Thank you!

My good friend Abbie and 2 of her children came to visit me yesterday. Bubba Lou and T had a wonderful time together and B.L. shared her toys and swing much better than I ever suspected she would. Zeep was well behaved, but quite curious. No one got an accidental puppy bite. All-in-all it couldn't have gone any better. Until I opened a little bag from Abbie containing a skein of yarn! It is a lovely shade of harvest orange (about the shade my kitchen will be someday) in soft, hand-spun, kettle-dyed wool. I had just the pattern for it:

I love that this pattern looks like I'm weaving instead of knitting. And one skein makes the perfect length/width for my chocolate brown leather coat. Many, many heartfelt thanks to you Abbie! I will think of you every time I wear this (and hopefully we have warm spring before I finish it, but I doubt it.)

B.L. was not left out of the gift-giving. For a belated birthday gift, she got the cutest little kitchen tools with bodies instead of handles and a spoon, whisk, and measuring cup for heads! She LOVES them and says "Thank You" again. We used them this morning to make pancakes.

And to top of our fantastic day, Nana came for a sleepover! Does it get better?

Busy As A Bee

For starters, I found a job. I'm now working in the offices of Borlind of Germany, a high-end, natural skin care line from...you guessed it, Germany. The best part is that they gave me the schedule I want so Bubba is now in daycare only 3 days a week. Very nice product, very nice people. They're sending me to Anaheim in March to help out with Expo West, a HUGE natural foods/products show. Should be a lot of fun, a lot of work, but a lot of fun. I've only ever worked a show from the buyer's side of the table.

I've been busy on the knitting front. Everyone I know is having babies! A friend of mine just had her second daughter (her first is one of Natalie's first friends, they're a week apart.) I knit her up the little kimono from "One Skein". And two of the girls I work with now are due any day, so I knit up hats for their impending little ones. Also out of "One Skein". I just love that book, especially when I need a special gift that won't cost me an arm and a leg and knits up in a weekend (or an evening.)

One of the ladies I work with is having a girl, the other is having a boy. Hence the Valentine's color scheme...I just couldn't do blue in February!

I also visted my local yarn store...they sent out a "Superbowl Weekend Sale" email. 40% off ALL LOBSTER POT YARNS!! INCLUDING CASHMERE! For those of you who don't knit, or buy yarn, Lobster Pot is a small, small company in Cape Cod that produces beautiful yarns that are hand-dyed in actual lobster pots. The colors have wonderful New England names like "boiled lobster," "drawn butter," "hydrangea," "cape cod sky." I could go on and on. Anyway, I hit the store at 10 sharp and snagged all the boiled lobster and salt rose cashmere I could afford. Two skeins of each! And one each for Mummie, as well as some seagrass. This yarn is soooo soft, I keep rubbing it on my cheeks. I think the pink is going to become a hat, the red? Any suggestions?

I've also been baking. BubbaLou likes to help. Lick the bowl, that is. Chocolate chip cookies.

Speaking of cookies, one last goodie before I go. Sy got this enormous vase for me just before the holidays. It stands about 2 feet tall and about a foot or 14 inches across. I'd been looking for one that wasn't $250, and my bargain hunter found me one. Too late to fill it with pumpkins, I chose to use all my cookie cutters instead. I collect them, but only the all metal ones. I've got snowflakes, martini glasses, flamingos, camels, almost every animal imaginable, a high-heel shoe, a hand, as well as the classics...heart, bell, tree, snowman, star..anything goes, I love them all. These are one of my favorite things in the "whole wide world," as BubbaLou puts it. They are ultimately destined for a special wall in my kitchen, but until then I just love them in the jar on my table.

If we ever get the walls painted, you'll get to see them in all their glory. I'm actually framing them all , like a giant picture. Who says cookies aren't art? And yes, I do use them. Frequently. Bubba Lou thinks its great fun when I have to dump out the entire vase to get one on the bottom!

Let's Catch Up

Happy New Year from us to you! BubbaLou was so excited to get a crown, hat and two noise-makers. Mama and Daddy were excited that she couldn't blow hard enough to make the noise-makers work! Sy and I actually watched the ball drop with my sister and a friend. We didn't get home until about 1am. I cannot honestly remember the last time I was up that late (by choice.)

