Secret Pal Five's Secret Package No 2.

Wow

Wow is all I can think of to say! My Secret Pal Five is completely over the top. The package she sent in June was awesome and now the package she has sent me is beyond that. To begin with, there is a cute little note from SP5 herself and cute knitter notecards tide with pink ribbon. All the goodies were handily stashed in a great tote bag with a hip/mod/chic design and green trim and handles with nice heart details on the handles (love handles!). The fun didn't stop there....a nice skein of rose colored wool yarn and the fantastic little box of sweaters book/patterns. I have admired this series and even gave my Mom the little box of scarves for Christmas....Saving the best for last......a knitting murder mystery with recipes! If I had to make a wish list of what I wanted in a murder mystery.....this book seems to fulfill all of my requests. When a compulsive knitter is in a knitting slump the one thing that survives is the ability to read about knitting! Thank you, thank you and many more thanks Secret Pal. Your gifts are wonderful and I just wish you had been assigned a better blogger. ....wracked with guilt here but enjoying your gifts. Perhaps I will be inspired or guilt-driven to be a more deserving blogger and my blog may improve! We can hope and pray!

Actually, my knitter's block has cleared up a little, at least to the extent that I have been able to knock out a few scarves and such for gifts or for sale at or Weaver's craft sale in the fall. I love the way the Koigu fan and feather scarf turned out. My sister and Mom both made Koigu scarves too and I am amazed at how different each colorway looks. My Mom thinks the Koigu scarves in F and F stitch look very Missoni-esque.

Koigu Fan and Feather scarf

Amazing treasure trove from my Secret Pal 5

Alive and well but buried in work

Long time no blog.
It seems like just yesterday that I put pen to blog but sadly, that is far from the truth. This whole month has been a blur of work. The only bloggable and long past due event to post is the most wonderful Secret Pal V package that arrived in June.

The package couldn't have been more perfect and wonderfuly and I give a great big cyberSHOUT to the best Secret Pal V!!! Each item was perfectly chosen starting with wonderful Hawaiian print squeaky toys for the girl poodles! They each quickly picke a toy and ran off with them in their mouths! They have been a bit miffed to see how many toys a toddler girl gets. They used to be quite proud of their toy collections until they saw how many and varied are the toys of a toddler....Next up are some delicious tootsie pop lollipops in cool new flavors...a very fabulous crochet baby blanket book (I am so into it!) and beautiful pink pink pink cotton yarn! Whats not to like! Thank you Secret Pal V! You deserve a better blogger. I will try to swim to the top of my work pile so I can see fit to do some bloggable activities!

Today I finished making a scarf out of my new Prism "Stuff". It is all blues and greens and purples and looks really cool. Now the question is whether to keep it or give it away? My Secret Pal-ee V received the package I sent her and posted a lovely message on her blog. With the heat wave we had last week, I bet that the chocolate has melted into an indistinguishable mass.

When will I ever post pictures to this blog? I have to figure out way to expedite the picture posting process. Guess it would also help if I remembered to take more progress photos.

Jean Miles (http://www.jeanmiles.blogspot.com/) has been posting progresss shots of her Princess Shawl edging and it looks exquisite. When she restarts the shawl using new gossamer weight thread from none other than Sharon Miller, will it make the previous lace weight merino look like bulk Lopi? Can't wait for future installments to find out!

Good things come...

OK, I'll be honest. I didn't wait at all. I rushed out the first day of the sale....but I did wait until the afternoon! Later I learned that there was a line out the door and all the way down the street when the shop opened. In looking back over my previous post, it appears I omitted one critical and delicious detail about this particular sale. All yarn and needlepoint canvasses were 50% off. Yes, you read that right. ALL. FIFTY PERCENT.

Anyway, I indulged in a modest way. Some stuff was added to my stash, literally! I bought some Prism "Stuff" to make a stole. I can't resist how wild and funky "Stuff" is. Even though I haven't done any needlepoint for ages, I got 2 very small canvasses. The shop owner made me feel much better when she told me that earlier in the day a customer had purchased $3000.00 dollars worth of merchandise....and that was the sale price (in other words $6000.00 worth of merchandise at retail prices...now that is some serious stash enhancement).

The posts to the blog have been a bit few and far between lately and I hope to be more diligent in days to come. I have been assembling a package to send to my Secret Pal Five blogger. What to do about the chocolate though? Can it survive this heatwave?

Cruel taunts

Today I received a postcard from a LYS (not the most LYS but in the next town over) notifying me of a 10 day sale on ALL knitting yarns and needlepoint canvasses. The special anniversary sale begins on Tuesday. Now how is a troubled yarn addict such as myself supposed to resist that kind of temptation? My mind has been conducting a presale inventory of all of the yarns that this shop had in stock when I lasted visited them about 3 weeks ago. In my mind's ear (the hearing aid to my mind's eye) I hear skeins of "Prism Stuff" calling me and telling me to come and get them. OK, now if my mind's nose kicks in we will know I am in very bad trouble indeed as I learned in grad school courses in psychology that olfactory hallucinations are a poor prognostic indicator. Stay tuned to learn how much I succumb to temptation (oh yes, the question is not whether or not....just HOW MUCH?).

