Aliana. On the way back, I had made a little stop at IKEA and look what I picked up. It is perfect for socks:For $1.99 - you cannot go wrong.

Currently I should soon be finishing off on hubby's bulky sweater. I am knitting this out of Rowan Big Wool and the pattern is free from LionBrand website called Family of Cabled Sweaters. One thing about big needles and yarns is that you really get instant gratification, even though you might suffer from acute Carpol Tunnel from the bulk of knitting it.

Now...... what to do next week?

SP13 Questions

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love wools. Scumptious, soft wools. I'm also a sucker for Rowan and Debbie Bliss yarns. I hate novelty yarns and acrylics

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I have my DPNs in a roll up case, my Harmonies are in the zipper pouch, my Options are in a Binder and my Addi's are in a circular needle case. My Straights are in a vase. Why yes, I do have a needle obsessions.......why do you ask?

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I have been obsessively knitting for 2 years now. I have learned when I was about 10 but I only knew the knit stitch. I didn't know how to cast off or purl. I never picked up a needle again until I was pregnant with my 2nd baby,

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No, but I am hoping to get one soon so hubby might have some clue this x-mas

5. What's your favorite scent? I love fresh, clean scent. Like fresh linens or cotton. Also, I love baby powder scent.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I don't really have a big sweet tooth. However, I love milk chocolates with Almonds.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I know how to crochet but don't really like it. I just started doing some stitch markers.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I like the typical top 40 and yes, my stereo can play mp3

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?I love neutral or soft pastel colours. I don't like black or too dark colours since I have a hard time finding the stitches on my needles.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I have been married for 5 years. I have a 4 year old daughter and a 2 year old son. We don't have any pets.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? I wear Scarves, hats and mittens. I can't wear ponchos. It makes me look like I am wearing hand-dyed potato sack.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? I love knitting sweaters for my kids. It's still a committment but still gives me gratifications since it is a lot smaller.

13. What are you knitting right now? Well, this is waay to embarassing to admit. BUT..... I have 5 socks, Sweater for Hubby, 2 sweater for my daughter, hat for my son, x-mas stockings, 2 sweater for myself, a stole and 1 scarf.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Absolutely

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I am all about the circular needles. I love metals - especially Addi's

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Yes to both

17. How old is your oldest UFO? 2 years

18. What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe? I love Christmas. It gives me the excuse to shop. I am not really a religious person but we do observe Christmas. I love decorating the house, making cookies, presents, etc.

19. Is there anything that you collect? Aside from my unhealthy desire to own every yarn every made? I can't seem to own too much knitting books and magazine.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I really want the Stitchionary by Vogue Series. I have Stitchionary 3 and would like 1 & 2. Also, the Harmony series look nice too. I love magazines but surprising the only subscription that I ever got was the Rowan Magazine.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? One of these days I would like to have the guts to try Steeking.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yes, I love socks and just recently discovered them. I have been buying sock yarns for years but never really knitted them until now. I love knitting Basic Socks. My husband and I carpool so I do my knitting in the car. My foot size is 7 .

23. When is your birthday? October 5th

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID? Ravely ID - joyja

Secrets Pals

I had just signed up to participate in Secret Pal 13 swaps. I had a blasted in the last swap that I participated in so I am hoping for the same experience this round. I figure, by joing a swap, I can have guilt-free shopping spree. I get to buy all the goodies that I have been wanting but since it is not for me, it doesn't count.

The weather has gotten a bit nippy and it's time to pull out all the hats and mitten. However, I realized that all of the kids' hat doesn't fit them anymore so I've put everything aside and cast on the Snowflake Inca Hat from Ittsy Bittsy Hat. I loooovve how the Noro colors knitted up but it sure feels like Brillo Pad. Even after I soaked it in SOAK for half an hour, it will still be too itchy for Aliana to wear.

I went out and bought some fleece to line the hat. Now, you're talking about a woman who will throw away a perfectly good shirt because she can't be bother to sew on one stinking buttons. Since this is for my little girl and my need to show off my knitted items, I sucked it up and whipped out my sewing needle. Just to emphasize how much I hate to sew, I had to search the house for about 30 mins looking for a sewing needle. I was able to produced one needle located at a bottom of a forgotten craft basket. Hard to believe that this same woman owns approximately 3 set of interchangeable knitting needles, 20 set of dpns, 25 pairs of straights in various materials and length. Let's not mention my collection of Chibi needles, but I digress.....

The hat came out just right. By "just right" I meant, the right size and not crooked. What can I say? I have low standards.

Currently I am working on a Girl's Smocked Jacket by Blue Sky Alpacas. I'm knitting this up in Rowan Big Wool in color Whoosh:

I don't have any pictures yet since I've been knitting this at night after the kids goes to bed and the lighting is horrible. I have knitted the body and finished the left front this morning. Since this is knitted in super big needles and even bigger wool, I am hoping to finish this up in a couple of days.

This pattern is written out with the goal to confused the hell out of the knitter. There are mistakes everywhere. The written pattern and charts are completely wrong. Needless to say, it took about 3 frogging session to realize that it wasn't me. Anyway, I am not completely following the pattern and only knitting this how I "think" it should be knitted.

A yearly trek

Every year in Mid September in Waterloo, a knitter's dream come true. A bunch of local vendors will get together and put on an awesome fair dedicated to the knitted obsessive. I have been anticipating this day for months.

My woke up really early and snucked out of the house before anyone can catch me and drive over an hour to line up at the door. All this for yarns - only a true knitter will understand.

I walked pass Herschener's booth and they had some really great price on Addi Turbos. Since I have found a new love with 2 circular needle to knit socks, I wanted to stock up. I had tried knitting with Hiya Hiya. Even though it was a great needle, I think the tips are too pointy and the coating is too rough. I much prefer the Addis
And these beautiful stitchmarkers

Also, I was passing through one booth who had the Pattern Tamers on sale for $20. I finally got the chance take a reallly good look at them and they are basically magnet clued on ribbons. I really appreciate the idea but I think I am going to shamelessly steal the idea and make my own for a bout $1

Over all - I think I did really well. I was able to scored some Noro Socks for $11 and completed

In other news, I finished my plain vanilla socks knitted with 2 circular. It is STR Sedona. It is now being blocked after 15 min of emersing in Soak - The Sweet Sheep scent. A new scent that I picked up at the festival.

Bad, bad knitter

Ok, so it's been a REALLY long time since I posted on here. Ever since I've been on Ravelry, I have been ignoring this blog all year. It seems that Ravelry has everything I can ever wanted from knitting. I have documented all my wip (more than I care to admitted), my FOs and all my upcoming projects that I want to cast on soon (or in this lifetime)

Ravelry is such a great site - kind of make me wish that I came up with the idea first.