What's up with the postal service??

Has anyone else had weird things happen to them with their mail? I hadn't posted about this a while back, but I had sent a Thank You note to Allena for the beautiful stitch markers that she had sent me. What is weird about this is that she never got the Thank You because it was returned to me weeks later ripped in half in a plastic bag. The plastic bag had a note on it from the US Postal Service apologizing but stating on the note that it wasn't gonna make it to its intended recipient. Really??? Well, I figured that these things happen, so not to worry. Just a fluke!

Well, look at the lovely card that I received. Jackie sent me a lovely card as a Thank You for the sockapalooza socks I made her.



If you look, you can see a hole at the bottom of the envelope (left side of picture). That is where, I am assuming, the stitch markers that she made for me were ripped out! The note inside told me how much she appreciated the socks and how she enclosed stitch markers for me as a small thank you. How thoughtful! I love stitch markers. I use them all the time. Jackie went out of her way to send me some, and they are literally lost in the mail. Quite disappointed with the postal service. I do have to say that her thank you note was quite nice and it makes me feel really good that she really likes and appreciates the socks that I made her.

As I had noted yesterday, I spent my weekend knitting. Here are the progress that I made on DH's socks:

John's socks

I have just turned finished the gussets on both socks. I had originally started his socks a while back, but was having a hard time deciding on whether or not I liked the pattern. I finally decided on the Retro Rib pattern from IK Winter 2004. I started them on Thursday night and should be done with them tonight or tomorrow. Haven't really decided what night to finish them up. DH should be happy. He wanted socks for his birthday (it was last Friday), so I am just a little late.

Well, I am off to make dinner. I have Rocklin Chicks with Sticks (knitting group) tonight. Really looking forward to that. Need some knitting time with the other chicks!

Sorry! I am a slacker!

Do you ever have the type of PMS where you don't want to do anything but lay around and knit? Well, that was my weekend. After Thursday, I just wanted to sit and knit. Didn't want to blog...didn't read any emails....didn't clean house....basically just knitted??? That was pretty much my weekend. Oh, we did do some of the normal Easter things: egg hunt (yes, they still want the Easter bunny to come) and the lamb dinner, but that was about it. The good thing about having 'older' kids is they want to do all the fun things that the did when they were little, but they can help with the preparation!

So, with all of this knitting, what did I accomplish? Well, Shoalwater shawl is basically complete sans blocking!

C'est Finis!

Yes, it needs blocking. It is just too big for my blocking board, so I will be blocking it on my bed this weekend. I just have to make sure that I wake up early enough to do this. I am pretty sure that DH will want to go to sleep eventually. After it is blocked and looks more pretty, I will tell you about all the wonderful things I learned in making this shawl. Oh, and I post a better picture too.

Tuesday is for Knitalongs!!!

I didn't forget to update you on my official knitalongs. I was just excited about the shawl. I haven't worked much on Mariah....I just wanted to get that shawl done. Mariah's completion is coming up. Needs to be really soon because it should start heating up here pretty soon.

I do have an update on another knitalong: A Good Bias! I actually started it tonight at Tori's gymnastics class. Only time I have had for knitting today. I was able to get three repeats in. Now that I have the pattern down, it really shouldn't take me that long to finish.




I really like the bamboo yarn. It feels similar to knitting with cotton, but a little more slick. I am really glad that I decided to knit this up with this yarn.

While I was at my daughter's gymnastics class, look what my husband was doing:
Anyone thirsty?

This is our living room. I was using it for my little library/knitting room (can you see the baskets of yarn?) but, now hubby will be taking it over. He is converting it to his office. For him to be able to do this, he had to move the wine cellar. As you can see from his collection, he has a lot of wine. Hence the reason that he really can't complain about the amount of yarn and knitting paraphenalia that I have accumulated. Don't worry about my knitting room/library. I get his old office.

Presents!

Unbelieveable! Posting 2 times in one day! Well, I hadn't planned on posting, but DH said I had a package in the mail........

What's this???

My Knitter's Review Secret Pal sent me a gift! So much fun to get things in the mail! Well, as you can see from the picture below, I got quite a haul. Peeps (the yellow chicks), a beautiful felted 'violet', a beautiful heart-shaped box, a clover yarn-cutter, a black sheep tape measure, sheep gift cards, and a beautiful card with sheep! How did she know that this is exactly what I wanted??? Even more amazing, everything is exactly as I would have chosen myself.

