Swaps are THE best!

I've decided. Swapping is truly THE best way to acquire new yarn! The first time I traded someone on Ravelry, I traded yarn for yarn. I had something she wanted (that I was willing to part with) and got to go browse her yarn for something I wanted. What could be more fun?! I think we were both very happy with the outcome. =)

This time, I've been sorting through some things, packing up some boxes in anticipation of my Spring move and got to my knitting mags. I caved awhile back (good sale!) and bought the Interweave Knits CD of mags for a couple of years, meaning I now had physical copies as well as digital ones of a few issues. CDs weigh less than mags, so I put them up on the IK forum on ravelry and offered them for sale plus shipping... or possibly a trade for yarn. heh Hey, yarn is light and makes great padding when moving! Yeah, yeah, I'm justifying. lol Well, I had a taker! She wanted three of the issues in trade for yarn and was curious what I'd be interested in. I'm trying to make my away from animal fibers so am trying to not purchase/acquire any more for my stash and told her so. She offered a list and I said,whatever you think is fair. Friends, this is what I got in the mail today:

Why yes, I am a happy girl. =) You can't really tell in this photo, but that dark skein is a beautiful shade of blackberry! There's also honey dew, sea foam and cashew in the Knit Picks Comfy (cotton, acrylic) and pale blue in the Berroco Comfort DK (nylon, acrylic). I'm especially excited about the KP since it's not something I've had my hands on before. That blue Comfort will be perfect for the next baby boy that comes around too!

Kiddos did their trick-or-treating the night before Halloween since it fell on a Sunday this year. So on Halloween, I headed to the closest decent pet store (45 miles away), in search of a better food for Reilly. Along with the food, I also found a new dish... with speed bumps! 

Works like a charm! He now can't completely inhale his food in 5 seconds flat. =) The first time, the dish threw him off a bit (and he looked a little frustrated) but he's definitely sped up since then. lol Not much gets between this guy and his food!

The kitties also got something.

Saying Xander likes running water... is like saying Reilly likes food. heh This cat literally begs for me to turn the bathroom sink faucet on. I hate doing it, it wastes so much water, but he doesn't drink much otherwise. It took a couple days to convince him the faucet's not coming on for him anymore (and he still tries to convince me), but now the kitties seem happy with it. After I move, it'll be in a more central spot and hopefully the dogs will use it too. I had to laugh that my critters get filtered water, but I don't. haha

 I also went to Jo-Ann Fabric, not really looking for anything, just hoping maybe one of the awesome Wilton holiday pans would be on clearance. Look what I did find on clearance though! 

 Awesome. My sister is totally into skeletons and bats so I'm planning to use one of these for a liner to a felted purse for her. Might just have to use a little for something for me. Those dancing skeletons are just too cute! And the bats... adorable. =)