now for my WIPs

I requested that my SP8 participants post a list of their works in progress...so I figured it was only fair to show mine too. This is really sad...I had no idea it was this bad!


Here is the "streakers shrug" from IK spring 2006. I'm using the Tess Designer Yarns Cultivated Silk Wool, and absolutely love it! It's just a lot of stitches since I'm at the sleeves, so I've put this one aside for now.

This is a wash cloth for my friend Rachel, who absolutely LOVES Canada. We are from Buffalo, NY, so Niagara Falls/Toronto are like second homes to us. We spent a lot of time up that way in college. Ah, the memories!

Here is my Clapotis. Haven't touched it in a while...

And here is a Cardigan for my daughter, it will have a hood on it, it's the Knitty pattern, Child Hood or something like that. Cascade Superwash.

Branching Out, using some handpainted from my SP7 Kelly. I love it, but really have to concentrate on this one.

Here is the Embossed Leaves Sock from IK winter 2005. Needless to say I've barely started it. This is Koigu KPPPM.

Random Sock...Trekking

Scatter, out of Brown Sheep cotton fleece.

Oat Coutoure vest out of Manos

Fingerless gloves, Kipparoo Farms yarn

crochet blanket. Haven't touched this one in a very long time...

Poncho, which I haven't touched in a year. It's out of some yarn I picked up at Sheep and Wool in 2005.

Cardigan from Stitch and Bitch book, out of purple Silky Wool.

another crochet blanket. Started winter 2004/2005.

3 random started sweaters. Purple one is a baby cardigan out of knit picks shine, red is a tank out of manos cotton, blue is orangina out of Knit Picks shine..


So those are my indescretions. I actually finished 2 projects tonight, felted mittens and a felted purse, both started within the last 2 weeks. The one thing I don't have a pic of yet is my RPM socks (from Knitty), out of Socks That Rock. I seriously need to finish some projects before starting anything else!!

great week.

I had a very craft-busy week! Wednesday I went over to Lisa's place to do some stamping, chatting and wine drinking. ;) Between the two of us we polished off a large bottle of Yellow Tail Cab. Sauv. It was awesome! Needless to say, I had to wait a while to drive home, so I stayed until Midnight. I got a few good cards started, and picked up my The Angel Company(TAC) stamp order. Mostly paper, card stock, ink and a few little stamps.

Then last night, I had a blast too! I went to another sit and knit at a place in Columbia. It's called The Lakeside, where I met up with Jody and her group. It was so much fun to meet everyone, and they welcomed me warmly! It was fun to see what everyone is workong on, and I'm definitely inspired to use some of the dish cloth cotton I bought a while back to make some dish cloths for charity!

I ended up getting home around 8:45, which was perfect! I sat, watched an old episode of Gilmore Girls, and worked on my vest some more while Nathan worked on the SP9 sign up form! No more e-mail signups for SP9, we'll have a special form, data base and the works! He's getting close to being done, which is perfect, since he starts a contract job next week. ;)

Not much else going on. I'm REALLY looking forward to the weekend! I can't wait to spend some good quality time with my girl, and just have some good old-fashioned fun!

check this out!!

One of my friends just opened up an Etsy shop selling some of her handspun yarn, as well as some unique plants she's grown. Her yarn is really beautiful, go check it out!! Sapphire Child.

And the winner is.... Heather!! Thanks to all who read my ramblings!! I've had such a great time getting to know you all, in person and in cyberspace!

9 pm???

I went to my SnB last night, which was great! Half way through, Lisa came in which was great! We chatted a bit, but after we left we realized that we really didn't get to talk very much. We called our respective husbands and asked if we could stay out and play longer! There was a starbucks in teh plaza, so we decided to walk over there...except that it was closed! At 9pm!! So we tried to think of another place to go for coffee, but couldn't. I finally remembered another area just down the road with restaurants, so we ended up at Dogfish Head! Booze is much better than coffee! She had a white chocolate martini and a sour apple-tini (both made with their own vodka), and I had two glasses of Fat Bastard Shiraz (one of my absolute favorites!!). We stayed out until about 11, and it was SO much fun! I'm a little tired today, but it was really worth it! I never get to go out to bars anymore (at least when it's not just for a quick happy hour)!

Happy Blog-a-versary!

I completely missed my first Blog-a-versary! I was so wrapped up in getting my tests done, that I let it slip my mind! Aug 8th was the day!

