Knit Girl Moving On

SP9 Contest Number 2

2006-10-27T22:10:15Z

I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what our next contest should be for my sp9 group. Having a spent a couple of hours this morning going through my yarn stash I came up with an idea. How about as a prize I send someone some of MY stash?? Mind you, the prize could include some skeins that were knit and then UNknit, or skeins that were never used but one thing it will defintely NOT be or include is 100% acrylic (no offense meant to anyone, I just have a hard time working with 100% acrylic). No matter what, it will be a box full of yarn. And it will relieve a LOT of stress off my mind on what to do with all this yarn. :-)

So if you want to play, and you're in my group, here's the deal.

What to do: Knit or crochet a washcloth, take a picture of it, post it on your blog.
Deadline: November 22nd

Whoever has their picture of their washcloth on their blog by this date will have their name entered into a drawing. On Thanksgiving at my cousin's, I will have her draw a name and that person will receive a box of my yarn stash. Trust me, I have some goodies.

No need to notify me when you've posted since I check blogs weekly. That reminds me, don't forget to blog!

Enjoy your night everyone!

Sock Swap Package Has Arrived - Oh My

2006-10-27T18:18:20Z

It turns out my sockswap pal is from Australia and her name is Samantha. Check out what she sent me all the way from down under (sorry, couldn't resist):

Some gorgeous Jo Sharp Australian Alpaca Silk Georgette yarn in a cocoa color, it's simply dreamy and I wish my camera would do the color justice. Trust me, it's beautiful.

And some wonderful cocoa (can't wait to try it tonight out at the campfire) and snacks. What a thoughtful and delicious package. Thank you again, Samantha, you are awesome. Oh, she also sent a postcard that I forgot to take a picture of. I'll get it out here later today.

Click on the pic to see bigger, check out the cocoa and the snacks. Yummm!

Finished Objects

2006-10-26T18:42:49Z

I know I'm slow in getting the picture of the blue baby sweater out here but it's because I had trouble with the collar. So it's done but unfortunately, it won't fit the intended recipient, it's too small. So I'm going to make something else for him. This sweater is called Bow Wow and is in the book called MinnowKnits Too. Note that the collar is still wonky so maybe I should have done some decreases when I got to the edge of the collar, not sure. At any rate, it's done and it was a great project to practice cables on!

The wristers are from Knitty.com and the pattern is called Fetching. I made these for my step-daughter for Christmas. They're made out of Bombyx Silk that I bought at LaLana's Wool in Taos, New Mexico while on vacation, and are a really cool lime color. They were pretty easy to make!

I heard from my Mitten Swap pal today, she received the mittens I made and the goodies I sent with them and she was thrilled. I'm so relieved because you never what other people will think of your knitting. The felted mittens I made for her is from one of my favorite patterns. Turns out she wants to share the pattern with her knitting group. Sigh - what a great feeling. :-)

Vacation Pictures!

2006-10-22T23:07:46Z

Finally, you say? I agree. Today's pics are of the White Sands National Monument that we visited on September 20th. Let's just call them sand dunes and leave it at that. Gorgeous, cool feeling sand on your feet and your body is roasting hot as it's about 82 degrees. Doesn't sound hot but add all that whiteness and reflection and holy moley. Out of this world. Enjoy.
My husband, Frank, at the top of a dune.
A view from on top of the same dune looking back to the parking lot.
The bottom part of this tree or bush is about 4 feet, look for the footprints at the base. This is huge!
A Yucca plant - interesting factoid is that however high the dune that a plant is growing out of, that plants actual height is what you see on TOP of the sand PLUS the height of the dune. This sucker is probably about 25 -30 feet high but you only see 3 feet. Seriously.
A tree 'tip', no kidding. Very cool.
See the wood post on the lower middle by the big bush/tree thing? The post is 3 feet high and the bush is the one in the picture way above in the beginning of this entry today. You walked from post to post to look at different things on the dunes. Um, and it helped keep you oriented, otherwise, trust me, you could easily get lost.
Another Yucca type plant, again, very tall, very misleading.
Just a super spectacular tree we saw on the dunes.
Close up of its root system that's above ground.
Me! Believe it or not, this shirt is PINK. I have tried and tried in Paint Shop to change it and it will not change to anything but a whiter white. So just goes to show ya how really bright it was there!
Frank out on a 'playa' - defined as a very flat, dry lake bed of hard, mud-cracked clay, in his caveman stance. Silly guy. Note that there is water and that this is not a dry lake bed, in fact it was kind of mushy underfoot. New Mexico over July and August had an historical amount of rain - so water was still around in places it normally isn't at this time of year (September, that is).
The earth is so dry here in some places even after so much rain it's literally peeling. Not sure what lives in the hole and we didn't stick around to find out. Though whatever does wouldn't probably come out until nightfall. Whew.
Who would think you could get such pretty flowers in such a hot, arid place?
More flowers. And that's all for today, folks!

