87. Still wet!

Day two of trying to dry the mittens! Maybe a complete wet block in rainy weather wasn't the best option??

86. Cape progress

I have finally managed to quit calling this a sweater! I'm hoping to have it finished in time for our show in Chicago next week. But if not, I'll be in Salt Lake City and Portland next month. Which I'm sure will be cool enough to wear my little beauty.

Just a bit left to do on the second front. Then the front miters and some serious blocking!

85. I've slowed down!

Back in the days when I typed for a living, I was really good at it. No really. I don't remember the actual number, but I typed in the mid 80 words per minute range. My boss thought it would look good to send me to "intermediate typing school." Mind you, I was in the military at the time, not civilian. Anyway...I was graduated on the first day. They couldn't "drop" me from the class because that wouldn't look good on my record. But they said there was nothing they could teach me. And as a matter of fact, would I like to come work for them? But I've really slowed down! Check this out...
69 words

Speed test

84. I figured it out!

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

83. Just amazing

It is amazing just how much you can get done if you don't turn on the computer. No time right now. Not much except work getting done. I'm tired of boring blog posts, so I can only imagine how any of you feel when you happen to click over here!

82. April Fools Challenge

Actually, I don't think it's technically an April Fool's contest - but that is the deadline for entering. Anne posted a contest on her blog - you are to name one of your favorite blogs - and why it's a must read.

While I don't check in but maybe once a week, The Pioneer Woman is a great blog. She writes wonderful stories, takes amazing pictures (her subjects don't hurt that either), and posts true artery clogging recipes on her companion cooking blog. Be sure to read the back story - Black Heels to Tractor Wheels! If I ever find out this is fiction and not the true romance story behind her and her Marlboro Man, damage will occur!

81. Ten on Tues

I'm having a hard time keeping up, let alone catching up! This week's Ten on Tues is to list 10 things a person should do before getting married. Obviously not in this order!

1. Have a wonderful affair where you are madly in love.

2. Realize that your values are diferent and be the one to walk away.

3. Have love letters that you will always keep.

4. Take a trip - backpack around your country, go to another country. Go somewhere wild.

5. Develop wonderful, close female friends that you will keep for the rest of your life.

6. Pursue your dream.

7. Go to college.

8. Do something you thought you couldn't do. Something that you really didn't want to do. Do it anyway. To the surprise of everyone but you, succeed wildly.

9. Take the transfer. It may be an opportunity that will never come again. (It sure was in my life.)

10. Dance, and sing, and love with abandon.

80. My new friend

I just got a new friend! We've barely been introduced, but I know we are going to be spending an awful lot of time together. We're going to be travelling across the the country together. But Sally Ann will be doing most of he talking - as soon as I get her out of the package and figure out how to make her work. Meet Sally Ann...

79. Happy Easter

My first thought this morning when I got out of bed was "the tomb is empty. He has risen."

78. I can be so slow sometimes

Do you have any idea what brilliant thought just occurred to me? You know those 12,600 holes I had to drill? Well, duhh....there needs to be something to go into those holes. Yeppers, 12,600 dowels. Now, cutting that many dowels isn't a big deal. Set up your how long you want your dowels to be, turn on the band saw, and presto! Small dowels.

But "we" decided that each end of the dowel needed to be rounded. It does look better. And the dowels fit into the holes nicer. But good golly! That is over 25,000 ends I get to round.

We bought a pencil sharpener. Which does work. But (unfortunately) I like the look of the ends that have been sanded better than the pencil sharpener ends.

Guess who alternates their time between the belt sander and the drill press? A name for the sander must be next.

77. Wee Tiny!

I have got to learn how to add a button to my sidebar!

Last year, I was lucky enough to find out about Dish Rag Tag in time to sign up. And I've read Emily's blog ever since. Which means I'm found out about the 2008 Wee Tiny swap and have now signed up. You knit a tiny sock. Yep, just one. It can be sent with a first class stamp. And away it goes. No yarn. No involved project. Just a teeny something fun. I'm in.

