Uli's Creative Corner

2003 in Review...............

A new year is almost upon us and I always get a little sentimental when I see the clock turn over from one year to the next.  I've been thinking about wise things to say about another new year staring us in the face.......... all I can think of though is that it never ceases to amaze me how fast the years seem to be marching along.

2003 was a good year.  I really can't complain.  It was my first full year back at work as a working Mom.  It's a balancing act but it works for us.  Erika's 2nd birthday at the end of the summer really hit home how fast my little girl is growing up.  Watching her grow from baby to little lady has really made this year special.  I can't even think of anything else that stands out from the rest but that.  We didn't go on any major trips this year but we did enjoy a trip to the Okanagan in the summer.  That was bittersweet as we managed to spend time in areas that only days later would be ravaged by wild raging forest fires.  The weeks following with the Kelowna forest fire gave me an eery feeling as all the homes around where I used to live including the home that I used to live in were all under evacuation order for quite a few days.   I was on the phone to close friends trying to find out whether they and their families were safe.  That really still stands out in my mind. 

I got lots of nice knitting done during the year and I enjoyed my nights out taking quilting classes.  I really learned that it is my knitting and other creative activities like that put me at peace and give me that balance in life that I need when everything gets hectic and crazy around me.  Take a deep breath and enjoy!!!

I didn't lose all the weight that I wanted/needed to lose.  In that area, I feel I'm really disappointed in myself.  I got off to a great start but during the latter part of the year I kind of gave up.  As work got busy in September and I let my lunch time trips to the "Y" for a workout slide, my progress was really hampered and I went in the other direction again.  So that's a big one I need to work on for many reasons - other than the fact that I'm tired of having to find knitting patterns that come in sizes large enough................ geez....... it's a life long struggle for me and I will keep on battling.

That about wraps it up for 2003............. as for 2004, I only have a few resolutions that I'm trying to break into small chunks:

1. To really stick to the WW plan that I 've been so succesful on before.

2. To go to the "Y" 3 times a week for a lunch time workout

3. To work on my lovely knitting stash

4. To finish some of my quilts before starting new ones

5. To knit at least one sweater out of one of my Noro books

6. To finish my long purple cardigan by the end of January.

I think those are manageable goals.

It's another snowy day.  Look at Erika's play gym in the backyard.

I spent the early hours of the morning quilting and this is what I finished.  It's the tree block for my Country Sampler quilt.  I still have 2 classes coming up in the new year so I'm trying to get prepared.

Seems like I haven't shown any quilting progress forever.  I'm hoping to do some applique work in the next couple of days before going back to work.

To finish off............... another great thing in 2003 was finding these blogs.  It's been a cool experience and I am definitely going to keep writing.  You all keep me motivated, give me great ideas and in general, it's a good place to write down whatever I'm thinking of.

We were planning on going to the home of our friends tonight.  The plan is to have a kid friendly New Year's Eve party, celebrating the chang in years with the east coast at 9 pm local time.  However, I don't want to brave the roads tonight as it is quite a drive from our home to theirs.  Also, Erika woke up with a cold.  Coughing, sneezing, runny nose etc. so I don't want to expose the other kids to her bug.  That means a quiet night for us.  We'll see if we'll even make it to midnight.

With that, I leave with this last thought in 2003:

Have a safe and fun night tonight. Don't drink and drive.  Be careful out there but have fun.  May 2004 bring us lots of knitting time, more stash, great yarns and good friendships.

See you next year.

More snow................ it's been snowing here all morning but not very heavily.  Got my two dears to get out of the house for a while.  See - as observed from one of the upstairs bedroom windows:

I'd better get back to cleaning the bathrooms though - as I said I would if they would get out of my hair and into the snow a bit. 

Perfect day for knitting but I haven't had a moment to do any yet.  How disappointing!!!  My purple jacket is calling me.  I'm eager to keep working on it as it is progressing quite nicely.