knitgirl2006 @ 2006-10-21T18:23:00

2006-10-21T23:25:41Z

It's an SP9 special opportunity - buying some incredible yarn made just for us!

Here's the scoop. The SP9 team was approached by a woman named Susie who sells yarn. She has created two colorways just for SP9 and as participants, you are eligible to buy them. The information is at the Secret Pal 9 blog - check it out, the colors are awesome!

FO's!

2006-10-21T14:56:26Z

Here are the mittens I made for my mitten swap pal that were made with merino wool and a strand of mohair knitted together. Later today or tomorrow I'll get the other FO out here. I have to fix the collar on it. Dropping stitches bites. Grrr.

These are felted mittens that have a cuff inside. See next pic.
Mucho warmo!!

Summing Up SP9

2006-10-21T14:50:54Z

I deleted the multiple entries regarding SP9 rules/info etc and have summed it all up here.

1. Blog at least 4 times a month with at least one entry being fiber/hobby related.
2. Contact your SPOILEE on the 1st and the 15th of the month (more is definitely acceptable!).
3. Thank your SPOILER when you've heard from them - we don't send ecards, postcards, packages and leave comments on blogs for nothing, you know? :-D
4. All matches for my group have been sent out with the exception of a couple of fixes that we're working on. You know who you are. :-)
5. If you haven't contacted your pal for the first time, I suggest you do it asap.
6. Watch my blog for future SP9 contests.

Thank you to my SP9 Spoiler!

2006-10-13T12:40:32Z

My SP sent me a very cute and funny ecard - it's been busy/crazy here at work lately so it definitely upped my "moooooooooood".

(Not to worry, my SP will understand what that means!)

My Answers to the Contest

2006-10-12T14:56:33Z

I thought I should post MY answers for my team since I've asked them to do it – in case they’re interested in my answers. :-D

So here are my favorites:

Actor - George Clooney, one of the last 'old hollywood-like' stars, if you know what I mean. Simply dreamy. Have you seen the cover the latest Vanity Fair, he's on it. Swoon city, baby!
Actress - Sandra Bullock
Animal - Before my trip to NM I would have said cat but since I saw those alpacas in Mora, I'm in love with alpacas.
Band - The Beatles
Beverage - Diet Coke
Book - Gone With The Wind (I can lose myself in that story)
Bubble Bath - AVON's Soft Pink (it's their original from about 25 years or more ago, my last SP sent me a bottle and it's so wonderful!)
Candy - Dark chocolate - like Dove's or Hershey's Dark Chocolate
Color - Purple
Flower - Orchid
Food - Mexican
Lip Balm - Burt's Bees (best stuff in the whole wide world)
Lotion - Jergen's Original (cherry - almond scented, yum)
Movie - Labyrinth with David Bowie, I've seen it at least 30 times (yes, at least that, but likely more) over the last 20 years. I have a little cousin, well, she’s 20 something now, that got hooked on it in 1986 and we'd watch everytime she came over, to this date she can rattle off nearly the whole move verbatim. It’s a Jim Henson movie, I strongly suggest you check it out. You’ll see it more than once, too!
Song - Loveshack!!
TV Show - Law & Order (all versions, all repeats)
Yarn - Alpaca wool!
Vacation Spot - White Sands National Monument, New Mexico (I'm not kidding, we could have stayed there for days traipsing over the sand dunes - go online to check it out, just google it). Though if I vacation out of the US I'd love to vist London and Ireland.

SP9 Contest #1 for my Group!

2006-10-11T18:26:25Z

This contest is open to the participants of SP9 who are in my group - you know who you are! Have fun!

