Hello! Long time no hear, from me that is. I would love to say that I have been SO busy, and while I have been, I have not been too busy to blog. I have gotten really lazy when it has come to blogging and the sad thing is there has been blog worthy content.

There has been knitting, there has been stash enhancements, there has been library additions too. What has not happened is all my laundry completed and put away, every dish cleaned and put away and the spare room still needs much attention. There is still no baby on the way and we will be picking up our efforts at the fertility clinic the beginning of next year.

I promise to post some finished knitting, update on progress of current projects and pictures of it all. Also I will be having my annual birthday blog contest, the prize you ask? It will be a fabulous book, trust me, it is a gem (just ask Meg Swansen.) So stay tuned, check back and I will keep you posted.

Until then, enjoy a picture of my furry little guy.

Sock Summit the Out-Takes

Ok, this is THE last Sock Summit post that I am going to do, I swear! I wanted to get this out a while ago, but I am still trying to get things back in order post SS09. This post is about random things that happened at SS09 that were very memorable but did not make it into my other SS09 posts. Here goes...

There are a group of 10 of us that know what the meaning of Whoop! Whoop!

You can trade a Voodoo Doughnut for a pair of Mini Socks. This very lovely lady Lynne, sat down at the table I was sitting and really wanted a doughnut so she offered a pair of mini socks that she made for the doughnut, I told her that she could have one, the trade was not necessary and she insisted. So now I have a cute little pair of mini socks!
Cat Borhdi thinks I look like Robin Williams. Well at least the hair part.

Before SS09 I had not known how much my mother and Tina Newton look alike.
They could be sisters (a girl can only dream.) Sorry, the photo of mom is a bit blurry, but you get the idea.

Nancy Bush and Ann Budd were walking out of the convention center on their way to dinner. Jasmin sees them and runs up to them looks at Ann Budd and says, "I loved your daughter in the production of Romeo and Juliet." Ann Budd replies, "That was Pam Allen."

This was taken before the faux pas.

I was interviewed on the local CBS station KOIN 6 about the Sock Summit. This is the only video available online, but there were other segments that ran at different times with more of the interview.


Mittens can be used to cover other parts of your body (and that is all I am going to say about that to protect the innocent.)

Knitters after having several drinks are good negotiators, they could even talk a person out of their clothes (and that is all I am going to say about that to protect the innocent.)

The next time Cookie gives me advice on what classes to take at a knitting event, I will listen. (Regret not taking a class from Anna Zilboorg.)

Some stash enhancement. I really didn't buy much yarn, I bought more tools and project bags than yarn.

Bryson sock blockers with my sock project I was knitting at SS09, Miss Babs sock yarn in My Kelley colorway, Skull and knitting needles project bag in chocolate brown and mint green, Misti Alpaca lace (the entire bag-5 hanks) in a beautiful red at a steal of a price I might add, Thank you WEBS Yarns, Ebony tool named Wanda, Triangular project bag made by Knit, Purl, Sew What?

What do I think if Sock Summit? Been there, done that, got the t-shirt :)

Portland Sock Summit Day 5

This was a big day. What I did not tell you about the night before is that I sold my Sunday class Textured Colorwork with Chrissy Gardiner for a prawn & scallop dinner to a nice young man Ben. Why would I do that? Cause my class started at 9am and well, I was going to Barbara Walker's hotel room at 10am! The Knitmore Girls scored an interview with BGW and there was not going to be anything that could have stopped me from being there.

So I packed my two BGW books that I brought with me to get signed and off we went. We arrived at the hotel and when I say we, I mean Jasmin & Gigi (The Knitmore Girls) and Chloe, Maribel and I. Now remember yesterday when I saw her in my class with Meg Swansen and took a picture, I cried? Well she opens the door and saw all five of us and sees me, she says, "Oh my there are a lot of you" I reply quickly with, "I promise I won't cry today," cause I am real witty! We all file in to the room, Barbara gets comfortable while Jasmin sets up the equipment and we were all just waiting for BGW to start speaking and impart all her wisdom upon us and she did.





Once Jasmin asked her pre-determined questions she asked us if there was anything we wanted to ask her and my mind went blank. The only thing I could think of was "Chloe has a great question!" And it was a great question, you have to listen to the interview when it comes out because she answers a question that is asked on Ravelry every day.

Now that the question and answer portion of the visit was over I had pulled out my books for her to sign and she did graciously.





Then Jasmin leans in and says, "Isn't there something else that you would like her to sign?" Jasmin put me on the spot and BGW looked at me for the "something else" to sign. So let me go back a few days and explain. Since we took off from San Jose, we have been chatting about this interview, what was going to be asked, speculating where the interview was going to take place, what we would say to her when we met her, so on and so forth. I had a silly idea that I was going to have BGW sign a part of my body, possibly my ankle or foot and have that permanently tattooed on me. This idea started as a joke, but I started to seriously consider it for a few days. I thought what would Sensei say when I came home and my ankle says Barbara Walker? The idea was great fun to imagine how she would react and what she would think and then reason got the better of me (the same reason that stopped me from running up to Meg Swansen and hugging her when I first saw her) and I decided that the tattoo was not a good idea. Besides, how would I feel if she said NO!?!? I would have been shattered. So I quickly explained the idea to Barbara and she just giggled a bit and smiled but still had the pen in her hand. I think she would have done it, I really do.

Barbara G. Walker is one of the most interesting people that I have ever met. I learned so much from her and I did ask her a question that I am not sure we were still taping, but I asked how nice it was that Meg and her were at SS09 and I asked if they keep in touch much. To my surprise BGW said that was about the 2nd or 3rd time they had been in each others presence.
The five of us gathered up our things and BGW hugged each of us, we said our goodbye's and walked on air for the rest of the day.

The last SS09 event was the Luminary Panel. The Panel was moderated by Stephanie Pearl McPhee (The Yarn Harlot) and Tina Newton of Blue Moon Fiber Arts and the consisted of Lucy Neatby, Cat Borhdi, Deborah Robson, Anna Zilboorg, Priscilla Gibson-Roberts, Meg Swansen, Babara Walker, Judith Mackenzie-McCuin and Nancy Bush...WOW.









