Happy day!!!

I love my Secret pal!! I got my last two packages in the mail today! The first one was at my doorstep when I walked in the house. I brought it in and opened it to find Vogue Knitting - Accessorize, which is an awesome book with scarves, hats, ponchos, socks and mittens. Then there was a cute sheep tape measure, and the cutting pendant that I"ve been eyeing for a while. I was so psyched to see a package for me! Then I flip through the mail, and see a post card. I look closer, to see that it's a gift subscription for Interweave Knits!! My favorite magazine! I'm flying high today! Thank you so much Angela! You made SP6 awesome! I am so lucky to have had great pals in both SP5 and SP6. I can only hope that the ones I spoiled feel the same way (and from what they said on their blogs, I think they did! I came home early to get some work done from home, making power point presentations is much faster for me wtih no distractions. But I think I may just have to look through my new book first... ;)

time to felt.

I finished the strap for my Booga bag last night. Now all I have to do is felt it! I'm nervous and excited at the same time. I'll have to post some before and after pics soon.

Christmas was really nice. We stayed in Maryland this year, which is a first. We've always drivin up to Buffalo and spent the holidays with family. I'm so glad we stayed here, it gave us a chance to start some of our own traditions with Celia. She was so excited to come downstairs and see the presents that Santa left. The first thing she asked about that morning when I came to her room was Cookies Santa and Milk Santa since we had left them for Santa the night before. It was really sweet. Celia loved to open her presents, she kept shouting "OTEN!!" (her word for open). Then we relaxed, and had neighbors over for dinner. And relaxed some more. Nathan got poker chips (set of 600 clay ones) and a poker table top from me and Celia, so we broke them in. I took him for all of his chips. ;) I wish we were playing for money, because I was lucky!

I got some cool knitting supplies for gifts too. My in-laws sent me some pretty yarn, LB suede in this cool green/purple/blue colors, along with size 10 circs and size 3 DPNs- both in bamboo. And my sister-in-law and her hubby sent the 2006 knitting pattern a day calendar. So many neat patterns that I can't wait to try!

SP6

I heard from my SP yesterday and she's ordered my second and third gifts to be sent soon! I'm so excited to hear that her finals are over! I remember the stress that came with finals. She also revealed herself to me. Her name is Angella, and her blog is Katgrrl She seems really cool, go check it out!

And this is the scarf that I made for Heather, my brother's fiance'. I really hope she likes it! I just love the colors of this manos colorway!!








Here is a pic of clapotis, which I'm making from some lovely yarn from Dancing Leaf farms. I fell in love with these colors, they are my new favorite combo.

Yay!

My husband has been looking for a job closer to home. Currently he has a one hour commute in the morning and about one hour twenty minutes at least in the evening- not much fun. And it leaves little time that he gets to spend with our daughter during the week. He had two interviews yesterday, and got an offer today! That was fast. Yay!!

stupid

I just realized that I posted my last post on the SP7 blog. Sorry about that, who knows where my head was this morning. Thinking about the Manos I guess.

I'm weak

I bought a skein of manos a few weeks ago for a gift. I've been looking at it every day, and telling myself...No. You can't touch it. It's a gift for your mom. Well, that went out the window the other night. I grabbed it and started balling it after spending all day at home with a sick kid. I started making a scarf, and I really didin't like how it was coming out. So I frogged it. I started another scarf, but wasn't what I wanted either, so I frogged it again. Then I decided to do it lengthways, instead. So I cast on 100 stitches, and started going. After a few rows, I realized it wasn't really long enough. So I frogged it again. Finally, I'm about 3/4 of the way done with a pretty scarf. I'm going to give it to my future Sister-in-law for a christmas gift. Really, I am. I think. Though the colors are so pretty... No...it's a gift!!! Argh!!

Tagged!

I"ve been tagged by Saun, whom I had the pleasure of spoiling during SP6!

Song Meme

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to.

