He still topped it!

As a continuation of my birthday celebration...my husband continued with the daily gifts. Where did I leave off...oh right, Monday, the 14th...my gift was a squirrel baffle for my birdfeeder! He knows how much I cuss at the darn squirrels for eating my bird seed.

The next day, Day 15, I received 12 15 inch taper birthday candles! Not sure where I will use them...but they look great.

Finally, my birthday arrives and my husband is in New York. I turn on my computer and he has im'd me to sing happy birthday (barks included)!
He then asks if I will do him a favor - I said yes - he says go to the downstairs bathroom and you will find your last birthday present.


I walk in the bathroom and find these!!!
A dozen red roses in a beautiful vase!
He is such a romantic!

My birthday celebration has now come to an end...I know my husband is worn out...but it sure was fun.

You are all thinking...well what can she do to top that? We already have his birthday planned...he turns 60 this September and we are spending the month in New Zealand! I think that may be pretty "even Steven"! Or maybe not...oh well, there is always next year.

How does he do it???

My husband has a way with surprises...thus the build up to my birthday:

It all started on the 30th of December when I made the remark that I didn't get a 2008 calendar for Christmas and that I needed to go buy one. Well, we get home and he goes downstairs and brings up a package for me to open. There is my new calendar...wall style...for me to write down all birthdays.

The next day he has another gift...this time it is the one day at a time calendar that sits in my kitchen.

Next day it is an ice scraper-I couldn't find mine when the first ice storm hit this year.

Next day - a set of box cutters...I lose the main one we have all the time. I actually keep one in my car for recycling day.

Next day - a Fodor's book on New Zealand...we are going there for my husband's birthday in September.

The next day, a small bar of soap from Thailand - he was there in December for business.

Now let me interject something here...the gifts have all been wrapped and piled in the front room and I have picked which one I want to open . Each gifts comes with our 2 golden retrievers (Norm and Phoebe) sitting and speaking (barking) at each pause of the song!

Ok...next was a map of New Zealand...I didn't know there were 2 parts - North Island and South Island.

Let's see -what day am I on - the 6th - he gave me a leather coat. It did happen to be too big and I returned it and got another one...but it was a wonderful gift.

The 7th was the biggest shock of all...a trip to Quebec City to spend the night in the Ice Hotel!!! I have wanted to do this for over 20 years and I am finally getting the chance. We are going over Valentine's Day. What fun...can't wait.

The 8th gift was 2 cute little Calphalon appetizers pan...for cooking appetizers.

Ok...remember now...the dogs are now just coming and sitting in front of me...ready to sing! So funny.

The 9th gift-a digital frame...you hook it up to your computer and download the pictures and then do a slide show on the frame...it is great.

The 10th gift - 6 beautiful glass votives to burn candles.

The 11th...yes, I am getting to the end...my birthday is the 16th...a crock that holds utensils in the kitchen.

The 12th gift was a BRAND new computer...I have never had a new computer...I always get his hand me downs!!! It is a beautiful Dell Inspiron 1520. Big , bright screen...it is great.

And finally - up to now...the last gift was a glass cake plate with cover.

It is now Monday, the 14th and so far...not a gift...but there are still some in the pile...I'll keep you posted. Better go, Norm and Phoebe are warming up....

It's been a busy holiday season!

I can't believe I haven't blogged in so long...here when I am trying to be better at doing it regularly! But I have been busy...hats, hats, and leg warmers!



This hat was fun to do and I ended up doing 2 of them.





The leg warmers were also fun.
The yarn was yummy to work with.




Also, did another cute hat but it was a bit more tricky to do.







Now I am ready to stick with my "already started, will it ever finish" projects. My afghan is calling out to me. And my sweater, and my other sweater and my nightmare red scarf.
In the mean time it is time to ring in the New Year and after that - take down my Christmas decorations...so as soon as that happens...it is on to my projects!

Where have I been?

Where have I been??? December just gets nutty! I was not going to knit any Christmas presents this year...I was a bit knitted gift out...and then it hit me...I have to great-nieces in Denver that I need to knit for...so I jumped in with both feet and did the Noro hat for one and have started a pair of leg warmers for the other. These are so simple - I am plugging away at the first one.
It is drizzley and cold and a good day to watch footfall and knit. So away I go to the couch!

Gotta watch out washin' those wools!

I just returned from a 10 day trip to France, Luxembourg, and Germany. I only took the pair of socks I was working on and have almost completed them. But much to my dismay, the pair I had finished and took to wear got thrown in the dryer. Yikes! They will now fit my 7 year old great-niece!
So I had better get busy and finish the new pair and be more careful with the washing.
Our travels were wonderful and now I am hunkering down for Thanksgiving this week. Looks like we will have somewhere between 18 to 20 people. So not much to blog for now.

An obsession completed!

Oh my gosh!!! Yes this is the 1500 piece puzzle of yarn - it took me several months of working on it just every now and then...but it is done...!
I leave for France on Tuesday and all I could think of was getting this Gosh Darn puzzle put together and cleared away before I left. And I did it! The obsession came to conquer me and I was the conquerer!!
Yes, I leave for 11 days in France and I need to move on to the packing stage of our trip. As soon as I pack away the puzzle, I will be using this same table to lay out my clothes. So you see, there was a method to my madness.
I am also torn as to what to knit on the plane...my socks, which I will most likely finish or my red scarf. I need to finish the scarf and I have a really long way to go. I think I will make the decision last minute and go from there.
So off to packing!!!

