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Okay, so in the kitchen I just knocked my camera off the counter and it won’t work. Lots of clicking & whirring noises. I suppose it’ll have to be sent in this time. I could use an old camera to take pics of the finished sweaters & hats. sigh.

I also suppose that means I am not worthy to have my dslr. I could knit a cozy for it so it’s got a little shock absorption.;o)

I finished 2 of the Drops Garnstudio Sweaters. One using Rowanspun Bulky in a dark green and one using Patons Shetland Chunky in Earth Brown. 4+ balls each. Not much yarn considering how fantastically it fits!

I finished the green one first, after reknitting the back 3 times to get the size/gauge correct. In my stash of vintage sewing items I found a set of 4 buttons that were perfect!

This is the true color of the yarn. I love it! I will get some better outdoor pictures soon hopefully.

The brown one is finished but I am waiting for my buttons to come from Etsy.

This sweater was so fast to knit that I completed all pieces on the 9 hour drive home from our Thanksgiving in Reno. Had it sewn together that night. Now it’s just the buttons. I can’t wait for them to arrive.

On to other projects.
I have finished another zeebee (or 2).

This one I used Patons Rumor yarn that I got on sale at Michaels.

The gauge was so large that I only had to cast on 26 sts and do 5 wrapped sts. It’s large enough for the largest head with the negative ease. Into the Christmas pile it goes!

I have to say that I am worried this Holiday season is going to go by too fast. I love the Holidays. I love Christmas, the parades, the shopping. This year we will be spending our week before Christmas in Disneyland. My birthday in Disneyland! I am so excited for it I can hardly wait. We’ve never taken the kids when the Park is decorated for Christmas. That will be fantastic to see with them! I need to make us matching beanies. We decided that it’ll be easier to find & keep eachother if we all have matching hats. I am thinking Zeebees in red/white/grey. The only thing is that I am not sure the stripes will look alright. I would like to do stripes every 2 rows I think. We’ll see once I get one going. I may end up doing a simple knit striped hat, JCrew style.

I teach my last class of the year tonight, the Zig Zag Modular Scarf. It’ll be a fun class, it’s a fun knit!

I totally posted twice in the last week and even received comments on one of them and now they are “POOF” gone.

Here’s the gist of what I had to say…

I have finished nothing. I have knit the back of one sweater 3 times, the third time was the charm. Now I am past the 2 fronts and 1 sleeve, working on the 2nd sleeve.

I still have about 8 beanies to do before Christmas, no biggy. I plan on working on them as soon as Thanksgiving is over.

I had a stupid root canal (totally not planned, out of the blue, emergency type) on Wednesday, the night I was supposed to be teaching the Zig Zag Scarf Modular Class at Knit & Pearl. Lame! It’s rescheduled for after Thanksgiving and I really, really hope that works for everyone!

Let’s see, what else? It’s been super busy at school with the kids. All 3 had parent teacher conferences and minimum days this entire last week. That means not a whole lot got done. More trips to the library, zoo, park and one trip to the city college to do the stairs with Tracy. That’s what it was! A whole post on how bad ass Tracy & I are for tackling the stairs!!! Damn! That was a rad post too. What the h#$l?? Now I am even more upset that it’s gone. That was fun with pics & everything.
Okay, I guess I will have to redo it here & now.

Last Monday, Veteran’s Day, all the kids were home from school but I had my plans already set to go exercise with Tracy. Sadie brought along her camera, here’s the sitch.

Here are the steps at the Santa Barbara City College football field.

That’s Trevor down at the bottom and Sadie partway up.

That is one long haul people. We go up one, pushups and stretch, down one, situps, up one, pushups and stretch, down one, situps, up one, pushups and stretch, down one, situps, up one, pushups and stretch, down one, situps. Sometimes we do 2 at a time up, sometimes we run them single, sometimes we walk, sometimes we do side steps front and back up. Most of the time we jog down.
We are shooting for Monday, Wednesday & Friday. So far we are doing alright but not hitting our mark every week. Emergency root canals & the like.

