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.