Will you be my Meowentine?

I'm cute and cuddly.

I'll keep you warm at night.  (By sleeping right on top of you - your arm may fall asleep under me, but that's a small price to pay for warmth.)

I'll make sure you get up on time in the morning.  (By laying down on top of your windpipe - trust me, that will wake you up good!)

I'll help you get plenty of exercise.  (Because I'll quickly shove all of my toys way far under the furniture.  You can burn tons of calories moving the couch and get plenty of stretching reaching under the entertainment center!)

I'm all about saving the environment by recycling and re-purposing.   (That's right, pine pellet cat litter also makes a great toy.  I'll toss as many pellets as I can out of my litter box and batt them all around the house!)

I'll make sure you are properly nourished.  (I ALWAYS know when it is meal-time . . . and I make sure you know it too!)

But  most of all, I'll let you know you are loved with my purrs and nuzzles and make your heart sing at the sight of my sweet little face.  And I'll never, ever get into your yarn.

What more could you ask for in a Meowentine??

Thingies in the snow . . .

You know your blogging habits need work when your first post in February contains knitted items you finished in October, November and December.  I can't even use the old excuse of needing to take some good FO shots, because we had a photo-shoot in early January when snow was still on the ground.  But in any case, I'm finally getting around to posting my Malabrigo Thingie set.  They are warm.  They are cuddly.  They were all fun and quick knit projects, and it took just over a skein and a half for the whole set.

The first item of the set is something you will rarely see on this blog.  A hat.  More specifically, a hat for me.  You see, I look TERRIBLE in every had I've tried on.  They also don't stay on my head.  I guess I have slippery hair or something because hats just slide right off.  Although I  loved knitting this hat and I think it's very pretty, you can see that I am clearly displaying my disdain for wearing hats in this picture.  (Although now that I look at it, that little hat did seem to make my hair look much longer and more flowy that it really is.)

Malabrigo Head Thingie

Cast on: 25 October 2009

Completed: 26 October 2009

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted - Dejavu

Needles: US5 (3.75mm)

Next up were the mitts.  What can I say.  I love mitts.  Love the warmth while still being able to do things like lock doors and turn steering wheels. (PS: Note the weird thing the hat is doing to my bangs, and how it looks ready to shoot off the top of my head.  I rest my case on the hats-don't-work-for-me issue.)

Malabrigo Hand Thingies

Cast on: 26 October 2009

Completed: 7 November 2009

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted - Dejavu

Needles: US7 (4.5mm) DPNs

Last came the cowl.  I think I may never knit a scarf again.  Why bother, when cowls are superior in every way.  They stay wrapped around your neck like they are supposed to.  And one quarter of the way into the knitting, they don't become so boring that you entertain the idea of jamming your knitting needles into your eyes!

Malabrigo Neck Thingie

Cast on: 9 November 2009

Completed: 22 December 2009

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted - Dejavu

Needles: US9 (5.5mm) Circ

So there are the Thingies, better late then never.  I finished a pair of socks yesterday - let's see if I can get them posted before mid-April!!

Half-Way for January . . .

No, I know we're not exactly half-way through January yet.  Which is good, because the half-way I'm talking about is my pair of socks for Sock-A-Month!!  I finished the first one on Saturday morning.

I'm even hoping to crank out sock two by next weekend!  You see, giving in to the temptation of the Hemlock Ring blanket seems to be just what I needed to kick my knitting into high gear.  Not only have I been inspired to keep working on the blankie, but my little socks have been calling out to be finished as well.  So if these knit-cravings continue, I should have no problem finishing this pair up in no time.  I'll give you all of the yarn and pattern details then but if you just cant wait, go ahead and take a peek at my Ravelry notebook.

Want to knit a pair of socks each month with us?  Come on over to Sock-A-Month 9 and join to fun!! You'll find all of the sign-up instructions right in the side-bar.

Poison . . .

Ah, Hemlock, you bitter herb.  You have killed my resolve and made resistance futile.  I struggled against your lure, vowing to finish current endeavors before bending to your will.  But the pull of your magic was too strong for me to fight.  This morning, I took but a taste.  I found you were not bitter at all, but sweet and addictive.  I have cast all others aside, ensconced in the grasp of the Hemlock Ring.

New year, fresh start . . .

The tree has been taken down, the presents are all put away, the decorations have been tucked safely away until next December and Pete's vacation has ended.  Although we are into our fourth day of the New Year, today is the first day that actually feels like the holidays are over.  Like it's time to get back to work and make a fresh start.

With that in mind, I thought I'd share some of my New Year's Resolutions.  I've got quite a long list this year, so I won't post them all here.  They are really more like goals rather than resolutions.  And many of them are just a starting point.  Small improvements to be met and then built upon to get things where I'd like them to be.  I plan to visit my list often and revise the resolutions as the year progresses.  But here's where they start . . .

• Complete a pair of socks each month for SAM - I've been lax at sock knitting (and knitting all together) lately.  I want to get back to it in 2010.
• Knit one Christmas gift each month - I've joined this Ravelry group to keep me inspired and on track with this goal.  It reminds me of the KAL I was in a few years ago where we knit a gift each month.  It was so great to have a pile of hand-knit gifts tucked away when December came!
• Read at least one book each month - I used to love to read.  Somehow I let knitting and wasting time on the computer lure me away from that hobby.
• De-clutter - we've got a lot of stuff in our house that we simply don't need, and we have a serious lack of storage space.  This will be the year I finally toss or donate what we don’t use or need and organize what we are keeping.
• Blog two or three posts each week - this is one of those early goals I hope to improve upon as the year goes by.  My real goal would be to post every weekday, but I'm going to let myself start out slow.
• Comment on my friends blogs and get back to emailing replies to comments my friends leave - I feel like I haven't been the best friend lately (both on-line and in real life).  More comments and emails are my way of showing my love to my poor neglected friends.  Hopefully some of you have already noticed that I've been commenting more over the past four days?
• Lose 30 pounds - hopefully by July!!
• Eat at least two fruit and three vegetable servings each day - I'd eventually like to up this to seven total servings rather than five, but this is another one I'm starting out slow on.
  
• Exercise five times each week

So there you have it.  Quite a list, I know, but I also think they are very doable.  What about you?  Have you put together a list of resolutions??