I am going to do a drawing! If you read my blog regularly or on occaision, please leave me a comment!! I will put all commenters names in a hat and draw a name, and a gift will be on it's way to the winner!!

Thanks everyone for your support and fun over the last year!! Let's hope the next one is even better!!

I'll draw a name Sunday evening!!!

Come join in!

So I've been wanting (and needing) to lose a few pounds for a while now! Kerry has decided to start a Chub Club!. You pay $30, and over the course of 3 months the person to lose the most BMI gets the pool of money!

I'm hoping that losing some weight will help in our efforts to get pregnant again. If I can just drop 10%, my doctor said it might be enough to get me ovulating normally again. On my own. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

And if you are wanting to lose a few pounds, please join the Chub-Club! It's a chance to win a nice pot of money for doing something really good for yourself!

blah

Yesterday was a very bad day. I have this HSG on wednesday, and they want you taking antibiotics before and after to make sure you don't get an infection. My husband and I both started them sunday, and monday morning I woke up with a horrible headache. I haven't had a headache like that for as long as I can remember- and I've had migranes a lot the last 8 years! I made it in to work, and by 10:30 I was feeling really horrible and a little out of it. After calling the doctor to see if it was due to the antibiotic (they said probably since my eyes were puffy/itchy too), I decided that I wasn't good being at work, so I went home and crashed. I slept from 11 til 3, and woke up feeling a little better. At least well enough to eat some mac n cheese, and get a little work done from home. I'm still a little tired, and my head hurts a little bit, but it's that residual hurt. I'll definitely be at work today, thankfully!

This weekend was good, Nathan had a dentist appt, and we took Celia so she could see what it was like. She insisted on it being her turn after Nathan was done, and thankfully the hygenist had a cancellation, so Celia got her teeth cleaned! It was so cute, she sat on my lap and did such a great job! What a big girl...I can't believe she's getting so big!

Funny knitting content on TV sighting: Celia has been watching Caillou non-stop for weeks now! I was sitting watching with her this morning, and Caillou went to a sheep farm with his grandma. They showed yarn, a spinning wheel, and even how to spin it! I was impressed....maybe the show isn't so terrible/annoying afterall!

Fantastic monday!

The words fantastic and monday rarely belong in the same sentence together for me! Yesterday was a perfect exception!

Work was good, I got a lot accomplished. And I went to an impromtu lunch with some co-workers to On The Border for Mexcian. YUMMY!!!

For my birthday, my husband and daughter got me a gift certificate for a massage, which I turned in yesterday! I was early, and managed to resist popping into Woolwinders beforehand. I was proud! I stopped for an iced vanilla latte before my massage, and boy was it good!

I got home around 6:30, and Nathan had made Dinner (chicken nuggets, canned green beans and canned peaches) and fed Celia. I walked in the door and he tossed a few more nuggets in the oven for me.

I spotted a box and a soft envelope on the counter, with my name on it!! The box was my Amazon.com order of books, I got Socks Soar on 2 circs, Spin-it, and Knitting on the Road. All 3 look great, I can't wait to sit down and really look through them. The second package, was my STR!! I was SO excited to open this one. I have to say it is SO soft, and the color is incredible. I can't wait to play with it this week.

Last night my hubby and I got Celia to bed together, on time! We relaxed and watched some TV, while I spun some of the alpaca that I got at MS&W. It's so soft, pretty and just easy to spin.

In bed by 9:30!!

The PERFECT monday!!

Jay-walking

It's been a productive weekend! First, and most importantly, my first Jaywalker sock is done!! I was initially attracted to the pattern because my maiden name was Jay...but the sock is great! I am absolutely loving this Lornas Laces yarn. It's so soft, and works up really beautifully. And the green/purple doesn't hurt! I am so in love with this sock, and this pattern, that I will definitely do it again. NO SSS for me!!



The other productivity comes with cleaning. The island in the kitchen was completely full of miscellaneous things. Things we hadn't found a place for, junk mail, random things. Now it's clean!! And our cars, which haven't been cleaned in a very long time, are now clean too! There were still french fries from our last car trip (January!), and now they are all gone! The sucky thing is that in the process, we broke the vacuum. Don't try to suck animal crackers up with a regular vacuum appholstery attachment. That will teach me not to buy a shop-vac!

Then today, I went over to Woolwinders for their Sunday in the Salon lesson. Today was on knitting "continental". It was especially cool because Jody met me there. It was fun to meet and knit with a knitblogger I've been chatting with online. She's so awesome! If you haven't visited her blog yet, go check it out! I think we'll be getting together to knit once and a while, and I'm going to help her finish her quilt! And I learned how to knit with my right hand as well (I've always thrown with my left hand) which was great! Now maybe I won't be so terrified to try fair isle.