Everyone who has the following list posted on their blog by 5pm, CST, Sunday, October 15^th, will have their name entered into a drawing! Two winners will be drawn and each will have a choice of a handmade bookmark or a set of 4 stitchmarkers, made by yours truly!

Send me an email once you’ve placed this on your blog and I’ll get you entered!

List your favorite:

Actor -

Actress -

Animal -

Band -

Book -

Bubble Bath -

Candy -

Color -

Flower -

Food -

Lip Balm -

Lotion -

Movie -

Song -

TV Show -

Vacation Spot - .

Secret Pal 9 Q & A

2006-10-08T18:19:16Z

I've signed up for SP9 and since they had such a HUGE number of people sign up, they asked me to be a hostess again. Where do I find the time again?? I keep forgetting. Ha ha. Those who know me know I love organizing so this is a blast for me. Okay, okay, the Q&A you say?

Q. What is your favorite yarn to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely not like?
A.   That's easy, I love anything except acrylic and novelty yarns. Though there are some blends that have acrylic in them and those are fine, but to just knit with acrylic all I hear is 'squeak, squeak'. Ugh.

Q.   What do you use to store your needles in?
A.   I have a big briefcase type bag that houses my circs (it NEVER leaves the house as I have pretty much every size needle and nearly every length for the majority of them - I literally shudder when I think of any time I might have to bring it anywhere, so I don't). I have a really pretty zippered bag with dividers in it for my dp's but it only holds my 0's through 6's, I need one that holds the larger sizes (7 and up). Hint, hint??

Q.   How long have you been knitting and how did you learn? What is your skill level?
A.    I learned in jr high in the 70's, promptly went into sewing instead and then in 2000, while camping, my best friend was re-learning and she re-taught me. I would say I'm at an intermediate/advanced level. I want to advance to two color knitting and even lace but I'm chicken. I know I can do it, but do I have the patience and would I be willing to re-do work that isn't correct - that's the big issue.

Q.   Do you have a wish list?
A.   Nope

Q.   What's your favorite scent - for candles, bath products, etc?
A.    I like those kitchen scents, cinnamon, apple, almond (have you smelled almond flavoring?? Swoon!), orange.

Q.   Do you have a sweet tooth? A favorite candy?
A.    I'm a dark chocolate lover - can you say Dove's or Godiva???

Q.   What other crafts to you do? Do you spin?
A.   I love to do stained glass (hubby is going to build a shed for me next spring so I can have a workroom to concentrate more on this), beading, paper crafts. I don't spin - I'll leave that to those who have more patience than me!

Q.   What kind of music do you like?
A.   This will definitely tell my age, won't it? Well, I love the 60's, 70's and some of the 80's and more current. Let's see - The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews Band, B52's, ELO, The Who, and so on.

Q.   What is your favorite color? Any colors you can't stand?
A.   Any range (light, medium, deep) of purple, blue, green, burgandy, black, sea greens, etc. All natural colors of wool - the beiges and browns and fawns. Colors I can't stand? Orange is the worst one only because I could never wear it and frankly, I'm jealous!

Q.   What is your family situation, any pets?
A.   Just my husband and I. Or is that me? I have a step-daughter in college who lives with her mother when she's not in school. No pets - but I love cats and wish I could have one.

Q.   Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
A.   I live in Minnesota so scarves and mittens are absolute necessities, especially since I take public transportation to work. But you won't catch me wearing a hat unless I'm shoveling snow and it's snowing. As for ponchos - I think they're a trend that will fade quickly and as I didn't like them in the 70's I still don't like them. (Sorry, Martha - for some of us a poncho is NOT a good thing.)

Q.   What are your favorite things to knit?
A.   Mittens, hats (for others), sweaters, socks, bags, baby stuff for charity.

Q.   What are you knitting right now?
A.   Too much. :-)   Baby sweater, kid socks, mittens, adult socks, a hat, an aphgan (that's why you so rarely see any FO's out here, I have too many WIP'S!)

Q.   Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
A.   Absolutely!!! I give them as well.

Q.   Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
A.   Circs, bamboo (any wood, actually). Love dp's too, can't get enough of those!

Q.   Do you own a yarn winder or swift?
A.   Yes, both. Can't remember what I ever did without them.

Q.   How old is your oldest UFO?
A.   An aphgan that's 6 years old.

Q.   What is your favorite holiday?
A.   It's a toss up between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love the gatherings and of course, the food. Turkey in the oven or on the grill - yummy smells!!!