One project down-another going!

Just got back from a weekend in New York with our son for his 25th birthday. On the flight out, I finished my Froebe Fibers socks. Done in Caribbean Breeze, they are a great combination of light bluish green and yellow.

So I needed to start something new while flying. I got out my other Froebe Fibers yarn and began another pair of socks. Going to do a different pattern. I want the pooling effect I saw on The Yarn Harlot Yarn Harlot

I get home and am reading my blogs only to find out that the Saturday I was in New York, right outside of the city was the big yarn and knitting gathering called New York Yarn and Sheep festival in Rhinebeck, New York. I am going to have to investigate this for next year. Several of the blogs I read were there.

I made it!

I am so excited...I made it into Ravelry
As I am learning, Ravelry is a website that helps you get your projects, yarn, needles, etc. organized. It is forcing me to do something I have needed to do for years...figure out the heck I have up in my "bonus room" that I can actual create something with!!!
My next tackle is my STASH! Ugh...that one I am not looking forward to...it will take some time.
What do you do with this:



This is insane!!! Oh well...gotta it done.

Got away from me!!

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I last posted! Time just got away from me! I went to Napa with friends and came home and did not pick up my knitting for a week. Now, those who know me, know that that is unheard of!! Put although knitting needles were not in my hands in one since...yarn was in another since! Yes, that is a 1500 hundred piece puzzle of yarn!! It has been amazing to put together and I am probably half way through. I am a puzzle freak! Love to do them. I just wish I could knit at the same time!

I have actually picked my second sock back up only to realize I had not been doing the pattern right and had to take out about 12 rows. UGH. I'm just glad I found it when I did...it is very fixable.

Ok...but to knitting/yarning!

Getting through some projects

Whew! I finished one sock! Now I need to start the other.... I really like this waffle stitch pattern. Row 1,2,3: knit 2, purl 2; row 4 purl.


In the mean time - I need to finish my sweater...just need to seam the shoulders and sides and I will have one more project taken care of. I need to get on a "finish each started project before you start another" kick. But here we are close to deciding on knitting any Christmas gifts, so I have a feeling...my "kick" won't last for long. Although I do have several trips coming up so I will need to have small project to take. The other sock will be one of those and a scarf I started last year will be another. The afghan will just have to be my "when I'm sitting by the fire and want a lap cover" project!

New stash

Oh my gosh!! This is why I can't walk in a yarn store. I walk out with MORE yarn and believe me - I don't NEED anymore yarn for my already full stash in drawers and baskets on the floor.
But I love to buy new yarn and then figure out what I want to do with it! Maybe more socks with the Schaefer Anne yarn or winter socks with the Toasty Toes. Also have some really yummy Mountain Colors in Chinock. Can't wait...but until then - I must weed and get ready for Labor Day gathering.

Figuring it all out!

My laptop sits in my kitchen and so I am on it several times during the day. Sometimes I find it takes away from my knitting time...so many things to learn and add and read and do!!! I am really trying to get this blogging thing down. With the help of a good friend I am slowly learning. I am still working on sock #1, although nearly ready to start toe...so I can start all over again on #2!
So in order not to end up with only one sock...I better get to knitting!!

Time to get busy

On take off for New York last week, I started a sock...they are so easy to travel with, small and compact. Now that I am home, I need to finish it and start the other foot. I really didn't need to add one more thing to my already full knitting projects: 2 sweaters, a scarf, an afghan, and now socks!!
I just keep plugging along with all the yarn I have.
New York and then Maine was wonderful...cool weather...but great to be back in Kansas.

Knitting

Ok...since my blog name is n2knittingks and I haven't managed to write a word about knitting...I should most likely do just that. My nephew-in-law, if there is such a thing, (married to my niece) had a birthday yesterday. I had not really thought about his gift. But on Monday of this week I decided to knit him a scarf as he is working in Philadelphia at the time and it can get cold there in the winter. So I got busy and knitted a scarf for him and finished it in 3 days. It turned out really nice, dark gray, dark green and light gray striped length way. I put a note in it to say "In Kansas in July, this gift may seem silly, but we understand winters in Philly can be chilly!" Oh the poet in me lives on!

Summertime

Ok, ok, ok. I really am going to work at being better at this. Months have now passed and now word written. Hopefully that is going to change. As I let my dogs out this morning, they went flying after something out in the yard. It is hard to see what but I hear them fighting with it...as I get closer to try and break it up...a raccoon escapes and limps away. Now do I have concern there is rabies involved here? UGH! Oh life in the country!! Several years ago our older dog caught a squirrel...or should I say the squirrel caught him...had him by the ear!

Springtime

I am just figuring out this blogging "stuff" and while my son is driving - he is walking me through this process. I started this blog over a year ago and it has just sat here...it is time I jump in and start blogging. There are a couple of things that I love about this time of year when I sit on my computer...the fact that I can look out my back window and enjoy watching the bluebirds, that have built a nest and have 5 eggs already, and the purple martins, that look like we have several nests in their multi-level home.
I have become a bird fanatic...keeping binoculars and a telescope handy at all times so as not to miss a thing. This is a great time of year.

This is my first attempt at being a blogger!! I am a 55 year old knitting lady from the Midwest. I just learned to knit about 2 years ago and I have become obsessed!! My husband and I have two grown children. We love to travel...have been all over the world. My other hobbies are reading, bowling and walking.