This was the second best thing about SS09 for me. Lots of laughs, lots of wisdom and a bit if regret on my part for not listening to a certain friend who told me to take a class from Anna Zilboorg (I love this woman!) Also, since I am not a spinner I have not had much knowledge of Judith MacKenzie-McCuin, but she is a very lovely woman, very classy. One of the many memorable comments from the panel came from Judith. When asked about how large your stash is and how to deal with the possible guilt that comes with a large stash her reply was, Julia Child says that every chef needs a well stocked pantry when inspiration hits so do not be ashmed of your large stash, you need inventory for when inspiration strikes. The good thing is, I believe it was professionally recorded the event from the looks of the camera man in the back and I am sure that the DVD will be available for purchase eventually.

The Luminary Panel marked the end of Sock Summit 2009 and it coincided with what would have been Elizabeth Zimmermann's 99th birthday. A cake was presented, we all sang Happy Birthday and Meg cut the cake and served.

For the full set of my Sock Summit photos you can find them here.
The next post will be full of out takes (they will be fun), stuff I bought and stuff I didn't buy.

Portland Sock Summit Day 4 (long day, long post)

Ok, where did we leave off? Oh that is right, it is now Saturday of the Sock Summit and today is the day that I am to meet Meg Swansen. There were two major reasons I came to Sock Summit, first and foremost-Barbara Walker and second-Meg Swansen. I had a feeling that this was going to be my one and only opportunity to see these ladies and nothing was going to get in my away. I was fortunate to get a spot in one of Meg Swansen's class, however I did not get a spot in Barbara Walkers class or lecture.



So Maribel and I took the Elizabeth Zimmermann's Wearable Art Stockings and when we arrived to the class only the seats in the last two rows were open. I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get there to sit in the front but oh well. Class is about to start and the back door opens, I turn to look to see who is coming in and it is Barbara G. Walker. BGW takes a seat behind me quietly and pulls out her knitting and class starts. I have to say, Amy Detjen (Meg's assistant) IS the funniest woman in knitting.




Meg is witty, charming and knowledgeable; Amy is hysterical, but BGW is sitting behind me and it took everything I had to not just pick up my stuff and sit next to her and see what she was knitting (it was re purposed pinkish mauve yarn and she was knitting socks) , how was her lunch, what did you eat? Ya know, chat like girlfriends. It would have been rather rude to Meg if I did that, so I refrained, until there was a break....



I had this whole well thought out statement of gratitude that I was rehearsing in my head for like an hour and a half. I grab my camera, grab Maribel's arm demanding she come with me and I lean over and with a shaky smile and say,

"Would you mind terribly to pose for a photograph with me?"
She replies, "No, I would not mind."

I could not sit down fast enough, I really thought my legs were going to come out from under me. I put on my stupidest smile and Maribel snaps the photo. Then here is where I am going to regret telling you the whole story. I then slide off the chair, remain squatting in front of BGW and proceed to say,

"I have to tell you, you are THE number one reason I came to the Sock Summit." Queue the very shaky voice and tears (I mean real tears.) BGW give me a Ahh and reached over and touched my arm. I then had more brilliant words to say,

"I am going to go now, I am starting to cry."

Well I was pretty much crying already and I am pretty sure that I bolted out of the room to really get emotional.



I was over the moon! So i had to collect myself and get back to class, break was going to be over and Meg waits on no one. During class, we were witness to Meg Swansen clarifying her understanding of who invented SSK. Meg asked BGW, "did you invent SSK?" and BGW replied, "well, I suppose, I knew of no one else doing that before." And then Amy Detjen cried and the room clapped and cheered.



1. SockSummitPortland2009 073, 2. SockSummitPortland2009 074, 3. SockSummitPortland2009 072, 4. SockSummitPortland2009 071, 5. SockSummitPortland2009 070, 6. SockSummitPortland2009 069, 7. SockSummitPortland2009 068, 8. SockSummitPortland2009 067, 9. SockSummitPortland2009 066, 10. SockSummitPortland2009 064, 11. SockSummitPortland2009 063, 12. SockSummitPortland2009 067, 13. SockSummitPortland2009 064

After class we sat with Judy Becker and had an impromptu lesson on how to hand wind your yarn, I love this woman, she is great! Then we were off to dinner with the ladies of Abstract Fibers. Once we realized what time it was, we hurried off to grab the MAX to get to the Ravelry party. Once we got there albeit late, we still had some fun.



Cristi (turtlegirl71) and Stacey came with us back to our hotel for the After After Party. Well, we had a blast! There was lots of wine then more drinks just started appearing. There are pictures and video, however, I have nothing that is appropriate to share here on this blog. Believe me, knitters DO have fun! I think the video just might find its way to YouTube and become viral!

Stay tuned, there will be more to come tomorrow.

Portland Sock Summit Day 3

Ok, there is so much to say, but lets face it, you just want to see the pictures! So I will keep the talking to a minimum. First up, a Portland must...

And what does come in this pink box....

From this Portland landmark...


Jasmin with her Voodoo Doughnut

And Amanda from Lorna's Laces and Nathania Apple enjoying their Voodoo Doughnuts.

Who did I meet today? Most all of you toe up sock knitters have this lady to thank, Judy Becker of Judy's Magical Cast-on!


She was so lovely and so smart and just a great person to hang and knit with. And other people I met? How about Nancy Bush, she likes Merlot, just in case you wanted to know...


This was taken after a long day and a couple of glasses of wine. She then was heading out to dinner with Ann Budd.


Then we met up with Sandi Wiseheart, wow, she is fun to hang out with!


She and I had the same thing to eat for dinner, Lamb wants a bite too as you can see. I had dug into mine already and decided that I wanted a picture so this is really Sandi's food. It was the best Mac n' Cheese that I had ever eaten!


Besides the Mac n' Cheese, several drinks and laughs (many many laughs, whoop! whoop!) were exchanged.

My market place finds? I found this guy at Skacel knitting all these socks on one really long circular needle.


I bought yarn from Webs, yes, it is lace weight and I am at a sock knitting event, but this was an UNBELIEVABLE price and could not be turned down, seriously


Besides the lace weight yarn, I found this too.


And lets not forget some beautiful tools, these are ebony and I am in love. Now I just have to drop a stitch so I can use one, I am sure that it will happen naturally soon.


I have much more to show you. I am a day behind, sorry I am just having to much fun to keep it timely. But seriously, stay tunned, I got emotional today (Saturday) and you will find out why. It was the whole reason I came to SS09, can't wait to show you.

