Finally I won a medal!

For those who don't knit or crochet or aren't familiar with Ravelry this blog post will mean very little. For the rest of you...well indulge me for a few minutes.

On Ravelry (and seriously if you knit or crochet and haven't joined yet I really don't understand why), they are sponsoring another Ravelympics during the Winter Olympics. They've done this before and I even entered in 2008. Didn't finish anything so of course I didn't medal. You see this is my kind of Olympics because if you set a goal and you finish within the time frame of the 14 days of the Olympics then you get a medal. Last time I tried to make a shawl. That was a dismal failure. This time I took at look at my projects page and saw a lot of WIPs (works in progress for those who have stuck in there and don't know the lingo) and thought, I want to finish these off. Some don't need a lot of work, others a little more. The event is called WIPs Dancing. (You know like Ice Dancing but for WIPs...isn't that adorable?) The other night, Monday actually, I finished these:

The pattern is sort of the Popover Mitts pattern from an out of print book by Cascade yarns. I made some changes and used a different yarn (Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted), but the results a wonderful. I've worn them all week! We've had a nice cold snap and that has meant I needed something to keep my hands nice and warm. The color of the yarn was "Cherry" so I call them "Cherry Popovers". And for all this I received this lovely medal. I'm very proud and would like to thank my parents and friends for believing in me that I COULD actually FINISH a project!

Really....I'm alive

I know there must have been some discussion, but I'm here to put that to rest...I'm alive, and I escaped the kidnappers so don't send that ransom you were asked for. Seriously, I've been a very bad blogger and haven't kept you all up to date on what's happening in my life. So, I'm going to try and quickly bring you up to date and then try very hard to blog more then once every 6 months.

First, I got a contract job and that seems to have taken up more of my time then I'd like. Maybe time isn't the right word, maybe energy is. I'm coming to realize that the RA doesn't always allow me the same energy level that I think I have. So some things fall by the wayside. However, I've loved working at this job and was excited when my contract was extended to the end of March. Of course that means I now have to start looking for the next job, but that's ok too.

Since my last post I've seen
With my friend Kathe. We had a blast! What a great show.

I've managed to finish a few knitting projects, including a cute beret that I wore to work yesterday but that I don't have pictures of it yet. I also finished a stole/scarf and no there aren't any pictures of that. I've been working on a "super secret project" for about 2 weeks now. It's coming along, but slower then I had hoped it would.

As usual I went to hang out with my friends at a stitching retreat in October. We were back in Hilton Head again and had a great time together. One of the classes we were supposed to learn how to make scrimshaw. I learned that I'm not going to be making much of it myself and that I now appreciate the cost much more. While there my DF Heather helped me do the finishing for Halloween Fairy. Isn't she pretty?

Christmas was our usual decorating craziness with our open house on Christmas Eve thrown in. Then Christmas Day we went down to the church to have dinner with at the community dinner and hang out with everyone down there.

New Year's Day found me down at the Gator Bowl to say farewell to my beloved Coach Bowden. We had a great time and I admit I got teary eyed several times. The city did a fantastic job of sending him off in style. AND the team pulled together and got a win over WVU.Did I mention it was cold and rainy that day? It was, but we bundled up and had fun. I even managed to wear a new hat I'd knitted that week AND my HP/FSU scarf. (Jill & I above at the game.)

In January I took a trip up to Atlanta to spend time with my friend Jean (a.k.a. Doxietrek) for her birthday. It snowed, and more importantly the roads iced up so we spent a couple of days just hanging at her house. Our friend Ann had come in from TN so we stitched, knit and played some Wii games. Apparently it was news to Jean that I'm a tad bit competitive. But it did let me figure out that I like the Wii, so when I got home I ordered one as a late Christmas present. Having fun with it.

That's about covers the high points. I'll leave you with a gratuitous picture of my fireplace this Christmas. Had to put new lights on the garland and went with LEDs. Love the way they look, especially with the flowers I used.