Here's a picture of the quilt I did for the holidays. I love it, and think it came out really well for my first quilting attempt, but I will never do it again. Snipping the edges of all of those block nearly did me in. The red you see is the back of the quilt.

On a less happy note, I'm job hunting. The shop I was hired to run has not done the $$ we had anticipated, and the owner cannot afford to cut my paychecks anymore. Yeah, it sucks, but I'm trying to be positive. I have a second interview for an office position today, so keep your fingers crossed for me.

And if anyone who reads this needs yarn, I'll be cleaning out my stash on eBay. Being out of a job and all, I need to generate some $$. I will also be giving up some Hallmark Disney ornaments and some various other "stuff" that, hopefully, someone will just have to have! Give me a few days, but then check out bubbasweepea on eBay!

Missing

Between working full-time, a million birthday parties, and Thanksgiving, I've been busy. BubbaLou recently turned 3, so a party was required. 8 (maybe 50?) small children running around my house. Their parents, some Aunts, Uncles, cousins, friends...I had a party with 25 or so people (4 days before Thanksgiving.) I just love a challenge, and birthday cake. Red velvet with the most amazing frosting in the whole wide world. I could eat it by itself in a bowl, and I'm not really a frosting girl. Just give me the cake.

Bubba's favorite gift, a REAL, pink guitar. I can't tell you how many renditions of
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" I've heard.

I've also been busy on the sewing front. Here's a scarf I just completed with some extra fabric from a quilt I'm doing for the couch. It's a super-soft flannel in beautiful holiday prints. A little whimsical without being childish. The quilt and scarf have exposed seams on one side that get clipped and then fray in the wash, making a little fringe around all the blocks. I saw the quilt in progress at the local quilt shop and even though it's a little too "country," I thought it was pretty and it gave me a good excuse to buy the flannel I had seen on my last visit. Yes, I need an excuse to buy fabric. This is a taste of what 336 quilt square blocks looks like. I think I actually cut out closer to 400, but only needed 336. My kitchen looked like it was covered in a film of fuzz after I was done. Well worth it, though. I just think these colors are so soft and pretty. And it will be nice to have something seasonal on the couch to snuggle up in.

I do not need an excuse to buy yarn. In fact, my local shop was having a coupon sale...how convenient. I bought some wonderful washable wool for a new hat for my Dad, and some bulky, 100% silk yarn in a beautiful, shimmery silver. Perfect for a holiday scarf. Taa-daa. As if I've got nothing better to do.

The holiday baking season has begun, after all. And my darlin' Sy gave me the three BIG King Arthur Flour cookbooks for my birthday. I told him I might as well just paste the pages to my thighs. These cookbooks have centerfolds, for crying out loud. I wanted to lick the pages, it's baker porn.

Abbie, do you want some more pumpkin whoppie pies? I can't be the only one eating this stuff.

Bubba Lou's Hoodie

I did it. I took out the trim around the hood and re-did it. Huge sigh of relief. It looks so much better now, and didn't take me as long as I thought.

Went to Lowe's today with my Dad. He very nicely bought me 2 azaleas and a bunch of different annuals. It's nice to have some color in my yard! The apple blossoms are gone now, but the lilacs are perfuming the whole yard! I wish someone could figure out how to bottle that scent and not screw it up.

Still inserting the sleeves into the rowan sweater. Hopefully I can finish the damn thing tomorrow and move on. Now that it's gotten too hot to wear it, I really don't care when I finish it, but I have to have it done by next Tuesday for display in the shop. For a better discount, I promised to have it done in 1 month and on display for 2-3 weeks a month while we're busiest (june-october.) At least I got the yarn at a good price!

Speaking of a good price, I just scored a bag of Rowan Cotton Rope in cyclamen for $2.99 a ball! With free shipping! That's cheaper than wholesale in the US! Yes, I did the happy dance in my kitchen when it arrived. Still haven't decided what it will become....suggestions?