Q.   Is there anything you collect?
A.   I do - a clown called Virgil (he's glass and has a happy face on one side and a sad one on the other), I've got three. I only had 2 before the last SP and my spoiler, Shannon, gave me one and even told me his name! I also realized recently that I have a small collection of small turtle items. I have a really cool wood carved one, a carved rock one and a few others.

Q.   Any books, yarns, needles or patterns you're dying to get your hands on? Any mag subsciptions you have?
A.   I subscribe to Knitter's and have a subscription through about the next 3 years - I won a two year sub and happened to have already subscribed so I'm good there. As for books? There are never enough books in my bookcase and I've found myself lately looking for books on lace knitting but can't make up my mind. I can never tell if something is going to be too hard or not so I just don't buy any of them. Same with two color knitting - what to get??

Q.   Any new techniques you'd like to learn?
A.   Lace, two color knitting.

Q.   Are you a sock knitter?
A.   Yes. My foot is 9 1/4 inches long from heel to tip of big toe and I have a high instep and so around my foot it's also 9 1/4. Regular sized ankles - can't remember that measurement but I think it's 8 1/2 or 9 inches.

Q.   What is your birthday?
A.   May 2nd

knitgirl2006 @ 2006-10-01T12:14:00

2006-10-01T17:20:38Z

A few pictures to wet your whistles - the first 5 are from the alpaca farm. The last one of the alpacas is the one of the mommy and the new baby. By the way, I have never let my face be shown on my journal before so this is a first, people! (I hate pictures of me but love taking them of others.)

The last three pictures are my recent gifts. The pouch and the stitchmarkers are from Leslie as I stated in a previous post and the mug is from Sabrina from the Autumn Celebration swap. Thank you again, to you both. Note that the pouch from Leslie is zippered and has a lining. How clever!

  Me giving treats to the alpacas - I can't stop laughing!
   This guy is just a young'n, maybe 3 feet tall at the head.

These faces just make me giggle!
Aw....baby and mom.
  Very cool!

Click on this to see it bigger, it's really cool!

Quick Thank You's

2006-09-29T21:02:18Z

I'm about to leave work but won't be able to get online again until tomorrow as I have to get home and get ready for a 7:30 wedding (a cousin's daughter is getting married - she's only 24 - I feel so old). Anyway, yesterday after work I was still on what I'd call a vacation high. So I get home and my husband has been to the post office to pick up the mail that was held while we were on vacation. And I just got all warm and fuzzy even more.

1. Thank you to Clark, the son of my One Skein exchange pal. I included a game for him in my last package to his Mom and he sent me a really nice postcard of an owl and thanked me for the gift. You are very welcome, Clark and thank you for a great surprise!

2. Thank you to Leslie from my SP8 group! What a wonderful surprise she sent me. I drew two names from the folks in my group that I was the hostss for in SP8 and sent two of them some handmade stitchmarkers and handmade bookmarks. So this wonderful person Leslie, turns around and sends ME as a thank you for being a hostess, a gorgeous set of stitchmarkers and a zippered bag. Leslie, did you make the bag? Do you sell them??? I would love to chat with you about that, it is so adorable!

3. Last but certainly not least, thank you to my mug exchange pal for the beautiful mug you sent me (I'll get her link out here later, I forgot what it is and don't have time to look for it). It's a square shaped mug, which that alone I've just never seen and it has an interesting pattern on it. She also include a recipe for Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies. Thank you so much, it's really cool!

Okay, must fly but I'll get pics out here tomorrow of my goodies. Bye!

KnitGirl Has Returned!

2006-09-28T17:46:47Z

I have lots to tell you about vacation but no time right now to do so. I'll just give you a little tease for now on some of the sights we saw and over the next week or two will give you more to nosh on. :-)

1. Victory Ranch - you have to look at this one! It's got alpacas!! VERY hard for me to leave the ranch without buying lots of alpaca and some camel yarn.
2. White Sands National Monument - makes you feel like a kid again
3. Rio Grande River Gorge - indescribable
4. UFO Museum - interesting
5. The Lodge - we stayed here one night, the Romance Package - spectacular views
6. La Dona Luz Inn - stayed here 2 nights, you got to the room via the spiral staircase you'll see on the site's main page, the room was called La Madonna. Heavenly!