Portland Sock Summit Day 2

After such a long day yesterday, I slept in. The hotel that we are staying at is WONDERFUL!! We are at the Courtyard Portland City Center. If you are ever in Portland, you can't go wrong staying here. Today we went to a great cafe on the other side of the Lloyd Center called Costello's Travel Caffe, great food and drinks. After that we ran some errands and then went to the convention center and knitted, waiting for the market preview to open. Lots of new people to meet.

While we were waiting for the market to open, Meg Swansen and Amy Detjen came walking by and I wanted to just run up to Meg and proclaim my admiration of her, but my senses got the better of me, I will just wait until Saturday when I take her class....joking (maybe.)

Not much picture taking today, tomorrow will be better I am sure. But I did manage to take a picture of the hanging art/time piece at the convention center, it was intriguing.

I did buy some stuff today. I will take pictures tomorrow and put proper links to things and people tomorrow. It is late, I am full of pizza and wine and need to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be another big day!

Portland Sock Summit Day 1

Ok, got up at the ass crack of dawn (4am to be exact) after going to bed at 1:30am. I must have been really anxious for this trip. So I was very tired. I got to the airport with Maribel (my knitting travel buddy for this trip) we meet Jasmin and Gigi (The Knitmore Girls) there and while we are in the security line I look over and see this man that looks like Steve Young. So I whisper to the girls, "hey I think that is Steve Young." They looked at me like, ok, who is that? No big sports fans, so I told them who he was. We continue on, get to our gate and I see him again, this time I was for sure that it was him and he was on our flight. So I snapped a couple of pics of him, yes, I kinneared Steve Young. The photos are not quality but it was the best I could do for 5:30am.

We did not approach him for a photo or bother him for an autograph, it was pointed out ot me that 5:30am is not the best time to be bothered with something like that. I sadly agreed and boarded the plane. When we landed, we headed to the bathrooms and Steve was in front of us and as we went through a crowd of people, this guy stopped turned and looked at Steve with a perplexed expression. I looked at the man and said, "Yes, it is him" His reply, "Ok, I thought so."

So Portland is really nice, I am loving it so far. We went to breakfast here...

And then walked around a bit and headed to Powell Bookstore (wow that place is big!) and on our travels there we ran across this...

It is full of water! Promotional thing with Mountain Dew.

Ok, I will check back in for Day 2 tomorrow!!

Socks, Socks and Socks...It is all about the socks!

As you may already know, I will be heading to Portland, OR for the the 2009 Sock Summit that runs from August 6-9th. I am super excited. I will be Tweeting from the Summit, not sure how much Facebook updating I will be doing but I will have access to email as well. If you are not following me on Twitter, I am Twistedstitches (original, I know!)

I am only taking two classes at the Sock Summit. One class is Elizabeth Zimmerman's Wearable Art Stockings taught by her daughter Meg Swansen. This class among several others has homework! I am a little behind on my homework, but that should be no surprise to many in my circle who know me well. Our homework instructed us to use two colors and any small 6 stitch repeat. They offered a couple of 6 stitch charts but I was not thrilled with them, so I pulled out several books in search of something that I liked better and would fit. This is what I came up with...

It is a bit argylish (if that is even a word!) I chose the baby blue and chocolate brown, I just love that color combination. I have no idea if I am going to make a complete pair or if I will just do one. If I make the pair, I have to find someone that will fit these knee high socks cause they won't go over my huge calves. I am using a superwash worsted weight wool, so they are not going to be socks that you can wear with shoes, they will be just too thick. Oh and the other class that I will be taking is Textured Colorwork Socks with Chrissy Gardiner.

And just in time for Sock Summit, I will have a new sock project to work on. Delia from Wine and Needles and I are having a mini-KAL. Through email and blog postings we discovered that we both had the same sock yarn, Shibui Sock, in the same colorway. This colorway was so hard to capture, it is really a beautiful blue green and I believe the colorway is called Peacock. So I asked her what she was going to knit with it and one thing lead to another and we are both going to knit the Snicket Socks by Sabine Riefler.

If you would like to join us, please do! The official start is tomorrow, August 1st, but by all means, start when ever you want and use what ever sock yarn you want. Since I have rather large feet, much larger than Delia's, I will probably stay up until midnight and cast on, I am gonna need a head start. That is fair, it would be August 1st! Now I know this is not a race, but I would like to have it started so I have some plane knitting on my way to the Sock Summit. Can't wait to see my friends in Portland and meeting new friends too.

Birthday Gift Realized....Finally

My sweet niece turned 7 back in February, yeah, that was a while ago. I started a cute navy blue cardigan for her but my finishing skills are something I need to seriously work on. The hems looked OK, but they just didn't look quality. My vision was not coming to fruition, so I abandoned that project and started something new for her. Since we were fast approaching summer and she lives in a very hot climate, I decided that A Good Striped Dress was the perfect project.

I did some modifications to the pattern. The first obvious one is that I made this a two color project instead of a 3 color project as the pattern was written. This decision was due to not wanting to purchase more yarn and just use what I had in my stash. The modification was that I did not do as many increases as directed and it ended up not as long either; I was a bit afraid of running out of yarn.

Little brother Josiah had to get into the action of the photo shoot. Let me say, my niece and nephew are NOT camera shy. As you can see, they love each other very much.

See, NOT camera shy. He loves making silly pictures.

And if you don't already know, I am going to be going to Sock Summit!!! Yay for me! I am excited for several reasons.

1. I will be knitting, duh
2. I am taking a class from Meg Swansen. (Elizabeth Zimmerman's Wearable Art Stockings)
3. I am pretty confident that I will be getting a picture of Barbara Walker, even if I have to stalk her or call in the help of some of my knitting buddies (Cookie A, yes I mean you.)
4. I have never been to Portland, OR and have heard such great things.
5. Lots of yarn, friends, and well there will be a bit of drinking I am sure.

I will be staying at the Courtyard by Marriott Portland City Center and joining me are my knitting buddies Maribel and The Knitmore Girls (Jasmin and Gigi). Party at the Courtyard!

The Sock Summit is holding a contest called Dye for Glory. Vote for your favorite hand dyed yarns in several different categories if you are a member of Ravelry. For more information, log onto Ravelry and the homepage gives you all the details and to vote, go here.

Are you going to Sock Summit? Am I going to be seeing you there?

Hello, are you still there?

Wow, it has been a long time since I blogged. Several reasons, none of which I can go into length about, but suffice it to say that I have been on a huge emotional roller coaster and I am hoping the ride is about over. I am tired of being poked and prodded. I assure you that I am not terminally ill, but this will all make sense to you sooner or later. Positive thoughts and prayers are welcome. Now on to the fun stuff!

