It's Here, It's HERE!!!

I got my Namaste Malibu bag from WoolGirl Jen today! HOORAY! I LOVE IT!!!

Here it is, all flat-like, ya know?

Then I had to stuff it all up to illustrate its size...

Peek in! Here's the view from the top!

And above is all the stuff I crammed into it, for the picture
...and I could have stuffed a bit more in!

And what was all that stuff? Well, my (full) purse, for one...and a cake of Cherry Tree Hill supersock yarn!

And the plastic bag was filled with my nearly-complete Waterfall socks and leftover yarn, as well as my Central Air sock and companion 2nd skein for the second sock!

And then there was a stuffed up pouch, too!

And since there were a few requests to see the Lil' Emp's cake, I thought I'd share. Mind you, this is not an example of my best work! My standards have gone down, I cut corners in the prep, and heck-I'm rusty since I only do this once or twice a year! And I put the sphere on top before doing the writing-totally NOT how it's supposed to be done!-lol! Cake wasn't leveled, uneven border, LE couldn't find his Pokemon figures so I had to use smaller-scale stampers,...I could go on and on!-lol! But the bottom-line is...he loved it!

And for those of you who are not Pokemon fans,
the big red ball on top is a Pokeball; and if you can believe it,
the blue and yellow sprinkles are Pokemon sprinkles!

And because I am crazy and could not resist casting on another sock (and because IrishGirlie had me thinking of STR medium weight...and because I lost the momentum on my Monkey Kaw Kaw after realizing how tight they are through the gusset...

I cast on for the Ampersand pattern with a skein of STR Rare Gems I had gotten at Stitches West and that had been sitting in my stash, all wound into a cake, patiently waiting to become socks!

Awesomely quick knit that has renewed my knitting spirit and enthusiasm! I'm calling this colorway Magic Copper Pot! In person, you see more green and bits of teal in it, with a dark brown striping set against the most gorgeous copper background.

And the Waterfall socks above? Just need to kitchener and weave in ends and they should be completed in time to send to my friend, Car, on the anniversary of her sister's death. I can't believe it's been almost a whole year since Penny left us; she would have been 50 on June 30th. Car had written a lovely poem titled "Tiny Drops Make a Waterfall", so these will be a most fitting tribute to Pen and a wonderful gift for Car!

It worked!

A quick pause from this evening's activity (more on that in a bit) to show you what I completed this morning:

I re-sized the Malabrigo Loafers to make a pair for Lil Emperor-and it worked! Here is a pic of the first one (adult small), next to Lil' Emp's. Of course, the trick is knitting the second one. I did write down what I did; I just know it was off a bit numbers-wise, but I continued more instinctively than mathematically. I think I have the shaping in my head fairly well now, which is why I can't wait too long to get the second one done.

But first-I must get through my task at hand! I might not be up these wee hours of the night, if I had not worked on finishing the mini-loafer, but heck-who am I kidding?! I'd still be up because...tonight is the night that I drag out my cake pans, dyes and other decorating goodies so that I can justify all my past purchases and cupboard space! It is time to make the Annual Cake. Yes, folks, it is that time of the year again: Lil' Emperor's Birthday! Last year was the 'big' "7 on the 7th"; this year, I had to explain to him that he was not having a huge party when he reminded me on the last day of school that, it was the last day of school and that he needed his invitations!
Me: "What invitations?"
LE: "YOU KNOW! The ones for my party! I need to invite my whole class except for..."
Me: "What do you mean except for ____?! Anyways, I thought we'd do a smaller party this year."
LE: "OK, I'll invite just the boys and one girl...""
Me: "And which girl would that be?..."

And so the conversation ensued. But in this time, I get him to agree that a small party with just the few boys whose parents I am in contact with would be an acceptable party for him. And yet here I am, still doing the cake (a down-sized version of the usual double-layered 4' high 1/2 sheet plus 3-4 dozen cupcakes...). This year, it is a stacked 1/4 sheet (which I guess amounts to a 1/2 sheet!) with a 'Pokeball" on top. Yeah, Nartian knows the kid is seriously into Pokemon, as her Monkeys had to endure his chatter and banter and imposition of Pokemon on them for a whole ferry ride and more when we were up in Washington for sock camp!

