Are you sure you don't want to go to Stitches with me?? Char? Linda? I can be alot of fun! 

Not a knitting picture, but I sure do like this one from two years ago. It makes me smile and reminds me that it is now time to get out and be serious about running! Tomorrow night is Week 2 of Building Steam (preparing for the Steamboat Run) and I am not near ready for tomorrow night! It usually takes me about one week of bringing up the rear of the pack to get my brain wrapped around going out more than once a week!! Even if I have to do it myself. Gasp, Wheeze and UGH! To be continued... The reward is a beer at the end of the run. 

This pic is from Stitches 2 years ago when Horst Schulz did the Thursday morning session ( I was going to do the pic of Char, Linda and Char knitting but thought I might want to ask their permission first). I put it out there just to let you all know that the classes for Stitches Midwest 05 are on the Knitting Universe Website. I priced out the 12 classes that I want to take, the Thursday morning get together, the Fashion Show and the Student Banquet separately and for about $30 more I can take two more classes! Guess I better get serious now about a room mate! Any takers out there???? And I need to put my vacation request in, maybe I ought to do that first huh! 

I will see you a lime green and raise you 8!! There is a new yarn shop that opened in Morton a week and a half ago. They are open on Thursdays til 8 and I just could not resist going over and doing a little shopping since our regulars that I knit with were otherwise occupied. So I, swore I would never knit another poncho, just had to buy the suede for one. It is my color and lately I have been wanting to start something new and just did not know what that may be. Can't wait to do a guage swatch and begin. The other is Crystal Palace Summer Net that I am going to do a drop stitch scarf with. I am so excited! New Yarn Shop (knit night on Thursdays), new yarn and the sun is shining! 

A vice has been born. I am starting to decorate my son's room in the beach theme. The walls are already Orlando Magic Blue and I have started adding some accents to it. And of course the basket of flip flops with eyelash yarns are going to be part of the decor. One of the girls I work with gave me the idea to mix a sand type mixture to the paint when I get ready to change it and paint 1/2 way up the wall, making a beach. What a hoot! The only problem, it may have to go on the back burner until said child gets a job after his internship somewhere this summer. But I will file that great thought away for future reference. Until then, he will have to live with the semi beach theme! 

Some flip flops for my friend Kristy who is going to be married in Mexico in a week and a half. I gave her a little present of appropriate Mexico vacation stuff including these. The best thing is my friend Norma was my personal shopper. She picked up the flip flops for me and some other items and then she let me shop in her stash! I never had to leave the comfort of her home! 

And so I better start getting out there running again, so I can really wear it when I get it done. This book has a great pink cabled zip sweater that I want to do too. But I will not buy the yarn until I finish more of what is in the drawer from last Spring. Stay tuned! 

Years ago I bought Reynolds Saucy Cotton and had an idea as to what I was going to do with it. I bought lots cause I was much heavier . I ran across it about a year ago and I think I threw away whatever had been started. but realized that I still had a lot of it still left. So, I ordered yet another book from Patternworks and started this cover sweater then. I was a tad thinner then and thought "hey I can wear this" So as soon as I finished MIL poncho with sleeves, I decided it was time to pull out the spring knitting and get started back on it. So this is the current project that is in line for knitting and finishing NOW! And with it going to be in the 60's this week, spring is really coming, despite the gloominess of today! 

I have sort of sworn off of buying books and patterns of late, cause I have all these cool things I want to do that I already have patterns, magazines and books. But I could not resist this. Ordered it from Meg at Schoolhouse Press earlier this week and here it was today. I have already read it cover to cover. Although I never got to be at camp when EZ did it, I have many of her and Meg's videos as well as have been to Knit Camp with Meg twice. As I read through it tonight, it made me want to go back again. I became great knit friends with my room mate the second time around. Julie introduced me to so many other avenues that I probably would never have ventured out too! Isn't the craft of knitting do so much for us, besides giving us things to do with our hands? It opens us up to new friends, new places to visit and all kinds of great possibilities!

Finished the sleeved poncho for MIL's birthday in September. Have not blocked it yet, but I do think it needs it, especially for the bottom and the sleeves. Perhaps this is why it snowed on Tuesday, when I finished it! I am never this far ahead of myself with a birthday gift being done! Poncho is out of Encore Bulky. I hope it fits in the arms, cause I just winged it and made them longer than mine would be. She can always fold the arms back if they are too long. It has a little split created by the garter stitch. The entire ponch was done in the round from the top down except for the last 1 1/2 inches. I am so excited to have it finished! Now onto Spring in knitting and in weather. I have SPOKEN! 