76. I spent the day in bed

And I wasn't awake long enough to have any fun either. I get occasional bouts of vertigo. Except for the last two little "incidents," it has been getting progressively worse each time. I've been checked by the chiropractor and mine is indeed caused by a middle ear imbalance. If someone knows of a holistic approach I can take, please, please let me know what it might be.

The only common factor is that afterwards, I am left wiped out. I think I was out of bed about five hours. And I slept non-stop. We drove into town to run an errand and had lunch while out. Once I got home, I had a strange desire for ice cream, had a small bowl, and went straight back to bed. And fell instantly to sleep.

The next day was better - at least I was awake! But I am going to try to get my blog posts back up to date. The not blogging bothered me the whole time!

75. Talk about a weird dream!

I had the most bizarre dream. We arrived for a quilt show in Long Beach, CA looking rather like the Beverly Hillbillies. Our booth was a very bizarre space, but the description won't make any sense unless you are familiar with the norm. Bob packed everything for this show - but we had no change for the cash register. So I head out to find a bank - with several boys that I have no idea who they were. We drive off through the hills - absolutely nothing like Long Beach. And in the way of dreams, wind up back home in PA. And the Yarn Harlot joins us. Not just Stephanie - her husband Joe comes along too. If I'm gonna dream about total strangers, I go all out apparently.

There is some kind of argument, and Stephanie says she has the perfect solution. Goes into the other room, and returns with a bizarre contraption. Bob pulls one end open, pulls out the knitting, and there is a wad of paper in the middle with the answer to the argument. Turns out all the knitting is socks. And I explain that the only time I wear store bought socks is for exercise. Stephanie gives me a big lecture of the health benefits of wool socks, etc, etc. and I agree to wear hand knit footies as my work out socks. (Yeah, like that's really gonna happen!)

Stephanie explains that the marvel answer gizmo is her pasta machine. Pasta machine? I ask. I thought that was your sewing machine (has she EVER talked about a sewing machine???) or your spinning wheel. No, she responds. It is my pasta machine. And I travel literally no where without it. It is always with me because you just never know when you are going to need a pasta machine!

So Joe and the rest of the guys (still no idea who they are, but what the heck! I'll feed them anyway.) are heading out to buy lobster. I go into the front room to ask Bob if he will make lobster ravioli for everyone. I look into the living room, and Stephanie is rearranging the furniture!

Unfortunately, there was some loud noise that woke me up just then and I never got to find out how everything ends. Does Bob make the ravioli? How does Joe know where to find lobster in PA? What would my living room look like with chairs behind the couch? And for the love of wool, why does the Yarn Harlot travel everywhere with her pasta machine? It even had a nice canvas black tote to travel in!

74. I had enough!

Thankfully, there was enough purple yarn for the front of the cape! Not much left over. I'll be ripping out the swatch so I can use purple in a couple of the miters on the fronts.I have no idea why the color washes out so horribly. Natural light? Washed out. Flash? Washed out. Maybe outside on a gloomy day?

Do you read The Rainey Sisters blog? Well, scroll down. I can't get my embed the link thing to quit highlighting text. But in the March 16 post, Susan posts a picture of the most stunningly beautiful knitting you can hope to ever see. Which of course, led me to http://thingssoolikes.blogspot.com - (embed code not cooperating). It's all stunning. Go take a peek - but bring a bib to wipe up the drool! Don't say I didn't warn you though.

73. 10 on Tues

This week's topic is 10 places you would take a tourist in your hometown. Which has been tough. I don't live in a "fun" place - ask any teenager around! But I'll give this a shot- but it may be a work in progress for a few days. Links may or may not be added later.

1. Moon Lake State Park - great walking trails, public pool, and a lake where you can fish or rent paddle boats!

2. Rickett's Glen State Park - stunning waterfalls and great hiking trails.

3. Lackawanna Coal Mine - This area's history is rich in the coal mines. This was an actual working coal mine and is a wonderful glimpse into the life of a miner.

And now I have to move out of this area a bit!

4. Crayola Factory
Philadelphia where I would take them to:
5. Liberty Bell
6. Independence Hall
7. And the Federal Mint - or whatever the "correct" name is!
8. The Ben Franklin Museum - a very kid friendly place, but interesting to adults also

hmm...more later it seems!

