Today's the Day

Not very exciting probably for you to read about but very exciting for us!!! New furnace being installed today :)  Have been just a little too cold.  This is just in the nick of time - low 20's are coming

Working hard to get DHJ's vest done, still working on spell 4 (probably a pic tomorrow), and working on a special prezzie for DGNJ (he's home now so I will have to check with DNL to see how everything's going :))  DNL has had a couple of sleepless babies; DGNJ, being her third baby, maybe he will be good to her and DNILB!  I hope so :)

MDNs are duking it out

I think DNK is in the lead with this picture of DGNC doing laundry - what do you think?
DNK - make sure you keep up the training - DDK is awesome at doing her own laundry even now :)!!!

Knitting-wise, I am making progress on all fronts...spell 4 is moving right along but you will have to wait for a picture because my fingers are freezing....why you may ask?

When is the WORST time for an old furnace to call it quits?




On one of the coldest days of the year.  When is this not really THAT bad?





When one lives in the South, y'all!!!  Lows in the high 20's / low 30's, an upstairs furnace still working and a heated mattress pad!!! (5 furry friends looking to get cozy helps too :)) Plus...it's not "chilly" like it was in Kentucky and I get to go knit with friends at Warm and Wooly Only Ewe and Cotton Too this morning...

Bippity Boppity Boo

Before I start today's post about the shawl I am designing for the KnitWitch (makes GORGEOUS hand-dyed yarn), I have to share the winning photo for today (do we have cute babies in our family or what???:))  I think I should ask my dear nieces to submit photos everyday for "Battle of the Babies".

Sorry but for some reason I can't get this to be any bigger!





Ok ... here we go ......ABRACADABRA.......

This is the base triangle and "Spell 1" :)  I am not sure if I am calling this design "Glenda" or "Enchanting" or some combination or permutation of the two....NFB (aka Knit Witch ) - what do you think?

A little closer up!!!

Spell 2 is the garter stitch ridge and spell 3 is the beautiful Multi Colorway "Capricorn" which is horrendously displayed here ("Fail" as the kids would say :()

I am working on a second garter stitch ridge now and then (who knows :)) - you'll have to tune in to see......

It's Picture Day!

And the winning photo is.......

my brand new great nephew J (DGNJ)!!!  Isn't he beautiful???!!! DNL, you did an amazing job delivering this big boy (9 lbs 10 oz)  - I think he looks just like his sister (DGNE)!

DGNC - you win second place - Sorry!!! (Only because DGNJ is brand new and shiny :))

I wonder if you like your new stocking - you look a little overwhelmed from your first Christmas!!! :)




I am making progress on Jon's vest (Scotch & Soda?)  I am proud of the armhole decreases - they were a little tricky to calculate... Bella likes them too! :)

 And .... Finally, a little preview of upcoming cotton top for Stitches South...the light color is Ecru (buttercream) and the red is actually fushia - this is just a swatch to figure out some colorwork for the design...

Avatar Yesterday!

Saw Avatar with DHJ and DDK yesterday - DSJ was too tired (do we have the plague?) - great entertaining movie!!! DHJ said it was the best movie he's ever seen.  There could be others for me but it was great...great story, interesting science and exciting screenplay (plus on top of all that you get cool 3D glasses)!!!

Merry Christmas (Good Kitties:))!!!

They didn't touch a thing although Bella is now intently checking out stuffed Christmas Stockings!  In past years, we might have already been done opening gifts but now our kids are full-fledged teenagers and we have been instructed to wake them up at 10!  DHJ and I may have a hard time waiting that long! :)

I hope you all have a blessed Christmas! 

Happy Christmas Eve!!!

Presents are all wrapped but unlike previous years, nothing is under the tree yet...it used to be that we were worried about prying kids' hands now we're wondering whether packages would even survive til the morning!!! (Prying kitten hands, teeth, and claws!!!) My guess is that we will not take the risk but will wait until we can supervise :)  Have a magical evening with family and friends - may Santa be good to you! :)

The New Food Pyramid!

We watched the movie Elf a few nights ago (if you haven't seen it you should - pretty funny) - anyway the elves' favorite foods are Candy, Candy Corn, and Syrup (the fourth is escaping me right now).  We have a developed a new diet here:  Coffee Cake, Nuts, Chocolate and anything with Peppermint!!! Back to the drawing board on Dec 26th!!! :)  At least DHJ and I are still walking (and we have been pushing each other to do longer and more hilly walks) - hopefully that has helped things a little - I am afraid to step on the scale!

Question to the universe - why can't my children be trendsetters and want things before anyone else wants them?  I looked like a poor distressed waif as I wandered (not aimlessly but fruitlessly) in the mall yesterday!!!  At least I got more walking in!

Gotta Brave the Shopping Scene

May the experience be similar to the Post Office :)  Luckily not too much to do this year - wish me luck...

Procrastinating our Walk!

