On the first day of Christmas....

.......my true love gave to me.......

Here's one side,

and here's the other.

Do you think that I'll get a new toaster for Christmas?

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

How to make a UFO

First start with 20 balls of a luscious yarn containing 20% cashmere (VIP by Lana Gatto). If said yarn was 50% off then you'll know that you are off to a great start.

Mix in a cute (and free) jacket pattern that you found on the DROPS site.

Sprinkle in a wool festival that will be attended by thousands of knitters to admire your creation. This in itself creates a deadline but you've added your own modification to the recipe in the form of plenty of confidence.

Mix altogether with a healthy amount of procrastination and this is what you get....

Two sleeves and an almost finished back.

Finish by letting jacket simmer while you try desperately to finish knitted Christmas gifts in time.

Until next time

Yours in Yarn,

The Fibreholic

Widow Women

There are many reasons why women lose their husbands. These reasons include, but are not limited to:

Other women
Playing Sports
Watching Sports
Gambling
Drugs
Forgetting your birthday three years in a row so you've killed him and buried the body, on a moonless night, in the garden, behind the house.

Oops.....I digress...that and this is no Alfred Hitchcock movie.

I have lost my husband!!!!!

I have lost him to Rockband guitar solos.



I am a Wii widow.

I should have known that when he suggested buying it, this past Christmas, for the kids, he was including himself.

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

Punishment for a Bad Blogger

Yup....I'm a bad blogger.

I wish that I could say that I've been keeping up with every one's blog and just not commenting. Sigh....but I can't even say that.

I wish that I could blame it on one single thing like having dial up or working long hours during the holiday rush. But that wouldn't be entirely correct.......

I wish that I could blame it on being such a good mother that I've been spending all my time with the kids and baking cookies. That didn't happen.....

I wish that I could blame it on going here and there and to every fab place and attending wildly exciting holiday parties. HAH....don't make me laugh.

If the blame lies anywhere, it's probably in the socks that I decided to knit for Christmas. So while I'm pre-occupied with all the holiday happenings, I was able to squeeze in 4 pairs of socks. Yeah for me! Three of them were made from my stash! Double yeah for me!

So what do I do to punish myself? What could I possibly do to make up for ignoring friends both near and far? What could I do to that would make sure that I would never again put my blogging aside for other less worthy diversions?

Hmmmm I could promise to make the teen's boyfriend, of three months, a pair of socks.

He's got size 13 feet.

That would be punishment enough for any knitter!!!

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

The end of innocence

DS (who is 7): Mom is the tooth fairy real?
ME: HUH?
DS: Taylor was looking through her mother's jewelry box and found her baby teeth. So is the tooth fairy real?

Please note that this conversation happened far too early in the day for me and he was about to catch the school bus. So, what is a good parent suppose to do? Change the subject!

ME: What was Taylor doing looking through her mother's jewelry box anyways? I bet that she wasn't suppose to be. I'd better not find you snooping around in my things. There would be BIG trouble if you did.

DS: Well....is the tooth fairy real or not?

SHOOT!!!! This boy is not as easily distracted as his sisters.

ME: What do you think?

DS: I think that she's not real.

ME: Well....you're right, she's not real.

*********Later that day, at the supper table************

DS: If the tooth fairy isn't real, does that mean that Santa and the Easter Bunny aren't real either.

ME: No dear, they aren't

DS: But who is?

DD (aka the teen): I'm the Easter Bunny, I make up the scavenger hunt notes.

DH: I'm Santa and I write the tooth fairy notes.

DS (to me): What do you do?

ME: I buy the stuff you get.

Now that is over and done with, my baby is growing up before my eyes.

DH: Now that you know the truth, I don't want you to ruin it for any of your friends who might still believe...OKAY????

DS: Okay

***************The next day***********************

DS: Don't be mad but I forgot that I wasn't suppose to tell anyone about Santa not being real.

ME: Grrrrrr

DS: Don't worry, they didn't believe me!

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

Here there be knitting

Last Fall I had the ever so brilliant idea to knit socks as Christmas gifts this year. I started with my sister but unfortunately I kept going of the feet until they fit me.

I'm sure that there must be something Freudian in there somewhere.

A couple of weeks ago (maybe three...possibly four) I decided to try again. This time I stopped the foot in time.

Going from left to right:
1) For my sister
2) For my sister-in law
3) For my brother (in progress but I'm on the foot of both socks for him)
Brownie Points for me....Two of these socks came from stash sock yarn.The third needed to be purchased as I'm not in the habit of stashing anything gray.



I just might be able to pull this off!!!

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

We interrupt these cables

I've been busy with cables for the past little while. I've got a cabled sweater for my niece and the must have cardi, for me, on the go.

Cables, cables and more cables....I adore cables.

But then one day it hit me. I want to knit some lace. And not just any lace. I want to knit lace that is intricate and mind boggling but most importantly....challenging.