Love- Great Big Sea
Aluminium- Barenaked Ladies
Elf's Lament- Barenaked Ladies
Something Beautiful- Great Big Sea
The House at the Top of the Tree- They Might Be Giants
Birdhouse in your Soul- They Might Be Giants
Airport- Guster

I tag:
The SP7 hostesses...you know who you are!
Anyone else who reads this blog...just please leave a comment so I can see your answers!!

bah humbug

I'm just not in the Christmas spirit this year. You'd think I would be, with a little girl who is starting to get excited about the 'yites' on the tree, and 'Tanta. I'm sick of the cold, crappy weather and all of the shopping (who would have thought those words would come out of my mouth). We are in the middle of a snow/ice/mix storm, which is loads of fun. When I left Buffalo, I left the massive amounts of snow. No more waking up to a foot to brush off the car and go to work. But in lovely Maryland, we get sleet and ice much more often than snow. I don't mind driving in snow at all, it's easy! The ice is what makes me nervous. There is just no control on ice. So I stay home when I can, which means that today when I was home with my daughter (who is still sick), I couldn't go to the store, or target, or anything. I could have gotten some little shopping done for Celia's daycare teachers, but No. I had to stay inside because it's risky. I don't mind driving in ice if it's just me, but when Celia is in the car I hate to take risks.

Anyway, I'm done. I just want New Years to get here so I can put it all behind me. It's my first year away from home at Christmas, and while it's my decision and what i wanted to do, it's still hard. I hate the holidays.

all about me

Thought this would be fun.

TEN random things you might not know about me:

I am a Buffalo girl at heart.
I hate snow.
I hate getting dressed up- I am happiest in jeans and a T-shirt.
I love roller coasters, the higher and faster the better.
I am a hopeless romantic.
I am a chocoholic, especially orange chocolate.
I love red wine.
I have no patience for immiturity.
I have seen Niagara Falls hundredes of times, but it still amazes me.
I'm as blind as a bat.

NINE Places I have Visited

Budapest
London
Brussles
Amsterdam (but only for a half of a day so we could go to the Van Gogh museum)
Zurich
Rome
Florence
Nice
Paris

EIGHT Ways to Win My Heart

Have a warm smile
Make me laugh
Be open to new experiences
share dessert with me at dinner
put up with my crap
Bring me good coffee
Be funny
give massages.

SEVEN Things I Want to Do Before I Die

Watch Celia grow up
Have 2 or 3 more kids
Inspire someone, anyone
see the world
own a single family house with a yard
lose weight!
get a dog


SIX Things I'm Afraid Of

Cancer
bees
birds
Ok, anything that flies at you
not being able to see my daughter grow up
car accidents

FIVE Things I Don't Like

Liver
seafood
Rude people
arrogance
people who complain about everything and don't try to do anything about what's bugging them

FOUR Ways to Turn Me Off

push religion or politics on me
smell like garlic
be rude
have a temper

THREE Things I Do Everyday

sleep
kiss my daughter
kiss my husband

TWO Things That Make Me Happy

holding Celia
cats purring

One Thing on My Mind Right Now

Should I let Celia fuss or get her up even though she needs a nap?

home sick

My daughter is sick. Thankfully it's the first time in a while that she's actually been sick. I took her to the docor this morning and she has conjunctivitis in both eyes, a sinus infection and an ear infection. All she knows is that she's miserable and doesn't feel well. It's hard when she's sick because she doesn't understand what's wrong. She knows that her eyes hurt, and her nose is runny, but she really doesn't get it. Poor baby.

who can you be?

I'm still waiting to find out who was 'spoiling' me. I know that she is a student, and that she sent one package with a scarf and perfume. She said she'd send 2 more packages but I haven't heard anything in a while. I guess I'm really lucky that she actually e-mailed me to tell me she was going to be late in getting stuff out. It's way better than those who got bailed on.

Naughty, naughty!

I left work a little early last night to go and buy a few xmas gifts for friends I'm going to see this weekend. One of them is a knitter, so I went to Woolwinders for her gift. That was a big mistake! I walked in and saw that they must have recently gotten in a stock of Manos de Uraguay hand dyed wool. The colorways are amazing! It was so hard not to go crazy and buy loads of yarn, but I showed great restraint! I did buy a gift for my friend, plus a few things from the sale bin, one of which I needed for Celia's alphabet sweater, a contrasting cashmerino aran for the letter C on the front. The other was a ribbon yarn that I've been looking at wanting to try. Then...I couln'dt resist the Manos. I found a colorway that is perfect for my mom, so I bought only one skein. I haven't yet decided if I want to make something for her and give it to her, or if I should give her the skein to make something for herself. Any thoughts? What would you prefer??