LE dictated chocolate AND vanilla cake...he approved a marbled cake, which made it much easier for me! I sliced a 1/2 sheet in half and am stacking them into a double-layer 1/4 sheet cake. The 1/2 domes will be a "Pokeball" on the cake and miscellaneous extra eats!

So the crazy thing about dying icing is that it is very difficult to get a good red. The only good red dye available for food got banned years ago-yeah, same red as was/is? used for marachino cherries! Apparently, once notice was given it was no longer going to be sold, I guess the marachino cherry people stocked up on it. I guess the ban was maybe on being able to get the dye versus using it? Anyways, I can't recall...I learned that years ago in my Beginning cake decorating class! I was also taught that it is difficult to get a good black, too. But I am happy to report that I used a more recently purchased black decorating dye and got a decent black. Maybe black dye options have improved? Or maybe having this knowledge, I added a huge amount of dye paste to a small amount of frosting which addressed the issue from the start. This particular 'black' has a purply undertone. Blacks will either have a purply or greenish undertone cuz you can't get a straight black.

So here is a pic of the massive amount of frosting I made. "Decorator's icing"--very fluffy, no? And a heck of alot of calories, too!
The cool thing is that it gets all fluffed up with air, but smooths out nicely after you kinda let it 'settle', then mix it up, thinning with a bit of water. This is serious decorator's icing-old school style.



Like many of my hobby/interests, I don't get into them half-assed. I get all serious into them, yet somehow never serious enough to become advanced. With cake decorating, I stopped short of airbrushing. And I did notice a blown sugar class being offered when I was at the store today; it has been cancelled but when it gets rescheduled, I am seriously thinkin' I need to be there! Anyways, I did 'graduate' from Sugar N Spice's cake decorating series-yes, I took Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Plus I took a chocolate flower class, Gum Paste flowers, and South African Wedding Cake decorating. Yeah, serious! This wasn't pastry chef Culinary Academy, nor was it Wilton's. This was secret-society professional cake decorating variety!

So about that red dye--getting a good red is difficult, which means you need to use a s--t-load of it to get anything close. And it will still be quite pink! And it will give the frosting a slightly different taste. And it seems that no matter how hard I try, the paste is able to magically creep its way up whatever implement I am using to scoop it out or mix it into the icing. So now my fingers are a magic red color-probably look more red than the icing, actually!

Yes, there is a reason I only do this once or twice a year! And a reason why I'm finding the yarn dying much more attractive!

And for kicks, since other bloggers seem so much better everyday-what-am-I-seeing life photos, I thought I would show you a piece of my yesterday...

It was the Fillmore Street Fair! And I had to bring Lil' Emp to his basketball clinic only two blocks away! What this means for me, folks, is that I got to drive around for 15 minutes looking for a parking space! The good news is that I did find a good space (no time limit, no meter!), but it's absolutely all about timing; hoping that someone will be leaving at the right time just as you are placed in the right position to get that parking space! And under 15 minutes sure wasn't bad for a day like yesterday-especially when my friend said she had to wait 'forever' just to get into the paid lot!

So this was in no way a quick post, but it got done between mixing, coloring, decorating...So tomorrow morning-the finishing touches--adding the Pokemon characters and the candle! Oh crap...still need to fill goodie bags! Luckily there will be fewer kids, but I found out my cousin will be coming with their 3 kids, so add on a few more! Now I really gotta go!

So as not to be a tease...

And to honor IrishGirlie's wish, I present to you the two Scout colorways I purchased this past weekend...

These are two of her newest colorways that have been crockpot dyed: Fresh Basil and Elycerose (hmmm...sounds like some fancy modern baby name...). They photographed a bit less blue than they actually are. The Fresh Basil is a bit more limey-green-ish and the Elycerose is a tad more violet blue, rather than gray.

And here, Scout poses with her new line-up of colors! Yeah, I was taking my pic from a different angle!
And, if course I was dying to knit up the self-striping yarn I had just dyed! So I cast-on for what was supposed to be a picot-cuffed plain vanilla pair. But alas, somehow I started knitting and came up with a twisted stitch patterning.

