Anniversary Dinner

Tonight Tom and I went out for sushi at Shanghi Bistro here in Eau Claire. As usual, it was fabulous. We shared a sushi platter with ten different kinds of sushi. The platter came with a spicy tuna roll. For dessert I had creme brulee and Tom had Mochi. We've never had mochi before and it was very good. He ordered the coffee flavored one. I'd like to try the green tea flavored one or the mango. I'm going to see if I can buy this. It was good. The creme brulee was pretty good, too.

I got a wonderful skein of Malabrigo and a bar of chocolate in the mail today from Lisa. She is a fellow member in one of my groups on Ravelry. She lives in Mt. Horeb, WI which is by Madison. What a nice surprise. I'm thinking of making some fingerless mitts with it.

I'm off to work on my socks. Happy knitting!!

Not a creature was stirring...not even a mouse!

Well, we had two little creatures stirring around our house!!! Ahhh, when we opened the silverware drawer on Christmas morning there were mouse droppings! Ick!!! All the silverware was put into the dishwasher and we sterilized the drawer. We put traps into several of the kitchen drawers and lo and behold yesterday morning Tom had two mice in a trap in the silverware drawer. Nasty!!! We have a rule about not eating anywhere but the kitchen because we don't want to attract any rodents. Well, as Grant pointed out, it doesn't do much good to have that rule since the mice were in the kitchen!! Teenagers! The rule still exists!

I started working on a pair of socks yesterday and have both toes done. I am now going to put them onto one 40" circular needle so I can finish them at the same time. I need to make myself do this more often, then I wouldn't suffer from second sock syndrome. I still have four socks that need mates. I am also starting a Clapotis on January 1. I joined a KAL on Ravelry.

I'll post a picture of the socks after my swap partner gets them. I don't know if she reads my blog or not, but just in case she does, I don't want to spoil the surprise. Need to go finish dinner. Happy knitting!!

The Shack

I have wanted to read The Shack for a while now. I was asked if I would lead a high school book club at church and this is the first book we are going to discuss. I spent the day reading it. I found this book amazing. I don't have the words to describe how I'm feeling right now. I am looking forward to Jan. 19 when the book club will be meeting for the first time. I want all of my kids to read this book. Okay, Patrick may be too young, but I will want him to read this at some point in his life. I am going to strongly encourage both of my older kids to read it.

We had a nice Christmas. Everyone was pleased with their gifts. We all went to the movie Valkyrie yesterday. It was pretty good, but sad. I think I would have rather gone to Marley and Me, but the rest of the family picked Valkyrie. I did get a movie gift certificate in my stocking, so I will be going to see Marley and Me during this Christmas break.

I joined a swap on Ravelry, so tomorrow I need to start my project for my swap partner. I am going to make her some socks, but I haven't decided on a pattern yet. Something simple, cuz I am so slow at knitting socks and these need to be sent to her by Feb. 1. Yes, that is a month or so away and for some of you fast knitters this seems a long time. For me it is not long enough. I'll have to hope that my wrists don't get angry and make sure I have lots of ibuprophen on hand. I should get to bed. I'm such a night owl. Happy knitting!!!

Merry Christmas!

Anders.....

Look what came in the mail on Monday...I love him. He is so soft. Julie is a wonderful knitter. Amazing. I will treasure this little rabbit forever. My yarn came on Monday, too. I'll post a picture of that tomorrow. I need to post and run today. I have to clean and get my house ready to host book club tomorrow night. I have to bake cookies for a cookie exchange on Friday morning. Seven dozen, no problem. :)

Have a good day! Happy knitting!

Christmas Cheer?

After school I told the kids I needed to take a picture for the Christmas cards. Well, let's just say this is an experience in our household. As Maggie says, "Mom, we're not a perfect family, so you won't get a perfect picture!" Okay, she's right. I wanted an outdoor picture without coats, hats, and gloves. Grant did not like this idea and those pictures turned out crappy. I settled on a picture taken in front of the tree. I now know why I don't have a lot of pictures of my kids together. Someday they'll all like each other and get along, right?

The mail carrier did deliver the package from the Discovery store, so that is a relief. I'm bummed my other packages haven't arrived, but hopefully they will come tomorrow or Saturday. And now for your viewing pleasure, the picture we picked for the cards:

Oh Please Mr. Postman....

