Just Keep Knitting...

That's what I keep telling myself. I have a bunch of bags to do for the gallery. Awesome opportunity! The problem? I believe that I am trying to knit all fifteen at once. That will not work I do not have enough hands or needles. That's what I tend to do when I have a big project that needs doing, I try and do it all at once. Not such a good plan. So I am trying to focus a little better and - just keep knitting... I imagine Dori from Finding Nemo when I think or say that. Just keep swimming. Either way it works.

As I promised Tracey I am posting here more often. See the post entitled It's All Tracey's Fault. (sorry Tracey, but I have to blame someone) So here are some pics of what I've been up to and other cool stuff that has happened to me lately.
A bunch of bags in various stages of completion. In a month they will be all done and worthy of a spot in an art gallery. I hope.
This is all Tracey's fault too. She sent it all to me as a rescue effort. I needed more feltable yarn. Ask and you shall receive... She sent a bunch of yarn, some goodies for me and my kids all (mostly all) tucked into the cool black bag you see back there. There is too much stuff to fit it all in there, but she tried. She decided that I needed a knitting bag. I didn't have one, even though I make bags. Go figure.

You should go on over and read Tracey's blog today by the way. She's in her element helping people who need it. She does this brilliantly and today is the last day to get in on the helping with a shot at really amazing knitter-y prizes.

I actually ditched knitting bags a little bit yesterday. I plied yarn instead. That's 75% Lincoln wool/ 25% mohair in it's natural gray color. Go tit at the Estes Park Wool Market from the Red Barn Fiber Processing booth. Stop in there every year. I think by now I probably own a sheep there or something. Oh and as crazy as this sounds, that is my first ever attempt at plying handspun. Keep that in mind as you giggle at my handiwork.

Here's the yarn all plied up and with the twist set and all dry. As you can see I have more of that fiber to spin up. I think another eight ounces or so. Then I have no idea what it will become. I rarely spin with a project in mind for the finished product. I just spin to spin. Love.

Chloe was curious about that gray stuff that does not smell like a kitty, so she managed to stick her nose into the picture. That's just the way she is. The queen.

It's All Traceys Fault

It really is. Tracey is a rather awesome person I met on Ravelry. She is wonderful and also a bit persuasive. She has told me I must post on my blog in order for anyone to read it. I am now blogging Tracey! So I have some yarn to show you, some socks, and I think that's all.

A whole bunch of the most wonderful yarn came this week from Bellamoden.
From left to right: Nori 1/16 fingering, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea sport, Chocolate artists proof sport, Possession sport. Rebecca makes the most wonderful yarn and has also made me decide that sportweight yarn is good.

Numma Numma in Whiny Butt and,
Numma Numma Blackberry Jam. Both from The Loopy Ewe naturally. The Blackberry Jam will be something for my mom, I think.
This is the work of three Ravelry friends. We have a little Loopy book club going- it's named The Loopy Nerd Heard. We read The Historian for June and July and it was decided that being knitters we needed a kit to go with it. So Tracey made the pretty dragon project bags, Sandy who has no blog made two stitchmarkers, and Rebecca dyed some of her Bellamoden yarn in a super special Historian colorway. Didn't they put together a great kit?
The yarn made me want to knit with it immediately. So I knit up a pair of Philosophers House Socks. I made them longer because the pattern is for short socks, plus I have that following directions problem... My first sportweight socks and my first pair of socks from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways sock book. I like 'em. Sportweight socks knit up way fast too!
Wollmeise. 'Nuff said. Rittersporn, Rhabarber, am kalten Polar. Probably spelled them all wrong. Love this yarn. I have the problem of choosing the perfect thing to knit with it. So it may be all skeined up forever. Also, it may not all live at my house forever, I might want to share it.

Got a phone call yesterday from a gallery owner in Colorado. She wants me to be a featured artist in their Art To Wear show. Yay! I'm so flattered. I am also a bit panicked. I need to get ten to fifteen bags to the gallery by September 2nd. That's a lot of knitting and felting. Also because Sheri does not at the moment carry any yarn I can felt with at The Loopy Ewe I have a minor yarn emergency. Like I need feltable worsted or bulky yarn fast!

Well, the awesome girls of Ravelry strike again. Tracey, Sandy and Rebecca dug into their stashes to find yarn I could use and are sending it to me. Honestly, I could not ask for a better bunch of friends than the ones I have made on the F5 thread on Ravelry. They are the most encouraging and generous people. Knitters are amazingly kind and giving.

