I'm a Winner-not a weiner!

YAY #1: I won Kim's Blogiversary contest (with the help of Calvin)!! Maybe I should go buy some lottery tickets since that's the second Blogiversary contest this month that I've won! Thanks Kim-I'm sure whatever it is, I will love!!


Yay #2: I finished my 10 "January" fish! Earlier this month I set a goal of knitting 10 fish a month (Jan.-April) towards my goal of 160 fish for a tesselated fish blanket. That makes for a total of 60 fish knit at this point. Only 100 more to go!!! I've declared my slogan for May to be: "Knit a Fish A Day in May" and will finish up the fish in the summer.

My goals for February:
1. Knit 10 fish (of course).
2. Finish hat
3. Finish green scarf
4. Finish M/D Felted boxes (these just need to be seamed and felted).

February is for Finishing!

Welcome Back Stranger!

Guess who's back??!!??



The sun!!!!!

Oh, how I missed you!!!! But now I guess that means I actually have to be productive and do things. There was something about the cold, gray, rainy days that lent themselves to major "vegging."

When I went outside this morning I thought the steam coming off the trees, cars, and even fences in this case was just beautiful!


Now that the sun's out I feel my daily list of "Things to Do" growing each minute. I can't use the weather as an excuse to stay inside and knit all day so I've got laundry, bill paying, paper correcting, and house cleaning to do all before I head off to SnB tonight!

On the needles: The usual suspects (fish, scarf, hat). If I wasn't slower than molasses at knitting (and easily distracted) I might actually finish something!

MacGyver Knitting

MacGyver was a show from the mid to late 80's where Richard Dean Anderson played this character who was so resourceful he could make a car engine out of a piece of gum, 2 rubber bands and 3 spit balls (or something along those lines).

I had my own "Mini Macgyver" moment this morning. I was tinking on a fish and when it came to tinking a K2Tog I had a hard time getting my needle into the stitches. What I really needed (and didn't have) was a stitch holder. I was at work and hadn't brought my "Knitting First Aid Kit." I surveyed my desk, and in Macgyver style unfolded a paperclip to be my make-shift stitch holder, and it worked!!

This may seem like a minor accomplishment, but I was just glad I didn't get frustrated enough to want to frog it! I may start wanting to knit with pencils or something now!

Anyone else have a Macgyver style knitting story?

Last Sip

As I enjoy my last few sips of "Arctic Blast" apple cider, I'm listening to the news of all the various roads that are now open. I have a strong feeling I'll be back at work tomorrow. It's been a nice 5 days off between the weekend, MLK holiday & "ice days." I've enjoyed my extra two days off but know I'll be cursing them when we have to make them up at the end of the school year.

Here's the progress of my "Arctic Blast Scarf"



I did finish my first ball of yarn and it's currently 33" long. I'm pretty sure I'll use the full 2nd ball of yarn too.

Not much else to report. I did get my car started, scraped of ice and drove around the neighborhood.

Guess it means I'm officially ready for tomorrow.

Ice Storm Update

Wow!!! What a day!!!
We are actually getting tomorrow off from work as well due to the "Arctic Blast/Ice storm."


I spent ALOT of time knitting today and got quite a bit done on my scarf. I think I'll end up knitting the whole 2nd ball of yarn too. I didn't make the banana pudding since it was going to be too complicated making it from scratch when I'd be just as happy with instant pudding or a slice of banana creme pie from Marie Callendar's. I did drink a whole pot of coffee then chased it down with some hot apple cider.

The most exciting thing to happen was that I won a book on Janna's blog. I'd really been wanting this book and was planning on ordering it myself but for some reason had kept delaying submitting the order! I can hardly wait to get my hot little hands on it!!!

Not sure what tomorrow's agenda will be. I don't think I'll spend quite as much time knitting and maybe get into reading more. I'm still hoping for snow!!!

Oh Happy Day!!!!

Yippee!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!!!
Thanks to the great "Arctic Blast of 2007" I have an "ice day" off from work. There had been rumblings of the possibility of this late last week and believe it or not, it actually came true!! This is a big deal in San Antonio! It doesn't happen very often and as a teacher, I think I'm more excited about it than the students!!

I took a "before" picture yesterday of it raining in order to get a great comparison shot. Here's the "before" picture (click on to enlarge):

Arctic "Rain"



I'd heard talk of possible snow so I was excited to see how beautiful the frozen precipitation was going to look. Boy, was I disappointed. There is a sheet of ice on the car, and it is slippery but not real photogenic at my house (so no "great comparison shot").

Arctic Ice (Click on the pic to enlarge):

The deck is actually very slippery. The sparkly flecks are ice.

Icicles on the grill.

YAWNNNNNN..I know...not real exciting shots. I don't think CNN or the Weather Channel are going to be fighting over these shots.



What's a girl to do with an unexpected day off??

Here's my Arctic Blast Agenda:

1. Knitting:


I decided to name this scarf: Arctic Blast Scarf. I have several projects going and the variety is great, but it takes FOREVER to actually finish anything that way. So I'm going to focus my time and energy today on this scarf. And I'd love to get it done today, but in reality will probably just finish with the first ball of yarn.

2. Drink coffee all through the day. Rather than my usual slamming a cup down on my way to work. I know I may be posting another entry at 3:00 a.m. because of the caffeine...but oh well.

3. Make chili

Also on the agenda:

4. Make banana pudding. For some reason I'm having a craving for banana pudding!! It probably has something to do with the Nilla wafers I bought for DH that I am constantly seeing when I go into the kitchen. I don't even know if I have all the ingredients. I'll need to do some surfing to see if I can find a recipe.