As I explained, (hmmm...or did I?)...I came home Sunday afternoon and that evening got inspired to dye my second skein to 'match'. Unfortunately, I neglected to recall that the Sky Blue made earlier was higher in ratio of water to dye, as compared to the other mixtures. I also think I made my brown a bit lighter than what was available in class. Ah, yes...different tones!

So now I think I will be knitting the cuffs from both skeins, and continue the remainder of the sock with the second color.

My hand-dyed 'self striping' fingering weight yarn-the sock is being knit from the darker skein on the left; I'll use the lighter tone skein for the foot.

Can I actually be blogging from my own computer?!

GADS! It seemed like forever to get my computer issues straightened out! Keep your fingers crossed for me! Lucky me, Nartian hooked me up with someone who was able to help get my computer bugs cleared out and get me back on-line! I think cookies are in order, here...(she knows what I'm talking about! So yeah, Nartian, I'm treating you to a dozen tomorrow!)

So prior to starting this entry, I had been looking through my past posts. SHOP YOUR BLOG, PEOPLE! Well, at least if you are like me...you know...decide you'd take a peek over at WoolGirl or BMFA or some other fav on-line store...no intention to buy, just want to see...then WHAM! the order goes in! Well, admittedly, I have been somewhat better. At least until this past week!

I swear, looking through my own blog, every skein I saw, I loved (of course, Silly! I did choose 99% of them!). It was truly almost as satisfying as shopping-especially since I know I already have them in my stash! And then, it reinforced how I definitely do NOT need more sock yarn! And I feel so satisfied that any urge to purchase more yarn truly does not exist. Well, ok, maybe that is not completely true, but I have to say that it really was a satisfying experience!

Anyways, onto this past weekend! The dye workshop with Scout (Jamie Dixon) of Scout's Swag was so much more than I expected! It was fun, it was educational, it was inspiring! It was humbling! I have to admit, though, aside from being able to learn to dye yarn from one of the best (Scout), the other best thing was taking this workshop at Knit One One. Sile (pronounced 'Sheila') is an absolute doll! She truly is the 'hostess with the mostess'-from making sure we all had water by our side to sip, to the homemade shortbread cookies and blueberries (the shortbread, I mean...)! She is not only welcoming, but made sure that she introduced everyone to one another as they arrived. These extra touches really make a difference and I feel even more fortunate that I was able to participate!

Scout demonstrates how she dyes her 'Orchids' colorway
(yeah, that's Scout...talented and gorgeous! Some women have it all...!)

And as if having a top-rate hostess wasn't pampering enough, we also had wonderful class assistants-Scout's bud, HizKnits (Stephen) and WonderMike, the dynamic YKnit duo! They were so great and (duh!) helpful!

Aren't Boyscouts supposed to be 'helpful'? HizKnits and WonderMike sure were!

Stephen came properly attired in honor of Scout (yeah, he's an Eagle Scout!)

Of course, a Bay Area Scout visit wouldn't be complete without a bit of stash enhancement. Scout brought several skeins of her latest 'crock pot dyed' creations for us to salivate over. Oh yeah, and purchase, too! I will have to post pics of the few I couldn't resist later...

In addition to communing with fellow fiber fanatics, I finally got to meet Nell of ChickenKnits, and got to spend time with Marisol of Purls Just Want to Have Fun! And Nartian even popped by on Sunday to check things out. We all enjoyed learning Scout's dying methods (we even learned to dye self-striping yarn...), but even more fun was playing and seeing how everyone else's turned out and what color choices they made.

Nell and Emy examine our work

dyed yarn, laying out to dry in the sun

And, as with everything, I learn best by doing and through MISTAKES! So...glopping on color will not always help and the colors will get muddier and muddier looking. But-after the dye is set through the heating process, it won't look quite so icky...And-superwash really DOES take dye up better! This, I learned, when I saw that my colors didn't come out so vibrant on my large skein of DK weight. I hadn't realized I needed my yarns to be 'superwash' (and if I had, I still woudn't have realized...); the DK skein I brought was NOT superwash! The colors are ok, but not nearly as rich or vibrant as I would have loved and as would have happened had it been superwash...

my dull, lifeless, muddied skein...(this, the non-superwash, folks...)

