SEPTEMBER ALREADY

I think I will start the blog off with a funny first. Doesn't everyone JUST love those infomerc1als. Well check this one out.

Enjoy.



AND now on to KNITTING GOODNESS

I received a wonderful package from Danielle in the whoduknit yahoo group. It was for a bottle swap. Some of the items I recevied were in the bottle and others weren't as I also won a prize for my handcuffs. I chose the the crossword puzzle book Murder Mystery Cosswords and dived right into it. Look at all the wonderful treats I received in the bottle and in the box. First here is my bottle with some goodies tucked inside.



I received this lovely yarn from Twisted Sisters, Brittany DPNs of which I can't ever have enough and think I need some more. This way I can have four or five pair of socks on the go at once instead of only two. Does that sound strange? There was a small 2010 calendar with a hook for attaching to a bag or strap, a mini nail file (Americana) already in use and a notepad.

Here is a close up of the yarn. It is Rayon (52%) cotton (48%) blend. AND I got three skeins.

In the box I found a book by Alison Gaylin called You Kill Me which I haven't read yet, a straight knitting needle case, a bottle of fiber wash, tissues with the initial "P" and a lovely card.

This bag was stuffed in the bottle. It is made from cotton stripe yarn. The pattern and label from the yarn were included.
Here is a close up of the bag. What a great color it is!!!!


I also received candies. Some of my favorite Jelly Belly's of which most are gone. Of course, the black licorice are still hanging around for whoever comes over and wants them. The American Hershey bar with nuts didn't last 1o minutes.

Here is the prize I chose for winning in the group.

Again THANK-YOU Danielle for such a wonderful bottle.

Here is the bottle I sent to my pal Jane in the swap. To fit everything in it I had to put two bottle together so there is no top or cap on this bottle. HEE HEE. Apparently she had to work to open it up.

Okay so a couple of weeks have gone by and I have yet to complete this post. Maybe I will today since it is already Sept 13. WOW half the month is over.

I received the Everlasting Traveling Tea Box this past week. This is a box that goes from one person to another. You take out what you like and replace like with like. If you take out 10 tea bags you replace it with 10 different tea bags. If you take a box of tea you replace it with a box of tea. If you take a skein of yarn or knitting needle/hook etc you replace it with another small item

Here is what I took.

Hand crafted earring (PINK),
a hand crafted bracelet,

a skein go navy blue Digit yarn,

a skein of green Digit yarn

tea bags, I took one of each of the top three and two of each of the rest,

three crocheted tree ornaments,

a PINK crochet hook (I couldn't resist it since it was PINK!!!) and,

a small tube of Mary Kay hand cream. I can never have enough hand cream even if I do sell Avon.

I am in the process of replacing what I took out of the box so I can mail it off to the next person on the list. This is the second box I have received. It is NOT the same as the first one a while ago.

I also received my Ravelry Felted bag. This is the second Ravelry Felted Bag Swap. My bag is on its way and as much as I would love to show you what I made this isn't a surprise swap and so if my partner reads my blog she would get to see it before it arrives. I did tell her it wasn't going to be a tote bag to carry around her knitting project. She is NOT my original partner. I have not heard from my original partner and since my new partner hasn't received a package yet I was reassigned her. I do hope she likes what I made.

What did I get? I got a lovely bag which has a lining with a pocket and it also has a zipper. Notice it is brown with PINK!!!


Inside my bag I found this bag. This is great as now I have two really neat bags to add to a couple other new ones I have received to take shopping and now I will NOT need to use plastic bags.


There was some candy, of course, which is all gone. That American Hershey bar with nuts didn't last very long.

Look at this cute lip balm with a clip to hang on my bag so I don't have to dig into the bottom of my bag to look for it.

AND then there were some yarn bras or sleeves as Boye calls them.

Lastly, some stitch markers with three different size rings. I love stitch markers. I am getting quite the collection. Definitely, I need to learn how to make some and I have an idea for my first ones.

I haven't been only receiving gifts. I am also sending gifts.

For the Ravelry Kittty Toy Swap which is my big girl Solara's swap I was to make an A$mat. Since my gal loves felted items I decided to knit and felt a kitty pi bed. It really came out nice but I put it through the machine twice to tighten up the sides and it came out way way way too small for my partner's feline furchild from seeing the photo of her/him.