So, even though I have maybe a dozen projects on needles I will be stopping everything to knit bags, bags, and more bags. And then I'll knit some more bags. I started one last night. Gotta get the fingers moving and the needles flying.

I Made Something

One finished lace project. An Invisibility Shawl from Charmed Knits in Bellamoden Street of a Thousand Blossoms from the Loopy Ewe.


I am not a great photographer, but the shawl came out well I think. I hope the person I knit it for like sit!

Now I Can Show You

My Loopy Ewe swap 2 partner Heather has her package, so now I can show you what I made for her. Lace isn't something I have knit a lot of, so this was kind of a first for me. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Here is my finished Gossamer Stars Scarf from the Summer'08 issue of Interweave Knits. I used Chameleon Colorworks Bambino in Eggplant, which of course I purchased at the Loopy Ewe.

That's it. I don't have anything else done or any new yarn. I am going to the Estes Park Wool Market this weekend, so hopefully next week I'll have some cool fiber-y stuff to show you.

Been A Long Time...

I was surprised to see how long it has been since I've posted here. Oops! I have been getting stuff done though. Well, when I'm not wasting my time on Ravelry. I have finished my project for my Loopy Ewe swap partner. I can't show you pictures yet because it might ruin the surprise for my partner, but I will show you.

My newest order from the Loopy Ewe . Wooly Boully in Blue Bird and Alpaca With a Twist Fino in black. The alpaca is so soft, it's heaven. Of course that may be partially my love for alpaca talking, but I don't think so. I'm going to use it to knit the Honey Bee Stole. It will be my first big lace project so we'll see how that goes.

Monkey socks knit in Claudia Handpaints Peppermint Mocha- a Loopy Ewe exclusive colorway.
These are Spirited socks by Bellamoden. The yarn is Sunshine Yarns Soft Sock in Tree Frog.

On a unrelated note- I made gravy from scratch for the first time in my entire life last night! I was rather proud of myself. We won't talk about how long it took me to learn to make gravy.

Some FO's, UFO's, and New Yarn

I've still been a bit AWOL from my blogging duties here. So I do have some stuff to show you.

A finished object! A Mr. Greenjeans sweater from Knitty.com. Sheri at the Loopy Ewe is having a sweater KAL with Dream in Color yarn. I know, a sweater KAL from a sock yarn paradise. Basically,Sheri really wanted to knit a sweater and thought that if she did a KAL and had all of her loyal customers knit with her she might actually finish it. There has been talk of prizes, but I don't know for sure:)


So here is my Mr. Greenjeans in Dream in Color Classy in their Good Luck Jade colorway. The button came from Mudcakes Etsy shop. It's not really that bright of a green in person. My mom will be proud. I knit myself something to wear and it's not black!

One of my current UFO's or WIP's- WIP is better since I am actively knitting it. I am turning some Sunshine Yarns soft sock in Tree Frog into a sock. I'm test knitting this sock, called Spirited for Rebecca aka Bellamoden. If you knew Becca, her yarns or this pattern you would know Spirited is the perfect name for it. This yarn is also the perfect yarn for the pattern.

Another FO! A pair of Jaywalkers in Paca Peds from The Loopy Ewe (of course). I don't remember the exact fiber content, but it's an alpaca/ superwash wool blend of some sort. Since it has alpaca I just had to try it. Not as soft as I thought it would be while knitting it, but nice and snuggly on my feet. The color is Mixed Berries.
Alpaca Jaywalkers again.

On Saturday I went on a quick trip to Fiberspace in Sterling, CO. My LYS- it's the closest shop to me and Linda, the owner, rocks. So in that pile of yarn-y goodness I have five skeins of Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Worsted- two in Chianti and three in Deep Pine. One pretty skein of recycled sari silk yarn that I've been meaning to try for years. Two skeins of Brown Sheep Wildfoote Handpaints sock yarn in Soft Jazz. That pretty blue yarn you see up there is Lonesome Stone Yarn- handpainted 50/50 merino/alpaca in Old Blue Eyes. It's so soft and I love the color, she only had one skein but it's 500 yards so I'm sure I'll be able to find something good to knit with it.

There yo have it. What I've been up to. Well, some of it anyway:)

Harry Potter Awesomeness

Check out what my HSKS4 partner Olive Bladvak sent me by Owl Post:

I'd tell you what it all is and all about the awesomeness that I received, but I did that already on my Hogwarts character blog. So go on over there and read all about it. Thanks Olive, you rock!!!

I Am Soooo Spolied!

Please ignore my inability to load photos in the correct order:)

I got my package from my Loopy Ewe swap partner Dawne on Friday. Oh my gosh did I ever get spoiled! The package got delayed by customs on its way from Canada but it was well worth the wait. I can't believe what a sweet swap partner I got.

Those would be my feet in the socks that Dawne knit for me in a really nice color of Lorna's Laces. How can you go wrong with Lorna's laces?
Here's part of the whole out of order photo thing. My Knight Bus socks are finished, been working on them forever. They're soft, squishy and warm.

OK, here's the picture I wanted to be first. The entire contents of my swap package from Dawne. Have I mentioned how awesome she is???

Broken down a bit so it would be easier to see, here is half-ish of the package. A box of many teas in cool little colorful pyramids (yum), some Burt's Bees hand salve which she even went so far as to consult with the people in the shop it came from to make sure I wouldn't break out (no rash- yay) She sent gifts for my kids, Hersheys Kisses, which sadly did not live long enough to be photographed, and a cool Canada Rocks puzzle for each of them. Plus the book A Field Guide to Knitting, some really cute point protectors that look like a hat and a glove, a cute little sheep button, a set of four Harry Potter bookmarks- one from each house, and chocolate. That's not even all...
The next half of my treats. Two different sock knitting patterns, a really cute sheep tape measure- the black one even! Some Tussah Silk for spinning, some really awesome roving from Spunky Electric, gorgeous sock yarn from Sock Pixie ( I can't wait to get it on my needles) Last but not least my very own hand knit socks! Look at the little label she made for them...plus she sent along the rest of the yarn in case I should need it. Even the note card she wrote on is beautiful!
My awesome socks- which I wore on Saturday of course!

Thank you a thousand times Dawne! You are a wonderful partner and I don't know what I did to get such a good one!

In Over My Head

This past week I have started on so many new knitting projects, I think I may be in over my head. I have three sweaters on needles, rarely do I ever knit sweaters. I don't know for sure how many socks...

This is the start of the Gathered Pullover in the Winter 2007 Interweave Knits.

The first of a pair of 9-5 socks for the Loopy Ewe sock KAL- at least one is totally finished!
A start on a Plain Vanilla Pullover (from Knit Picks) Not sure why I picked that light of a color...
I cast on Mr. Greenjeans from Knitty.com yesterday. I'm doing it for the Loopy Ewe Dream in Color sweater KAL. I think if it's a KAL I'll actually have motivation to finish the sweater- it has to be done by June 1st! I love the yarn, but I have yet to meet a skein of Dream in Color that I didn't like. I'm in real trouble now that Sheri stocks more than sock yarn at the Loopy Ewe. Sock yarn from indie dyers was a big enough addiction, now indie yarn for sweaters too- drool!
Two pattern repeats done on Cookie A.'s Monkey socks- also from Knitty.com. These are for a swap so I actually have to finish them in a reasonable amount of time.
Finally another pair of Jaywalkers. I got some Paca Peds- superwash alpaca sock yarn!!! The Loopy Ewe strikes again. I love alpaca. Anyway, I had to try it out as soon as it came, it's alpaca for crying out loud how could I just let it sit and wait to be knit with??? I liked the Jaywalkers I knit before so I decided on that pattern since I already knew what to expect.

Holy links Batman! I sure put a lot of them in there:)

That's six projects that I started recently. That doesn't even include what I already had going, plus I have to rip out and re knit a pair of gloves for a customer since we had a tiny miscommunication about ribbing...

Told ya, way over my head.

To top it all off today is my daughters 11th birthday and she has her very first dance tonight. Makes me feel old.

I Am So Spoiled!

A great big giant thanks to my Hot Cocoa Swap partner Kathy! My package came on Saturday and it's all wonderful. I had so much fun opening it all up. She spoiled me a lot! It was a great surprise on a cold, snowy, windy day.



Told you Kathy spoiled me! Look at all of the wonderful, thoughtful things she put in my package. Two different kinds of hot chocolate, two different kinds of marshmallows- all fancy and gourmet. A fun card and dice game to play with my kids, a hot cocoa pot holder and towel set with really cute stitch markers pinned to it. An entire package of dark Dove chocolates (I won't have to share them since no one else at my house likes dark chocolate- good thinking Kathy) Dove is one of my favorite chocolates, the only better ones seem to be hard to find in this country... There's also a great mug to drink my hot cocoa in, some knitting goodies, alpaca yarn, and my Winter Blah Buster Buddy- a really cute and cuddly hand knit cat.

