Holy mackeral, it's been a while since I've been out here. Oops.

I finally finished the sweater I was making for my step-daughter (see pictures below), it was a hit. She really loves it and so do I!

I've torn out my husband's fisherman sweater and am going to make him something else. Something with a bit more detail in it - but he's going to have to wait a little longer because I'm going to be selfish and knit something for myself. In fact, I'm halfway done with it. I took some Berroco Suede and began knitting a poncho with it. Didn't like how it was turning out so I am now crocheting one. Just crocheting two panels that I'll stitch together and add a bit of fringe. Oh, I'm just doing single crochet, no pattern, just a basic stitch.

More later this week, I have to get to my studying (yuck) now.


The first picture is my sd wearing the sweater and the second picture is a closeup of the cable on the sweater.

Awesome Restaurant!
Once again I have neglected the blog...oops. No excuses, I promise.

But I can make up for it by recommending an incredible restaurant that we went to on Saturday in Minneapolis. Found it by accident! We planned on eating elsewhere but the place just too loud for us so as we were standing outside THAT restaurant, my husband looked around the corner and this is what we found Victor's 1959 Cafe.

You have to check this out, the food was awesome but even better, or equally better, the ambiance was so cool. The tables have oilcloth tablecloths on them in bright fun colors, the walls are written on by the patrons and it's NOT loud like that OTHER place were going to go to. And the service was very good as well.

I had the Mango Chicken sandwich with plantain chips (YUM!), KEA and my MIL had the Cuban Pork BBQ sandwich that came with plantain also but it was called something else, it's not fully ripened-yet plantain, and the birthday boy, my husband had the Cuban Hash - every meal was top notch.

For dessert I had the Cheesecake with Guava Sauce, my MIL had the Key Lime Pie and KEA and my husband both had the coconut ice cream (which came on a plate with the word CUBA in chocolate syrup and two palm trees in chocolate syrup decorating the plate). Very nice touches! I have to admit, we all were part of the clean plate club for this outing!

Okay, today is Super Bowl Sunday so I have to get some studying done so I can watch the game and get some knitting in.

See ya!

Time to go watch some football but before I do I wanted to come out and update my project list. See the October 18th entry below. Funny thing is, I've actually made progress on my knitting - just not with the ones I have listed! Okay, some of them but there are others that I've done that I didn't put on that list.

Really must stay focused and finish at least two of what I'm working on before starting another. Yeah, THAT will happen!

Okay, I know the photo below has nothing to do with knitting but he's just so dang handsome I have to put this here. His name is Walt Willey and he plays Jackson Montgomery on the soap All My Children. I saw him do his comedy routine last August and boy, was HE naughty. He even said that after hearing his routine that we'll never think of his character the same again. Yikes, he was right. :-)

I've posted pictures of the other gift I knitted for someone for Christmas on my website. It's a felted sheep and is it darling! (My site, in case you don't know it and came to this blog another way is: www.prattlebox.com) That was fun to make, I hadn't experienced wrap/turns before so it was a nice challenge. You should check it out - if you liked felted animals you might want to make it. I've listed the reference to the book I got the pattern from on the site.

Well, I started my SD's birthday present last night and I love the yarn but I can't give details or pics until I'm done, darn it. The yarn is awesome to work with, it's a super chunky in cashmerino. Her birthday is in March so it will have to wait no matter what, now that I think of it.

Oh, I also bought some yarn to make a neck cozy. I received one for Christmas (I'll get a pic out to the website this week) and now I want to make one! It's so cool. Think neck warmer but very elegant and tasteful, it can be dressy or casual. I think it is absolutely cool. You really need to see it up close to see the detail, it's so pretty. The yarn is Koigu, a premium merino and it's so soft you can't even tell it's wool. Note: the pattern is exclusive to patternworks.com, you have to call them to get the pattern, it's free when you purchase the yarn.

Ok, back to work - have a great day!

Here are pics of the neck cozy, note that the color is really more of a grape jelly color, this shows it lighter than it is.

Missed some work today due to a nasty migraine. Took some meds and slept for 4 hours straight. Could have slept more - in fact, on my way back there now.

But I wanted to get the picture of the wristers I made for my MIL for Christmas and the capelet I made for my SD out here. If the pics don't look very good here, feel free to go to my website and check them out under Knitting Projects. Good night.

The wristers are made from Cascade 220. And the capelet is made from Micro-Spun in Lily White and Debbie Bliss's Cashmerino in Pink. I've included a pic of the capelet, the neckline and the bottom border.

Charity Knitting
As usual, something has come along that will give me an opportunity to create something for a charity. The company I work for is collecting hats, scarves and mittens and will be donating them to an organization for folks who need them. I've already got a couple of scarves that I personally didn't care for once I knit them, and a hat I knit that doesn't fit and so those will be donated along with anything else I can knit up prior to the deadline in January.

I like doing hats and scarves because they're fast and they give me that feeling of near-instant gratification of having finished something.

Oh, a cousin of mine had a baby at the end of November so I might whip up a little hat/booties for her baby. I have some white Microspun left over from the capelet I made my step-daughter and it's so soft that I think it would be a nice yarn for baby items.

Time to pay bills. Have a great night!

Oh, this picture? Grand Rapids, MINN - back when we had snow - I WANT SNOW!!!

Knit, knit, knit, knit...
Tried last night 3 times to start a knitting project and for reasons unknown, I just didn't have the 'whatever' I needed to do it. Not only could I not make up my mind on WHAT to knit but right when I thought I had made up my mind, another idea popped into my head. Arrrggghhh!

