Final Package!

So, I got this on...Monday? Or Tuesday? I can't remember, but I really was super stoked about it!

Its the final package from my Ravelry Swap! My Spoiler, who I found out was Rows Red (go read her blog!) really knows how to make a girl feel special :) She themed this package after my favorite color, yellow :)

I got 3 super sweet hand knit wash cloths that are already being put to good use, yarn and the pattern to make more (!) which came in a super awesome knitting bag that definitely ensures that nothing will slip out along with some wonderful smelling candles and great star shaped sticky notes which are also being put to good use already.

She informed me that she had the bag specially made for me by Etsy Seller Babylove Designs so if you are a knitter or know a knitter its a wonderful gift idea! *hint hint*

Thank you so so much miss RowsRed, you did a phenomenal job and its spoilers like you that make me want to keep doing this (not to mention all the great spoilees!) .

So stay tuned for the next swap I join to see all the other cool stuff I get hehe.

Oh, and as a side note: Its snowing in Socorro. And its sticking. :)

Second Package!

My spoiler is on top of things! I received my second package yesterday and it was chock-full of all kinds of amazing goodies!

I got an amazing dark chocolate bar that is simply divine and a more quirky candy necklace making kit (the only reason the candy even made it to the photo was because I forced myself to wait until I got home to open the package when I had my camera in my hands to keep them from snarfing down the goodies)

I also got a darling little sheep figurine I have named Beverly who now resides by my window with my plants and internet life-source.

The most amazing part of the package were too HUGE skeins of wool from a farm near my spoiler. She says that "they raise some beautiful sheep and have the wool spun into a rustic yarn (all locally)". I am not quite sure what I will make with these yet, they are a wee bit too scratchy for next-to-skin wear, but perhaps an outer wear style jacket? Or maybe a felted bag? Or a lap blanket? Oh so many options!

Thank you so so SO incredibly much spoiler, the package came on a hectic day after a stressful week (they're all getting to be hectic and stressful now aren't they?) and I absolutely love everything about it!

Ravelry Swap Package!

My package arrived at the end of a very long and trying week.

On Wednesday Bowser lost her long battle with Parvo. Matt and I have been devastated. We are so happy that Lisa has not gotten sick, if she stays healthy for another week the vet said it was unlikely that she will get parvo. I can't talk about it too much, so I will end this note here.

The moment I opened the package I smelled the most beautiful scent of autumn. Sadly, the candle jar had been broken in transit, but the candle will still be burnable on a plate or something :) I also received some gorgeous fall note cards and a large bag of candy. The best part about the entire package though, was the roving! A 50/50 cormo/kid mohair blend in a color called Squash from a solar powered farm and mill! How cool is that? I can't wait to start spinning this stuff up :D Thank you so much swap partner, you did a phenomenal job! (Better pictures to come, I promise)

Tomorrow Matt and I are heading up to Albuquerque to meet my parents for the Balloon Fiesta, I will take loads of pictures and show you all next week :) Have a great weekend!

Birthday Sweater!

My momma had a birthday recently and as her gift, I decided to knit her this sweater:

I really love the yarn, it was very fun to work with, was very soft and defined the stitches perfectly, actually, I critiqued the yarn here. The pattern was found on Ravelry and can be accessed with this link.

Now my for-myself project is one for me in turquoise :)

Tuesday Learn Something New Day - How to put your projects on Ravelry!

Oh the great wide world of Ravelry. You’ve gotten accepted, made your account and tried to learn how to use it by clicking various tabs and drooling over all the amazing projects you adding to your mental list of things to do.

But how do you show the Ravelry world your finished projects when they finally come to life? This can be a confusing aspect of the site and I’ve written this tutorial to help guide you through the process

First things first, click on the “my notebook” tab in the upper left hand corner

This should take you directly to your “projects” page. Once here click on the button that says “Add Project”

On this page fill out the title of your project, whether it is knitting, crochet, weaving or something else and where you found it (for this project, like many of my others, I choose the last bubble because I make the patterns myself). After this is filled out, click the button that says “Continue”

You will come to the Project Details page. Again, fill out as many of the blank spaces as you can, who you made it for, what size needles you used, what yarn you used and don’t forget that information in the little blue square in the upper right corner, saying that the project is complete and how much you enjoyed it :) Before continuing, don’t forget to hit “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page or you will lose all your hard work!

After saving, click on the button that says “edit photos”

From here you can choose how to upload your photos. Are they on flickr already? Photobucket? Etsy or somewhere else on the web? Or still on your computer? In this case, I used the photos on my computer.