Holidays

With the holiays coming up, I decided to try something different this year- I'm making my Christmas cards. Last night I got together with a friend, and I was able to get all 24 cards completed, while she worked on stamping some gift boxes (which are too cute!). I found some great paper at Michaels, and went to town. When you open the card, you'll find this picture of Celia in front of the tree. I loved it, so I had to include one per card. How I love my girl!!

Dancing Leaf and Kiparoo

This weekend, I met up with some of the ladies from the NoMoCo SnB, and we headed out to do some shopping at Dancing Leaf and Kiparoo Farms. Both raise sheep, and hand paint/dye their yarns. I must say that I was blown away by the colorways and yarns both places had. Everything was so beautiful it was hard to pick the few things that I did! I got a few gifts, which I won't talk about, and some beautiful purple and green dyed yarn that I'm going to make Clapotis out of. I started making a triangular shawl, and got bored pretty quickly just knitting, so I frogged and started Clapotis from Knitty. So far, so good, and I'm LOVING the colors how they are coming togheter.

For those of you who have asked about signing up for SP7, head over to secretpalseven.blogspot.com and follow the instructions posted. We are now accepting sing=ups for SP7!

SP7

I've decided to help host the next round of Secret Pal (SP7)! I have had fun the last two rounds that I've participated in, and decided to give back some. Besides, I like to organize things and this will give me the opportunity to help do that.

We're hoping to get things going soon for sign ups, and SP7 pals should be given out by mid January. This way, with the holidays coming up, everyone who wants to participate will have plenty of time to sing up. It should be loads of fun!

refreshed

I had an amazing weekend! We drove up to Buffalo on wednesday, and got in by 9:30PM which was nice. We had a great thanksgiving dinner with my mom and step father, which I helped cook. I love making thanksgiving dinner!

Friday afternoon, after breakfast with my dad and step mother, my hubby and I drove up to Niagara on the Lake, in Ontario, Canada. We hit a few wineries (Peller, Reif and Inniskillin), tasted and bought some wine, and met up with my friend Kristi and her fiance Mike. We stayed at the Oban Inn, an amazing inn right in town. We ate dinner there, and had an incredbile meal and great wine. Ok, maybe a little too much wine (is there such a thing?!). Saturday morning, we had breakfast and went our separate ways. Nathan and I hit a few more wineries (Jackson-Triggs and Hillebrand) for more tastes and buying. After hitting 5 wineries, we ended up buying a grand total of 17 bottles of wine. We really need a wine cellar.

Needless to say I didn't get much knitting done. We had way too much fun, and I only got 4 rows of Celia's alphabet sweater done. It was well worth it, and I look forward to drinking the wine.

Now we're home, and Celia ended up getting Pinkeye somehow. She's all congested and sneezy, so I'm guessing she just rubbed the snot in her eye again, seems to do that every so often. Lucky me gets to take her to the doctor in the morning for antibiotics. At least I get to sleep in a little. And this will give me time to do laundry...but I really wanted to work! Soon I should have an access code so I can work from home, but it's not done yet. I love being at a computer job and not in the lab. Bioinformatics is easy to do from home. Bench work, not so much.

Pictures!

I'm finally posting pics of my recent projects. First, I'm showing what I got in the mail today, from my secret pal! I got a package from canada, and inside was this:

A beautiful handmade scarf and a bottle of perfume. So pretty! I can't wait to wear the scarf, it looks so warm!


And this, is the christmas stocking that I made for Celia.



This is a sweater, that I made for Nathan's cousin Becky's daughter. She's 3 months old, and just adorable!


I'm so glad that I'm finally getting things off of my needles!

almost there...

I've been trying to finish some of my ongoing WIPs before the holidays. I have a cardigan I'm making for Nathan's cousin's baby (who was born and I really need to get the sweater to!), and a sweater for Celia that if I don't finish soon she won't be able to wear. I'm almost done with the last front piece on the cardigan and will hopefully get it finished tonight. And I'm hoping to finish the alphabet sweater for Celia so she can wear it soon! She's having portraits taken on Dec 2nd, and I"d love to have some taken of her in this sweater. We'll see how the weekend goes!

busy weekend

We had our first of several holiday dinners this weekend, our neighbors all got toghether to celebrate before things get crazy and we run out of time. I made turkey, stuffing and yams, and everyone else took care of the rest. It was a lot of fun, but made for a knitting-free weekend.

