Crazy Week......

It feels like it has been a month since I posted, yet it has only been 6 days....and I also feel in those 6 days I have hardly gotten any knitting done because I have been so busy.

After I posted last week, I got sick....Yuck!  So I was out of commission last Wednesday.....one would think I got tons of knitting done...but no....I did manage to finish the second placemat for Paige.

She does love them...and is not so patiently waiting for two more....but I have too much going on in August.....Camp Loopy project 3 started on Friday....and I barely got my Clapotis started.....I was going out of town to visit my son so barely any knitting Friday or Saturday.

I am only on the second increase section and I have 12 increase sections to do......so I better get with it!

I also started some socks for my boyfriend....I think I told you guys (a long time ago) that I made some worsted weight socks for him to wear hunting...well, he took them on a motorcycle ride in October of 2012 when it was VERY cold and they kept his feet very warm...but he made the mistake of washing and drying them.....it was Malabrigo worsted so it felted and now they fit me (yeah!)....so I told him I would make him some more out of a super wash yarn....Malabrigo Rios....he goes on a motorcycle ride early September so I have less then a month to get these done for him so I better get with it....thankfully they are plain vanilla socks!

Are you noticing my awesome bags in the background of my knitting....Yup, those are Bags by Awesome Grannie....my bff, Darlene.....she is wonderfully Awesome!  There was a lady that had posted in the Camp Forum that we needed new pink bags for our awesome pink yarn.....Well, Darlene and I both thought she was right so she made us these awesome pink sets for us to use for our Clapotis'....for Camp Loopy #3 (of course we are making the same thing for Camp...we always do!)

The Hot Air Balloon Bag is one I have admired from day one....she had a shop update last night and has some new Medium size bags and I just had to snag this one....the rainbow inside is just gorgeous...it is one of my favorite insides!

Then we all know how much I love orange.....Aren't these hearts (both inside and outside) perfect....and I love deer.....so the perfect bag set for me.......

I do have a couple of stash enhancements for the week......first, my Barking Dogs Yarn Club Shipment for August came in....it is called Red Berries....it is very pretty!

Suzan put in some extras this time with tea and stitch markers....they are great.  The pattern this month is by a designer I have never heard of before.  His ravelry name is Thatbaldguyknits....which I think is funny.....the pattern is called On the Edge of Maelstrom....the pattern is probably more complicated than what I want to try...but it is gorgeous!

Then, I got some stitch markers from Vanessa at Vintage rose....I got turtles and little bells....I love them!  I will probably use them on my Clapotis along with some turquoise ones from Darlene....Clapotis takes 18 stitch markers, so I need a bunch!

 

It has been a CRAZY week....I hope this week is better and I get more knitting done.....

I leave you with pics of my grand children...this is all of them.  I did not actually get to see Alexxis or Antonio this past weekend...but I did see Celeste and Cataleya......here they are in order of birth!

Celeste......

 Antonio.....

Cataleya....

Alexxis......

One more on the way.....Alexxis' brother is due in December.......

Happy Happy Happy Happy Knitting everyone!!!

Enhancements Week(s)!

Happy Thursday everyone!  Did you have a great Mother's Day?  I hope you did!  Paige got me some beautiful flowers with a home made card and I got a card from my son too!

I have not done as much knitting as I usually do....I guess I have been busier than normal.  I did work on finished some socks for Darlene....she is crazy busy sewing bags for her new shop and I wanted to help her out (since she does SOOOOO much for me, it was a tiny way to say thank you).....these are for 2 of her grandkids.....

I knitted a little on my Samadhi...I am just about 1/2 way done and have about 58 grams left.