Time to pour a cup of coffee and find a banana pudding recipe!

Have a good day!!

Goodies..and a Meme

Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! I had a fun week!!
The big "4" "0" isn't so bad afterall.

Now on to the "Goodies!" (Click on photos to enlarge)

Minnesota Goodies!


One of the most fun gifts I received for my birthday was from my younger sister (who lives in Duluth, MN).
She sent what she named, "Minnesota in a Box."
There was maple syrup, pancake mix, coffee mug, wild rice, jams; along with some soaps, sachels and incense that smell like the various scents of a pine forest. The little log cabin looking thing is an incense burner with pine smelling smoke that comes out the chimney. She works here where she was able to get everything. Basically, my office area smells like a pine forest at this point.



Knitting Goodies!


This is the result of my post Christmas shopping spree. I bought a ball winder, swift, Knit Pick Options, a needle holder and one of many magazines. On the winder and swift is my yarn from some recent kool-aid dyeing.



Reading Goodies!


I "scored" when I went to Sam's and bought the latest Janet Evanovich book (I heart Stephanie Plum) and the 4th Traveling Pants book(which had sold out at Target and Borders).
Speaking of books, here a meme that Erin tagged me for:


Find the nearest book. Turn to page 123.
Go to the fifth sentence on the page.
Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
Name the book and the author, and tag three more folks.

Here it goes:

Do you guys play poker? Have you got any money?
Diesel, Russell, Ernie, and Ralph were still at the kitchen table when Charlene got home.


The book is Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich.
ummm...ya....nothing too earth shattering there.

If anyone would like to play, consider yourself tagged.

Finally, my last "Goody"



DVR Goodies!

Here's just a snippet of what's waiting to be watched on the DVR. Now if I could convince DH that he'd rather watch football on the other TV.

Happiness is having books to read, yarn to knit, and my favorite shows recorded on the DVR to watch!

Here's to hoping we get a "snow day" on Tuesday for an extra extra long weekend!!!

Guess Who's Birthday is Today?!

Happy Birthday to me!
I can believe I'm the age that rhymes with "horty!"
This is not one of my finer photographs but the earliest I could find of me.
Of course me being me, I had to do some sort "quiz" about my birthday. As with most quizes like this, it's about 1/2 true. I do care too much what others think (although that is quickly changing) and have really been into the orange/red color scheme lately! I definitely wouldn't consider myself confident or "alpha dog" although I do like to be the one to push the cart in the grocery store....hmmm...

Wonder what the next 40+ years will bring...

Your Birthdate: January 10

Independent and dominant, you tend to be the alpha dog in most situations. You're very confident, and hardly anything ever shakes you. Mundane tasks tend to drain you - you prefer to be making great plans. You are quite original. When people don't "get" you, it bothers you a lot. Your strength: Your ability to gain respect Your weakness: Caring too much what others think Your power color: Orange-red Your power symbol: Letter X Your power month: October

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

1st FO's of 2007!

Yesterday was perfect knitting weather in my book: cold, damp and gray:


It's pretty much as close to "winter" type days as we're going to get down here.

With the help of days like yesterday, I was able to complete these:


My first Finished Objects (FO's) of the Year!

Now, those of you who know me can't be too surprised that they're fish! I have a love/hate relationship with the Neverending Fish Blanket. It originally was suppose to be finished by this past December, but that obviously didn't happen (I liked knitting other things too!). So my new goal will be to have it complete by next December. The blanket is for my Winter Texan Parents who spend Dec. 1-March 31st in a condo on S. Padre Island. To help me stay on track, I've set up some "Fish Knitting Goals."

1. I will knit 10 fish a month for January, February, March and April
2. For May, I have the theme "Knit a Fish a Day in May"

At that point I will see where I am at with the fish and the size of the blanket. I have already knit 50 fish, so if I knit all I'm hoping to by June 1st, it will put me at 121 or so fish. My original goal was to knit 160 but reassessing at that point will help me to better decided exactly how big I want the blanket and the color scheme.

So for my "January Fish Goal," I already have 3 fish done and I finished those in a little over a day. I'm amazed at how much faster I am at knitting the fish now than I was in the beginning of this project (last June). Knitting them is very relaxing and mindless for me-but after awhile also very monotonous. That's why I'm sticking to only 10 a month til May. By then I'm hoping I'll be motivated enough with the catchy slogan and end of the schoolyear approaching to do the 1 fish a day...or at least 31 for the month since I can often knit more than one per day on the weekend.

Wish me luck!

I am knitting other projects too (hat, scarf, dishcloth) but will post progress pics of those in a future entry.

Today's all about the fish!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
Here's my "January 1, 2007" Sky picture:



ummm...yah..wondering what happened to all the leaves on the tree? They're all waiting to be raked. DH and I are hoping to wake up and find that the "Raking Fairy" has taken care of it...sigh....

Here's what's on the needles these days:


I started a hat (my learning the concept of "knitting in the round" was quite an amusing sight!) using Courtney's hat pattern to go with the scarf I knit for my brother. Yes, it was originally suppose to be a Christmas gift, but I got him a T@rget gift card instead and this will be a "January Surprise" gift. Besides, it's winter there til June anyways.

Yesterday I started a dishcloth using some yarn from my stash, and today I started a scarf using this yarn. I have the dark green version although it isn't photographing that way. I love working with the different textures and am also trying out my Denise's on for size. They seem to be working well for this project but are definitely slower than my Addi turbos. I think I may end up ordering the Pink Companion Set for the Denise's though. The blue cords don't "blow my skirt up," but do the job. I also want to order some sock yarn from here. Guess that means I should start knitting socks one of these days.