72. Progress

6,594 down.....6,006 to go. It's really bad to think of 6,006 as "not too bad!"

71. I have the aquamarines...and randomness

I have stolen this from another blog. I don't remember whose though, so I can't give appropriate credit. Shout out if you know.

I don't have the blues. Just a bit of the aquamarines. Should be gone soon.
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Doing a lot of work in the basement. The drillpress has become my new best friend. With the new item we have been contracted to make, I "get" to drill 12,600 holes. No, that's not a typo - twelve thousand, six hundred. Maybe that's part of my mood???

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And while I'm not standing in one place without moving around, my feet keep going numb. So I come upstairs, and prop my feet up on the massager. But I think that tomorrow while Bob is at the dentist, I will go get new shoes.

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I am at the worry stage in the cape. I'm trying to remember not to call it a sweater - since it's not! I am down to the last ball of purple yarn for the left front. I am crossing my fingers that this is enough. And have them double crossed that if it's not enough, the store will have more in the same dyelot.

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I had an absolutely wonderful conversation with my sister yesterday. It was her birthday. So the conversation totally revolved (80%?) around her. I kept asking questions about what was going on with her. You know how you're trying to be polite and keep steering the conversation around to "and what have you been doing?" Well, I wouldn't let her. On your birthday, you should be able to talk about your life. And she has just bought a house. Very exciting stuff. One of the forays into my life was about my quilting. Which has been non-existant. She made the comment that she just can't see me without a sewing room. Which I haven't had since I bought this house - it's in a perpetual state of undoneness. And I do know that the occasional bout of aquamarines can be tied to my lack of creative sewing opportunity.

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I hope you enjoy the cookie recipe from yesterday. I'm going to try adding in recipes occasionally - and it could be a great source of blog fodder!!

70. Now with recipes!

I've decided to start adding a few recipes. Now, nothing earth shattering. Or even original. But tried and true recipes that I use again and again - and don't want to lose. This cookie recipe is very good. Not my most requested cookie recipe, but I'll save that for another day. The recipe originally came from a woman's magazine several years ago, but I lost that copy. So I did an allrecipes.com search. Since I usually double the recipe when I make it, I did so here with the ingredients. These also make wonderful thumb print cookies!

No Roll Sugar Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup margarine
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 eggs
4.5 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Optional: sprinkles of choice

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets (I use my baking stone).
2. Cream butter, margarine, and sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

3. Sift flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar together. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and blend.

4. Shape dough into walnut-sized balls and place on prepared baking sheets. Dip a glass in white sugar and press balls flat. (I slightly flatten in my hand and press the tops into sprinkles - or make thumbprint for jam.) Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on racks.

69. Patterns swimming all through the brain!

Darn that Ravelry! Someone asked a simple, innocent question about knitting a Charlotte's Web shawl. (I'm not gonna link. The pattern has been around awhile and if you want more info, shout out and I'll get up off the couch and find it!) So I responded to the simple, innocent question. Which led to me doing a project search of some (but not all) of the Charlotte's Web pictures posted on Ravelry. Which led to me (again) wanting to make another one. I like my Charlotte's Web. I think I have a picture somewhere. If not, I need to take one and I'll edit the picture into the post. But mine isn't big enough. And looking at all the lovely CW's was very inspiring. Especially the ones that the knitter made bigger.

Usually, I'll agree that lace and variegated yarn don't work. But in this case, I like it. From the reviews I've read, I don't think I'll use the new Noro sock yarn to actually make socks with. But I started thinking about the colors in Noro used for a CW. Or Trekking also has long color runs and is a very consistent yarn. Hmmm......