That is all! I'm tired from washing my car...must cast-on for Jaywalker #2.

gotta love 2 year olds!

The other day when I was ordering my STR, my 2 and a half year old was watching over my shoulder. She squeels, and says "I LIKE THIS YARN!!". I think I'm creating a monster! And I love it. Now I'll have more excuse to have a bigger stash once she's a little older and can learn to knit. ;)

On the destashing front, I had friends up this past weekend. One of the girls (my friends SIL) wanted to learn to knit, so I taught her in less than 5 minutes. She picked it up very quickly, and was THRILLED when I handed over two balls of baby acrylic yarn that I bought a few years ago for gifts that I never used (unfortunately the baby I was going to make the blanket for didn't make it). I knew I'd never touch it, so I handed it over to her. She loved it!

And I finished fingerless glove #1 for my SIL's christmas present! And I'm working on the gussett of Jaywalker #1.

This weekend I"m looking forward to! Sunday, I"m meeting up with Javajem over at Woolwinders for their sit and knit. This week is on learning continental or english style knitting, depending on what you want to learn! I'm so excuted! It will be awesome to meet a fellow local knitblogger!

STR

I finally ordered some Socks That Rock! I picked 3 colorways, one is for my Yarn Abroad pal, and the other two are for me! I saw that chipping was $5 whether you buy 1 or 3, so I did 3! I can't wait for it to come in so I can cast on for yet another pair of socks. ;)

SP8 and Dyeing!!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!! My Secret Pal 8 is the most awesome person! She has outdone herself again!

Here are the contents of my second package, the BLUE package! (First package was the purple package)!


Here are the contents:

Two bags in a cool blue pattern, they are perfect for crafting on the go!
A cool blue beaded cell phone charm (and yes, I do have a cell phone, it is on it right now!!)


blue leaves
really pretty smelling soap
OPAL sock yarn!! I've been wanting to try this for ever, and have never actually seen it. It's SO soft, and really will make myself an awesome pair of socks!
Addi bamboo needles, very long, perfect for magic loop!
A cool knitting magazine, Simply Knitting. I've already found a few patterns to add to my to-do list. I'm so excited!
and orange chocolate!! It's sitting in my fridge resolidifying (darn sun!), and will enjoy that tonight when I get back from my card-making meet up.

I have also uploaded pictures of my dyeing excapade from last friday, but blogger is misbahaving and not letting me add any photos! Bad blogger!

This is my attempt with reds and browns. I used some black cherry kool aid, but the rest are from my Ateco food coloring set.




And here is my blue/purple attempt. The dark blue is much more what i wanted in the previous attempt, I just added more dye to the water/vinegar. The purple however, is violet...which doesn't really look very violet. It didn't resuspend very well, but it isn't too bad either. Kind of looks like I meant for it to turn out that way!

This is my last attempt, supposed to be purples and pinks, but the pink or fushia weren't resuspending at all so I tossed them. I substituted some black cherry kool aid again, and some grape as well. kind of funky, but I think it might just work for some mittens or a hat or something.

long weekend

This weekend was good and bad.

The Good:
Friday night on my way home from work, I stopped off at Michaels to pick up some more cake dyes, and some cotton yarn for dishcloths. I got some Sugar N Cream, and some wilton dyes.
I did some more dyeing friday night, and while I had some technical difficulties (certain colors wouldn't dissolve), I also had some great success. I'll post pics tonight if I remember!

Saturday afternoon (after a very successful trip to Costco), my friend Rachel and her sister-in-law came up from VA for some scrapbooking/cardmaking. They left when our sitter got there, and Nathan and I went out for the most amazing meal I've had in a long time, at Jaleo, a Tapas bar in Bethesda. The food was unbelievable, and the sangria was yummy too!

Sunday I went to the mall with my lovely daughter, where she got a haircut, and got to run around a little. We picked up McDonalds on the way home (of course she fell asleep in the car). And yes, I have seen "Super Size-Me", and I feel that it's got a great point, but as long as we eat the stuff in moderation, that it won't kill me or my kid, and if it helps keep me sane to run through the drivethru once in a while, I will.


The Bad:
Friday when I got to my daughter's daycare, she had a little fever. I had thought I noticed the same thing earlier that morning, but she always wakes up warm so I figured it was nothing.