My 'self' striping' skein, (wound); I dyed a second (layed out) but had forgotten to dilute the sky blue a bit more and was a more heavy handed with the dyes that evening at home, so they will be similar, but definitely not the same tone

Dorky, pudgy me, Scout, Marisol, Nell and Raquel


And since I finished this ONE sock today...

Central Air pattern knit from Spunky Eclectic Super sport in the Route 66 colorway. This yarn is AWESOME!

So here's another long-A post for you, IrishGirlie! ;)

DYING for this weekend to arrive!

Cuz I got into Scout's dying class! YAY! I'll be going over to Knit One One for a dying workshop on Saturday and Sunday-I hadn't heard about it until just last week and somehow was able to get in! I'm so thrilled and can hardly wait!

And look what I completed...
The Malabrigo Loafers, acorn tassels and all!!!

And I decided what to make with the Silky Malabrigo...

The 'quick' adverb got to me, despite IrishGirlie voting for the Cowl of Kindness! But as you may or not notice from the photo, this is merely 1/2 a cowl and just about a completly knit skein. I only purchased one. Doh! Hopefully Article Pract will have a second one for me so I can finish it!

And Lil' Emp decided he liked those loafers, so I am going to endeavor to create his-sized slippers. My first thought was to use my lightweight STR, doubled and on smaller needles, but he seems to really like the Malabrigo and this color. Being that I actually had over 3.5 oz left of the Malabrigo (3.5 oz per skein, folks! so these were actually a 1-skein project for this small size!), I should have enough to do a second pair for LE. Hopefully the re-sizing won't be too much of a PITA! Wish me luck!

And so I'm a thief!

Anything to be able to post my new WoolGirl sock club kit! I got this last week and Nartian and IrishGirlie have pics posted to their blog-I stole this one from Nartian...


And I am so anxious to show off my RibbyPulli scoop, that I took this crappy-A pic of me in it! Yeah, uck! And this, folks, is why I am a Weight Watcher! And no, I am not pregnant, thank you very much! And yes, a better pic will be forthcoming...hmmm...like maybe I need to have Nartian take a pic for me tomorrow...But-it is DONE! Fine! Ends woven in this very evening after work as I discussed certain LYS STR arrivals with Nartian!

I think I can disguise this one!

Look at the detailing on this lovely Malabrigo loafer! Cool, huh? The color is Vaa and man, am I in love with this Coco Knits loafer pattern! Quick knit with sophisticated detailing. Once you finish knitting the sole, you pick up around it and end up knitting, oh, maybe 15 or so more rows and you are DONE! Of course, I do plan on knitting the suggested trims for it-acorn tassels, to be exact! And yes, they look way-cooler on a foot!
And a side view to better show the sophisticated shaping!

And I've started the second loafer-no 'Second Loafer Syndrome' for me! Plus, I'm trying to finish this pair for a dear friend's birthday!

So I guess it is time for confessions? Yeah-the yellow stuffing in the loafer is Silkie Alpaca-there is one other skein I bought...And the Lorna's Laces sportweight (the blue on the right) is one of three I purchased. But (as always...) I can 'splain! One of my cousin's daughters just graduated and will be attending UC Berkeley, so I decided to make her some Brioche socks that she can wear around the dorms! Uh-huh! Justified purchase! Oh-yeah!

So I suppose I should point out the wound ball behind the Alpaca Silk label...it is some Malabrigo Silky Merino which (so long as it gets completed!) will be another justified purchase; it's for my dear friend's daughter who is graduating. I plan on making her a cowl or neckwarmer. If I can only decide on a pattern! Right now I'm thinking of either the Cowl of Kindness that Nartian just knit or maybe Tudora or maybe a Mistake Rib neckwarmer...

So that was a a showing of some of my most recent purchases...

Yeah, if I only show ONE skein of each color, cleverly hide one in a finished object, and show one wound, it really won't look like I got all that much yarn, right?

And as for the Ribby Pulli Scoop? Let's just say it is going much slower than it looked in the last picture! Fingers crossed it is done in the next couple of weeks, but with the Loafers now ahead and the Cowl needing to happen...well, you know...maybe I'll have it done in a month!

Can this be the same blog?!

More knitting! Less purchases! What's going on here?

Not to worry, I'm sure I will have some stash enhancements or other such knitterly purchases to share with you soon. But remember, I just can't knit fast enough to keep up with my stash-and I need to go back to camp next year! So what is a gal to do...?