In nonknitting news, I have to vote myself an unfit mother. We took our daughter for her first ever glimpse of the ocean and I forgot to bring my camera to capture this precious moment. Other than that, she loved seeing the ocean. In fact, she loved it so much that she was speechless (this from an almost 18 month old baby girl who chatters away from the moment she wakes up until she goes to bed!)

Here is a sample of the squares that I am crocheting to make an afghan. The pattern is one of the squares in "200 crochet blocks" by Jan Eaton. It is alot of fun to try out the various blocks and it is good for using up scraps. Maybe I should try making a sampler afghan. Actually, the book has over 200 different blocks so you can make a very large afghan indeed. However, for several designs there are alternate colorways suggested and those colorways count as a separate block number which is fudging a bit, don't you think?

Dry goods

In researching some lovely lace weight yarns that might possibly be suitable for knitting one of Sharon Miller's heirloom shawls, I came across this nice website that has many different fiber laceweights
http://www.dimitysdrygoods.com/

The cotton/silk and cashmere/silk blends look particularly tempting. Blogosphere friend Jean http://www.jeanmiles.blogspot.com/ is contemplating knitting the Sharon Miller "Princess Shawl" as an heirloom family wedding veil (for future use by her granddaughter). We may even have a go at a knitalong!

Here is the multidirectional diagonal scarf made from 3 skeins of Noro Silk Garden that refused to become a Clapotis.

And stepping back a bit... 

This is a closeup of the blanket. 

This is the blanket that I am crocheting for my daughter using odd skeins of Koigu. I made a similar one for my nephew and he apparently loved it and it is now in use by his baby sister. It is essentially a gigantic granny square.  

Branching out

I think that I will knit a few bars of the "branching out" scarf with my lovely mohair to see if it looks lovely in the Feza Kid Mohair (www.fezaiplik.com) that I have. It is surprisingly soft and silky, perhaps even more than Rowan Kidsilk Haze which it resembles.
knitty.com

Saving grace, redeeming value...

Just had the mega marathon all day visit to the in-laws so they could visit with their granddaughter. She called both of them "Grandpa" during the visit. I will have to explain that just like our two sweet doggies who each have their own name, the grands (who are not that grand in my book) each have their own designation.

For the first part of the visit, after feeding and changing DD, I plowed through 2 and a half crochet afghan squares. They are pretty fun to make and I won't get too tired of making them because it is relaxing. But I was running out of steam on hanging out and crocheting at the in-laws house....it was wearing thin. Thank heavens I remembered that there was a Trader Joe's nearby.

I managed to salvage something out of the day by escaping to the nearby Trader Joe's for an hour. We don't have a Trader Joe's even remotely near our house so I just had to go. There really isn't anything that you could describe as "needing to have". But it is so much fun to go there because almost anything in the store could instantly have a place at the top of your "want to have" or "want to try" list. I managed to escape without too much damage. My SP5 will be getting a goody or two from TJs too. They were giving away samples of their Triple Ginger Gingersnaps and they are sooodelicious! I've already eaten 4 of them! They are slightly addictive. Their samples are really too enticing. On the way out, I tried out the "Kiss my face, lavendar and shea butter lotion" It smelled so nice I just had to go back and get a bottle. I also got some almond flour (for making a decadent chocolate cake from the Alice Medrich cookbook "Cocolot" which I "like-a-lot". Some teeny tiny Italian hard candies called "Confetti candies" because they are individually wrapped in bright shiny wrapping and could probably thrown as confetti without hurting anyone. I think that is a full confession unless there is some chocolate that jumped in the bag....yes, in fact, I think that there is some chocolate in there.

Thank heavens for Trader Joe's. Now that the not so D, GM and GF are getting on in years, we will probably be making the trip with discouraging regularity and frequency. I have a feeling that Trader Joe and I will be spending some time together.

Secret Pal 5

Very excited and happy to receive a secret email from secret pal V! Please forgive the newness of the blog, secret pal-5. I will try to get my act together and learn some of the ins and outs of blogging (especially including the regular and frequent posts with pictures!).
Here are my answers to the Secret Pal Questionnaire:
1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you? A bit of a yarn snob, yes. But sometimes the occasional RH and LB skein has found its way into a useful existence!

2. Do you spin? Crochet? Used to spin but no inclination lately since my 18 month old girl keeps me busy and doubtless would find all the fiber endlessly fascinating to deconstruct and decorate the house with. Lately I have been on a major crochet binge. Just got the book 200 crochet blocks by Jan Eaton and highly recommend it!

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.) Definitely allergic to cats and sometimes to smoke and perfumes too.