I know I have been telling you guys what a sock kick I am on....well, I could not resist casting on for the Shadowboxing socks in the Hiya Hiya May/June KAL....when I went to my nephew's confirmation a few weeks ago, I was knitting on socks and my mom was bragging on me a little (hey, she is proud of me!) and telling the ladies that I do not really sell any of my stuff (because I do not want to turn my love into a chore) but that I just enjoy knitting the items and most of the time I give the items away (which is all true).....so my sister's sister-in-law (follow that?) mentioned how much she would love a pair and that her favorite color was purple.....I resisted and resisted and resisted, telling myself that I will make her the first pair of socks for Tour de Sock out of purple...but I caved.....and I casted these on (my first Tour de Sock will still be in purple out of that Invictus yarn I showed you guys last Friday....so we will see which pair she gets).

Sadly, that is just about all on my knitting front...but I have quite a few stash enhancements to share with you.....I was kicking myself when I did not take advantage of the sport weight felici sock yarn that Knit Picks discontinued over a year ago...so this time I wanted some sock weight before it is discontinued....I got Jingle and Lighthouse...

Then, when Darlene heard me talk about starting a new pair of purple socks for my sister's sister-in-law, she offered me this yarn in Foxglove....I may still keep it ;)

When I ordered my camp loopy yarn, I could not decide on the color at the time and also ordered Cobalt Hydroxide and Kinetic Energy (pictures from The Loopy Ewe)....

But in the end, the XRay won and it will be my Camp Loopy Yarn for Project 1....I have always found it fascinating the difference between how yarn looks twisted up in a hank and wound out into a cake.....Here is Xray both ways...what a difference.

Again on the lines of being on a sock kick...Stacie from MustStash, had some preorder for her Martian Rainbow...I could not resist....and I am glad I did not resist...I love this yarn!

Vanesa's Vintage Rose Loves shop finally reopened after the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival....so I stocked up.....I love all her markers!  I got lots of lobster claw ones this time.

I also got in my Hostess prize from Hiya Hiya for hostessing the Waves Scarf KAL....Thank you Qianer and Hiya Hiya....I now have both the small and large interchangeable sets with my name lasered on the needles!!  LOVE THESE!

My last stash enhancement(s) from the last couple of weeks are Bags from Bags by AwesomeGrannie.....she is my best friend and I am super proud of her for getting her shop opened...I had to snag a couple of bags just for me.......I got a cute critter sock sack:

Matching Critter bag set...I love the paw prints inside:

Camp Loopy in White:

Market Days:

And one of my favorites (that I cannot believe has not sold out).....the Circus!!!!!

I know, I know....I am a Bag Ho!!!  But can one really ever have enough bags?

Well, I am sure this post has been far too long for you....sorry about that, but it is mostly pictures.  I hope everyone saw my free sock pattern I posted a few days ago here....may by catch my sock kick bug.

Happy Happy Happy Knitting!

And we have a contract!!!!!

I am so excited that there is a contract on my house for sale.  I was very excited that it only took a little over 2 weeks.....every month I have to make that mortgage payment, I cringe!  I hope posting it here (and I already posted on FB) does not jinx me!

What has everyone been up to?  I have been plugging away on 3 main things....and they are all KAL's.  There is my Hiya Hiya Waves Scarf KAL.....my Hiya Hiya Diamondoid Socks KAL....and the HyperCrazy KAL for the San Antonio SNB.

We had a tiny party for the Ravellenics at SNB this past weekend.  I made out like a bandit....but I did all of the number generations in front of ppl so they could see it was not rigged......however, there was an awkward moment....before the party started, Shannon was admiring some gradient lace yarn....and I said how pretty it was and now if I could only rig it to where I win it.....then, when my number comes up on the random number generator.....Shannon was like "Weren't you just saying you were going to rig it where you won that?"  Suspicious awkward moment!  I left feeling a little guilty (like ppl really thought I did rig it somehow) but I know I did not and hey.....I have always said in the past that I never win anything....this time all the luck changed and I won a lot....maybe next year someone else will want to take over....I can only wish!

