It's my birthday, SP10 style!

I got an e-mail from my secret pal last weekend, wishing me a happy birthday (it was on June 3) and letting me know that a package was on its way. I must admit, I was getting a bit worried when it still hadn't come by the end of last week. But, no worries anymore! That package just had an awfully long way to go -- check out that postmark!

A goofy aside about the package... I got home from work and checked the mail about 5:30 p.m. Monday night. No package. My husband and I were going grocery shopping and I thought I had forgotten to lock the front door. When I went to check, there was this package sitting there. Who delivers packages after 5:30 p.m., without knocking on the door? My suggestion -- the postman we saw driving in our neighborhood on Sunday. Apparently there's a good samaritan mailman in town. Thanks, whoever you are!

I couldn't wait to see what was inside, and I started opening it (leaving my husband waiting out in the backyard). Oops. He came to the door pretty quick, though, and watched me finish opening.

Here's what I found:

Fruit jelly candies, some chocolate and an adorable notebook that says "Mon chouchou" on the front and "Quelque chose de bon peut m'arriver" on each inside page. Mon chouchou was always my favorite of the French pet names -- chou is cabbage -- though I suppose the American pumpkin doesn't make much more sense. The inside phrase means (roughly) "something good will come to me."

Missing from the picture are sticky notes that say "A note from a groovy chick." Those are so coming to work with me.

Also:

Chopsticks! These are way nicer than the wood ones that come with take-out Chinese! I'll bring them to use on sushi days with my friend Sarah. I also love the cute red case to put them in. It's got bunnies on it, which is hard to see through the plastic package.

And finally:


Yarn! It's way more blue than this picture shows. This is, I think, the softest bamboo yarn I've ever seen. I touch it often, but never buy for some reason. This shall become a baby something. I just don't know what yet! The color would work great for a boy or a girl!

Thanks, secret pal!

(p.s. I had a dream about the chopsticks last night. It was very odd. There were tiny candles inside them. That's all I remember.)

And in a side note, I've decided to try plowing ahead with the Mommy Snug. I'm committing myself to a minimum of four rows a day. I had 12 done, realized my gauge was totally wonky, so I frogged it back, and now have eight. But it looks closer to the right size.

Pics, progress, news!

First, a big apology to my secret pal -- It's taken forever for me to get these pictures up, but you'll see I've been busy.

Here's the wonderful package that was waiting for me after our trip to Florida. The outside was sealed with the cutest tape -- it had red, winged balls of yarn printed on it. Inside was this adorable sheep postcard and three skeins of Candy Apple Cotton Fleece. It's super soft, and lots of fun to knit.


This picture is closer to the actual color of the yarn, and shows just why I know the yarn is fun to knit. I've been busy with it. This is the Ballet Tee from Loop D Loop. It's my first adult-size garment, and it's been going really well. It's knit on US 15 needles, and goes fast.

I worked on it all weekend, while I watched movies on TV. My husband had to work, so I was left home alone with the new cable and my yarn. No complaints here! I've been exhausted, so it was nice to have a few days to be lazy and relax. Since I was knitting, I still felt productive.

I watched The Hunt for Red October on Saturday and Spiderman 2 on Sunday - and knit the whole time. I'm about half done with it. I'm making the larger of the two sizes, and hoping I didn't make a mistake in that.

The smaller size is for people who wear a US 2-8 dress size, and the larger size for those who wear a 10-14. I typically wear an 8, but I didn't really like the idea of wearing something that's on the top end of a small size.

I'm also ready to share some news -- I found out a few months ago that I'm pregnant! Hence the utter exhaustion. And, another reason I'm erring on the large size for the Ballet Tee. It's just starting to get warm out, and I'll have a bit of a baby bump by the time I can really start wearing it. I figured a bit of extra room couldn't hurt.

The pregnancy's also the reason I needed the 19 skeins of the Classic Elite. I'm going to try making the Mommy Snug in time to actually wear it when I'm gigantic this fall. Here's the sweater...