Saturday she slept til about 7, and was really warm now. I checked her temp, and it was 102. SHe kept saying that her mouth hurt, and pointed at her molar taht was coming in. I figured she was teething, gave her motrin and we went about our day.

Costco was good, but she melted down halfway through. Just kept crying, and crying, and asking for chocolate milk.

She took a fantastic nap! And then played with playdoh while we scrapbooked. Then she played with the babysitter, ate, and went to bed.

Sunday, she was completely hysterical any time we put anything into her mouth. Would make a bad face, and pull it out (she didn't even spit it out) crying. Again, we still thought it was teething, but I was now getting a little skeptical on that. By the afternoon, she had been compeltely miserable, and couldn't eat bananas or yogurt. At this point, I knew something wasn't right. Her fever was gone by now too.

Monday morning we went to the doctor, who said that she had Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. Very different from Foot and mouth disease, don't worry! HF&M is caused by a virus (coxsackie virus) and causes a fever, and nasty sores/ulcers on the mouth/throat, hands and feet (thus hand, foot and mouth). All we could do was give her motrin, and lots of TLC.

I took her home and gave her lots of TLC. We watched lots of Sesame Street, she napped, and we both rested.

More good:
She's feeling much better today, and is back at Day Care.

I got LOTS of knitting done. Switched between 4 different projects (shrug from IK spring, Jaywalker socks, fingerless gloves, and another pair of socks), and while I didn't finish any of them, I got some good progress done.

here's mine too.

Ok, since I asked my participants to post this questionnaire, I thought it would be nice to post it so they can learn a little about me too! I have to say that having a smaller group of participants is so much more fun, I'm actually able to read their blogs semi-regularly, and see all the cool things that they are up to!


1) What is your favorite season of the year? Spring! The flowers are so beautiful, and you can just smell the new life everywhere. I feel like a kid again every spring.

2) Where is your favorite vacation spot? Niagara on the Lake in Ontario, Canada. I went on my honeymoon there, tasted hundreds of yummy wines, and love going back every chance I get.

3) If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be? I'd love to go to Austrailia!

4) If you could pick any job, and be paid well, what would it be? A stay at home mom. I hate that I have to work and miss so much time with my baby girl!

5) If you were going on vacation for 1 week, and had to take ONLY one project with you, what would it be? Probably socks, but it would have to be in a hand=dyed yarn, to help make them more special.

6) If you won a shopping spree to your favorite Yarn shop, what would you get?? I'd definitely have to go for some of the Schaefer yarns, I love them, and love to pet them but can't really afford them. The colors are out of this world, and the yarn is just so soft!

knitting away!

So on Saturday I received some yarn for a super secret project I'm working on for Chrissy, and I have to say I'm having a blast with it! I finished the knitting last night, and will seam it and block it tonight! It is really pretty, I think I'll definitely be making this pattern again!!

On another topic, I started a garden yesterday! A vegetable garden! I planted two squash plants, a horseradish and rhubarb! I can't wait to see if they grow. Next year I plan to expand it to include peppers, beans, tomoatoes, lettuce and a few other things.

dying, part 2!

So I finally got around to dying one hank today. Since it was my first time, I decided to take it easy and do just one hank, following the microwavable directions found here. I chose 5 colors from the Ateco set I have, a green, blue, yellow, teal and aqua.


First, I soaked the yarn for about 30 min in water with vinegar. Then I squeezed the water/vinegar out and put it in a pyrex dish. I mixed the dye, about 5 big drops (it's kind of thick so it was more like globs) in about 1/2 cup of water. I started out with the yellow, and sort of went on either side of the yellow with the next color, and so on until I got to the last color at the end. I really saturated the yarn, made sure it was soaked through, but not so wet that the colors would bleed too much. I covered it with plastic wrap and microwaved it for 2 and a half minutes, let it rest for two minutes, and nuked it again for 2 and a half minutes. I let it sit until I could touch the pyrex dish, and picked up the yarn to dry over my kitchen sink. I was so excited when I picked up the yarn, because TONS of water was coming from the yarn and it was CLEAR! After it dried mostly, I rinsed it again until the water was completely clear, and hung it up outside to dry.


It's still not dry, so I don't have a pic. of the newly dyed/wound yarn, but I will get to that tomorrow! Here are the pics I took this morning.



All in all, I'm pleased! The colors are prettty good, not too dark but not too pastel, and I think I'm definitely going to try this again! Just with a little less water to dye ratio for a little richer colors.

dying!