I was reading on a knit list that I'm on that a yarn store owner mentioned it should be a knitter's tradition to start a new project on New Year's Day.  I like that idea - even if I just get started on something and then put it away for a bit.  So, I'm thinking through all my projects in my stash and I think the Oregon Vest will win.  It will be a quick knit on 6.5 mm needles with this really gorgeous subtly variegated Merino Wool I have in my stash.  The other strong contender is the Gypsy shawl made with a gorgeious colour of Koigu Painter's Palette Merino.  Who is into starting a New Year's project on New Year's Day?  We could make it a New Year's knit along - I'd be up for getting a list of New Year's knit-alongers together.

Now into my domestic sphere............. I hate housework but I do love cooking and I thought I'd share a nice recipe I found on Meals.Com.  It's this Turkey Wild Rice Soup.  I made it last night and it turned out really well.  I froze lots of leftovers for quick at work lunch time meals and it was an excellent way to use leftover turkey.  It has a big time comfort food factor.  The other great recipe from that site (among many I've tried) is the Pumpkin Cheese Cake.  That was another great one to be made again.  I made it for dessert on Christmas day.  Yummy, yummy.

Better run and get to those bathrooms so I can at least pretend I got some stuff done while they were out.

Go figure................. We went in search of snow and our little darling Erika was scared of it.  She really didn't want anything to do with it.  We barely managed to get her to come for a walk......... all on sanded sidewalks.   We didn't really expect that but fortunately we thought better before we headed out this morning and decided against going to one of the local ski hills.  Instead we headed up a mountain where we knew much more snow had fallen the other day and where we expected some remnants of snow to be.  And so there was........  and fortunately for me, this excursion was close to one of my favourite LYS stores.  A visit there was part of the plan.  Much to my dismay, when I got there I found out that they were closed today for the holidays but open again tomorrow.  Missed them by a day.  I was looking for a very specific pattern that I figured they might carry.  I think they are missing lots of business - but yet I feel they are entitled to a bit of a holiday.  I know how it goes - running a family business......... I grew up with it so I can feel for the need of a holiday.  At the same time, another LYS I visited last Saturday was bursting with customers.  Incredibly busy.  I couldn't believe it.  I almost started working there to help out the owner because she was so swamped.  I could have helped one lady to find a basic pattern for a sweater or help the little girl spend her Christmas money to find some needles and some yarn for a scarf.....

I'm going off track though.......... our trip was cut short when the LYS wasn't open.  Erika was only asking for chicken and fries which in her world means McDonalds.  I think we just had lunch there with her on Saturday so we thought hard to find a restaurant that would serve her chicken and fries and where we could have a decent lunch.  We found one and had an enjoyable lunch.  I tried to spend a bit more of my Christmas clothing money but couldn't find anything decent.

Right now, I'm cooking turkey and wild rice soup.  My first attempt at this recipe but it smells so yummy. 

Not too much knitting going on.  I started the second front for the long purple cardigan but only got four rows of the moss stitch border done.  I hope to do some more tonight.  I also started the second sock for the pair I've been working on.  That's really about it.  Today has seemed so busy.

I'd better fold the laundry and get back to the soup.  Why does the housework never end?  I'd rather be knitting............

Have a good night.

If you're on vacation, like me, I hope you're still enjoying the holidays.  Yesterday was a snow day but it's all gone again today already but here's what we were having fun with yesterday:

It was a good day.  Erika certainly got a kick out of it.  Tomorrow we're going to seek out some real snow.  We'll head up to one of the local moutains for a few hours so Erika can expend some energy in the snow.  She's getting way too much rest these holidays with Bob the Builder videos and other such "relaxing" type activities. 

But wouldn't you say she had fun on Christmas Eve?  What's that commercial about kids liking the box better than the contents?  In our case it was the bows on the pacakges or "flowers" as Erika liked to call them.

Evan got his sweater on Christmas Eve and he was surprised.  I am pleased to know that he didn't have a clue what I was working on.  He's been wearing the sweater quite a bit so I think he likes it.  It's really tough to get a shot of it though that actually shows the pattern - cables and seed stitch etc, etc.