What is this? Snow/Rain/Slush, two nights ago! I could not believe it. See I am of the belief that when the calendar says it is Spring that it should be Spring. Sunshine, warm weather and the absence of SNOW! And when Easter is this weekend (I know it's early, but come on), I insist on not having to wear a winter coat! 

It is finished! Finally the Sleeved Poncho is done. Pics tomorrow. It needs to be blocked. And I still am not quite sure that I like it for me. I am glad this one is for MIL's Birthday. Now, after I finished it tonight around 8:00, I still have not decided on what I want to knit next. I want it to be Spring, and I want to pull out something I started last year, but here are just way too many choices. I feel compelled to finish a couple of scarves, but tht does not make me go who hoo!

So I knit on the Caribe Blue Scarf while watching the Notebook. Oh, it was such a mommy movie. I loved it, and loved the ending! Now, I really need to go make a decision as to what is the next project to be knit. I have got to get to bed before 1:00. Tomorrow is knit nite so I gotta make a decision now.

I felt it my duty to blog today. I do not have anything to show, cause I am still knitting on the poncho with sleeves for MIL's bday in September. I am making myself finish it. I would like to be done by Tuesday Knit Night at Lakeview on Tuesday. I desparatately want to be knitting on something else, but I am making myself finish it first.

I did take a small journey into the Patternworks catalog and was writing up an order for a couple of Elisabeth Lavold books and The Opinionated Knitter. But, a small voice in the back of my head told me, rather reminded me that I still have a sweater in the works from Lavold's first book and I need to finish it before I go buying more books. See, I can show some restraint. One should not have as many books with nothing knit out of them. I am trying to wittle some of the stash down, as it really has taken over the house along with the lia sophia jewelry.

I am however going to call Schoolhouse Press tomorrow. I want The Opinionated Knitter and I might just as well get it from Meg as from anywhere else. Besides, I need to see if I need to renew my subscription to Woolgather or if mine just hasn't come yet! There are some things that I just can't show restraint on and anything from Meg Swansen or even remotely tied to EZ I just gotta have. They are my mentors!

Okay--back to that damn poncho!

Pattern for Yarn below. Pic is a little blurry but won't it be fun shopping for yarns to go with. It may take awhile but hey I've got time. Call it yarn souvenirs! 

A Canyon of Yarn. 

This is a pic of three yarns that my three knitting friends have recently given me when they have been on vacations. The first came from Jo from Tricoter last year, the second came from Norma when she was in Hawaii and the third from Jan when she was in Arizona this past month. Don't I have nice knitting friends? I am going to yarn shop for some yarns to go with it and will post the pic tomorrow of what I am thinking about doing with them. Then I will think of my knitting friends whenever I wear it! Maybe I should get my friends to go on a yarn trip to find the yarn! Lansing would be a good expedition! 

This pic does not do it justice, but my friend Jan knit this for me for Christmas. It has a silver thread that pops out of it. It is wonderfully long so I can double it up and pull it through making it tidy and warm around my neck.  

My friend Norma made this for me for Christmas. Does she know my colors or what! Some day it will hang in my business.  

Finally, I have arrived at the point of the Cabin Creek Poncho that I can start the sleeve. I never thought 14 inches of stockinette would ever be done. Now, onto the first sleeve. I guess once I decided that I wanted to knit it in Caribe Blue and Lime, that I lost interest, but I am bound and determined to finish it. It is for Bob's mom's birthday in September and I want to be a head of the game for once, rather than finishing it the night before. I had a pic to show of it part way done, but have decided to hold it until it is finished.

What I learned this past week? Several years ago, I said I would never knit a shawl. Since then I have made a liar out of myself and have several shawls in the works. Then, this past weekend, actually before that, but last weekend re-confirmed that I cannot be trusted to carry through my threats. When the Poncho craze hit, I said, I will never knit one, they are not going to hang around long. In the mean time, I have seen several in stores and thought how cheezy they looked for the price. So with that said and the fact that I not only bought yarn for one at Stitches last August and that I have also done the above mentioned one and have plans for another like it for me (but as my friend said, those two don't really count cause they are more like sweaters than ponchos), I was at the lia sophia rally last Saturday in Chicago and a lady had a poncho on she had bought in "Arizona", but it was light and airy, knit I hope out of a lt wt mohair and sparkly yarn. She had worn over a simple turtle neck and black pants. The great thing was she also wore great jewelry (lia sophia of course!) but the simplicity of her outfit and the poncho was made it so great.