4. How long have you been knitting? Of and on since I was 10 (and I am a lot older than that now!)
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? no
6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) I like lavendar and citrus scents but I tend to avoid scented products.
7. Do you have a sweet tooth? yes, unfortunately.
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? A bit of beading (mostly necklaces and bracelets with semiprecious gemstones or crystals), rughooking, crocheting
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) eclectic tastes in music. Yes, computer can handle MP3s
10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? Pink, pink, pink, like, like, like. Khaki and camouflage (how do you spell that?) don't like
11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? One precious daughter almost 18 months old, her father, two miniature poodles!
12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know) Gee, I don't feel that limber today. Let me think about that one for awhile :)
13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? I'm not THAT much of a fiber snob. I couldn't pick a single favorite yarn to knit with! I like to knit with all sorts of yarns but in general I am not that good at knitting with very chunky yarns.
14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? Can't think of any that fit that description.
15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? Thats the problem. I am not currently obsessed with any projects. Most of the time I was expecting my daughter, I wasn't able to knit for her at all (superstition/fear/etc) and now I am in such a rut of not knitting for her I just can't seem to get out of it. That is why I started the blog in hopes that it would help me break this knitter's block. It seems so strange to me since I have knit countless sweaters, booties, hats etc for other people's newborns. Now I can still knit but I just can't seem to make anything for my daughter. Doesn't that seem strange?
16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Love to knit sweaters, felted bags, hats, scarves, shawls.
17. What are you knitting right now? A robins egg blue and yellow striped toddler sweater out of an eyelashy yarn that was extremely novel when I bought it at Stitches East over 5 years ago (now of course, the ubiquitous eyelash is practically a bore)
18. What do you think about ponchos? One would think they would be on the way out but somehow they hang around (literally, around one's neck). I have to admit that I crocheted one of the Martha ponchos for a friend. It was actually a big hit and everyone at the birthday party begged to try it on.
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Circular! Can't go back to straights anymore.
20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I use them all but I guess metal needles are my standard.
21. Are you a sock knitter? Yes, I have made my share of socks. But these days with less time to knit, I think I want to concentrate on something that won't get worn out so much....and that I could give to someone else if I got tired of it...like a sweater or bag, or scarf (who would want my worn smell socks?)
22. How did you learn to knit? Learn to knit from a boxed kit that I received for Christmas one year when I was about 10. I remember the needles were thick, thick wooden needles and the yarn was PINK!
23. How old is your oldest UFO? Now that is just a mean mean question. Its old, really old. Does that make you feel any better?
24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? Poodles
25. What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving and Christmas (yes, that is 2 but when the end of the year rolls around sometimes the holidays just slide one into the other)
26. Is there anything that you collect? Currently, I have decided to decollect so that I can "collect" more space in my house.
27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? Vogue, Knitters
28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on? I am always dying to get my hands on any new knitting books. I just can't seem to resist them. They do go out of print so they become even more desirable.

Thanks SP5. Please hang in there as I get my blogging act together.

Now for some regular blogging content....
As mentioned above, I am on a crochet binge. I just used a 25% off coupon at Border Bookstore to get the book 200 crochet squares by Jan Eaton. This book is really fun. All the squares are the same size if worked with the same weight yarn. I have tried out a dozen or so blocks so far and managed to pick one that I really enjoy making. Will have to take a picture of my favorite block. Thinking of crocheting an afghan out of this enormous bag of slightly lighter than dk weight red wool/silk blend yarn that is soft as silk. Why did I have so much of this yarn to begin with? I can't even remember buying it or what it was to be used for and there is enough of it to make 2 sweaters at least so that should make a good sized afghan.

Take that back

Unravelled the whole Clapotis after 3 skeins worth. I just wasn't feeling it. Actually, I was feeling the roughness of the Silk Garden and it wasn't good at all. So the 3 skeins morphed themselves into the multidirectional diagonal scarf which was great fun to knit. Picture to follow....eventually.

Branching out

Decisions, decisions. I bought a beautiful skein of Feza Kid Mohair and a skein of Dalegarn Ara to make a Loopy and luscious scarf from Knitty (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter02/PATTloopy.html) but then I noticed the "Branching out" (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring05/PATTbranchingout.html) scarf pattern. The branching out pattern calls for exactly 1 skein of Rowan Kid Silk Haze which has the same gauge and yardage as my kid mohair. Should I make the Branching out scarf and abandon the lonely skein of Ara? Surprisingly, the Branching out scarf yields a fairly large (7 inches wide, 78 inches long) scarf which is lovely leafy lace!

Why am I even thinking about this when I am only 1 skein into my Clapotis and haven't even begun the fun dropping stitches part of the pattern yet?

Lace edging for christening shawl. 

Breakfast time! 

It defi-Knitly feels like the right time to start to knit again and tackle the backlog of projects in progress and to blog about knitting and other things.

At the moment, I am working on a beautiful Clapotis using six skeins of stashed Noro Silk Garden. It isn't as silky as it could be since it has some fibrous material in the spin that is a bit rough, however, the colors couldn't be more fun. I even broke out the stitch markers for the occasion!