Here's the cocoa/non-knitting stuff. Dark chocolates, peppermint hot cocoa, more hot cocoa, two kinds of gourmet marshmallows, card game, cocoa pot holder set (with the stitch markers) and a really cool mug. Kathy had a bit of a heart theme happening with the package- chocolates, marshmallows, and stitch markers. The mug is the perfect size, and the ribbed design at the bottom reminds me of knitting, the ribbing at the cuffs of a sweater or a sock. I tried the peppermint cocoa yesterday- yum! I'm drinking the other kind (the fancy kind where you melt little chocolate shavings in warm milk) right now in my new mug with vanilla marshmallows in it. I was nice and shared my heart marshmallows with my kids. Between my leaving them out while I made a trip to the bathroom and the three hungry monsters, they're all gone! But they sure were good.
The knitting stuff. The rather sneaky and quite thoughtful Kathy read on my blog about my disappearing then reappearing broken knitting needle gauge. Now I have a new one! The little sock point protectors are so cute and no knitter can ever have too many tape measures. I can never seem to find one when I need one! Look at that yummy yarn. Baby Alpaca DK, two skeins in a really great purple. It's so soft, and once again being sneaky Kathy figured out that I have a love affair with alpaca. Now to decide what to knit with it. A nice pair of gloves for myself maybe, a hat, who knows? Right now I'm just going to squeeze it and love it.
Here's my Blah Buster Buddy. Isn't she sweet? I love the soft tweedy yarn she's made of and she has a great embroidered face. Plus she came wearing a cool tag that looks like knitting on one side and says it's knitted by Kathy for me on the other side. She's hanging out with the new mug and some yummy cocoa. I think she wants a cup of cocoa, but chocolate isn't good for kitties, is it? I'll find her a nice bowl of milk. Oh, Kathy left it up to me to decide if she was a boy or a girl and what her name is. I guess she was shy and didn't want to tell Kathy. Well, she told me that she's a girl and that she likes to be called Purl. You can tell she was made by a knitter for a knitter. My daughter says she should be called Rose, so she has a middle name too. Purl Rose the girl kitty. I think she'll be happy at my house because it's very kitty friendly. So far she is a little bit shy, I hope Chloe and Mushu don't teach her their naughty tricks! Maybe I'll take her to work with me tonight since Lesley has given us all a little bit of homework to do with our buddies.

Kathy even tucked a reciped for cocoa pancakes in the note she wrote me. On a cool knitting themed note card, of course. Even the box had a knitting stamp decorating it. Everything came wrapped in tissue paper and was ties with all kinds of cool ribbons and ric-rac, very cheery and fun. I have to thank Kathy bunches for sending me such a nice, thoughtful swap package. It was far above and beyond the "requirements" of the swap. Everything inside is wonderful and I love it all. I hope everyone else was lucky enough to get a partner as great as she was.

Thank you Kathy!!!

A Valentine!

I got the best present for Valentines Day! A new niece. She was born at 4:04 in the morning after keeping her mommy up since Monday morning with contractions. She was 6#11oz and was 19.5" long and has bright red hair just like my sister. Her name is Alayah Corrin. Don't know where that came from... I haven't even seen pictures yet, and I'm feeling a bit impatient about that... I was supposed to go for the delivery, but naturally it was snowing and by the time she called I probably wouldn't have made it since it's at least a three hour drive. I only had one hour left of my shift at work (couldn't leave early since the ER was slammed) so I would have been lucky not to fall asleep driving too. We were planning on going to visit this weekend, but both of my boys have the stomach flu (there's a rather nasty strain of it in town right now we've seen tons in the ER) I don't really want to chance getting my sister or the baby sick, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

My other sister is scheduled to have a c-section on Monday. She doesn't know what she's having. Maybe it will be a boy. The balance of grandchildren is a little heavy on the girl side. The only boys are my twins, there are three girls now. My poor dad, first three daughters and no sons, then a bunch of girls for grandchildren. He loves Christmas shopping for my boys!

