Happy New Year!

Yesterday, I thought, "Wow! It's really great ending the year knitting with my knitting friends." Today, I STARTED the year with not one but two groups of knitting friends! What a great way to start the year!

Best of all, I kept to my "knitting resolutions" and completed one of my WIPs - the Ladder Shawl in purple "Little Flowers" from Crystal Palace and a very thin black mohair! All I have to do tonight is weave in the ends.

First stop was Amy's. We knitted to our hearts' content. We also shared black-eyed peas for good luck and greens for wealth. Sue brought a fabulous black eyed pea dish called "Texas Caviar" - I normally am not keen on these beans, but this recipe actually makes them taste good! The greens were also quite good - it had bits of ham and a garlic rice vinegar....mmmmm! We also had some specialty sodas, brie and crackers, and pineapple. Then, we knitted some more and finished off the day with a rousing game of "Blokus".













Tiffany is holding up her nearly done shawl.....it's a bit sparkly and a very cheery orange - a wonderful contrast to the gloomy fog that's rolled in today! (In the bottom left corner, you can "just make out" Amy's dog, Daisy - she's snuggled up near the wall. If you double click on the picture, you'll see a larger version of the picture and can see Daisy much better!)

Brittaney is holding up the Mananita Shawl that Tiffany just finished. I just LOVE the color! It's absolutely stunning!










Ferol's snuggling with her latest work-in-progress, a cuddly blanket - probably for herself. It's very damp and a bit chilly out today, so it makes keeping the blanket VERY appealing. Georgia shows off her missing front teeth......and all she wanted for Christmas "were her two front teeth!" - LOL!!!!

The next picture (from left to right) shows me with my Ladder Shawl nearly done, Sue with the shawl she's currently knitting (sorry - the name of the pattern escapes me), and Amy with the purple coat she's piecing together (yes, the fun part is done......all she has left is the finishing!)














Sue's all snuggled into a very comfy chair, still knitting away on her shawl. Her only complaint is that though she knits, and knits, and knits, the ball of yarn NEVER seems to get any smaller! Georgia is keeping Amy's other dog, Dodger, company....he's a bit left out of all the activity since he's not a knitter......and with everyone else knitting, he feels he's just not getting enough attention!

The body of Amy's pullowver out of Cotton Twist is complete.......what a wonderful feeling! Check out the very even stitching - it's lovely! Now....to just attach the arms!









Speaking of the arms of Amy's sweater.....here's Tiffany trying to help out. (Poor Tiffany....she's busy working on other people's projects and not getting anything done on her own!) Oh.....in this picture, you can also see most of Ferol's I-Dog (Sally) and it's special pink carrier. High tech pets....who knew?

The gorgeous stitch markers were a gift handcrafted just for me by Tiffany, Brittaney and Georgia. I just love them! The colors are perfect! (Sorry my picture taking capabilities aren't quite up to the same quality!!!!)

On to Catherine's.....

I was a bit late, so I missed out on the knitting, but arrived just in time to ogle Christmas gifts, flip through some fabulous new knitting books, and share in some of Catherine's fabulous home made gumbo! It was wonderful - full of shrimp, chicken, sausage, okra, and all kinds of fabulous flavors. For dessert, she had very traditional holiday fare: Sugar Plums (I'd never had real ones....they were delicious!), Dates, Ricotta Cake, Italian Fruitcake (VERY good.....definitely NOT your traditional fruit cake) and some very decadent chocolate. (Of course, I tried them all!)













Catherine with her new toy by the Christmas tree - a K'NEX roller coaster. It's quite cute.....and she had a fabulous time putting it together. It was fascinating to watch in operation. See.....we're NEVER too old for clever toys!













Here's the bunch of us....posing with our projects just before eating. From left to right: Gretchen has just started the Fiber Trends "Flower Basket" shawl....it's gorgeous! I'm holding the Ladder Shawl that I completed earlier (at Amy's). Lisa and Catherine are holding up the gorgeous lace shawl that Cathering completed. It's a bit hard to see, but since Lisa's clothes are light, it helps set off the lace and you can see a bit of the pattern. Finally, here's Lisa holding up her latest work in progress - a pull-over sweater in Fisherman's wool.

That's how I spent the first day of the New Year. How did you spend yours?