Happy New Year!

Here's hoping your 2009 will be a

Random Saturday

The hubster and I and were uptown, dowtown all around the town on a foggy Saturday. Some random NYC shots of the day:

Wooly Christmas!

Wishing everybody a warm, wooly Christmas!



And hoping that Santa had yarn in his bag for you also!

Z is for

I saw this sign from across the street



and got a bit closer



And though it's not, I was hoping it would be a store selling nothing but this:



It's strange how the two have the exact same typeface. And totally confusing to this knitter!

When I returned to knitting a few years ago, I went to a yarn store and bought some Zara. I don't remember why I chose that yarn--but something about it called to me.

I began by making swatches of all different stitch patterns. Garter, ribbing, seed, moss, basketweave, stockinette. Not huge squares--three or four inches.



I just wanted to see how I liked it.

I liked it!

Zara is wonderful to the touch and gives great stitch definition. Knitting with it is totally enjoyable! I'm sure that if I had used some other yarn, I wouldn't have picked up the needles again.

Big Bad Cat Blanket

The Big Bad Cat Blanket is finished and on its way to my feline great-nephew. YAY!

Since the yarn used is Plymouth Encore (80% acrylic/20% wool), I read up on how to block acrylic.

Among the suggestions are:
wash and dry according to label instructions
soak and pin and let dry
spritz and steam.

However, I didn't read anywhere of the Let A Cat Sit On It method

A Pleasant Day

It was 30 degrees outside and I didn't have to go outside.

I had the Revontuli Shawl to knit



and Christmas cards to write.



And, best of all, the hubster made a yummy cold-weather dinner!



Nope, nothing to snit about here!

Y is for

Yuletide knitting!



I don't like the pressure of having to make gifts during this time of the year--and have never done so.

But, this year, there was a collision of circumstances.

I needed something easy-peasy with big yarn and big needles to make to/from/at the Retreat AND my niece has been adopted by a new kitten.

Of course! My feline great-nephew needs a blanket for Christmas!

The pattern is the Big, Bad Baby Blanket. The yarn is Plymouth Encore--picked up at last year's Retreat swap table.

Kippy has declared the blanket suitable for cat-sitting.



It's a nice quick, boring knit and I might actually finish it in time--if Barney lets me have the needles back.

Another Surprise!

Another stunning Sundara surprise in this afternoon's mail:



Single skeins from the cool selection:
Winter Skies, Marina over Icicles, Grape over Gray Violet.

I'm still swooning over this morning's surprise.
I feel like such a glutton!

Surprise!

What seems like an eternity ago, I signed up for a couple of Sundara sock collections.

And then forgot about them.

8:45 this morning, the doorbell rings. The mailman with a package.

Surprise!



This seems to be Sundara's Surprise--the artist's choice mixed palette. As Sundara says of artist's choice, "Colors within these color families will be developed by Sundara and in the spirit of creativity, surprise and spontaneity, subscribers will not chose specific colors."


And to make it even more surprising, I chose the "all colors possible" mixed palette.

The colors are from the top:
the breezy, sunny South Pacific, the mysterious, sultry Fragrant Night and the yummy Chocolate Raspberry.

What's even more surprising is that I bought two skeins of each. That totals 700 yards of each color.

What was I thinking? Shawls? Huge socks?

I love, love, love this yarn! But I see a yarn diet in the near future. Well, after I receive my second mailing from Sundara. (I checked my email and saw I signed up for another collection.) And in a day or so, I'll be receiving a most gorgeous surprise from Briar Rose Fibers.