I have been knitting, not as much as I thought I would, but I have been. One project that I am working on is a sample knit for Curious Creek Fibers, that has been going slower than I am comfortable with because well, when I tell you I am going to get it done, I do it. But I have been attacked by the knitting gnomes with this project, I have had to rip it out several times. It is on a small time out for the moment.

Another knitting sample that I have recently completed is a pair of socks for my designer friend Kristi Geraci, Knitters Anonymous.

"Bailiwick was originally created as the pattern for theknitter.com’s September 2008 installment of the sock of the month club. The Bailiwick socks use cable and diamond patterns, which are commonly used in Guernsey (Gansey) sweaters. A bailiwick is an area that is overseen by a bailiff – Guernsey is one of two bailiwicks in the Channel Islands. These socks would be suitable for either a man or a woman, and knit up quickly. The socks are designed to be asymmetric, with the pattern down the leg mirrored from the right sock to the left."

Kristi wanted to show off the pattern in a solid also and I think that a traditional grey looks quite nice! If you want to knit your very own Bailiwick Socks you can purchase the pattern on Ravelry or at Knitters Anonymous.

Remember Stitches West? I do. And my good friends at Purlescence Yarns remembered me too. This past Stitches West I helped them out with the booth set up and a couple of market days. As a thank you, they had a get together for all the helpers and as a thank you I was gifted this beautiful handspun yarn by Sandi (one of the owners) a hand made stitch markers.

Yes, that is my name on those beautiful stitch markers! I am so happy to get some handspun, I have never been given handspun before and I can't wait to see what I can make with it. It is not my first handspun in my stash, but it is the first "knitable" handspun I have. My first handspun, well, you can read about here, the end is the best part. Enjoy.

Secret Lives of Seahorses

Sensei and I had an unusual day off together since it was Memorial Day and we decided it would be fun to drive to Monterey and go to the aquarium. Ok it was my idea, he agreed. However the "Behind the Scenes Tour" made the rest of the aquarium very interesting for the both of us.

Here are some of the highlights...

The Jellies



Secret Lives of Seahorses
(a new exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium)


I knew there was a reason that I liked seahorses, read this and you'll know why.

Cannery Row

Click here to view the complete set of photos, there are many many more!

Best Boy

Today is my best boy's birthday, Mugsy turns 8 years old today. I realized that I have never told the story as to how Mugsy came in my life so now is as good as any.

Almost 8 years ago I got a call from my sister-in-law (the one that is married to the cop brother) and she said that she "rescued" two puppies and did I want one? Well, I had been wanting a dog badly, didn't really care what kind of dog, how old, I just wanted one. The only information that I did get was that she had two boy puppies, they thought they were Pekingese and that their neighbor down the street was going to take one and who ever got there first got first pick. I was working in Emeryville at the time and they live in Reedley, CA (south east of Fresno), that is a 4 hour trip easy. So I left the office a bit early on Friday and got on the road. I arrived at the house and there he was, he was not picked by the neighbor. Even though I am his mommy, I think I got the better dog, I saw his brother 3 years later and I really did get the better dog. I got him wrapped up in a little blanket, placed him on my lap and back I drove, this time to home, Vallejo (from Reedley, 5 hours easy!) First thing Saturday morning, I called a vet and took him to get checked out. From the exam the vet said that if he was 8 weeks old, he was barely 8 weeks old.

This was taken July 21, 2001 the day after I picked him up.

A few years later while on a walk with him in Mill Valley, a lady commented what a cute Tibetan Spaniel I had. I corrected her and told her that he was a Pekingese, she insisted that I was wrong. I had never heard of that breed, so when I got home I looked it up and what do you know he was a Tibetan Spaniel. All this time I was waiting for all the hair to grow on him like a Pekingese has, like a fur ball, but nope it never came. There were pictures of other Tibbies on a web site that looked just like him. So I talked to a breeder and found out that Pekingese and Tibetan Spaniels look the same as puppies and develop their minor differences as they grow. The only "Pekingese" feature he has is his face and the breeder says that sometimes Tibbies come out that way. Otherwise he is all Tibetan Spaniel. I am so happy that 8 years ago I just said yes blindly and drove 10 hours to bring him into my life.

Now, knitting. There has been knitting. I have worked on the blanket for my boss. I have knit a hat for my mom and then had it ripped out completely because it was too big. I am working on sock and mittens for sample work. Nothing to show now, but I have knit.

I have been a bit silent on the blog, not on purpose, just happened. My absence is due to some personal reasons, all to which I hopefully can elaborate on more later. Don't freak out, I am not dying or have some terminal illness, just going through some stuff that is fairly draining.

30,800 in 35 hours

Back several months ago, I undertook a rather large project. I knew it was big, but I was willing to take on the challenge. After 35 hours of work knitting 30,800 stitches, this is what she looks like so far...

Now, how do I know those statistics? I did the math. Yes, I know, I HATE math, but I did it (ok, I had some help)

First I timed myself on how long it took me to do one triangle from the picking up of stitches to the last decreasing join, result-15 minutes. My speed was not crazy fast Miriam Tegels speed but fairly quick. So, there are 20 rectangles per tier to give me 300 minutes, there are 7 tiers completed, that is 35 hours (give or take a few minutes.) Then to obtain my stitch count was easy. My rectangles are 10 stitches wide by 22 rows, 220 stitches per rectangle, 20 rectangles per tier comes to 4,400 stitches per tier and with 7 tiers completed that comes to a whopping 30,800 stitches! Whew, I am tired aren't you?

So, how much more do I have to knit? She wants it like 6 feet long. Unblocked here in the pictures, I have knit 1 foot, I have 5 more feet to go! Hmmm, I am tired of math, so if anyone else wants to figure out how much more time (estimated of course) and stitches I have to knit, that would be fun! Leave me a comment and show off your math skills by May 20th and I will pick someone at random to give a prize. And if you wanted to get real detailed, you can tell me how many rectangles I would need to complete each day from now until October 14, my bosses birthday to be done with the blanket!

Now before you leave me comments like "are you insane? I would never do that!" or "wow, I hope you are getting a raise for that!" or my favorite "Oh hell no! You kidding me, I would say good morning to my boss if I was not obligated!" let me tell you that my boss is a great lady. She gives me tickets (good tickets to boot) to see the Giants play often during the baseball season and is just a caring and fair woman. Besides, she bought all the yarn (and she bought more than what was needed) and said that I can keep the rest.

