Busy busy busy

Work has been really tough lately... lots and lots to do, meetings coming up, presentations, posters, blah blah blah. Basically, I've had more than my share of things to work on outside of work time and that has eaten up my relaxing and knitting time, which sucks. But at least it will keep me busy until we go get Hitchcock! In other words, I'm not going crazy waiting like I did when I was waiting for Kubrick. ;)

Golden Globes were on tonight and I'm so happy that Kate Winslet won twice! I think she's wonderful and totally deserved those wins, IMO. Other than that, I have yet to see Slumdog Millionaire (though I really want to) and Vicki Christina Barcelona (also really really want to see), so I don't really have an opinion on those. I really do need to start watching movies again. We used to go once a week every week and stopped due to wedding stuff and after we got back from the honeymoon things got busy at work and we haven't really been able to get back into it. I think we'll try to start again this weekend, hopefully! :)

Oh and I am so so so excited! I have received my personalized set made by Karatstix and the items are just beyond awesome! I had her make it a photo, knit, dog theme. Do you recognize Kubrick? If you click on it to look at the larger size on Flickr you can see it in greater detail so you can get an idea of just how awesome it really is!



Also, I completed one more neckwarmer, this time in blue - yeah, yeah, I know you want something new! ;)





I have been knitting on my new "secret" project - which won't be secret for much longer - and I am so far loving it! It's lacework, which I really enjoy doing, and I love the yarn I'm knitting with too! Will post pictures of it next time, I promise, though it probably won't look like much unblocked, you can still get an idea! Meanwhile, I will try to keep warm (Wednesday is supposed to be a high of something like 20 degrees (that's Fahrenheit for anyone not in the US) and below zero with wind chill! Brrrrrrrrr. Hopefully I won't freeze to death before my next post, LOL!

To end this on a cute note, here's the latest Hitchcock pic for you all. Isn't he just SO cute?

New Year's Eve is here!

So it's one day before the New Year starts and I thought I should get one last post in before it's 2009. My Christmas was pretty good, though not great. The food I cooked with DH's help was great, spending time with my husband and sister was wonderful, but considering that I was actually in pain for the majority of it, kind of made it not so great. I did try to overlook it, though. :) As for why exactly I was in pain, well, on Christmas Eve I headed over to Payard's to pick up one of their AMAZINGLY good Buche de Noel for our Christmas dessert and decided, in the interest of saving some money, to take the subway back home. Well, wouldn't you know it that of course with all the snow and rain I slipped on the stairs going down to the subway (note: I was wearing snow boots, not some slippery leather shoes or anything) and fell, sitting, with all my weight on my tailbone. I can't even begin to describe the excruciating pain. Seriously, seriously painful. To cut to the end of the story, I wound up with a bruise about 8 inches in diameter with a very large contusion (basically swelling the size of an orange) in the middle of it. It's been a week now but the pain is still completely there and the swelling is now the size of a kiwi instead of an orange, so it is getting better. The doctor says it's still going to take another 2 weeks for it to feel any better, though... isn't that wonderful? Blegh. So annoying! You never realize how important something like a tailbone is until you hurt it. It not only hurts to sit, I can't lay down on my back AND I limp when I walk since the contusion is stretching my skin and hurts when pulled so I can't extend my knee all the way when taking a step, thus the limp. Basically, I can't sit, lay down or walk. Standing is okay, but after a while it hurts too. It's a lose-lose situation. In order not to be too depressing though, I'm trying to look on the bright side of things and the bright side is that I was able to save the Buche de Noel from getting wounded during the fall and it really was incredibly delicious, LOL!

The other bad thing from this injury came from the fact that it was very difficult for me to knit... I was finally able to get cracking again about 2 days ago and now i have two other projects finished, plus my sister's sweater dress is blocked and dry - after a week! So, I have some new projects to share with you all before 2008 is over... yay!

