No one went to bed hungry. . .

So, don't tell my kids that I put this picture on the blog. . .but may I just tell you how wonderful it was to have them all here for this holiday? Normally I cook for the whole extended family on Thanksgiving, but this year we scaled back. I guess it comes down to me being a little selfish. . .I just did not want to share Army Boy, Wifey-Poo and College Girl with anyone. So, it was pretty much just the immediate family, and it was pretty nice.

We have so much to be thankful for. Army Boy is back from the scary place. College Girl is almost finished with her first semester, and she is doing well being away at school. Wifey-Poo managed to set up housekeeping on her own in that Other State, in preparation for the return of her Army Boy husband, and they now have a lovely home to share with their little dog. Hubster and I are enjoying getting to know each other again, now that the kids are flying the coop, and we are enjoying the time we have with them when they come back to visit. All in all, it's a wonderful life around our house. (Contented sigh here!)

We get them all to ourselves for just a few more hours, now. . .everybody goes "back" tomorrow, and the house will feel empty again, but that's ok. There are lots of new memories, laughter and shared moments, to look back upon as we get ready for the Christmas season. I suppose I will put up the tree soon. . .

Oh, and the knitting. . .for some reason, I planned a LOT of holiday knitting this year. Obviously, I cannot give too many details until the gifts are given, but suffice to say that my needles will be a-clickin'! I see some socks, and some toys, and a couple other things. . .and I may throw in a pic or two as we go. . .

I hope that you are enjoying the start to the Holiday season, and that no matter what you are knitting, you will Knit in Good Health!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that your homes are happy, and that your table is full.

Knit in Good Health!

(I know that I will be knitting, as soon as the dishes are done tomorrow!)

It IS a Wonderful Life!

Tonight I saw a high school production of It's a Wonderful Life, and I liked it! ;-) You see, I know George Bailey personally, and he is a really neat guy! Great job players (and all the unsung heroes of the AVL and backstage world)! Gets me right in the mood to dive into the Christmas season and watch all the Christmas specials my daughter got me on DVD last year! Yay! And the music...I have already started in on the music...oh!, the music is my favorite part! And the baking...DD and I (she is home until after turkey-day) mixed up some cookie dough this afternoon...yum! Just can't wait for next Thursday, and all that follows...sigh!

And to get myself even more in the mood, I have finished the stockings, except for the planned fabric lining which I cut out this evening before the show. Here's a photo:

I hope to sew the linings and put them in tomorrow! Again, sigh!

And one more sigh for the late-night blogging - again...sigh! Busy, busy days...but so easy to fall asleep at night...sigh! By the way, now is probably a good time to say that I may skip my mid-week blog post...the day before is always bread- and pie-baking day (no matter how small the crowd)! Then again, if I am sitting around waiting for dough to rise or custard to set up, I may pop in...if not, look for me next Saturday for sure!

I hope that your Thanksgiving is grand (for those of us in the US), and that the whole holiday season finds you and your family well and content.

Knit in Good Health!

Deck the halls with...

No! Not the Christmas song, my new sweater!

Finally, a photo of my "Holly" cardigan (designed by c2knits)! I love the way it came out! I still need to give it a full soak...so far it has only been misted and laid flat to dry, but the collar needs an actual, honest-to-goodness soak and spin and lay out to dry. I think only a drenching will tame the lace into place, so maybe this weekend?

It has been a pretty long day...worked hard (mostly) at the office until after 4, some running around, knitting with a friend, and I got home about 9:30pm...for the first time since I left this morning at 7:30am...yikes! So now that I have showered and started to decompress a little, I thought I'd take a minute to do a quick post before my Wednesday totally runs off without blogging!

As I thought about Holly at left (and the kind you see in December), I can't help but feel sucker-punched at how fast the holidays have snuck up on me this year. Thanksgiving is a week from tomorrow...again I say, "Yikes!" Then Christmas will be here before we know it. I guess I better start shopping soon...I hope I can get all the knitting done in time...I may see Santa on Christmas Eve this year as I finish up. Oh!, I hope I can get it done before I am totally down to the wire!

Well, won't worry too much about that until it gets closer, or at least until after Thanksgiving! I wonder when I will put up the tree...

For now, I hope that you are all on task and that you are meeting your holiday knitting goals! Keep on keeping on, and Knit in Good Health!

Nice Day for a Drive...

When your son returns safe and sound from a year in Iraq with the Army, and he arrives to the loving arms of his beautiful wife, and you (the mom) have his car in your driveway, and your husband (the dad) says, "Let's take the Boy's car to him," do you know what to do? I did! And it was a beautiful day for a drive!
We drove over 600 miles yesterday to visit the little family! It was so good to see that it was real...he is truly "home." Note: 2 cars + 2 drivers = almost no knitting...lol!