Here is Tracy feeling rather accomplished!

Here is the view of the Pacific & Channel Islands from the top. The view makes it all worthwhile!

Tyler was with us too but the reason he’s not in any pictures is because when we were on set 3, he had just finished set 5 and was done. He went down to the football field to play and cool down a bit. The kid was determined to get those stairs done and done well! Good for him!
The one picture we did get was his version of stretching beforehand.

I love my kids.

After years of being an outsider in the mp3/ipod craze I am finally an official member of the Cool Club.

Silver 4GB ipod nano. Simple as that. When I ordered it I also bought a silicon skin with an armband for running with it. I also bought an fm transmitter & radio receiver to use it in the car and in the house with the surround sound system. Once I can steal it back from Sadie, I will be sync’ing a CSI episode that I just downloaded to see how it works to watch tv shows, movies, videos, etc.
I have a feeling that it will get much use! It can hold photos & home videos as well. With the 4gb’s I am not sure I will use it for that but it’s cool that it’s there.

So, that was my surprise for the day. I consider this my yearly salary. Well, besides being able to stay home all day every day and not leave the house if I don’t want to. Although the kids drive me out of the house regularly ;o)

Tonight I had the pleasure of shopping at the new yarn shop in town, Loop & Leaf. Celeste the owner is a fantastic gal! The shop is gorgeous. Light, airy, yet warm and inviting. Her selections of yarn is to die for. Seriously, TO DIE FOR! ShibuiKnits, Jamieson, Cherry Tree Hill, Sheep Shop Yarn, Fleece Artist, Hand Maiden, Tilli Tomas and others I am sure I am forgetting. Oh, Mongolian Cashmere. Plus some more.

All I can say is WOW! I can’t believe we now have a third yarn store here in Santa Barbara that has a completely different yarn selection! I was so happy. So very, very happy.

And, as Tracy will point out, she has her yarns grouped by colour. ‘Nuff said. It rocks.

I had to purchase, the christening of a new yarn shop is always a must.

Sheep Shop Yarn Company
Color G124 in Sheep Number Three sport weight yarn

ShibuiKnits Merino Alpaca
Color Pagoda, dark orange

I plan on designing a hat to show off the beauty of the merino alpaca Shibuiknits. It’s an unbelievably beautiful yarn. A piece of art really. The color saturation and variation in shades in the spin & ply of the yarn is deep and rich.
I am very excited to knit with it. I love when a yarn speaks to me!

Off to ball up my 2 new pretties!!!

If you have not joined Ravelry, or put your name on the waiting list, you must do it now. I have gone from posting almost daily to maybe once a week. Ravelry has taken over. And yes, it is for Crocheter’s too.

I still enjoy blogs. I like all the pretty pictures, the funny anecdotes about projects gone awry. But Ravelry has so much more. Friends and their stuff! Everyone’s stash & projects right at my fingertips for perusal. Little insights into past knits, future knits (way too many people have way too many projects in their queue’s, by the way) and current knits. Okay, and crochet’s. I promise there really are crocheter’s on there too.

I whole heartedly push you to join. Even if you aren’t an out of control fanatic like me there is more than you will ever need at your disposal.

I am waiting for something from UPS to arrive then tomorrow a real post with many, many pictures including knit goodies.

Oh, there is another new shop in town! What has happened & why don’t I have one yet??

It’s name is Loop & Leaf, located at:

 536 Brinkerhoff Ave. Santa Barbara, CA 93101

I got the map from the site.

I have yet to actually go in the shop. Hopefully tomorrow evening before knit group. She’s open until 7pm, that is always a plus!

More once I visit.

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I posted a new photo to FinishedprojectsPhotos.

This is a Christmas gift, single crochet beanie. I used more of the Bernat Alpaca Natural Blends yarn in sky, brown & natural.

I posted a new photo to FinishedprojectsPhotos.