I decided to start by finishing this half done scarf from the UFO pile. It is a simple garter stitch lace pattern made with a purple alpaca blend. I now want to bring it up a notch. I've got the book Victorian Lace and I'm going for it.

However, in the mean time, I've got this scarf.



I won't wear it and I have no idea why I bought this gorgeous ball of fibre in a royal purple colour. I like purple, but have nothing to go with it. So it looks like I'll tuck this number, after it's blocked, into the Christmas gift stash.

Now all I have to do is find a purple lovin', scarf wearin', alpaca adorin' person to give this to. Any suggestions????

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

Big Wishes in Little Packages

For many years now, I've bought tree ornaments for the kids. Each year I try to get something unique that can be personalized with their name and the year. Earlier this year, I bought the book Charmed Knits and using the pattern for the ornaments, I decided to make the kids their own Weasley sweaters.

The sweaters are great for using up scraps. All you need is 10g of DK (8ply) for the sweater and an arm's length of a contrasting colour for the initial. Because I needed so little yarn , and because I have a lot of scraps each kid was able to pick the colour for their sweater. DH had some wire that I used to make the hanger. What do the kids think of them? They love their sweaters!



I'm sure that you all remember how I use up leftovers of sock yarn with my crazy socks. Here is another way I use up the leftovers.

Please note: This is a pattern for those who already know the basics of sock knitting.


Sock Ornament

Under 5g of sock wool
2.25 or 2.50mm (US 1 or 1 1/2) DPNs

Cast on 24 sts (leave a long tail- this will be what you use to hang the sock on the tree). Divide onto 3 needles and join for working in the round.
Rib for 2 cm (3/4")
Change to stocking stitch and knit until leg is 6 cm (2 1/2")
Using 12 sts make a short row heel. Make sure that the cast on tail falls in the center of the heel. (use the last 6 sts from previous round and the 6 sts from the next)
Knit until foot is 3.5 cm (1 1/5"), then begin toe.
Decrease toe until there are 12 sts left, and finish the toe with the kitchener stitch.


I'm wishing you all the best this Christmas Season. All I ask is that you remember that the best gift of all doesn't cost a cent.

Until Next Time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

Deja Vu

There was Deck the Hall-ing, there was Fa la la-ing and even even some Ho Ho Ho-ing. And I had to sit through all of it. DH got to miss out using work as a lame excuse. The things people miss out on when the have a full time, can't get out of it, type job.

The Kindergarten kids were, as usual, the most entertaining. They got to sing a song with so many verses that after a while we honestly thought the song was over, so we applauded. Nope.....not done yet.....there's another verse. I guess the little ones think that it's normal for the audience to clap 3 - 4 times during a song. Here is DD #2...can you tell which one she is....I think that she spent the whole time on stage waving at me...



Two of my kids attend a small school. It goes from JK to grade 4. But when they hold the Christmas concert, enough people show up to cause problems. The Fire Marshall told the school the the capacity of the gym is 177 people, not 250. So what do they do? Divide the concert in two with half the classes performing today and the other half yesterday. So if one afternoon of bad singing and crazy dance routines was bad enough.....guess what I did yesterday?

I'd like to thank however divided up the concert in a way to force me to attend both days. Hence the Deja Vu.



DS dressed up for the event. I had one lady stop me in the hall afterwards to tell me how cute he was.

I'm so glad that Christmas only comes once a year....Sigh...I know what you're thinking....in the near future my kids will get older and Christmas concerts will be a thing of the past.....and that I will miss going to them. Sigh.....you couldn't be more correct.

Plus it is a great time to work on a basic sock. It's great for when you're suppose to at least pretend that you're paying attention.




Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

Friday Fantastic!

It was another early Christmas present, but well worth it. Friday night DH took me to see The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Words cannot describe the mind blowing experience of seeing this group in person.

The first half of the show was one of their Christmas stories and the second half was less structured with songs from other albums. I still can't believe that the ticket price was as low as it was. Last year TSO played 2 Canadian dates, this year it is 5. They had not been to Ottawa before and with any luck they'll be back again.

Why did I like the show????

Was it the the hypnotic voice of the narrator???.....Yes
Was it the light show???....Yes
Was it the pyrotechnics???....Yes
Was it the laser light show???...Yes
Was it the songs and the various vocalists???...Yes
Was it the music???...Yes
Was it how they put everything together for a performance that blew my socks off???....YES!!!

DH let it slip that I'll be seeing a couple of their CDs in my stocking this year.

In other news...

I finished The Friday Night Knitting Club by sneaking off every now and then to read a chapter or two before I was discovered missing.

I was able to finished the boy's quilt on time by burning some midnight oil. And yes, it is another double sided quilt.



So now it's back to the grindstone with my knitting needles.

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic