Just joined the winter swap that I mentioned in my last post. I need something fun to look forward to this winter, since it seems like it's never going to end this year!
Here are my anwers to the questionnaire:
1. Do you knit, crochet, or do both?
I knit almost exclusively these days. I know how to crochet and enjoy it, but can't do it without flaring up the tendinitis...
2. What types of needles do you enjoy using for making dishcloths?
I use all circulars, for everything, all the time! For dishcloths, I usually use my Denise needles--nice and sharp and not too slippery.
3. What types of cotton do you enjoy using for making dishcloths? Is there any that you've been wanting to try?
I usually make mine out of the old standby Sugar 'n' Creme, since it's the easiest to get around here. I also make face cloths out of Crystal Palace cotton chenille. I'd love to try any soft cotton yarns, and I've heard bamboo makes nice cloths as well, so I'd love to try that, too.
4. What color(s) are your kitchen and bath decorated in (if any)?
Don't really have any particular colors in my kitchen, though I usually tend to be attracted to bright red and white dishtowels lately, probably because I have plain white, boring kitchen counters. As for dishcloth colors, love all bright colors! My bathrooms are not really, um, decorated exactly, but I do sort of have a ocean/beach/tropical fish thing going on there....not much help, I know. I tend to like beach glass colors in the bathroom--blues and greens.
5. What are your favorite colors for yarns? Least favorite?
I don't think I really have a favorite yarn color, but I do tend to gravitate toward deep color tones, such as charcoal grey, purple, deep green, indigo blue. I also love bright colors together when blended well, such as Noro yarns. I'd have to say the only color of yarn I don't like would be yellow.
6. Do you like Winter, or do you count the days until it ends?
I hate winter and can't wait for it to go.away.! Is it April yet?
7. What's your favorite way to brighten your day when you're down in the dumps?
I usually cheer myself up by starting up the fireplace, pulling out some simple knitting and having a big cup of Oregon Chai tea with a ridiculously large pouff of real whipped cream on top, and shave some dark chocolate on top of the whole thing! What's not cheerful about that? If the home remedies don't work, I go out and about and run errands....to the yarn store....or the Daiso store....or anyplace else I can shop for luxuries or frivolous, fun stuff!
8. What is your favorite treat to indulge in and when your down in the dumps?
See #7 above, with the occasional hot chocolate thrown in. I also like to eat good dark chocolate and shortbread cookies when I'm down in the dumps....and when I'm not...and in between...Oh, and caramel with nuts, too!
9. Do you drink coffee? Tea? Cocoa?
I'm mostly a tea drinker---preferably black tea varieties with the caffeine intact. I also like Japanese green toasted rice tea and a good chai tea latte. I drink the occasional coffee latte when out, but don't make coffee at home. I love cocoa, but don't have it at home very often either.
10. If you could take a vacation starting tomorrow and go anywhere for one week and money were no object, where would you go and what would you do?
A beach....any beach! As long as it has some crashing waves, tide pools, ocean breezes, a few palm trees thrown in for some shade. I'd set up my umbrella and watch the waves while knitting, take a dip in the water once in a while and enjoy the sounds and scent of the ocean. If there's a cute cabana boy involved bringing drinks with little umbrellas, and oh, a masseuse hanging around, I'd take that too. And since money is no object, if I were at a fancy beach resort and spa, how about gettin' that private chef over here to do my bidding for a great dinner as well...And there also needs to be a scenic town nearby with lots of cute shops and great restaurants with a view to choose from---a girl can't lie around on the beach all the time!
11. Do you have any allergies or aversions your pal should be aware of?
No allergies that I know of (thank goodness---I'd hate to have to give up something I like!). My main aversions are to housework and finding a new job, so not really a worry for my pal unless they want me to clean their house or work for them...:)
Showing posts with label swaps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swaps. Show all posts
Monday, January 14, 2008
Monday, May 14, 2007
Surprises from across the big pond!
I was so excited to receive a package from my ISE4 pal this weekend---all the way from Australia! My no-longer-secret pal, Sue, sent me a lovely scarf made from Noro Silk Garden, as well as some other Aussie treats! Here's a picture of the scarf trying to get some light on the window sill. I wanted to make sure you could see all of the colors....
She has now unfortunately started me on a newly-acquired TimTam craving, which I won't be able to supply once this box is gone! The TimTams are chocolate-y and good! Sue informs me that a great way to enjoy these treats is to bite corner off opposite ends and use it to sip your coffee, causing it to become more gooey and yummy! Yikes! I guess I'll have to find an import store to supply my new bad habit!
On the knitting front, worked further on my garden lace shawl, but not enough progress to post another picture. I also managed to make some small progress on the MD moss grid hand towel. Here it is in progress, almost one-third done. (The pic is kind of bad, but hard to get the right light to be able to see the stitch pattern.)
Along with the scarf, Sue also sent some lovely and soft alpaca yarn for me to knit something warm and fuzzy, as well as some yummy treats and scented wax tarts. Here's a picture of Toebi giving the package contents his stomp of approval...
She has now unfortunately started me on a newly-acquired TimTam craving, which I won't be able to supply once this box is gone! The TimTams are chocolate-y and good! Sue informs me that a great way to enjoy these treats is to bite corner off opposite ends and use it to sip your coffee, causing it to become more gooey and yummy! Yikes! I guess I'll have to find an import store to supply my new bad habit!
The wax tarts are scented---vanilla, orange spice and frangipani (my favorite). The wax tarts melt into a pool of liquid to release their scent.
Thanks again, Sue! I love all of the goodies, and the scarf is lovely! However, for the minions, the best part of the package is to ignore the contents in favor of snooping in the empty box...
On the knitting front, worked further on my garden lace shawl, but not enough progress to post another picture. I also managed to make some small progress on the MD moss grid hand towel. Here it is in progress, almost one-third done. (The pic is kind of bad, but hard to get the right light to be able to see the stitch pattern.)
I'm really liking the feel of this hand towel, but it seems somewhat time-consuming to knit as the stitch pattern changes every row in a 14-row sequence. I would love to knit another one in a different color for a set, but I'll see how I feel about that after I see how long it actually takes me to finish this one!
I'm getting anxious to cast on for my next pair of socks, but have been somewhat stunted by trying to decide which yarn to use, with which pattern. I guess too much selection can be a bad thing! I thought I had settled on the Tofutsies, but had a little "winding incident" with that one, making me favor it not so much right now (more about the "winding incident" later). Perhaps I will have to punish that bad yarn in favor of another until it learns to behave...
Friday, April 06, 2007
A sunny day in Seattle.....?
Yes, it's true! It's one of those rare days around here, where you get up in the morning and the sun is already out! (for those of you not living the great PNW, even on our sunniest days, it sometimes takes a while for it to get going...). It's supposed to be into the mid-70's today---break out the shorts! (yeah, right....) But it does make me happy happy happy! Nice to see something besides grey outside. It's been a loooong winter...
In keeping with my commitment to always be late finishing seasonal projects, here's a pic of the Peekaboo mittens, finally done.
They came out pretty good for my first try at mittens, and the thumbs actually look like thumbs and everything! They were actually finished while the weather was still in winter temperatures, but then sat on the table waiting to be kitchenered (is that a word..?) for a few weeks. Yes, I am lazy about finishing...big shock. But this also involved my realization at one point that there was only ONE mitten left on the table, and the ensuing hunt for the second mitten (thanks to the toe-cat!). Like a good little tiger-in-training, he had hunted it down and dragged it to his lair under the armoir for later licking and chewing enjoyment. Thankfully, he chose only yarn ends to kill--no harm done. Good kitty.
I recently joined ISE4. Here's the scarf in progress for my downstream pal. She lives in a hot weather climate, so I wanted to do something light and breathable. Thought I would try out this Mountain Colors merino ribbon in a little simple lace pattern.
The colors are actually a little richer and more saturated than shown by this picture. I haven't done much lace before, so I thought keeping it simple would go much better, especially with a deadline---I don't want to be late when it's for someone else! I hope she is going to like it. I'm thinking about doing the pattern only halfway through the scarf, and then doing another half in the same direction, and connecting the halves at the center. I noticed with this feather and fan pattern that the other end of the scarf will be shaped differently because of the pattern direction, and don't know if I like that. I thought it might look nicer if both ends looked the same. Anyone with experience with this type of pattern have an opinion on that?
Met Ms. X a couple of days ago for some shopping at Trader Joe's and of course, some sitting around and knitting. I am beginning to believe that she is a bad influence (she is the one, after all, who suggested going to a LYS in Kirkland, as long as we were over there....). As it turns out, the store is in the process of closing and everything was on sale. (I believe the name of the store is Kirkland Yarn & Stitchery, in case you live nearby.) Here is what somehow snuck it's way into my hands (at 20% off, so it was justified)...
It was so soft and pretty, I just couldn't resist. And in my favorite color combo of purples and greens, it could not be left on the shelf! I plan to make a beautiful shawl out of it when I get a little better with the lace-knitting. Also got a great pattern at 30% off to knit with this gorgeous Kid Merino. Good thing I got to the sale a couple of days late---all of the sock yarn was gone already. If you saw my previous post showing the size of my sock yarn stash, you will understand my relief that there was none left!
I'm excited about going to a lace design retreat weekend with Evelyn Clark at the beginning of May! It should be lots of fun, and help to increase my lace-knitting skills so I can get started on my first shawl soon. It's going to be held at a couple of cabins by a lake up near Mt. Vernon, so that should be scenic and fun. The retreat also includes receiving a copy of Evelyn Clark's new book about lace-knitting. I have knit several of her patterns in the past (Fiber Trends) and so am looking forward to seeing her book!
Happy Easter and Happy Spring! I'm going out to enjoy the sunny day :)
>^..^< >^oo^< >^00^<
In keeping with my commitment to always be late finishing seasonal projects, here's a pic of the Peekaboo mittens, finally done.
They came out pretty good for my first try at mittens, and the thumbs actually look like thumbs and everything! They were actually finished while the weather was still in winter temperatures, but then sat on the table waiting to be kitchenered (is that a word..?) for a few weeks. Yes, I am lazy about finishing...big shock. But this also involved my realization at one point that there was only ONE mitten left on the table, and the ensuing hunt for the second mitten (thanks to the toe-cat!). Like a good little tiger-in-training, he had hunted it down and dragged it to his lair under the armoir for later licking and chewing enjoyment. Thankfully, he chose only yarn ends to kill--no harm done. Good kitty.
I recently joined ISE4. Here's the scarf in progress for my downstream pal. She lives in a hot weather climate, so I wanted to do something light and breathable. Thought I would try out this Mountain Colors merino ribbon in a little simple lace pattern.
The colors are actually a little richer and more saturated than shown by this picture. I haven't done much lace before, so I thought keeping it simple would go much better, especially with a deadline---I don't want to be late when it's for someone else! I hope she is going to like it. I'm thinking about doing the pattern only halfway through the scarf, and then doing another half in the same direction, and connecting the halves at the center. I noticed with this feather and fan pattern that the other end of the scarf will be shaped differently because of the pattern direction, and don't know if I like that. I thought it might look nicer if both ends looked the same. Anyone with experience with this type of pattern have an opinion on that?
Met Ms. X a couple of days ago for some shopping at Trader Joe's and of course, some sitting around and knitting. I am beginning to believe that she is a bad influence (she is the one, after all, who suggested going to a LYS in Kirkland, as long as we were over there....). As it turns out, the store is in the process of closing and everything was on sale. (I believe the name of the store is Kirkland Yarn & Stitchery, in case you live nearby.) Here is what somehow snuck it's way into my hands (at 20% off, so it was justified)...
