Spoiled again!

Gentle Readers,
It's been a long long while since I posted here, and for that I offer my sincere apologies. And now I have so much to blog about (the Final Four, the massive [to me] amounts of money I spent on yarn while in St Louis for the Final Four, the Final Four!, the wedding dress I'm making [GULP!], my latest adventures in knitting, the Whedon-stalking that I'm hoping to kick into high gear later this year, and of course my deep and abiding love for parentheses) that I don't even know where to begin!

But the incredible generosity of my spoiler in the Ravelry Warm-Ewe-Up Winter Swap cannot go another minute without being acknowledged!



Y'all, "WOW" does not even begin to cover it. Underneath all the goodies is a knitting needles roll-up bag from Katie Fleck Designs which happens to match the boxy bag and the zippered bag that I received in two previous packages. This is so great!!! A place to put my needles! And I love the pattern of the fabric. I take the boxy bag with me everywhere I go, it's absolutely perfect and I love it so much. I'm so excited to add the needle case to it.

This is the first best:

I love how she used little post-its to cover up the parts of her message that referred to the stuff I may not have opened yet! Isn't that great? Because of course I tore open the card immediately because I couldn't WAIT to find out who it was! And she of course knew that I would do that!

And the spoiler is: mobarger!

Ok, so last month when I got package #2, I got a little obsessed with trying to figure out who my spoiler was, and I narrowed it down to about 4 peeps in the group, but I kept going back to mobarger. She farms full-time in upstate NY and also works full- time and STILL manages to find time to knit. That's inspirational.

Also, there must be something in my genetic memory (both sets of grandparents grew up on farms) that makes me long for a farm. It's completely unrealistic given my career choice, but I still fantasize about living on a small farm. Oh, I know it's an obscene amount of work, that's why it's a FANTASY! But I was pretty darn excited - word of warning to Mo -- I'm coming to visit you someday! I think it was the pics of the roosters that did me in. That and having read BOTH The Omnivore's Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle in the past year has made me really think about where food comes from, and why oh why we are so OK with the industrialized process from which so much of our "food" comes from in this country.

But that's a rant for another day.

Now for the close-ups!

Lovely Linen Yarn. My mind is spinning with the possibilities!



SCHAEFER!!! I've been lusting after this in various yarn stores for months. I must be psychic or something because every time I've decided, regretfully, not to purchase any. And LOOK! I'm being rewarded for my restraint:



TREATS!



Look at all those tiny little chocolate sheep! And my two favorite kinds of chocolate bars: cherry & almond in dark chocolate and ginger in dark chocolate. YUM YUM YUM! Yes, you can see I cracked right into one of those already.

In the back is a mug from the Ithaca Coffee Company (it has a rooster on it! How cool is that??!!) with BEANS from Ithaca Coffee Company - it smells HEAVENLY. This morning my roommate was about to pour me some coffee and I yelled "NOOOOOOO!" and ran into my studio where I had just photographed everything (yes, I actually photographed everything BEFORE COFFEE. Does that tell you how excited I am?) and had to get my new mug and wash it so I could use it.

yes, I am a five-year-old.

THREE - count 'em, THREE patterns - two for socks (hooray for socks!) one of which teaches the toe-up method on one circular -- which I've been dying to learn! She also sent me some gorgeous sock needles to replace the ones I broke. And some lovely lovely little bits: a tiny little ornament with a sheep on it, a sticker from Ithaca Coffee Company, and a vinyl sticker that says "knitgirl"



I feel like I'm in that lovely state of bliss that you get after a well-prepared meal and a few glasses of wine. This was my first yarn swap and I feel so very lucky to have gotten Mo. She got to know me SO WELL and obviously took the time to pick through my blog and my wishlist and find things I would really love and appreciate - and many things I needed as well. Her generosity leaves me speechless.

Ok, not speechless, because that would never happen.

Mo, thank you so much.

ETA: Did anyone else notice that the colors of the knitting organizers and the colors of the yarns I just got match the colors I've selected for my blog? Is Mo really that clever, or is that just a coincidence? Inquiring minds want to know!

Ravel and Rave

Right before we left for the Grand Canyon, I got this BEE-YOU-TEE-FULL package from my secret swapper. I have already dispersed and absorbed everything into my daily life, but just to show you how wonderful it is I have gathered it back together for a reunion show.



