Secret Pal, Dirty White Boy and Rock of Ages

SUMMER CAMP SWAP 2007

Over on Ravelry a group of us decided to do a swap. The theme was sending packages to other knitters who are "away" at summer camp. We were supposed to send them yarn and goodies related to where the sender is from. My secret pal is BroadwayKnits from Memphis. Here is what she sent:

1) Cat treats for the cats

2) Reese's Elvis Peanut Butter and Banana Cups (get it...from Memphis)

3) BBQ Seasoning

4) Toys for the cats

5) Opal Rainforest II Sock Yarn in Hummel (Bumblebee)...awesome

6) A personalized LolDog from her dog, Tony, saying how he sent the treats and toys for the Quats

7) A skein of Socks That Rock Mediumweight Sock Yarn in the color Henpecked.

How freakin cool is all of this?? The cats have gone ballistic for the toys and treats. The yarn is awesome. My first skein of STR...woo hoo!! And in mediumweight so that the sock making will go quickly...super cool!

As you can see, Quirk wanted the picture taking to be finished with so she could play with the toys that were sent to her. She can be so demanding (um...I have no clue where she gets that from.)

I only hope that my Secret Pal that I'm sending to will be as happy with his/her gift.

ROCKING IN THE RAIN:

Last Friday my friend Tonia and I went to the Styx, Foreigner, and Def Leppard concert at the Tampa Bay Amphitheatre. It was pouring rain so the mile hike from the parking lot to the venue was quite interesting. I wish I was exaggerating but it is a well known fact that the parking for this venue is ridiculous. Parking at one end of the Florida State Fairgrounds...and the amphitheatre is at the other end. RIDICULOUS. At least our seats were out of the rain...but we were pretty soaked by the time we got there. We missed most of Styx...which is fine by me. Actually, we could hear "Sail Away" when we were standing in the merchandise line. Tonia got a Def Leppard t-shirt and I got a hoodie. Woot!! Def Leppard hoodie!! We did, however, make it to our seats in time for Foreigner. I admit it...I wasn't expecting too much. They were freakin AWESOME! All of the hits...one after another....except..... Dirty White Boy. Gah. I actually didn't miss it until later but it would have been cool. And then....DEF LEPPARD!! I used to have a huge thing for them "back in the day." As soon as they were on the stage...I remembered why. They were amazing! It was basically a 20,000 person sing along the whole night. Sweet.

Crocs and Super Secret Projects

WHO LET THE CROCS OUT???

I innocently visited the Crocs website yesterday and OMG...I have found my complete wishlist for Christmas. Yarn schmarn...I want SHOES! I will lovingly add links to all the ones I want onto "My Wishlist" and I'll delete them from the wishlist as I buy them for myself (which I know will happen to a few of them). Here's a sample:


Although those are not necessarily the colors I want. It's a good representation.

SUPER SECRET PROJECTS:
Last night I finally figured out something quick, small, easy, and nifty that I can make for a few different people in my life. I live in Florida so it's not like I can just make scarves for everyone. I have to get with djmars about the yarn requirements for it. I think I may be able to switch out one yarn for another. Squeeee....I'm so excited. Then again...if I start making 10 of these things - I might be less excited about it in the future.

YARN SCHOOL:
Woo hoo...it's only a few weeks away! Now I just have to figure out what all I'm taking and prepare the husky fiber. I'm not sure how much I have collected so far. Hopefully I'll get some more later this week. I know I have to wash it sometime soon and let it dry so that I can take it with me. The carding and the rest I'll leave for yarn school. (Damn you people who keep outbidding me on hand carders on eBay.)

Hey Battah Battah Battah

This past Saturday , Ms. M (djmars) and I attended the Tampa Bay Stitch N Pitch. A good time was had by all....except for maybe the true Rays fans because they lost big time. Not only was it the Stitch N Pitch night...but also their "disco" night and Barry Williams (Greg Brady) threw out the first pitch. Hello....how much cooler could it get??