It was so soft and pretty, I just couldn't resist. And in my favorite color combo of purples and greens, it could not be left on the shelf! I plan to make a beautiful shawl out of it when I get a little better with the lace-knitting. Also got a great pattern at 30% off to knit with this gorgeous Kid Merino. Good thing I got to the sale a couple of days late---all of the sock yarn was gone already. If you saw my previous post showing the size of my sock yarn stash, you will understand my relief that there was none left!
I'm excited about going to a lace design retreat weekend with Evelyn Clark at the beginning of May! It should be lots of fun, and help to increase my lace-knitting skills so I can get started on my first shawl soon. It's going to be held at a couple of cabins by a lake up near Mt. Vernon, so that should be scenic and fun. The retreat also includes receiving a copy of Evelyn Clark's new book about lace-knitting. I have knit several of her patterns in the past (Fiber Trends) and so am looking forward to seeing her book!
Happy Easter and Happy Spring! I'm going out to enjoy the sunny day :)
>^..^< >^oo^< >^00^<
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Look what I.....uh, WE got!!
Recieved a fun box from my Winter Wonderland Swap pal, Dawn! This was my first knitting swap, so I was excited to receive the box! Look at all the fun stuff she sent...
You can't see them in the picture, but there are some really pretty red opalescent stitch markers on top of the angel cloth in the middle. I also love the SnC yarn colors she sent!
I barely had time to arrange and admire all of my goodies for a nice picture, when THIS arrived....
Yep, that's right, 14+ pounds of minion-y goodness clumped itself right down on top of the carefully arranged scene. The Supervisor had arrived. Very graceful----sort of like Godzilla tromping through Tokyo... After some covert surveillance while I was arranging things, he then proceeded to launch an all-out attack on the poor, unsuspecting contents of my gift box....
Perhaps feeling he could not complete the job alone, he called in reinforcements....
Perhaps the Technocat should join in for a little technical advice and support.....
Finally, The Supervisor surveys the battle scene and admires his handiwork. There were no casualties, but unfortunately, the ballband from the sage green yarn took one for the gift box and was torn. The chocolate espresso beans were quickly reunited with their stocking after the minion retreat.
I am happy report that the ballband has been repaired and is recovering nicely. **No other gift contents were harmed in the launching of this attack.**
In all fairness to the minions, there was, after all, a bottle of "catnip bubbles" amongst the items---so they are claiming they were taunted into an assault....
Thanks, Dawn! I.....um, WE really enjoyed all of the gifts!
>^,,^< >^,,^<
You can't see them in the picture, but there are some really pretty red opalescent stitch markers on top of the angel cloth in the middle. I also love the SnC yarn colors she sent!
I barely had time to arrange and admire all of my goodies for a nice picture, when THIS arrived....
Yep, that's right, 14+ pounds of minion-y goodness clumped itself right down on top of the carefully arranged scene. The Supervisor had arrived. Very graceful----sort of like Godzilla tromping through Tokyo... After some covert surveillance while I was arranging things, he then proceeded to launch an all-out attack on the poor, unsuspecting contents of my gift box....Perhaps feeling he could not complete the job alone, he called in reinforcements....Perhaps the Technocat should join in for a little technical advice and support.....Finally, The Supervisor surveys the battle scene and admires his handiwork. There were no casualties, but unfortunately, the ballband from the sage green yarn took one for the gift box and was torn. The chocolate espresso beans were quickly reunited with their stocking after the minion retreat.
I am happy report that the ballband has been repaired and is recovering nicely. **No other gift contents were harmed in the launching of this attack.**In all fairness to the minions, there was, after all, a bottle of "catnip bubbles" amongst the items---so they are claiming they were taunted into an assault....
Thanks, Dawn! I.....um, WE really enjoyed all of the gifts!
>^,,^< >^,,^<
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Do I get credit for UN-knitting my projects?
