Purls by the Sea

This Will Make You Smile

Oh how I love guacamole! And making it is so much fun!! You'll get a chuckle out of this recipe.

TALK about Mad Men

For those of you who love Mad Men like I do - make sure you visit the AMC Mad Men Site. They have the scoop on the March 25 premiere of SEASON 5! Oh I can't wait to see what happens to Don Draper!!

And you can put yourself in a Mad Men scene and make your own Avatar. What fun!

I'm so glad Betty is out of the way.

More room for me!!!

Happy Anniversary to Me

It is hard for me to believe that my blog has been up and running for a year now. Boy time does really fly when you are retired and having so much fun!

In celebration of my first anniversary I am going to list some great links for knitters that will help you make the most out of your craft. I hope that you enjoy them - in fact please leave a comment below and let me know. Posting is easy - just click on the comments button at the bottom of this post and a comment box will appear. Write your comment in the box and then choose your identity by writing your name in the box (first name only please). If you have a blog you can add your blog address under your name in the url - but you can also leave that blank. Then just hit publish your comment and voila you have made a comment on my blog. If you leave me a published comment I will send you a coupon code for

a free copy of my Loopy Snecklace pattern which you can download right from my blog! Just post your comment and then email me at purlsbythesea@gmail.com and I will send you the coupon code! Easy as pie!!

Knitting Web Sites

Zinio - Is a great site to download magazines to your iPad or computer. They have lots of knitting and beading magazines.

EZ's Better Bind Off by Purlbee - this is a great bind off that makes your b/o edge look the same as your cast on edge! EZ certainly knew what she was doing!

Interweave has a great tutorial for converting a stitch pattern so you can work in the round.

Polka Dot Cottage gives great instructions on how to make polymer buttons for all your knitting and beading projects!

Yarns in the Farm has really unique patterns including the really popular Floffy Skirt.

I hope you enjoy these helpful links and by all means if you have a link you think may be helpful to other knitters please post it!

Enjoy & Happy Knitting!!

Free pattern offer expires March 19, 2012. Thanks for all the comments and interest.

SHORT ROWS & PAULA DEEN

I hate short rows! And I especially hate them when I start something and then put it down for 2 months because I am on to something else (remember startitis!) - and to make things worse the darn thing is knit in a boucle with lots of loops

on the short rows -

and I don't know where the heck I am

when I pick it back up

because I haven't taken very good notes!

WOW - I know that was a mouthful!!

Well Joe was tired of hearing me complain about this unfortunate circumstance

- and that is putting it mildly

- so on this warm 75° December day

he suggested we head to Savannah

and walk off my frustrations.

While gliding across the river on

the Savannah Belles Ferry

I recalled that Miss Paula Deen was having a blood drive today and afterwards she would be signings books at The Lady and Sons. So as soon as we disembarked we headed on to

The Inn at Ellis Square to donate blood.

Two hours later Joe had successfully made his donation but unfortunately I was not able to because of a prior illness. The Red Cross however, is very grateful for the effort and we were both rewarded with two aprons autographed by Paula Deen and two buffet dinners at her famous restaurant. Next it was off to see the lady herself for the much anticipated book signing. The line was very long.....

.....and to everyone's delight

Jamie Deen came out for a visit.

Well -- another two hours went by -- we met lots of nice people and finally we reached the holy grail --

Miss Paula Deen and her sons Bobbie and Jamie. And yes she is really a SOUTHERN LADY and she does speak with a southern drawl. She is just as pretty as she looks on TV and was very gracious and chatted like we were old friends asking us about our lives and thanking us for our participation in the blood drive.

And she personalized all our treasures!

Finally it was time for dinner at "The Lady and Sons" complements of Paula herself.

I have to say the southern fried chicken and mac and cheese (which I don't eat very often) was absolutely delicious.

We ended the day with a romantic walk on

River Street.

The entire river walk and all the shops are lit up for the holidays including our favorite stop

"River Street Sweets". Even the Riverboat Cruise ships are decked out in their holiday best.

Thanks "Miss Paula" for another great Savannah experience. Oh and yes - I did not think about my short row problem all day.

In fact I feel like the famous Southern Lady

Miss Scarlett O'Hara

"After all, tomorrow is another day!"

ON A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN SAVANNAH.....

You can see dolphins in the river!

Celebrate with strangers on their wedding day.

Pay tribute to the brave veterans who

defended our country.

Take
a
boat
ride
on
the
water.........

Stroll on River Street........

And shop at SCAD for a beautiful Vanessa Boulton

purse complements of my hubby for our anniversary!!

Procrastination Can Be Stressful!!

Well for the last few weeks I have been knitting Loopy Snecklaces like a mad woman for the Sun City Holiday Bazaar. My friend Ilse thought it would be a good idea if we got a table and tried to sell some of our creations. Why not I thought - of course that was back in August when November was far, far away.

Rosemarie, Lynn & Ilse

And it would have been a good idea if I started knitting in August - but of course that didn't happen. So here I was in October knitting like crazy - trying to get some inventory ready for this event. Loopy's were everywhere! OMG I thought - I hope I sell all of these or what the heck will I do with them. Thankfully they were extremely popular and by noon I was completely sold out.

Now I have a pocketful of cash - and lots of free time. "We should start getting ready for next year", is now Ilse's mantra! "Let's start in January this time." Yea - like that is going to happen. We've got plenty of time - no need to rush - I'll think about it next October!

A TASTY DINNER

What a wonderful weekend. Dinner with friends - knitting- a seven mile bike ride this afternoon and a delicious meal of French Onion Soup and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. I had a bag of tasty vidalia onions that I knew would be perfect for this special treat!