Here is a pic of the tote bag and goodies that we received for attending:

There was also a Vogue Knit1 magazine that somehow did not make it into the picture. Although I'm not a big fan of the yarn...I'm sure it will end up in a good home. I'll probably make it to the Sunday knitting group at Barnes N Noble next week so it'll be up for grabs there.

There were also tables set up where people were selling some yarn and other goods. I came home with this:

Crayons Lite from Rainbow Mills...100% hand dyed cotton. A mere $20....retail is $60 something. I'm not sure what it will end up being. I'm thinking about the Tomato sweater but without the fair isle design? I have looked on Ravelry and no one really has any projects posted in this yarn. :( I was hoping to find some inspiration there. Still, it was a good deal that could not be passed up.

Speaking of Ravelry, we got free Ravelry pins at the Stitch N Pitch too. How cool is that?

The highlight of the event for me (besides making major progress on my Malabrigo clapotis) was the couple sitting behind us, Lynn (?) and Tim. Apparently they have only been dating for 2 weeks yet he's already learning how to knit. AND went to a yarn store of his own free will. WOW!! Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera with me to the Stitch N Pitch so I have no proof of this BUT Ms. M. (djmars) was there to witness the events as well.

STASH UPDATE:

I just realized that there is a TON of stuff that I have purchased and have not included on here....such as Reynolds Sea Sock, Tofutsies (the August special one and others), the new Kaffe Fassett sock yarn....etc etc. I will take a pic and post soon. This is mostly to help me keep track of everything. Yes, I also need to update my stash on Ravelry too. Geesh.

KITTEH UPDATE:

Both of the furballs have been sick recently with upper respiratory infections. Tons of sneezing and kitty boogers. I even tried to help Queue blow his nose once during a drunken game of Trivial Pursuit (after he sneezed kitty boogers all over the board). Oh, but just so it's clear....I wasn't playing against the cats in Trivial Pursuit...there was another human involved. I wasn't THAT drunk! :) Anyway, the kitties are both doing better and tomorrow morning I have to take them both to the vet for their check up. I'm not looking forward to the group trip. Chaos awaits!

Yarn and puppy pr0n

Wollmeise:
Okay, I have finally uploaded pics of my new Wollmeise:


Versuchskaninchen#1


Mitternacht


Versuchskaninchen #2

The pics do not even begin to do the colors justice.

Other yarn purchases:
I have also purchased 2 balls of Regia's new Kaffe Fassett line of sock yarn. I'm not too impressed with the Landscape colors but the Mirage patterns are supercool looking. Like I needed any more sock yarn!
I also am expecting my August ball of sock yarn from the Tofutsies sock club. I previewed the color way on the yahoo group and it looks like it is going to be very bright. I'm a little disappointed that I have not received it yet but I'm trying not to be all Cranky Ms. Twistypants about it.

WIP's:
I have not been knitting too much. Bad knitter....no cookie. Blame the unusual amount of social events, new boyfriend, the boyfriend's cable and dvr (omg...it's so addicting), OR a little bit of all of the above. However, I have managed to finish the Dream Swatch Headwrap for my sis. Currently I am working on the Malabrigo Clapotis and Wollmeise Sidewinder socks.

Stitch n Pitch
Just 2 more weeks until the Tampa Bay Stitch n Pitch!! Woot! I am looking forward to the goodie bags. I plan on taking the clapotis with me to work on.

Yarn School
Only a month & 1/2 until Yarn School! Squeeee! I must keep repeating to myself "I will not smuggle back a wheel...I will not smuggle back a wheel"

PUPPIES
The little ankle biting 5 week old huskies, Odin and Freya, are growing fast. And I do mean the whole ankle biting thing literally. Although it will be a while until their fur can be "harvested" for yarn purposes....I HAVE to include pics of them here.....because of their undeniable cuteness.