I’m a bad secret pal, but I’m still gonna be a godmother! :-)

My poor SP10 buddy has waited long and hard for me to finally post a picture of my final package.  I meant to do it a long time ago, then when I sat down at the computer the other day to upload the picture, I realized I left my camera at my best friend’s house after visiting them and the new baby.  Sorry–it’s been a crazy week or so here…I’ll post it now:

 

Isn’t the cotton gorgeous?  I think I will make DD a cardigan out of it for this winter.  I kind of blew off knitting for her last winter ‘cuz she was growing so fast I was afraid she would outgrow anything I made her too quickly.  She’s wearing a 2-3T now, so if I make it in a 4T, I think I will be safe.  My pal even included color coordinated stitch markers for the project!  They are so pretty and even have little bells on them–I definitely don’t own stitch markers this fancy–I’m going to have to dress up a bit whenever I knit with them, lol.  There was also a cute keychain in there and originally TWO kit kats, but I inhaled the other one during a weak moment, lol.  My pal was

http://www.purlsjustwannahavefun.typepad.com/  and she was awesome!!  Anyone to have her as a pal is definitely in for a treat!  And her little one is adorable, too 😉

Speaking of little ones–I’m gonna be a godmother!!  I mentioned earlier that my best friend has a new baby at home–he’s 9 days old now and so cuddly!  I’ve gotten to see him 3 times already and hold him and cuddle.  His mommy surprised me the other day by asking me to be his godmother–I was so shocked, touched and excited all at the same time.  I’ve never been a godmother before, so I hope I live up to expectations.

On the knitting front, I picked up my braids cardigan again and have been knitting away on it.  It’s going much quicker now and I’ve switched it to my new knitpicks needles with a longer cable and it’s much more enjoyable to knit on now.  So glad I got my knitpicks options!  I still have to make fringe on my artyarns scarf, but need to do it while DD is sleeping (which she hasn’t done a lot of lately–molars?) ‘cuz I know she will be grabbing the little fringe pieces and making a run for it.  She still likes to use the needles I gave her and some scrap yarn to pretend to knit with mommy–who knows, maybe she will be the youngest knitter yet?  A mom can dream, can’t she?  LOL

I am sooo excited to get the final Harry Potter book in my hands–especially since it will arrive shortly before our whole family leaves for a 9 day cruise to the caribbean.  I know my SIL and I will be reading it the whole time, if I don’t pull all-nighters and finish it before we even leave!  I’ve finished all my book club books thru September and even read another one (The Pilot’s Wife–please comment if you read this–I have a question about the ending–thanks!).  I ordered Water for Elephants and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter to read when done with Harry.  I picked up Cold Sassy Tree again the other day as I don’t want to start anything I can’t finish before the 21st.  I don’t know what it is, but I just can’t get into this book!  I have a feeling something big is just about to happen in it soon, so maybe it will go faster….I looked over my bookshelf the other day of books that I have bought in anticipation of reading, but haven’t gotten to reading yet.  I seem to have these big huge novels left–I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb, My Life by Bill Clinton (I don’t know why–just thought this would be an interesting read, but I’m not a political person at all…), Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Beach Music by Pat Conroy (one of my most favorite authors, btw), Angela’s Ashes, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, 2 novels by Eileen Goudge (I liked her first book, thought I would enjoy these, too), a book someone freecycled to me called Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie and a 3 in one book by Jane Austen.  This is not including all the books by Ann Rice I haven’t gotten to.  I lost track of the vampire chronicles, read the first witch novel (and LOVED it, btw), but then I got confused at to what went next, then she merged the two stories–I am hopelessly lost at this point, lol.  I should really go to her website and get these in order and try to plow thru them sometime.  I would really love to have this book shelf cleared off by the end of the year if not by next July–I will make this my goal!

Well, I think I’m gonna hit the shower before DD wakes up.  We need to take her for new shoes before the cruise–her sandals we just bought her started rubbing on her foot and leaving a mark, so out they go!  She outgrows shoes faster than clothes, lol!  I might even sneak over to see my godson (boy that feels nice to say) and maybe look into a WW meeting, gulp.  I only have 9 months or so until my sister’s wedding and I have to squeeze into a matron of honor dress.  Her best friend is a stick with no boobs and I’m gonna look like Dolly Parton next to her, sigh….Later!

Knitpicks Options needles and my latest WIP

Well, I think I posted a few days ago that my options needles came in, but I didn’t have a chance to blog about it.  I wanted to give them a test run first, and the verdict is in–I LOVE THEM!!!  I am seriously considering selling ALL my addi’s that I have left (I have sold quite a few already through knitswap@yahoogroups.com to fund the purchase of the options set, but I kept a few, just in case….).  I had wanted to start the scarf kit that my SP10 pal sent me, but decided to wait until I had my options set to do it.  Well, I put the needles together quickly and was impressed with the join and how well they stay together–as long as you use the key to help assemble them.  I am plugging along on the scarf and it is looking sooo pretty–thanks pal!  What I loved, was casting on with one size needle, then when I was ready to do the knitting, I just switched the needle tips and off I went.  Unfortunately, one of the plastic inserts for the case was damaged, so I haven’t been able to put everything away in the kit nice and neatly, but I expect they will be sending the replacement soon and I will take a picture of them all tucked away neatly in their case asap.

DD’s felted hedgehog is completed!  I will post pics later if possible.  He/she (not sure exactly what it is..) came out adorably–I love ’em and so does DD.  Although it does look like it has hair plugs–I guess that’s what happens when you use hot pink yarn and jet black eyelash, lol.  She helped me stuff the innards and watched me sew on some eyes and nose and per her request, it has a belly button (what can I say–toddlers are obsessed with those things, lol).  I can see that I might be trying out the other Fiber Trends felted animal patterns in the near future.  I already have the ones for the squirrels and penguins….now I just need the yarn.

Oh and in the scrapbooking realm, I made an 8X8 scrapbook about my dad and DD for his birthday.  I picked up a kit from colorbok the other day and was able to complete the whole album in an evening (that included printing out the pictures and picking them up at the store).  I was so happy with the results, I picked up the same kit to make one for my mom….so nice to have something completed so quickly and to look so nice….I might be addicted to these kits now.  And just to prove it, I bought a baby scrapbook kit from this blog site (she also has a podcast, and it’s fun to listen to–give it a try!)  http://knitandpurlgrrl.blogs.com/scraphappy/ 

Well, that’s all for now.  Will take pics later–probably staying home as DD is congested, sneezing and has a runny nose (apparently, we didn’t get the exorcism fast enough over here!!).  Got to watch the last episode of Soprano’s before someone tells me what happened….

SP 10 contest

Our latest post contest for SP10 includes taking a picture of all your UFO’s and blogging about them.  Unfortunately, I won’t be able to gather them all up from their various hiding places and take one picture, but I do have a running list on the right side of my blog of all my UFO’s and even unstarted objects (to which I could probably add a million more things–the two projects from my SP10 pal, for example).   Ahh variety, the spice of life, lol.

SP10 Package #2 pictures

As promised, here are pictures from my second SP10 package.  This is how pretty it looked when I opened it up:

Then this is what was inside (you will notice all candies have disappeared already):

Then the yarn is now ready for it’s close-up:

So as you can see–I am a lucky girl!  Thanks, pal!

SP 10 package arrived and a glimpse into life over here at the moment…

I have been swamped, really swamped over here.  DH is gone for yet another business trip (the second of this 3 trips this month), DD is sick with a pretty high fever (she’s just finally down for sleep now and I am getting a moment to myself) and is whiny and won’t eat, and I have not had hearing in my left ear for over 3 weeks now due to allergies.  This place is falling apart bit by bit, lol. 

But, on Saturday, a special package arrived at the door.  It was from my secret pal.  I hid it in my office and knew, that with this upcoming week, DH away and DD with temps and congestion, that I would need a little pick-me-up during the week, so I left it unopened, waiting to be savoured.  Today, I felt was the best day to open it up and enjoy it.  Pictures will be added later, as my camera is downstairs and I haven’t the fight in me to trapse up and down the steps ONE MORE TIME, lol.  But I will describe here and now, all my goodies.  There was a contained of orange-filled marshmallows in an adorable Pichachu-type contained, that my daughter promptly walked over to the box, lifted it up and proclaimed “Mine?” and walked away.  That item is not included in the picture, since she took it before I even had a chance to process what it was, lol.  There’s a pattern for a really cool felted bag in there, the kind where the straps loop through a hole on the bag itself, I have always wanted to give that shape a try, now I have the perfect pattern.  And what goes best with the perfect pattern than the perfect yarn to make it with?  Nuttin’, that’s what!  What  a gorgeous shade of wine/purply/plummy/pinkish/magenta–yum!  LOL  As you can see, I am at a loss of descriptive words for the color, but I assure you it is right up my alley.  I will have to consult DD’s gigantic box of crayons for the exact name of the color later.  But wait, included was also novelty yarn to felt into the bag, some cool socks to wear, and a mesh bag full of goodies.  Goodies such as candy, ribbons, glittery pens, a washing puff and some designer soaps.  And maybe most importantly for this week especially, some bath and body works antiseptic hand wipes–I can always use that in the germ-infested house that I am in right now!  LOL  She must know what toddlers are like…hmmmm….lol  I think I’m going to eat one of the kit kats right now!  I deserve it.

Thanks pal!!  Watch for pictures soon…

New IK and how I like to knit…(SP10 contest)

In the mail today was the summer issue of IK (Interweave Knits, for those not in the know).  I always like their patterns, they seem classy, if not always something I would wear, they seem in good taste and usually have nice detailing to them.  I am not the “knit endless rows of st st with minimal shaping” type of person, even though it seems I don’t have much time for anything but simple knitting, atm.  Overall, I was impressed with the magazine, but what struck me was the sock article.  Now anyone who knows my knitting, knows I have tried knitting a sock (I say “a sock“, because it is not even completed and the mate has not even entered my consciousness) and they are not my thing.  My poor lonely socklette has languished on my needles for at least three years now.  It’s the ever popular Opal tiger stripes pattern, and it really is a cute sock, just lost my interest.  I started it toe up and stopped just short of making the heel.  HOWEVER, the sock article kind of perked my interest again.  I may just have to dig it up and try this heel out.  Who knows, maybe I’ll be a sock knitter yet…..I do want it noted, that even though I am not a sock fanatic, I have the sock stash of one–don’t ask me why…

Now, on for the contest question.  I don’t know what it is with me, but I always have these strange answers to these particular questions.  The query is:  What you do while knitting. Is there a unique way you like to cuddle up with your yarn and needles? Do you watch TV? Do you listen to the radio? A podcast? Do you drink tea? Coffee? Wine? Do you have to wear slippers? Do you have to have peace & quiet? Do you have a fave spot?

And my answer is…I dunno.  I guess I knit whenever and wherever I can, and no, it’s not usually with peace and quiet–ever!  I don’t have a set way of doing it.  Perhaps if I did have a specific routine to it, maybe more would get done.  I’ve knit in the car, on my couch, at the coffee shop, at my SIL’s house, at doctor’s appts and countless other places, but I don’t think there is any one “way” that I knit.  But just thinking and blogging about this is making me want to sign off, find my sock and give that short-row heel a try.

TTFN!  (I finished my latest book, btw, and will post about it next time…

The oldest yarn in my stash….

would have to be the yarn I bought for my very first project, which to this day remains unfinished.  Sigh….well, it was Lion Brand wool-ease in worsted (which I think knits up a little more like a DK to me) and I was making a basketweaved scarf, but I gave up on it long ago.  I don’t have a picture and can’t move all my stuff to get it right now, so you will just have to believe me, lol.

An end to SP9 and a beginning to SP10

Wow, my first package arrived already!  I’ll let you have at the pictures first, then I will describe/drool…

Included in the package are:  Candy necklace and bracelet for DD.  In fact, it’s strange how they know things are for them.  As soon as I opened up the package, she ran over, reached her hand in, pulled out the candy and said to me with her head cocked to one side “Mine?”  Sigh….Next was a cute little nail file with pictures of yarn on it–always need one of those, especially since I can’t afford to get manicures any more, lol.  An adorable keychain from Lantern Moon, that is a sweater.  Some interesting raspberry sour Altoids candies, I don’t remember saying that I liked sour candies, but they are my favorite kind of candy.  Then of course, the piece de resistance (wish I knew how to type in French on here, lol)  3 skeins of gorgeous yarns from www.Artfibers.com and some random beads, so totally my kind of colorway.  Included was a pattern for a horizontal knit scarf using these three yarns in different combinations.  I’m tempted to put aside the soy yarn scarf I am working on and cast this on right now.  I could use a big needle knit, atm, ya know what I mean?  Such a pleasant surprise in the mailbox today–thanks buddy!!  You’re a keeper!

Last SP9 Package (oops, did I leave that forever on my camera?)

A huge public apology to my SP9 spoiler www.knittykittykat.blogspot.com  I took this picture of her last package a looonnnggg time ago, but I guess it never got downloaded from the camera.  So here it is, in all it’s glory.  A scrapbookers delight–who cares if it’s a knitting secret pal–knitty kitty knows to feed all my addictions, lol.  Thanks, buddy, I’m keeping a watch on you.  All my best!

SP10 contest challenge–things I loved to knit, things I hated to knit

My SP10 hostess challenged us to blog about (with pictures) our most favorite thing we ever knitted and the project we most hated to knit.  I will start with my most hated item, as it is the easiest I think for me to discuss.  Pure and simple, if I am hating what I am knitting, I rip it out and don’t finish it.  I can honestly say that I don’t have something finished that I hated doing–life is too short to waste it on that kind of project.  My knitting time is too few and far between as it is, I have to do something I enjoy.  So, no pictures, no projects completed that I hated knitting.  Hope that wasn’t too much of a cop-out, lol.

My favorite thing that I knit is a little more difficult.  I usually am in love with whatever I am currently knitting.  I do have a fondness for the items I have made for my daughter, and I have the felted Easter basket I made for her last year on my desk at the moment, waiting to be filled with Easter goodies for her tomorrow.  I love things that challenge me to learn new techniques, etc.  and right now with a little one running around me, I don’t have the patience for the more intricate knitting that I enjoy the most.  Hmmm, this is a tough one.  I’ll post a picture later with all the things I enjoyed the most–I will have to gather them up from around the house and take a picture of them.  Stay tuned…..