I am finally going to try dying the Color Your Own yarn I got from Knit Picks. I was speaking with a co-worker yesterday about it, and she said something about possibly using cake dyes (food coloring). So I was online early this morning (thanks to my lovely daughter who woke up at 3:30, crawled in bed for a few hours and was fully up by 6) looking for info on using food coloring. Thankfully it looks like it should be the same as using Kool Aid. AND, I have a set of 16 dyes for making icing. So I'm going to give this a shot today, and will post pics when I have a finished product!

For those of you who don't read my LJ, we had a fun week. Last friday I picked up a dog from the lady we bought our house from. She was such a sweetie! Or at least until we brought my daughter in the room. She was fine most of the time, but decided to see what Celia tasted like. She nipped her 6-7 times throughout the week, and was mostly going for Celia's face. So thursday night, I had my husband call the woman we got the dog from, and she made arrangements to have the dog picked up. It was SO hard too let Sadie go, she was so adorable, and really sweet most of the time. I just couldn't have a dog in the house that wanted to bite my daughter's face. If anything ever happened, I'd never forgive myself. And the nipping was making her afraid of the dog to, which wasn't good either. I'm really sad about it, but I guess when Celia is older (at least 6) we can re-visit getting another dog (unless we have more kids, in which case the youngest would have to be 6.

more sp8

My pal also sent a card in that package to be opened on my birthday. I opened it last sunday and was amazed! It was such a pretty card, with a light green handknit sweater on the card- on the needles- which were toothpicks! I thought the idea was so inventive! I actually asked her if she had knit it on the needles, or on the actual toothpicks, and she did use the toothpicks! She's just amazing!

Belated THANKS!!

Ok, so I have been a total jerk! I did thank my wonderful secret pal, but didn't get around to posting the pictures of the amazing package she sent me! Of course my battery died in my camera and I couldn't find my charger, and then I couldn't find my cable to plug it into my laptop. But finally, I have gotten the mystery solved, and have all cables/chargers necessary! Here are a few pics of what my amazing SP8 sent me a few weeks back!!

Here you can see:
fantastic knitting magazine, a beautiful handknit purse, a card, some embellishments for cards/scrapbooking, and some cool yarn!












Here is a close-up of the bag, some lavendar soap which I LOVE, a key chain, and a satchel with lavendar...Did I mention that I love lavendar?? It's my favorite!













And here's the yarn, and roving! I can't wait to spin it up, the colors are just perfect! And a pretty glass jar, and I think I didn't take a photo of the chocolate, because it was eaten immediately...and so yummy!



Thank you SO much sp8!! I love it all!!

So good!

Well, the Adagio tea is absolutely worth it!! SO GOOD!! I had some of the Assam melody this morning, and was in absolute heaven! If you like tea at all, definitely give it a try. It was funny yesterday too, because I was at Whole Foods, and they carry Adagio teas as well, only they are much more expensive. I'm definitely going to be ordering from them in the future. I want to try some of the teas I never see- like white teas, and rooibos teas. And as a promotion, they let you send friends a 5$ gift certificate to try some teas (the sample sizes are 1-2$ for most). If you want a gc, let me know and I'll set you up!

On the yarn front, I've been very bad. I'm part of the Summer of Stash which is to help use up your stash, and refrain from yarn buying. My two exceptions were a KnitPicks order for some things for my SP (which I did last month, and added in some of the Color your own yarn to make it to $40 for free shipping). The other exception was birthday related. I went to Woolwinders, the LYS closest to me, to pick up some size 10 dpns to make something special for my SP (but I"m not telling what!). I was walking around and the manager told me that Manos is going to be increased by $1 per skein when the owner came in and priced the new arrival of manos. I thought about it, walked around the store, and figured that if I could find a pattern for it, and buy only what is needed for the pattern, that it would be ok. Especially since my dad said he was sending me money for my birthday, and it was, in fact, my 30th birthday a few days before! So I saw this great Oat Coutoure pattern that I decided I just had to make, and figured that if I could find a color that had enough skeins, that it would be all mine! I found this fantastic green verigated, with all shades of greens, and some golds and browns thrown in. It's unlike ANYTHING I have at the moment, so I went for it. On my way to the check out, I mentioned that it was OK to misbehave since it was just my birthday. She asked me when it was, and how old I was, and she then said that they have a birthday discount! So I got 15% off everything! Nice!!

Tea time!