68. Knit Night

Tonight Evelyn and I met Michelle and Catherine (who I was rude enough not to even ask about a blog) for knitting at our local B&N. We all chattered away. The three of us happily knitting away with our hot beverage of choice. Evelyn sat on the table and supervised the knitting. Michelle and I both took our cameras out of our knitting bags and put them on the table. That is as close to a picture that either of us got. Rather like my birthday card buying, that plan didn't work out too well either!

edited to add: "Tonight" was Thursday night. I even posted it Thur night after I got home - to fit in with my Blog 365. But the post reads Friday. I'm still counting it as Thur's post. But if you happen to have read Michelle's or Catherine's post and wondered if we were knitting fools and met Thur and Fri - well, yes and no. We may be knitting fools, but only met once this week!

67. Random Wednesday

1. I think the way the word Wednesday is spelled is very wierd.

2. So is February.

3. I made more rice pudding.
4. It has survived more than 24 hours. Musta been the fact that I hadn't had any in quite so long.
5. It's my sister's birthday on Sat. While I have thought about the need/desire to get a card for her for several weeks, I have not stepped foot into a store that sells cards. Not sure how this plan is going to work.
6. The "Ten on Tues" was harder than it should have been - or that I thought it would be. I should probably start on next week's theme today.
7. We (foolishly) accepted the word of the miter gauge on the saw. It was off by 1 degree. One degree on each of two sides x six pieces = no way in hell is this going to work. Had to throw out 500 pieces that were off by that one degree.

8. In the next 30 days (I think!) I will be working at quilt shows in Lancaster, PA, Chicago, IL, and Manchester, NH. Wow. There's a lot of work to be done.

9. I'm feeling very lame about this post. Not quite working the words tonight. Knitting Thur with friends should help.

66. Ten on Tuesday

I signed up for the prompts for Ten on Tuesday! So I'm gonna give this a shot. Today's theme is 10 things I'm looking forward to with spring


1. Definately warmer weather.
2. Spring flowers - what's not to love there!
3. Birds. I love to hear their singing.
4. Letting in the sun warmed spring air through the open window.
5. Green grass. Which would mean less mud.
6. Being warm outside for a walk.
7. Berries. Although I saw fresh strawberries and rhubarb in the grocery store today.
8. Apple blossoms.
9. The neighbor's magnolia tree in bloom.
10. Gardenias. And camellias. Some of the most wonderful flowering shrubs.

edited to add: Gee, there doesn't seem to be a theme here, does there?? This was supposed to post the other day. Internet issues, etc kept it from the blog. I keep trying to "catch up" from the days I missed when I went to VA, but so far, I haven't been very successful at that.

65. My new profile pic

If I did this correctly, I finally have a profile pic up on Ravelry!

64. My Ravelry pic

I actually had my Ravelry invite for several months before I accepted. I still haven't loaded very much to Ravelry, but I do use the research tools a bit. I still have lots to learn....I am positive that there is some way I can research a specific pattern done in a certain yarn. I need to just plug in some info and see if that works. If I enter "Must Have cardigan" and "brand X yarn" is that what I get....or an error message? I'll have to try that tomorrow.

But I haven't yet had a profile pic posted. I just wasn't sure what to put up there. Like the majority of people, I'm not wild about my picture. Tonight I was thinking of trying to get an attractive shot of the mitered squares I'm knitting. But...Somebunnyslove left a response to a post of mine with a fun suggestion for my profile pic. I'm anxious for sunshine! I tried taking some pics with the flash and under the lamp. It should be no surprise that the pictures absolutely sucked!

And on the topic of the mitered squares - I finished the last one tonight. Tomorrow I get to pick up the stitches for half of the collar and one side of the front. When done, this baby is knit all in one piece. I've tried to weave in the ends as I've changed colors in the mitered squares. But there is still plenty to be cleaned up and trimmed.

Several great picture opportunities await tomorrow's sunshine. Sure hope it's not raining again.

There is no more rice pudding. It was obviously good. And equally obvious - if I want to lose any weight, I shouldn't make it very often. It wasn't a large dish - but I ate every last bite myself.

63. Sunday Misc

1. We had a full day of sunshine! We've had so much rain lately, I've started checking to see if I was getting webbed feet. Truly mud season around here. But sun! All day! And a breeze to help dry things up a bit. Still can't step off the sidewalk without sinking, but progress.

