Getting ready to head out for JC and Kim's New Year's Eve party. Dave is making some rolls for the potluck and the whole house smells like cheesy-garlic bread. I hope he stashes them in the trunk or they might not make it to the dinner table.

I finished the beading on Celtic Spring, she's currently bathing in Orvus, I'll probaby wait until tomorrow to rinse and iron and get some pics. I'm really, really happy that's over with. My tastes have changed considerably and finishing the stitching on such a huge piece that you aren't really enjoying anymore is a chore. She'll look great over the mantel with her companion Celtic Christmas that I finished in 1998 or thereabouts.

I've got almost the whole boring part of the front of Heather done, I can't wait for the shortrowing and reverse stockinette to start. All this back and forth stockinette is killing me, at least it's mindless and I can read or watch TV while doing it.

Current Read: Cover Her Face by P.D. James. I don't know how I feel about this book, it started out not very interesting, I just couldn't get into the setting and I could have cared less about the characters. I was forced to continue reading, since I hadn't brought anything else with me, and I can't eat lunch without something to read. I'm about halfway through, and interest has picked up a little now that there has been a death and the investigation has started, but it's not really my cup of tea. I'll probably finish since I've gotten this far, but don't think I will be reading anymore of Ms. James' offerings.

Just Finished: Deathstalker Rebellion: Being the Second Part of the Life and Times of Owen Deathstalker by Simon R. Green. As I said before I love this series. This one picks up where the second left off, at the start of the rebellion. I've read books one thru three before but lost four in a move so I'm rereading the first three again. I see on Amazon.com that there are two more books in the series now, using descendants of the original characters. Woo hoo!

I just don't know what to say:

Happy Holidays to one and all!

We went to see Bad Santa tonight. This goes on my list as the new "best Christmas movie ever."* I was very surprised at the number of people who had the same idea, the theater was jam packed. I was also surprised by the number of people who brought their small children with them. One man got up and left with his son after the first "F*ck me Santa" line. What was he thinking, it was a remake of It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street? Is it really that difficult to get a babysitter or that expensive? Or hey, how about taking the kids to see an age appropriate movie? It's Christmas people, get a clue, it's not about you, it's about your kids. Reason 841 why I'm not having any, I never have to stand in line at the mall to visit Santa.

The graphics in Disgaea are elementary, but it adds to the charm. It is a tactical RPG, like Final Fantasy Tactics, Ogre Battle, or Shining Force (if you remember that far back). The story line is not integral to the game, so far we've built our characters up to level 15-20 just by playing around in the Item World area and have only done four or five of the missions. There are a number of different character choices you can unlock, and I see massive ongoing and replay value since you aren't locked into a story arc. That was my major disappointment with Final Fantasy X, not being able to just wander off and do stuff that isn't plot related.

Got all the cross stitch done on Celtic Spring, and am onto the beading which should be completed within a week or two. Pictures will be posted, it's taken me three years to complete, mostly because I got sidetracked with numerous other projects of the moment.

Zedd and Morty say hi:


Willow** has gone to live with her daddy and his girlfriend in their new house.

We miss her and hope she adjusts well to living with their other cat, and two dogs. It took her almost six months to feel comfortable around our greyhound, who pretty much ignores the cats and spends his time laying around in classic greyhound sleep mode. Kim has two Belgian Tervurens who are much more active and more interested in the cats. So far Willow has spent the first week living under the bed in the master bedroom.


*that would be replacing Silent Night, Deadly Night
**We were babysitting Willow for JC, while he did project work outside of Texas. We've been roommates for over three years, so Willow became part of our family.

I joined up for the Great Stash Redistribution Project, I'm number 7 or 8 on the Fair Isle list. The boxes have been shipped and I can't wait for the first one to arrive at my house. This is exciting, hopefully there will be some interesting yarns to fondle.

I finished the back of Heather sweater yesterday, and got the first four rows of the front done today. Not much knitting time, we got a new video game in the mail - Disgaea for the Playstation, and boy is it time consuming. I got sucked in tonight after work and played for something like three hours straight.

I've also been working on my Celtic Spring cross stitch. That link goes to the designer's site, I've changed mine a little so it isn't exactly as pictured. I'm almost done with the stitching portion, then I have to do the beading portion of the design. Marilyn goes a bit overboard with the beads, I think there are a couple of hundred of them.

I also signed up for Chatelaine Martina Weber's latest mystery stitch. She creates the most fabulous, intricate designs and presents them in a 6 or 12 month mystery format, only revealing a small portion of the design monthly. I ordered the kit with the threads and fabric from European Cross Stitch. I have the kit and pattern for the 2003 mystery but have yet to put a stitch into the fabric. I'm hoping to actually do the 2004 mystery as it is released, since it's not so much of a mystery if you wait until everyone else is already done.

I finished Wolves of the Calla today, I was not expecting the ending at all. Very interesting. I don't want to post anything that would spoil it, so I'm not going to say any more. I can't wait to see what King does in the next two books. I'm thinking about rereading the series again from the beginning, since I didn't remember some of the events mentioned in Wolves that I knew had been detailed in the earlier books.