Ok, so I read over on Kerry's blog about an online Tea company called Adagio Teas. She sent me a promotional gift certificate to check it out, and boy am I now really excited to get my shipment in! She raved about the cream tea, so I got a sample of that, a sample of almond, cinnamon, vanilla, and chamomile too. I love tea, probably more than coffee (I bet that's a surprise to many of you!), and have been enjoying it since I was about 5, with cream and sugar, and I still like it the same way. It's funny, because my 2 year old also likes it. I will give her a little taste when I'm having some and she always wants more- though she does that with wine too, she's got sophisticated taste! Anyway, I'm really excited to try this tea. I even got a little something for my SP8, since I know she likes tea too! Two birds with one stone!

Thanks Kerry!!

it's over!

Well, my 30th birthday has come and gone! For some odd reason, I feel really great about it, like it's only uphill from here.

AND I had an amazing weekend! My husband threw me a party on saturday, and many friends came to celebrate with me! I had an absolute blast, and lots of red wine- YUM. Yesterday was much quieter, and consisted of a breakfast out, and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. I even cast on for a christmas present for my SIL (wristwarmers from knitty.com). Other than that, we had dinner at Carrabbas for dinner, and went to bed early. All I can say is that it was the PERFECT birthday weekend! And to top it off, my hubby also gave me a really nice gift- a gift certificate for a massage! YES!

update!

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention, I updated my etsy shop with more stitch markers. Over the next few days, several more will be added, along with more cards!!

Guess what?

It looks like I might get to go to Rhinebeck!!! My friend is going with her mom, and she offered me a ride! I am so going to take her up on it. Now I have to save my pennies for more fiber. YES!

getting older

With my 30th coming in a few days (the 25th), I've been asked by several people what I'd like. So I finally got my butt in gear and added my Amazon.com Wishlist to the side bar.

my weekend.

Friday, I got an AWESOME package from my SP8! It had all sorts of goodies, including a beautiful handknit purse, some fun yarn, a lavendar sachel and soap, an awesome knitting magazine, and a few other awesome things! I'll post a picture as soon as I find my camera cord.

Friday my father-in-law came for a visit. We had mexican for dinner- YUM, followed by a trip to Home Depot. Started priming the walls.
Saturday I made french toast for breakfast, Celia and I did some shopping and went to a birthday party. We went home, and painted a bit, then played out back in the little plastic pool we have. Grilled out for dinner, and relaxed in the evening.
Sunday, we went out for breakfast (IHOP was SO good!), and another home depot trip, and the boys did more work. We ordered chineese for dinner, and painted all day.

Sunday Celia was a bit out of sorts, and I was thinking she had a sore throat. I was right! I took her to the doctor this morning (to have her cough looked at, and her throat at the same time) and the strep test was postive. She has it AGAIN. Which means that by tomorrow I'll have it, as well as a raging sore throat. So it was overall a good weekend, though it has ups and downs. We now have a light in our bedroom, and freshly painted walls (though another coat is needed).

more unpacking

We've been so busy unpacking that I haven't had time to knit at all, until last night! I did some work on my Jaywalker sock, and I love how it's coming out. LOVE IT!

We've also been catching up on the last season of Alias, which I love! It's getting really interesting now. I can't wait to see what happens! Unfortunately since it's so exciting, I can't knit well while watching it.

Not much else oging on...just unpacking and organizing. More later!

package!

Friday afternoon when I was cleaning the NEW house, the doorbell rang. I ran down to see who it was, and there was a package waiting for me! I looked at the return address and knew right away that it was from a lady that I met through Secret Pal. She was going to Scotland, and brought me back a skein of this really beautiful Cranberry colored yarn! I am looking for a great pattern to use it on, probably a scarf, or a hat. I have to say that through Secret Pal, I've met some pretty incredible people who I wouldn't have normally met. Thanks Jody for thinking of me while you were away!! I look forward to joining you at your knitting group some time this summer. Once we're settled into the new house!

staburies!

Yesterday, we decided to take a little break! We knew it was about time for Strawberry picking, and I looked online after I got up to find that it was the first day! So off we went at 8:30 to head over to Butler's Orchard. We spent all of 20 minutes there, until we had so many strawberries that we'd never get through them. Last night, to use some of the berries up, I made some chocolate fondue (with the chocolate block I got from Melting Pot when we went there for our Anniversary). I had to share this picture of my Celia, who REALLY enjoyed her strawberries and chocolate (she calls them "Staburies")

It's official!!