2. I like numbering things.

3. But when I make an actual list, I don't usually number the items on the list.

4. Go figure.

5. I made rice pudding today.

6. I wanted to make it yesterday. But then I found out just how desperately I needed to go to the store. I had rice (which is amazing since I don't remember the last time I ate rice). And I found a rice pudding recipe that didn't need eggs. Which I didn't have. But come to find out, I didn't have enough milk either.

7. Rice pudding warm from the oven is very good.

8. So good, I've had three bowls today! Granted, they were small custard cups, but still. Three.

9. I have 2.5 miters left to go on the back of this cape. I'm really liking how the colors are playing off each other. I'm very glad I chose to go with four colors.

10. I got my copy of Patons Street Smart booklet (with the Must Have Cardigan pattern) this week. I'm really wanting to order yarn for this.

11. But I got yarn this past week for another Clapotis. Full size this time. I ordered four skeins, but I'm thinking about ordering a fifth. The pattern breaks down into fifths: 1/5 for the set-up and increase section, 3/5 for the straight section, 1/5 for the decrease section. I wouldn't need to count repeats of anything. Finish the first skein? Time to knit the straight section. One skein left? Time to decrease. Sounds very mindless for an absolutely dead simple (but to me very pretty) pattern.

12. In all that sunshine today, I didn't take a picture of the yarn! Something to add to tomorrow's to-do list.

62. I already forgot!

Not sure where my brain is, but while sitting here on the couch, I already forgot what I was going to post about! Boy, talk about a stupid moment....I've been writing mental posts all day long. I'm going to save my Sat sky picture. Mainly because the camera is across the room and I'm here. I tried to check the river levels, but I can't get the official site to load - they're probably being inundated with people trying to check the same thing. Definite flooding going on in NE PA.

I recently started knitting miters....and days ago, I said I'd tell all about them "tomorrow." Well, I guess tomorrow has finally arrived. The pattern is by Trendsetter Yarns using Merino Sei. I am making the Mitred (their spelling, not mine) V Capelet. I've done a google and ravelry search and can't find an online picture to show you. But the back is composed of 25 mitred squares, on point. You then pick up stitches along two of the sides that become the shoulders and then on down the front. The bottom edge of both fronts has more mitred squares.

When in Houston, a yarn booth had this sample on display. There was also a longer style on display done with more colors. Well, I bought the supplies for the shorter style in the colors of the longer one. So my fronts will be two different colors and the back miters are in a total of four colors, not two.

This shows the beginning of the third miter. I was really forced into posting this tonight - I just started square #21! You also see my Blah Buster Buddy (from my cocoa swap partner) Evelyn getting into the action. She has become my knitting supervisor.

61. Done for awhile

With swaps I mean. I usually sign up for one at a time, but this time, I was doing three at once! I just have a bit of detail left on my mitten swap partner's mittens (to be mailed next week), but everything else has been coming to a close. And it seems to be just in time. We're heading into heavy work time getting ready for our upcoming quilt shows. I'm sure I'll write about this ad nauseum, but in April we go to Chicago and New Hampshire. In May we'll be driving to Salt Lake City and then on to Portland. Whiel the car is prime knitting time for me, I sure don't want to add swap stress into the schedule!

I had a fun sit and knit the other morning with new friend Ann. Although we were there about 3 hours - so we do need to pick a place with food next time! If Michelle can't join us, I do have a local place for next week. And if Michelle can join us, there are plenty of choices that are geographically in the middle. Good times - food, chocolate, knitting, coffee and friends. Can't ask for much more!

I looked up from the footstool and really liked my mitten still life.
I didn't even bother cleaning up the area. I like the little teaser shot inside the mitten!

60. Defeat the Winter Doldrums

My dishcloth swap package arrived today. I truly feel like it is Christmas this week. Although this time, my swap partner is Muslim, so that may not be a very good analogy!

Tanja was my swap partner. She lives in sunny CA, and sent some spring goodness my way. I didn't take a picture of the box prior to unwrapping, but everything was wrapped in glorious purple tissue paper. And I do love me some purple.