Knitting...I'll probably start on some baby stuff. I can't help it. I'm working on 9-5 socks for the Loopy Ewe KAL. I'm almost finished with the first one and I'm hoping I don't run out of yarn. There's still time to get in on the KAL. If you're on Ravelry search for it in groups and join us! I'm thinking about starting an afghan too. If I can get it done by the 26th... A really good traveling nurse at work is having to leave before her contract is up she has to leave due to a terribly ill mother in law. She's awesome and we'll miss her. She's hoping to be able to come back again, but I still want to do something for her. She's been incredibly kind and caring to everyone the entire time she's been with us, and she's always in a good mood and is tons of fun to work with.

What else am I knitting... I started on a Gathered Pullover from Interweave Knits and a Plain Vanilla Pullover from Knit Picks. Both for myself. I rarely knit anything other than socks for myself, so the sweaters will be a change. I have about two inches of the body done on each of them, I'll probably be knitting them next winter still.

My Loopy Swap partner Ellen got her package yesterday. She loves her Mingus socks and they fit her! I'm always so relieved when my swap partners get their packages and say they like them.

Time to go and do sick kid laundry and hang out the the poor little guys. My daughter doesn't have school today so she's home too- at least she isn't sick yet!

Cute Boys and Socks

I don't really post pics of my kids, but this is too cute. They fell asleep like that. Do you think they're close?

My Twins. Chase in red and Aiden in blue. Too bad they're not that sweet when they're awake!

Mingus socks, pattern by Cookie A. Knit in Numma Numma Toasty- Red Raspberry Jam.
A close up of the pattern, for some strange reason it's hard to see.
Without the flash. Doesn't help much.
9-5 socks in Claudia Handpaints- Chocolate Cherry. The detail is hard to see again. I really like this yarn. The Numma Numma and Claudia both came from The Loopy Ewe. Where else would I get it???
Last but not least Knight Bus socks. Just a plain old sock patern in some pretty cool yarn. It's from an indie dyer- Shelby B. I have a rather large collection of her yarn, I think I have all Harry Potter themed colors, but she does other lovely colors as well.

See? I really am trying to get some projects done!

Yay Giants, and A Few FO's

I didn't want to but I watched the Super Bowl yesterday. I love football, the only reason why I didn't want to watch was the Patriots. I hate the Patriots!!! I'm so sick of hearing about them, their coach is a jerk and their quarterback isn't far behind him. So I was rooting for the Giants big time. Thank you Giants for showing the world that the Patriots aren't perfect. You beat them even with the challenge (that shouldn't have been allowed because the next play had already happened) they won to get a free set of downs. Thank you for putting Tom Brady on his ass repeatedly! I'm thrilled the Giants won, even though they beat my Packers for the chance!

I feel better now...

Knitting. I have five pairs of socks on needles right now. I need to knit socks, bad. Here are two FO's to show you. They have both been done for a while, one I couldn't show you because it's for a swap, the other I just hadn't gotten to yet. Now my Hot Cocoa Swap partner Sandy has her package, so her project doesn't need to be a surprise anymore.

This is Moe, my version of Mr. Dangly. The pattern is free and can be found here. I didn't get gauge, use the recomended yarn or anything like that, but she still turned out pretty good. She's supposed to make you smile and be a little silly. I think she meets those requirements. Sandy did think she was a horse, so she was happy that I told her Moe is a monkey. Sandy likes her anyway...
Another view. Moe was born to be a model. She's soft and floppy and snuggly.
The baby blanket I finished for my youngest sisters baby. It has been done for a while, but I'm slow with the pictures.

Now, I've got some socks to finish. Of course I have socks to start too for Hogwarts Sock Swap 3. Not to be confused with HSKS4. Same theme, two different swaps. I'm a Harry Potter dork, I can't help it. I did a few Harry Potter quizzes over the weekend. I found out that my Patronus is an otter- just like Hermione, and that my HP alter ego is Harry. I didn't think it would be Harry, I figured Hermione or Ginny or something. Imagine that.

Gotta knit...

