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!!!

WONDERFUL PRESENT

Despite a stressful and just horrible days this past week, it ended on a high note. Yes I have three swaps to report I received BUT I got the most wonderful gift from a knitting buddy at my Tuesday knit night. She is going through some rough and extremely difficult times right now herself and yet she was able to think of me during this time. She gave me her BBQ and yesterday with the help of another Tuesday knit night buddy she brought it over, including all the accessories that go with it: cover, utensils and propane tank. Thank-you thank-you thank-you. I won't mention your name here as you know who you are and I think most at Tuesday knit night also know who you are.

Isn't it a lovely BBQ? Here it is with the cover that came with it.
Here is my BBQ with the cover off and the lid down. See it even has a side burner to cook up those mushrooms and onions on.
This is what it looks like with the lid up.
It came with utensils and
a propane tank.

I just need to clean it up and it will be ready to go.

Yes I received three new swap packages. On May 27 I received my Ravelry Coffee Chocolate and Yarn Swap 5 Package and on May 29 I received both my Ravelry Color Swap Package 3 and my Ravelry Tea and More Tea Swap Package.

Knitting Goodness

Here is my Ravelry Coffee, Chocolate and Yarn Swap 5 package when I lifted the lid of the box.
All my goodies in my Ravelry Coffee Chocolate and Yarn Swap 5 Package.

This yarn looks quite yummy. I have already been on ravelry and found two interesting patterns I can make with it.
I not only received four smaller skeins of this lovely PINK cotton yarn but....
.... one large skein of the same yarn.
This is a coffee swap so here is the coffee I received. It is from a local roaster in her town. Frances says she loves it. I will be grinding beans in a couple of days once I finish what I have ground already.
AND the candies included my favorite Hershey bars with almonds (two packages of six bars which are now gone), Hershey kisses with almonds and chocolate covered coffee beans.

Frances asked me if there was anything I really wanted and besides the Hershey bars I told her I would love a small bottle of Jean Nate After Bath Splash as I was just finishing up what I had left from last year's small bottle I got when a friend went down to the states and picked one up for me. Look at what she sent me? Not only a did I get a LARGE bottle of Jean Nate After Bath Splash but also a LARGE bottle of Jean Nate Body Lotion. AND oh how I love it. I guess this really ages me. I can't find it here where I live and I didn't even know it was made by Revlon. I am sooo happy. This will last for several years.
Frances also made me soaps. They all smell so nice. I am using the orange one on the left now. She didn't say which was which but they are Karma, Lilac Srping and Lavender. They all contain olive, palm,coconut and Castor oils and cocoa and Shea butters. Two are fragrances with essential oils and the Lilac Spring is from a fragrance oil.

Included in my package was a plastic sheep to add to my sheep collection and in the sheep was a treble. AND you can see the PINK plastic container to hold sharp items.
YUP this package made me very happy.

On May 29 the bell rang and it was the postal truck with a package for me. He handed me a box (didn't need a signature) and I casually mentioned that I was expecting two more packages. He told me it could be on another truck. I went back inside but stopped at the window to watch the postman go in his truck and come back out with another package for me. This one needed a signature. I really would have been upset if he only gave me one package and then made me go to the postal outlet to pick the other up. It seems sometimes they only leave a card in the mailbox and don't even bother to ring the bell to see if anyone is home.

The first package was my Ravelry Tea Swap package all the way from Finland. Oh my was it ever so very nice. Check out the outside of the box. Look at those stamps.

Aren't these stamps amazing. I have an Avon customer who is a friend of my friend's late dad who collects them for someone. I will give them to her so she can pass them on.
Most of these stamps have NO cancellations on them.

The box had just tons of stamps.

Once I got all the stamps off and opened the box you can see what I saw.

Some small PINK napkins.

A bar of soap, a key chain and a pin.
Two Finish chocolate bars. I am going to have one now.

Some other candies. The jellies are almost finished now.

Two different teas. The box is bagged and the red bag is loose. I have already been in the bagged tea. YUMMY.