Tanja included a bottle of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day dishsoap. While it doesn't say it's organic, it is all natural (I read the ingredients!), a tin of Green & Black's organic hot chocolate, a bar of Plantlife Lavender soap and a bar of California Bay Laurel soap. Plus hair mask (really come in handy since I just had my hair colored), face mask, salt scrub, and the ever popular dishcloths. She forgot to take a picture of this one, but I don't think the butterfly shows up very well.

But in real life, it is easy to spot the butterfly. And check out that yummy yarn in the back. She included two skeins of Jo Sharp Alpaca Kid Lustre - one in maroon and one in a spring green. I'm not sure what I'm going to make with this yarn, but it is very soft.

I don't think I've left anything out. Tanja, it is a fantastic swap package and I thank you for everything!

59. No more humdrum mittens around here!

Emma sent me Bird in Hand mittens! Which I think is wonderfully funny. She sent me lots of emails while I was whining about the Bird in Hand mittens I was knitting. This was my first colorwork pattern and I had first timers stress over it. And she sent all these encouraging emails without ever giving away that she had started the exact same pattern for me!

On to the pictures!

Everything was wrapped in lovely spring colored tissue paper. And look at all those goodies! Emma sent (not only the wonderful mittens), but yarn and a pattern for another pair. Knit Picks Merino Style in bare and coal with a pattern for Herringbone Mittens with Poms, more Knit Picks Bare and kool-aid. She included her "recipe" to dye the yarn to make stripes, a bar of Leslie's Garden soap in "Herb Walk," a large tin of Trader Joe's Sipping Chocolate, and the coolest looking journal (on the lower right).

Oh, and the mittens. The yarn is also Knit Picks in their Wool of the Andes. The yarn is soft and feels good on my hands. And the mittens fit wonderfully. Which is good since there isn't a lot you can do to size stranded color patterns.

Emma, that was a fantastic swap package you sent! I'll be keeping my eye on the swap blog to see what goodies your pal sends to you. And I'm truly sorry you don't yet have a blog of your own. Just a hint though: it's really easy to start and I'm having fun with mine!

58. They're Here!

My No-More Humdrum Mittens are here! "Real" post later.....

Ok. I give up. I have tried for quite awhile now to upload pictures onto my blog. And blogger is not cooperating. Pictures and raves coming up tomorrow.

Edited to add: Blogger seems to like me today. I'm gonna try to catch up a bit.

57. Got Soap?

Several years ago, Claudia posted how excited she was to be visiting Got Soap?'s booth at sheep & wool. After reading several other comments about the soap, I decided to see what the excitement was all about and purchased a few bars. And I've never looked at another bar of soap since! Most of my swap packages include a bar of "Got Soap?" The smallest sliver still lathers. The scents are gentle and I've never noticed a linger scent on the skin. Well, they are offering a "blog" promotion. If you place a minimum order and mention you read about their soap on a blog (name the blog), you will receive an additional free bar of soap! Now, I get nothing from this. But I am a very satisfied customer. And while I've been using their soap for several years, they were kind enough to give me a free bar. I'll be happy to help spread the "Got Soap?" love!

56. Insert clever title here

Actually, I'd be please to come up with any clever title! I've been having horrid internet connections lately. So I get to post multiple entries whenever I get on-line.

I'll confess to not reading a lot of non-personal email that comes into my box. And so far, I haven't read all the emails from the folks at Blog 365. I can't even load the button onto my sidebar, so what's a little email flaking? But apparently, there are monthly themes to help out bloggers who get stuck. Which really shows I should be reading those emails! This month's idea is "list." (I didn't read the email, but I do read Norma.) Sounds fun. Not sure how good at lists I'll be, but it's something to keep in the back of my head.

1. Cocoa is good. Cocoa with a healthy chug of Bailey's is even better.

2. I got my hair done tonight. It's even better than Cocoa with Bailey's!

3. Still no idea on the socks. But I started something else instead.

4. Apparently, I'm a very good monogamous knitter. I get a lot done working on one project at a time. But I don't hesitate to set something aside until more appropriate weather. Or to end the life of a project as evidenced by yesterday's post.