Well, I actually haven't knit much, but at least this is starting to look like a top, don't you think?

I was so busy working on it, that I blew past a row of increases! By two rows! So I was a bit delayed in having to frog back a few rows, but I will perservere. All I want to know is-where the heck did the focus come from all of a sudden? But not to worry...2 projects are soooo close to being cast on! Hint: Malabrigo worsted and Malabrigo Silky Merino...

BTW, blogging is slower these days-lots of computer problems! Sucks, really...

Deep in the forest...

...is a canopy--but not of leaves! No, this one is knit of the finest of Ravens wings...the most rockin' wings that could ever be because this, my friends is the Rockin' Tlingit Canopy Shawl!

Here it is, blocking...not the best job, but I tried!

A close-up of the detailing...as always, it is difficult to capture the loveliness that are the Ravens...

And this, prior to blocking...

I'm sure it is no surprise to Nartian to see this posted! Only hours ago did I share with her how I was so close to being finished I could taste it! It was hard to put it down while I did my work, but alas, the work day ended!

Knitting and a bit o' retro!

Well, I'm going to have to call this finished!

I finished the little Shakti baby hat to match the Shakti baby sweater. I loved that neckline finish so much that I wanted to use it for the hat. I used the same lace leaf motif, only I added a half repeat of the lace to add a bit of symetry to it. I thought it would be fun to do more of a 'beret-style' and for the top, ended with an I-cord, shaping it into what I thought was a bit of an enlongated leaf, which I tacked down.




After consulting with Nartian as to whether I should pull it out and wrap the I-cord end inward to make the leaf center a bit 'chubbier' (and perhaps more leaf-shaped), I proceeded to attempt this. Unfortunately, I did such a good job sewing and shaping the leaf, that I couldn't undo it! DRAT! So instead, I tried to pull it tighter, forming a pudgier middle, and left it sticking out (sort of...)


And the latest Rockin' Sock Club kit came today!

The pattern, Cleopatra, by Yarnissima, a designer I learned of through (who else?) Nartian and whose patterns I admire...

The color is Incredible Shrinking Violet! When I think of "Shrinking Violet", it brings back memories of an old 70's doll with a pull string talking device. "I'm called Shrinking Violet..."

Ok, my memories are from the 70's, but apparently Shrinking Violet was a 60's doll by Mattel:
"RARE 1963 MATTEL WORKING
SHRINKIN VIOLETTE TALKING DOLL
She is one sought after by many RARE TO FIND MATTEL DOLL FROM THE 60'S
She is adorable and in working condition. Shrinkin Violette does talk ! She says things like "I have butterflies in my tummy", "I wish people wouldn't look at me", "I'm called Shrinking Violet", "I'm just afraid of everything", "People are all so big". Her mouth and right eye do move when she talks. She does have stitching around her neck, and at the crotch area. She is in played with loved condition . Shrinkin Violet is one tough doll to find in working condition or at all, only made for one year by Mattel in 1963."

The only pic I could find of her on the internet is at the same site where I got the above:
http://www.a2zdolls.com/mattel.html

You have to scroll past the cluster of witches and past the ballerina babies-two past Tippee Toes (which, btw, I happen to have had one of those-horse and all!)

I found this background on the doll to be interesting, too...What I never knew about this strange, pull string doll we had for ages. I'm sure my mom must have gotten her second-hand at a White Elephant sale, but as I see the picture of Shrinking Violet again and read over all her phrases, I realize that I had forgotten the many phrases she would repeat-and that I had memorized back then! I can recall her purple cotton dress with the lace on the sleeves...memories! Am I really that old?! (And, BTW, the Shrinking Violette doll is older than me, just for the record!)

I was unaware of DC comic's superhero that Tina refers to in her Dyer's notes, but upon Googling Shrinking Violet, I was interested to learn: "She decided to put aside her plans to become a psychotherapist or a detective to become a member of the Legion." Interesting...was our Depraved Dyer aware of Shrinking Violets prior plans of becoming a psychotherapist? Could this be the draw to the superhero by our former-therapist Depraved Dyer?...?

What? No Yarn?!

And yet, still KNITTING-RELATED!