We will be walking this morning as soon as I blog - it's chilly here but nothing like the northeast.  I need to check on my family today - I think they are getting a LOT of snow! 

Here's a little peek at DHJ's vest - "Lattice Lug Vest", "Criss-Cross Applesauce","A bit Vent-y"  - I think I will need to hire a consultant for naming all these things!!!

Excuses, Excuses....

Yesterday my excuse is that I had to go to the post office and get packages mailed off only that really doesn't count because it was the best post office visit ever!!!  I walked in (knitting in hand just in case), literally walked up to the counter, placed all the bundles on the counter and left (after paying of course!) - awesome Christmas present to me!!! I think it was perfectly timed, not early mailing like I have done a few times or barely early enough like I have mostly done!

Today my excuse was finally a little Christmas shopping for DHJ, DSJ, and DDK but then I felt guilty for ignoring y'all so here I am...

Christmas knitting nearly done (at least the pressure's off) - just completing a little something for local knitting friends... Also, Cast on yesterday for a vest for DHJ. Started off with a brioche (fishermans) rib and am using an awesome stitch that I can't remember the name of right now. I am using Cascade 220 and am loving this - hopefully everyone else will too :) 

I even straightened up around here a little bit this morning - it always reaches chaos when I am in the middle of the Christmas frenzy.  I can now enjoy the remainder of the preparation in the midst of (at least the semblance of ) organization... The infamous coffee cakes tonight - no self-rising flour planned for this year :)

Why do I always get great Christmas Knitting Ideas at the last Second?

Do I thrive on chaos and stress?  While finishing up presents for family, more ideas are going through my head...one of which I was able to act on...a miniature garland for Bee's miniature Christmas tree...Must say ....pretty proud of myself :)
Sorry ..pretty hard to photograph!

Website is Coming! Fa La La La La La La La La!!!

Successful people always say that being successful doesn't require knowing everything or doing everything yourself, it just takes surrounding yourself with the right people who know and can do the things you need to do...I am incredibly fortunate to have all the encouragement in the world from wonderful family and friends and also DNK and DNILJ who are technical enough (and young enough)  to know how to do really cool web stuff :)  DNILJ is going to build me a website so pretty soon this blog will be reachable through www.morethanknotz.com!!! And when people that I don't even know search for "knitting patterns" or "stitch marker necklace" , they will be sent to me!!!  How cool is that?  So... someone who used to know how to program in COBOL can have a web presence!!!

An Angel, Baby Jesus, A Golden Trumpet and a Bow

Thought it was Bella but it appears to be a two-kitten job! Magellan is pretty darn laid back but he does have the endearing little habit of dropping things into the water bowl :)  We are not quite sure why he does this except maybe that he wants to check that we are keeping the water full enough for his liking!  Anyway, regarding the items mentioned, they have all mysteriously been removed over the past couple days from the Christmas tree!  Bella is the more curious of the two (Magellan will only try to get what he can comfortably reach from the arm of the chair next to the tree :)) so we thought it was all her but ... when the Baby Jesus ornament that DDK made at a young age was found in the water bowl, we knew there was more to it.  Then I found an angel ornament (soaking wet) on a blanket in the family room.  DHJ thinks Magellan was trying to atone for his sins!  Let's hope that they start to lose interest in the tree pretty soon!

She Likes Me - Hey DGNC!

It was such a joy to meet my DGNC - I have only a couple of pictures but hope DNK or DNILJ will get a picture with the secret Christmas project (not so secret anymore - Christmas stocking).

 I am so happy that she let me hold her for a really long time and that I was able to make her laugh (actually I think it was DNK that was making her laugh).  And she likes the snake!!!Pretty soon DGNC won't be the baby in the family - new cousin arriving VERY soon!

Boy is my face red!

Please forgive me friends for my lack of blogginess:)  I won't even try to make excuses - I will just get back to it!

Had a great trip cut 1 day short by exhaustion!  I came home from Cincy on Friday as I desperately needed to escape the "chilly" weather as they call it up there...chilly - Ha!  19 degrees does not qualify in my book as chilly!   So sorry I didn't get to see DNL as planned but soon (after Winter) I will head up north again...

Gotta go test the "recipe" at Only Ewe and Cotton Too Christmas party!!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Imagine a snappy little tune) :)

Snowing in Louisville !!!  We hardly ever see snow in Atlanta but when we do, people (children and adults alike) dance and spin around catching snowflakes on their tongues :) I haven't seen anyone here showing that kind of joy regarding snow but I would imagine that they see snow a little more often than we do :) I went to a number of great little shops yesterday - I have never been to Lexington, KY and I visited a great little shop (Magpie Yarn) where all the fibers were arranged by color rather than brand.  Jane, the owner, told me that other shops do that too but I have never seen it and was delightfully inspired!