Find the picture you want and click “upload”

After you have uploaded all the pictures you want, go ahead and click the button circled in blue “details” to go back to the previous page. If you are part of a group, add the project to the group so everyone can see it!

Now go ahead and add all those projects you have completed and show off your talent! If you'd like to be friends or see what all I have made that I haven't posted right here on my blog, you find me here. I really should update my projects too...they're not all up there yet...well, now you know what I'll be doing the rest of the evening ;)

Another Swap! Swap Q&A

Ok, here we go again! I so loved the swap I took part in last time that I have been scouring the Ravelry Swap Section ever since waiting for a similar swap to come about. And just the other day I saw that the very same moderators had decided to throw another one! Same deal, three months, three packages, one super secret swappee and one super secret swapper. This is going to be fun!

Anyways, here are the answers to the Swap Questionnaire:

Do you knit or crochet, or both? How long have you been at the craft?

I can do both but I prefer knitting, I crochet typically only for embellishments and such. I have been knitting since I was about 9 or 10, so about 10ish years.

Do you spin?

I do spin, I have a drop spindle right now and plan on getting a wheel when I a) have more moolah and b) am more permanently established somewhere.

What yarns/fibers are your favorites?

I don't think I have a favorite, I try and use a little bit of everything so that I can try as many different varieties of fiber as I can.

What yarns/fibers do you not like?

I'm not a huge fan of chenille...but that's about it.

What yarns/fibers would you like to try but haven’t?

I haven't yet gotten to try many luxury fibers (cashmere, etc) or vegetable and plant fibers, I'd like to try some of those if given the chance.

What are your favorite colors? Colors that you don’t like?

Yellow is my ultimate favorite color and while I love all the colors of the rainbow, I tend to stay away from pink.

What are your favorite types of projects to knit/crochet?

Again, don't really have a favorite, I do a little bit of everything; hats, scarves, sweaters, pullovers, cardigans, booties, slippers, socks, bags, the list goes on.

What are you currently working on?

Right this very moment? I am knitting up a Tee and writing the pattern for it. I also have Cabled by Hinke on needles and am always knitting up various beanies.

What is your favorite FO? (Please post a picture if you have one.)

Again with these favorites, I don't really have any! I am quite proud of this beanie I made for my honey though, and he wears it all the time which means he likes it :)

Are there any techniques that you want to learn?

I'm always up for learning new stitches and techniques. I've tried to learn how to double-knit and for whatever reason it hasn't clicked yet, but I'm working on it.

Do you have a yarn winder and/or swift?

I don't have either, sadly. As with the spinning wheel though, these will have to wait till I have more moolah and a permanent establishment.

How do you store your needles/hooks?

I store my straight needles in a needle case from lenabrowndesigns and my circular needles are currently well organized (sarcasm) in one large plastic ziplock bag.

Do you collect anything?

Not "officially" but I do have a rather large amount of elephant paraphernalia and my tea cabinet is always overflowing.

Do you like sweets?

Sweets are quite possibly my lifeblood. I have one tooth in my mouth and it is definitely a sweet tooth (ok, ok, so I have more, but my sweet tooth is the biggest one).

What are your favorite scents?

I burn a lot of incense and its mostly sandalwood, patchouli and similar scents.

Are you having a birthday during this swap?

That depends on when this swap "technically" starts. My birthday is in early September.

Do you have any online wish lists? (Amazon, Loopy Ewe, etc.) Please include a link for your pal.

I have a Wist you're welcome to visit but I surely need to update it some. Other than that, my favorites on my Etsy profile I suppose

What is your living situation (Are you married? Do you have kids, pets, or both?)

I currently live in a itty bitty apartment with my boyfriend, Matt, my hamster, Delilah, and a homeless cat, Punumbra.

Are you allergic to anything?

Not allergic to anything as far as I know.

Is there anything else that you would like your pal to know?

Umm...I'm a Junior at New Mexico Tech, majoring in Management? Is that important?

Better Late Than Never...

So I know everyone else has already posted about their Easter festivities and what not, but better late than never right?

Well I didn't really have any big plans for this Easter. Actually, the only plans I had were to complete a whole bunch of homework assignments and work some, try and get some things knitted up for the show, nothing exciting. When my friend Matt heard that I hadn't gotten an Easter basket or even candy in any remote sense (except from the wonderful EllaLuna, my Ravelry Swap Partner) he took it upon himself to make sure that I got one. He put the whole thing together himself, didn't even buy one of those store assembled ones. I got some delicious Starburst jelly beans, peanut butter and chocolate eggs, a chocolate bunny and a super soft stuffed puppy I have named Persephone :)

Also, we decided to make tortillas from scratch! It was pretty fun, a new experience for me and they turned out so wonderfully tasty :D

3rd Ravelry Swap Package!