I saw my SPs website, and she got my second package and liked it! It's so much fun to give like this! I'm trying to decide what to give her for her last package...so many choices!

I still haven't received anything from my person, but did get an e-mail saying that she got it back damaged. I'm trying to be patient and hopefully everything will work out. I think this will be my last SP for a while.

stocking

And I've already reached the heel flap! This will be done in no time. To celebrate, I started another pair of socks last night.

I got in my Knit Picks order, some for my SP and some for me (couldn't pass up the chance to add a bit for free shipping), and I got this beautiful "sangria" color of Andean Silk. It's amazingly soft, and I already have a sweater in mind for Celia. I love knitting baby clothes, they go so fast!

And on a non-knitting note, I found out this morning that a paper we've been trying to get published for a while now is going into PLOS-Pathogen. Yay! Now I"ve got 5 publications (granted I'm way down on the author list, but that doens't matter to me!).

FO and new WIP

I finally finished my daughter's bolero from the Debbie Bliss book, and it is adorable! It really turned out great, I was so pleased. We're taking my daughter to Celebrity Portrait Kids studio for holiday photos in December, and she's definitely wearing this sweater in one of the poses. And I bought a cute denim skirt from babygap, with a lace trim on the bottom, it will be really cute with the bolero. I'll have to take a pic tonight if I remember.

And I started a Christmas stocking for Celia too. I'm about 4 inches down on it, thankfully it's a quick knit!

hat!

Last christmas, I finished my first project for my daughter, a light purple hat. It was way too big for her last year (I didn't do gauge swatch), but fits her perfectly this year. I put it on her last week, and she went out the door with it on, saying "hat!". When I picked Celia up from day care, her teacher said "don't forget the hat!", I guess Celia had it on all morning, and refused to let anyone take it off. It was cold again this morning, so she had her hat on when she left the house. Nathan said that he left her at day care, happily sitting in a high chair with her hat on. That made my day!

web stuff

I finally got approved for the Knitting blog webring!

And I made another KnitPicks purchase today. Some for me, some for my SP.

I got some knitting done this weekend, which is shocking considering how busy we were! I got one front side of the baby bolero from the Debbie Bliss book that I'm working on for my daughter, and started the second side. These are the last pieces before I can put it together! I'm going to finish it this week. I am! Really!

nothing new

We just got back from our cruise, and we had a blast! I'm so glad we went, and that Nathan and Celia had so much fun. We spent lots of time running around, looking out the windows at the bubbles, and eating. I really need to go on a diet. Starting tomorrow, really!

Not much new on the knitting front. I took some WIPs with me, but didn't have any time to work on them. We came back home early because of Wilma, we were going to stay in Miami for a few days but decided it would be better to get home way before she made landfall in FL. At least we did get to spend some time with my aunt/uncle/grandmother, so that was great.

Hopefully will have time to knit this week...I miss it!

FO

My fingerless gloves are finished! I love them, and can't wait to start wearing them. It's starting to get a little cool here, so those days are just around the corner. I managed to finish two projects in a week, my socks and my gloves. Now I really have to start working on the baby sweaters before the kids outgrow them!

advice

I'm thinking of what project(s) to bring on the cruise. Any advice would be really helpful! Just 1 more week to go until we sail away!

socks!

My first pair of socks are done! The one on the left foot is messed up a bit. I made the heel too long, so it gaps a little and I ran out of yarn on that one. But I substituted with a similar weight yarn and it looks ok. The right one is PERFECT. I'm so excited!

it's been too long.

I realized today that it's been over a month since I have been to my SnB. I started my new job, and that was crazy, so I didn't go one week. Then another few times, Nathan had meetings late at work so I had to stay with Celia. Then I was sick, and today I had to stay home to help Nathan with Celia, since he worked all night last night, and got in a 2 hr nap before heading off to work this afternoon. Poor guy is exausted, and he's working again now.

I've been working hard on my socks, and they are almost done. The second one looks WAY better than the first one, but it's ok since it's my first pair. I'm hoping to get them done tonight!

jackpot!

