SSRP box

The Alpha SSRP box has arrived on my doorstep! Or it did after I went to the post office to pick it up, anyway :). Want a glimpse inside? OK! Here you go:

Want it to be bigger? Just click. :)

This is how it looks now... I haven't taken out my picks yet. I think I'll be seriously raiding the books, and making up for it by adding yarn.

Cheryl gets it after me, so I'm going to try and coordinate it to just hand it off to her this weekend. Otherwise, she'll have a package in the mail early next week!

Secret Pal 3

It's true - there's another round! I'm signed up - are you? (Click on the button for more info)
Signups run until August 27th. Note that the rules for this one are a little different - you must have a blog to participate. I agree with that, actually - it's so much easier to learn about your partner, and actually get them something they really like, if they have a blog to read.

Help for my Secret Pal

(And a way to let everybody else get to know me a little better, too - Bonus!)

If you've been looking at knit blogs lately, you've seen this list of questions... so who am I to abstain? In knitting progress, I'm working on the i-cord bindoff on the body of bpt. Looks great, takes a while, but worth it. Anyway, on to my answers:

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high-end/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you? Weeeellll, it depends. I avoid the truly cheap stuff - the pound-of-whatevers by Red Heart. But I'm quite partial to much of Lion Brand - Microspun (as you've seen), Fun Fur, Cotton Ease, and I have quite a bit of Wool-Ease and Homespun in the stash. But I am quite partial to the natural fibers.

2. Do you spin? Crochet? I bought a spindle at MDS&W, but I haven't really gotten the hang of it yet (or tried, honestly). I am also planning on borrowing a spinning wheel of my mother's that's not been used since she discovered quilting (it's been a few years). I don't crochet - yet.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.) Smoke, yes, fairly severely. Strong perfume the same. None to pets or fibers (that I know of).

4. How long have you been knitting? I started in January of 2003.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? I do - it's linked to the right.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) For candles, I love the food scents - gingerbread, vanilla, sugar cookies, cherry (um, I'm hungry now...). For perfumes and bath products, I also love vanilla, and you can add freesia, citrus, and cucumber melon. Nothing too sweet.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? One word - chocolate. And ice cream. (I'm hungry again)

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? I letterbox, which involves making books (so book binding, cool/unique papers, etc.) and carving stamps. I also do a bit of rubber stamping, but I probably have enough of those to last my lifetime (except for the ones that I'm planning on getting Wednesday in a trade). I dabbled in a bunch of stuff - soap making, beading, polymer clay, etc. - before I found knitting, but since then I've pretty much committed all of my free time to yarn and sticks.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if you want to make her a CD) I like lots of music, with the major exceptions of heavy metal, rap, and country. Otherwise, go nuts! I can do mp3's (yay technology!).

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Green. Blue. Green. Green. Ocean colors, I guess - tans, blues and greens.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? Married (six years yesterday!). 2 cats - adorable, of course.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know) Stay happy.

There is a second round of questions, but I'll be saving them for another entry... with pictures of bpt. Tomorrow perhaps? ;)

weekly update

Alright, the diagonal-striped tank needs yards and yards (or meters and meters) of i-cord to fix it. I'm waiting until I get a Magicord machine (or something similar). I'm bidding on one now on E-Bay, so please don't bid against me!

I've been assigned my Secret Pal - so exciting! My pal has already e-mailed me, which makes me know that she (or he) is going to be great! So exciting!

Current WIP - a wrap to wear to my 10-year high school reunion, coming up in just over a week. It's linen, with a carry-along strand of metallic thread. The metallic is a pain in the hiney - it tangles really easily, but the look makes it worth it. I'm doing an easy pattern - garter stitch with dropped rows every so often. Pictures when I'm done - all bunched up on the needles doesn't really do it justice.

I now have my friend (co-worker) C. completely hooked on knitting. She's even buying yarn on-line. A knitting blog is next, I bet! She finds herself thinking about what to knit next, just like a real knitter. We're going to knit the Pooling Colors scarf together, as soon as we find a LYS that carries Schaefer Farms Anne. It'll be a few weeks before start.

Well, I think that's it for this week... For the past few weekends we've been going to Delaware (long story) and I've gotten to check out Sea Needles - a nice store, but not my favorite. Haven't managed to make it to Knitty Gritty (a store in Rehoboth) yet - what kind of store closes at 3 PM on Saturday? Besides the bank, I mean. A business trip this weekend, and I'll be checking out the yarn stores in Wilmington, NC! Next weekend is Indiana... Then Virginia or back to Delaware. Man, I get around!

Anouk!

(Click for the back)

Pattern: Anouk, Spring 04 knitty
Yarn: Lion Brand Microspun
Needles: 7
Started 7/18, finished 8/2/04

I cast on for this at my first knitting meet-up. I got through about 4 rows of the seed stitch and set it aside. I finished the back on the next Saturday, on the drive to Delaware and sitting on the beach watching Dan learn to kite-surf. I finished the front the next weekend, on the drive to Delaware and sitting on the beach watching Dan learn to kite-surf. (Sound familiar? That's not a typo... we really did go two weeks in a row.) I finished the neck and pockets on Sunday, driving to visit our friends in Virginia. It will be a baby present for the child (um, hopefully daughter) of these friends, due to be born August 6th (thus, any day). I was hoping to finish it on the drive down, but that didn't quite work out. I bought buttons and sewed them on Monday night. Then all that was left was showing it off! Oh yes, and the gifting... after the babe is born, now.