Ok, I am looking forward to all the comments!

Hellooooo???

Breaking the blog silence...

I have had no real good knitting to share, no other life altering news to share and so I have been a little silent. I am hoping to cure that very soon with some great knitting. I can tell you what has gone wrong with my knitting lately. The cardigan that I was knitting for my niece, well, my finishing skills are NOT good. I had no clue as to why I thought that knitting a child's cardigan in pieces with set in sleeves was a good idea and that I could do it no problem (right!) The individual pieces were not an issue, unless maybe I didn't think out the way I would do the edges the best way for seaming. Suffice it to say, I seamed it all together less the buttons bands and I am not sure even a good steaming is going to help. I did have her try it on, in the unfinished state and it fit pretty well, sleeve length was perfect, body length was great, the seams - FUGLY! So, she being a very smart 7 year old understood that Aunt Lisa was not perfect and I had to take the sweater back to attempt to finish it. What needs to be done? The entire thing has to be taken apart and re-seamed and I really don't have it in me to do it. I am not even sure if she will ever see that sweater again! But what did make me feel good, she ran out of the room to go and put her socks on that I knit her, brought out Sophie that I made her and told me that she loved them! She knows how to pat an ego...

Here are a few pictures that I took of my niece and nephew while visiting them recently.

Yes, they are cute, yes, they have the same parents (I get asked that all the time.) My brother (their father) and I were just like that when we were little. But here is the most recent picture of my brother and I together taken January 2009...

Left to right, niece Caitlin, Sensei, Me, Mimi (grandmother) Kelly (brother) Crystal (sister-in-law) and Josiah (nephew)

I will have to dig up a picture of the two of us when we were little as a comparison soon.

Intervention?

I think I just might be a good candidate for the show Intervention on A&E. You know the one that the person with the issue thinks they are part of some documentary on either gambling, drug use, eating disorders, yarn additions, etc etc etc.
Sometime last week I got an email blast from my LYS that they had just received a shipment of Handmaiden Casbah at the store and to come early and soon to get the best selection. Well, I work and live not really close enough to just skip over at lunch to feed my now out of control yarn habit, but a friend of mine works real close and I knew that she was going on her lunch break. So of course I sent her a message asking her to just check things out and see if there were any colors that I would like (she knows what I will and will not knit/wear.) Later that day I got a nice little message telling me that there were 2 hanks on hold for me. Yay!! Take a look at what I added to my stash...



Then this weekend I took a long hard look at my stash, which only maybe 1/3 of it is listed on Ravelry and thought to myself, this is getting out of control! Now by no means do I have the largest stash ever known to man, I actually think that belongs to a woman in Boulder, CO ( you know who you are!) but it is pretty large for me and my standards. In order to contain and keep all my yarn clean and safe until it comes time to be used, I will need to go buy some more storage containers. I need to go on a yarn diet, not buy new storage! I hear of knitting monogamy, I wonder if I can be faithful to one project. In the past I have never been successful at knitting only one project at a time, however, I know that I would have many more finished projects had I tried.

This Casbah is my last stash enhancement for some time. I probably should have passed but I love the Casbah Sock yarn and here is why...

1. Casbah has not felted at all. I have other socks that have felted in the bottom of the foot from wash/wear and feel like lead boots when I wear them. I have wash/worn my Casbah socks just as often, actually more and they have held up like a champ!

2. Casbah has not faded (well not that much.) Other sock yarn that come in fabulous colors have faded significantly with in 1-2 washes. Yes, I am machine washing them in the gentle cycle with cold water and I lay them flat to dry and it still happens.

3. Casbah has a little amount of cashmere and who does not love cashmere on their feet?!?! I sure do. There is 9% cashmere, but that 9% makes a huge difference.

The only downside to the Casbah? The yardage is a little light for a girl with feet my size. I am a 10 (shoe size) I am not ashamed, but I am frustrated by short yardage on sock yarns. So I try to stay away from yarns that do not give me at least 400 yards. I make the exception for Casbah because it is a little bit heavier fingering weight and I can squeak out a pair of either stockinette or ribbed socks for myself with one hank.

Here are a couple of hanks that were already in my stash.

So I am going to put this out in the world as a sort of incentive to keep me on my new path.

I have decided to only knit one project at a time until it is done. I will not be casting on for a new project until all my unfinished projects are completed or totally frogged. The only caveat to this goal is socks; I need a travel project and socks fit that bill.

So wish me luck!!

Oh and in August, I am going to Portland, OR. More about that later!

Stitches West 2009 Day 4 (Final Day)

Sunday Day 4 of Stitches West 2009:

So this is a sad and happy day. Sad because it is the last day, but happy that you had a chance to see friends from out of town and make new ones too!

Some last minute shopping was done. I got some buttons for my February Lady Sweater and my niece's cardigan. I am not overly excited about them, but I think they will work. At one point lunch was being discussed and a few of us decided to not leave and try to obtain as many of the Grand Prize entry tickets as we could. The Grand Prize is cash, lots of it too, but you have to be present to win. There are also 2nd and 3rd place cash prizes, so it is worth being there. I knew that if I left for lunch and missed the drawing my name was going to be called, right? Well, we stayed and no winners but progress was made on knitting socks.

It was getting later in the day and it was time to say good-bye to Kristi, she had a plane to catch. We hugged and she was off. I was getting hungry but I was not ready to go home for the day and the Stitches Market was winding down and almost closed. So my friend Karol and I decided that we would go and get a bite to eat and knit somewhere. We text message Jasmin of the Knitmore Girls to see what she was doing and if she wanted to join us. Come to find out, she had an interview to do for the podcast with Galina Alexandrovna Khmeleva and asked if we wanted to sit in and then go to the bar, have drinks and wait for her next scheduled interviews. Knitting, drinking and meeting knitting rock stars? Um, hell yeah!

I won't go into details of any of the interviews, you really should listen to the Knitmore Girls podcast for that. But I will say that I learned so much and have such a great respect for Galina. Hugs were exchanged and off to the bar we went. We sort of horned in on a couple of knitters with extra seats and got our drinks, then in walks Maggie Jackson of MaggiKnits. Jasmin knows her from an intern stint at XRX. Maggie and her business partner Julie joined us and we had such a great time talking about knitting, yarn, and other random subjects over drinks. Maggie and Julie were fun, very fun. So as to not spoil who the others joined us for drinks, knitting and chat, you will have to listen to the podcast. I had the best time Sunday night and I went home having met some really fantastic people, thank you Jasmin and Gigi for inviting me to tag along.