Thanks KR Secret Pal!!


I like hearts, I prefer silver to gold (yarn cutter), and I would much rather have the black sheep for my tape measure! Of course, the felted flower is perfect as I haven't felted anything yet (so I needed something felted) and it is a violet! I have been needing gift cards 'cause I never have them. And the peeps! I need a sugar high! How did she know! Thank you KR Secret Pal! You are most awesome!

Quiz???

Since Happy Bunny is a favorite of mine, and bunnies are a symbol of Spring and Easter, here is more info than you want to know:


congratulations. you are the "you smell like
butt" bunny. your brutally honest and
always say whats on your mind.


which happy bunny are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


The really scary part is: I have this on my key chain. My son bought it for me. When I saw this, I had to post. (Shh.....I am suppose to be working right now!)

Knitalong Tuesday!

My lovely daughter, Tori, volunteered to show of Mariah tonight. I have just finished the yoke and will start on the hood. I had hoped to be farther than this, but with trying to finish Shoalwater and having a life, well, that didn't happen. With the weather being what it has been, I may still get to wear this before it gets put away until November!

Mariah is yoked


I also received a lovely RAOK from Deb B. If you haven't checked out her blog, I would recommend that you do. She knits some beautiful shawls. The yummy laceweight Icelandic wool that she sent me is enough to make something fun. I just haven't decided what it should be yet.

A Lovely RAOK


I am kinda bummed that I didn't get to see Debbie Stoller at Rumplestiltskin's tonight. She is doing a kick off for Amtrack's Stitch 'n Ride for the Capitol Corridor train. With all of the rain (yes, it does rain in California) and the late hour, I decided that I was better off staying close to home. Instead, I got to go shopping with my buddy Lauren. We hung out at the Roseville Galleria and bought fun girlie stuff instead.

Book Review: A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING

This is something new for me. Usually this blog is strictly about knitting, however, there is more to me than being a knitter: I am also an avid reader. Most of the books that I read now are actually books from Audible since I have a 40 minute commute to work, but from time to time I will also plop down and read the book myself. I would like to use my Monday post as a time for me to review books of all sorts: those that I have listened to, those that I have read, and those that I have used as a knitting reference. Can't leave the knitting out! On occasion, I may also review an LYS or online store. We'll just have to wait and see what happens!

I love reading books by Bill Bryson. He is intelligent and entertaining. I was really looking forward to this book once I saw that it was available on Audible as I had listened to his previous book, IN A SUNBURNED COUNTRY. I was not disappointed.

Bryson's current book is a departure from his travel books as it delves into the world of science. The reader is taken from astronomy to physics, from biology to geology. He literally takes you from the beginning of time to the current day with lots of stops in between. As expected, he gives you interesting little tidbits of information regarding the different stops, such as the rivalries between scientists or their quirky and sometimes dangerous habits. I did find that there were times when the amount of information that he would divulge did seem to be a bit much, but I was highly entertained throughout the 17 hours of listening. Would I recommend this book? Absolutely. I will have to say that my interest in science helped me get through some of the information intensive parts. I would also say that I think that this book may be even better if it were read as opposed to the audio format. The amount of information given could be overwhelming at times and I think that I would have liked to have the written form handy for review.

Update on Stitch n Bitch

Stitch n Bitch Hats!


Every Thursday we meet at the Naked Lounge in downtown Sacramento for our weekly Stitch n Bitch meeting. Since Marin has put the group on Yahoo! and the group was featured in Sacramento Magazine and on their TV special on Channel 3, the group has really grown. Marin is considering moving us to a new venue since there are so many of us now.

Angela and Christy

What I have enjoyed the most about the group has been the people that I have met. Angela is one of the newer members of the group while Christy was with Marin when it began. We all work together on our projects and are able to help each other with questions or discover different ways of tackling a problem.

Kaedean is helping Sara with a question



Regina trying not to smile


!

A Crocheted Carrot?!?!
And then, where else could I find crocheted vegetables??

Happy St. Patrick's Day

For all you Irish and wanna be Irish folks, HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S Day. Not being Irish myself, I fall into the "wanna be" group. In my younger days, this meant going out with my friends and drinking green beer. Today, it means I get to go to the Naked Lounge for Stitch n Bitch. My how things have changed!