I'm at work right now and quite honestly, it's so quiet it's going to put me to sleep. It's still the holiday's so the number of people who are usually here is about half. Even my typing sounds loud!

Thankfully, I have some studying I can do for a class I'm taking but if that doesn't pan out maybe I'll start thinking again about what knitting project I should start. I'm currently still working on hubby's sweater and probably should start on a certain someone's birthday present but I'm not ready for that one yet. Maybe I'll make a pair of felted mittens (fast knitting, there, boy, I'll tell ya!) and alternate between those and hubby's sweater.

But then who gets the mittens??

Merry Christmas!!
Good morning!

Well, we had Christmas at my MIL's last night and it was quite an interesting time. She had great food (as usual - though not enough meatballs, they were quite the hit!) and everyone had a fun time. With hubby's brother's family there, you laugh so much you usually leave with your face hurting - no joke!

The gifts I knitted, the capelet for KEA and the wristers (for those of you who don't know, wristers are like mittens without thumb or finger coverage) for my MIL, were a hit. Thank goodness! You never know how people are going to react whether you like the stuff you make yourself or not. There are pictures of the capelet on my website and I'll be putting pictures of the wristers on there today or tomorrow. Those I made out of Cascade 220 in their purple yarn - though it has some blue in it, very neat combination. I ended up remaking her wristers about 3 times. Well, actually, I started out making cabled mittens but I messed up and knew I wouldn't have time to make new mittens so I found a wristers pattern instead. And even then I screwed up - bad knitting karma I guess. Part of the problem is that they're knitted on 2 needles instead of in the round on circulars. So I'm betting that was my real problem - in fact, I'll be rewriting the pattern so I can use circulars in the future. Esp since I want a pair!

Okay, time to go open gifts with the hubby. He's already given me an OTT-Lite (I've wanted one of those for sooooo long!!) and a great small sauce pan. The story behind the saucepan is that he's tired of the veggies being cooked in the nuker - haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! So I said, well, guess I need a small pan, eh?

Merry Christmas, everyone! Stay safe and warm this holiday weekend!

Hello, everyone!

So where am I with my projects? I'm almost done with KEA's stole/capelet/poncho (just not entirely sure what the heck to call it) for Christmas, should be done today, in fact! I have finished half of my MIL's Christmas gift and I am about 90% done with a friend's gift. My goal with these three items is to have them all done by Sunday night (11/28). Probably a lofty goal but I have to try!

I ordered some yummy yarn (Debbie Bliss's Cashmerino) recently to make something for my step-daughter for her birthday. When I showed the pattern and yarn to her father he was in total agreement on how appropriate it is for her. I can't wait to start it but...

I know I have to finish my other projects so I'm willing myself to wait. Come to think of it, I have to wait anyway because I had to order the needle as I did not have the size required - so I ordered some wool yarn for felted mittens while I was at it. (Man - just no self control for me, huh?)

Would write more but need to get back to knitting. Have a fabo day, everyone!

p.s. Just read what I last posted in November and realized that the capelet/stole that I'm making is NOTHING like the one I described. I hated working with that mohair - it's as thin as sewing thread - no joke. Anyway, so now I'm using Lion Brand's MicroSheen in Lily White, two strands at a time. It's so plush and thick, I think she's really going to like it.

p.p.s. My step-daughter has taken up knitting - yippee!!!!

It's November?
Mood:  surprised
I cannot believe it's November. Halfway through, actually.

So what have I finished? Hm. Oh, I made my scarf for my new leather coat, it's in a crystal blue. Took me only a couple of hours. And that would be it.

However, I am nearly done with one of the Christmas presents I'm making that I can't describe in case she reads my blog (though what there is to read isn't much obviously, since it's been a month since I was last out here!). It's so cool and it was so much fun to make. Just a few minor details left on it and it will be done. I think she'll love it!

I've FINALLY decided on the shawl/stole pattern for Ms. KEA for her shawl/stole. I'm going to simply knit 1 long rectangle. I'm going to do it in an Italian mohair yarn in snow white, finished size will be approximately 16-18" x 60" and I'm going to use a large needle, probably a 15 or 17. I'm going to do a cable in the middle, so it will be stockinette stitch until the middle, do the cable (not sure what kind yet), then finish with stockinette stitch. Or maybe three cables, going to graph it out when I'm done with this blog. I may do a border on it as well, have to wait and see! Starting that tonight and my goal is to have done by the weekend, it needs to be blocked so I need to get it done soon to accommodate that process. I'm thinking fringe with beads at the end, something sparkly!! I want to go home now and get started but I'm still at work (shhh...)!

I've also found a fabulous sweater pattern for Ms. KEA that I will be making for her birthday (in March). Once again, no details until I'm done except that it's by Interweave Knits. But what I can say is that it's gorgeous and it screams "KEA"! That yarn is on order but should be coming any day - I'm so psyched about it! Her father likes the pattern and the yarn I picked out (and he's super fussy) so I know this is the perfect sweater.

For my mother-in-law for Christmas I'm making cabled mittens, one is done but I need to finish the other one. Really pretty color called Wisteria, something like a purple/pink/iridescent all in one. I may have to make myself a pair in the same color!

So all in all, I think I'm on track. Only one thing will put a snag in some of this and that will be studying. I decided to pursue a certification from an organization called LOMA. I'm taking two exams next spring (two different courses) so I'll have to schedule out my time for coursework and knitting. Perhaps I ought to schedule some working out in that schedule too, eh??

Have a fabulous day!