Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Christmas Present? I need your Vote!!

Ok, I need your help! I'm torn between several different items for my Christmas present. I have a check, as well as a GC to Barnes and Noble, so I can combine them if I want something large from a bookstore, like this (item 1). I've been wanting to get that for quite a while, so it has definite appeal, AND I don't own any of them yet.

Then, there is THIS gorgeous item (item 2) that a friend found for me when I mentioned that I was looking for the perfect pair to complement my Pioneer costume (with this dress and these socks, in case you've forgotten):



















Finally, there are boring, but necessary things like these... (item 3) Ok, so the sale makes them look more appealing, but eeewwwww.... That's not a CHRISTMAS PRESENT!!

So, what should I get for Christmas? Item 1, Item 2, or Item 3? Please leave a comment with your vote!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Wedding Shower!

Some of you already know this, but the Founder of the Knit or Knot Guild has found love once again, and in a short week and a half, will be marrying her sweetheart! We're all so thrilled for her, and wanted to do something special. So, as a group, we knit the Great American Aran Afghan as a wedding present for them.

The plan was to give it to them at our December meeting. In order to get them to the meeting, we decided to have a "Holiday Potluck". Ok, well, that's what SHE thought. Here's what the decorations REALLY looked like:

Our decorator also made these cute little shower favors for our guests! Stitch Markers!
T & J arriving for the Holiday Party, only to suddenly find out that they were the Guests of Honor!! We said for our "Holiday Party" that spouses were welcome, in order to get J to come. In a rousing success, 4 of our other long time members brought their own spouses, helping J to feel very comfortable, as well as giving the guys time to socialize too!

There was a lovely garland of "wedding advice" Knitter's style prepared by all attendees... Some of the gems included "K Knaked" and "Handwash Often"! Not holding out the suspense, we presented T & J with their gift:

Of course, T's first question was "Who knit this??" The framed, signed photo provided those answers:


It's wonderful to see T SOOOO happy!!

The lovebirds wrapped in their afghan:


And here's the full view photo!


T's comments today: "Tonight we kept the patio doors open and snuggled under the afghan. It is so warm and soft and fun to examine all the different patterns in the squares."

She also shared, last night, that this is the FIRST shower she's ever had! It's true!! When she married 49 years ago, it was to elope, so no shower. Also there was no baby shower when her son was born! We're so happy we could share this wonderful first with T & J, and we know that they will have a long and beautiful marriage!

Intervention?, INTERVENTION?!?!

Ok, so after that glowing report I just gave about how much my team is now appreciating my knitting?...

We had a going away brunch this morning for two team members - one was promoted, the other is an intern who's time with us is nearing an end. I figured hey, it's breakfast, we'll be eating, but I'll bring my knitting anyhow, to kill time before, and if necessary, distract myself from eating, nibbling, etc after... After 20 min or so, my boss says "I think you have a knitting problem...this isn't really a going away party, really we all came together to have an intervention for you..."

I did mention something about a T-shirt that M shared with me recently:
Got up to go to the restroom...came back... Knitting bag was GONE! Of course I noticed immediately! Fortunately they had coerced my old boss (the one who learned the word "skein") into "hiding" the bag...but he was really not a willing participant, so one or two words from me and he caved!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

They're Not Laughing Now!

It has been a point of amusement, awe, learning, etc for years around my workplace that I knit. As has been reported previously, one boss is still very proud of learning the word "skein" - and uses it whenever there's an opportunity! Another brought me a skein of mohair from South Africa when he came back from his vacation there! My teams have eagerly followed the design process as I knit and submitted the Cherry Tree Hill jacket. They look on in amusement on the occasions that I bring knitting to a meeting or conference call. Of course, they all dutifully ask whenever I wear a "new" sweater (Hey, this is FL, I don't get to wear them that often, so if I'm on a new team once a year, my old sweaters are always new!) if I made it - and the answer is typically yes as I have only 2 or 3 store bought sweaters in my closet.

So today, we had our team holiday potluck, and the Global team that we report up to was invited to join us. After we ate, they told us that they had been going around to each of the 5 regions (we were last) and doing a fun activity with everyone - making paper plate snowmen! They provided us with paper plates, colored construction paper, google eyes, pompoms, pipe cleaners, scissors, glue, crayons and pencils, and yarn for the construction of these snowmen.