So you know where I am going with this? The question is: is there still time for me to whip one up before they are out of style? Stay tuned!

I held out until Friday night before starting a new project! I was going to a lia sophia Rally in Burr Ridge on Saturday and wasn't driving, so I wanted to take something small. Low and behold, out of a shopping bag jumped this Sirdar Funky Fur Magic Yarn, my LYS owner bought especially because it was my colors, and into my hands and said just knit a couple of inches to get me started. Almost 3/4 of a ball later I stopped. I love it. Took it with me and knit just a bit on it, and now I feel so much better. I can knit on the poncho for my MIL birthday next September!  

Stop me! I want to start something new. Make me go back and work on that ponch for my mil for next September birthday. Remind me that I have to go 14" before I can do something different. You're not helping me!!! I am going for the sock cabinet to start a sock from the Socks book!!! Please help!!

Sorry, gotta go......it is calling me.

Sunrise in Cancun. I am having just a tad bit of trouble with not seeing the sun. The problem with going on vacation in February is when you get back you expect it to be Spring here! And so far it isn't happening. Not that I want to push the year along, but I am ready for Spring to be here!! And my kitchen to be done so I can get this stuff out of my living room. 

Wish I were there. The tan still looks good, but soon it too will fade. 

Betty on the left, me on the right. Did not need the shawl this morning, but by evening, you could be blown away from this view point. I think the following evening I was wearing my snoopy sweatshirt!  

Last week while on vacation, I needed a shawl while in Cancun. Our hotel was situated on the point of Cancun. On one side was the ocean and the other side was the Caribbean Sea. The wind blew constantly making the sun warming but not hot hot hot! So at times especially at night, some sort of cover was necessary. This has only happened one other time in the 5 years that my friend Betty and I have been taking our February vacations.

So, for next year I will be diligently bringing out the Charlottes Web Shawl for next year's trek. Who would think you would ever need extra clothing in Mexico in February??

View from our room and my knitted flip flops that my good friend Norma knit especially for me! They were so comfortable and I wore them to breakfast almost every day. I got a lot of compliments from them and I loved them! 

I'mmmm backkkk! Finally, made it home early this morning at 3:30 a.m. Almost 7 days later to the hour we left, we arrived back in Peoria. Had some problems getting out of Cancun, but had a wonderful time. Sat in the sun yesterday until almost 2:00 in the afternoon. Weather was great, view was great and I made a list of stuff not too take. One of the things is I only need 1 ball of yarn, cause I started a new sock and am just at the heel after 7 days! Will post the picture later for all to see what the new one looks like. Lets see how many February vacations it takes me to get it done!

Finally the vacation sox. I first started these three years ago when we went to Ixtapa for the first time. I only took them out when we went on our February vacation! But this year, I decided it was time to finish them before the trip, cause I was so close to finishing the last one that I didn't want to have to carry them and a new one along. I actually bought the Socka Cotton form the Black Purl in Wausau WI back in 1999 when I went to my first Meg Swansen Knit Camp. Even then, I had a passion for caribe blue and lime. That was before I started traveling every February. I'll show you the 2005 vacation sock when I get a little more done, maybe after vacation in LESS than one week!! 

Norma's Hanukkah sox. I can never remember if it is two ns or two ks? I have a mental block when it comes to it. Either way, I actually wrote down exactly what I did on these sox so next year I won't have to guess. And according to Norma, they fit perfectly. The varigeated is Kroy sock yarn and the solid is Regia solid. 

We have a destination.!! Dreams Cancun Resort and Spa. See all of it at www.dreamscancun.com
I think this will be even better than Punta Cana. We will be there by noon next Saturday, and though our rooms will not be ready, my suit and suntan lotion will be with me and I will be having a cold something and food by 1:00 p.m We will pace ourselves so as not to be so out of it that we can't enjoy dinner!

At the moment, I am just trying to decide on what knitting to take. As you can see above, I finally finished the vacation sox that I first started when we went to Ixtapa the first time. I bought the yarn itself back at Meg's Knit Camp at the Black Purl in Wausau WI in 1999! See even then I knew that Caribe Blue and Lime were cool. Have you shopped ready to wear yet? Does it not scream PENNY, PENNY, PENNY? I am also going to take my two tank like sweaters I knit this past spring. One will be perfect just to throw over the suit, cause when I wear it, it is just a tad too low, especially when I sit humped over.

Hi Wayne, if you are surfing blogs, I too have one! I started this cause it was easier than emailing all my knit friends all over the states to let them know what is going on with me with knitting. But please guys be sure and check out the other website: www.liasophia.com/pennyhalverson You can see how I am earning trip and yarn money! Hope to see you all later this Spring!

