Happy New Year - Have a Giant Cupcake!

Did everyone have a great Christmas? Are you looking forward to the New Year? I am, if only for the fact I am providing a ginormous Boston Cream Cupcake for the gathering we're attending:



You know you're jealous! I got it as a present from one of my friends, and I'm disgustingly excited to make it. I'll be baking it tonight, then icing it to look like the Christmas tree version after work tomorrow so it's nice and fresh for the big event.

Other notable gifts this year include my new Kindle, courtesy of my parents, which I am now obsessed with; tons of games for our Wii and DS (and by tons, I mean three); a drop spindle from another crafty fiber-obsessed friend of mine, along with some fiber to go with it; a chair massager which has provided much relaxation over the course of our week; a Pandora bracelet and Wizard of Oz collectible Blu-Ray set from hubby's parents (oh, and tickets to see Jim Gaffigan!!!!); and just so much more to mention, I don't have the time. We had such a great Christmas.

In other personal news, hubby and I have been incredibly busy house hunting, which has been fun and tedious all at the same time, and I'm applying to graduate school to get my MBA in Marketing. If I get accepted, I'll be starting in April 2010, in the hopes that we'll have a house by then and be done with any renovations to be moved in already. Cross your fingers for us!

I'll leave you with a photo of the hat I made for my cousin. I made it from this pattern, which is based on the hat Hermione wears in Half-Blood Prince.



And speaking of Harry Potter, I decided what little free time I have left just needed to disappear, so I joined the Harry Potter House Cup on Ravelry. I thought it would be a great way to force myself into finishing projects for a change, as well as maybe trying something new (for example, they have knit- and crochet-a-longs). Well, this morning I got a notification that I had been sorted into the Gryffindor house, so it looks like it's starting up!

I swear I'm not a huge geek... I swear I'm not a huge geek... I swear I'm not - who am I kidding?

Happy New Year, everyone!

Now that I've recovered from the blinding pain...

I've had so much to update about, but such little ambition, because I'm just such a lucky person that I needed to take ill right before Christmas. You know, when I have a million custom orders coming in from the shop, lots of gifts to finish up (or shop for), wrapping, and the always-important blog update to write.

A couple weeks ago, I developed quite the uncomfortable pain in my mouth. I thought it would go away, but it had other ideas. Turns out that 26-years-old isn't too old to suffer from wisdom tooth hatred. I had never had a problem with them before, and my bottom two teeth have been partially impacted for years with no trouble. Christmas apparently brings out the best in everything.

Suffice it to say, I found out I had this problem last Monday, and went in for emergency extraction last Wednesday, and have been laid up with pain pretty much every day since. Well, it actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but it certainly hasn't been a joy ride. I really thought I could get some crafting done while I sat in bed all day, but I pretty much didn't want to do anything other than laugh at some of the klassy guests on Maury.

Anyway, since the wedding in October, I've had two colds, a foot injury, and four parts of my skull removed. I guess I wanted to end 2009 in style.

On to yarn-related goodness: prior to my imminent death, Nick and I went on a Christmas tour de Bethlehem. We live here and never really get a chance to experience our downtown area or go shopping in the cute little stores, and we don't really know the history, either. So my dad had planned a day in Bethlehem for our family and church back home. We met up with them and spent a day taking in the local sights and overall just enjoying the decorations. It was luckily a really nice day, so we didn't totally freeze. We had a great time, except for the part where my tooth was trying to stab my face off of my face for more of the day.

Of course, I took the opportunity of shopping downtown to visit one of our local yarn stores I hadn't been to before: Tangled Yarns. I'd link to their website but heck - they don't have one. And from what I can gather on Ravelry, they don't want one. If you ladies ever read this, I'd really love to help you out with my graphic design skills!

Nick pretty much wanted to kill himself the whole time, but eventually I found yarn I wanted and could afford to by:

From Ironstone Yarns. I figured it would coordinate really well (notice how I don't say "match" because matching isn't as interesting as coordinating) with my obnoxious fuschia-pink coat I got for 50% off at Old Navy back in November. I'll have to post a photo of the scarf when it's complete, but I'm almost halfway done with it now, using this super easy and quick pattern. I'll be putting it aside to finish up some holiday gifts and whatnot, but it shouldn't take much longer to finish up.