Wait, did she say YARN?? Yep, she did. The idea was to punch a hole in the top plate and a hole in the bottom, pull yarn through them and tie the two plates together. Of course my mind started wandering as soon as I saw the yarn. The leader that was introducing the project knows me a bit, and said "Now Jody, you can't knit with the yarn, you only have a total of 35 min to complete these projects". Yeah, who's she kidding?? So, I glued on my eyes, cut out hands, feet, and a hat from the construction paper and glued those together. Started surveying the items at hand... knitting needles? Nope - didn't bring my purse to the meeting - needles were a mile away at my resort. Pipe cleaners? Hhmmm...probably on the flimsy side and might not provide a large enough needle size. Chop Sticks? Perhaps one of the secretaries might have some leftover from ordering chinese... Ah, but then there's the possibility that someone might cry foul. You see, of the 9 snowmen created in OUR meeting, we were to choose the 2 best to move on to the Global office where all 10 of the best would be judged by an impartial panel (people in their building who don't know us and wouldn't be biased)! The winner of that competition would secure a prize for their entire team! Looking around further, I found two lovely sharp pencils nearby! So, quickly cast on a 5 stitch garter scarf and spent the next 20 minutes or so zipping out a 10-14" garter scarf for Mr. Snowman! There was much amusement and conversation - and a lot of disbelief!

I did finish the scarf, though it was a tad shorter than I might have liked - threw some tassels on the ends, and tied it around his neck! The finished product? Have a look:

My team decided unanimously that he would definitely be one of the two to move on to the next phase of competition. So, he was transported along with Mr. T the snowman to the finals!

The good news about being the very last team to participate, is that they did the judging this afternoon, so we had to wait only a couple of hours to hear who won. And the final verdict? Three way tie with my Snowman with Hand-knit scarf being one of the three!! So, everyone's now wondering and conjecturing what the "prize" for winning will be. One thought was an ice cream social for our team - a likely possibility. Another thought might be a pair of movie tickets for each person... We won't find out until after the new year, but we're all happy that my little bit of knitting paid off!

As a side note, the judges did not know who submitted what, and none of them knew me well enough to know that I knit, but one of the other managers that works with the Global team walked by and looked over the finalists. She IMMEDIATELY said "I know who did THAT one!" - then proceeded to call me and tell me about it :) And it's true, no one on the overall team would have a hard time identifying that as mine.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

4th Annual Distaff Day Event!!

The Orlando Area Knitters and Spinners are once again pleased to announce:

“The 4th Annual Distaff Day”


Location:

Presbyterian Church of the Lakes
4700 Lincoln Ave.
Orlando, FL 32819

Saturday, January 5th, 2008h from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Day’s Events

10:00 -12:00 - Meet, Greet, Coffee, Goodies, Spin, and Knit
12:00 - 1:00 - Lunch
1:00 - 2:00 - Fashion Show
2:00 - 3:00 - ‘Yankee Swap’
3:00 - 4:00 - More Spinning, Knitting, Chatting, Sharing

If you have any questions I can help!

Cost: $5.00 – (Monies collected will be given to the church for the use of the room)

What to Bring:

1. Spinning Wheel, Knitting, Weaving, Beading, etc. (whatever you have put away, or not, and want to work on)

2. Bag Lunch – There is a Publix and Albertson’s close by with a deli if any one forgets.

3. Coffee or Tea mug - The Hosting Guilds will provide the beverage and treats. (cookies and veggies)

4. Item for the “Yankee Swap” Put in a plain paper bag and seal so the contents cannot be viewed. This item should have a value of up to $20.00 and should also be something that if you get you will be thrilled!!! (Because you might!!)

5. Items for the “Sale Table” Just like last year. Items that you have decided you might not want and would like to sell. Put a tag on the item with you name and price.

6. FREE TABLE – Some people prefer just to give things away, so get to the “Distaff Day” early “The early bird gets the worm!!”

7. The “Fashion Show” – Bring an item you made this year and share with us your experience and talent!!!!

All activities are voluntary. Feel free to participate in all or none

See you on the 5th!!!!!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

To SP or not to SP, That is the question!

Knittyboard SP10 is about to get started, signups close in two days! I filled out most of my survey weeks ago... But I haven't decided whether to turn it in yet or not...

Yay - It's fun to spoil someone and get spoiled in return. You may be introduced to new yarns, patterns, books, teas...who knows!

Nay - It starts right after the holidays. I'm having a hard time even getting motivated to spoil family for Christmas, much less a downstream. I have a TON of yarn. There are good upstreams, and then there are just so-so upstreams. I don't want to BE or GET a just so-so Upstream...

The dating thing has been taking up a lot of my time lately, though it doesn't appear to be going very far very fast. So, I just don't know. What do YOU think?