So, we had 9 categories....Cross Cowling, Short Track Shawls, Sock Hockey, WIP's dancing, cable cross country, Junior/Modular Relay, Lace Luge, Single Skein Speed Skate and Stash Skeleton.  Here are the winners names along with a picture of the prizes:

1.  Cross Cowling - Winner is Sara, SerineKat on Ravelry

2.  Short Track Shawls - Winner is Danna, danna217 on Ravelry

3. Sock Hockey - Winner is Steph from MustStash Podcast, SupaSteph on Ravelry

4.  WIP's Dancing - I won, knitphomaniac13 on Ravelry

5.  Cable Cross Country - I won by default, I was the only entrant, knitphomaniac13 on Ravelry

6.  Junior/Modular Relay - Winner is Erin, ceres18 on Ravelry (there are 5 skeins, 3 more in the bag)

7.  Lace Luge - I won, knitphomaniac13 on Ravelry

8. Single Skein Speed Skate - Winner is Steph from MustStash Podcast, SupaSteph on Ravelry

9. Stash Skeleton - I won, knitphomaniac13 on Ravelry

It was tons of fun!  I also want to Thank all the Raveletes, and also a big Thank You to Yarn Barn of SA, Yarnivore, and Inskein Yarns for all their awesome donations!!!!!

I have a couple of stash enhancements...back in February I signed up for the Expression Fiber Arts Insider's yarn Club for March...the yarn was going to be a mystery and based off of one of three possible pictures, there was a gorgeous orange in one of them so I ordered and crossed my fingers....well, I got a BRIGHT b pink and blueish/turquoise and purplish color...I am not sure about this yarn...it is super soft but possibly too bright for me.  It may be a KAL prize for SNB in the future...I'm just not sure.....

My birthday was a couple of weeks ago and a friend of mine got me a gift card to Miss Babs.....so I ordered some Yummy Yarn in Shining City colorway and two small skeins of the Lip Gloss colorway for socks.  I do love Miss Babs Yarn....the first packages of her arm chair tour should be mailing this week.  My bags are packed and I cannot wait to find out where we are going!

I have a couple more stash enhancements.....when I went to Inskein Yarns this past Friday night to pick up their donations...LeiLani from Heavenly Fibers was there....and on the floor was the most perfect colored yarn....I was drooling....turns out she dyed this yarn just for me.....Can you say, "I love you"?  Well, I love LeiLani....thank you so much.  I bought two skeins of the "Hook 'em" colorway, in a gradient!

Now the next enhancement is not really 'stash'.  You have all heard me talk about Darlene....well, she loves stitch markers from Vanessa, owner of Vintage Rose on Etsy...She told me Vanessa was going to start selling necklaces with a large lobster claw that we can use as lanyards (I have to wear my badge around work all day).  I special ordered one with two balls of yarn and no leaf charm and it came in....I love it! Thank you Vanessa for such great items!

Lastly, a friend of mine from SNB had this cute little tin with hand cream in it that she got from a yarn store in Florida.  I loved it so I started looking for it online....she said it was like $24.90 or $24.95 for this tiny tin...well, I found some for $2.49 so I assumed it was a little sample size...so I ordered a few, then my friend was ordering more so I asked her to order me a few more....they came in and they are FULL SIZE....for $2.49.   I really love them and now I have at least one for each project bag....Thank you Carol for turning me on to these awesome hand creams that smell like beautiful jasmine!

Now I have a tip for you.....how many of you out there use lifelines?  I admit I a not that good about using them and I usually regret it later...but you have to go find some thin yarn or thread somewhere and it is never handy and well, too much of a hassle....till now!  My friends Suzi and Evelyn came up with these cute crochet thread holders....you can put the little ziplock baggie in your notions bag and always have an array of colors to use as a lifeline, or pop one of the small individual ones into a project bag and go....now you will never be without yarn/thread for a lifeline!  Lifelines are like umbrellas, you will only need them when you don't have one.

Well, that is all I have.....I am not off to find my ruby red slippers, and tap them three times with my eyes closed........

Happy Happy Happy Knitting!