Goodies!

OK, so for my work we go to Mitchell (a small town in the middle of nowhere) to do WIC every 3 months and a lady that works at the school there asked me and my friend/co-worker about the socks we were knitting. She said her mom knit all of her Dad's socks and she also said she has sock patterns that we can have. So she runs home and brings back a folder full of sock patterns, most of them are argyle or plaid and they are from the 1940's and 50's, and they are so cool. I haven't made argyle socks yet but I'm going to now!! How cool are these!!?!

Long Time, No Post

Sorry for my absence, I have not been feeling well for some time now and because of that I've been a bad secret pal on both ends. I have received 2 packages from my pal since my last post. The first I have no pictures of because I took everything to work, it was work related stuff (stethoscope and IV drug book). The second was filled with goodies (see picture below):


a magazine, cute note pads, a bunch of yummy smelling bath stuff and some soft, squishy alpaca yarn, this yarn screamed out to me and wants to be gloves and a hat!! It's delicious, see....


So thank you so, so much to my secret pal, I'm sorry I haven't been the best communicator this round :o)

I also have an FO, here are Seduction Socks by Ann Budd that were made with Pagewood Farm in the Crayon colorway.



It was a civil war weekend here in Oregon, but we can all still get along ;o)

Knitters Coffee Swap Box!!

My swap box was waiting patiently for me when I returned home from a business trip. If I knew I had a package, I would have driven faster ;o) Here is a picture of the awesome contents:



There's Claudia Handpaint, yummy caramel and vanilla coffee, some super cute stitch markers (my first fancy ones) and some yarn themed note cards. Here are the stitch markers up close:



Thank you so much to KAT, I love my box and I hope you like what I sent you as much as I like mine ;o)

My Poor Car, Booty, and My Beasts

Warning: this is what your car may look like if your teenaged driver goes "deer hunting" on a Saturday night. The poor deer never had a chance! Everyone is OK, maybe a small bit of PTSD but I hope that won't last for long.


Unfortunately, I have been so preoccupied with getting repairs done along with doing mega flu shot clinics and caring for a sick son that I have been a bad pal and haven't posted about my booty yet. Here is a picture of what I received from Barb for the Booty Swap:


There's post-its with my initial, a shopping list magnet (I needed that btw), melon lotion, some needles, a hot pink hat, some hankies, and of course sock yarn which I have already cast on. I Love the colors! Thank you Barb so, so much!!

And I leave you with pictures of my ghouls on Halloween

Secret Pal Box!

I got a box from my SP and here's what I got; 2 skeins of Noro Airisu (the white/green/magenta one) and 2 skeins of Araucania Pahuen which is a really cool cotton, I don't know what to make with these but they are so cool. I also got a cute journal and an issue of IK. Thank you, thank you, to my secret pal, whoever you are :o)

Here's a picture of the goodies:

Knitters Coffee Swap Questions

1. Whole bean or ground? either is fine, no real preference to one or the other
2. Fully-loaded or decaf? fully loaded please
3. Regular or flavored? flavored
4. How do you drink your coffee? with cream and splenda
5. Favorite coffee ever? Starbucks Carmel Macchiato's are it right now for me
6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? not too fussy I just don't like something too bold
7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? hmmm.. don't usually have a treat with my coffee
8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? nope
9. Yarn/fiber you love? pretty much any sock yarn, I haven't met any that I didn't like yet :o)
10. Yarn/fiber you hate? acrylic
11. What's on your needles? socks, an irish hiking scarf and a sweater
12. Favorite colors? I like pretty much any color
13. Allergies? nope
14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? nope, I'm pretty easy to please

I Promise I'm Still Knitting...

I have 2 finished pairs of socks to offer, the first is a victorian lace pattern from Six Socks KAL, I used Knit Picks essential solid in burgundy.



The second is a pair of Tidal Wave socks, pattern from SWTC, and yarn is Tofutsies. I really liked this yarn, it split at first but once I got going it was fine. the finished product is so very soft.



Here's a close up of the stitch pattern


I also finished my chevron scarf for that KAL but it still needs blocking so stay tuned for those pictures.

