FIADS - Topic of the Week

Either flash your needles and other items you use to make your wares or, if you don't have a camera, describe your goods for us in detail. Dpns, circs, straights, hooks, tape measures, darning needles, favorite stitch markers, needle holders, cases, the works!



Every knitter needs lots of marking tools so here's my carry-around pack of misc marking tools.

My favs right now are those pink, blue and white markers in the lower left corner of the picture. They're not complete circles, they have an opening in them so you can slip them on that all too important middle stitch when you're working on your EZ Surprise Jacket. lol


Being the OCD type, even in knitting, I try to keep all my needles in this black leather basket. That way I can go there and find whatever I need in a hurry, you know, for those knitting emergencies...hee.

I made those nifty needle holders on the lower left when I first started knitting last year (when my quilting mojo was still my friend) and then made the felted needle roll that you see in the lower right corner of the basket with yarn leftover from my first felted purse.

My most favorite of all my needles is the KnitPicks Options and they split their time between the super handy binder from KnitPicks and my carry around bag.

And this polka-dot beauty is my handy-dandy $12 knitting bag I found at a little shop in Petoskey. Perfect size for a project or 3 plus lunch and snacks when I go to work.





And I must mention my vintage needle stash. These are all needles purchased on eBay in an effort to make up for the fact that I didn't get any of my Grama's needles when she left this world. I found a nice bunch of needles that look like they could have been hers...I just pretend and that's ok with me. They surely belonged to someone's Grama, don't you think? I like how they look in the vases, like flowers...that never die, lol.

So there's my tools...let's see yours.

The Saint...from U.N.C.L.E.

Anybody remember The Saint or The Man from U.N.C.L.E.? I know my daughter won't, lol. She didn't even know what Laugh-In was. The other night when we were in a local department store I mentioned that a dress we saw looked like something Goldie Hawn would have worn on Laugh-In. Rena's response; "What's Laugh-In?", geez sometimes I feel so old. I still bought the bell-bottom jeans though...I don't care if I am 51 years old, I can still wear me some bell-bottoms...can't I? Ahhh, I'm getting off the track here...what I wanted to start with this evening was this...

My heart swelled a bit today while The Saint and I were enjoying our rotisserie chicken dinner (that he cooked). An ad came on the television for an attorney with Robert Vaughn on it. The ad prompted him to tell me how, when he was younger, he had the whole Man from Uncle kit. It was one of those fleeting moments when I get a glimpse of the child that is still inside him. The smile on his face as he told me that tidbit was priceless.

It got me thinking about the whole "belonging to the club" thing. Look at Ravelry for example. We all want to be part of the club and there are lots of cool gadgets to own as part of the club. And it is so much fun to have all my new friends gathered in one place even though they are really all over the world.

The only club I belonged to when I was young was Campfire Girls. Wow, has that organization changed! Now it is Campfire USA and they let boys in! I always thought that blue skirt and vest were way cool. You earned these super fabulous wooden beads of different colors for doing good deeds and learning new skills. We would sew the beads on our vests in really cool shapes like flowers and things, well it was the 60s after all, it was all about the flowers back then, LOL.

Thanks to my Grama I have this old photo of my Dad and I ready for a Father/Daughter Dinner. Isn't that a great uniform? I especially love the way my Mom did my hair for the occassion, ROFL. And, OMG those shoes! I still shudder when I think about those shoes (two-toned brown and gold suede)... As you can see we had the latest in stereo equipment, *snort*. This would have been about 1965 I think, 3rd or 4th Grade.

Enough jocularity, let's knit...

A couple of weeks ago I read on Roxie's blog, that I got to from someone else's blog and I'm sorry I can't remember who's, was having a contest and she was looking for pictures of people's hands while they were knitting. Here were my offerings to the collection. I love this picture of The Saint's truck-driver hands "knitting" on my Ballband Dishcloth.


and mine knitting Winston's BSJ...

do you have any idea how difficult it is to take a picture of your own hands knitting when no one else is around? I had to put the camera on a stack of books, hold my knitting up in front of the camera and push the shutter button on top of the camera with my tongue, gah. I think it turned out pretty good for a tongue taken pic.

Hey, Cass, JenW posted her pattern for the Rippled Fingerless Mitts. And her picture turned out way better than mine! You should jump over there and get it.

KIP: EZ Adult Surprise Jacket A few rows done and a few hundred to go. I'm likin' it already.









Now if I could just get this burning sensation to go away in my elbow and shoulder :-)


Thanks everybodee for stoppin in. And I really do appreciate all your kind comments. See you all on Ravelry this week. I'll be working hard trying to get my stash posted...

FIADE - TOW #4

Are there any recipes you especially enjoy having in the Fall? Any foods that are seasonal that you especially enjoy?

Yep, lots of them! My very favorite is a Honey Crisp apple. Every Saturday Rena and I stop at the farmer's market and pick some up.

The go-to soup for The Saint and I is a recipe I found in this Rachel Ray cookbook, page 109, called Chorizo-Chicken Stoup. Sorry but since I don't think I should put it here without permission and I think Rach has a bit too much going on to be giving me permission to dupe her recipe on my blog, lol. (maybe if you send me an email I could get it to you that way...shhh)

A big hit with the entire family is Apple Spice Pumpkin Bread that I found in a book called Eating for IBS. It's yummy and good for you too! A nice moist bread with a crumbly brown sugar topping, mmmm-mmmm!

Ahhh, Petting the Alpaca...

I went to Alpaca Farm Days at Grand Alpaca Company today.


Amazing cuteness! I've always loved to pet my Alpaca yarn, but, to pet the yarn while it is still on the Alpaca is truly a fine experience.

Seeing how attentive the mama Alpaca is to her baby warmed my heart.

They ate up all the extra attention they were getting.


Everyone was wearing their sweater as it was a bit cool this morning.

I got a good education during the tour from Jane Talbott the owner of Grand Alpaca Company.

I certainly do appreciate her passion for her endeavor. She knows each of her animals intimately and they all have names.

In addition to breeding the animals she also sells fiber, so if you are in the market for some fabulous Alpaca fleece check out her farm.

Time for a nap now...thanks for stopping in.

Here's My Sign

I was lurking Javajem's blog and found this really cool thing. You can spell your name with Flickr photos here. Check it out...mine's up there at the top. Cool huh? Go see what yours would look like.

FO BSJ

Yay! My practice BSJ is finished! Winston (my grand-dog) was kind enough to model it for us. We couldn't decide which way looked better, front-wards or back-wards...whatchu think?





He is always a super good sport for modeling.







It's a perfect fit worked on size 4 KnitPicks.



I think this is the best view. Isn't he adorable?

Self Portrait Meme

I was reading Janice's blog and she tagged everyone for this self portrait meme. So here is me...

doing my favorite thing these days...blogging.

Don't you love that 51 year old neck?! ewww

Where's my turtleneck?

Edited 9/26 to add:

So now let's see your photos. Leave me a comment and let me know when you have yours posted so I can go see...