Yes, I'm still here

Here is the finished cable purse from the yarn ball swap :) it is very cool. Just need to finish it off and we are good to go.
Trying to finish a pair of baby booties for sister's friend. I have finished one and the second is started.
Waiting for my partner for the Yahoo dishcloth exchange, I am very excited to start, I have the pattern, just waiting on the colors.
Signed up for ITE IV, partner's go out in mid-May, I have a few purses in mind.
Signed up for an invitation-only swap at swap-bot, I think that is mid May also.

I read the Whoduknit? book, Crewel World, last month in Myrtle Beach; I really liked it, quick easy mystery read (i.e. no gore). So I went to the library and got the next 4 books in the series! I've got 1 more to go. I also picked up the May book, Died In The Wool. I think we're doing a group project, dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid!!

Knitting

Yes, knitting is being accomplished, what with my busy travel schedule and birthday celebrating :)
I am just very lazy and I do not want to go upstairs and get the camera and download the pictures. I have finished the very easy cable purse from the magic yarn ball swap; I don't know why I was so put-off by cables, they are very easy to do. I am also in the midst of knitting the MDK kimono turned cardigan. I'll post when it's done. Lorna's laces sock is still sitting there looking lonely.
OH, sister made me a very nice GREEN shawl!
So maybe someday there will be pictures of everything.

MSU Hockey Champs

Because of all of my travels, I forgot to mention this: oh, LaurieC and MSU, will you forgive me??? This t-shirt came today, one-half of my birthday present from hubby.

More packages!!!

Yesterday I received my Magic Yarn Ball from JoAnn!! Very cool. I have started knitting to get to the goodies inside. The yarn came with a purse pattern (teehee) that has cables (my learn-how for this year) and they are quite easy (am I doing it wrong?)



I received this package from my sp10 while I was in CA, it's a birthday present! A cute sewn bag and some candy and some very cool ice cubes! She made the bag (said I was her test case).


Wow! My actual birthday is tomorrow, it'll be pretty low key. I have a few cards to open and that's it, oh bonus, hockey at night :). I traded all birthday and Mother's day presents in exchange for the CA trip with sister :)

I'm back!!!

Oh my golly. I've been gone for 2 weeks, first to Myrtle Beach, and then to sunny CA!!! I feel so lost.
Yes, I was here from Wed-Fri with my sister from Chicago. The show was great!!! It is very exhausting work, what with having to do all that dancing and be exciting and smiling for an hour! But it was worth it.
Our show was taped Thursday, and then aired on Friday. My sister taped it, and said you can see us twice within the first hour, she still has to watch the second part. My SIL taped in for me and I'll get the tape on Sunday.
Thanks to LaurieC for the shout-out on her blog!! I finally got to speak with her after emailing for the past 6 months. It was wonderful to hear her southern accent :)

I've been found!!

My downstream SP10 friend has figured me out! How did she let me know?? By sending me a birthday package, and it is filled with lots of goodies, the likes of which were on my questionaire! Thanks for everything!! You are the best. Now it is my turn to send your birthday package! Everyone loves the one skein cupcake!

What to knit?

So, I seem to be in a knitting rut, don't feel like making socks anymore (GASP!! I have all that gorgeous Lorna's Laces that hubby brought from CA - don't worry, I'll use it). I like the Cascade Fixation, quick and easy to make a pair of socks in about 2 days. I have even pondered knitting a dishcloth! Trying to find a purse pattern I like, as hubby commented "Of all the purses you make, you had to go out to Target and buy one??" So, I have a pair of CF on the needles and a pair of LL, I go back and forth daily, trying to finish them. So as I am blogging this afternoon the wonderful ladies from MDK blog about this and feel inspired to use some of the stash I received this past month. I will make some mitts and maybe a hat from the brown alpaca yarn. I hope I can do it, the deadline to ship is Mother's Day. Won't you help?
Also, my birthday is not until next week, so all you pals, you are not late :)
and I think my sp10 figured me out.

Happy (Early) Birthday to me

Look what I received from my very bestest knitting friend in the world that would be LaurieC.
It had been sitting at the post office, because we were out of town, and they were going to ship it back to her if I didn't pick it up TODAY. So I rushed right out (not realizing it was the weekend before tax mailing deadline uugghh long lines and no parking) but I finally secured my package and couldn't wait to see what she could possible have sent me:
Lots of green cotton yarn (for dishcloths, guess I'd better start making them again, I haven't done one since January, think they'll kick me out of the KAL??), yummy Hershey's kisses with caramel, spa-type hand lotion and bath and body works shower gel and lotion, and Knitting Vintage Socks (for all that sock yarn sitting upstairs)..she is so into spoiling me. She was my partner way back in December for the Winterwonderland dishcloth swap, and we've become good friends, emailing and sending packages back and forth. Thank you very much Laurie!!

Congrats to TeAntae!

My ITEIII swap partner TeAntae has won the Knitters Choice Award for the tote she made for me! Everyone in the swap just loved this tote, they asked her for the contact information for her LYS so they could get their own copy of the pattern!

All the rage

Do you own some of these? I highly recommend you do not succumb to the pressure of buying your children these. You will be fighting with them to gain control of your computer! You will not be able to blog or go blogging! And worse yet, you might start playing the games too!! BEWARE.
But they are just so darn cute!!

What was I thinking ??

For my sp10 group we are supposed to post a picture of a knitting project that we either loved or hated. My project was so awful I have destroyed all photos and the actual project!! You'll just have to trust me on this one.

It was my very first knitting project, my LYS had a class to make a beach tote. I signed up and went to the class. For some reason, I ended up needing about 4 extra skeins of yarn and then the darn thing was so huge by the time you put stuff in it, the bag was too heavy to carry (I tried once, really I did) so that got chucked into the trash. The worse part, the LYS still has their bag on display (it is much smaller than mine ever was, my tape measure must have been off or something) and I have to look at it everytime I go into the store. Makes my stomach hurt :)

SP10 package - thank you MN

Here is my package from my SP10 pal!! OMG, everything is just great!!!
2 skeins of Patons yarn, grey, 2 skeins of Cascade Fixation (love this yarn for making quick ankle socks), yummy hot chocolate, smelly soap, smelly candle (my favorite scent), tape measure, pencil with facts about MN, pasta that is shaped like the state of MN, beautiful green stitch markers, chibi needle set, book on how to do cables (now, how did she know this? it is freaky, learning to make cables is on my list, my sister wants me to make her a scarf!) I think that is all. She is a sneaky one, I promised her I would throw away the return address so I wouldn't be tempted to try and figure out who she is, but with over 600 participants, I don't think I would even come close. Thank you so much!!!

Package from England

Here is what I received in my wonderful package from Marylyn in England
A skein of sock yarn, purple, locally produced, a skein of alpaca yarn, also locally produced, a beautiful felted bowl that she made, and a cell phone charm, now, I think I may be able to take the individual charms off as they look like stitch markers! Marylyn was my partner in "Deb's crochet swap blog". Thank you so much.

Gotta love that mailman!!

Will post more tomorrow, but I received 2 wonderful packages today!!
One from my sp10 pal, she's so tricky and she's from Minnesota :)
The other from Marylyn.
Pictures and bragging tomorrow, just returned from hockey.