I just read the label for a recommended needle size, then searched that needle size on Ravelry for an appropriate pattern. God bless modern technology.

I had really intended for this update to be much more interesting, but alas.

If I don't get another chance to update before the week is out, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! Petey does, too, when he's not destroying all my beautifully wrapped presents:

MERRY CHRISTMAS :D

Inspiration

Hats/headbands from Volang:

Swap Package #1 - Winter Holiday Themed Swap

As you know, I've been jonesing to get into knitting/crochet swaps for a couple months. I knew I didn't have any time to dedicate to them before the wedding, so I just joined a bunch of groups and waited like the psycho I am. After returning from our fabulous honeymoon and getting back into the groove of working full-time, catching up with friends, all the weekend traveling we do, just generally being awesome, etc, I decided to take the plunge!

I received my first swap package (from the wonderful Becky in Ravelry's Swap on a Budget group) last week, and it was AMAZING!

First, the whole kit and caboodle:


Look, she sent me a kitty! Just kidding :) That's Petey, our younger cat who's obsessed with Nick. He was so excited to be part of the photo. I think he just wanted to eat the hot chocolate because it made a fun crinkly sound, haha.

But look at that amazing pink bag! And all the super fun stuff! Beautiful crocheted cowl, a great book I can’t wait to get started reading (it’s right up my alley - and SIGNED by the author, which is just some added fun), great patterns for a hat and coordinating fingerless mitts and the fun black and PINK yarn to make it, hot chocolate , a fun candy cane, and so much more!


A (poorly taken) photo of the amazingly awesome stitch markers! I told my husband that I’ve never had a set of fancy stitch markers before, and for my first set, these are absolutely amazing. Silver, pink, and classy - sounds like something I’d love! Haha. I can’t wait to dangle these off my needles! I'll have to find a super safe place for them, as I our couch has a terrible track record of eating all my stitch markers and pretty much anything else I leave there.


A close-up of the yarn I can’t wait to start using :D I already added the hat pattern to my projects so I remember to take 5 minutes for myself and make myself a hat with this beautiful yarn. It’ll actually make a nice set for my new winter coat - which is bright pink. Surprise!


All the different hot cocoas I received. I think this week, I’m going to come home from work each night, light up the tree, cuddle under a blanket with all my holiday knitting/crocheting, and sip a new cup of these each night. They all sound so wonderful; I don’t know which one to choose first!

Thank you SO MUCH, Becky! This package really made my night, and I’m so excited for all of it. You really “got” what I like and love, so rest assured that all of this will be enjoyed!!!! Thanks again!!!!

I've since received another fantastic package from another swap, and just need to upload the pictures. These are super fun, and I can't wait to participate in more this coming January!

Give a JennyHats Gift Certificate for the Holidays

As more and more custom orders started coming in, I was slowly beginning to realize that there was no way I could finish all of them and get my own Christmas gifts done in time for the holidays. I knew I had to set a deadline for custom orders, though I didn't want to, but it was the only way to ensure my family and friends get their goodies.

I sadly placed a deadline of custom holiday orders for this Sunday, December 6th.

But then I realized... why does the fun of custom orders have to end there? What could my solution to this problem be?

And so, I'm offering this really awesome JennyHats Custom Hat Gift Certificate for you to give those special people during the holidays. What a great gift for those people who love handmade goodies! If you don't knit or crochet, or if you know they might like a special color of something I'm not currently offering in the shop, then why not purchase them a hat and let them pick out something they'll totally love?!

A custom hat gift certificate costs $15 and includes:

• A wide selection of colors and fibers - really, the sky's the limit! (Though if you want me to make something out of a $30 skein of yarn, we may have to do some negotiating :P)


• A consultation with me about the type of hat they want and what I'm capable of making, which as you've seen is quite a lot!


• FREE SHIPPING within the continental US.

After ordering, you'll receive a beautiful printable gift certificate (to place in a cute holiday card for gifting) with instructions on how the recipient can order their hat through Alchemy.

So please enjoy these custom creations as my apologies for not being able to take as many custom orders as I'd like for the holidays! These gift certificates are a great way to still give your favorite people one of my custom creations without having to worry about it arriving in time for the holidays!