WOW. And I do mean wow. An accessory bag that matches the boxy bag she got me last month - EXACTLY what I needed, especially right before a trip! A little pin from the Loopy Ewe, which I put on the accessory bag, some awesome stitch markers (one of which is already in play on the socks I'm knitting for my dad) and a keychain retracting tape measure, also from the Loopy Ewe. (A tape measure in your knitting bag!?! Who comes up with these things???!!!)

Oh, and of course the chocolate, which, naturally, is already gone. (Peanut M&M's? PERFECT in trail mix! And caramel kisses... sighhhhh... I will be spending the next three hours at the gym.)

The yarn. Can we just talk about this for a minute? I love it. It's a yarn I've never used and it's SO AWESOME. She even included a sock pattern with it! Socks for me, HOORAY! Of course I have three birthday presents I'm working on right now, so socks for me are going to have to wait a while, but they'll be so cute with my new Merrell Mary Janes that I got from my mom over the holidays (and I've been looking for the perfect socks for them, too!)



The sock blocker keychain -- SOCK BLOCKER KEYCHAIN, y'all! -- is too adorable for words, and even better: it came with a teeny-tiny little pattern so the sock blocker doesn't have to go barefoot.

The lotion is simply lovely, the perfect scent, not overpowering, and absorbs quickly and makes my hands feel soft. The incense is HEAVENLY. I must know where she got it because I've burned 3 -- make that 5 -- sticks already and I'm about to light up a fourth -- make that sixth. I love it! The candle too! Such a wonderful scent. And check out the "Sheep" hangy placard thingie. AWESOME. And it all comes together just as I'm putting up my cutting table again for the first time in years. It's just the perfect thing to make this a wonderful, peaceful, creative space so that I can get my groove back and kick my etsy shop into high gear.

Thank you. SO much.


And now it's time for the Ravelry Warm Ewe Up Winter Swap Bi-Weekly Question:

What knitting/crochet pattern have you worked that you could see yourself making over and over and never get tired of?

Hmm. This is tough. I tend to not EVER want to make the same thing again. I get bored easily, and I like to create my own patterns. So my first thought is: "Socks." Does "socks" count as one pattern? I'm working on the Stalwart Left Right Socks from Heartstrings Fiber Arts for my dad. It's an awesome pattern (and I'm knitting from a chart again! egads!)

So if I wanted to narrow even further, I could say baby socks. I love knitting up these tiny little bits of wonderful. They're so quick, they use up those little leftover bits of yarn in my stash, and the results are too twee even for me.

mmmmm.... socks....

What are your plans for Valentine’s Day this year?

That's the bi-weekly question from my Ravelry Swap Group.

For starters, I'm REALLY HAPPY that I'm not working today. I worked yesterday and it was probably the worst day I'd had. I think 95% of the calls I took were "Service Calls" which means: people unhappy about something.

In case you've not been following along, I'm doing seasonal work in the Call Center at Proflowers for V-Day. That means on the day before, people are calling because they waited until the last minute and are now going to scream at me because delivery on a Valentine's Day on a Saturday is more expensive than the cheap (but lovely, of course) bouquet they are buying at the last minute and they're certain that if they yell at me long enough the Procrastination Fairy will magically make the earth spin backwards or something.

Or they're calling because the flowers they ordered two weeks ago aren't there yet and they don't understand why because they ordered them two weeks ago and it's already 10am and that's "plenty of time" to deliver a box of flowers, never mind that there are half a million other people who are also getting flowers today and so you might not get them until 8pm, which is what we told you when you bought them.

Having said that, it's a great company to work for, and yes, the only calls I get all day on the day before a Major Holiday in the floral industry are of course going to be from people who did not receive the normally stellar service and product from Proflowers, (or the aforementioned procrastinators, and I'm not going to be too hard on them because half the time I'm one of them, except that I'm smart enough to know that if I fuck up and wait until the last minute there are going to be consequences, and most of the time I try NOT to blame someone else for them) and I'm not saying that because I'd really like to continue working there for a little while but also because honestly, if I ever needed flowers for someone, I'd use Proflowers without a seconds hesitation.

