10-10-55 - 10-10-10

I was born on 10/10/55, and today--10/10/10--I turned 55. Perhaps I should go out and purchase some lottery tickets, but the gas station that sells them is about three miles away, but that would have involved putting away my stitching. I didn't even want to go out to eat; BF was not really surprised that I preferred to stay home and make my own birthday dinner (baked ziti, raw veggies with my killer homemade blue cheese dressing and apple crisp).

Yesterday my sister treated me to a birthday lunch and gave me a generous gift certificate to In Stitches, and my parents sent me yarn and a pattern book (my mom knits, so she chooses wonderful knitting stuff). All in all, a wonderful birthday weekend. Chester and Yazziebear contemplate the balloon that my sister's BF brought me along with a nice bouquet of flowers:


I can't show you everything I stitched, since I put in a lot of time this week on the sampler that has not yet been unveiled by Samplers Revisited. I worked on this Christmas ornament, which is by Birds of a Feather. I'm stitching it on a scrap of 40 ct. Lakeside from my stash using the called-for GAST threads. I am going to frog that particular gold Kreinik--it's too brassy, I think. I'll use a different gold.


I had "homework" for my fair isle hat class which meets again on Tuesday, so I have made progress on that project as well. Two interesting things about fair isle knitting: there are never more than two colors in a row, even if there are lots of different colors in the design (yes, there are things you knit with multiple colors in a row, but those are not fair isle--those are intarsia); and if you can read a counted cross stitch pattern, you can read a knitting pattern! With circular needles, you start on the botton right and read left, repeating until the end of the number of stitches on your needle. Easy! If you knit and have been hesitant about trying fair isle, go for it! Next I'm doing the whale watch hat, which will be more time-consuming because of the fingering yarn, but will not be more difficult. This hat is a snowflake pattern by the instructor. I'm knitting it in two colors of Mission Falls 1824 merino superwash.


Peaches, grooming Pink's ears during morning snuggle time.


Happy week ahead!