Spring Into Summer Dishcloth Swap

1. When did you learn to knit? Who taught you?

My mother tried to teach me when I was about 4 but I just couldn't get the hang of it. When I was around 17 I bought a video called Keeping You In Stitches and learned from there.

2. What was your very first completed object? Your most recent?

The first thing I ever knit was a beautiful yoke neck cardigan for my son. I loved it. It was white with navy and turquoise in the yoke. I wish I knew where it was today. My most recent completed object is a sock for my hubby.

3. What was the very first thing you sent to the frog pond? (pulled out and started over) Your most recent?

First thing sent to the frog pond was a sock. It visited the pond several times and never made it out alive. Most recent was a shawl that I've still not completed.

4. What is currently on the needles for you?

Lots and lots of socks and about a half dozen sweaters.

5. What types of needles do you enjoy working with? What have you tried and hated?

My favorite needles are Addi Turbos. I love them more than any needle I've ever tried and I use them almost exclusively. I tried some old plastic needles when I first started knitting and I hated them.

6. Have you knit dishcloths before?

Tons! I love knitting and using discloths.

7. What was your favorite one?

The Garterlac Dishcloth by Criminy Jickets.

8. Least favorite?

I can't say that I have a least favorite. I've enjoyed all the patterns I've used.

9. Do you use homemade dishcloths or face cloths yourself, or give them as gifts, or both?

Both. We use nothing but handknit dishcloths and I gift them often. I have some cotton chenille that I still need to knit into facecloths. I think I will be knitting them for the bathroom once the remodel is finished.

10. What are your favorite and least favorite scents? (For your body, such as soap/lotion/etc)

I love fruity scents. Flower scents tend to give me a headache when worn on my body.

11. What are your favorite colors?

Blue is my most favorite color but I also love pink, purple, green, black, and silver. There really aren't any colors that I don't like though.

12. What colors (if any) are your bathroom and kitchen decorated in?

White, blue, and green in the bathroom. The kitchen isn't really decorated as it will be the next room up for remodel. I think it will be hunter green when finished though.

13. What other hobbies and crafts do you enjoy?

I like to crochet and do cross stitch although I've not done either in a very long time.

14. Chocolate: Dark? White? Milk? Ew?

Milk! :-)

15. Do you like salty treats? What kinds?

I love chocolate covered pretzels.

16. If you could go anywhere in the world for one day and spend the day any way you wanted, where would you go and what would you do?

NYC for the biggest stash enhancement shopping trip of all time.

17. Do you have any allergies?

Cigarette smoke and pet dander.

Knitters' Coffee Swap Two

1. Whole bean or ground?

Ground. Unfortunately. I still haven't broke down and bought a darn grinder yet.

2. Fully-loaded or decaf?

Decaf but I like a richer roast.

3. Regular or flavored?

I prefer regular but I also like some flavored coffees. French vanilla is a favorite and there are a few others I've tried that I really liked but can't think of right now. I don't like anything nutty.

4. How do you drink your coffee?

A little cream and one Splenda if it's regular and if it's flavored I just use the Splenda.

5. Favorite coffee ever?

Green Mountain Breakfast Blend.

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do?

I definitely prefer Green Mountain and the amazing organic coffee my LYS has but I'm not such a snob that I won't drink Folgers.

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee?

Biscotti.

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences?

None that I can think of right now. :-)

9. Yarn/fiber you love?

Sock yarn is right up at the top of my list as well as any natural fiber yarn.

10. Yarn/fiber you hate?

Acrylic. Yuck.

11. What's on your needles?

Socks. Socks. Socks. Sweater. Sweater. Socks.

12. Favorite colors?

Blue is my absolute favorite. Then comes pink. Purple. Silver. Black. Green. There really aren't any colors that I hate though. And if I don't like something there's always someone else who will.

13. Allergies?

I'm allergic to cigarette smoke and animal dander. My daughter is asthmatic and cigarette smoke can be quite dangerous for her.

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest?

I really love my kiddos and hubby. And knitting. And coffee. And tea. And don't even get me started on things I don't like or that I'd like to get off my chest. LOL

What I Did While I Was On Vacation...

otherwise known as bed rest. :-)

I finished the second Blueberry Waffle sock (on the left in the picture below) I was working in the original hank of Sol Joy.

I also finished the Never Ending Lagoon Sol Joy sock (on the right in the picture below) knit on a size 1 Addi Turbo. Again, I truly don't recommend using a needle this small. Even though the yarn is truly a joy to work with it's heavier weight was quite hard on my hands when knit on a 2.5mm needle. I was incredibly impressed to find that the finished sock weighed in at 2 oz and I had 1.5 oz of yarn left. That's pretty amazing to me. I worked the sock over 68 stitches with a 2" 2x2 cuff and then worked st st for another 5" to make the cuff a total of 7" long. I then worked the heel flap for 44 rows before turning the heel and working the foot until it measured 9" before I started the toe. The total foot length was 11" and fit (although a tad snug) my hubby's size 12 foot. Quite impressive, no?