Swap Things and Early Morning Mayhem

I just spent the morning wrapping and packing up my Hot Cocoa Swap package. It's all ready to send off to my partner. My knitted buddy came out pretty cool, but I can't post pics until after she gets it.
I am far past the halfway point in knitting my Loopy Ewe swap project. I have all her stuff ready to go but the actual project (it's only the whole point of the swap...) and the edible goodies. There little boys in my house got into my knitting room and stole all the treats- they made rather quick work of them too. I guess I could always send the empty wrappers...
I am very nearly ready to send my HSKS4 package too.
As for the fourth swap- Hogwarts Sock Swap 3- I am waiting for a few "owls" to arrive at my house so I can get started.
The morning mayhem??? Oh yeah, it was great. The twins- five year old boys were in rare form this morning. They wanted toast and yogurt for breakfast. No problem, right? Well, we had two yogurts one peach one strawberry- not good. The youngest of the two snagged himself the coveted strawberry so the other one literally screamed and cried and was so hysterical he almost made himself sick because he did not want peach. Yeesh, it's just yogurt people! So evidently to get back at this brother when it came time to get dressed the one stuck with the peach stole the red shirt and put it on for the day. Red is his brothers very favorite color. Cue next major fit. The blue shirt- same shirt, different color- is just not good enough to be worn. My son was all ready to take his sister to school wearing jeans and Spider Man shoes with a coat. Um...no! So to make the long story short, I listened to at least one little boy throw a fit from about 6:45-7:35 this morning. We got back home from the trip to school and I took some Motrin. What a way to start the day. The good news is that my daughter actually got out of bed the second time I went to get her up. Usually it take about 5 tries to get her up.
It's lunch time now. I hope it goes better than breakfast!

Random

Would you believe that I ordered more stuff from The Loopy Ewe- but no yarn this time I swear. It's not even all for me- I have some secret pal shopping to do! I'm doing the Loopy Swap, HSKS4, and the Hot Cocoa swap- the only one I don't have my partner for yet is HSKS4 since the sign ups are still open. So I'm working on putting packages together, I have to make lists this time since I'm doing three at once and I'll forget what is for who.

Mushu, my cat, ate some salsa at lunch time. I doubt that it's good for her- that should be fun later! I should know better than to leave anything that could possibly be eaten anywhere that she has any chance of getting to because she is a huge pig and eats anything.

Purple crayon that has been washed and dried with the laundry does indeed come out! Following bits of all the advice posted by other victims of this tragedy online, and getting no help from my mom (even though I know that it happened to her at least once) I managed it. A nice long hot water soak, some agitation, more soaking, with about a cup each of detergent, vinegar, Shout, and Clorox 2. Do it twice just to be sure. After that remember to check all laundry for stray crayons! Crayon comes out of the dryer too. Some suggested soaking a dish towel in water and dish soap and throwing it in the dryer and letting it run. It works, but the process must be repeated several times each followed by scrubbing while the dryer is still hot. Just in case any of you ever need to know...

I started my project for my Loopy Swap partner last night. Then somehow I tangled the yarn up into the worst mess I have seen in a while. I have it untangled now, but I think I may have changed my mind about what to knit...

Hot Cocoa Swap Questionnaire

I joined the Hot Cocoa Swap and was suppose to have this posted a day or two ago. I'm not usually late when it comes to these things, but I am this time. I have my homework finished now:

Cocoa:

1. What is your favorite way to drink cocoa? Prepared with milk? Water? from home made recipe or store bought?, In a tea cup, or big mug?
Just about any way is my favorite! I like to use milk and end up using store bought most of the time. I like to drink it in a big mug. My Grandma used to make my sisters and I hot cocoa with milk and real chocolate when we were at our cabin in the mountains in Colorado. It was always such a treat, we even had special mugs that were just for that. No more cabin or Grandma, but I still have the mug.

2. Marshmallows or whipped cream?
Mostly I have marshmallows, but I like both.


Yarn/Knitting/Crochet:

1. What is your favorite type of yarn? In what colors?
Nearly all yarn is good, but if I have to pick I would say either alpaca or wool. My favorite colors are black, gray, blue, purple, green. I really don't care for orange and yellow, but I have seen some pretty yarns in those colors so I guess it depends on the orange and yellow...
I have a terrible weakness for sock yarn.

2. Do you knit or crochet (or both)?
Knit, I can't crochet to save my life!

3. What are your favorite type of needles, would you like to try something new?
I don't have a very favorite, I like to use different needles for different things. Most of my needles are wood/bamboo. I don't really care for metal needles because my work tends to slip off too easily. I'm up to trying anything new- they might become my favorite!

4. Do you have a healthy supply of notions?
I think I have most of what I need. I do misplace my needle to weave in ends from time to time, and a knitter can never have too many tape measures.