So I got my 3rd Ravelry Swap Package yesterday and I can't even express exactly how excited I was! Everything in it was totally and completely awesome, very well though out, it certainly shows the care my spoiler, EllaLuna, went to in picking out the exact right stuff to include.

Along with gobs and gobs of Easter candy, she sent me a dyeing package! I received 6 different Jacquard dyes along with Knit Picks Bare wool, a skein of 100% alpaca, a skein of a cotton/bamboo blend, and a large amount of Tussah Silk Roving! She clearly took the time to check my Etsy Favorites and found stickchick there where she got the above skeins :) I also opened one of the Easter eggs to find reflective stickers to put on my bike which she read about here, in my blog, how cool is that?

As everything was festively wrapped in Easter colors and paraphanalia, my spoiler even put in some Easter Egg dyes! My friends Zita and Matt and I are definitely going to enjoy playing with those and the dozen eggs I just picked up at the store ;)

EllaLuna totally went above and beyond my wildest expectations for this swap. I will definitely be doing another swap just as soon as I can!

Ravelry Swap Package #2!!

So, evidently, my package arrived at my box on Friday but I wasn’t able to pick it up till today on my way to work so it sat there, on my desk, taunting me for my entire shift. The moment I got home I tore into it (gently, of course) and couldn’t keep the smile from my face! Absolutely every little (and big!) thing in the box was so amazing J

My spoiler is so generous and thoughtful and absolutely remarkable. She even sent treats for Delilah!

I received incense (burning right now, so utterly wonderful) in a scent that I did not have that was wrapped in this really pretty yellow runner with white and black designs on it (which will most likely become my table runner for my trunk which is masquerading as a coffee table. I received 4 different types of tea which all look so divine, a tea infuser (which I didn’t have), the coolest, most awesome, marvelous white elephant tea pot (I don’t even know if I want to use it or just stare at it!) in which was hidden a pack of chocolate and a super adorable llama keychain (which I think I will hang from my rearview mirror), some really delicious looking raspberry jam, ginger jam and clotted cream (will definitely be trying on toast tomorrow morning), a packet of Stride gum, and four (repeat: 4) skeins of Berroco Pure Prima cotton that she sent so I could start working on the Lelah top for myself (a project for me? That I will get to keep? Wow!) and don’t forget the breakup CD she sent when she heard of my recent breakup (I am recovering just fine, by the way).

To my Spoiler: Thank you so much, if you were here now (or anytime in the future) I would most definitely give you a very big hug and smooch for your generosity and thoughtfulness.

Ravelry Swap Box!

So today I got my box! It was a great way to end an otherwise crummy week, everything in the box made me smile and my day has totally turned around my entire mood!My box was filled with absolutely wonderful things, and one thing wasn't exactly in the box, but came around the same time.

I received two gorgeous balls of Plymouth's Baby Alpaca in a wonderful red color, two sachets that smell divine (and are already being put to use!), a Valentine's Cookie Mix (which I will make for my special Valentine), a wonderful bar of delicious looking chocolate, a mixed CD with music to motivate me to save money for California, a personal recipe from my swap partner for her favorite sugar cookies (oh how I love cooking and baking and new recipes to try out!), an A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E canvas bag that I have already used for groceries, and a handwritten card from my spoiler!

I know you are all jealous and probably want to come raid my place right now to steal all my amazing things, but be warned, my very vicious attack Panda will get you! (ok so he's not vicious, but he still may jump on you and try to maul you with kisses).

Oh, and by the way, I have new items coming soon to my shop, a wonderful extra long, extra wide multi colored scarf, a rasta beanie (rasta colors, slouchy enough to hold your dreds) and a Lemon-Meringue-esque beanie that I almost don't want to sell, so stay tuned!

Warm Ewe Up Winter Swap - Biweekly Blog Question #3

So the third biweekly blog question for my Ravelry Swap Group is this:

What is your favorite way to keep warm when it’s snowing outside? (And if you live in a warm weather climate, what would you do to stay warm and cozy while it’s snowing?)