That's him there on Christmas Eve at my Mom and Dad's house.  I think it's a really nice fit.  The sleeves are just the right length, too.

What else can I show you???  Well, go check out my Knitting Project Gallery - the link is on the sidebar to the left.  I've updated it with all the latest and greatest.

As for my knitting.  I finished the back and one front of the long purple cardigan.  I just want to keep on plugging along with this one.  On Erika's Kool Kidz cardigan, I've finished body and sleeves to the raglan part and have now joined all the pieces.  I'm trying it this way.  The pattern calls for making each piece seperately and then seeming the raglan shaping.  It's working out okay to this point.  I had to do a bit of shuffling when it came down to making sure the pattern stitches were all lined up when I went to join all the pieces.  It should be smooth sailing now though.

Someone asked what issue of Family Circle Easy Knitting this cardigan is from - It's the Fall/Winter 1998 issue.  I hope this helps.

I've discovered that the guys at Thread Bear have the Cotton Chenille for my Christmas Gift project - The Bijoux Blouse from Oat Couture and Rob had a great suggestion about using the cones of Cotton Chenille rather than the individual hanks (lots of winding of hanks into balls and weaving in threads).  I'm so tickled pink about that suggestion.  I think my search for how to spend my Christmas money from my MIL is done.  And maybe, just maybe.... there'll be a few other goodies in the box which I'll tell you about much later of course.

Today we did a bit of shopping.  We tried to find Erika a Bob the Builder doll without success.  You may wonder why after her being loaded up with Christmas presents, we'd be out a couple of days after Christmas trying to buy her more toys........... well, it's as simple as this:  Evan bought her a Bob the Builder bubble bath bottle which she carries around like a puppet, hugging it, kissing it, taking it to bed and in general not letting go.  We can't use it for its intended purpose - in the bath.  However, if it leaks..... you can get my drift.  So we tried to replace the plastic bubble bath Bob with an actual Bob doll but no such luck.  I'm sure they had them before Christmas but they seem to have all been sold.  Go figure.

I got money for clothes from my Mom for Christmas and I made some great purchases from Cotton Ginney today.  Everything in the store was 50% off so I got a pair of pants, 2 sweaters and a white turtleneck, all for about $60.  Now I still have money left to go buy some more.  Isn't that cool?  I'm thrilled.  I've been so desperate for some new clothes.

I should go.  It's time to drum up some dinner........ more leftover turkey????

Have a good one.

Time to update my blog........... but I don't have a lot of time right now.  We're about to get some more company for dessert.  It should be nice and relaxing though as the rest of this day has been.  Evan and I have been bouncing Erika off each other so we've each been able to do some of our own stuff.  It's nice when we're both home looking after Erika all at the same time. 

This morning, I knitted the sleeve on the Kool Kidz cardigan up to the armhole shaping.  It didn't take me any time at all.  This little cardigan will be finished before I know it.  It's cute.  One of my favourite kids patterns.

Last night, after everyone had left and it was quiet in the house (and while Evan was doing dinner dishes or playing with Erika on the computer) I worked on my 1st front on the long purple cardigan.  It's growing quickly, too.  I'm only about 28 rows away from the armhole and neck shaping for that piece.  It's looking good.

Dinner was a success, too.  I think we all had a good time. 

I'd better go and change.  I look pretty scary in my yucky but comfy house clothes.  Wouldn't want to be caught outside or with someone at the front door in these rags.

No Boxing Day shopping for me............ I'm not one for the malls on Boxing Day.  I will go out next week or on the weekend to spend some of the money from my Mom on clothes and I'm searching hard to find a source for the yarn for that Bijoux Blouse I got money for from my MIL.  In the Patternworks catalogue they use the Cotton Chenille (Crystal Palace) which I'd like to use as well but I haven't found a Canadian source for yet.  We found ordering through Patternworks for some of my Christmas presents turned out to be a bit expensive when adding the exchange rate, S&H and brokerage fees and GST as it crossed the border.  If I could get something shipped quickly enough (ie. by next weekend) to my SIL's house down in CA then my inlaws could still bring it back for me without all the hassles but I'm not sure that would be a guarnateed way to get it quickly with all the holidays still coming up.