We closed on the new house this morning!! We are home owners again!!! Woo hoo!!!

AND to top that off, last night i was packing some dishes, and had to resort to using news paper. When opening it up, out fell the ads. Usually there is one for Kohl's, and Michaels. I don't always get one for Michales though, so when out fell a stack of paper from Michaels I was thrilled! I looked at it more closely this morning, to find that it wasn't a little booklet advertisement. It was NINE separate advertisements for Michaels...all with 40% off coupons! I'm in Michaels heaven!! YEAH!!

Ok...I think the excitement is a little exaggerated by the two margaritas I had over our celebratory lunch. ;)

no luck

I had fun at the craft fair, but didn't sell much. I actually only sold one set of stitch markers and that was it. The funny thing was that across the parking lot was a yarn shop! I walked in, and mentioned to the owner that I make beaded stitch markers, and she offered to sell them on consignent for me. ;) So it was at least a bit of a success!

Today we were supposed to close on the townhouse, but it got postponed to wednesday. It was a good thing too, because I would have gotten everyone there sick. Unfortunately I have a stomach virus, and have been completely out of commission today. Fever, head ache, and spending all day in the bathroom or sleeping- not much fun.

Mount Airy Mayfest!

I'll be sharing a booth with a friend who does stained glass, this weekend at the Mt. Airy May fest! Our booth is located down from the Mt. Airy Pharmacy, booth #120. If you are in the area, stop by and say hi!!

keeping busy!

My SP asked me to post some pics of what I'm working on, so here goes!!

Here are a few examples of what I'll be adding to my etsy store:

Stitch markers!! I now have about 50 sets of 4 or 5!!




Cards!! I think I have about 150 cards now! Some are in sets, some are singles! I did post a few on my store, they are actually dated as February, and they are great for knitters! Rocking Chair, with a pretty quilt, next to a basket with yarn and knitting needles!







Bracelets!! I think I have about 75 now. Here are just a few!

bracelets, stitch markers and cards... OH MY!

I had a productive weekend! Friday night I stamped out about 100 images, and water colored them in, so they are mostly ready to be placed on cards! Then sunday, I made about 15 more bracelets, and 20 sets of stitch markers! I'm making loads of progress for this weekend! Unfortunately it doesn't leave much knitting time, but I'll make up for it next week!

Sheep and Wool part 2

I had some pics I still wanted to post, so here goes!!

I lifted these from Saun and Zarah. Finally, I'm posting not one, but two pictures of me! I usually hate pictures of me, but these aren't that bad! And the company is cool! Saun was the woman I spoiled during SP6, and Zarah was one of the ladies in my group of participants for SP7! Too cool to meet these people!




Then some more shots of my other purchases (yes, there were more)...
This is my new drop spindle, I LOVE IT! I've got the green merino roving on it now, and some pink merino I got from Ebay on my other little spindle that Kelly gave me.


And this, is my favorite purchase. This is Tess' Designer Yarns cultivated Silk/wool. I started working with this the second I got home. I'm making the Streakers Shawl from spring 2006 IK. I love how it's coming out so far!



Now for some yarn porn. When I dream about MS&W, this is what I dream about:





And lastly, here is a pic of my little girl and my mom. Thanks so much for coming down to the festival with me! I can't wiat for next year!!!

crafts and packing!!

The last few nights, I've spent a bit of time packing! We have tons of boxes to fill, which I doubt will be any problem. I'm making a lot of progress! Nathan has been taking Celia to the playground, allowing me an hour each night to pack. I got so much done last night!

I've also been working on making lots of bracelets, stitch markers, and cards for the Mount Airy Mayfest craft festival that I'm doing next weekend. I'm sharing a table with a friend, and I don't have enough stuff to sell! I'm working on it though, and I've definitely added a lot more to my stash. After the festival, I'll be posting a lot of it on my Etsy store, and will be offering discounts to the Secret Pal 8 participants!

MS&W 2006!!

All I can say is WOW! I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool last year, and had a blast! But this year, I had even more fun and bought more yarn! My mom and I met at her hotel and had breakfast, before heading out to the festival. We got there at around 8:45, and it was already crowded! I stopped off at Tess' Designer yarns first, and turned in my sample:

For payment for making the tank, I got this:
The yellow/purple/blue superwash merino will be a sweater for Celia, and the sock yarn will be for socks for me!











Then we wandered over to the main building. So much fiber everywhere!! I went to the Koigu booth and got this:











Then we wandered some more and I got these:


wool roving!!