How is everyone's holiday knitting coming along? I'm in the negative zone at the moment, since I ripped out not one, but two WIP's this past weekend. R.I.P. Frog Tree Alpaca Cape Cod Shells scarf, and Fleece Artist curly mohair/silk triangular shawl.
The alpaca scarf has been asking for it for a while. I started it over twice already, and then it went and hid a stitch from me after I had very nicely completed about 8 inches of it! I first tried to rip back just a little to see if I could find the stitch, or where it dropped, but no luck. So I just kept on rippin' until it was gone. BAD scarf! Actually, that felt kinda good, so.....
In moving on through my bag to find another project to complete, I noticed my slightly-neglected triangular shawl mocking me from the bottom of the bag. I took it out to work on it, but then remembered why I've neglected it for a while. I'm just not liking how the yarn-increases on the edges are looking.....maybe I'll find another way to do it.....and there I went. Before I knew it, the shawl was off the needles and I was ripping out stitches fast and furious, and the shawl was rewound into a nice ball of lovely yarn, with not a hint of it's past as a shawl I was kinda pretending to like.
I gotta say, all of that ripping back of stitches felt kinda good----kinda like I had suddenly gained the ability to knit at mach speed......only backwards. Oh well, I feel better now anyway. Kinda scary though, how easy it was to rip out hours and hours of knitting in what seemed like seconds! I still intend to make a shawl out of the Fleece Artist, but the alpaca will have to moved on to some other deserving project----I don't think I could start that pattern over once again!
There were a couple of projects I was able to complete this past week, though. I was finally able to get a (sorta bad) picture of my poinsettia dishcloth with the bobbles in the center, after about 15 tries. Some things just don't want to photograph, and a bright red dishcloth is one of them, but I think you can see the pattern, anyway...
>^..^< >^..^<
The alpaca scarf has been asking for it for a while. I started it over twice already, and then it went and hid a stitch from me after I had very nicely completed about 8 inches of it! I first tried to rip back just a little to see if I could find the stitch, or where it dropped, but no luck. So I just kept on rippin' until it was gone. BAD scarf! Actually, that felt kinda good, so.....
In moving on through my bag to find another project to complete, I noticed my slightly-neglected triangular shawl mocking me from the bottom of the bag. I took it out to work on it, but then remembered why I've neglected it for a while. I'm just not liking how the yarn-increases on the edges are looking.....maybe I'll find another way to do it.....and there I went. Before I knew it, the shawl was off the needles and I was ripping out stitches fast and furious, and the shawl was rewound into a nice ball of lovely yarn, with not a hint of it's past as a shawl I was kinda pretending to like.
I gotta say, all of that ripping back of stitches felt kinda good----kinda like I had suddenly gained the ability to knit at mach speed......only backwards. Oh well, I feel better now anyway. Kinda scary though, how easy it was to rip out hours and hours of knitting in what seemed like seconds! I still intend to make a shawl out of the Fleece Artist, but the alpaca will have to moved on to some other deserving project----I don't think I could start that pattern over once again!
There were a couple of projects I was able to complete this past week, though. I was finally able to get a (sorta bad) picture of my poinsettia dishcloth with the bobbles in the center, after about 15 tries. Some things just don't want to photograph, and a bright red dishcloth is one of them, but I think you can see the pattern, anyway...
I also finished gathering up what I want to send to my Winter Wonderland secret swap pal...
The peach-colored lacy cloth in the center is called "crocus buds," and the blue cloth is a snowflake illusion cloth, which is hard to see in this picture. There is also a star Christmas coaster, felted mini-bag, bar of handmade peppermint soap, and a cute kitty cat ornament. And of course, I had to include a Seattle souvenir, since she lives in another state---a little zippered bag to carry a knitting project or whatever. It's all boxed up and ready to go---hope she likes it!
If I had my choice, I would have included some delectable dark chocolate and treats of some kind, but she asked for no food on her profile, so I guess I'll have to keep the chocolate....darn!
>^..^< >^..^<
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