Here it is drying after the first felting.

AND here it is with a stuffie in it after it has dried.

So wanting to make the sides tighter I felted it a second time. Here is Solara checking it out. She is just too big for it. She tried to sit in it and didn't quite fit.




Then she tried to lie down in it and curl up but once again it was way too samll for her.



So I decided to put it away and make the A$$mat for my partner. This also met with Solara's approval. For this project I used a strand of Boa, a strand of long eyelash and a strand of chunky yarn all knit together.


Part of this swap also includes sending a catnip filled hand made kitty toy. I made both an catnip filled egg roll and a catnip filled wonton. Both patterns were FREE on ravelry. Solara thought they were for her.



I am in the process of gathering a few goodies for my partner since I have taken care of kitty and then I will take it to the postal outlet and mail it.

I can now show the photo of the bag I knit for Nichole (rav name coey) for the Ravelry Color swap 3. I knit the Bags of Choice by Amanda Jones. Thank-you Nicole for the wonderful photo. It sure looks better than the one I took. I really think my camera is slowing going to the big camera in the sky. I chose to knit the eyelet one and I lined it with a very pretty brocade. I will definitely knit more of these. They are quite pretty and easy to knit. The handles on this bag came with the magazine where the pattern was but I do have some other handles similar in my stash.


I have completed something for Charlotte whose birthday is Sept 24. I can't show it here again in case she reads my blog. I will mail it this week as I am waiting for something ordered to arrive if it/they is/are still available.

I have finished my Cookie A Sunshine Socks, my second pair I am calling Jamacian Fruit cake.

I am working on my Ravelry Cookie A KAL Angee socks. I have compelted the first and the leg, heel and picked up the gusset stiches on the second. I am using Dream in Color Smooshy yarn for them. I love the pattern and the yarn and it is PINK and I feel so good while knitting them. I am in my happy place.

Here are photos of the completed first sock.

There seems to be something wrong with my camera see the pink across the top of the photo. AND also the area I look throught goes blurry a lot. I hope I don't have to purchase a new camera. It also seems my printer's RED ink won't print. I think it the red b/c when I do a print check the red doesn't show up. Does this mean I need a new printer also????

A close up of the pattern.


Sock #2 in progress.

AND AND AND knitty.com has a new Cookie A FREE sock pattern. She is also coming out with a new book in the spring. I have seen a few of the patterns and they are great. Check it out here.

http://knit-sock-love.googlegroups.com/web/knitsocklove+promo.pdf?gda=KL_uYkkAAACTEF2ZS4A9kE1nuxsi12e7awsc6qBJsIbN4gVgvJ27Z8sp6fEx5h9ETbGiogBzH2EUcBwIrOwsW3RIu5VZGP9whAioEG5q2hncZWbpWmJ7IQb
I joined the Ravelry Sockknitters Anonymous group on ravelry and they are having a KAL this month. I guess they have them every month but this month is different. Thee are three categories you can join. You can do one, two or all three.

These are the three categories.

This month’s challenges:

1. Any sock pattern using yellow yarn (solid or semi-solid).
2. The Mystery Sock by Nancy Bush using yellow yarn.
3. A Wendy Johnson pattern using any color.

You have for the first two and possible all three until the end of October to complete them. I have decided I am going to do the first two categories.

For the first category I am going to knit the 2009 Penthalon KAL pattern SUMMER the fourth pattern of the five for this year. Now most of you know I don't have yellow yarn as that is not a favorite color of mine or a color I enjoy working with so I decided to attempt to dye some Knit Picks Bare yarn yellow. I have some Easter egg tablets I got on sale and thought that the yellow would be pale enough for me to be comfortable knitting with. Of the three packages of Easter egg dyes only one had what appeared to be a yellow tablet. PHEW. I put it in the container with 3/4 cup white vinegar and VOILA it was GREEN!!!!!. Very disappointed, I put it in a small pill bottle and put it away for late use. I found out later that the tablets which look like orange are actually YELLOW. Too late for me now as I found a packet of KOOL AID lemonade and put it in vinegar and water and after soaking my yarn for 1/2 in water I then submerzed in the yellow dye bath. I didn't seem to have enough so I added some yellow food coloring. Then I nuked it. Later I found a few more KOOL AID packets in lemonade. I can't seem to find them here. These were sent to me from the states but here our RED KOOL AID (cherry, raspberry etc flavors) apparently has the best chemicals in it for dyeing. Here it is drying outside hanging from a tree.