Okay, back to the real job.

Vacation Has Officially Begun

2006-09-18T23:06:03Z

We're off to New Mexico for vacation and since I don't have a laptop I won't be checking emails. Will post next week. The neighbors (2 sets) are watching the house so no getting any ideas. :-)

Hasta la vista, baby!

MittensDeuce Swap & Two WIP's

2006-09-16T17:20:40Z

Edited 9/16 1:30PM

What?? Okay, MittensDeuce is simply the best name I could come up with for a second mitten swap. Click on the link on the sidebar to find out more about it. I dare you!

Also - I have two WIP's to show you ~~but I forgot the memory sticks upstairs and I'm being lazy but I'll upload them today~~. And they are:

1. A baby sweater that ~~only~~ needs the collar added, the second sleeve finished and stitched up.
2. A knitted bag for our vacation to NM that I'm lining with fabric.

I'll have the pics out here by day's end. Pinky swear!

p.s. You can probably tell that I'm obviously feeling MUCH better. Thank you for all the get well wishes. And I hope MissPrissKnits is feeling better as well. Hang in there, Shannon - it will pass. I promise. :-)

Baby Sweater – and I was wrong, I have a few more rows on the sleeve first, then stitch it up and then do the collar.

Bag – There is a strap for this as well and I’ll be lining it as well as the bag with the fabric you see. The bag is about 11 inches high by about 9 inches wide. Should be just enough to hold my camera, cell phone, lotion, wallet and my Burts Bees lip balm for New Mexico! I still want to steam block it a bit though, it's kind of wrinkled.

NOTE: 9/18/2006
Kelle left me a comment asking about a pattern for the bag. Hi Kelle!! But guess what, I don't have one! I discovered some yarn I had in my stash for something else I was going to make and decided I wanted a bag for my trip and literally just started knitting. So I didn't write anything down - I was really just trying to practice two stranded knitting. What I can tell you is that the yarn is called Classic Elite. I finished the bag yesterday, lined and with a button closure and everything so I'll get another picture out here tonight. The bag is much brighter than the photo in the unfinished picture shows, hopefully I'll be able to get that in the second picture.

Abby – See Abby kitty, see Abby kitty play, not my Abby kitty, Abby kitty belongs across the street. But she likes me (of course, I’m allergic to her so would like me!) so she visits and today I attached some yarn to a chair and she’s in heaven. Oh, chairs are off deck because hubby stained it again. But I think Abby kitty would love them to stay there as she keeps playing in and around and on the chairs in the yard.

NOTE: 9/18/2006
Miss Abby Kitty had a little accident yesterday but apparently one of her nine lives kicked in. She had raced across the street and a kid on a motorized skateboard bumped into her. She kind of stumbled, then got up and went home. Then last night we were having a campfire and when dinner was ready we went in to eat. Out of nowhere I hear this - meow, meow, meow. I go to the back door and who's there? Miss Abby Kitty. By now it's dark out and I'm surprised she was out at all after her little accident as her owners are now a bit paranoid but I'm guessing she slipped out. So Frank let her in and she just starts inspecting the house. Then we played for a bit and I put her back outside and she was off into the night to do whatever kitties do out there in the dark. I know, it's probably not the best idea letting the neighbor's kitty in but I can't help it. We don't feed her at all, we only give put a bowl of water on the deck when she's hanging outside with us. So hopefully that makes it okay.

Mitten Swap Update

2006-09-14T17:27:49Z

Just a quick update, the deadline for signing up for my mitten swap (Swap Sign Up) is tomorrow (I believe through 11:59pm you can sign up). We are at 30 participants and those participants are all over the world. Singapore, Nova Scotia and other parts Canada, the UK, Norway and of course, USA - how awesome is that? I'm excited to see the final results - which I will post on the Mitten Swap Blog once we have them.

Okay, enough for today. I'm at work and hope to make it through the day so cross your fingers. But honestly, I wish I were home in bed. :-(

Silver & Purple Surprise

2006-09-05T23:48:15Z

Once again my day was made by a little surprise in the mail. I received my final item from my One Skein pal, Marie. She sent me a gorgeous silver knitted scarf (I'm calling it silver - it shines in the light but it's NOT metallic) that she made and a beautiful pin for it that just happens to have PURPLE in it. Sigh...what a wonderful way to make my day. :-)

Thank you, Marie, this is perfect and I can't wait to wear it!! I'll send you a picture of me wearing it when I do, okay?