Some stitch markers.

Yes there was even yarn. Sock Yarn!!! Despite this looking like light blues, it is really a periwinkle color which is very difficult to photograph.
AND more Sock Yarn.

AND there were these most wonderful socks knit just for MOI!!! Oh what a happy dance I did. If you look closely at the photograph above of the box of goodies you can see them peeking out.

AND here they are on my feet. They fit so well. I notice the toe is not done how I do them. I kitchner (graph) them but these are finished completely different.

AND here is the package in all it's glory.
AND now my Ravelry Color Swap package. I don't know why the postman didn't bring it to me when he brougth me my Ravelry Tea Swap Package and had to make a second trip to his truck for it.

My partner who sent me my swap package was Betty-Jean who picked up some pressies for my box while she was at the DFW (Dallas Fort Worth) Fiber Fest. Isn't that sweet how she went to the a fiber fest and thought about what she could pick up for me.

This is a very cute tape measure and pen and it has a great saying on it also.
Look at this cute mug with a sheep on it.


Of course, Betty-Jean also sent me some small Hershey Bars, a lavendar sachet, a magnet from where she lives which is on my fridge.

One of the requirements of this swap was to send a hand crafted item to your partner and Betty-Jean knit me this lovely scarf. She also included the left over yarn.
Other items I received included hightligher tape. I knew it came in yellow but NOT blue. Apparently, it does come in PINK but there was none around when it was purchased.
Look at these adorable stitch markers
I also got this small PINK knitting project bag,

these cute short knitting needles (the ends are plain solid PINK- the flash made the ends look the way they do),

small scissors with PINK handles in a black case.

The yarns I got included this most wonderful flat by Cojoined Creations. It is all PINK which will end up as PINK stripes.

Betty-Jean also sent me this bulky skein of Teddy by Novita

and two skeins of this bulky yarn which is 55% alpaca, 15% wool and 30% acrylic. It is more PINK than the photo shows it.

I was so excited when two packages came to me in one day. AND I was very pleased with both packages.

So what have I been doing knitting wise?

I have completed my Kai-Mei socks. They are knit with Dream in Color Smooshy colorway "Luna Zazzle". Once I figured out where the stitch marker went it was a piece of cake. They fit so great.

I also finished the first sock for little Sayon who will be five in August. I used some eyelash I had in my stash for the cuff and then I started knitting it using some PINK Sisu but not liking how it was coming out I ripped it out and purchased some Socka Mexiko to use in it's place. I like it much better now. I only hope it fits as I am pretty well winging it.



I have started knitting my Cookie A Sunshine Sock using some yarn I received in my Harvest Sock Swap a couple years ago. It is 100% alpaca. The pattern is very easy with no explanation or help needed but after finishing the cuffs and set up rows on both socks I started on the leg doing one complete pattern and six rows of the second repeat when I decided it was way way way toooooo wide. I didn't take a photo and just sat at the pond and went swimming. I have decided to use a size 2mm or 0 US needles instead of the size 2.5mm I was using as per the instructions. You start out with 60 stitches increasing to 80. I thought b/c there is a cable I would need to use the larger size needle but, alas, I was wrong. So this is all I have completed.

Oh if my Harvest Sock Swap partner is reading my blog I wanted to try again to finsh the second sock of the first you sent me since I am doing much better at reading charts but don't know where I put the pattern and would appreciate if you could send me another copy. I am sure it is still around but it is a matter of finding it since it isn't where I thought I had put it.

I am still working on my Ulmus shawl and the three others I have started and also my FLS. I will be starting a project for the book the Husband I read a couple months ago shortly. So many projects so little time.

For the life of me I can't figure what Solara is looking for. Can you? I lifted the cushion but there was nothing under it.

She sure has been whinning a lot lately. Her Auntie Shelagh bought her a brush and does she love being brushed. She is so funny when I brush her. She starts kneeding and she purrs.

Here is a very funny video. Oh dear, try NOT to look up. My girlfriend sent this to me a while ago and I found it on you tube so I can share it with you.