holidaze

It's not even December yet, but already I'm getting stoked for Christmas. It helps that my I'm shipping out tons holiday orders for my little business. It certainly helps that we've had several snow storms already, blanketing the area and taking the edge off of stick season. But the biggest factor is my little boy who, though only two years old, seems to firmly grasp the idea that he's going to get presents. He's so excited by the lights and random Santa sightings that I can't help but get excited with him.

Out of Last Minute Knitted Gifts I made this little stocking
Red Heart 100% acrylic. It's the first time I've ever knitted in acrylic, can't say I like it but the price was right and it was available at my local five and dime store. It's also the first sock that I've ever knitted. I'm going to do a couple for ornaments and other fun things.

Inspired by the mini stocking, I purchased Holiday Knits today from my local, independantly owned bookstore ($7 more expensive than on ebay including shipping, but I didn't feel like waiting.) There's several things that I'd like to make, but most important are stockings for the family. In fact, after I bought the book I bought a stocking stuffer for G. Nevermind we don't have any money for holiday shopping due to the whole job fiasco, I was just in the spirit. So if anyone wants to do a trade this month, just drop me a line. Money is tight, but I've got some great soaps and stuff :)

finished objects

i finished another pair of mitts for the warm hands knit-a-long. this pair is for me because i deserve to have warm hands. the pattern is the same pattern that i used for the toddler mittens, only expanded for my mom-size hands. the yarn is 2-ply Sweet Grass targhee from Bee's Knees Knitting. She has a great selection of handpainted yarns and great prices on
Cherry Tree Hill potluck. Excellent communication and my order was shipped very promptly.

The missing vintage button collection appeared today - just where i had expected it to be, but couldn't be found two weeks ago. So, Spherey from Jess Hutch's collection of knitted toys, who i call Quadrapussy, finally has his little eyeballs and all is right with the world.



sorry about the dark pictures, seems that the only chance i have to blog is 11 o'clock at night when light is a little scarce in these parts.

In personal news, my knee which was toasted during the marathon is finally showing signs of recovery. Today I would say that i was 99% pain free, which is a huge difference from this weekend. It's so bizarre that three weeks ago I ran a marathon, and since then i've barely been able to walk to the mail box. Climbing is the only exercise that feels okay right now, which is fine because i need lots of practice.

the people that you meet

i 'meet' the nicest people through my little business hug-a-dub-dub. recently i had a customer who wasn't quite certain what flavor she wanted for the Baby Wash and so using her preferences I created Creamsicle - only the best essential oil blend ever concocted. anyway, this wonderful mom and i have had a few lovely email exchanges and she posted a fabulous rave over at her blog which has resulted in some fabulous orders. Yay!



moonrise over the mountains behind our house - because i love posts with photos.

Warm Hands

Inspired by the warm hands knit-a-long - here are my newest FOs so that my little guy can have warm hands. After exhustive mitten pattern research I ended up using one that someone posted for free on her blog. I'll add it if I can find the link again. It was a top down pattern for toddlers, quick and easy. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Potluck worsted leftover from a previous project. However, I ran out of yarn in the cuff of the second mitt, hence the subtle length difference. Thumbs were done is another color of CTH potluck - i love the stuff.

They're too long and a little airy, so into the washer they went and I'm trying to felt them into the perfect little pair. Though I'm not going to put too much effort into them as kids and mittens are easily parted.

It was a quiet weekend, the first in a long string of weekends with nothing planned. A bit depressing actually. I need something big to hold my attention and keep me excited but due to job situations and the time of year there isn't much going on. It's hard to change gears from G. traveling all the time to him being home all the time. And from long training runs for the marathon every weekend, to physical therapy to get my knee working again without pain. tomorrow - off to Boston for two days of meetings and then a super-secret interview (shhhhhh!)

a cold november rain

Want to see something fun? Here is Quadrapussy from Jess Hutch's new booklet of knitted toys. He's knitted out of a merino-possum blend a friend brought me back from NZ and still needs official eyes, but my collection of vintage buttons has gone missing!

it's about 33 degrees outside and pouring down rain. true vermont november weather if i've ever seen it. it's not all doom and gloom, here's a shot of the sky the other night, so gorgeous. You can see Camel's Hump in these photos, my favorite mountain in the whole wide world. it's always looking out for me. In the first photo you can see our neighborhood Elm tree. So stately and handsome, how i wish Dutch Elm Disease had never come to the states.



i'm at home alone on this cold, rainy night. G. is at band practice. a new batch of coffee soap has been carefully crafted and is setting in the special place, waiting to harden up. the shop has been updated with new soaps and scents, so take a look - link is to the right.

if it's not one thing...

here's the other. the morning of the day that G. found out he no longer had a job he booked tickets for a trip to Switzerland. You see, he had a meeting the week before Christmas that was going to take place at a resort in the Alps. So what better opportunity would there be for me to go along and do a little snowboarding at Saas Fee. Because we have a little boy and need to be organized, we were finalizing all the details in a timely manner. that afternoon he found out that he wouldn't be attending that meeting because he no longer was employed. he told me that he didn't actually book the tickets, but alas it appears he did and now we have to pay nearly $700 for my ticket for a trip that it doesn't look like we'll get to take.

hmmmm. seems to me that if i have a ticket to CH that has to be paid for, that I should go to CH. if my ticket was non-refundable, than G's ticket should also be non-refundable. which says to me that we should just go. stay with friends or in a hostel. but just travel and live a little.

because i hate blog entries without pictures, here's one for you:


and to prove that i ran a marathon

Mer-a-thon

after nearly three months of training. weekends devoted to long runs. lunches diverted into short runs. it's over - i've run the marathon. the whole darn thing. 26.2 miles, and on pavement nonetheless. if you would have told me at the beginning of this summer that i'd run a marathon this year, i never would have believed you. sure, i really enjoy running, it's a very efficient means of exercise. but a marathon is a huge commitment and i never would have thought that i'd be able to stick it out to prepare.

how'd it go? just about as perfectly as i could have hoped for. gorgeous day, a little on the warm side. Getting to the event was a piece of cake and it was so amazing to see all the preparations and all the racers. I peed about 5 times before we started, which was good as i didn't want to stop once we got going. I paced myself well, enjoyed having my water bottle with me so that I could hydrate at will. The Gu's worked to keep me going through the tough spots. I swear, there were more people at this race than there are in the entire state of Vermont. The spectators were excellent and provided the cheers and jeers needed to keep going when all i wanted to do was sit down. There were a few times i wanted to cry. A few times i was sure that i was going to cry when i crossed the finish line, but when all was said and done there was no crying - just an intense feeling of accomplishment.

When you're preparing to give birth, you often read things that compare giving birth to running a marathon - i'd have to agree.


The Worchester range of mountains glowing in the evening light, these are the ones closest to us that run behind our house.


In knitting news. A new baby means a new baby hat is needed. This one is for Mason who arrived to my cousin and his wife last week. Just a few ends to weave in.... In the middle you'll see that I frogged the Romney wool hat that i finished last week, it was too short. On the right, Jess Hutchinsons's cute little booklet on knitted toys. After I finish the hat i want to knit up something fun, but i haven't picked one out yet.