Picture My Knitting

Secret Pal package!

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend. I certainly did! And it definitely started off well! On Thursday I came home from work to a package sitting outside my door! It was from my Ravelry Summer Camp Secret Pal! This was perfect timing as I was headed out the next day for a scrapbooking weekend and I was so excited to get it before I left. Since I was out of town this weekend, it took awhile to get it posted, but I hope you all think it was worth the wait!

I've never participated in a swap, either knitting or scrapbook related. So when I saw a group forming on Ravelry, I immediately joined in. With a summer camp theme and the task of sending a package of gifts that remind you of home (well actually the home of your pal) I knew it would be great. I love finding things off the beaten path that you can't find everywhere and trusted that the gifts I got would well represent my pal's home.

Well, my secret pal, Kimberly (aka somebunnyslove) certainly didn't disappoint!  And I would like to point out, that the fact I got my camera and set up the "photo shoot" before tearing open the package is pretty remarkable!

Here is my package. I'm very impressed that Kimberly individually wrapped the gifts. Hopefully my pal won't mind that I didn't.

First the box and its contents:

My secret pal was smart and put a return address of Boston, and so I assumed it was from someone who lived in Boston. Then I opened the card and immediately turned it over to see who it was from. Well, I saw that it was from somebunnyslove in Rhode Island who I had just a few weeks ago swapped some yarn with. I thought, "wow, that was so nice of her. She certainly didn't have to send me thank you gifts for selling her the yarn." Then I actually read the card and realized she was my secret pal! I thought that was so great. Kimberly and I sort of got to know each other through swapping the yarn, so when I found out she was my Ravelry Secret Pal, it was truly like it was a package from home!

Here are all the contents! She was so incredibly generous, I can't believe it!

She did a good mixture of knitting things and theme related things, but I think it was great that she read my knitting and regular blog to find out other interests she could include. So she sent me some stamps (which was even more perfect since I was leaving the next day for a scrapbook weekend) and a notebook with a dog since I'm thinking about getting one. She also included some stationery, cards, a night light for those late knitting nights and a beautiful card with fall foliage (how much I miss that!).

She included two different yarns (again, so generous). I had wanted to pick up some Claudia's Hand painted yarn since LaCane picked some up at our Bay Area Yarn Crawl and she also sent me some yarn from a local spinner (Hopyard Spinnery) which is just perfect!

Now this is next item is certainly the most interesting item! It is called Autocrat and it is a coffee syrup and also the state drink of Rhode Island! You just mix a few tablespoons with milk and voila! I must say it was tasty! It has actually been quite hot in SF (translation: yippee!!!!!) and I wanted something rather refreshing, so I mixed some up today! It was tasty! I can't wait to share it with my Mom who was born in Rhode Island and grew up just over the border in Connecticut. She'll get quite a kick out of it.

I really enjoyed my package and look forward to participating in another swap soon. I hope the woman I got to spoil is just as pleased with what I sent her. She lives "over the border" so it is supposed to take a couple of weeks to get the package to her. Hint, hint!  Thanks again Kimberly for my awesome package!

A new WIP: Dream Swatch Head Wrap

So I started another new project. Lately, I just can't seem to stay interested in anything long enough to finish. I finished one monkey sock and instead of finishing the other, or continuing with my Tomato Sweater, I cast on a new project. The other day, I saw Wendy Bernard's Dream Swatch on Irishgirlieknit's blog and fell in love. It looked like such a fun project and I loved the yarn that Irishgirlieknits used (Artyarns Regal Silk). Knowing I had something similar got me in the mood to knit one for myself. And since it is only a skein, I can use it for the current contest on Stash and Burn, my favorite podcast.

So I cast on last night using my own skein of Artyarns Regal Silk. It is a fun, easy to memorize pattern and I know I'll finish it pretty quickly and have that sense of accomplishment that I seem to be craving. Plus, who doesn't love knitting with 100% silk! This also is another reason why I love Ravelry. Without Ravelry, I never would have found Irishgirlieknit's blog! (You'll have to excuse my photo--it isn't the best. Definitely something that will need some blocking when I'm done.)

1/2 an FO!!!!

I have been working like a madwoman these past two weeks which has drastically cut into my knitting time. I worked about 6 hours today and said I would reward myself with some knitting time. And I am thrilled to report that I finished a monkey sock! One down one to go. The heel flap is a bit too big. I have short and narrow heels and this happened on my last sock too. I know I need to modify this next time around.

What's on my needles

I guess you could say my current main project is Cookie A's Monkey Socks. It would technically be my second pair of socks. I was looking to step up a bit from my first pair which was just a standard k2p2 rib. Actually I should said that this is my second sock, not second pair. I had some second sock syndrome going on with my first pair. I'll get back to them at some point, I'm sure. They are a worsted weight and I'm just not into them smack dab in the middle of summer.

I originally cast on Monkey with Knit Picks Filici but then when I got some of SockPixie's sock yarn I had to switch gears and use that yarn. I'm about half way through the gusset and I'm pretty pleased with the project. I got gauge before starting, but throughout the leg, the socks seemed big. They fit, but they don't stretch much and I hope they'll stay up. When I got to the heel, I could see again that I have gauge, but they still seem big.  Other than that, I love how they are turning out. I love the yarn and the Monkey pattern is great. I think this will be my first pair of socks.

San Francisco Yarn Crawl

So a bunch of Ravelers got together last Sunday for a yarn crawl in San Francisco. It is pretty amazing that a group of women who have never met in person previously can get together and make it seem to a muggle that we've known each other forever. We started at Urban Knitting Studio in Hayes Valley. Surprisingly I had never been there. It is a fantastic space. The knitting circle area is right in front with a ton of natural light. The store was well organized and the wall of Manos was pretty amazing.

Next we moved over to Artfibers. We had some time to kill before the store opened so we grabbed a quite bite nearly. When we got it, it was pure heaven. I hadn't been there before and I was totally overwhelmed by their beautiful luxury yarns. And surprisingly, many of the yarns were pretty affordable. They only sell their own yarns, so the selection was unique and delicious! I'm trying to control my purchases, so instead I bought a little something-something for my Ravelry secret pal. I think she'll be so excited! After Artfibers, the group continued on to Noe Knit but I headed home. I'll have to hit Noe Knit another time.

I didn't take any pictures, but here are some links to other people's posts about the event. Gypsyknitter just did a survey to see what kind of interest there might be in additional get-togethers. It is amazing how Ravelry helped this event come together! We'd probably never have met each other otherwise!

Kazen's Post
RynSerenity's Post
Gypsyknitter's Post
LaCane's Post

My Knitting Blog

Hi. Welcome to all my fellow Ravelers. I decided to start a blog dedicated to all things knitting and Ravelry. So if you have bookmarked the site or have me in your aggregator, this is the new site to bookmark.