Friends, I'm still here!!  Just busy doing the mom/work thing.  Spending all my free time knitting and playing with my babes. 

Rachels Sweater you Ask?  Well her birthday has long past, and the sweater is not quite complete. She has seen it, and LOVES it.  Pictures as soon as its done.

My new love.... SOCKS!!  HOLY COW I LOVE SOCKS!!!! I've been so afraid of them, people complain about turning the heel, blah blah blah, I LOVE MAKING THE HEEL!!!  Just look at this perfect heel...

I tried socks before, hated the DPNS, wanted to poke my own eyes out with the dpns.  Socks on Circs?  ROCK. SOCKS ON CIRCS IS THE WAY TO GO MAN!!!

So smooth, so wicked.  But you MUST get good needles.  Me, I invested in Some Addi Natura's.  Skacels wicked smooth join, pliant cord, topped with Bamboo beauties?  Heaven.  Knitters heaven.    I'm a little further along then these pictures but here, have a look at my tree trunk legs while i try on my masterpiece...

I cant wait to show you the finished sock.  Its so wicked.  I love socks.  I will be making many many more for sure.  The perfect little portable project.   

Have I done anything else?  Yep, A weekend quick pair of mitts for Rena, she fell on the sidewalk and ripped the palm right out of the mitts I made her at the begining of winter.  So a new pair were in order. . .

Rena is my biggest knitting fan.  She slept with those mitts on the night I made them.  My heart couldnt have been any bigger that night :)

HELLO OUT THERE!!!  ITs good to be back. 

Let me get you up to speed. 

Are you in the general vicinity of Toronto? Yes? than you know that EVERYBODY is sick right now, and although I am sick I am functioning just fine, but the kids, Ewwwww.  The flu has hit hard, with it comes lots of fevers, headaches and vomitting.  NO FUN.  I stayed home with them today to help nurse them back to better strength.  Most of my office, and friends are sick also.  Blah. Take your vitamins people and get lots of rest.

Onward...

The problem with this sweater for Rachel is that Its a surprise, and I cant work on it when she is around.  So here I am

Just finishing the back panel.  But I still have faith.  Lots of time left. 7 days is plenty. (*ahem, shifts nervously in seat)  No worries. 

In all fairness I lost most of last week because I was knitting this

Its a wrap for my mom.  I couldnt post about it until I gave it to her.  And I was knitting madly to get it done for her for yesterday, She had some surgery done on her knee, and I really wanted her to be able to have this wrap to keep her cozy when she got home. Its 100% baby Alpaca and its so soft its sinful.  I really wanted to keep this, but we do amazing things for love.

Oh, so do you notice who is modeling that wrap.  Yep, thats me, whats with the hair???  Yes friends, I am no longer blonde.  I wanted to try something different, something classic and feminine but easy to take care of ....

Wow, It still doesnt look like me.  But I am in love with the cut and colour,. Better pictures in the near future.

So, to sum things up.  I am still knitting more than ever, and still being the most productive I have been in ages, but still having doubts about my deadline.

Oh and Karyn, guess what, I started a pair of socks today when I was home with the girls!!!! YEP SOCKS!! I couldnt work on my secret knitting so I took out "socks soar on two circular needles" and got going. Heres what I managed in between cooking dinner and filling up little orange juice cups for my patients.

Licorice the cat is helping me show you this sock, and wouldnt get out of the picture.

Well, off to knit the sweater now that the girls are tucked into bed. 

click, clack, click, clack, click, clack............... To be continued.

Ok, got my materials together last night, put them in a basket (I always gather everything I need and put it in a basket or bag so its ready to go when I have 10 minutes or more...then I save myself wasting time hunting for tape measures, scissors etc.)   Cast on, and got going

I can SOOOOOOO do this !!!

So I've been sucked in before.  I've been an ambitious knitter and started some project as a gift WAYYYYYYYY tooooooooo late and foolishly thought I could finish it on time for the event.   And I have failed.  Miserably most times.   HOWEVER, big big but here, This is my daughter we are talking about.  No mother wants to be responsible for disappointing her daughter

Rachels Birthday is fast approaching, and you may remember this sweater I made for her little sister Renas Birthday...