Now, finally I have been saying that I would show you what I bought at Stitches. There was not a lot but I am happy with my decisions.

This yarn was bought to make one of my brothers a cabled sweater, it was a fantastic buy for 20 balls of heatherd charcoal fabulousness.

After many glowing recommendations from friends, I decided to get some of Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm 100% Merino sock yarn. The only time I will ever get to see the yarn in person is Stitches. So I hope to have this knit and worn in time for next Stitches so I will know if I want to buy much much more next time.

This is the Malabrigo Sock yarn. The color way says that it is Eggplant, but I only see a hint of purple cast. This is much more of a silvery grey in person. Again, I bought only one to see if I will be in love or not.

And finally the most luxurious yarn that I bought was this Cashmere/Silk 45/55 yarn from RedFish Dyeworks. I got a bit of crap from my friends about my color choice. If you have ever seen the RedFish Dyeworks booth at any fiber festival you probably would have too. The booth is literally a rainbow of color and every hue is represented; I am not kidding, see here. So what do I pick? A silvery grey, it sort of looks un-dyed even. But in my defense, by the time I got around to their booth there were no other colors in this particular yarn that really spoke to me. I am not a bright colored sort of girl, yes I like red and green, but when I do pick a color, the tend to be muted or rich - vibrant.

This is listed as a sport weight, but it feels like fingering to me, but I have 800 yards of it and I am excited to see what it will grow up to be.

So that is the end of Stitches. Believe it or not I am most happy about the old friends that I was able to hang out with and the new friends that I met the yarn was just a happy addition.

PS... I <3 my new camera.

Stitches West 2009 Day 3

Saturday Day 3 of Stitches West 2009:

Saturday started off slow for me, I was a bit tired with helping in the booth, but Stitches has a way of energizing you when you get there. I met up with the usual suspects and we strolled the market for any other wayward yarn that would like to go home with us and of course we did, duh!
Wandering the market can make a knitter hungry, so Jill, Tina, Kristi, Jeni, Bex and myself went to a little sushi place a couple of blocks from the convention center for lunch. We had a great time with fun conversation and I may have had an Asahi but I was not alone!

At 2pm my assignment was to be at the Purlescence booth to help out because my friends the Knitmore Girls aka Jasmin and Gigi were doing a meet and great with goodie bags, really nice goodie bags (I know this cause I helped stuff them a few nights prior.) Jasmin and Gigi do a podcast and I think it is one of the better of the knitting podcasts myself and I am just not saying that because I know them, I don't roll that way. And of course there were lots of people and the booth was swamped.

The best part of Stitches is gathering with friends and Boba Knit had two of its own come back home to CA for this event Jeni Chase and Kristi Geraci. So it was decided to gather and have dinner Saturday night at Jasmine, a Thai restaurant in Santa Clara. For the full set of pics with captions click here.

After dinner we headed over to Bobbin's Nest for their after Stitches party where Jeni (one of our very own Boba Knitters) was a guest of honor. She has two new patterns that were debuted that night with Hazels Knits yarn, Cowl de Printemps and Berét de Printemps

For the full set of pictures, click here.

Unfortunately we were missing some of the Boba Knitter's when this was taken, but click on the picture for the names.

After Bobbin's Nest I headed over to Purlescence Yarns who was also having an "After Stitches" gathering. I walked in the door and greeted a ton of my friends and my cell phone rang. Sensei was calling me and the old Mercedes that we own broke down on him and he was stranded and needed me to come get him. I wasn't there 3 minutes, didn't even set my bag down and I had to leave. So I was super bummed that I could not hang with every one there and got to see what fantastic stash enhancements came from Stitches. Such is life.

Tomorrow? The last day of Stitches West which includes pictures of what I brought home with me and some new people I met (they all are published and VERY interesting!)

Stitches West 2009 Day 2

Friday Day 2 of Stitches West 2009:

Woke up late (as usual) and I rushed off to meet Tina, Jill, Linda, Angie, Jean, Maribel and Teenuh for Pre-Stitches breakfast at IHOP.

Tina was not in the mood for photos that early in the morning!

Food was consumed and we were off to the Market. One of the first stops was Ellen’s ½ Pint Farm for some sock yarn. I have heard rave reviews of this sock yarn and well, I trust my knitter friends when the strongly suggest a yarn. I got a rather nice shade of blue, like faded blue jeans. I was reserved; I did only purchase one hank. The reason for this is because since I did not ever knit with this yarn I wanted to make sure that I was going to truly like it once knit, washed, worn and washed again. I have been disappointed by other highly popular superwash sock yarns once knit, washed, worn and washed again. They felted and faded with in just a few washings in cold water and air dried. But I digress, so I will be knitting with it soon to make sure that it passes my standards. So far, it has passed the first requirement of my mine pre-knitting, it has a large yardage, 500!! I have large feet, I am not ashamed, so does Paris Hilton, mine just happen to be wide too. But enough about my big feet…

We all wondered around the market and my next stop that I wanted to make was WEBS. I knew that they had the Malabrigo sock yarn and I wanted to say hello to Kathy Elkins. Kathy was very kind to me and I wanted to put a face to that huge purchase for her. While shopping at the WEBS booth, I picked out one hank of the Malabrigo in a really pretty silvery grey color that they call eggplant; I guess it might have a hint of a purple cast. Again, I only bought one, I want to test it out before I commit to a large stash of sock yarn that I may not be in love with after washed.

Oh and I failed to mention that Thursday night at the Market preview, I did get a chance to see Cookie A’s book Sock Innovation that will be released April 2009. Shelridge Farms had it on display, not for sale, however they said they could have gotten a pretty penny for it! What I didn’t notice the first time I thumbed through the book was this.

Linda saw it and pointed it out to me, I was pleasantly surprised. And the lucky one to get the book? Our friend Kristi!

Then it was time to report for duty at the Purlescence Yarns booth for the rest of the day. Which kept more money in my wallet and I was happy to help. It is fun to interact with knitters and enable, I mean, assist them in their yarn endeavors.

After the market closed, I headed over to a friends house to hang out and play Settlers of Catan (don’t judge me, play the game and then talk to me. It is like Risk and Monopoly on steroids)

I still have to wait to take pictures of the SW09 haul when the weather clears up and I have good natural light.