Yes, I coudn't resist getting a new Rav t-shirt and today it came in the mail-as did my Camp Crow's Feet Special Edition hoodie! The hoodie is a bit big-I didn't dare get M and the XL was definitely too big. In the long-run, this L probably is a correct size since I have girth, Baby, and I may have been experiencing negative ease with a medium-especially with bulkier clothing underneath. Sucks to be short and squat!

As for the Rav shirt, I got a Large unisex. The sizing is a wee bit snug, which wouldn't be bad if the neckline were a tad lower and the sleeves a bit shorter. I am seriously considering cutting the neckline and maybe doing some fun embroidery on it, as well as the sleeves. We'll see, cuz I don't otherwise envision myself wearing it.

I am happy to report that my Ribby Pulli scoop is coming along. I have bound off at the armholes and need to being working the sleeves. So-what length should I go with? I'm thinking a tad shorter than the sample shown here, but not too short. Maybe about and inch or two above my elbows.



And Nell (fellow Bay-Area blogger and new nursing graduate!-congratulations, btw!) convinced me that yes, a matching hat is in order for the Shakti baby sweater. I opted to puff it out a bit after the band. Nartian agreed it was a cute option. We shall see how this comes along...
This is the base of the hat after a series of increases. I'm now going to knit it straight and then pull the top in.

And on the sock-knittng front, am I working on my Monkey Kaw Kaw? Well, er...it's coming along...but I, uh...cast on this Terry Ross "Slip Stitch Delight" sock pattern...
I found the pattern at Ravelry (for free!) and noticed she designs alot of her socks using Socks That Rock! This one calls for STR medium weight but, alas, this is not STR! This is the Spunky Ecclectic Super Sport I got on a whim when I decided I needed "Union color" socks! Truth be told, my union is a bit sucky these days, so this may just be my Fraternity socks since my business fraternity colors are "Old Gold" and "Royal Purple".

And then there's this sock I've been hiding from all of you...
It's the "first sock" and who knows when it will be completed or have a mate! This is Jeanie Townsend's "Lilac" pattern knit in Claudia Handpainted, "Eat Your Veggies" colorway. A person over at one of my Rav boards (The Solidarity League of Creative Women Distracted by Ooooh Shiny...) posted this, "do you ever feel guilty about starting a new project…so guilty that you don’t post it on ravelry until you are almost done with it…or at least halfway done with it?."-HA! I know about that!

And the real clincher? I cast on another shawl! This one is the Forest Canopy Shawl pattern I purchased a while back. It calls for 350 yards-much more than the 250 yards of Dream in Color Classy that I had thought I might use for it. So I dug around and found the STR Heavyweight that IrishGirlie had convinced me to purchase at Purlescence. It is the Raven colorway "Tlingit".
Much like my Malabrigo Chunky idea, I figured-350 yards? I can do that!

The Daily Chum

Samro went to sock camp with us this year and contacted me about having read my post on Ravelry, suggesting that, rather than frog something they were unsure of, to start from the other end before deciding to frog. So she asked to publish it over at her Lime & Violet Daily Chum . I was basically giving my lazy-don't-like-to-frog suggestion cuz I hate to frog unneccessarily!-lol! Not a 'genius' suggestion by any means, and apparently an 'univented thought' since I think someone commented having read the suggestion in a Barbara Walker book. I'm not claiming rights to it! (Just my bit of a disclaimer here...)

Not-Blogging

One thing is for sure-I was absolutely absorbed in completing the Baby Shakti Sweater and did not blog because there was no way I could put this down to blog! Not when I was soooo close to being complete! So here it is-complete! Except I kinda have a nagging vision of a matching baby hat. Especially given the amount of yarn left over and how clever the finish on the neckline looks!
SassyMan helped me choose the buttons from my (yeah, get this...) button stash! Not a bad pick, huh?

So while this is on my mind, I have to share that I am on the RU (Ravelry Underacheivers) group at Ravelry. I ought to start an eBlog Underachievers group so I can belong to that one, as well! I only now accidentally was able to load more than one pic at the same time-glory be! How'd that happen?! So feel free to leave any comments with additional time-saving blogging techniques-I need all the help I can get!-lol! BTW, any of you aware if pics can be rotated after being loaded? Just thought I'd ask...

