Straight From Hell

That was this week. Seriously. It was so bad I forgot yesterday was Friday. Yeah. That bad.

But, I have the kiddos and the hubby to be incredibly thankful for. That helps so much. And of course there's always yarn in the mail. :-)
This is my haul from Julia's Craft. 4 hanks of Salvia and 14 balls of Vinca. I can't wait to see how it knits up. I have 4 other balls of Vinca in my stash somewhere that I've not gotten to just yet. At $3.99 a hank for the Salvia and $2.99 a ball for the Vinca the price couldn't be beat and I've heard really great reviews on it. Go check it out while it's still on sale.
This is some Suri Lace in the Birches colorway by Cherry Tree Hill that makes me absolutely shiver when I stroke it. I ordered it to knit a Birch shawl with. Kinda corny huh? LOL
This is some laceweight wool from Extreme Yarn that I bought on eBay. It was wound way too tight when it arrived so I rewound it today. The balls are now twice the size of the ones in the picture above. I was a little nervous about adding these to the stash. I found a break in the second ball about half way through when I was winding it. That didn't bother me as much as finding about 8 breaks at the end of the ball. They are nice clean breaks though and I found no evidence of moths. I'm guessing that somehow it got swiped with a knife since the breaks were all stacked in a line. I put them in ziplock bags and threw them in the freezer just in case.
Then there is this amazing color changing yarn from Lazy Perry Ranch. I found this on Ravelry and snapped it up. Gorgeous isn't it?

Monday Mail - Again

Seems as though Monday's are pretty decent mail days lately.


First up is my Sock Knittin' #2 package containing 2 gorgeous skeins of Claudia's fingering yarn, a great beaded sock pattern from Knitty that I've never seen before, and some beautiful blue beads that match perfectly. There were also some yummy goodies included that didn't make it into the picture as well as what I believe might be a scissor fob? It's very cute and I'll decide a use for it soon. :-)
Then there are these 3 cones of Zephyr 4/8 DK for a beautiful sweater I want to knit from the Winter 2007 issue of Knitter's Magazine. It's the Honey gold pattern on page 84 and although I tried swatching in worsted I just can't get gauge without going down to a really ridiculously small needle that makes a fabric so tight you could bounce large heavy objects off it. I swatched with some dk weight I had here and it worked so much better. I can't wait to get to work on this one. I'm working feverishly on getting some other projects finished so I won't feel so guilty about starting something new. And the yarn that was originally purchased for the pattern will now be used for an afghan that I've been wanting to knit as well. Winning situation if you ask me. :-)

Last but certainly not least from today's mail call we have some Dream in Color Smooshy from The Loopy Ewe. There's Butter Peeps, Gothic Rose, Punky Fuchsia, Midnight Derby, Some Summer Sky, and Lunar Zazzle. This stuff is absolutely intoxicating.


Before I forget, I have to show you the package I received from my St. Patty's Day sock swap partner. As if the fact that my pal lives in Scotland isn't exciting enough, she went and sent this beautiful hank of Araucania Ranco Multi as well as a hank of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk. Can you say "YUM"?

My LYS Owner Went to Stitches West

and all I got was this

GORGEOUS skein of Socks that Rock in the Peaseblossom colorway!!!

OMG!!! I thought I was going to pee my pants when she pulled it out of her bag and presented it to me. I've been watching on Ravelry for a skein of this to come up and keep missing out. It's so pretty and I can't wait to get to it. I have the absolute best LYS owner in the world!!! Thanks for being you Sue!!!

Pinky Dinky Doo

This is the Jacobean pattern. It is the first pattern we've been given for the 2008 Sock Knitters Pentathlon. This is an awesome pattern and I'm really loving it. I've not knit many toe up socks simply because I can't ever seem to get a neat looking cast on. I followed the directions for Judy's Magic Cast-On suggested in the pattern and fell in love. It's incredible. I'm working these in Pale Pink Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock on a 2.5mm 40" circular. Can't wait to wear these!