First up, my sister's sweater dress which really was a complete PAIN to make. This pattern was absolutely horrible to work with for me, and I don't even know why because it's a really simple pattern... just not well written at all. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure there's no way in hell I'm ever going to do another Twinkle pattern. Just not worth the time and sweat spent on it. It did end up looking pretty good, though, and my sister is absolutely going gaga over it, so I guess it was worth it for that... just don't ask me to repeat it!





For hubby, I made Jared Flood's Habitat hat, which I just love! It looks amazing and I'm all set to make another 2 for my cousins. I wouldn't say it's an easy pattern at first with all the different cabling going on, but as soon as I memorized all the cables, it became quite easy. Anyway, here it is, still blocking but looking very good, if I do say so myself. I hope to get some on-his-head shots sometime this week.





And one detail shot:



And just for fun, another neckwarmer... the last one in the Christmas gift series, and I do LOVE the buttons on this one... they look really cool in the light too. I still will make another 2 of these, one was a request and the other is for me. I'm still not sick of this pattern, though maybe you guys are, LOL!





And the cool button:



Now I'm gearing up to actually start making some non-Christmas related projects... too bad I still have 3 gifts left to do! I'm really looking forward to my non-Christmas knitting as I have some really yummy yarn and projects lined up.

Hope everyone had a great holiday, and that your New Year is everything you hope it will be! Happy New Year!!!

Welcome to the Holiday Season

The Holidays have finally arrived! The lights are up all over the city and Fifth Ave is just gorgeous, as it is every year! We're getting ready to set up our Christmas tree and my wardrobe consists of primarily coats, scarves, hats and gloves. Yup, it's winter! But the number one reason I know the holidays have arrived: I've been knitting up a storm and the gift countdown is on! My list is pretty long and I'm not sure how many gifts I will be able to finish, but hopefully enough so I don't feel like too much of a procrastinator!

I actually have finished one item so far, but I did start it last August (haven't worked on it since August, LOL) and just needed to do the last 20% of it or so, so I guess it's not TOO much of an accomplishment. It's a baby hoodie and it actually is NOT done, I still need to buy buttons for it! I'm hoping to get the buttons this weekend and be 100% done with it (notice the sleeping Kubrick on the bottom left corner... he always wants to be in a picture! haha!):





I like how it turned out overall, though we'll see how it looks on the nephew! :)

Next up, I'm working on a hat for my stepdad. It's the Koolhaas hat, and I'm really loving it so far! I need to make more of these hats for sure, they are SO nice! And, yes, it's orange, haha!



And finally, not Christmas Gift-related, but something I just HAD to share because as soon as it arrived, I started to drool. Drool, I tell you!



It's Tilli Tomas' Rock Star. 100% silk with glass beads. Just AMAZING to the touch. This one will be for ME... I'm too selfish to give this away after knitting it up! Close up:



Anyone jealous? ;)

Good luck to all the rest of you on your Holiday knitting!

Finished gloves and T-Day

Turkey Day is approaching and I am so excited! I absolutely love Thanksgiving. Making turkey, stuffing, yams, and so many other yummy things just makes me happy. This year there will only be 4 people here - compared to last year's 9 - but that's still fun! I have bought lots of good wine and a fresh turkey and now it's time to start working on my schedule for the day. I hate being behind on the cooking, so I'll make a very detailed schedule with what needs to be done when. I hope it will make me less stressed... that and a glass (or two) of wine while cooking!

It's been absolutely FREEZING here in NYC. It's very strange for this time of year, but it looks like it's finally thawing out to a normal November temperature. Though of course accompanied by tons of rain... blech. The good news is that it's not too cold so it's just the PERFECT weather for me to break out my finished fingerless gloves/wrist warmers! I am absolutely in love with them. My first pair ever AND I get to wear them this year too! Yay!





Kubrick decided that he just HAD to get in a picture... after all, mom was using his ball (and his bed!) for a shot and he wanted them back!