I rather enjoy plopping myself on the couch with my beau and the dog on our feet (literally, he has to sit directly underneath us to be comfortable, what a weird-o) each of us with a warm beverage, tea, hot chocolate made healthfully from scratch, coffee, and putting in an entertaining movie. I should also like to have knitting on hand for when I finish said beverage and need to keep my hands busy.

Granted, I do enjoy the snow, and snowboarding all day in it and coming home to the above would be most ideal :)

Ravelry Swap Question 2

Here is the second biweekly question for my Ravelry Swap Group

Question #2

If you could only knit or crochet with one brand of yarn for the rest of the year, what would it be and why?

Only one brand? Oh gosh…..there are so many! Maybe just maybe Lamb’s Pride because there are SO MANY colors, its wool, I can felt it up, or just knit it into something, its kind of fuzzy but not overly so, its initially rough but gets softer with use, seems just about perfect for having to knit with only one brand forever. Granted, if you asked me that question tomorrow, my answer might be completely different. But as for today, this is my answer J

Why Did I Learn To Knit?

For part of my Ravelry Swap group there will be bi-weekly questions to let our Spoilers know more about us. This time the question is: Why did you learn to knit?

I learned to knit the basics from my momma. She had knit off and on while I was growing up and I'm not entirely sure what pushed me to first ask her, maybe she knows? Anyways, I was probably about 9 or 10 and she gave me some yellow cotton yarn and some wooden needles and that was that.

I continued learning because, for whatever reason, the technique clicked with me. And the opportunities to learn more and more about the craft, new textures, new shapes, new fibers, all of it was just so inspiring. From there I mostly taught myself, and to this day I teach myself new things and I make my own designs.

So my question to you is: Why haven't you learned to knit?

Ravelry Swap! And basically a little more about me...

Hi everyone, I have decided to do my first Ravelry Swap! This should be a fun experience and to start off the swap to give my pal some information about me I am going to answer a few questions for them that have been posted in the group.

Do you knit or crochet, or both? How long have you been at the craft?

I knit, I have tried crochet and can crochet a few simple things but not the complex things I can knit. So I mainly stick to knitting. I've been knitting for about ten years, my momma taught me when I was about 9 or 10.

Do you spin?

I have recently (within the last three months) taught myself to spin using a basic drop spindle.

What yarns/fibers are your favorites?

Oh boy, I like so many of them! I mostly just like anything that is soft and in beautiful colors.

What yarns/fibers do you not like?

I am not a big fan of chenille....but I think that's the only fiber I make sure to steer clear from.

What yarns/fibers would you like to try but haven’t?

I'd love to try to spin some fibers that aren't wool, as I've spun only wool since I first learned, but knitting-wise....I haven't knit with silk too much, that might be fun.

What are your favorite colors? Colors that you don’t like?

Colors, all of them! Except probably pink, I don't really like pink but I do have some because my customers like it...

What are your favorite types of projects to knit/crochet?

Honestly, I like all of them. I haven't come across any projects that I absolutely loathed.

What are you currently working on?

Right this moment I am working on a pair of knucks for a custom order as well as trying to finish up some Christmas presents for friends and family.

What is your favorite FO? (Please post a picture if you have one.)

I suppose I would have to say my every day bag, because I use it every day...I'll see if I can dig up a picture...

Are there any techniques that you want to learn?

Oh yes! Always, I love learning new things! I'd love to learn how to crochet even better, I'd love to learn how to dye yarns (and have the space to do so), I'm always up for learning new stitches, new textures, new anything and everything :)

Do you have a yarn winder and/or swift?

Sadly, I do not, at least not yet. When I am more permanently established somewhere I would love to finally get one!

How do you store your needles/hooks?

I store my needles, hooks, etc in this super cool organizer case from lenabrowndesignsDo you collect anything?

I have an unnatural fondness of elephants and have all kinds of elephant paraphernalia around, even a tattoo on my back. Also I collect yarn hehe, like any natural fiber addict!

Do you like sweets?

Oh yes, but who doesn't?

What are your favorite scents?

I really like anything citrus-y, as well as the basic but calming vanilla, lavender, patchouli, sandalwood, and dragon's blood.

Are you having a birthday during this swap?

I am not, my birthday has passed already, but wouldn't that be fun?

What is your living situation (Are you married? Do you have kids, pets, or both?)

I currently live with my boyfriend and our hamster, Delilah and our Samoyed, Panda.

Are you allergic to anything?

As far as I can tell, I'm only allergic to cruel people and school work.

Is there anything else that you would like your pal to know?

I suppose I could let my pal know that I am a college student and plan on getting my Associates Degree in May, 2009.