5. My fingers seem to think that having a list means I don't have to "talk" in complete sentences.

6. But I think I type much more formally than I talk in person. The whole grammer thing I think. Which has obviously gone out the window tonight.

If I can get on-line tomorrow, I'll try to give some information about my new project. It involves miters which are a bunch of fun. Who knew! The first time I typed that sentence, I left out the "r" in the the word "miters" - mites are not fun. But I'm just kinda guessing here. Maybe if you're a girl mite and a new cute boy mite just moved into the neighborhood? Eww...I'm going now.

55. The State of the Sock

I can't remember the last time I didn't have a sock on the needles. They're portable. Usually the pattern is easily memorized - lending to the portability, obviously. I knit one Monkey sock and never did get the pattern down. The entire sock, I walked around with the pattern. It became annoying - more with myself than the pattern. But I wasn't upset to only knit one.

Even when I had absolutely no money for yarn, I always managed to have at least a current skein of sock yarn. I have several pairs of socks knit from leftover yarns. I've been able to get a pair of socks out of left overs from two pairs - which makes for some interesting socks but is pretty cool.

Until now. At one time, I frogged an entire sock. Reknit the darned thing three times before it fit right. And didn't really mind. And now? No sock. I found out that my sock drawer is deficient in red socks. So I bought some red sock yarn. I even have enough red sock yarn for three pairs of sock - I sorta got carried away I guess.

And I had a sock. It used to look like this:

I really like this pattern. My Sockapalooza 3 (I think) pal sent me a pair of socks knit in this pattern. I liked them so much, I bought the pattern and one of my scrap yarn pairs of socks is knit in this pattern. That's most of a foot. It now looks like this:

I have no idea what pattern the yarn is going to become. But I have those two socks books that I haven't ever knit a sock from yet, so the options are wide open! Any suggestions?

54. It worked!

I had the briefest post written in my head for today. Explaining why I wasn't going to post today and how I had (regrettably) fallen off the Blog 365 wagon.

But my Cocoa Swap package arrived! Last night, I bought a container of hot cocoa mix, and sure enough, my long anticipated package arrived in today's mail! Yippee! I feel bad for my swap partner (who didn't leave any contact info in the box! I'll write the swap hostess). The package was mailed on 2/13 from New Haven, IN. I'm not sure if you can read this postmark or not, but on Feb 32, 2008, my package was stamped in Coleman, MI! Nope, that is not a typo - the post mark truly reads "Feb 32."

This package was well and truly worth the wait. I have vertigo today (which is why I wasn't going to post). So the package couldn't have come on a better day to make me feel better. This is a shot of all the goodies still wrapped:

Ms. M spent a bit of time wrapping each item in cheerful tissue paper. But the goodies inside the tissue! I sure hope you hit a really good sale - I do feel truly spoiled.

Wrapped in all their glory were three tins of cocoa mix. The gift bags in the bag each are a package of "snowman soup:" cocoa mix, mini marshmallows, candy cane, and a "mix-in" for the cocoa - one is crushed candycane and the other crushed heath bars! Dark choco covered espresso beans, a bar of chocolate, three (!) kinds of cookie treats. And I truly love cookies. A wonderful mug (I had wanted to send a mug to my pal. But she is overseas and I was afraid of the breakage.) Sheep stitch markers, my "blah buster buddy" and yarn.

As soon as she came out of her tissue, she told me her name is Evelyn. She did not warn me that she is a camera hog (but she is!). Evelyn wanted to personally show you the goodness of the stitch markers. In my questionnaire, I had said I wanted to try some of the Knit Picks Harmony needles I keep hearing so much about. And in yarn preferences, I said I hadn't ever gotten to use any of the "luxury" yarns that have become so popular. Well, Evelyn wanted you to see the beauty of my brand new Harmony dpn's. And see the yarn she is perched on? That is Knit Picks Andean Treasure in the "moss" colorway. It is a gorgeous heathered green. And I got (are you ready?) four skeins of this beauty!

The exclamation points have been running rampant in this post. But Evelyn and I think they are well deserved.

Thank you very much Secret Pal! I'll be happy to find out who the mysterious Ms. M is!