Here are the results of it skeined. AND you can see I still didn't get the skein evenly dyed yellow but it looks nice.






I am going to do the second category also. Two clues for the mystery sock have already been given and the third comes out tomorrow or after MN tonight. For this category I ordered some yellow yarn called Banana from CraftsMeow on etsy. You can see what I got here http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29468446. It is very pale. I ordered it Sept 2 and it is coming from California so I should be getting it soon. She also has a couple of very nice PINK yarns. I received a FREE sock pattern with the yarn which came via PDF in my email BUT it is a toe up sock and I haven't yet learned to do a toe up sock. Guess it is time for me to learn.

Oh yes we are still having rain. This morning I awoke to this. It really isn't dark out, just foggy.

This is from my backyard.

Thisis out my front yard.

My knees are still very sore. The length of time I can walk is very limited to about two to three hours and that is pushing it. Yet I find it hard to sit still for long periods of time and need to get up and walk around despite the pain. I so badly want to sit cross legged again.

Well I just finished submitting my Avon order and it was quite large with lots of individually large orders. This could be a challenge to deliver on Friday. I may have to start early and make a second trip in the afternoon after coming home to rest depending on the size of the bags after the orders are packed and how much I can fit in my trolley.

Tomorrow I will catch up with ravelry and my SP duties. AND Tuesday morning I have a physio appt again. In the evening is knit night at McNally's so I won't be at Mona's this Tuesday. I am looking forward to going knitting.

Before I end I want to let you know of a raffle on this blog http://djmarsknits.blogspot.com/2009/09/contest.html. For a donation of a buck you can win a skein of sock yarn, for $2 you have a chance to win a skein of Wollmeise - Frosch (dark) colorway and for $5.00 you could win a pair of hand knit socks of your choice from yarn in her stash. So go and check it out.

Would you like to win a copy of the Joy of Sox? Here are a couple contests to enter and try to win it. Go here http://throughtheloops.typepad.com/through_the_loops/2009/09/secret-knitting-revealed-the-joy-of-sox.html. You have until Sept 15 MN. I already entered. If you live in the states (sorry this doesn't appear to be open to canadians) you can also enter here for a copy of the book http://bellybuttonknits.blogspot.com/. Again the deadline is Tuesday Sept 15.

That is about all for this post.

I will try to be more consistant with blogging.

HAS SPRING SPRUNG?

It is hard to believe it is spring here in Winnipeg. Another day I wasn't able to get to play in the dirt. Today it rained all day (Monday June 8). Yesterday (Sunday June 7) it was cool. Or it has been just downright cold, or windy and then there has been the lack of topsoil available at the complex for about a week when the weather was a bit better.

BUT my tulips sure are looking wonderful. I received the bulbs as a house warming gift last year.



This is the very first tulip that came up which I planted last fall. It opened May 16. All the rest followed soon after.

They were very tall. So tall everyone who has seen them has mentioned their height asking what is in the soil? It is the same place as where my nine foot tomato plant was last summer. Can you see how tall the two stalks are without the pretty flowers?
I have some tulips in the front which look exactly the same as those I planted but I don't remember planting them. There were some bulbs when I moved in but I though I had accidentally taken most of them out. Also, I don't remember there being so many either when I moved in last June.


Here are some I planted in the back.

I have this waiting to get planted when the weather starts to cooperate and I had plans to get some more.

What you see in the above photo to the very left of the plants that are waiting to get planted are these columbine. They are ready to bloom. They were here when I moved in last year. They also look healthier than they did last year.

I still need to find a rhubarb root to plant in a nice space to the left of the columbine.