And here's my swatch. My gauge is a bit big, so I have some math to do before I actually start knitting. I think if I knit the smallest size, it'll still fit about right, given that I'm getting bigger stitches.


And just to show that I wasn't the laziest being in my house this weekend, I give you Cairo, the wonder cat. I came home from brunch on Sunday to find this:


Sorry about the wonky color. It's really hard to photograph a black cat who's hiding under the covers. Isn't she silly?

Pictures soon... I promise!

I got my first bit of goodies from my Secret Pal last week. They were in a lovely box on my dining room table when we returned from a week in Florida with my grandfather. It's some gorgeous Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Candy Apple.

What with vacation, then coming back to a super-crazy day at work today (Don't ask. You don't want to know. I just wish people would leave their stinking guns at home. Gah.) there's still no photos. This stuff is too pretty for me to take a cell phone pic, so I'm waiting until I've got a husband to bug about batteries and memory cards and what not.

But I'm so excited about the yarn, and about knitting something with it... I've got two ideas. The lovely (and quick!) Ballet T from Loop D Loop and some baby thing. Maybe the Baby Surprise jacket? Maybe the Garter Stitch Sweater and a matching hat? Or hat, booties and thumbless mittens on a string? Or, something to be determined once I've actually made the first thing and seen how much yarn is left?

Oh well.

Thanks, Secret Pal! I love it very much!

Yarn came! SP Package on the way!

The yarn for my sweater came the other day, but I haven't had time to take pictures and get them up yet. Hopefully this afternoon...

And I got an e-mail from my secret pal this morning -- my first package has shipped! I can't wait!

What's going on... What's next

My questionnaire should still be pretty easy to find below.

I'm still working on the thrummed mittens (also see below). The first one's done, and I'm about to start making the hole for the future thumb gusset. It's been in the 50s lately, so my desire to knit mittens is waning. I really want to finish them, though.

I'm also working on a couple projects for my secret pal... They involve I-cords, garter stitch, beads, sparkles, grafting and a tiny bit of sewing. Whew. No pics, or more details, though. In the event that my secret spoilee finds my blog in compulsive clicking on the participants page, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise.

You all have to wait, too. ;-p

There's another project brewing... A sweater, but not Rogue. That yarn's getting another long rest.

And, just like that, it's secret pal land!

I'm super excited! I managed to successfully sign up for the 10th Secret Pal Exchange. I got my giftee and sent her an e-mail, to which she has responded, quite kindly. I also received my first e-mail from my gifter. She said we have things in common. Hmmmm. Besides knitting? What fun! Two new buddies, in one day!

My gifter asked me a few questions. I dashed off a pretty quick, instant response by e-mail but wanted to elaborate here, just for fun.

1. Laces or cables. I said cables. I've got a sweater I'm trying to get going on (I had to rip it all out because my guage was so off that I think I could have work the FO when I was nine months pregnant) that has these lovely cables, and I so want to make it. However, there's also some lace patterns I've been oohing over since I got my first pattern book. It's also freezing in Wisconsin, so I want warmth. Who ever heard of warm lace? It's got all those holes in it.

2. Fingering, DK or worsted? Worsted. I've never had much cause to use fingering. That whole not-knitting-lace thing. I've got one pattern that calls for LOTS of cotton DK, doubled, but haven't actually bought the yarn yet. It's a ballet-style T-shirt thing from loop d loop. Since it's been 50 degreees here I'm getting excited about knitting that kind of thing.

3. Hard candy or gummies? Gummies. Not too fond of hard candies. They're usually too tart for me and make my teeth and eyes hurt. Weird, I know. I do like Lifesavers, though, and I like tart gummies. I hate Jolly Ranchers. Blech.

4. Which is more exotic/interesting: Japanese, Chinese or Indian. This one's tough. I'm fascinated by all three cultures, really. Japan and India are high on my list of dream vacations, and I studied China a bit in college. When it comes to food, Japanese and Indian beat out Chinese, unless I were to be able to get back to that crazy good place in Boston's Chinatown.