Kool-Aid Dyes Your Skin

2006-09-04T21:31:33Z

But fortunately, nail polish remover takes it all off. Thank goodness.

I spent quite a bit of time this weekend playing around with the KoolAid^TM dyeing process and experimented two ways, one batch that included tea and one without.

1. I took the KnitPicks skein of yarn my SP gave me, it has 880 yards, and wound it into 3 balls using my ball winder. The results were that I had one that was half of the entire skein and the other two were each a quarter of the skein. You'll understand why shortly.

2. I filled a 2 quart pot with water about 2/3 full and added about 6 teabags. Once it got to boiling I took it off the flame and set it aside to cool a iittle and to let the teabags do their job of coloring the water.

3. Next I heated some water in a tea kettle to a boil. While that was boiling I took out 2 heat resistent containers that the smaller balls would just fit into (so they wouldn't tip over is the point). In another container I dumped 2 packets of Grape KoolAid^TM and in another container I dumped one packet of the Blue Raspberry KoolAid^TM . To each I added about 1/2 cup boiling water and stirred until everything was all dissolved.

4. Then I took the 2 heat resistent containers, the ones that will JUST fit the balls, and poured about 1 inch of the blue mixture into each container. Then placed the ball, one of the flat sides down, into the mixture. I put the lid on and left it alone for about 15 minutes. When I opened up the container, all of the liquid was gone and I took out the ball from each container. I rinsed the containers and then poured the grape mixture into each but added more than I did for the blue, I think I did about 1 1/2 inches, put the balls back in but with the blue dyed end UP. The liquid just barely touched where the blue was. Then put the lids on and left alone for about 15 minutes.

5. When I went to take out the balls there was still some liquid in the container but I removed the balls and placed them in the sink (with no gloves - hence the dyeing of the skin and oh by the way? It's really hot even after 15 mins), flattened them with my hand to get the liquids out and then rinsed and flattened again and again until there wasn't anymore color coming out. Then I set them aside to dry.

NOTE: I was trying to not agitate the fibers because I didn't want the yarn to felt. Felting is not the purpose here. That's why I didn't twist or rub or anything like that.

6. The next day I unwound the purple/blue/magenta yarn balls and made them into two hanks and let them dry further. Then I rewound them into balls again.

Whew - that was done. Now...

For the tea and KoolAid^TM experiment - I decided to dye the yarn as a hank instead of the nice ball I had wound up on my ball winder so I made a hank and then placed it into the still hot but not boiling tea water. Then I added the leftover grape mixture and just for kicks I added some Tropical Punch! Then I did the same thing as the balls above EXCEPT I left it in the water longer. Basically? I forgot about it. Ooops. The whole thing turned out a bizarre magenta/tea color. The pictures do not do any of these justice, believe me.

I didn't follow any one method to do this, I actually read about a dozen or more online (snore) and then just did what I wanted to do. The tea dyeing came to me because I know people have used tea to dye clothing so why not yarn?

So that's my experiment with KoolAid^TM dyeing!

Oh - you want to see pictures?? So sorry!! :-)

Last Day of SP8

2006-09-01T01:21:07Z

I cannot believe that SP8 is over already. Wow. Where did the time go? I had so much fun, I had the greatest spoiler on earth - Shannon of Miss Priss Knits. Talk about knowing me. She gave me the colors I liked, the scents I enjoy, a sock pattern book and supplies for a process I hadn't been gutsy enough to try yet! (Thanks for the challenge - gulp.) And a ton of other stuff besides - you're awesome, Shannon, thank you once again!

Speaking of the process I haven't been gutsy enough to try, that would be the yarn dyeing project. And I'll be doing that tomorrow night and will take pictures of the process. I think it's going to be a bit messy but I'm going to try anyway because I want more purple yarn...there's never enough. Trust me. N E V E R E N O U G H P U R P L E Y A R N !!

To all of my SP8 'crew' - thank you for making it so easy for a first time hostess and first time participant in an SP exchange. I know it could have been a lot more complicated, believe me. Yes, we had a few bumps here and there but so does life (there she goes...getting all 'deep' and everything). If I could rate my team on a scale of 1 - 10, with 10 being the best? You guys rocked - you were 10's!

