crazy payoff!

I watch a lot of podcasts these days and one of my new favorites is The Fat Squirrel Speaks. If you're up for some fibery fun, you should definitely go check her out. She's hilarious! Really. Go! I'll be here when you get back... =)

Over the holiday season, Amy Beth (of the above podcast) had a contest in her group on Ravelry for everyone to post their crazy. Mine? Knitting way too many things for Christmas! She did the drawing and guess what? I won an ebook! Such cute patterns too. This is the ebook I won:

I think that hat on the right will be the first one I try. Love it!

I also was gifted a pattern from a friend for my birthday! Aren't I the lucky girl?! I've seen this shawl (Piper's Journey) on a few podcasts and love it. I'd planned to buy the pattern when I was ready to start it so had it in my queue. =) Isn't it pretty?

I've seen this done in two colors and love the effect! The garter will be nice and relaxing and that lace edging is just enough detail to keep it interesting. This might end up being the year of the shawl for me. =)

Speaking if shawls, I've started on the shawl I'm testknitting but all this overtime at work is killing any knitting progress! It's just far enough along to start showing the pattern well when stretched out, but it's still so tiny!

It's difficult to stretch it out and take a photo. I promise a good shot when it's completed and blocked. =)

I did finish the hat I posted last week:

Not a great pic, but it was dark already when I finished it up on New Year's Eve and had to take a shot to post for the KAL. =)
(project details on Ravelry)

Want a peek at some of what I plan to use use up this year?

The fingering weight yarn on top is what I'm using for the current shawl. The oatmeal color yarn underneath is destined to become a sweater, though I don't yet know which pattern. The cream wool on the left will become a sheep hat:

Isn't that adorable?? I plan to dye some of the skein green for the grassy part. No new yarns, remember? =) I also have a bag of baby-appropriate yarns:

Mostly cotton and cotton blends with just a two small skeins of acrylic.

And I just had to share my little goofball:

Reilly's a good distraction from all the paid work! =)

rollin' right along

The dice are loving me. I've rolled for six books for the summer reading program at my library and gotten THREE books on CD so far. Makes up for my slightly late start, though now I'm way ahead of the game.  Today, I had to choose a romance on CD. The one I'd seen a few days ago while looking for a humor CD has been checked out in the meantime and not finding something else that looked all that interesting, I chose something fairly short at only 5 hrs (The Rocky Road to Romance). Who knows, maybe it'll be great! Then I headed upstairs to choose a humorous non-fiction book. I pulled half a dozen books off the shelf for this choice, read the first few pages, then picked one that looked promising (Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog). Dogs are easier to train, after all... heh

After that first book on CD and being stuck in my bedroom where my computer is (the only option for playing a CD other than sitting in my car), now I'm importing them into iTunes and listening on my iPad. =) While listening to Charmed Thirds, I kept thinking the reader's voice sounded familiar. I finally pulled the case back out and discovered the reader was an actress from a tv show I watched as a kid in the 80s. How funny.

a roll of the dice

My local library is hosting an adult summer reading program. Patrons roll a pair of colored dice - one die determines the type of book (fiction, non-fiction, book on tape/cd) and the second determines the genre (fantasy, suspense, comedy, western, romance, reader's choice). My first roll, I got non-fiction/suspense. They decided crime worked into that category since only 4 books came up in the catalog with the original parameters. I chose Transcending (link below).

Though I'm not loving their choice of genres, it will be a great way to get people reading books outside of their norm and it's been fun trying to find a book I'm interested in reading that falls within the set parameters when the specified genre isn't one I'd normally choose on my own. I know I've chosen three books so far that I probably wouldn't have read otherwise. My rolls have produced two books and a book on tape/CD so far. One down, two in progress, seven to go... by July 29th.

Spring has Sprung!

Finally!

And with inspiration from the beautiful colors of Spring popping up all over, I'm also finding inspiration in the form of new patterns. I've been hearing commercials for Tuesday Morning for years, but had never ventured into one... until a couple weeks ago. A little disappointed upon entering and discovering what appeared to be closer to a thrift store than other discount shops I've been in, I decided I'd power through and see what was hiding in the depths of those aisles (having heard of great, yarny deals). Though I did find some nicely priced, name-brand yarn (mostly organic cottons), nothing called to me strongly enough to make it into my basket (lord knows, I don't need any more cotton, even pretty organic skeins). I did discover a pile - yes, a PILE - of craft books. I think at one time, the pile might have had some sort of order, but when I happened across it, it almost appeared someone had up-ended a couple boxes of books onto a shelf and hoped for the best. Spotting a few yarny titles, I dug...

They ranged from 60-75% off the cover price. Not bad! I picked up The Happy Hooker while in Portland (with a 50% off coupon, of course), but the others were all finds at Tuesday Morning. =) There are some really nice summery patterns in Louisa Harding's Summer Classics. Sweater Renewal has some great ideas for those thrift store finds that haven't had the most gentle care. This skirt is made with the body of a felted fairisle sweater with an added crochet waistband and hem. Funky, but I'm kinda loving it!

Hollywood Knit Style has a few cute patterns, though I'd never have purchased it anywhere near full price. The crochet references (150 Crochet Trims, Textured Crochet) will undoubtedly come in handy as I continue to build my crochet skills. Maybe pulling these out will be the motivation I need to get going on projects again... or maybe I'll go take in some more of those Spring colors!

What's this?!

Not one...

not two...

but THREE finished objects today???

Yep! I now only have TWO UFOs! And one of those only needs a strap added (all crocheting finished) once I manage to actually find one. The other is a crochet blanket started earlier this year that I really need to start working on again. Been awhile since I didn't have any UFOs from previous years lurking around. heh

**The pics all link to the project pages on Ravelry if you're interested in details. =)