Having said THAT, I also need to add that working there is actually fun, even when half the calls you get begin with someone screaming in your ear. I arrive at work a little before 6am, have breakfast (provided by the company during Valentine's week) and go to my my seat assignment for the day (multiple interim peeps working means not everyone gets their very own desk). There are large windows everywhere, flowers everywhere, and the upper muckety-mucks do a great job of empowering and supporting the people on the front lines. (Despite my earlier sarcasm, I'm quite good at managing the service calls and have a lot of options for making it right without having to "talk to my manager", which is one of the reasons I like working there, because not only do they expect me to think, they also give me the tools to fix stuff once I figure out what went wrong)

Um... where was I? Oh yes. So I answer calls for a few hours and then eat lunch, also provided by Proflowers, then I go back to my cubby (in natural wood tones with frosted plexi dividers) and take some more calls. About an hour later, someone comes around to my desks with cookies and milk. Seriously. The day before that it was Jamba Juice. And right before I leave? A dozen beautiful long-stemmed pink roses.

So yes, if I'm going to be working a day job, this isn't a bad one to have.

Oh, but this question was about what I'm doing TODAY. Yeah.

Earlier in the week (on my day off) I made sugar cookies and when Jules got home from work (her cubby is all grey and industrial-looking and there are no windows and no flowers and they don't even get WATER, let alone cookies) we cut them into heart shapes and decorated them. Since I was covered in frosting, flour, and cookie dough for a good portion of that time, here is the ONLY picture I took. I'm sure Jules will be thrilled that I'm sharing it with you.



Last night we went to the Teppan place we like in Escondido. We had great food and shockingly bad service. Came home, had a few beers, watched Galactica (my head is still spinning!!!) watched Burn Notice (really it's just good clean fun) and went to sleep. Got up early this morning (well, 7:30, which would be early for me normally but after getting up at 4:30 all week it's more like sleeping in) and I've been alternating shopping for yarn online (it's so nice to have a paycheck) with cleaning the bathroom (really, I have the shortest attention span when it comes to cleaning. I find something out of place, go to put it away, see something else I meant to do, start to do it, remember that I was going to put something else away first, start to do THAT, and two hours later Jules is following the trail of lights I've left on around the house and muttering about the electric bill.)

So that's my exciting tale of Valentine's Day: Heart-shaped sugar cookies, Battlestar Galactica, and cleaning the bathroom. I really must stop now because I think I've used up my quota of parentheses for the week.

Did I mention that I'm spoiled?

I did? Well allow me to mention it again: I'm SPOILED!

I picked up my package from my Ravelry Tuesday night. (It had been there since Saturday but does my mailbox service tell me these things? NOOOO. What am I paying them for?)

Okay, so Tuesday was my FIRST DAY on the phones at my new (seasonal) job. I get there super early in the morning and then I'm on the phones all day. I'm doing customer service for Proflowers.com (side note -- Awesome flowers, awesome company. If you need to send flowers to someone you love, call them. Really.)

Anyway, I get to knit when I'm not on a call! So Tuesday I stuffed my knitting into the mesh pocket in my backpack, and it worked okay. I mean I had it, right?

So then Tuesday night I get THIS:



More about the yarn in a bit. That gorgeous bag is from Katie Fleck Designs and it is PERFECT for carrying my projects to work. PERFECT! It has a little strap on the side that loops over my wrist so I can easily walk and knit and it's stylish enough that I don't feel like an even bigger dork by walking and knitting.

I love even more that it's handmade! And it is BEAUTIFULLY made as well. Love love love.

But that's not all! See that yarn under the bag? It's mine, and you can't have it. It's Ella Rae Lace Merino with the most intriguing colorway. I've already untwisted the hank, stroked it, twisted it up again, cuddled it, sniffed it, petted it -- well I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to propose to it pretty soon. It's luscious, and I've never heard of it before, and I love that it's "Ella" Rae, because, you know, with the "ella".

I can't wait to get on to Ravelry and see what others have done with it. And, as others have said, I'll likely make something for ME with it, because I don't think I can bear to part with it. I'm thinking of a lace scarf. I've been trying to knit lace (for the first time) with mohair, and can I just say -- Mohair is NOT GOOD for a first lace project!

But this looks like it will have gorgeous stitch definition and resilience... Oh, I'm SO EXCITED! Plus there's a little sample of a fiber wash that I've never tried -- how cool is that?

Oh, and THAT'S NOT ALL.



Stephanie Pearl-McPhees Page-A-Day Knitting Calender (I saw earlier that someone else had gotten one, and I was so jealous! Now I have one of my very own!)

A chocolate Wonder Bar (another thing I've never hear of, it's so funny! And yummy! Yeah, it didn't last long.) and cinnamon coffee with these wacky little cinnamon swizzle sticks (and we all know how much I hate coffee!) and this wonderful handmade ceramic plaque (you can see it in the picture. LOVE IT!) PLUS a cinnamon-scented candle, sticky notes with my initial on them, and a card with a cat sleeping in the clean laundry -- EXACTLY what Xander does!

