There is a really good reason that I haven't blogged for nearly 2 months. I'm in Australia. Yes, Australia. As in 11,000+ miles from home. I haven't mentioned the trip before now because I wasn't sure if it was going to work out, but it has and I've been here for over 3 weeks. My boyfriend lives near Perth on the west coast and we have been travelling all over the place. I left at the end of January and I will be back the beginning of March. Now, that said, I think it is about time that I post a few pictures.This is me outside my house in NH, USA pre-trip. Note the winter jacket, and tons of snow...granted it is a snow bank, but still...lots of snow.
This is me a couple weeks ago in the Daintree rainforest north of Cairns in Far North Queensland, Australia...note the tanktop, and lack of a winter jacket. The cool looking plants behind me are mangroves...if you haven't heard of them I highly suggest checking Wikipedia for them...they are really fascinating. They rely on the tide for survival and there is an entire salt water ecosystem in their roots. We have done a ton of travelling since and I will be putting up a whole bunch of stuff when I get back to the US next week...while I get over jetlag. See you then!

PS - Yes, I have been knitting. Not much, but I have made a pair of socks that I was supposed to finish for my bf's grandmother about, oh, last October (see previous post). I was trying to find the perfect yarn (I'm sure you understand) and I restarted them about six times (slight exageration, but close to it). I finally settled on a gorgeous colorway from Lorna's Laces...I have pics and will post them soon :) She has tried them on and announced them to be a perfect fit (phew!).

Looking Back. Looking Forward. Oh, and 27 forever.

Whew! Christmas is over, and the year is coming to an end. It seems like this year has passed in the blink of an eye. I've moved, changed jobs, started a blog, and fallen in love (more on that later perhaps). I turned 27 in November, and while it is not one of those big milestone birthdays...it is significant because from now on every birthday is going to be 27 (with experience of course)...for example...30 will be 27 with 3 years experience...35 will be 27 with 8 years experience, etc. I have always been ok with turning a new year older and I have full intentions of keeping it that way :D .

As for the new year, I of course have some resolutions. I have been sitting on the whole idea of blossoming my etsy store...I've put on an item here and there, but haven't been completely serious. I am considering this post to be my public announcement of seriousness about selling some of the things I design. Which means more time spent designing, which I love. You heard it here first!

I also have plans for this blog. I would like to post at least twice a week in 2008 (with a little break in Feb., more on that later perhaps). I have really missed working on creative pursuits recently and I think it is high time I buckle down and begin pursuing.

On an FO note - My So-Called Scarf was finished so long ago that is almost so-called Worn-Out! (Hehe not really, but I had someone take a picture of me wearing it almost a month ago and it has been so crazy around here I still haven't posted it.) Yes, I am posting a picture of myself!!! Yikes! :D . Note how long ago it was...no winter jacket!!!, just a fleece!

On the needles: A tank top in bamboo, and mittens, lots of mittens...yes, that's right, I have not finished Christmas knitting! Hmmm, next year, I think I will give everyone needles, yarn and a few hours of my time.

Happy New Year everyone! Stay safe, and I hope all of your resolutions come true - especially the fibery ones :D .

PS - NH knitting mama - I have promised myself that I would budget enough to get one of your lovely skeins from etsy in January - I have been eyeing them and I can't wait to order one!

wonderful = looking back. looking forward. oh, and 27 forever. - jj

snow. mittens. and so-called scarves.

Hi everyone! Well, it has happened. The snow that is. Yes, it was only enough to make the ground white and only slippery enough for my car to end up facing the wrong way in the wrong lane (thank goodness it was in the parking lot and not on the road!!!) on the way to work the other morning, but it is here.

So - in honor of the cold weather I've been doing a little knitting to keep myself warm. I'm still working on dishcloths and only have a couple more pair of children's mittens to knit...so I felt good about doing something to keep my own hands warm :) First, I have had six balls of Australian alpaca sitting in my studio - screaming that they wanted to be mittens -. I needed them to be extra thick, extra warm soooo....I googled chunky weight mittens (The yarn is 8 ply - dk weight), I held one strand of grey and one strand of burgundy together and ta-dah! new mittens.