Alpaca!!
















Merino!!












After some shopping, we needed a break! Here is my mom, having some water. It was hot!


'



At 1:30, I wandered over to the grassy knoll where the knitbloggers were meeting up! I didn't stay long, since I was exasuted and had lots more shopping to do!

My SP8 Questionnaire!

Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love most natural yarns. I am not a big fan of acrylic, but some of the novelty yarns are fun. I do love alpaca, merino, and other really soft yarns. I love Koigu, Lorna's Laces, Debbie Bliss, Manos de Uraguay, and most of KnitPick's yarns.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
My SP7 made me a needle case for my straight needles, so I use that. For circs, they are in a CD case. My Double Pointed needles stay in their orig. packaging so I don't get them mixed up.

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I've been knitting since I was 5, but seriously for 2 years. I'd say I'm intermediate, and not afraid to try anything!

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes, I do, but it really needs to be updated.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
Lavendar Vanilla, from Bath and Body Works aromatherapy line.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Oh yes! I love chocolate, and fruity candy (Twizzlers, sweet tarts, spree, skittles, starburst)

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I am an avid scrapbooker, card maker, rubber stamper. I also do beaded jewelry/stitch markers, quilting, photography and cooking. I am starting to spin now, and AM HOOKED!!

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I have an iPod and iBook, so MP3s are good! I listen to most types of music, except for country music. I love Rock, pop, and metal. My favorite bands are Barenaked Ladies, Guster, Great Big Sea, They Might be Giants, and Dave Matthews Band.

9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I love blues, greens, purples pinks. I really dislike orange, and many bright yellows.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I am married, with a 2 year old daughter. I've got 2 cats.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I love scarves, mittens and hats. Ponchos I'm not sure about, but don't dislike them.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Lately it's been socks. And clothes for my daughter.

13. What are you knitting right now?
Too many things to mention! I've got Clapotis going, two pairs of socks, three sweaters (two for my daughter and one for me), a scarf or two, and the Flower Basket Shawl. And I just started the Streekers Shrug from the spring IK out of Tess' cultivated Silk/wool that i got at MS&W

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Of course!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I prefer circulars that are bamboo, but use anything but plastic.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Nope, but hope to some day.

17. How did you learn to knit?
My aunt and my mom taught me when I was 5.

18. How old is your oldest UFO?
About a year old

19. What is your favorite holiday?
my birthday!

20. Is there anything that you collect?
poodles, shot glasses, pins (especially from different places/countries)- I have a baseball cap that I put them on, and wine. My husband and I have a nice wine collection. We buy a bottle every where we go!

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
For books, I'd say One Skein looks great! I'm also really wanting to give dyeing a try. I do have Interweave Knits as a subscription (thanks to my SP6!). And for needles, size 1, circulars that are LONG (about 40 inches) for the magic Loop method.

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I want to get better at spinning. And lace, my Flower Basket Shawl needs some major help! And Dyeing, I really want to make hand dyed sock yarns!

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes! I'm not sure, I'll find out and change this later. I wear a 10 wide.

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
June 25th. And I'll be 30 this year! Argh!

Sheep and Wool!!!

Ok, I have a serious problem. I'm way too excited for Maryland Sheep and Wool! I kept dreaming about yarn last night, and patterns were flying through my head. What to buy for? What to look for? I feel like a kid before Christmas! I saw the forcast this morning, and it looks like it will be about 75 and sunny!! I'm so relieved! I would have still gone if it was pouring, but this makes it better. I'm still debating on whether to bring Celia with me. She'd love the animals, but I'm pretty sure she'd crash before I will be ready to leave. Maybe I'll take her out there sunday after my mom leaves... something to think about. Then I'd get to go twice!

SnB

It's been months since I've been able to go to the SnB at Panera! It looks like I'm finally going to get to go tonight!

done!

I finished the sweater for Tess' Designer Yarns! I really like it, too! I just wish I could try it on, but it's a medium and I don't want to stretch it out. ;)

It looks really nice though, the only thing I had trouble with was picking up the stitches for the collar. The microfiber ribbon is slippery, so I had to use a crochet hook to do it. Overall, I'm very pleased with it. Not bad for a first shot at sample knitting!

4 more days!!

Just 4 more days until Maryland Sheep and Wool!! I am SO excited! I keep thinking of what to buy, what I want to make next, and the like. This is going to be so much fun! And I get to go with my mom, which will make it even better!