knitting addiction?

My name is Charmaine and I'm a knit-aholic. I skipped a weight workout last night to keep working on the Sheldon baby blanket. But I'm so close to finishing. The third border is a couple of rows from being completed. And I'm hoping to finish on Sunday while I "watch" both NFL Divisional Championship games.

To make things worse, Knitscene Magazine previewed their Winter/Spring 2010 issue earlier this week. WOW! These are just a few a picked from my favorites.



So many great contemporary styles to choose from! Loving it all!

rain day

Normally I love rain. But not today. Rain coupled with wind makes walking challenging. Not to mention, one big gust sends me skittering sideways a couple feet. But I know the Bay Area desperately needs the water so I persevere. Probably would have enjoyed today's rain if it happened yesterday when I was cozy at home with my coffee and knitting. This was seriously my favority part of the day.

Stayed up late on Sunday night to finish the body of the Sheldon baby blanket. Last night, I completely weaved in one side of the loose ends and picked up stitches to start the border. Can't wait to finish this and start a scarf!

Scrapping this weekend was a big. fat. FAIL. I had planned on getting some substantial work done on my 2010 December Daily as well as couple layouts that have been percolating in my brain, but my frustrating morning attempt to order pictures through Target threw me for a loop from which I didn't quite recover. On a good note, my scrap area and closet has been purged and cleaned. Now, gone are old CK and Scrapbooks Etc. issues, empty Stampin' Up plastic cartons, flowers and ribbons on the shelf instead of the floor, a basket to corral the inordinate number of mini books I have bought "for a project". I can now actually walk around my desk and get into the bottom drawers of the tool chest. Ahhhhh! (*Moment of epiphany*)

friday loving

It's Friday! And excited that it's a three day weekend! It truly was a long week. Now to catch up on some sleep.

I've been waking up to a cup of Texas Turtle coffee from World Market every morning this week. And I'm in LOVE! The combination of carmel, chocolate, and pecans do a tantalizing dance across my tougue that makes me happy, happy, happy! I'll definitely be heading back to Cost Plus to hoard, I mean, stock up on this bit of heaven in a package.


Rain is in the forecast this MLK weekend (through the end of next week) for the Bay Area. So that means all activities will be primarily indoors: cleaning, knitting, and scrapbooking.

I'm hoping to do a lot of the last one over the weekend. Just got the lastest Studio Calico kits, Whodunit and In the Billiard Room. Can't wait to dive into that both of them! And here is the layout I made the other night for the Lift Me Up challenge at Cocoa Daisy.




Loved hanging out with my cousings in Las Vegas last year! Have a great weekend!

already dreaming of this

The week seems to be dragging by. Is it just me or does this always seem to happen the week of a 3-day weekend? As you can see the baby blanket is coming along quite nicely. I finished the last yellow stripe last night and I am hoping to start the bottom border tonight. I am dreading the borders because they are in seed stitch and my continental purling sucks (throwing and moving the yarn back and forth for eight rows seems like a lifetime)!

So happy that Chuck premiered this week in triple dosage. He is so goofy and endearing it makes me smile! This will definitely keeping me sustained until Glee starts up again (wouldn't that be great if there was an episode where they sang?). Can we just fast forward through American Idol already?

Finally played with some paper last night and scrapped my first layout of the year (with hopefully many more to come)! Can't post it just yet because it's for the Lift Me Up challenge over at Cocoa Daisy.

accidental window shopping

Why is it when you decide impose a spending freeze, you start seeing things you desperately want?

Like this:


And this:

Darn you Anthopolgie for for the most awesome stuff. And the same goes for the CHA sneaks like Studio Calico, 7Gypsies, American Crafts, and Jillibean Soup. You're killing me people!

Murphy's Law strikes again. Ahh, cruel world!

daily temptations

Everyday this week I've passed this sign without a second thought though it tempts and teases me with "red velvet" in big BOLD letters. But this morning I decided to give in. Decided to give in and reward myself for a great run last night. (Yes, this type of reward systems is generally antithetical to said running, but trust me, it was a difficult run; I wanted to give up early and often. But I fought my way to 3.5 miles.) And give in, I did. I gave in to it's creamy frosting and yummy squishiness with a steaming cup of early grey.


All I can say is that surely is a slice of heaven.

one little word

Over the course of 2009, I noticed that I lack the art of being patient. Little things, like being behind people walking too slowly, would annoy the living daylights out of me; a line of any length would test my ability to remain calm.

So for this year, my word is patience. Not just with things going on around me or happening to me, but most importantly, with myself.

goals 2010

To keep me honest this year, I am posting my goals (I stopped making resolutions years ago because we all know they are just made to be broken) for "twenty-ten" right here on the good old blog. Some of them are certainly doable, one is so completely farfetched that is absurdly laughable, but what the heck, they say if you shoot for the moon, you'll land in the stars.

1. Renew my faith. While I haven't been a complete heathen, I haven't been exactly devout either. The past couple years have been a struggle to attend mass, well, religiously (quite appropriate, don't cha think?) But when I do go, I feel somewhat more at peace. And I yearn for those days when I was a choir leader in college and would meditate on the Sunday readings in preparation for choosing music.

2. Train for and run a 10K. This is actually a 2009 leftover. But I thought that since last year was my first time running in a couple years that I get into it a little more slowly, ie. don't want to get burned out and injured. So this year is the year! And if I get really ambitions, I might even train for the 10 miler. . .maybe.

3. Get a scrapbook layout published. Now this is the long shot goal. I have always wanted to get one of my layouts published, but have never had the courage to submit.

4. Complete 10 knitting projects. I have fallen completely head over heels in love with knitting. (I'm still in love with you, too, scrapbooking).

5. Learn how to take pictures with my DSLR, ie. manual mode. Another 2009 leftover that desparately begs to be completed. Tried it on my own last year without any success. This year I'm going to find a class I can take, but there in lies the challenge.

What are your goals for 2010?

happy new year!

Jay and I spent our New Year's Eve at home with a couple game hens, a bottle of champagne, a lot of yummy appetizers, and a couple of movies. We prefer the quiet of a night at home, instead of the crazy parties.

Looking forward to all the good things 2010 has to offer!