Finished!

Here's my little Sophie bag (modified), all felted and blocked and dried. The strap had a little too much twist in it, so the next one will not. It was a cute little purse to knit, and not too complicated either. I'll definitely knit this one again. Two thumbs up!

Woo Hoo! The Knitting Olympics are over for me!

Almost done...

The I-cord straps are almost done. Felting to come later tonight! The gold is within my reach! The tension is unending! I've really got to stop using exclamation points!!!!

:)

Time is ticking...

Who knew that the Olympics were so short? Not me, definitely! Sorry that there haven't been any in-progress pics of the Sophie bag. Somehow whenever I wanted to blog about it, the camera was nowhere to be found. Must have been the cats again, hiding things from me.

The bag is going well, and I only have one more strap to finish before felting. That's the part that makes me really nervous. I just hope my washing machine is up to the task. We have a Girl Scout event tomorrow, so some of my day will be taken up with that, but after 3 p.m. the finishing and felting will begin!

To distract you in the meantime, I have a bit of indecision you can help with....

My wonderful Secret Pal sent me some yummy yarn for my birthday. I want to make a scarf, and have tried several different stitches, but I keep coming back to these two:













Your mission? Vote for the one you like the best and tell me why, OR send me a link for a better scarf stitch suitable for bulky single ply yarn. On March 5, I will peruse all the comments and decide what this yarn will become! Thanks for helping out!

More Birthday Goodness!

Monday I got to talk to Zabet. It was so wonderful to just talk to her again and before I knew it, almost two hours had flown by. We chatted about so many things! Our upcoming trip to San Francisco (watch out yarn stores!), family, her interview on CraftSanity, and the birthday goodness that was the past few days. The best part was when I got to tell her just how awesome her birthday gift was!

I had just received two birthday packages in the mail, one from Zab and the other from my uber-sweet and awesome Secret Pal (I just want to squish her with hugs, she's so great!)



This super pink package is from my Secret Pal and was filled with two skeins of what appears to be the most beautiful hand dyed bulky wool single ply yarn I have ever seen and packages of strawberry flavored Pocky, which I absolutely adore. The card was especially endearing because it shows some older ladies really whooping it up, and I kid you not, the woman in the purple reminds me so much of my Mamaw when she was younger, it could be her twin! Thank you for an awesome birthday gift! The gift was so thoughtful, but the card just put it over the top. Oh Secret Pal, you are so intuitive... however do you do it? (I still want to squish you with hugs!)

The package from Zabet revealed its contents as the most adorable needle felted Venus of Willendorf EVAH! I was blown away by the care and attention to detail she lavished on this project, and then to decide that it would make its home with me... well, I was just so honored that she would choose me to take care of such a special, sacred object like this. Thank you so much my wonderful friend!

My favorite details? The cute little buttocks and its teeny little bellybutton! I just want to cuddle it; it's so cute!

Weekend Update

Okay, so it's a bit late, but there was just so much to think about and try to encapsulate for this post. I tried to remember everything, so here goes...

Thursday
The actual birthday was pre-empted by cookie training for the upcoming GS cookie sale. I spent almost 3 hours of my 30th birthday having to listen to ladies sharing their best cut-throat tips on how to maximize their sales to benefit their troops. Yay... not.

No cards from the family have arrived yet, except for one from Harland and Jenny. Yay... sort of. (He signed it, but when he found out it was for me, I think he realized that it was lacking something, so he's promised me a new card. I really appreciate that!)

Friday
Worked around the house most of the day and then went to eat that evening with some friends. Their son (age 8) bought me a gift all by himself with his own money. How awesome is that! I got two tiki torches for our little garden. I also got two new pairs of earrings from Amy and Connie. They were really neat. We brought the cake with us to Ron's Island Grill and had it for dessert.

It was a pretty good night and then we went home and got prepped for the next day, which included making ten gift bags as party favors for the tea party, plus making sure that I had all the equipment ready to make crafts and play games. After all that was done I finally got to cast on for the Knitting Olympics and get that project started. I think it will be great!


Saturday
All I can say is, TWO Valentine Tea Parties in one day is too many! Bug and I had to come home and take a nap to recharge before we went to the 2006 KLCC Brewfest at the Lane County Fairgrounds. I really wish that P could have been there with us. He would have loved it!

There were brewers from all over the Western US, some from the Eastern US, and even brewers from Hawaii and England offering tastings as a fundraiser for KLCC 89.7. When we got there, the security guy loved my driver's license so much, he used it to show his co-worker how to determine if an ID is real by using a blacklight. Apparently, KY ID's have "The Bluegrass State" embedded in them in invisible, but UV reactive ink. You learn something new every day...

There were 40 brewers there, and it was really packed with people socializing and having a good time listening to the live band. For 50 cents you got about 6 oz. of beer. Bug and I split $5 worth of tickets, with a couple more of our favorites added at the end. Here are the ones we sampled:

• Snipes I.P.A. Definitely not my favorite, but then again, I don't really drink beer because of the hoppy flavor.
• Pyramid Snow Cap Ale This was toasty dark, and smooth, but had a very bitter hoppy aftertaste.
  
• Wyder's Pear Cider Crisp, clear, and awesome! Just like taking a bite of a crisp ripe pear. A joy to drink, and it wouldn't be until you'd had a few that you remembered the alcohol content...
• Alaskan Amber Ale This had a toasty malty flavor with no bitter aftertaste, but it still tasted like a beer, just less crappy.
• MacTarnahan's Orange Honey Beer Finally a beer that doesn't have a really beery flavor! It has a clean sweet flavor with a hint of citrus.
• Eugene City Brewery Honey Orange Wheat I thought this one was better than the MacTarnahan's. It was just as sweet and palatable, but has a wheaty middle tone that just fills your palate with flavor. Great taste! (P and Zab: we'll be getting this when we're in San Francisco)
  
• Rogue Kells Irish Lager Good, but not a favorite.
• Laurelwood Organic Free Range Red Ooooh, toasted red wheat and lots of hops make this one beer we couldn't drink... very bitter.
• Siletz Noggin Knocker Barleywine Ale I cannot be a connoisseur of this stuff. It was like tar in a glass. Definitely made me want to knock my noggin against a wall to get the taste out of my mouth!
• Pelican Kiwanda Cream Ale Very smooth at first, but the aftertaste was sort of musty. Just weird.
• Wyder's Strongbow Cider Also awesome! Bug didn't like it, but the crisp apple flavor shines in this cider that was imported from England.
• Kona Longboard Lager Very smooth and medium hoppy.
  
• Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale This one outshines it's lager sibling in all areas. A really drinkable beer that would probably go well with just about anything.

Sunday
Housework and knitting and watching the olympics, then went out with Bug to eat after she got home from work. YAY!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I had such a busy weekend with my birthday and the oodles of other obligations that had to get done, so I will fill you in on all of my adventures a little bit later. For now, you get the doodle of the day, a Valentine kitty I made for Bug.

More pictures and birthday goodness soon, I promise!

Woof!

Things have really gone to the dogs around here! We've received 8 postcards so far from the New Year's postcard swap hosted by Myra.

They are so cute and the creativity is off the charts! Thank you to everyone who has sent us a card. We are posting them on the back of our door so we can see them every time we leave the house. :)

Our postcard for the swap was sent out and everyone should have received theirs by now, unless the ones that went overseas have not made it yet. Here's a picture of our little puppy...