And now, on to a meme...

Tan just tagged me on this meme and I read at the end, "Peeps I want to know more about...", and there I was on the list.

I guess I don't always write much about myself. Probably cuz there's not much to say. I mean, you all know about my knitting and yarn purchases. And how I have such a compulsive yarn shopping disorder that I am constantly trying to keep under control. But basically, I'm an ordinary, boring person who's life is about work, SassyMan, the kid (Lil' Emperor) and being obsessive in my crafting and mommy-ing.

I don't know that this would really offer anything profound about me, but should offer a bit more of a glimpse about me...

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? Sadly, I don't even know *what* I was doing 10 years ago! OK...it was Pre-Lil' Emp... dating SassyMan, going on weekend get-aways with my friends and hanging at their house doing the singles/couples thing, wine-tasting in Napa, eating, cooking, quilting, rubberstamping...scrapbooking! As I recall, in 1998, it was probably the last time I had visited Italy, since up to about then I'd been going every couple of years to visit my sis in Cortona and have not been able to get back there post-Lil' Emp.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

-stop being distracted from my housework
-laundry/dishes/cleaning
-declutter
-take a shower (sadly, I've not done that yet!)
-email relatives to solicit drawing ticket sales for LE's upcoming picnic drawing ($200 cash prize!)
(Obviously, the things I need to do first and foremost are at the bottom of the list, though the first item probably explains why!)

3) Snacks I enjoy: Of course, this says 'snacks' and me being ME, automatically think for FOODS I enjoy-like chocolate pudding/fudgie baked type things! I guess if I need to think in terms of 'snacks' being a small between-meal hunger-staver, I suppose it would be...Cozy Shack Chocolate Pudding (if it stopped tasting so 'weird'!), WW bars, salsa and chips. But truly, I do interpret 'snacks' as small items to munch on, in which case I love: baked goods, Kettle Chips, Rosemary Sea Salt Marcona Almonds (hmmm...maybe need to get Nartian hooked on these, huh?!), crispy seaweed sheets, ramen noodles (the chow-mein style ones that are super-bad for you!), icecream (especially vanilla with a super-good chocolate fudge sauce...), hurricane popcorn, wasabi pumpkin seeds (yeah, Nartian mentioned those and they are stuck in my brain!), and when I am being 'good', I like a really yummy blood orange, seedless grapes or tangerine, a sweet navel orange, crisp, tart apple. So here is where you will really get to see that I'm all about food! This is why I am participating in Weight Watchers and still struggling with my weight! Dang-as I have become aware of how much I should eat, I really realize how my 'favorite' snacks just can't be the 'real' snacks very often! But I'm just not there yet!

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:What wouldn't I do?! I just recently was telling some knitting friends how fun it would be to go to my sister's new Bed and Breakfast and have a knitting retreat! I then said, 'Yeah, if I hit the lottery..."--so there you have it: I'd have a knitting retreat with my best knitting buddies over in Cortona, Italy at my sis' Bed and Breakfast! I'd fly everyone there and we would knit, play with yarn, eat yummy food, drink good wine, visit fun places (bringing our knitting projects along with us!)...And I think we would need a masseuse as well!

Of course, I would pay off all my debt, buy a huge house with lots of rooms for my yarn, fabric, sewing machine, stamps and ink pads, papers, crafting/work areas, a huge kitchen, lots of entertaining space-and of course hire someone who would come in and clean! So yeah, after the 'big splurge party', I'd take care of home/family stuff-make sure everyone near and dear to me was comfortable and debt-free.

And having that much money, I would be able to donate so much more money and to so many more causes and various charities and maybe start some sort of foundation to work towards access and availability of quality education for all. This could be the beginning for global awareness and more minds working for solutions to many problems, issues, sicknesses that we face.

I forgot this one! 5) Places you have lived: San Franciso, CA and San Diego, CA. And if you count summer school for a few months, then I can add Honolulu, HI. But that's it!

6) Peeps I want to know more about:

Buried in Fibre
Socktopus
Convoluted String
Yin and Yarn
Shoeless Wonder
Lazy Chick

Of course, this is limited to those who I know have blogs and weren't mentioned already (that I'm aware of...)

Sharing a bit...