Yesterday we went to take my daughter to her gymnastics class, and we arrived early so we decided to check out the library nearby. I walked into the non-fiction section and right away found all the knitting books! I found 5 that I wanted to check out, including Scarf Style, and a book on Xmas stocking patterns. I never get that lucky! And today I went to Michaels to pick up some yarn for Celia's christmas stocking. I ended up with some Red tweedy like woolease, and a dark green to match it.

here it is!

I finished my first fingerless glove last night, and I love it! I can't wait to get the other one done so I can start wearing them.
Here is a picture of my glove.

creativity

Since I had so much trouble finding a pattern for fingerless gloves that I really loved, I decided to try my hand at making up my own as I go along. I'm using this beautiful deep purple wool/mohair blend that I got from Anmiryam, and I absolutely love them so far! I put a cable on the front, and am about halfway up the first glove. I am going to try to finish the first glove tomorrow/tuesday, I really want to have them finished by the time it gets cold here. At least I have time still!

I did some shopping this weekend too, went to my LYS, Woolwinders and picked a little something up for my secret pal, and actually managed not to buy anything for myself! Then today at target I also found a few other things to add to my first package to send out. Hopefully I'll get to the post office this week.

SecretPal 5

Well, now that SP5 is over, I thought I'd comment on my experience. I had a lot of fun sending gifts to my pal, Hayley. I've really enjoyed reading her blog, and learning about her. I wish her all the best and hope we can keep in touch. My spoiler was Anmiryam, and she was awesome! I had a great time and it was a lot of fun seeing what she picked out for me. I just got my last package yesterday, and I LOVED it! It contained a great book called "Scarves- a Knitters dozen", a neat kit to make a felted flower pin, and a really pretty sweater pin. Here are some pics:






I want to send a big thank you to Anmiryam! You were an amazing SP! I'm also having fun reading your blog and learning a bit about you as well. Keep in touch!

neat poll

You are Merino Wool.
You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to
keep you close because you are so softhearted.
You love to be comfortable and warm from your
head to your toes.


What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

DNA scarf

I was in blogland yesterday, and found the coolest scarf I've ever seen! It's a scarf with the DNA double helix cabled within it. I am absolutely going to make this one!

On another note, I've gotten a lot done on my socks in the last few days. I've turned the heel and started the foot, and should be done by the weekend. It's so neat to see it all come together. Soon I'll have a nice, warm pair of socks to wear this fall/winter.

SP-6 questions...answered!

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
Sadly, I am a bit of a yarn snob. I do gravitate towards soft, natural fibers, but am certainly willing to try anything once.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I am a horrible crochet-er, and am dying to learn how to spin.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
Smoke gives me migranes.

4. How long have you been knitting?
I've known how to knit for over 20 years, but have been knitting seriously for one year.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
I have an amazon one, but I haven't updated it in a while.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
vanilla, citrus, floral

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
YES YES YES!!!

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I'm a scrapbooker and photographer, and I quilt.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I guess that would be mainly rock if you had to classify it. I have an iBook/iPod, so yup, I love the mp3's!

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
Blues, greens and purples.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I'm married, wtih a 18 month old daughter, and 2 cats.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
to travel a lot, have a big family and be happy!

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
I love Debbie Bliss' collections, Knitpicks has some great yarns as well. I'm a huge fan of hand-painted yarn.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
anything scratchy.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
I have knitting ADD. I have at least 10 projects going at all times, and at various stages. I can't say that I have an obsession.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I do a lot of baby clothes, for my daughter and for friends. I'm trying socks (still on my first pair) and fingerless gloves (still on my first pair). I do like instant gratification.

17. What are you knitting right now?
Um...too many things to list here.

18. What do you think about ponchos?
I like them, I'm making one right now.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Circular.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Bamboo.

21. Are you a sock knitter?
I'm trying to be...

22. How did you learn to knit?
My aunt taught me when I was about 5. She used to make the nicest fair-isle mittens.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
about 1 year old.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I love poodles (just ask my daughter who was dressed in a pink poodle costume last halloween).

25. What is your favorite holiday?
Halloween, followed closely by my birthday.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
yarn, scrapbooking supplies, and poodles. Oh yes, and wine...I have about 5 cases at the moment.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
None.