5. What one thing do you keep thinking you need to buy for your knitting habit (outside of yarn)?
Yarn, yarn, yarn. Oh wait that can't be an answer! I have a couple of small fabric project bags that I love, but I always have more than two projects going at once. I really need to figure out a way to keep my dpns together. Mostly I use 4 when I knit socks, but when I need that 5th one I can never find it.
6. What is your favorite 'quick knit/crochet' pattern (quick gratification)
My favorite things to knit are bags to be felted and socks. I designed a pretty quick fingerless gloves pattern that only takes about 100 yards of DK-worsted weight yarn. I have knit dozens and really like making them, but still haven't made any for myself. Don't all knitters knit more for other people than they do themselves?


Miscellaneous

1. What is your favorite thing to do in the Winter?
Try and keep warm, I'm a cold person. Sit and watch it snow from inside the house.

2. What is your favorite animal?
Oh that's so hard. If I were picking one of my own animals it would be my white cat. Animals in general- I love sea turtles and frogs. And sheep!

3. Do you get the 'winter blahs'?
Sometimes when I don't see a sunny sky for days and days. I miss that about Colorado, it was always sunnier there than it is here. Here we just get wind- yuck!

4. What is your favorite way to beat the blahs?
Curl up with a good book, or pop in a favorite DVD and knit while I watch. I have to find a way to keep myself busy and not bored.

5. What is the thing you are most looking forward to this spring?
Watching all of my flowers wake up and turn green. I walk around my yard and check on everything every day. The bad thing about spring and early summer in Nebraska is that it's tornado weather.

6. What are your favorite treat?
Chocolate. Any kind is great, but dark is my favorite. Ice cream. A new book.

7. What is your favorite board game?
I used to love to play Clue and Trouble.

8. Do you have any children (furry or human)?
I have one husband, three children (10 year old girl and 5 year old twin boys) one outside dog, and two cats- one good and one who is naughty but she can't help it because she's Siamese. I have a very busy house, it's never quiet here.

9. Do you have any allergies or special considerations you partner should know about?
I'm allergic to most scented things like lotions, perfumes, candles, incense. Hives are no fun!

There are my answers. I can't wait to get my partner! It's so fun to put packages together for my swap pals.

Another Swap

I've decided that I love doing swaps. The Harry Potter ones I did were so fun. So I joined another swap, the Hot Cocoa Swap. Sounds like fun, part of the intent is to brighten up the boring mid winter days still to come. I think some of the people I've been in swaps with before are going to be a part of this one. Go sign up- you know you want to!

Some FO's

Yep, I finally have finished knitting a few things. I have both of my Jaywalkers done- it took me forever because I kept putting them down to work on something else! I knit them in Lime & Violet yarn which I love. I messed up and made the first one in one size and the second in another. Guess that's what I get for waiting so long to finish a pair of socks! Something sort of funny happened to them though. The first one I knit had stripes on the leg and pooling on the foot, the second one is exactly the opposite. I didn't do it on purpose, I don't know how I could have or how it happened at all. It's ok, I like them this way. Like my boys, they are fraternal twins instead of identical. They are way comfortable, one of my favorite sock patterns. Didn't they turn out pretty...


I finished my moms Christmas socks too! They are the Snapdragon pattern knit in Scarlet Fleece Antique Watermelon. Both the yarn and pattern can be found at the Loopy Ewe, of course. The pattern was a fun one even though it is a toe up pattern which is my least favorite way to knit socks. The yarn was nice to work with and is really soft and squishy, it was complete murder to wind into a ball though. Whoever was skeining yarn that day was either quite angry with the world or was smoking crack, I don't know which.

I love the way they turned out and I hope my mom does too. Now to get her package together and sent off so that it can make it to Ohio before Christmas since she can't come home this year. I'm going to try and send her a little Christmas in a box. I hate the idea of her being lonely on Christmas.

This year I have Christmas Eve off and work Christmas Day, well night really but you know what I mean. Usually it's not too bad to work on the holidays. Most of the patients are so glad to have someone there to take care of them when they have to be in the hospital and away from their families. The hospital can't close on Christmas. A fact some of my family and In-Laws just don't get. Oh well. The kids will be done opening presents and will have gone through several sets of batteries for their new toys by the time I have to leave them for the night, so the fun part of the day will be over and I won't miss much.

I still have one gift to finish knitting for my sister. Then an order for a customer, a shower gift for the same sister, and a baby blanket for another customer- all need to be done either by Christmas or shortly there after. Guess I better get my fingers busy!