Sweater Design Choices/Mystery Stole Knit-A-Long II Swatch

So here is what I am debating. I have put together yarn to knit myself a short sleeve, v-neck cardigan. Here is what I have for design option #1.

The cream and lighter brown yarn are worsted weight, the rest are all sport. I am going to do a fair isle pattern so that shouldn't matter, I will use a worsted weight and a sport weight in each row. Here is choice #2:

I have eliminated the LL's sport weight navy, and the buttons are smaller, silver with a purplish center. The blue yarn that is in this grouping has purple tones in it. So, what do you think? Option 1 or Option 2??

I'm also doing the Mystery Stole Knit A Long II, and here is my swatch, I'm using Lost Lake Heather from Knit Picks, Lace weight, 100% Merino, and size 4 circ's. My swatch measures 8" x 5.5".

So it snowed,

So it snowed, again. Which I love, don't get me wrong. (Otherwise I am seriously living in the wrong place!). But I would like to get to my mom's to see my family and give them their gifts. One of these days...when we don't have to worry about sliding into a ditch somewhere!

So we got a bit of snow:

That is the rail of our deck, it was clean yesterday and today it had that much snow on it.

But it sure is pretty on the trees. And the air smells so clean and it's so crisp. And here I am, relaxing a bit after shoveling.

I have on layers of clothes and it felt so good to be in the fresh air. And nope, I'm not a bit cold. Thanks to my new long underwear from Cabela's!

A Great Christmas

Ok, so I didn't get Jim's Christmas socks done, but I did wrap them. The look on his face was priceless. And here they are:

And then Jim got a Webkinz, a chocolate lab that he has yet to register online because the website has been busy since Christmas. (www.webkinz.com) It's like a beanie baby taken to a whole new level.

And of course the new shoes, light blue with navy blue diamonds.

And here is some of what I got. I was very spoiled. I can't wait to make some of the projects in these books!

I got The Natural Knitter, some quilting books...it's going to be great!

What a great secret santa!!

I got my secret santa package today, and it was great! I got yarn and knitting mystery books, and stitch markers from Debra's Garden, and 2 patterns and 2 dishclothes, one with a tree knit into it and one with a bell. And an ornament for my tree, and sock point protectors and some other stitch markers...I must have been a very good girl! Here Gorby checks it all out.

And as soon as I saw the yarn, it was fate. I had some already here, alpaca, but not enough to do anything with really. Now I have enough, three shades of it:

I'm so excited! As soon as I get my gifts finished up I can start something for me, I think a short sleeved cardigan is in my future. Thank you so much to my secret santa, Dot!

Happy Hannukah!

I just wanted to say Happy Hanukkah! The picture is a bit blurry, but here is my menorah all lit up. So beautiful. Have a peaceful night everyone.

No pictures today!

No pictures today, just a post to say that I am frantically finishing up last minute gifts. How can this be? I swore not to do it and here I go again. This year we have the NHL center ice package though, so every night I have hockey to watch while I knit. That makes it all better. I have a list and keep deleting things, and I think I should start a list for the new year of things I want to get done. I want to get some of the fiber I have spun up, because I can certainly use some new sweaters. I have all the materials, just need to get moving on things. And with the new job at the bank I can wear sweaters and not worry about snagging them like I did at the library.
No new snow lately, but I am positive there is more coming sooner or later!

Dinner and a concert

What a great night! We went to dinner at a local Italian restaurant, and then it was off to the holiday concert at the school. It was a fun time. And now home, and time to post some pictures. First, Jim's new shoes.

Yes, they are really that red! He loves them.

Now, today was just pretty with the sun on the snow, so here is our backyard this morning.

And Jim, with this huge icicle. :-)

It's been a great day!

Saturday at the quilt shop

So Saturday we gathered at the quilt shop to make snowman wallhangings. And it was a blast. As the pictures will show:

First, Jan's quilt, it was really pretty.

Paige was selected to be a diva, hence the scarf. That means she was allowed to cut in line for food, or to use the rotary cutter, whenever she wanted, and if there was ripping to be done, we had to do it for her.

Then it was on to sewing. On the left is Paige's stack of fabric, on the right, my little kits I made up so I had everything all ready to go. I can be a bit type A.

Paige's first snowman:

And Shasta's

And Paige's sister Judy:

And mine. It was loads of fun.

Tune in Friday for a look at Jim's new shoes!

I am so behind!

Ok, so here are the pics of the boys with the quilts. First, Zac & his pirate quilt:


And then Bradley and his quilt:


I hope both quilts get used and worn out. :-) Tomorrow, I will blog about last Saturday at the quilt shop. I promise! We made snowman wallhangings and they were so much fun to make and soooo cute!

Toys and Hockey

Tonight we went to the hockey game, and it was toy night. When our team scored their first goal, you threw stuffed animals on the ice. They were then gathered up and given to the police and other agencies for children who need a new friend to help them through a trauma. It was a great time. Jim & I threw these:



They got 2 big garbage bags of toys:

It is still snowing here, and tomorrow night we are supposed to get up to 10". I'm not sure how much that makes because it hasn't really stopped snowing and blowing since yesterday. Jim has stylish new boots that were delivered today by UPS.

And last, but not least, one more shot of the Lake Superior State Lakers.

I think it's here to stay

I think the snow is here to stay. This is a picture taken out the front door, with the flash.

And then without the flash:

And of course the backyard:

Jim is out shoveling, didn't want to leave it all for morning. I am going to "watch" the Packers game online, since I can't watch it live.

Getting Colder?

I think it must be getting colder? :-) I got out the 2nd fleece blanket for us to use in the living room while watching television, and it's been claimed. She made herself a nice warm nest. I love the way cats can cover themselves up.

Jim and his new Godson

We went to visit relatives for the holidays, and we got to meet our new nephew, Jim's Godson Dylan. He's a keeper.

Zac's quilt

I am almost done with Bradley's quilt, and now it's down to Zac's. Tonight I used safety pins to baste it, and I had help. Now to finish everything else I need to get done before Christmas!

Sled Dogs

So today I got introduced to the world of dog sledding. It was really interesting, and the dogs were a trip. They are fed a high protein food the morning they are going to run, so by the time we got there they knew they were going to be out running and there was no slowing them down!
The first two pics are the dogs waiting to go.

And this dog is Dusty, she's camera shy.

This is Silver, he's very nice.

To train when there isn't any snow, the dogs are run in front of a quad runner. I'm on the back of the quad waiting to go. The training took place in Hiawatha National Forest, it was just stunning back in there. And it smelled so fresh.

SNOW!!!!

This is what we woke up to this morning

It's very pretty, and it's still snowing, just a fine snow, but it's snow!

On and off the needles

Why is it that I started and finished the moebius scarf in one afternoon, and the sock, on the right, has been on the needles for months? I have the other sock done too. Tonight I swear I will work on that second sock!

Such a rough day...

Yes, it's been a rough day in our household, can't you tell? :-)

Yesterday we went to Brimley to a craft show. It's about 20 miles from us. And I had to share this sign with you. Yes, we definatley live in the north now!

I did get some knitting done today, tried the Mobieus cast on. I'll find out in a bit if it's working or not, I'll be binding off my sample scarf and we'll see how this works.

Pat got her quilt!!!

I made a quilt in a class, the pattern is called Trip Around the World. And now that Pat has her quilt, I can safely post pictures of it. It was a surprise for her, and I didn't want to ruin it! The quilt was quilted by Marsha Hankins at http://www.quiltingcomplements.com/. She did a great job!!!