Better go.  The doorbell will ring soon.  I'll have some fun pics up maybe tomorrow.

It's Christmas Day and what a nice day it is...................... We're just relaxing and hanging around and about.  My turkey is cooking.  My sweet potatoes are waiting to go in the oven.  My Mom is cleaning the brussel sprouts and I'm taking a much needed moment to sit down.  It's a great day.  It's not often that I cook Christmas dinner so I'm a bit nervous about my turkey turning out.  I made a great pumpkin cheesecake yesterday and it looks really good.  I can't wait to try that.

Santa was good to us.  Erika just had such a blast.

As for knitting goodness.  I got the circular solution to store my circulars and a double pointed needle case.  Those are great storage solutions.  I'm so pleased.  Evan got those for me.

From my inlaws I got money to make the Oat Couture Bijoux Blouse using the Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille.  Can't find the yarn locally so will have to search out a source aside from Patternworks.  The shipping that Evan paid plus the customs brokerage and GST charges for the two small gifts he got me seemed a bit outrageous.

Well, I'd better get back to the festivities.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday day, celebrating with family and friends.

December 23rd............

Last day of work before my vacation starts. I'm here until noon today and then I'm off to fight the grocery store for the rest of my Christmas dinner goodies.

Didn't do a whole lot last night as I'm coming down with yet another cold. I am just over the last one so this is a real pain. I turned the heel on my pair of socks and I kept working on the Kool Kidz cardigan for Erika. I'm almost at the armhole point so I will need to switch over to the sleeves shortly. This little cardigan will be finished very quickly. I remember from the last couple of times I made it that it's a really quick knit. I really like the look of it. The red is so nice and bright - great for a little girl. I also knitted up one of the pocket linings for the front of my long purple cardigan. Now I can start on the front itself.

I never showed you any pictures of the Candace cardigan. It basically is a little cardigan with the fronts and the sleeves worked with a self patterning sock yarn and then the back worked in a solid colour. I think this will be a great spring time cardigan for Erika to wear because the fingering weight is fairly light.

Tonight our friends are coming over for dinner. We were planning to get together last Friday but it didn't work out so we postponed it to tonight because none of us have to go to work tomorrow. Their little girl is almost a year old and it will be fun to see how Erika interacts with her. Erika loves the little ones at her daycare so she should be fine. We don't see them all that often.

Have a great day today.

Another Monday............. I thought I was on holidays already all weekend so today came as quite a shock!!! I had to get up and go to work. Needless to say, I feel I'm behind already today.

I've seen the nice cat bed that Wendy knit and I just thought to share with you how Tonka's cat bed gets used in our house (Tonka is my in-law's cat and is staying with us over Christmas). Unfortunately, Tonka's cat bed isn't a beautifully knitted one. And Patchy, on of ours, likes the bed, too. I think the only one not sleeping in it is Tonka.

Santa Claus arrived early this weekend with a parcel for Erika from my friend Cheryl. The box was pretty squished and squased from its travels across the country so as I took the brown paper off the box jumped open right in my nose so we had to take a peak. Cheryl knit Erika a beautiful nice hooded sweatshirt style sweater made with a nice and soft Boucle typ yarn. Thanks Cheryl. Isn't Erika cute.....

Well, startitis really did have a hold on me but I did make some great progress as well.

I finished the entire back of my below knee length purple cardigan. It's looking really great but I didn't get a picture of it. I'm really hoping that I can go full steam ahead with this project and finish it over the holidays. The way it knits up on 8 mm needles I do have a fair chance if I stick to it and don't start too many new things.

I took a pile of pictures of stuff I wanted to show you yesterday but I only got a few of the pictures re-sized and uploaded to my web server so I'll have to catch up on all that later.