5. Facials/home spas? Not so much. Lotions, yes. Bath stuff, yes. I'd use stuff if I had it, but I'm not often driven to buy it for myself when I'm out shopping. I've got some clay mask stuff I use every few months or so. I got my husband to do that with me once. THAT was fun. I'd do that again.

In other knitting news, I've started the second thrummed mitten. It'll be done just in time for us to have cleared all possibility of real snow for the year. I need to learn to time these projects better. You know, start the tank top in March so it's done by June and start the mittens and scarves in September so they're done by Christmas.

My Rogue is now a big ball of red yarn. I need to rethink my guage. I'll try size 7 needles next, but if they're too small I'm going to have to go out and buy really long 7.5 circs. No half size needles in my interchangeable set. Boo.

And, Buddha's Birthday is coming up soon. Got to figure out gifts for all my dharma buds!

23 tidbits

In the secret pal 10 spirit, here's my questionnaire:

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I really like natural fibers. I'm partial to wool and alpaca, but I always ooh over the soft plant fibers, too.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Plastic bags for most of them. My set of interchangeable bamboo circs has its own case, though.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting about a year. I learned the basics off a Web site and got lots of encouragement from a knitter friend. We knit backstage during performances! Oh, the offstage excitement for an actor! I consider myself an intermediate knitter.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Nope.

5. What's your favorite scent?
I love the smell of fresh-baked goods, coffee, lavender, and the aroma of a sun-warmed garden in full bloom.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Yep! I love chocolates, the darker the better, and especially mixed with surprising ingredients. Cinnamon and chili powder in your hot cocoa, anyone?

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I make beaded jewelry and dabble in glass mosaic. I don't spin.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like all kinds. Really. I know lots of people say that, then go on to say something like "except country and rap and anything with a guitar, but other than that, anything's fine." I mean it. I listen to bluegrass and blues, jazz, pop, world music, rap, oldies, singer-songwriter stuff. My favorites are the songs that paint word pictures and tell stories. I love Tom Waits, Woody Guthrie, Erin McKeown, Edgar Meyer, Ella Fitzgerald, Soul Coughing and They Might Be Giants.
MP3s are AOK.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I really like reds and browns. Gray's not my favorite.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I am married, with two cats, and hoping for children soon.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes, yes, yes and only because I don't have one. No, wait. I've got that blue and black fleece one. Where the heck did that end up? Now I must tear apart the closet to find it.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I haven't been knitting all that long... among my favorite projects are the hat with cat ears (slightly lopsided -- it was my very first non-scarf project) and the baby sweater I made for Ami.

13. What are you knitting right now?
I've got my first sweater on the needles and am rolling thrums for a pair of thrummed mittens. It's super cold here now. Highs in the single digits. I need warmth for my hands! But by the time they get done it'll probably be too warm to wear them. Darn seasons!

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
I do.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Circular, bamboo.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yep! Christmas gifts from my in-laws.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
Um... two weeks? Like I said... I haven't been knitting that long. Though in the essence of full disclosure, I've got yarn that I bought for a summery knit purse that I started knitting, but realized I was doing it all wrong, so I just stopped, but haven't ripped it out yet because I didn't need the needles.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Buddha's Birthday. I feel very connected to all my loved ones at that time, particularly my grandmother, and it is a time of great hope and joy for me.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Books, but that's only because I can't bear to get rid of the ones I love.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I subscribe to Interweave Knits, which I love. I'm still new enough to knitting that I'm not coveting any patterns yet, but I would love to have an illustrated stitch/technique dictionary.
Googling knitting techniques works, but it's not always the most efficient way to get help in a pinch.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I'm really intrigued by steeking and fair isle.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I have some sock yarn, and I'd love to knit socks, but I haven't had the time to figure them out yet. I wear an 8 1/2 shoe... don't know if that helps.

23. When is your birthday?
June 3.