A knitter's Christmas

I was totally stoked when Brad's parents came through with the Knit Picks Options Needle set! I was suprised to see that the needles were so sharp, but happy that now I have a set! I just need to get a set of Double Pointed Needles (DPN) now to complete my knitting supplies until I can find something else that I absolutely must have!!

I have already started using the Options needles on the project below for my mom. I really like them and they are comparable to the Addie's however I have found them to be a little more "slipperier" if that's a word! I mentioned the sharp, right?! I have already found myself wincing a time or two when I go to push my needle through with my finger!!

My best friend got me the gift that keeps on giving...a subscription to Vogue Knitting Knitsimple and an issue of Better Homes Knit It. She tried getting the subscription to Knit It, however, they are not in subscriptions yet.
She has already requested a few items from the Knit It magazine and the article about them was quite interesting. The article was called Mobius Magic and it's about a knitting innovator Cat Bordhi who basically came up with Mobius designs - a mobius strip is defined as only having one side, as the article describes it, takeing a narrow strip of paper and giving it a half twist and taping the ends together. If you draw on one side, you end up with a continuous line. So, my girlfriend found two handbags: A felted tapestry bag with beautiful vine embroidery and a mobius bag that is undescribable. But - this is great as it will give me incentive to learn new techniques especially felting!

And, of course, I had to check out the Local Yarn Stores in Knoxville and only found one, Loopville. It isn't very big, but the owner was "wicked" nice (a New England term) and very helpful! I spent about 30 minutes in there, when I finally made it up to the counter...I had originally stopped in to buy a new mitten pattern since the one I had was giving me "holey gussets" (see previous post), but since the ladies at the yarn store helped me resolve the "holeyness" I decided I could at least buy some yarn for my stash...so I'm at the counter and she rings up 4 skeins of the chenille and 2 skeins of this beautiful hand painted merino wool! It's Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Black Walnut and it's just gorgeous!! I decided these would be for a pair of socks that would be MINE...ALL MINE!!!! It's just waiting on the PERFECT sock pattern that I'll need to scope out in Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch! So - 30 minutes, 6 skeins of yarn and $80 later, but husband rushes the yarn store just as she's telling me the price. I immediately apologize for spending the money and he says, "I don't care how much you spent, just hurry." What a great man!! Christmas time and he's not upset I blew money on some yarn!! We're not what you would call "free with our money," but then again who is?!

So now I'm on a mission to find some Jamieson's Shetland Heather and DK wool to start the felted tapestry bag, but now that I have this needle set and a few dpn that have nothing on them, I have to fight the urge to start multiple projects! I realize that there's nothing wrong with having multiple projects, but I tend to get overwhelmed...geez - I also have two baby blankets to knit for a set of twins my cousin is having...they're not due until February...so I have some time!