I have dug up sod in my front yard and will dig up some more to make my veggie garden and am putting that sod in the back where the fence gate is. When they removed the big pine tree last year it left the area muddy with sawed tree bark.
The area behind the gate is getting sod to walk on and the area around it will get plants over a period of time. I did purchase a peony root (PINK) which I plan to plant somewhere on the outside of the gate behind my yard along with some hostas. AND yes that is a new quite large umbrella that fit in the hole in my smallish white plastic table. I also got some netting to go over the umbrella so I can sit inside it and knit without being bitten by mosquitoes.
Here is where I am working on the garden in the front of my yard. I guess every year I will dig up a bit more. This is the start of it. I am not sure what I will do with those rocks I took out of the garden.
Now it looks like this and has been for a while since the weather has been so uncooperative. You can see the area I still plan to dig up. Next year I will dig up more of the length of the front yard for my garden.
Saturday (June 6) I had a Tupperware party and I received these FREE products.

A bag which could have several uses. I could take it to the grocery store with me or I could use it as a knitting bag

I received a smidget, midget, a very small container and two key chains. One key chain I received when I went to my friend's Tupperware Party. She is the reason I had my party, to help her out.
I also received a large bowl but won't get it until my order comes in. What did I order. I used my FREE money to pay for most of the fridge mates set, then took for my half price item the veggie peeler b/c it is great for peeling the rind off the orange for candied orange peel, a wonderful recipe I got from my knitting buddy Anne whose blog is here http://madlyoffinalldirections.blogspot.com/. I also got the mini pickle jar which was $10 with $5.00 going to a charity and I got the two large tumblers with lid and straws which were on special as they were attendance specials.

I mailed my Whoduknit Scavenger Hunt Swap Package on June 2 and is now somewhere in the states. It should be received by the end of the week baring any complications. I am still waiting for my Ravelry Felted Bag Swap Package.

AND today I received another swap package. It was my Whodunkit Scavenger Hunt Package. That made this dreary day better. It was from Barbara.

The package consisted of a scavenger hunt finding things using the the letters in the word MYSTERY using those letters to find the following items:

M = MURDER MYSTERY And it is a book I haven't yet read. YEAH!!

Y = YOUR CHOICE Barbara chose to send me some Cotton Candy scented body lotion, body wash and lip balm.
S = SOMETHING SILLY For this she sent Solara some treats and a toy. What a spoiled feline furchild I have.
T = TASTY TREAT HMMMM Home made granola and some Godiva Chocolate Pearls. YIPEE I have gotten the Godiva Chocolate Pearls for my swap partners but never have gotten myself any.
E = EWE MAKE IT This could be something made for me or something for me to make. Barbara sent something she made me, a potato chip scarf which you can see being modeled in the next two photos by Solara. It is nice to receive one. I have knit several but have always given them away.

Here she is saying Oh Mother not another photo.
R = REGIONAL ITEM This is a tray from where she comes lives. With a BBQ and table outside this will come in handy.
Y = YUMMY YARN Here are two skeins of Boa in a PINK color I received and
three skeins of something called Bird of Paradise another eyelash type yarn.

This swap was a lot of fun. More so since that first scavenger hunt swap I was in never produced package for me.

I should again remind you that SECRET PAL 14 is under way so go and sign up for it. It will run over three months July, August and September. If you are interested go here to sign up http://secretpal.bidwellfamily.net/, log in or create an account and log in, then follow the instructions. The official SP 14 blog is here http://secretpalxiv.blogspot.com/, make sure you read the official rules posted there.

Here is a an easy contest.

June Contest for Knitting Surprise Package
Worldwide June Contest
Leave a comment on the blog to say what you are knitting/stitching and on June the 30th the comments go in a random number generator and a winning number will be picked.
The winner gets a surprise bag full of goodies.

Is anyone interested in winning a sock blocker key chain? Contest ends June 15. If so you can enter to win one by going here http://pattscreationsmadness.blogspot.com/2009/05/sock-blocker-keychain_17.html. Follow the simple rules as I am doing by posting this on your blog and then letting her know you have done so. You can get more entries by doing other things which are listed on her blog.

WOW there is a contest over at The Alpaca Yarn Company ending June 15 here http://alpacayarnco.blogspot.com/2009/05/spring-contest.html. I just received two skeins of this yarn and don't know if I have to time to think of something CREATIVE to knit with it and enter it. AW SHUCKS!!!