Birthday Girl

Thanks so much for all the wonderful wishes for a happy birthday! You all made my day! We didn't do anything out of the ordinary last night. Bran was supposed to work so we planned to order dinner out and eat quick so he could get out early. He ended up not having to go until tonight but we still ordered out. :-)

The birthday goodness continued today when I received this awesome package from my secret pal...

I had to hold the baby back from the balloons so I could get a quick picture. She couldn't wait to play with them. She took them into the cellar and pushed them through the cat door. This amused her far longer than I ever anticipated. She giggled like crazy each time she would pop one through the door. Of course we all pretended to be scared and discussed our theory on how the balloons were getting through the door. We all agreed there must have been a huge mouse in the cellar pushing the balloons out. Pal, thanks so much for the hours of amusement!

My wonderful pal also included some gorgeous River Run CTH sock yarn, River Ripple sock pattern, and organic Dove milk chocolate for my amusement. Yum! There was also a great birthday card and a beautiful picture frame which are always desperately needed around here. Thanks so very much pal for such a great package!!! I can't wait to get that CTH on the needles.

I'm hoping I can some how drag this birthday out all week long. ;-)

Happy Birthday

To me! Yup, today's the day. I'm 35. I love birthdays that end in a 0 or 5. They're just so much more exciting than the rest.


Melissa, one of my amazing secret pal participants, sent me this incredible package...



Which when opened turned into this...



A great journal, shopping list, stationary set, and pencil case that is the perfect size for sock projects. THREE fruity scented candles that smell so yummy. GODIVA milk chocolate. 2 skeins of Panda Cotton in gorgeous shades of blue. And a beautiful hand crafted birthday card. Thank you so much for being so thoughtful and generous Melissa! I am so touched.

I also received my Beverage and Knitting swap-bot package from Andi today...

Which turned into this...

A light-up necklace for the 4th. A really cute wind sock that will get hung out at the pool. Some palm tree party picks. A flip flop magnet. Some Zingers tea that I don't think I'll be able to wait until summer to try. An ice cream cone pen. A beautiful butterfly suncatcher with a "wish" charm. A great hand crafted sachet that smells so nice. 2 skeins of gorgeous On-Line sock yarn in cream, blue, and purple. And a really funny birthday card that totally made me crack up! I love everything Andi! I can't wait for summer now.

I had a wonderful day home with the munchkins today. We got 10" of snow and lots of freezing rain during the night so they had a snow day. They made me some great birthday cards and did their best to keep the disagreements to a minimum. Doesn't get any better than that!

Yarn Junkie

I joined the Yarn Junkies swap over on swap-bot last month. The color was purple. This is what I received from my pal Stacy...




A great big hank of BFL in purple and a smaller hank of hand dyed BFL in shades of purple and pink. So pretty! She also included 2 great stitch markers and a blank note card that I believe was also hand crafted which I used the day I received it to send a note to a friend. Thanks so much for the wonderful package Stacy!

The next round is the color red and I can't wait for it to start. Go check it out. It's lots of fun!

A Quick Update...

For all of you wondering where to get the pattern for the Trinity jacket...

Adirondack Yarns

The jacket was designed by Sue (the best owner of the best LYS in the whole entire wide world) and is free when you purchase the yarn to knit the jacket. The kits can be ordered on the website. If you let Sue know you found her through the KAL here she'll give you a 10% discount.

It's a gorgeous jacket and lots of fun to knit. Go ahead, give it a try!

I've been doing lots of knitting since I've been on bed rest for the past week. My left leg started hurting early last week and I kept ignoring it hoping it would go away. By Saturday night I finally admitted to myself that it wasn't going away. I also admitted to Bran that I was pretty sure I had another blood clot. I had a DVT in my right leg and several smaller clots in my lungs almost 16 years ago after having Short Man. As long as I live I'll never forget that pain. So I drove up to the hospital and asked if someone was available to do a doppler on my leg. They called in one of the girls from x-ray and within a minute she had found it. This one is in a superficial vein and doesn't present as much of a risk as the DVT I had previously. Thank goodness. But still, to lessen the slight chance of it breaking free and wandering to my lungs I've been told to stay off my feet, keep my legs elevated, and keep heat on my left leg. I know you're all thinking that this sounds like a knitters dream, but it's really not. My elliptical machine is calling my name. And my ass is numb. I want to play on the computer for more than a few minutes a day. And most importantly, I want to wait on my baby dolls who are home on spring break. I want to play games and run around outside. Yes, I'm whining. I go back for a follow up with the doctor on Friday. Keep your fingers crossed that they tell me I can get back on my feetsies. I've got a ton of laundry to catch up on after all.