I have been trying to be patient with the USPS. I have packages coming from Germany and the UK. My Little Cotton Rabbit from Julie and my sock club package from Claudia, aka Wollmeise.
I thought both of the packages would have been here by now. I hope they didn't get lost. I also ordered a gift for Grant from the Discovery store. The tracker said it was in Memphis, TN on Dec. 5 and was now in the hands of the USPS. I didn't think it took that long for mail within the US to get from one area to another. Memphis isn't that far from Eau Claire. If these packages don't arrive by next Monday, then I'll start to panic and make phone calls. Yes, I am not the most patient person on this earth, I admit. I'm just so excited to see my rabbit in person and the yarn. I've seen a lot of pictures of the yarn on Ravelry, and I just know it will be even prettier in person.

My throat is feeling better, now I've lost my voice. I think the kids and Tom are happy about that. :) The fingerless mitts have been soaked and are now dry to wrap. I really think they turned out neat. I started a pair for myself. Well, I'm going to my friend's to scrapbook today. I need to get my stuff together. Happy Knitting!

Fingerless Mitts
I finished the fingerless mitts tonight. They were so easy and fun. I finished one on Sunday night. I felt like crap yesterday and so I didn't knit. I cast on for the second one this afternoon and got it done a few minutes ago. Loved this pattern. I have enough yarn left over to make myself a pair. The yarn is Noro Iro. I got it a few years ago at Yellow Dog Knitting.

My wrists have been bugging me, so my doctor had me see an occupational therapist today. The therapist was not very good. I have spoken to my doctor and she is going to call a hand specialist and ask who he recommends I see. I do not want to have carpal tunnel surgery, so I'd like to see what else I can do to alleviate the tingling and numbness. I've had symptoms for about four years and it has gotten worse this fall. Perhaps stripping wallpaper, painting, and moving furniture and carpet has aggravated things. I know I can't knit for as long as I used to and I'm trying to cut back on the amount of time I knit at one sitting. Knitting with size 8 needles helps a bit. I have been knitting socks and I am using size 00 for them. This really hurts, but I love knitting socks. I also have quite a big stash of sock yarn, so I'm not giving up on socks.

Christmas preparations have come to a stop while I've been sick. I won't be putting up the other two trees this year. I have 3/4 of the shopping done, I just need to wrap gifts and get the picture taken for the cards. I'm just not going to stress over Christmas this year.

Well, I'm off to have a cup of tea with honey. Happy knitting!

Ugh!!!



I have a terrible sore throat and feel like crap. I do not have time to be sick. The silver lining in this?....knitting without feeling guilty. I'm watching the Packer game and sipping tea while knitting and blogging. Two out of four Christmas trees are decorated and one mantle is 3/4 done. If this is all that gets done this year, oh well, that's okay.

Yesterday we had a knit in at church. It was a lot of fun and wonderful soup and bread were served for lunch along with many yummy treats. I worked on my sock in progress and then last night worked on a fingerless mitt pattern that I picked up at church. I am going to give them to my friend, Amy, who does my nails and hair. I think she'll like them. I know she will appreciate the handmade gift, because she makes glass beads and sells them.

Well, I need to pay attention to the game. Tom and Patrick are there, so I'm going to see if I can spot them in the crowd. Happy knitting!!

Cable Knit Mug

I saw this on Vicki's blog and wanted one. Yesterday I was running errands and went to Starbucks to get one. They have yarn ball decorations for Christmas. If you are near a Starbucks, go in just to see the decorations if you don't buy coffee, etc. I bet you will want a mug, though.I have been working on a sock and have an idea in my head for a cable sweater. It is based on a sweater I noticed Blythe Danner wearing in the movie, Meet the Parents. I've seen this movie several times, but the other night I really noticed this sweater. Now I'm trying to gather some cable patterns together for swatching and design the sweater. I may be in over my head, but why not try?

The kids don't have school today due to a staff development day. It snowed a little last night, so the boys went out to try sledding. Not enough snow for that, but they had fun. It helps get me in the mood to finish decorating.

Well, I'm off to get some work done. Happy knitting!!