WIP Wednesday

Blogging two days in a row!! Let's see if I can keep this up!

I would really like to finish Shoalwater Shawl. I am getting really close, just finishing up the 4th repeat. Then I will have to complete 1/2 of the rows again, picot edging and I-cord bind off then block. The pattern isn't hard, I just have over 400 stitches on the needles so it is taking me a while now.

Shoalwater Shawl: nearing the finish!

Sorry for the messy desk. Yes that is Mariah on the right. I am trying to concentrate on these two projects so I can have them completed this weekend. I will need to pick up some blocking wires for the shawl. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I have completed the sampler from Kaedean's beading class. I learned a lot from the class. Beading is fun, not sure if it is something that I would like to do a lot of in the future.

Beaded Sachet Sampler: Finished!

Kaedean is a great instructor and she designed the pattern herself. If you live in the Sacramento area and would like to enhance your knitting skills, she will be teaching at Babetta's in the future!

Tuesday is for Knit Alongs

Well, I am posting as promised! I have found that posting the minute I get home from work will be much better than going through my emails and cleaning up around the house. Otherwise, I read emails and surf the net and don't get a chance to post!!

I did get the fronts completed for Mariah on Friday and started on the yoke. The sweater is SO heavy on the needles. You can really feel the weight when working on it.

Mariah: All Yoked Up!


Hopefully I will have time to finish it soon as it has been very warm. Today has only been in the 70s. I know I say only and there are people out there still with snow, but I would like to have the chance to wear Mariah at least once or twice before having to put her away for the rest of spring.

I am also sending off my Sockapalooza socks today. I hope my sock pal likes them. I feel bad because I think that I am much better at knitting socks now compared to when I made hers. I would still wear them (I really like them), and there is nothing wrong with them. I guess I am just a perfectionist.

In addition to receiving some pretty spring-colored socks, I am also including some cinnamon-chocoalte coffee and a bar of French-milled lavendar soap. I couldn't just send socks! So I thought I would include something fun.

Bye Sockapalooza Socks!


Sockapalooza has been quite fun. I am very glad that Alison and Christine hosted this. Thank you ladies!!

Thank You!!

Thanks to everyone that posted comments on my last post! I am glad to see that you were able to post comments and that I wasn't the only person that was having problems. I think that I will look into using HaloScan for my comments. That seems to be the general consensus. I would like to continue to use a free service as saving money for my knitting addiction is of the utmost importance!!

I will post an update on Mariah when I get home from work today. I was kicked off of the computer last night by my DD. She wanted some computer time too.

On a final note, I was thinking about actually posting on a regular basis. Having certain days to post about certain things, ie Tuesdays for knitalongs, etc. Let me know what you think!

Blogger is a PITA!!! (aka-no knitting content)

I have read this on other blogs. I had heard that other people have had lots of problems, but I had been lucky not to. Until today.....I was keeping up on the many blogs that I read through bloglines like I do every day. I was leaving comments ('cause bloggers LOVE comments). I get to a blog that has blogger, click on comments. I can read the comments fine. I click to leave comments. I get a message "The blog that you were looking for was not found." What?!? WTF?!? I was just on this person's blog. What do you mean they could not be found?? ARGH!!

This is most irritating. If you blog, you like to know that there are people out there reading what you have written. That these people have something to say about your posts. But! This is not true today.

Now, I have thought about going to a different service. One that I would have to (gasp!) pay for!! That is a lot for me to say as I am a notoriously frugal person. This does not mean that I do not spend money. Believe me, I spend lots of money. But if I can get something for free, well, why pay for it???

So now here is my dilemma: I can ask those people out there that read my blog to post a comment on what I should do, but the question is can you leave a comment????

While pondering whether posting a comment would be possible, here is some entertainment for you: Punctuation and How to Dance. Both of these links are from blogs that I tried to post comments on today. Enjoy! I will talk about knitting tomorrow.

WIP Wednesday

I have decided that I need to make sure to work on my WIPs. In reading many other knitting blogs out there in blogland, I see that I am not the only knitter to become distracted by other, more fun projects. With all of the new and old knitting books and magazines, I keep finding things that I am just itching to create. I also want to try my hand at designing.......and possible trying out the Master Knitters Program through TKGA. Whew! In order to do all of this and feel good about it, I am trying to get some of the WIPs to FOs. Please help me stay on track!!