Oh, thank you, secret swap partner, you're SWAPTASTIC! (Okay, I am dorkier than usual this morning, what with the gifts and the coffee and the yarn-sniffing and the candle-sniffing and the chocolate.)

Ravelry "Warm Ewe Up" Winter Swap Question

Sorry it's taken me so long to get to this; I just got back from a nice long visit to Utah where I spent 2 1/2 weeks visiting my family. It was 23 and snowing in Utah when I left. I landed in San Diego yesterday to a balmy 62˚afternoon.

Hopefully I'll be back on a semi-regular blogging schedule soon. In the meantime, here's the Ravelry Warm Ewe Up Yarn Swap Question of the Moment:

Why did you learn to knit?

I didn't have a beloved family member teach me how to knit. My dad's mom used to crochet, although I've never actually seen her do it, and she says she stopped because she got the "Carpal Punishment" (we don't know if she is making a joke or if she is confused. Regardless, it's funny!)

My mom's mom sewed, and my mom even remembers her sewing on a treadle sewing machine (which, fair warning to my siblings and cousins, I'm going to fight tooth and nail for when it comes time for it to be passed on).

I was definitely inspired by my maternal Grandmother's ability to "make stuff." One year she made my sister and I these wonderfully cozy flannel nightgowns and gave them to us on Christmas Eve, thus inspiring a lasting tradition of pajamas on Christmas Eve in my family. I remember mine had worn through the upper back - I don't know where she got the flannel, or how that happened -- but she just sewed another piece of flannel behind the worn-out part. I kind of loved that. Maybe she didn't have a big enough piece to cut out the entire back, and she just made it work the best way she could. That's always inspired me. (plus it made the back extra-cozy) I wish I'd been old enough to learn more from her before she died, but every time I sew, I feel like I'm paying tribute to her.

--side note: on cold winter mornings, we'd stand over the heater in those nightgowns, and when the heat went on, they would fill up with warm air and poof out. I still remember how soft and warm they were.

Anyway, it didn't take me long in college to gravitate from the stage to the costume shop. There was this AMAZING woman who worked in the costume shop. She was so much fun, and she seemed to me to be able t do anything. She was married to one of my profs, and she also knitted him sweaters. I remember being in awe of those sweaters. It seemed like such a miracle to me, the ability to create fabric and clothing in one fell swoop. I wish I'd had the courage to ask her to teach me, but I didn't. She died of cancer many years ago, and I always regretted not getting to know her better, or not forcing her to teach me to knit.

Finally, two years ago, I was at a Target and saw a knitting kit. It was on clearance, and it claimed to teach you how to knit a poncho. It came with the grossest acrylic yarn, in brown and pink, and some very stiff, very slippery aluminum circular needles. So I snatched it up, the directions were awful, and I never did learn to knit that damn capelet. I ended up getting online and finding much better directions, and then I bought a bunch of Lion Brand Wool-Ease and "Knitting for Dummies" and started knitting swatches, which I fully intend to make into some kind of afghan someday. Really.

Then I was on a bulletin board, asking if it would be possible to cut up old jeans and knit with them, because I was broke and I was bitten. An incredibly generous woman on that board sent me an assortment of yarn from her stash, and I discovered the joy of knitting with pure wool. And it was HEAVEN.

And I've been knitting ever since.

Warm Ewe Up Winter Yarn Swap

I'm pretty darn excited about this, as it's my first swap EVER! Following is the Ravelry Swap Q&A designed to help my mystery swapper get to know me better. I'm not at my home computer so I apologize for the lack of photos, but I've included links where applicable.


Do you knit or crochet, or both? How long have you been at the craft?
I knit. I've been knitting for just over 2 years.

I tried to crochet an afghan once about ten years ago and it was a disaster. It was meant to be a striped stadium blanket for my sister, and it looked like Africa. I swore I would never crochet again. However, the more wonderful edgings I see being done with crochet the more I want to learn.

Do you spin?
I don't spin yet. I have no doubt that I will be spinning at some point. The yarn addiction is bad enough right now that I'm holding myself back from spinning.


What yarns/fibers are your favorites?
I love all animal fibers, but alpaca probably wins. The jury is still out on mohair. I'm knitting a (VERY SIMPLE) lace scarf with some pretty pale green/blue mohair and I like how it's turning out, but I'm still not sure if I like knitting with it.