Well, I know that Rachel really wants the same sweater, but in a dark blue.   And I think I can do it.  I may have been too busy to start this sooner but look at it!!!  Very little shaping, It does require seaming but its like 4 pieces of solid stocking stitch!!  How hard can it be? 

Ladies, I commit myself to lunacy once again, But Sandra has many times advised me to just brew a pot of coffee and get going.  So, here I go.  I think if I can actually pull this off, I should make something for myself for once.  I always say that, but maybe this could be incentive

I , Shannon Elizabeth Bell, Do solemnly swear, that If I can finish this sweater in time to present it to Rachel for her Birthday on March 7th, 2006, I can drop all other projects and make something fabulous for me.

Ha, We'll see.

So, many thanks to everyone who left me messages and sent me e-mails.  Thanks for all your advice to quit whining and letting me know that I wasnt the only ignored wife on the planet, apparently there were many more out there.  Ladies, to you I offer my sympathies.

Today is a better day, I am at work right now but I have knitting on my mind, I cant wait to get home and pick up the needles.  I picked up a bit of the cold Rena has been suffering with so I am toying with the idea of going home early and getting some rest.   All snuggled under a blanket and maybe um. um knitting?  tee hee.

Since I dont have any of my own knitting content to show you, why dont you head over to Isabelles Blog and check out her finished Olympic project.  Its very lovely and I'm sure she would appreciate your comments.

and today I leave you with this WICKED knitting tattoo.  I always said I would never get a tattoo, but If I did, it would be this one.

Wicked Cool

Living with a decidedly un-romantic man is difficult at times.  Especially on days like Valentines day, a day when my eight year old and 3 year old got better valentines loot than me.  I barely got a "Happy Valentines Day hun" and a kiss.   Asshole.  Pardon my dirty little curse words but yesterday was a dissapointing mess.

And have I mentioned that I have Olympic Envy? I'm closely following the progress of all you olympic knitters out there. I admire your "get up and go" much as I admire our own Canadian Athletes, out there, doing their thing.  But I wisely choose not to commit to an olympic knitting project this year, I chose not to jump on the latest knitting bandwagon and keep trudging along on my existing projects.  Yep, the same ongoing projects I havent touched in like 5 days, Soooooo busy, so tired, so trying to keep my head above water.

I know, I know, Its not like me to be so completely dark in a post, I try to only post when I am feeling up and cheery.  But for a little while, just call me Grumpy bo peep.  I do truly love to read all about you olympic knitters, GO TEAM GO.  But I lack the feeling of belonging that would encourage me to join in.  I'm isolated over here in blogland.   *sob*

By the way, I'm not one who is easily swayed, and I tend to view all information presented to me with the mindset that there are two sides to every story, but I literally felt sick to my stomach after reading this site Save the Sheep .   Have a look if you arent squeemish, and want to be enlightened.  Be prepared, its serious stuff about the cruelty that is rampant in the sheep industry.  As a total sheep lover, I am appaled.

So, to end my post on a more positive note, enjoy this happy cute picture, this guy looks so cute.  "hey big fella, looking for a new sugar mommy?... no huh, oh well, I tried"

I think he is smiling, saying "hang in there Shannon, there will be better days"

He kinda looks like an Alpaca Fonzarelli ... LOL, Eh, Eh-O HAHAHAHAHAH

You will perish of fits. Repeat this to yourself:
"Things can work out even if I don't get
my way. Things can work out even...."

What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by Quizilla

Yeah, I think the above pretty much sums up how I feel.  S is for Shannon, who perished of fits.  And I want you to know that

"THINGS WILL NOT WORK OUT IF I DO NOT GET MY WAY"

Now that the fit has passed, on to actual knitting content.

So yeah, been working on this

Whats that you ask, oh its another one of those cabled hats I made for Rachel.  Only this is blue, and its blue and in progress once again thanks to Karen.  I really really have to tell you again how much I like this pattern.  Mary, its a great hat!!!

What else am I doing? Nothing that interesting.

What are you doing these days?