I'm currently reading Queen of the Blood by Anne Bishop. If you're a fan of Tanith Lee, you need to read this trilogy. This is the third book in the series, and I find myself wishing that the author had made it a quartet, or a decalogy. It's dark and bloody, and full of demons but in a good way.

Check this out:



it's Dale Svale yarn for Dale Hawaii from Bea Ellis Knitwear which is going to be my next major sweater project* and my very first Fair Isle. I'm hoping to get Heather finished before starting Hawaii, but the box in the closet is calling out to me. "Swatch me, Swatch me". I can't say enough nice things about the service from Bea Ellis, she contacted me quickly to let me know my order was in stock, shipped it fast and even sent a little gift



Heather is coming along, I've decided that since I can't face ripping out again that I will finish her up, making whatever adjustments I can, and if she doesn't fit - I'll give her away or something. Chalk it up to a learning experience, than someday in the future maybe try again.

I also placed an order from Elann for some of the Peruvian Baby Silk and Baby Cashmere. Probably for socks and a moebius scarf. That hasn't arrived yet, hopefully before Xmas but probably after.

* I'm not counting my guild Sweater 101 class project

Still Reading: Current Read: Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King. I really like the way King is getting references to most (if not all) of his past works in, from a simple mention to entire characters bodily transported. I'm sad there are only going to be two more Dark Tower books, they are my favorite of King's works.

Just Finished: Shopaholic Ties The Knot by Sophie Kinsella. I do read more than one book at a time, especially if I have one I want to savor or when I need a quick light read. This one fit both bills, it was a light comedic read, that gave me an afternoon of fun. In the Shopaholic series Sophie Kinsella tells the story of a young woman Becky Bloomwood who has a serious shopping problem. She maxes out her credit cards, hides from her bank manager, and gets caught in enormous lies. Of course, it all works out in the end. In this, the third in the series, Becky is getting married, but not before she plans two weddings complete with all the trimmings, one at NY's Plaza hotel, and one back home in the Cotswalds. Unable to say no to anyone, with the wedding planner from hell, she doesn't know just what to do.

Just Watched: I Am Sam - the story of a mentally handicapped man played by Sean Penn, who has to fight to keep his daughter out of the hands of child services. I found parts of this movie annoying, and overly sentimental.

Heather is rapidly turning into the "sweater from hell". I swatched and measured, and got gauge. I started knitting. My gauge changed from knitting the swatch so I started over. With new needles, I'm slightly off on row gauge, but spot on for stitch gauge. But... I think I wasn't paying attention and may have started the wrong size. It looks like it is going to be too small if I continue on as I'm going. I am going to go downstairs with some pins, and measure the hell out of it. If it is the wrong size, I think I will wad it up in the closet for a while and start something else.

I had this size ephiphany at the monthly Day Knitters meeting, where I also realized I had left my tape measure on the coffee table at home, so since I had nothing else to work on, I left early. It wasn't a totally lost cause, meetings are held at Central Market so I did a little shopping before I drove home. I picked up some red wine and mulling spices for my potluck dish to take to Kim and JC's New Year's Eve party. I figure why be boring? Who needs another casserole, and beer is just too easy.

I also scored a quart of green tea ice cream, my absolute favorite flavor usually only available from Japanese restaurants. Low carb bread for me and a loaf of Artisan sourdough for Dave and a bunch of other goodies. It's a good thing I'm only in there once a month, or we'd go broke!

Current Read: Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King. Not too shabby, not as good as Wizard and Glass, but it is coming along nicely in the 100 or so pages I've read.

Just Finished : Deathstalker by Simon R. Green. Great space opera. Book 1 in a series of 5. Aristocrat gets exiled by the empress, so she can have him followed as he leads her directly to the Darkvoid Device, a particularly nasty weapon. Aristocrat travels the galaxy, picking up a mismatched band of rebels and outlaws to further his cause. I loved this book, I can't wait to see what happens in book 2.

Got an envelope in the mail from New Zealand yesterday, inside was this:

three skeins of soft, warm Merino and Fur yarn, made of 30% possum and 70% merino wool. This is going to make some nice, warm gloves. Good thing too, it's just about cold enough around here to wear gloves when walking the dog.

Robbyn asked about webhosting, I'm using Web Hosting Buzz. The prices are reasonable and the service has been very good so far. If you need a mailing list, well, we can't seem to get it working. Not sure why, but it wasn't that important, I was just going to do a favor for my friends on our small booklist to get us off of Yahell. We have another alternative though, so all is not lost.

Having a hell of a time trying to configure a mailing list thru my new webhost. Darn it, this is supposed to be easy, it's one of the reasons I chose the hosting company that I did.

Not working very hard on Heather or Purple Stripe sock, don't really like the pattern of the sock yarn, still not enough purple. Finished the first skein on Heather, which gives me about 7 inches or so knit in plain stockinette with a garter stitch border.

Squawkbox appears to be down, so no commenting.

Finished the final ornament in this years Chartswappers stitchalong. Shepherds Watched by Shepherd's Bush Printworks, this is from the 2002 Just Cross Stitch Ornament edition.



Did a little dance of joy, since I can now go back to my regularly scheduled no-deadline stitching.