I have been wearing them every day and I love them! Only problem, though my hands are cozy, my neck is always cold! So, even though I had sworn off scarf knitting about two years ago, I decided that it was high time I got a warm neck! I began surfing immediately , determined to find the perfect scarf! I settled on "My So-Called Scarf" because the pattern was something completely different to me - you know - one of those things that you see on people on the street and go up to them to have a chat to see if they might possibly be able to help you figure out how their garment was made. It is pretty slow going as each stitch takes almost twice as much time as a regular stitch, but the pattern is completely worth it! Check it out, I started it yesterday and am about a foot into it...it is made out of two strands of light worsted held together in a dark plum and a color that is halfway through tan and grey. PS - note to Bells - I had the link to the dishcloth pattern saved in my favorites and now I can't find it! I'm going to do a little searching and put it in my next post - I don't want to just type it out without the permission of the designer - Thanks :) - Jenn

wonderful = snow. mittens. and so-called scarves.

October 31st. Christmas. Knitting.

It's October 31st. October 31st. Where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday that I was thinking ohhh, I've got plenty of time to start all of the gifts I want to knit this year. Yes, I think I will make 5,675, 345 washcloths for all of my friends and family. Oh, and ALL of the kiddos in my life are getting mittens. That's right, all of the adults requested socks last year too (note to self, do not wear hand knit socks to Christmas parties from now on). I was thinking it might be nice to make an afghan for my parents too. And so on.

Oh dear, that WAS yesterday. And now it is October 31st. Almost November! Less than two months to Christmas. On the up side I only have 5,675,344 washcloths left to knit. Here is the one that is finished...

I love the pattern...it's easy to do while listening to a podcast or watching tv...you don't even have to worry about looking at it - we're talking elementary lace, which is great for making a dishcloth/washcloth the perfect scrubby material...plus it's pretty. Downside, there is only one of them. Yep, one lonely washcloth. I finished a second one today but, I managed to spill hot cocoa on it right before I cast off, which means, I can't give it as a gift. Upside? I get to throw it in the washing machine and use it for myself! Now, I know that there are only a few more weeks til Christmas, but I am still insisting on doing as many handmade knitted items as possible. From reading other blogs, appears to me that many knitters do the same thing - we like giving our works of art as gifts...it warms the soul...even if we don't go to bed until 5 am Christmas morning because we just haaavvvveee to finish this @#%* toe!!

Speaking of warming the soul...here is a pic of one of the socks that I was going to send to my bf's grandmother...note that it is already past her birthday...luckily he thinks she will understand - I hope so!!! I am about to frog it. Yep, that's right, I've completed the ankle pattern, knit the heel flap, turned the heel, and completed the gusset. I'm already an inch into the foot and I can't stand the sock. I have decided that the pattern I knit competes with the pattern of the yarn. I am going to frog it and just do a simple knit 8 or 9 and purl 2 combo...I did that for the top of the foot and I really like how it compliments the yarn. So how does that warm the soul you ask? Well, it means that in the end...even with all the frustration...I will have created something pretty and something that she can really cherish. I love that.



wonderful = october 31st. christmas. knitting. - jj

old buildings. great service. oh, and coziness, definitely coziness.

Hi Everybody!!!

Thank you, thank you Nikkianna! The LYS that I mentioned in my last post is The Fiber Studio in Henniker, NH. It is gorgeous!!!! Off of Rte 9, halfway between Concord and Keene, NH, it is a one of those little gems tucked away, waiting to be discovered! It is in a beautiful old building, and is jam-packed with amazing yarns at reasonable prices and the women who helped me when I stopped in for the first time last month were sooo sweet...if you ever have a chance to stop by I highly recommend it! If you would like to turn your stop into a yarn crawl...I also recommend The Elegant Ewe on Main St in Concord. Amazing yarns there too (especially the sock yarn - ohh and the lace weight)...and the staff is wonderful as well (of course now that I mention it the staff is wonderful at all three of the stores I wanted to tell you about). Third stop on your crawl (or first, depending on where you are coming from) is The Knitting Knook on West St. in Keene, NH. It is a tiny, cozy little shop hidden in the upstairs of a building next to The Savings Bank of Walpole. What it lacks in size it makes up for in quality - quality of yarn, quality of service, and quality of coziness.