As I mentioned on Saturday I also started the Kool Kidz cardigan for Erika. I'm knitting the body in one piece to the arms and then the sleeves and then the raglan shaping all in one piece. I'm using the pattern that I've done before but I the pattern knits it all up in individual pieces and then everything is seamed. I really don't like seaming raglan decreases so I'm going to try it my way this time. I'm loving the way the basket weave (4 X 4 basket weave) is working with this yarn (it's Sirdar Kool Kidz, knitted on 6 mm needles). Unfortunately, the pattern doesn't show up on the picture at all. I think I need to go to photography school to show you some decent pictures here. Actually, I have crappy lighting in the house and that's a big part of the problem.

Oh and the socks I started...... those ones are working up really fast. It feels like I've hardly worked on them and I'm turning the heel already. I love this colour way on this yarn (Confetti).

I did some more playing with some other yarn but I have nothing to really report on that.

I forgot the book now so it's hard for me to pass along the review I wanted to write. It's about the pattern book "Simply Noro" by Jane Ellison. I scored it on E-bay last week and it arrived on Saturday. I have lots of good things to say about the pattern book. There are at least 4 patterns that I have a "must have" feeling about and then some others that I also really like. I could spend tons of money on enough Noro to make some of those sweaters and cardigans. When I have the book in front of me, I'll give maybe a better review of what I like about it. I was pleased with my purchase at the very least.

Today, I want to leave you with this. It's from my church bulletin and completely knitting unrelated but it's a good one to reflect on as Christmas is drawing ever so close (actually, I think it's good any time of the year).

Free Gifts

Still searching for the perfect gift for a love one? Try one of the amazing free gifts below. Satisfaction guarnateed or your money back!

1. The Gift of Listenting....... But you must REALLY listen. Not interrupting, no daydreaming, no planning your response. Just listening.

2. The Gift of Affection...... Be generous with approopriate hugs, kisses, pats on the back and handholds. Let these small actions demonstrate the love you have for family and friends.

3. The Gift of Laughter....... clip cartoons. Share articles and funny stories. Your gift will say, "I love to laugh with you"

4. The Gift of a Written Note....... It can be a simple "Thanks for the help" note or a full sonnet. A brief, hand-written note may be remembered for a lifetime, and may even change a life.

5. The Gift of a Compliment...... A simple and sincere, "You look great in red," "You did a super job" or "That was a wonderful meal" can make someone's day.

6. The Gift of a Favor..... Every day, go out of your way to do something kind.

7. The Gift of Solitude..... There are times when we want nothing better than to be left alone. Be sensitive to those times and give the gift of solitude to others.

8. The Gift of a Cheerful Disposition..... The easiest way to feel good is to extend a kind word to someone. Really, it's not that hard to say, Hello or Thank You.

Have a wonderful Monday!!!! Happy Knitting.

Saturday morning........... with no music class for Erika to run to.  It's quiet in the house still.  Only the cats are around, trying to chew ribbon of wrapped presents in the office.  My knitting and a nice hot cup of coffee are calling me - that would make the morning even more so perfect but I thought I'd better wrap some Christmas presents.  Gotta use my time wisely.  And I need to get Great Grandma's photo album started before we leave in 2 hours.  I think that's probably how I really need to be spending my time.

I hope I can make it picture day today to show off some of my FO's that have justified all my startitis last night.  My other plan is to visit another yarn store today.  Never been there.  I don't think they have a ton of different yarn that I haven't already seen somewhere else and really, I still do have that yarn diet button up on my sidebar there.  I'm a fall off the wagon kind of a gal though.  It has helped me restrict myself some though.  However, I understand that this store has a lot of knitting notions and there are a few things I would really like including some blocking pins which I don't have any of right at the moment.  So I'm hoping we have enough time to make the extra excursion.  My excuse is that Erika will at least take her nap in the car.  At home.......... that's a whole different story.

It's Saturday - enjoy and relax.