Trift store find - Needlepoint.

I popped into a thrift store and found this bag hidded among some crochet thread. Haven't done needlepoint in awhile,couldn't resist taking it home with me. Did you see the price sticker? Of course it is coming home with me!

The previous owner started on section orange (see it on the bottom?). All the threads were in the package and it didn't seem too tangled. It should be a fairly easy stitch project to complete.

Mystery Dishcloth

While browsing Ravelry (you did join, right?), I found a Mystery Dishcloth SAL. Each day, a few lines of the pattern is posted and at the end of 5 days, you'll have a completed dishcloth. If you keep up, that is. Of course, I found it after the Mystery was revealed. So I found a ball of Peaches and Creme and cast on.

Here's the finished product. A lovely pattern, full of waves (that I only had to rip out once for not paying attention). Ready for use.

cross stitch SAL

I'm trying to find my stitching mojo... it seems to be hiding in all of my yarn projects. Since this seems to be year to join SALs (stitch-a-longs), I joined the one at the San-Man Original board. It started on January 15th, so I'm a little behind. Just pulled out the supplies last night. I'm using some 18 ct. Rustico. Ready, set, go...

St. Brigid's Carnamoyle Stockings - DONE

St. Brigid's Carnamoyle Stockings are done and ready to be mailed.

They count towards my Sock Stash knitdown, to which I have pledged to knit at least 6 pairs of socks from my stash in 2011. A quick knit since it is done in worsted weight.

I managed to squeeze out the pair from one skein of Cascade 220. There are only 3 cable repeats and 15 seed stitch repeats on the foot. It is just tad big for a US6.5 sized foot. Any larger and you will need the second skein. "Cozy toe-sies" coming right up.

What shall I cast on next?

Year of Stash Socks

As part of my resolutions, I plan to use stash yarn, so I joined the Year of Stash Sock group on Ravelry. Trust the wonderful Ravelry users to find great patterns. One of the January selections is St. Brigid's Carnamoyle Stockings. It is a worsted weight sock. I'm using up some Cascade 220 Heathers in Straw. Knitting on size 4 dpns with worsted weight makes these go quickly.

One side done and a short way down the second sock. I hope to get this done quickly and mailed out to some cold feet in the Pacific Northwest.

Hey momma are you reading this? Is it long enough?

One hat done!

 Off to a slow start on my resolutions. One hat done. This is Halley's Comet. My third time knitting this pattern. Usually it is a quick knit, done top down. Once again, I used one skein of Ella Rae Latte, but this time the skein seemed a little short. I ripped the last few rows out a couple of times to get the most use out of the yardage. I'm loving the color...

Congratulations to AmyJo, the brave soul who posted her resolutions. Watch for my email, so I can get your package mailed out. Thanks for stopping by and spending some time with me!

More food in Vegas

Would you believe that we didn't stop at In-n-Out Burger on this trip!?! But no worries, we ate out share of burgers at other places.
 Hash House a go go at the M Hotel. Actually this was not a planned stop, we were going to eat at Studio B buffet, but the line was incredibly long. So long, it looked like a line for Disneyland and the wait was over an hour.

It's a good thing that Hash House a go go opened recently.  In the front is the Mushroom and Swiss burger and behind it is the Kokomo (meatloaf sandwich), with a salad.

 We also had burgers at the newly opened Holsteins in the Cosmopolitan. A classic burger on the left and the bbq burger with brisket on the right. (They both had fancy names, but I can't remember what they were). Delicious!

There were a few other dining adventures, like Metro Pizza, the Cupcakery and  The Cafe at Monte Carlo. But for this trip, that's all folks!

Holiday Celebrations

We had a lovely dinner at D. Vino in the Monte Carlo. Scallops with fried risotto and Panna Cotta. Need I say more?


Christmas in Hawaii doesn't offer many opportunites to have a White Christmas. So after checking road conditions we made the drive to Mt. Charleston to play in the snow.

we joined the rest of the crowd on the side of the road and had a grand time in the snow.

Arriving in the desert...

We decided to take one last trip at the end of the year. Somewhere there would be a chill in the air... So we hopped on the plane (the new Airbus) to Vegas, of course!

It was wet, dark and cold when we landed. You know how you can almost see the entire length of the strip? Well, the clouds were so low, that you could just barely see two properties ahead. We were hoping that the weather moves on quickly and change back to the crisp, dry desert that we are accustomed to.



A hearty breakfast should lift our spirits. This time we decided to try Black Bear Diner on Tropicana Ave.

The Mr. had his "lucky" breakfast of Eggs Benedict and I had a chorizo scramble. Yummy. After filling our bellies we headed back out in the rain in search of our fortunes.

Resolultions?

A New Year and time for New Resolutions - Here are my crafting resolutions for 2011.

• With all my hat knitting last year, I have made a dent in my yarn stash, especially the washable yarn. I am going to continue this year and resolve to make at least 40 hats for hospice. I thought I would send them out once a quarter. 10 hats in 3 months, sounds do-able, right?
• Add socks, wristlets and dishcloths to the knitting mix and I should be able to lessen the yarn load. Small projects are at the top of my list.

• I will work on "finishing" some cross stitch projects. They are stitched and waiting to be assembled into something usable. Which brings me to...
• Use the sewing machine at least once a month (or hand sew). Using my stitching and my fabric stash, I should be able to make something useful, right?
• I will create my own soap recipe. I have been using the beginner soap recipe provided in the class that I took. This year, I want to create a recipe that I can call my own. I'm sure it will involve a lot of trial and error (and a lot of soap!)

Which brings me to my first giveaway... To celebrate my one year blogiversary, which passed very quietly while I was away from the computer, I'll put together a package with some handmade soap and other (undetermined) goodies. Post a comment with your crafting resolutions for 2011. If you already posted your crafting resolutions on your blog leave a link.

Here's to a fun year of crafting. You'll have until January 9th and I will post a winner on Monday. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

We had a White Christmas, and now we're back in the islands for the New Year. More on our travels coming soon.