And tomorrow, Saturday at Stitches, many many pics, and fun stuff!

Stitches West 2009 Day 1

Thursday Day 1 of Stitches West 2009:

This year I took time off work for Stitches, well, let me be exact, I found that I had 3 days of PTO (paid time off) that I had to use by the end of March or I would just lose it, so I decided that Stitches would be a perfect time. I woke up leisurely and knitted a bit on a project and watched some morning TV that I never get to see unless I call in sick. It was really nice to be home on a weekday, NOT sick, knitting and watching The View.

My plan for SW09 (Stitches West 2009) was a good plan I thought. It started off with helping my good friends Sandi and Nathania of Purlescence Yarns with their booth. By doing that, I thought, I would not have enough time to spend money on more yarn that I really don’t have room for in my house. And part two of the plan was to be realistic about not buying anything and having a list. How did that work you ask? Keep reading!

I arrived at the convention center in Santa Clara with coffee and helped set up the booth with the girls. We worked hard and got it done just in the nick of time for the Market Preview. Prior to the preview opening, Elizabeth (CJ’s beautiful 12 week old baby girl) and I took a stroll around the market looking for anything I might want. We ran into Lucy Neatby, Elizabeth was asleep, she didn’t care much, but Lucy is an interesting person to chat with and if you ever get a chance to take a class of hers, you really should.

My shopping list for SW09 was short and precise (trying to stick to the plan):

1. DK weight manly colored yarn in a heather or tweed. There is a Jamieson pattern* that I ran across that I would like to make for one of my brothers.
2. Buttons for my February Lady Sweater
3. Buttons for my niece’s I am 7 Cardigan
4. Any cool new tool that I don’t have (my loop hole)

And before the night was over, I came across a bag of 20 balls of charcoal heather yarn for a fantastic price and it is living in my trunk hiding from Sensei. He thought I had no list for SW09…oops.

Market is over and I went home to go to sleep because it was not going to be a leisurely Friday morning, I had an 8:30am appointment with some pancakes and knitters!
Pictures of the SW09 purchases to come…


*I am looking for a Jamieson pattern that is out of print, it is in the Jamieson's Shetland Knitting Book 3. Please let me know if you have that book, I would like to purchase.

Lets finish, shall we??

My niece turned 7 yesterday, I called her to wish her a Happy Birthday. She and her family were on the way to dinner, and I asked her where she was going.

Me: Where are you going to eat for your Birthday?
Niece: CPK
Me: CPK???
Niece: (insert an annoyed and disbelief voice) California Pizza Kitchen Aunt Lisa!
Me: Oh yeah, CPK.

Who knew my 7 year old niece was so hip to us acronyms?? Hopefully she will look hip when I get this sweater all sewn up. I need to get on it because I think the hemmed neck and button bands that I am planning are going to take some concentration to look good.

I hope she will like the hidden pink on the hem facing and besides the pink, I added a little surprise in the hem to show you later.

And speaking of finishing, I need to get further along on this very colorful project. Remember the Webs purchase? Well this is where that purchase resides in my living room, a nice DEEP lined basket. I have 5 tiers of the blanket done, but I was hoping to have it complete by Stitches West so that I could show Kathy what became of all the yarn she shipped to me.

Pictures are going to have to do for now. I am going to be setting a deadline for myself on this project, if not, then this will linger for years I am afraid. Plus, who wants to knit a blanket in a California summer?

Speaking of Stitches West, I will be there Thursday through Sunday. I am looking forward to seeing people that I have not seen for awhile (Kristi and Jeni especially) and I hope to meet new knitters and create new friendships. So if you see me, I don't see you, make sure you say hello!

Black Pearl

I was inspired by my friend Nathania's new fingerless mitts and decided that I wanted to knit a quick useful project for me. And so I purchased a hank of Dream in Color's Smooshy in the Black Pearl colorway and started right away. Cast on 44 stitches and did a 2x2 rib pattern until they were as long as I wanted them before starting the thumb gusset.

Pattern: Improvised from about 3 other patterns

Materials: Dream In Color Smooshy

Colorway: Black Pearl

Needles: US 6/4.0mm

Start Date: February 15, 2009

Finish Date: February 20, 2009

I took these pictures with my new camera and I am really impressed with the noticeable difference in the quality of my photos with the Canon as opposed to my other digital camera. Don't get me wrong, my other camera did a good job and will continue to be used for quick snap shots, but I just have to say that I love love love my new camera. I think I will have to give it a name....any suggestions? And maybe it is not a her, maybe it is a him? Let me know what you think, I will give yarn to the best suggestion so leave me a comment.

And I will leave you with this picture of Sensei and Mugsy while you are thinking of a name for my camera. This is Mugsy's favorite place to lay down, he is a cuddlier. Mugsy sure loves his daddy!

New equipment = LOVE

This just arrived today for me. I have been shopping for a DSLR for a little while, asking experienced photographers like Bill Walker for advice and this is what I decided on...

Another piece of technology that I recently obtained is my new iPod Nano. Sensei actually bought me this for my birthday back in December and I just have not blogged about it. Under the iPod is the half of a pair of fingerless mitts that I am currently knitting for myself. I am using Dream In Color-Black Pearl doing a 2x2 ribbing.

And these are the first pictures that I took with my new camera...

My African violet that sits on my desk, I happen to really love African violets. I actually love plants that flower. You can see the fuzzy detail on the leaves so clearly, the new camera is sooo easy to use, I love it.

My favorite flowering plant? Orchids! This is the orchid that sits on the cabinet behind me in my cubical. This was given to me by one of my co-workers a few days ago. Her mom grows them and it was time to split them and re-pot so she had an abundance and shared with all of us.

As a side note, none of the photos that I took with the new camera were retouched.

I am desperately trying to finish up a couple of things that are so close to show you new finished projects. I need to hurry, Stitches West is coming and nothing will get done during that time.

25 Random Things

This meme has been going around Facebook and I was tagged there, so I thought I would post it here too. Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.


1. When I entered High School, there were 3 things I wanted to complete, I did 2 out of the three, I was a cheerleader all four years and I was the yearbook editor 2 years in a row.

2. I miss seeing my brothers and their families, I wish we all lived closer.

3. I wanted to be married and have 4 kids after high school, I am unmarried and I have no kids.

4. I was named after a soap opera character from As The World Turns, if I as a boy, I would have been named Dirk (a character in a book my mom was reading when she was pregnant with me.)