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
Scarf style or wrap style.

29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another??
Not really.

30. What are your foot measurements, and what kind of socks do you like?
I have a size 9-1/2 to 10 foot. It seems that when I got pregnant two years ago, my feet grew an entire size! I hope that doesn't happen next time!

Alphabet sweater

This weekend was a good one for the Alphabet Sweater. I have maybe 20 rows left befoer I bind off the sleeves, and then I have just the front to do. I tried doing both sleeves at the same time, so it feels like they are taking forever! I love how it's turning out though, the green is so lovely and I love the twisty/aran-like look of it. I can't wait to see my daughter wearing it!

flower basket shawl

So I decided after last weekend's yarn stash organization that I am no longer allowed to visit any yarn shops unless I am buying for somewhere else. Or if I'm out of town and go to one, since that's a souvineer! ;) I did get my knitpicks shipment a few weeks back, and in it was some lace weight merino yarn that I wanted to try on a lace shawl. I looked high and low (online, of course) and finally found a pattern I really like, for the flower basket shawl from Fiber Trends. So I'm going to give it a shot. I found the pattern on ebay for like 5$, so I bought it and it arrived yesterday. I am hoping to find some time this weekend to get started and see how it goes!

So big!

So yesterday I went to Target with the intention of buying a sweater hanger for our closet, so that I have somewhere to store my yarn stash. Last night, I decided that I was going to get the closet organized a bit, and I cleared out room for my new organizer, and started to fill it. It is full! I can't believe how full it is! And the sad thing is that almost all of the yarn is spoken for. It does look really pretty though, lots of different colors and textures. I love it!

I'll have to take a pic and upload as soon as my mac is back from repair. My husband made me promise not to buy any more yarn for a long time. ;(

knitpicks rocks!

I came home yesterday from a weekend away, to a lovely package from KnitPicks! My yarn has arrived! It was much quicker than I had expected, and I am so excited to try using it. The new Merino lace yarn called Shadow is beautiful! I love it!

Didn't get much knitting done this weekend but I'm hoping to recover from the drive tonight after the baby is in bed. And tomorrow morning I have to wait for the air conditioning guys to come see why we're having so much trouble with it. First a leak from the vent in our master bath, and now the thermostat isn't at all close to being right. It is set at 70, but the temp in the house is over 80. Yuck.

off we go

Well, I'm headed up to Rochester this weekend. Should be nice, we have a family picnic with my in-laws. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone, especially those I haven't seen since my SILs wedding, and they still haven't seen Celia yet. There were three pregnant ladies at that christmas so it should be fun catching up with everyone and having the little ones meet. I'm definitely taking lots of knitting with me for the car ride up there, hopefully I'll be able to make some good progress. Though I've had a headache for 2 days now, and it's hard to knit with that.

Unfortunately we're leaving right after work today, so I have to miss my SnB meeting. I was supposed to pick up some squares from our Constant Coverage contest where we all made a bunch of 7 inch squares and now it's time to put the blankets together, but I forgot that we're leaving so I have to get them next week.

I was hoping to get packages to my SP out today, but unfortunately that won't happen until monday. And I placed my first Knitpicks order this week, and can't wait to receive it. I heard yesterday that it has shipped!

Ok, so I finally got things worked out so I can actually upload photos again. Stupid mac has been acting up since I had the backlight problem and I let my hubby fix it instead of taking it to a Mac repair person. It works sometimes now, and I took advantage to upload some pics of the gifts my Secret Pal sent me! I feel so loved!

I opened my package to find this...a beautifully wrapped book, and a kit to make a bag out of beautiful green wool and purple/green/blue eyelash yarn.



I opened up the book to find this...Looks like it will be a great read! How did you know how much I love reading?!




Now, since I"ve been such a slacker, I'm adding the pictures from my first package. I got it a few weeks back. It's beautiful mohair/wool yarn in two shades of purple, a book called "Knitticisms" and a post card. As you can see, I had to start using the one purple yarn right away...I think it shall be a pair of fingerless gloves. ;)




close-up of the beautiful purples.

Just playing here.

I thought it would be nice to have a place to post knitting related info as a journal for myself. I'm curious to see how Blogger works...this could be fun.