Well, I'm off to knit for a bit, and then head to bed... it's almost midnight... oops make that 12:01. If you get a chance to visit any of the above let me know :) Also, if you have traveled to any other yarn stores in the area...let me know that too - I'm always willing to visit more - It's getting on winter and my house is not insulated as well as I like...I've heard yarn makes great insulation :D Have a great night everybody! Talk to you soon. wonderful = old buildings. great service. oh, and coziness, definitely coziness. - jj

cables. socks. australia. hidden yarn stores.

Hi everybody!!! I have missed you!!! My life has turned into utterly complete busy-ness lately! A couple of exciting knitting related things have happened to me recently - I have started a cabled baby sweater that I'm considering turning into a bag - those cabled bags really are hot this season! I have also started a new pair of socks (yes, just started - I think I have first sock syndrome let alone second s.s.) to send to my boyfriend's grandmother. Of course, these have to be finished by October 29...and yes it is October 13.
I also desperately need to take some photos of all these things. I have a procrastination problem with photos - I love to take them - it is the downloading and then the subsequent uploading that doesn't seem to happen anywhere near as fast as I'd like it to. I am inclined to believe however that the new gadget that I just purchased so that I can use usb 2 rather than usb 1 (aka the slooooooowest possible way to work with any kind of information) may help ten-fold in the process of photo downloads. I would cross my fingers and pray that it works, but I think I may have to forget the crossing of fingers and just pray as I have less than 10 days to finish these socks. Yep that's right, 10 days. They are flying to Australia, so I have to account for travel time as well. Yikes, eh?
Ok, I'm off to knit...I will catch up some more very soon, promise! PS - NH Knitting Mama - Have you ever been to the yarn store on Rte. 9 halfway between Concord and Keene???? It is amazing!!! I will look for the name of it...
wonderful = cables. socks. australia. hidden yarn stores. - jj

Kathy. Baseball. Maytag. and Felt.

What have I been up to during the past few weeks? Work. More work. Um, more work. Ohhhh and some fun stuff too :) ! Last night I got together with my friend Kathy (that's her in the pic). We intended to do some scrapbooking, but ended up making invitations to her son's fifth birthday party. I designed them based on his absolute loooove of baseball. It was great to get together and just hang out and create...I haven't done that in a while. I find that the world keeps turning and I get swept up in the mundane, everydayness of it. Sometimes it is wonderful to sit back, relax and play.

P.S. I swear these pictures were right side up when I uploaded them!!! Anyone know how to rotate a pic once it is in blogger???

Speaking of playing...I just got a NEW washing machine and dryer!!!! Ok you have 3 guesses as to why I'm incredibly excited. Is it a. I no longer have to drive to wash my clothes? b. they are beautiful objects of modern machinery and I am using them as part of my new interior decorating theme or ..... C. I can now FELT the stack of sweaters I've been collecting to recycle





Bet you can't guess hehe





Yes, driving to wash is a pain, but it isn't the end of the world and while they aren't bad looking washing machines aren't exactly the most decorative objects I have seen in a while so yes, you have figured it out. It is option c. I can FELT!!! (or full - I am usually a woman who loves the technical terms...but I have loved the word felt ever since I was a small child so that is what I still call the process - please forgive me) Woohoo!!!! Here is my first project - a sweater I purchased at a yard sale this summer. It is absolutely gorgeous and I am going to repurpose it as a purse...stay tuned to see how it comes out...





Until then, I hope you have a chance to take at least 10 minutes to have a creative frenzy today - it's totally worth it!

wonderful = kathy. baseball. maytag. and felt. - jj