I will be sitting tight at the hotel a little longer - definitely don't want to deal with any commuter traffic.  The rest of Louisville and Cincinnati today - then I get to meet my DGNC and deliver the completed secret Christmas knitting :)  Can't wait to see family and hold DGNC (I hope she likes me!)

Good Morning :)

Rainy (pouring) travel day yesterday as I shlep my samples around (need a new compact "trunk") for the show :)  Chattanooga not much of a knitting town but Knoxville has a couple of great shops that I visited "Loopville" and "The Yarn Haven"  Both shops have a beautiful selection of Yarns (and as usual ... very difficult to resist ...) and Jenka at Loopville was really helpful with ideas for marketing and getting my name (More Than Knotz not Susan :)) out there in Local Yarn Store land.  Louisville today and then tomorrow I get to visit MSS and family...Can't wait!  Gotta map out the rest of my trip ... have a great day!

At the Mazda Dealership

Yes everything is ok but I thought I better get my oil changed since I am a little overdue and about to head out on a pretty big trip.  This is really fun to be able to blog using their wireless network !:)  Working hard on printing lots of patterns for the shops I will be visiting to snap up for a song :) I now officially hate my printer - while at Staples to get more cartridges, I will be investigating Laser printers and the cost per page to see if it would make sense for me. 

Multi-tasked this morning while printing and clearing paperjams...arghhhhh... I am now almost finished with charts on my secret Christmas project - DSB, if you are working on a similar secret Christmas project, Row 30 is a major milestone....

I had better go because I do have some other knitting to do that is quite intriguing to Bizzy-Izzy so it would be great to work on it without having to fight off the stalker! :)  I will touch base tomorrow night.  Rain, Rain Go away !(not looking so good in TN)

Phew!!!

Smoke Rise Craft Show!!!  Wow - was a blast being with MFZ and her daughters and getting to meet MFZ's SO - (yes Z I liked him :))  I made enough to cover my trip this week which is awesome and I learned a lot about craft shows in general.  There were a few true artisans at this one but if I could do it over, I would bring more small items.  Although I sold a couple of larger items (Funky Fringe also sold out :), it seemed as if the people shopping here liked inexpensive little items.  Also learned that I will come up with a few fun designs that I make on an ongoing basis so that I have an easily portableinventory that I don't drive myself crazy over (but I think I did learn that lesson before yesterday)!

On to the next focus - planning my trip in detail so I can actually tell MDSS when I will arrive.... (Of course a little break to go to Only Ewe this afternoon :)

That is an anti-Hate poster in the background!!!

MFZ, another pic of the table and the (now) famous Fabulous Funky Fringe!!!

Totally Lost Count But Made it For Sure!!!

Made one last Fabulous Funky Fringe and sewed in all the ends on all the other projects yesterday.  Cast on and halfway done with a scarf out of Boku...I think I am ready for tomorrow - yay!  Still need to card stitch markers and print a few patterns then off to Only Ewe for a day with the Knit Witch!  Beautiful hand-dyed yarns - can't wait! :) 

Feeling a little overwhelmed with everything to do to get ready for my trip - Planning which yarn stores to visit, mapping out the trip, getting accomodations lined up, printing a gazillion copies of patterns....Just in case MDNL is reading this today, are there any great yarn shops in Indy?  I will probably come by so I can visit 3 great children even though I won't get to really see 1 yet. :)  I know you probably won't feel up to a drive to your Mom and Dad's!!!

I don't think I will get the chance to write tomorrow so everyone have a great Saturday and I will talk to you on Sunday!

Missed You Yesterday :)

Where were you yesterday? :) (Sheepish smile) My day got away from me yesterday starting with a teen whose alarm was somehow turned off without waking her up!  DHJ and I usually don't need to check on DDK in the morning - she is usually very quiet as she goes through her (extensive) morning routine and we didn't realize that she had slept in.  After that somewhat rocky start to the day, I just jumped right in to the crazed knitting routine of this week - 2 headbands, 2 small diagonal scarves, 1 long prism scarf and 1 fabulous funky fringe completed over the past 2 days - 1 more to go!  I may try to make one more warm kind of scarf and hat set which would put me over the goal :) 

Planning my next business trip for this coming week but no lapse in blogging because I got this great teeny netbook ( by big Iphone) - an Acer Aspire One named "Knotty"  - 160 gbyte hard drive which is twice the size of our desktop hard drive in an itty bitty package.  I am going to deliver a certain Christmas Stocking to DSS in Cincinnati (for her 3rd grandchild and the 4th is due any second)  and plan on visiting 20 LYS over a 4 day period - that would be an excellent goal to reach!

More on the trip later - gotta keep pressing on to get ready for the craft show and setting Knotty up!

7 More :)

Two new Loosey Goosey Capelets are blocking! :)  I am on a roll - should I up the goal?  Actually, I don't think I will - I'll just exceed the goal - that's always fun :)  Gotta cut this short today because my "to do" list is long and not that much time before going to Only Ewe in the afternoon!!!  Have a great day!!!