5. I have been trying to get pregnant for 2 years now, frustrating!

6. I have never lived out side the state of California

7. I moved 13 times in 10 years. My best friends started writing my address and phone number in pencil after the 4th move.

8. Red is my favorite color and green is a very close second. I hate the color orange, I wore a bit to much of it between 1987 - 1990.

9. I installed my own ceiling fan and I installed my grandmothers garbage disposal.

10. I have been pulled over for speeding, no seat belt and or running a red light about 10 time total, I have only gotten 2 tickets thanks to my brother Todd being a police officer, his business card is magic!

11. I have always thought my hair was my strength.

12. I miss my father, I miss him very much.

13. I almost hooked up with a guy after lots of drinking in a bar only to find out after chatting a while that we were cousins....that was strange!

14. I taught myself how to knit while recovering from a surgery.

15. Out of all my jobs I have ever had, waiting tables was actually my favorite thing. Weird, I know.

16. Ok, this is odd, but it is random....Denise Terry and I both lived in a house on Hillcrest Dr in Selma (not at the same time) and we both dated the same guy from Kingsburg (not at the same time either, well at least I don't think so, hahahaha)

17. I love to bake and I think I am pretty good at it too.

18. I have had 4 surgeries in my lifetime.

19. I have been close to death more than once.

20. I regret not going to my Senior Prom. I went to a frat party at Fresno State with my friend from Reedley.

21. There is only one person in my life, that if she needed me to help her bury a body I would, she knows who she is :)

22. I play golf and I like it. I started to golf because of a man, not a great reason, but I liked it and kept playing long after he was gone!

23. Gina (Alves) Luberto and I were skiing in Sierra Summit and ran into Tim Dodd and Daniel Nulick, we started to ski down a run and there was an accident and I split Tim Dodds forehead open. I hear he still has a scar from that day. The entire story is quite good, ask me sometime.

24. I am rekindling my love of photography.

25. I sure there are much more random things about me, but it is late and I am tired, so just ask me what ever you want, I will probably tell you.

I have been tagged several times, if you are reading this, consider yourself tagged.

The recant...

I have in the past said some not so nice things about how, lets say, "challenging" Elizabeth Zimmerman's patterns seem to be. What I have come to realize about EZ patterns is, they are not really for a beginner knitter. After completing 64 projects (according to Ravelry) I can better understand what EZ is saying when she is talking you through her pattern. Which leads me to my latest completed project, A Very Warm Hat.

Pattern: A Very Warm Hat
Source: The Opinionated Knitter by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Materials: Cascade 220 Heathers
Colorway: Grey and Blue 2424
Needles: US 7/4.5mm and US 9/5.5mm
Start Date: January 10, 2009
Finish Date: January 14, 2009

As you can see it is a hat, a double thick hat. Now this is not really a hard thing to figure out and I think it is one of the easier EZ patterns. You cast on for a hat, knit the entire hat as normal and then pick up stitches on the cast on edge and knit the second hat . Easy peasy!

The pattern can be knit plain, with no stranded color work or she offers you a chart to add a little design. I did not care for the chart and wanted to make it more personal for my brother. So I searched my knitting books and came up with the braid or chain looking pattern that is kind of Celtic looking on the grey side of the hat and the Waves on the blue side of the hat. Both these motif's have meaning to my brother.

And I think it fits my handsome brother very well... HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLY!!

This will come in handy for his youth groups winter camp coming up in a few weeks because it is A Very Warm Hat! So I am taking back my previous unkind words about her patterns, I am a more mature knitter and have come to appreciate her genius.

As I mentioned in my last post, my niece and nephew got the socks that I knit them back in September of 2007 finally 16 months later. Several people have been amazed, I assure you not as much as I was and the number one question was...What did the post office say?

They didn't say anything, they dropped the box at the door and this is what it looked like...

In case you can't see what they hand wrote on the note it says, "Sorry! was in parcel locker!" What was in the box you ask? I packed the socks in these mini lunch pails that I found at Target, so when they opened the box they got these mini pails and the surprise socks were inside.

Unfortunately my nephew's socks don't fit him now but my niece's sock do thankfully.

Soon I should be able to share with you the socks that I am knitting for the Socks That Rock Leyburn KAL I joined, my niece's, I am 7 Cardigan, and another A Very Warm Hat for Senesi (he almost stole my brothers.) I am going to do Sensei's in fingering weight this time, wish me luck.

Bronze Monkey, you funky monkey

Can you hear the Beastie Boys song in your head? Well these socks are not Brass Monkey's cause this colorway of Casbah is Bronze and I love love love this yarn. This is the second time that I have knit the Monkey pattern and I still love the pattern.

Pattern: Monkey

Source: Knitty, Winter 2006 by CookieA

Materials: Handmaiden Casbah Sock

Colorway: Bronze

Needles: US 1-1/2 / 2.5mm

Start Date: January 2, 2009

Finish Date: January 23, 2009

To be honest, these pictures look a little washed out. The color is better than this, it was just an overcast day and I could not get any good natural light. But this won't be a problem when I get my new camera in a couple of weeks.

Also, if you noticed it took me almost an entire month to knit these. Well, that is because work has been, CRAZY. You don't come here to read how crazy work has been for me so I will spare you the gory details. Things are better now and my knitting projects are getting back in line very quickly. I have some exciting things in my "To Knit" list coming up. I have about 3 projects that are sooo close to being done and one project ready to blog once the person has received his birthday gift. A hint about the birthday gift completed project ready to blog....I have give Elizabeth Zimmerman another chance and I might have to recant some of my prior statements I have made towards her.

In other exciting news, I am happy about our new President. I wish him godspeed in getting this country back into the glory it once displayed. And if you have followed my blog for a while you might remember when I knit my niece and nephew socks. And if you do not recall what happened to them here click here and here to refresh your memory. Those events took place September 2007. This is January 2009, doing the math, that is 16 MONTHS later, my brother called me to say he was sending a picture via text message of the kids. They were wearing the socks!! He said they came home and there was a box at the door with a note on it saying they were sorry but they found the box in a lock box (whatever that means?!?!) 16 MONTHS!!! My nephew has already grown out if the socks that I knit him, he was 3 when they were made but for photo purposes, they squeezed them on, my niece can still wear hers thankfully. Unfortunately the quality of the camera phone picture was not good enough to post, maybe we will get some action shots of the reunited socks.