Thank you Jennifer!

Oh my gosh - I should have taken a photo of the box....the more packages I opened, the more there were to open! Wonderful wonderful gifts! As cold as it has been lately, the "Anything Goes Scarf" is going to be well used! A whole series of books - I am not sure how she knew that I really liked this author and the books!!!! Note papers, cards, a hot cup, candles....I cant even remember it all I am so overwhelmed! Thank you so much Jennifer - you are awesome!

Christmas Swap 2011

I havent decided when to open my swap presents - I am very willing to wait until Christmas. But there were 2 items that were not wrapped - and one interesting one that was sorta wrapped. So I hung the angel on the tree (havent taken a photo yet) and have been using the candy cane pen......and getting lots and lots of compliments on my pointsettia pin!!

Thank you Jennifer!

Happy Holidays 2011

Hope everyone is getting ready for the Holidays . . . whichever ones you celebrate.  Those who are participating in the Holiday Swap should be getting ready to or may have already sent along their swap packages.  I know that the Wall Street Journal reported in this morning's newspaper that today, Monday, December 12, is supposed to be the busiest day for delivery services (UPS/Federal Express) and the post office.

Start thinking about what books you want to read for January, February and March.  I will also send out an email reminding you about it and the deadlines.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Halloween Swap

I cannot wait to show you what Mindy sent me.....for for some reason I am having problems getting my photos....I can tell you she sent me some of my very very favorite edibles - PEEPS! Ghostly peeps that is.....and CANDY CORN - mixed in a trail mix so that there is no guilt!

Of course, you may not like seeing what was crawling out of one of the many skeins of ovely yarn she sent.........

There were goblins and ghosties and things that go bump in the night (erasers and pencils and ring pops).....

And a GORGEOUS decoration for my neck....

And THREE...count them...THREE wonderful books (one of which I have already started!)

What a wonderful swap partner....and BTW Mindy....I havent sneezed/wheezed/or itched yet!

(Well, I am going to post this thank you - dont know why the photos wont transfer - but if and when they do, I will post them!)

Thank you!

Karen - what a wonderful surprise - got home from my trip to the PO mailing off my package - to find that I had recieved a WONDERFUL swap package!

Dont know if you can see it all - lovely lovely shawlette and some of the same yarn PANDA SILK! Yummy!!!! And the sock yarn, with which she knit my keychain, is lovely too! A book that looks very interesting- and no Karen, I have not read it! - maple candy AND maple syrup! - markers - and something that is very tantalizing - altho we have Tader Joe's, I have never noticed it before - sugar/chocolate/coffee beans in a grinder - they suggest grinding it over cakes, cupcakes, ice cream....wow!

Karen, thank you for a most wonderful package!

And I love that you used the bags to pad everything - they will go with when he works at the food pantrynext - they can always use plastic bags!

Project for " Her Royal Spyness"

Here's my project--Hayden's Dragon. OK, so there weren't any dragons in the book--but there was an old castle in Scotland, and it could have had a dragon! Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Joan in West Texas

From Robbie - Swap Extravaganza

My swap package from Robbie was wonderful. 

The box was bursting with goodness.

The Noro Kureyon I was just looking at for a project for me.  There weren't labels for the other two yarns but they are luscious and lovely.

And then there was other fun stuff . . . candy (peanut butter cups, no less), sugar free peppermints (in a reuseable container which will be PERFECT for holding stitch holders, a great nail file with yarns on it, a bent head needle set (how did she know that I am always losing mine) and a 3 in 1 toold for checking gauge, needles and yarn recommendations.

and just to keep me happy when I'm not knitting, "The Egyptologist" by Arthur Phillips.  I read his book "Prague" and it was a great read.  Barbara Bretton's "Spun in Sorcery" the latest in the Chloe Hobbs series . . . you remember, Barbara Bretton left us hanging after the last book when the entire town of Sugar Maple disappeared.  And a Banana Grams calendar.  I so very much enjoy word puzzles.  Most days, I do the daily crossword puzzle and this looks like great fun. 

Thanks so much Robbie. 

Thanks, Nate!

