FO Friday!

After all the wait for an FO, I have for you some finished gloves.  Also a gift, so no further deets but I love ‘em.

Have a great weekend!

Another good thing about November

As I said, November is a good month with a lot of good stuff going on.

Another good thing in November, is the release of the movie New Moon, the next in the Twilight Saga.

Now, I’m in no way a “super fan” as I think there are people out there that take the fan thing to a very strange and sort of creepy level, but I did enjoy the books and really like the story.

I’m looking forward to heading out with a group of my girlfriends and checking it out.  In honor of this event, I plan to knit some fingerless mitts similar to the ones one of the characters wears in the movie.  To make it even more fitting, I bought a New Moon inspired colorway of yarn off of etsy.

Let the geek flag fly.

Countdown

Well, the countdown continues to Christmas.

I have very very very little left to buy and other than that, I have about three or four knitting projects to complete, two of which are in progress.  Not too bad I say!  I also have one sewing project.

I had hoped to be completely done by Thanksgiving, but I’m not sure that will happen.  It’s possible though.

I’ve taken some small breaks here and there to make other things, or to start something for me.

I’ve been working on a felted knitting tote for me that is a bit Halloweeny in that it’s got a skull on it, but I think skulls are one of those timeless designs don’t you?

Here’s a picture of the front of the bag prior to felting (sorry about the bad cell phone picture).

I just have to get the straps finished and the bag felted and hopefully you’ll see it soon on a FO post!

Cappellettis

On Halloween, we went to P’s mom’s house and I learned how to make cappellettis.   It’s an Italian thing – they are hat shaped versions of tortellinis.  I googled it but did not find anything close to what we did and as I’m unsure as to whether it’s a secret recipe or not, I’m going to keep it a secret just in case.

They are little tiny dumplings (sort of) that go in a soup.  For P’s family it’s a tradition to make them and freeze them, then make them up for a holiday gathering.

They were, in concept easy to make.  I learned how to make the dough and filler and how to “process” them in terms of preparing them for freezing.

It was fun and messy but we made out with hundreds of cappellettis for the holidays.

Thanks again to P’s mom for having us over and teaching me how to make them!

Gobbles?

Ah, November!  So much is good about November.  It’s fall, there are still some pretty leaves, the air is nice and crisp, it’s the month of Thanksgiving and of course, my birthday!!!

I definitely think of turkey though when I think November.

I saw some the other day…strangely enough, wild turkeys sometimes hang out at my building at work.  Not sure where they come from as it’s off of major roadways but they are there, strutting their stuff.

Not sure what my birthday will have in store for me this year.  I have some plans for myself though.  I’ll be in Kansas this month too for a big go live event for work…wish me luck!

Happy November!

Happy Halloween!

Ok, ok…maybe this isn’t an FO post even though I said there would be one…but hey – it’s HALLOWEEN!!!

P and I carved up some pumpkins and made some tasty pumpkin seeds.

It was a lot of fun and there were no casualties.  Good times!  Happy Halloween everyone!

Stitches

This past Sunday, my knitty friend Melissa, her mom, her friend Jen and I took a trip to CT to Stitches East.

It was a great time, and I got some fabulous loot.  Totally made up for missing Rhinebeck in my book.

And my haul (only thing not pictured was a honkin’ hank of mohair that I scored – 1400yds for $10):

Left to right, three skeins of Berroco Touche, a hank of socks that rock, some noro kureyon sock, and some lovely lace.

I also noticed a Habu booth and really wanted to try some of their funky yarn.  This is lace weight stainless steel wrapped in silk.  Will make for an interesting lacy scarf that holds it’s shape.

Lastly, I got a cute little box bag to hold one of my smaller projects.

It felt good to get out and do something yarny.  I have plans for each item I bought already so I look forward to blogging about each one separately later on.

Looking forward to more festivals and such in 2010!

While spending all that time flying…

I started on my Flutter scarf with my Fall Harvest cashmere blend sock yarn.  It’s coming a long quite nicely.  I think I have to put it down though as I would really like to finish all my holiday knitting first.  Here is a bit of it so far:

Hopefully I can get back to it soon.

Back to Sedona.

Our trip consisted of a night in Phoenix (really just to crash from all the travel) followed by two nights in Sedona, two nights in Vegas, and the last two nights back in Sedona.

The last two nights were spent at Canyon Wren cabins for two.  This place was freakin’ adorable.  It is total shock after Vegas though.  Going from the excitement of Vegas to a log cabin with no phones, TVs, internet, or cell reception was a bit tough but it was fun to relax and hang in the pretty surroundings and have s’mores by the fire at night.

When we first checked in, there were two home made brownies waiting for us.  We also noticed a stuffed bear on the bed.  P thought it would be funny to throw it at me and I hadn’t realized he did it so I was a bit startled as I thought there may have been an animal running past me.  P told one of the owners, Milena, the story and when we came back from our day out, the cabin was spotless, the bed was made but no bear.  (She informed us that the bear’s name was Penny by the way).  We thought it was funny, then P turned down the quilt and there she was.

I love it that they have a sense of humor.  We made a fire in the fireplace each night, fully stocked with wood, kindling and newspapers.  They even completely cleaned it out after the first night.  The cleanliness, service, value, really everything about this place was awesome.  Milena and Mike also do a continental breakfast and ours consisted of home made apple tarts, cream cheese danish, and fruit.

During our last full day in Sedona, we went driving to find some wineries.  We stopped at Oak Creek Winery.

I did a four wine sampling and ended up buying a nice Syrah to save for a special occasion.

Just an all around awesome vacation.  Thanks P, I had a great time with you.  Best vacation ever.

Vegas Baby.

On vacation, we took my first ever trip into Vegas.  P had been before and recommended that we stay at the Hard Rock.  I must say, I’m so happy we did.  It was young, felt more modern and had a way better smell and atmosphere.  We went to the other places like the Venetian, Cesar’s Palace, MGM, etc but they were all very gaudy and smelled like old lady.  I also liked that the Hard Rock casino area was smaller.

The rooms were fantastic.  Big fluffy bed, and beautifully decorated.  The outside pool area was awesome too and the food/shops in the hotel were also a lot of fun.

We had lunch at the Pink Taco.  (Insert dirty jokes here.)  And through our playing, got a gift certificate to their Italian restaurant Ago where we got really tasty gourmet desserts.

I cleaned up at Roulette.  Won five rounds in a row.  (Total beginner’s luck I’d say.)  Did really well at Black Jack.  I’m totally a fan, and puttered at a few slot machines.

Outside, and along the strip was a little overwhelming for me.  SO many people.  It’s really like herding cattle.  And the people who hand out the cards for the prostitutes were hysterical.  I kept collecting them.  Like trading cards really.  I’ll trade you Angel at $29 per night for Tiffany at $39.  Too funny.

Also in the Hard Rock was a Tattoo place called Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co. Yes, I got one.  I’d been thinking of it for a while and felt this was the best ever souvenir from Vegas possible.  Many thanks to my tattoo artist, Blanco.  I couldn’t be happier with the results and it was a great experience overall!

I’m happy to report that it’s healing nicely and I have zero regrets.  It was really a great time!