I'll leave you with a super cute picture of my kiddos, all together now..AWWWWW.....

Extreme Home Makeover: Part 2

FINALLY we are done laying the new floors, whew, that's a lot of work. All of the walls also got a fresh coat of paint, even the ceiling was painted. Here is the floor before (this is after I ripped up all of the carpet and some linoleum:





And here it is after:





It's called Williamsburg cherry and I love it so much. Makes the house seem so much bigger and cleaner :o) Now we just have to do the trim and put all of the furniture back in the house (it's stashed in the garage) and we'll be done :o)

Extreme Home Makeover: Part 1

So we've been doing some work around the house. My daughter wanted to paint her room, this is what she ended up doing to it. Very creative I must say. The walls used to be pink.



We got new furniture, this is the couch. There is a loveseat and chair that match. I love them so much. There are 5 recliners within the 3 pieces. My old furniture was 17 years old and was showing its age.


This is my kitty Mango enjoying his new couch :o)


It's also been almost as long since I've gotten new a washer and dryer so I got those too, here they are, so much better, it almost makes it fun to do laundry


We're also ripping out old flooring and putting in new. This is a picture of the bathroom after I ripped out the nasty linoleum.


And here it is after hubby laid the new tile, it's gorgeous and I love it, we still have to put the trim back on but it's basically done.


Next I'm going to touch up the paint in the living room and hallway in preparation for putting in wood floors. These will be in living, dining room, kitchen and hallway. These should be completed in a couple of weeks so stay tuned :o)
I have been doing some knitting but not as much as I'd like. Hopefully I can get some done while hubby is bow hunting this weekend. I need a FO!!

Sockapalooza!

I received my socks from my sock pal last week and I'm sorry I haven't had time to blog much. They are so pretty and soooooo soft. I've worn them to work twice already!! They are Claudia hand paint which I haven't used yet, so yummy. So thank you Sabrina very much, you did a great job.



Sabrina also sent me a ball of Tofutsies which I have been dying to try. I immediately cast on the tidal wave socks. The yarn was a little splitty during cast on but is now fine, I'm going to fall in love I think ;o) Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

SP 11: The Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? I love handpainted superwash sock yarn and I love soft natural fibers What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? Not a big fan of scratchy acrylic

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? My straight needles are in a vase for decoration and my others are loose in my knitting bag

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Almost 2 years, I taught myself Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? Intermediate

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Yes

5. What's your favorite scent? I love tropical fruit and citrus smells

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Yes but I'm not supposed to have high sugar foods. Before my favorite was Reese's and anything with peanut butter.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? scrapbooking and stamping Do you spin? No

8. What kind of music do you like? Most all types except country Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? yes

9. What's your favorite color(s)? I like pretty much any color, I'm not hard to please in this department.

10. What is your family situation? married with 2 kids ages 16 and almost 8 Do you have any pets? yes, 1 dog and 1 cat

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Yes to all but ponchos, and hats usually fit my head weird but I wear them.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? definitely socks

13. What are you knitting right now? 2 pairs of socks, 2 scarves, and a sweater.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yes

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I like bamboo mostly but use both straight and circular, depends on the size of my project.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? neither but would love to own both

17. How old is your oldest UFO? 1.5 years

18. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

19. Is there anything that you collect? just yarn

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I get Creative Knitting and IK

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Hmmm..... can't really think of one right now

22. Are you a sock knitter? Oh Yeah! What are your foot measurements? 9 inches long and about the same around.

23. When is your birthday? 7/28

24. Are you on Ravelry? Yes If so, what's your ID?neldyg

Last Weekend

OK, so it's taken me this long to recover from my trip last weekend, I think I'm getting too old to stay up 24 hours anymore!! So my friend calls me on Friday the 13th and says "hey, what are you doing tomorrow?" I wasn't doing anything to speak of except maybe knitting so she says "Good, because I'm taking you to Ozzfest" What? you're kidding, right? Nope! So she picked me up at 5:30 AM the next morning, we met up with the other 2 people that were actually driving there and away we went. It was an interesting journey. I took some pictures, the Gorge at George, WA is one of the most beautiful places, if you haven't been I highly recommend that you go. The Columbia River Gorge is the backdrop, it's fabulous, especially when the sun sets behind the stage.