I'M BUMMED! And it snows, what else can happen? First, we find out last night that the trip we are planning on in just two weeks to Punta Cana is not going to be Punta Cana, cause due to last hurricane season, they are having a time with malaria. We still don't know where the tour is going, 3 options are out there, Bahamas, Cabos and Jamaca. Jamaca is out cause my friend used to go there all the time and the one time I touched down there, did not care for it. Been to Bahamas but that was 10 years ago on a cruise ship, would go there if that is where they take us. But we won't know anything until at least next Wednesday. Talk about flying by the seat of your pants! It is difficult to find a warm, blue water place that has 75 rooms still open for two weeks out. So maybe it is a good thing that I am not the Travel Agent. Worse comes to worse and it is Jamaca, I will stay home and maybe go to my friend's wedding in April in the Mayan Riveria!

So what ya goin to do? Yarn shop of course...and eat...I ate last night all of the rest of my Hawaiian treats that my friend Norma brought me back (I was into wallowing and food is my friend when I do that). So today we are going to Mary's to yarn shop for more scarf yarn. Just what I don't need, but when you are wallowing yarn is good! But it snows! But does that stop me, Heck no, as long as it not blowin, we're goin!!! A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

Stay tuned! If I don't get to go on vacation in two weeks, I will take time off to yarn shop, you can believe that one!!

It's me.! I have not fell off the face, just been extremely busy. Only 2 1/2 weeks to Punta Cana vacation. And of course the thin body I promised myself is still out there alusive. I weigh the same as last year, but why does the belly seem larger? Anyway, I have stuff to show, I just need to take the pics and post. Some of it is knit some of it just fun. I am still trying to decide what to take to knit. I always take loads to read and usually a sock. I have been working on the same pair for 3 years! But this year, I have people at work hounding me for scarves still so I was thinking some cool scarves would be fun. And they certainly are great conversation starters! And Mary from Mary's Yarn shop in Eureka brought some really cool new scarf yarns to our Evening Knitter Group last night in Peoria. Going to see Mary on Saturday if anyone wants to meet there and knit, drink coffee from the nearby coffee house and shop of course!

Gotta get ready for work, already running behind. I promise more pics soon from my new camera, that is a story in itself.

My son's scarf he requested. A couple of years ago, I knit both of the boys really nice sweaters and have never seen them wear them. I told them I would not knit for them unless they requested it. The youngest of the twins requested one when it was so darn cold outside and he had just started his job at Sears as a cart guy. I have not seen him wear it, except his brother did last night to take out the garbage. It is from Lambs Pride (the color was right) and I am not overly in love with Lambs Pride, its mohair content makes it shred. But, it is finished...Both pictures were taken with my new Christmas camera. This one I told it to shoot it just like it looked. And this is what the lighting looked like coming in the front window. I still have a long way to go to figure out this camera before next month's trip to Punta Cana.  

Twisted Sisters Jacket, finished but not! This is a strange pattern but I love it. There really wasn't any schematics only a gauge as to how many ridges to do. So, I knit it blind almost, something I never do, stress never. I always check gauge and know exactly how something is going to fit. But this one, I just knit blindly on it. Now, I am adding a 3 inch band to each of the sleeves in the blue. And then, will probably add 3 inches as a band around the bottom. The colors are yet to be deternined for that. I love the yarn, it is Araucania Nature Wool made in Chile. The style of the Pythagorean Theorum Jacket is not a good one for me, it is much like the Obi Jacket, but it will be nice as a sweater to wear to keep warm around home and when I go to my friend's house. 

Only one more day and it is back to work! As a good friend told me this week, this last week has been what retirement is like! That's nice, I only have about 7 years until I can even think about retiring and only about 17 until I can afford to retire.

Today started with a bang. Had an emergency phone call to the hospital for my mother-in-law who needed a pacemaker put in PDQ. Thank goodness all went well. I still had time to fit in a little knitting with my friends this p.m. but am pooped tonight. Only about 4 more ridges left and the Twisted Sisters jacket will be done for picture taking purposes. I sure hope it fits. Then, back to Cabin Fever Poncho. I am on a roll, don't stop me now!

With the time I have spent at the hospital the last few days, I did manage to get some knitting done on a gift for mid January. Still alot of knitting to do for it, but I prefer that it be done at home not at the hospital. Four, no five projects left that I HAVE to knit, and then it is knit just for me and WHAT I want too. 2005 it's all about me. I think...