I know I have so many other things to get done right now-among them, an informational 'brochure' for tomorrow's "New Parent Orientation" at school! Yeah, nothing like the last minute! I'm proud to say that I did get the "Welcome Letter" done, though...Yeah, the life of a PTA President!

But look-I finally got the second "Joe Cool" sock done and now have a PAIR!!! They are sooo cute on Lil'Emp, 'cept for one thing...he says they are 'scratchy'! He only put them on so I could take this picture, and proceeded to wiggle around in them-I had to take maybe 8 shots just to get this one-he kept moving, putting his hand into the picture, etc...

It's a good thing I didn't bother knitting "Pikachu" heads (yes, Pokemon) to use as 'tassels' for his mini Malabrigo loafers, cuz he seems to think those are 'scratchy', too!

I SWEAR this is the last time, but I will probably try one more mini-malabrigo loafers for him using STR doubled. If he finds those 'scratchy', I give up!

And here is what I tossed in the steamer quickly on Tuesday night:This poor yarn had sat, damp, in a plastic bag waiting to be dyed. I wasn't getting around to it and decided I'd experiment with a 'semi-solid'. Using some dye I had gotten a while ago from KnitPicks in Mulberry, I mixed some up, trying for a smaller quantity for a lighter shade and basically tossed it into the bag with the skeins and tried to work the dye into the yarn. Overall, I think I like it!

Better go-everything else calls!

And still more coveted gifties...

For Lil' Emp, that other coveted birthday gift would be this...
As seen on TV, it's the PANCAKE PUFF PAN!!! Yes, he really wanted one. Yes, those TV commercials are good at sucking the kids in! (He even quoted, "it's good for breakfast, desserts, even snacks!"...) I swear, when I had mentioned it to my cousin (stating this as an odd thing...), she told me her son wanted one, too!

But look...
the pan actually works and the puffs really do look like the pics on the box!

And I owe a pic of my Little Paint Can, so let's revisit that...

The can contains two mini-skeins of Lorna's Laces, and a pattern!

I chose the colorway "Ashburn"; it actually reminds me of Nartian, IrishGirlie and Me!

And does this look familiar...? This is the activity that kept me and Lil' Emp busy for a bit on Saturday...

Yep! Soaking yarn for Round 2 Dying!

Lil' Emp thought that splattering violet over the entire painted flat would be interesting...actually, I think he wanted an excuse to fling the dye around. This was probably not the best project idea for an 8yo..

.Admittedly, the splashes made for an interesting dyed blank...

So despite the fact that I told myself I would dye yarn only from what I could dig out from my massive stash, I still somehow ended up at a LYS. And somehow ended up with this hand-dyed yarn...

This is Cleo Sock Yarn, an 80% Superwash Merino/20% Nylon yarn from Cinnamon's Dye Pot in "Potpourri"; I think she is based in Maryland if I recall correctly...

And today my JOE COOL SOCK KIT from WOOLGIRL Jen arrived! When I heard about this special kit, I had to order it, knowing what a big Snoopy/Peanuts Lil' Emp has been for at least 1/2 his life! To my surprise, he had told me he wanted red, as opposed to blue for a color choice (yes, we had the choice of "Outrageous Red" -I thought it had first been called Red Baron Red...or "Cool Blue"...


I was thrilled to see what Jen had come up with for us! How can this woman make money considering all the time, care, thought and attention she puts into the kits?!I opted for the Sport Weight and in addition to the skein of the Outrageous Red colorway of "Fat Sock" White Oak TV Yarns, I also got TWO different patterns, a paw stitch marker, hand-stamped snoopy cards (made by Jen), hot tamales, a Snoopy fabric bag, sunglasses, a bendable Joe Cool Snoopy on a keychain, and a Joe Cool pen!

Lil' Emperor was THRILLED!

And saving the best for last...
Another reason today was such an awesomely YARNY day! Nartian and I got to visit with IrishGirlie. We were (ahem!) obligated to help out a dear friend...you see, Nartian and I could not in any way allow Irish Girlie to get stuck with such an overabundance of BMFA STR so, you know...we had to offer her a 'bail out'! I helped take a few skeins off her hands!

Only a FEW skeins! The one in the rear is a HeavyWeight Rare Gems. The others are an assortment of Mill Ends, Rare Gems and a MochaBerry thrown in!

And, as always, the best part is spending time with good knitting buddies who we heart!

BTW-speaking of BMFA, Tina has started blogging over at the site! She posted a contest, so if any of you want a chance at winning some STR, hop on over and enter her contest. The peek at her awesome photo is worth the visit!