Whole Lotta Knittin' Goin' On

First up are Patty's socks. My friend Patty gifted me this yarn after discovering that she hates small yarn and socks, oh the horror, so I made her some socks, she doesn't know yet so don't tell her! Also these are my July socks for the SAM3 KAL


Next up is a baby cardigan that I made for my cousin's DD, she's having a girl. I'm going to make a hat and booties to match.



Here is another baby sweater for same baby, this is from LMKG. It just needs buttons on the placket and it's done. I want to make these to match



And last is my Chevron scarf progress for the KAL, I think it's turning out very nicely.

Wow, I'm Back

What a fun time I had at the Black Sheep Gathering on Sat. It was a bit of sensory overload though, so many things to see and touch and smell! I did come away with a few things though.



From left to right: We have STR colorway "Highway 30" and "Lunasea", these have been selected for my scarf for the chevron scarf KAL. I can't wait to see how they knit up together! Next is another STR, it's a millend, I love the colors and didn't really see any flaws during winding. Next is a colorway called Ocean from Butternut Woolens. The colors are spectacular.
I also got LMKG book and the needles for my scarf. Oh and I got some STR yarn for my SP10 which is not pictured here. I can't wait to do it again!!

If you need me....

Tomorrow, I'll be here


If you're going to be there, and you see me, make sure to say hi!
Oh and this is me:



I'm soooo excited, see you there!

Flash My Stash

We're flashing our stash for SP10 so here goes...

This is the cotton stash that I said I was going to make wash cloths with:



These are miscellaneous wool products, a skein of Colinette ?? for another spiral bag from the "One Skein" book and a couple of leftover skeins from my hubby's sweater:



And this is my small stash of sock yarn which I plan on adding to at the Black Sheep Gathering on the 23rd. Socks that Rock here I come!!

Funky Monkey

Oh how I love the Monkey pattern. Since the pair for my sock pal flew off of the needles so fast I decided to make some for myself! This is the yarn I got from Elisabeth for the KT Exchange, it is beyond beautiful. Here they are, this picture doesn't do them justice. Here is a close up of the yarn and stitch pattern, see all of the pretty colors. Very bright and vibrant. Thank you again Elisabeth, the yarn is great! I think I even have enough left for a matching hair band or something.





Now off to make the Victorian Lace sock for Six Socks KAL...

SP Strikes Again!

I got a great package from my SP Monday night. Thank you SP, I really love what you sent!. Here is a picture of the box contents:

There were 2 skeins of Sock Garden, 2 skeins of Dancing, both Knit Picks, a Yarn Harlot book that I've wanted to read (I think she's so funny), a knit mag., lots of lotions, including the Knitter's Little Helper that I love, some cute needle holders shaped like sweaters, and a sock blocker key chain and the pattern to make a sock for it, too cute. I can't wait to make that! Now..... which yarn to use, or maybe I can make a bunch and change the color with my moods! Thanks SP, you are great!

I also finished one of my WIPS, my DD calls them Mardi Gras socks! These are for June SAM3 KAL:

Done Monkeys and Weird Weekend

I got my Monkey Sockapalooza socks done, they are so cute! This pattern works up so fast, I will have to make some for me next! These also count as May socks for sock-a-month. Here they are (sorry so blurry)

Here is a close up of the stitch pattern:

The yarn is from Pagewood Farms in the Bird of Paradise colorway, this yarn knits up so nice, I love it!
So I ended up being sick for the long weekend, not that I had any big plans anyway. I have a raging kidney infection, I think I've had it for awhile but ignored it. Nurses are the worst patients you know :o) Anyway so I was kind of in a fog all weekend. When I did get up and around, my DD drove me to the store, when we were almost done, this store worker ran me over with a bread cart! Yes you heard me, RAN ME OVER!! She was very sorry, I know she didn't do it on purpose. At least she hit my right side instead of my left (my poor kidney couldn't take that). Now my hip and ankle are quite sore and bruised. The person in charge didn't seem to really care. Good thing I'm nice or I'd sue them or something!