Todays post is a book Review

The Knitting Sutra: Craft as a spiritual practice

Author: The Late, Susan Gordon Lydon

   I have read the jacket on this book several times whilst browsing the craft section at my local Chapters Store.  It never really seemed to pique my interest.  Today I felt compelled to try it, and feeling adventurous, and not terribly worried over the expenditure of 20.00 of my hard earned dollars, i gave it a go.

   Yes, today.  I purchased this book mere hours ago and only now came up for air.  I found this book strangely compelling and wonderfully thought provoking in a very non obtrusive way.  Susan takes the reader through a brief history of her life, touching on how knitting had been there with her through some very key moments in her share of time.  I was at times deeply touched by her candid references to her former drug addiction, was wrenched with emotions when she wrote of overcoming her fight with cancer partly aided by the need to "see the end" of her Alice Starmore Faire isle sweater. 

   As a reader we get to briefly but deeply follow the authors recounting of how she transformed from a pattern dependant knitter with no sense of her own shape, to a  master knitter with the knowledge of a hundred thousand stitches confidently flowing through her fingers to create beautiful knitted works that came so much more naturally.   And all the while journeying to discover who she really was in life, and feel as comfortable with her body and spirt and she became with her knitting.

   A lovely and inspiring book, that is quite different from the mass produced "knit it in a weekend" offerings it shared shelf space with.   . 

Highly recommended.

This book is for all of those knitters out there who like me "work just a row or two" first thing in the moring while the coffee is still brewing,  and "just a row or two more" while fighting off sleep at the end of the day.   Knitting is in the core of what now defines who you are.  I may not have the time at this point in my life to breeze through projects as quickly as i would like, but I knit with a need to knit.  I even carry a project in my purse at all times.  I knit for the love of knitting. 

Just like you.

XOXOXOXOXOX

~Shannon

Tee hee. . .

I think these are just WAY TOO CUTE.  But I can be a bit of a sap.  I've seen them around a few places, and then Isabelle made a half dozen or so different coloured ones and I was coveting them.  So I finally sat down and tried.

HAHAHAHAH, I actually made miniature knitting needles out of toothpicks and beads. and then knit with the toothpicks using sock yarn.  I cant get over how cute then are. I sewed a little pin to the back so you can pin it on your lapel or your knitting bag, or whatever.  

Heres another pic to show you how small it is, I am holding it.

Wow, so cute.  I think I need to make a dozen or so of these and mail them out to my favorite knitters!!  This first one is going to a very special knitter.  Ruth Anne is my best friends mom and she knitted me the best scarf EVER.  Is just simple pink garter stitch with lovely fringe.  But it has the best knitter vibes ever, and it makes me feel happy when I wear it.  So I'm going to drop this first pin in the mailbox for her tomorrow.  More to come.....

Is it too late to make a New Yarns resolution? Naw, its not too late.  I'm usually a little behind everyone else anyhow (its because I take on too much!!! Too many things to do means nothing gets done on time!!) I really want to make socks this year.  This is my knitting new years resolution.  To make at least one pair of socks.  I have sock yarn in the stash, I have sock patterns, I have needles ( Oh lord do I have needles!) But I have yet to make a pair of socks. 

You may notice the blog has a "pinker" look.  I'm expirimenting a bit with some layout changes.  Dont mind me.  I've also updated my whats on the needles section to the left.  I really want to clear all these WIPS up in the next month.  Totally possible.  I want to open myself up for some new projects.

We have kind of a gals circle at work, we meet on birthdays and special occasions. We did our Christmas Gift exchange Mid January (we purposely waited until after the holidays when all the stress had past) And Tina got me the most awsome Knitting thing...

Its this great caddy for the house.  With all the pockets around the outside for my scissors and notions, and a huge interior for my WIPS.  I can just tote it from room to room with me and set it down where i am.  Pretty cool huh? Its pretty darn deep, deeper than the picture illustrates. Oh and I started a baby hat for my neighbour who is expecting.

And I have a sassy new picture posted to the left.  Because I'm feeling creative and devlish these days!!!  

See ya soon, happy knitting.