We even got a chance to see one of the All-Star's of the Boy's youth (grew up across the street, played lots of baseball together!), who also recently returned from a deployment to Iraq.

It's a short visit...we will go back tomorrow, and I will knit my way home on a pair of two-at-a-time socks that should be finished shortly after we stop driving.

Knit in Good Health!

Long Week. . .Short Post. . .

And I hope you will understand. ;-)

First off, I finished my Holly Cardigan in green, and here is one photo. It is still blocking, but I hope to make the drawstring and wear it tomorrow!Then, I took a pile of this (2" - 3" strips of nylon netting):
And turned it into several balls of 6 strips each, like this:And then I crocheted several, colorful pot scrubbers like this:

Oh, and I have recently finished some new Combination Knit/Crochet Row counters, like this one with sheep! They will hit the Etsy Shop sometime over the next few days!

Now, I am off to go get a bath, and enjoy a long weekend! No more "regular job" until Monday. . .sometimes it's just the thing!

Knit in Good Health!

Plug it!

No, don't plug THAT! I am talking about advertising, and the thing I have been busiest with these past couple days has been advertising. . .so I am going to shamelessly self-promote myself here today, as well! That's the disclaimer. If you don't want to know about Pretty Knitty Jewelry, here is your chance to move on to the next blog. . .but I hope you will stay! ;-)

Some All of you know that I am slightly obsessed with the knitting. Most of you know that I am just as obsessed with the computer. . .for things like Ravelry, Etsy, Facebook (where mostly I lurk) and blogging. Many of you might know that I am really enjoying learning some code and playing with photo-editing, which ties in nicely with promoting my Etsy shop (see right).

So, my newest blingy things are my newest advertisements for the shop! Look for them in the forums and also on your notebook pages on Ravelry. . .I got a Notebook ad! I got a Notebook ad! I got a Notebook ad!. . .starting in December! Yay!

More knitting next time, I promise! More knitting will be accomplished before I see you again, I am sure! So, until I see you again, Knit in Good Health!

Research and Development

One of my favorite parts of crafting is figuring out what it is that I want to make. When I knit a sweater, I ask myself what color?, what yarn?, what shape?, what size?, and many other questions. Especially if the sweater is not for me, I agonize over what the recipient of my knitting might most enjoy. My jewelry-making is no different, and over the past several months, I have found that I LOVE to do custom orders for people! Recently, I completed some row counters and stitch markers featuring the buyer's initials in polymer clay, with her name spelled out along the 9 beads of the counter! It was so much fun to work on!

And just this week, I created another for a returning customer that I am enjoying getting to know. I can't show you the whole thing...she is buying it as a gift...but I am happy to share the portion that I like the best! While working on this row counter, I wanted to remind my customer and her gift recipient to love well and laugh often. Even if you have struggles, you can find someone to love and something to laugh about, and I think my new found, faraway friend has figured this out! It's one of those things that helps to make this life more enjoyable, and too many people don't even try, it seems. I am a fan of those who do.

I guess you could say that I am also a fan of research and development. I like to sit at the computer and figure out what is out there, what people are buying, and what they might like, based on that information. Since I was a knitter before I was a seller of row counters, I start with the items I think I might like. . .that's how my very first row counter (partially pictured in the blog banner) came to be. . .I needed a way to count my rows without losing the counter when I put the project down.

After a few months of selling the knitting row counters, I realized that there was a gap in the market for crochet row counters. That could be because (in my opinion) crochet rows are not as difficult to count when looking back on the completed work, or it could simply be that it's not as clear-cut to figure out how to clip a counter onto a piece of crochet. So, I branched out to create crochet row counters and row markers, and I have sold a few of those.

Then, last month sometime, I came up with an idea. . .a wonderful, wooly idea! What if I could create a counter that would function for both crochet AND knitting? And I think I have done it! I have listed the first one in my Etsy shop, and I am excited to see if I receive some feedback on it. The counter can rest on the knitting needles, between stitches. . .OR. . .it attaches by the lanyard hook directly to a crochet piece, and the elastic markers slip past the numbered beads to count single rows and sets of ten. Here it is, shown on my Holly Cardigan!
And here it is on a Crochet piece (finished long ago, but nice for displaying crochet counters). So, what do you think?
So, I guess that's it for now. Research has been my "gig" this week. That cardigan is really coming along, and I am excited about starting the sleeves soon! And I hope I sell some counters this week!

Knit in Good Health!