Many thanks to Nate for a really great swap package. Among the goodies were three books, a fabulous knit bag, lots of Christmas ornaments to make (there are enough to cover their own tree!), and a skein of yarn that I think will make a great scarf. Thanks!!!

okay, weird stuff

My daughter thinks that I should make back scrubbers for all of her swim team.  The amount of time that they spend in the pool, they all have itchy skin.  Okay, I'll just whip those babies out!  Right. 

So, I might make some for the senior swimmers only.  There are five or six of them.  I can do that.  I think.

This one is almost done.   It just need the binding off and the thing at the end.

Jane Vdoviak - Our group Mom . . . Grammie knits on . . .

GOULDSBORO - Jane Ellen Vdoviak passed from this world Friday, Jan. 21, 2011, with her husband and daughter at her side at home. She was born Dec. 17, 1943, in Clifton, N.J., the daughter of Arthur and Doris Donnelly. Jane was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend to all. She never had a bad word or opinion of anyone. She grew up in Clifton, N.J., and was a graduate of Clifton High School and Fairleigh Dickinson University. She married her high school sweetheart and followed him to many places in the world as a Navy wife. After settling in Gouldsboro Jane taught school locally for 27 years, always enjoying the company of her students who are now active leaders in their communities. Jane is survived by her husband of 45 years, Steve; her loving children, Scott of Austin, Texas, Diana Jane and her husband, Jayson Knowles, of Gouldsboro and Steven of Bangor; her grandchildren whom she dearly loved, Jacob, Jordyn and Tori Knowles, all of Gouldsboro; and her sisters, Patricia and husband, Joseph Cahill, of Landing, N.J., and Gouldsoboro Point and Doris and husband, Dan, of Stanhope, N.J. She was predeceased by her parents. It was Jane's wish for her family and friends to think about what she was like before she became seriously ill and to remember her in that way. Visiting hours will be held 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26, at Bragdon-Kelley Funeral Home, Milbridge, where a memorial service will be held 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 27. Those wishing to remember Jane may make gift donations in her memory to The Cancer of Maine at The Lafayette Family Cancer Center, 33 Whiting Hill Road, Brewer, ME 04412. A service of Bragdon-Kelley Funeral Homes. Condolences may be sent at www.bragdonkelley.com.

Reading Recommendations

I have to highly recommend this book ("Casting Off" by Nicole Dickson).  It was very good.  I cried.  I laughed.  I was sorry to see it end.  It was one of those books where when you got to the end, it was disappointing.  Not because the ending wasn't satisfying but because you got to the last page!  

The description of Casting Off from Amazon.com is:  On a tiny island off the west coast of Ireland, the fishermen's handmade sweaters tell a story. Each is unique-feelings stitched into rows, memories into patterns.  It is here that Rebecca Moray comes to research a book on Irish knitting. With her daughter, Rowan, accompanying her, she hopes to lose herself in the history of the island and forget her own painful past. Soon, the townsfolk's warm embrace wraps Rebecca and Rowan in a world of friendship, laughter, and love.

And it is here that young Rowan befriends Sean Morahan, a cantankerous old fisherman, despite his attempts to scare her off. As Rebecca watches her daughter interact with Morahan, she recognizes in his eyes a look that speaks of a dark knowledge not unlike her own. And when current storms threaten to resurrect old ones, Morahan and Rebecca find themselves on a collision course-with Rowan caught between them-each buffeted by waves of regret and recrimination. Only by walking headfirst into the winds will they find the faith to forgive without forgetting...and reach the shore.


Another book that I recently read was The Templar Salvation.  It is a follow-up to the Last Templar by Raymond Khoury.  The description of the Templar Salvation from Amazon.com is:  Khoury's entertaining sequel to The Last Templar (2006) offers characters and plot lines that hew closely to the conventions of the religious thriller subgenre. In 1310, Templar knight Conrad of Tripoli stumbled on a trove of writings documenting the early days and divisions of Christianity. The Catholic Church has kept this material hidden since the fall of Constantinople in 1453, fearful that its release would undermine the church's authority and rock the foundations of Christian belief. In the present, Mansoor Zahed, an Iranian motivated by revenge for the CIA killing of his family in the 1950s, is bent on finding the trove and releasing it to undermine Western religion and stability. Meanwhile, FBI special agent Sean Reilly visits the Vatican on a quest to find a document that may help in his effort to rescue his love interest, Tess Chaykin, who's been kidnapped.

Any other suggestions that you all may have??