What yarns/fibers do you not like?
I strongly dislike synthetic fibers, although I did just buy some Berroco Comfort with which to knit my adorable nephews little sweater vests. I also don't like novelty yarns, maybe because when I started knitting I bought WAY too much of it at Michaels (DAMN THEM and their clearance bins!) and I STILL have a lot of it in my stash.

What yarns/fibers would you like to try but haven’t?
You mean besides cashmere? (hee!) I'm curious about linen and linen blends -- I have the Mason-Dixon book and those lovely hand towels keep calling to me. I'm curious about bamboo and silk as well.


What are your favorite colors? Colors that you don’t like?
I like rich colors, jewel tones, and earthy colors. Not a fan of pastels, but it depends on the project. I love colors with a lot of depth to them, and I like heathered yarns quite a lot.

What are your favorite types of projects to knit?
I'm still learning, so right now it's EVERYTHING! I do a lot of felting. I like to make up my own patterns, because I never can find EXACTLY what I want. And sometimes I just like to put the yarn on the needles and see what happens.

What are you currently working on?
The "Swing Thing" sweater for my 2 yo niece, armwarmers for sis. I'm about to start armwarmers for 2 other nieces and a hat/mitten set for another niece and a vest or two for my two nephews... I have a huge family, and a strong desire to cover them in handknits.


What is your favorite FO? (Please post a picture if you have one.)
My favorite FO is usually whatever I just finished, although I am awfully fond of my snowdude. And I love this baby hat and the teeny tiny sweet little mitts.


Are there any techniques that you want to learn?
Mosaic knitting and/or fair isle - I've done a bit of intarsia, and I love knitting with color, but I want to be able to me more flexible in my designs.

I also want to knit lace, and I discovered socks this year, so I want to try some more complicated sock patterns -- or stockings! (I have this strange desire to knit fishnet stockings.) And those gorgeous wonderful things in the Folk Socks book. I love folk knits.

I absolutely MUST knit a sweater for my mom this year, because she's been hinting since I first picked up the needles. (I was hoping to have one ready for Christmas, but now I'm shooting for Mother's Day.)

I'm longing to knit something REALLY BIG -- like a blanket, or a curtain, or a cape. And I'd love to knit something for myself, too.

Do you have a yarn winder and/or swift?
Nope! I'd love a swift, but I don't know where I'd put it, and I often enjoy hand-winding a center-pull yarn ball. It's great when I've burnt out my brain on something.

How do you store your needles/hooks?
Right now my needles are in a crappy, falling-apart toiletries bag, although sometimes I store them fanned out in a jar or vase -- like paintbrushes or flowers. I've made a pattern for a needle case but have yet to sew it up.

Do you collect anything?
Besides knitting needles and yarn? I loathe throwing away useful things, so I have an assortment of cleaned-out glass jars and tin cans that I sometimes use for paint or storage of small things, but I wouldn't say that I necessarily "collect" them.

Do you like sweets?
I love dark chocolate with nuts and fruits in it, or plain dark chocolate. OH! And cinnamon bears. And candied ginger covered in dark chocolate. Other than that, not really.


What are your favorite scents? lavender, rosemary, and cinnamon. Although not all at the same time.

Are you having a birthday during this swap?
nope!

Do you have any online wish lists? (Amazon, Loopy Ewe, etc.) Please include a link for your pal.
I have a wishlist on Amazon. I must find out what this Loopy Ewe thing is. I have a feeling it's going to be VERY exciting.

What is your living situation (Are you married? Do you have kids, pets, or both?)
I have a housemate and two kitties that we share. Vivien was mine, but has adopted Jules, and Xander was Jules', but now owns me. We also call Vivien Squawk-a-lot, and we call Xander (short for Alexander the Great) Master Pathetico.

Are you allergic to anything?
I'm allergic to my cats. hahaha. I'm also allergic to all things melon -- sad, no?

Is there anything else that you would like your pal to know?
I'm an oldest child, with all its attendant rights and responsibilities. I love shoes. I love books, I love to read: Jane Austen, Jasper Fforde, Barbara Kingsolver, Dorothy Allison, and I'm reading Charles Dickens (Great Expectations) for the first time and enjoying it immensely. I also sew and I made wedding dresses for all three of my sisters. I'm a costume designer. I'm an environmentalist. I love filling out questionnaires. I'm addicted to coffee.