So yet I am posting again, right after blogging about today's yarny arrivals! I thought maybe I could fool you into not getting as bored of my blogging if I separated out this post!

OK, I feel like I can share a bit about one reason I was feeling a tad bit busier over these past couple of weeks.

As you all know, I am a PTA mom. Not just a PTA mom, but an officer of the PTA Board at Lil' Emp's school. Before leaving for camp, an on-going issue rose to a second threat of a lawsuit and upon my return from camp, we received a summons to Small Claims court. So...basically we had our court date tonight and up until this evening, I had been working on getting our information together to present. Bottom line: we were being brought to Small Claims for collection of a $76 royalty fee for a design we had been using for our school t-shirts and sweatshirts. The husband of one of the teachers created the design and this year decided he wanted to collect royalty fees for its use. This, we were informed of only after conducting our "Back to School Night" t-shirt sales. So now we wait 2-3 weeks for a judgement to be mailed to us.

I have to say that it was a wonderful thing being there and having several teachers, a past PTA officer, a retiree/volunteer and her husband, and Principal there tonight to support our Board. No matter what the outcome, we were well represented and supported and were doing what we felt was right.

Just when you thought I was behaving...

Attention! The content of this entry has Seven Deadly S(p)ins #2 Spoiler content!!!

But first,
I have to confess to this purchase from Little Knits that just arrived in the mail!

FlyDyed Monarch in "Petrol", above...Nartian had told me she had heard the yarn is quite similar to STR. I have to admit that it is the first sock yarn I've found thusfar that is quite similar. It is labeled a '3-ply sportweight', but feels like its thickness is between STR lightweight and medium weight. STR heavyweight is supposed to be 'sportweight', so who knows? It is tightly twisted like STR. This 4.5 oz skein has 370 yards. OK, I just checked Blue Moon Fiber Arts and their lightweight is also put-up at 4.5 oz per skeins, and is listed at 360 yds, so this one is a tad thinner, it would seem...

And here is the second skein of yarn I purchased (and wasn't I good to only buy TWO skeins?!) This is Wool in the Woods Cherub in "Amethyst Fairy Forest". To me, it feels like a chubbier, sturdier, smooshy. Its put-up is 100g and has 400 yds. It's got fluff, but seems to have more 'sproing' than Dream in Color Smooshy. You see, I feel like Dream in Color Smooshy is soooo smooshy, that you have to really knit it tight to get a firm fabric. This Cherub seems to have loft, but seems to have more strength and thickness where it would create a firm fabric without my having to go down to 00 needles!
So this purchase was within my rules: I didn't have either of these types/brand yarns yet, so I got one! (I allow myself to purchase a skein of sock yarn if I don't own that type yet...)

And now for the SEVEN DEADLY SPINS #2!!! Sorry if I'm "spoiling" for someone, but at least I'm trying to warn ahead of time these days...

I am always impressed at how nicely things are packed, that I have to get a picture of it before I open everything up!

And here it is all opened! A washcloth/soapsack pattern with some Pima Petite cotton yarn! The colorway is 'Peace' and is a very calming blue. The washcloth has an adorable sheep design on it, and the sack is adorable, too! Let's see...a chocolate sheep, tea bags, a sheep stitch marker, honey-scented beeswax candle, bath salts, mini sheep soaps (my FAV of the swag!), "Peace" of Mind Milk and Honey soap bar! Man, are we spoiled or what?
The Seven Deadly S(p)ins group at Ravelry had some members expressing a bit of disappointment over this 'spin' on "Wrath" whereby the theme was "Peace", the flip side of Wrath. I can see their point in that they were expecting the kits to be a bit more 'edgy', but all I can say is I am THRILLED with this package! I would have gotten a kick out of something more evil, but I think the creativity in turnig the Wrath into Peace is fun and the kit fit the bill perfectly! I'm kind of relieved to see a washcloth pattern, since sometimes I need a small, quick project to kick me into gear. With this kit, I can see myself not having the guilt I sometimes do when I get my sock kits and know there is no way I'll be getting the kit done anytime soon. And besides that, the sheep design on the washcloth is stinkin' cute!-the kinda design I would have picked out myself (vs. some of the ones that are less detailed and a bit more kitchy...) I don't know, maybe someone else would find this kitchy, but I think it looks great!