Day off today, so we went to Walmart and bought a bunch of things for the craft room. I got a bookcase to store my junk, a couple of totes to store my yarns, and a leopard print set of dishes. Ok, that's not for the craft room, but I couldn't resist, I've wanted new dishes for quite a while, there was a barnyard set that I loved dearly, but when I was finally ready to purchase... discontinued. So this time, I saw some I liked and insisted that we get them on the spot!

I bought a website, since I don't really believe in getting something for nothing, and I wasn't really happy with the free Angelfire site that I had, since it required me to put all kinds of advertising all over the place, and I was going to run out of space pretty soon.

I think I've got the blog transferred over, at least most of it appears to be working, I may still have some bugs to work out. The new address is http://www.wildlycrafty.com/weblog.html I'm going to be working on getting my other pages updated and transferred, and hopefully adding a couple of new ones as I have the time.

This afternoon I had jury duty. While I believe in doing my civic duty, it always turns out to be an afternoon of sitting around and waiting and never being chosen to sit on an actual jury. Well, that's not exactly true, I was chosen once, but they settled out of court, so I never actually got to see the inside of a courtroom. I don't know what it is about me, I suspect it's because I'm a city employee that I don't get chosen. Lawyers see the uniform and it freaks them out.

In knitting news, I've worked a bit more on Heather, and started a Magic Stripes sock. The sock doesn't have as much purple as I'd hoped, oh well, it's not like I don't have a huge box of sock yarns with several purple ones waiting for me.

The Guild Holiday party was very nice. People brought all kinds of food and drinks, one woman brought christmas cookies in the shape of little sweaters. There was a near miss when a can of Coke was accidently spilled near a knitting bag (no, not by me), fortunately all her important stuff was wrapped in plastic and only the outside got a little damp.

In the grab bag exchange I got a wicker basket with 5 skeins of Anny Blatt 100% Alpaga yarn. Now I just have to figure out what to make with it.
I'm thinking probably not a hat since I really don't wear them, but maybe mittens or a scarf. I don't know if the person who got my offering was too pleased, she's a crocheter and doesn't know how to knit, and her face wasn't too happy when she pulled out the sock yarn and tiny needles.

I worked on my blue socks some more, I'm almost at the heel turning on the second sock.
I really like the Strong Heel, it fits comfortably and the self patterning yarns are barely interrupted. I feel several more pairs in my future. Next up will be the Lion Brand Magic Stripe yarn in the purple color. One of the guild guests actually said to me, "I couldn't knit socks, I wouldn't have the patience". I so wanted to retort, "you're wearing an intricate cabled sweater and you wouldn't have the patience to knit socks? That's about the only thing I have the patience to knit these days!" Heather sweater is on the backburner, at least thru the holidays.

Kitties don't want me to go to work, so they've stolen my uniform jackets:

Just finished moving all the computer stuff into the empty bedroom, now I just have to finish moving all the craft stuff into the enormous closet and get a comfy chair and I'm all set.

I managed to spill soda on my keyboard before we left for the in-laws, thought I'd cleaned it all up, but when we got home all my keyboard would do is type zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Annoying, and not at all conducive to doing anything productive. So I bought a new one. It's nice, but I'm going to have to get used to it, since it doesn't have the "feel" of the old one.

Finished the second Brasil sock, started a new pair and got one finished. It's a pretty blue and white stripey fake fair isle self patterning yarn. Don't remember what kind, the ball band is in the other room. No picture since I've misplaced the camera in the moving.

Thanksgiving was very nice, not as many people showed us as originally expected. Which is a good thing, since I'm not into crowds, and they are all of Dave's family members that I don't know very well. Including the aunt that he doesn't really like very much. So, no big loss there.

Robbyn was talking on her blog about video games. Dave and I are very much gamers, and recently joined Gamefly where we can rent games to try out, and keep them as long as we like for a set fee a month. We don't have a good selection of rental games at any of the video stores near us, so this sounds like a great idea. We'll see what happens. The first two games that we rented are both for GameCube but aren't exclusives. Simpsons Hit and Run and Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy. Both of them have been a blast so far. The Simpsons game is a take off of Grand Theft Auto, without as much violence and blood. Dave likes this one a lot. I have been enjoying the heck out of the Cursed Mummy, I think I'm about a third of the way thru, and I only started playing on Saturday. Next up is Sword of Mana for the Game Boy.

Katie asked about Star Santa. He's from the 2002 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Magazine. I got my mag from Elegant Stitch. All of the ornaments I've featured over the past couple of months on my blog are from this magazine. I'm doing a 12 month ornament stitch-a-long with Chartswappers Yahoo Group. Only one more to go, and while I had fun, I'm glad it's almost over. It's a great group, mainly for swapping cross stitch charts and supplies, but there are also several other activities like the stitch-a-long, exchanges and bingo.

Tomorrow my knitting guild is having its annual Christmas party. I bought a skein of Lion Brand Magic Stripe and a set of needles for the grab bag exchange. I also bought a skein for me, since that's one of the sock yarns I haven't tried yet. Should be fun, this is my first guild party, so I don't know what to expect.