To my hostess, Shelby, you gave me so many ideas for my group and it kept it interesting and fun for everyone! Thank you very much, Ms. Shelby!!! Keep up the good job with SP!!

Okay, enough mushy crap.

MITTEN SWAP!!!!!
Can you believe it? Since last weekend when I set up my swap, I'm already up to 13 participants! I really had no idea what to expect but I've got someone from Norway signed up as well as someone from Canada! Apparently, swap-bot reaches far and wide. I can't wait to get started on my mittens for whoever I get. If this swap works out I may very well set up another one for stitchmarkers.

Off to get laundry done and prepare for tomorrow - it will be so boring at work with so many people on vacation for the Labor Day weekend but maybe I'll get more done than normal. :-)

Mittens - Get Your Mittens!

2006-08-27T15:28:54Z

I couldn't help myself - I've set up a knitting swap called Mittens - Get Your Mittens! at swap-bot.com. It's super easy, all you do is make a pair of mittens for your assigned pal and send the mittens plus a little extra something (example: candy, a cool knitting tool, or a holiday ornament). Check out the link to find out the details.

I hope some of you sign up!

Off to get ready to go to a brunch and enjoy the day. The weather here is fabulous today, it's only going to be about 80 degrees and almost NO humidity. My kind of day. :-)

Hot Sock Swap

2006-08-24T19:58:47Z

I've signed up for a new swap - check it out! Hot Sock Swap It's pretty cool.

Here are the questions and answers we each are to answer:

1) What do you prefer - solid, variegated or self striping?
Solid is first preference, then self striping, then variegated

2) Favourite colours?
Deep purple, dark green, seablue (think vacation where the water
is so clear and yet green/blue at the same time)

3) Are you a beginner, intermediate or experienced sock knitter?
Intermediate - I have used a number of stitches and patterns
but am willing to learn a lot more to challenge myself.

4) Tea, Coffee, or hot chocolate - what's your favourite? If coffee, what do you use to make it?
Hot chocolate all the way - and I prefer the dark
chocolate over milk chocolate.

5) Do you have a fibre preference? (i.e. Are you a yarn snob like me?)
Total yarn snob - I prefer natural fibers like wool or a
cotton blend. I've even knit with hemp!

Tag City

2006-08-21T20:50:35Z

I got this from bubblesandpurls.blogspot.com and I’m placing this out here because I also am never tagged! :-)

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag three people.

My three sentences:

Typically, free housing is offered in exchange for services that range from the garden variety of maintenance tasks to more sophisticated property management. Some caretaking gigs even include a salary and health insurance. Global travelers themselves for twenty years, the Dunns choose to spend their time and resources in the developing world.

The book I had nearest me – no kidding – is called Too Young To Retire by Marika and Howard Stone. We had some employee events a couple of months ago where different speakers came to the company and spoke to us over the lunch hour and Howard Stone was one of them. We all received the book for free. And the three sentences I’ve typed above? Those are the only three I’ve read so far! Sorry, Howard.

I tag MISS PRISS KNITS, RYNER, and the devine Ms. MMM

Stitchmarkers I Made

2006-08-21T00:04:29Z

Here are my pictures out on Flickr - takes less time to do this then to add them here in LJ.

http://flickr.com/photos/83578524@N00/

Once I figure out some way to show the Flickr Badge on my side bar, you won't have to use this link. Sorry about that! And I know a couple of the stitchmarker pics are blurry but I'm not sure if I'll retake the pics or not - it's a bit time consuming, ya know?

I Know My Secret Pal!

2006-08-19T01:51:32Z

I received a card today from my spoiler telling me who she is (good thing since I wasn't able to figure it out even with Shelby's list out on SP8). Her name is Shannon (aka Miss Priss Knits) and as you can tell from my previous posts, she has been an awesome spoiler. As I told her, whoever gets her for the next round of SP (assuming she signs up) will be very, very lucky. I have been very fortunate for my first time doing an exchange! I can't wait for Labor Day weekend when I'll be trying out the Kool-Aid yarn dyeing with the supplies that Shannon sent me in her last package.

Thank you, Shannon for everything! You were awesome and I hope you had just as great of a spoiler as I did!

Patty