I started Drift from Rowan back in October for Tori. Out of all of the knitting patterns that I own, she decides that she wants an almost floor length cardigan. So, I actually got it going, finished the back, then got distracted. So, this month I am going to finish this. Here is my progress so far:

Drift


I have the back and left front completed and have just started the right front. Mind you, these are 48" long, pure stockinette. Fortunately Drift is knitted on big needles, so if I keep working on this, I will have it done by the end of the month, along with lots of other projects. Bad thing: it is getting warm here in Cali, so my daughter probably won't be able to wear it until next winter....if she still likes it.

More incentive to finish projects, I got my shawl kit in from Joslyn's. I am almost finished with Shoalwater, and I got this in the mail today:

New Shawl Kit


I let my mom choose the yarn color back in December. This will be for her when she comes out to visit again in July. That should be plenty of time to get this done. The pattern is Flirty Ruffles from Fiddlesticks. Looks like this one will be lots of fun.

Oh and yes! Nathania is my secret pal....Amazon let the cat out of the bag. I am sooooo excited! She is such a nice person and I have been reading her blog for a while now. Makes it fun since we kinda know each other already!

I also forgot to update everyone on the big TV filming of our Stitch n Bitch group in Sacramento. I was interviewed.....Marin (group organizer) suggested that they interview me. She left a comment on my blog apologizing, but I had fun. It was very kind of her to suggest that I get interviewed. She has done a wonderful job with the group. I forgot my camera last week, so hopefully I will have some of the pictures that she took to post later. I will post more information regarding the show as soon as I get the info from Marin. We should be on the TV magazine show this Sunday.

Now I am off to the Rocklin Meetup at It's A Grind.......Lauren should be here any minute. My husband is starting to wonder if my knitting groups are starting to take over my life!

Tuesday is for Knit Alongs

Okay...joining the bandwagon started by Alison. I will just be doing this late at night! BUT! Before I post any updates, look at what was left at my door today:


Look What I Got!


My husband comes walking in the house today with a package from Amazon. I was quite surprised as I haven't ordered anything recently, but had been looking. This is a book that I had wanted for quite sometime. Now I will have to admit, I am a little confused. I received an email late last week from my secret pal saying that I should expect a package. This package did not say that it was from my secret pal, but it did come from someone I know. It was from Nathania! Now, either this is an absolutely awesome RAOK, or Nathania is my secret pal OR she knows my secret pal. Hmm........ Anyway, this is an absolutely awesome gift. I love this. Thank you thank you thank you. (And yes, my Mom did teach me my manners and I will be sending a Thank you note.)

Here is my progress with Mariah. I completed the back on Saturday and started work on both sides of the front today. I plan on joining the yoke this weekend and will hopefully have the sweater completed by the following weekend.

Mariah progress


Once I have completed Mariah, I will get to start on Good Bias. Check out Katy's blog to see her kick off the knit along. Looking forward to getting that shrug completed as it is warming up here in Roseville. Today was 76.....tomorrow will be 78.

Let's get together

We had our Roseville Knitting Meetup last night. Had lots of fun with the gang. That is where I was able to sit and get a lot of work done on Mariah. What I really enjoy about the knitting groups that I belong to is seeing what other people are knitting. There are two reasons that I enjoy this: 1) it encourages me to try new things and 2) watching other learn new techniques. Last night, Marin had waited to continue on her sock so that I could help her on the gusset. I felt very proud that I was actually able to help her. In helping her, I also learned that if I ever want to teach a class, I better learn the different ways to knit! All in all, these knitting groups have been wonderful for the comraderie. All of the people that attend the meetings have a common passion, and we can talk about that passion all night!

Tonight we have Sacramento Stitch n Bitch. Normally, I attend the guild meeting the first Thursday of the month, but tonight, a news crew is going to be filming our SnB. I really don't want to be on TV (honestly, I don't), but I want to make sure that I am there to show my support for the group. I will be bringing my camera again. Maybe Felted Man will be there again??

Late knit along updates: Sorry no update yesterday on Mariah. I have actually finished the sleeves and I am halfway done with the back. No picture today. I will post a picture when I have finished the back and try to get a close up of the cables.

BTW, if you hadn't looked at the frightening ski masks from last Wednesday, Alison found the patterns. I need to make sure that my son doesn't find this out. He wants one???