I love a good swap!

I joined a knitters online swap a few weeks back, and it was a blast! The group I joined was apart of the Raverly communities and I met two wonderful women! If your not familiar with a swap, I'll break down the basics....

A group of people with similar interests (in this case knitting and beverage cozies LOL) get together online weather in a forum or on a blog list, and the group moderator (the guy/gal running the show) sets up pairs of 3 and exchange goodies related to their interest. You typically are given one person to knit/crochet for and a separate person to knit/ crochet for you. It keeps it really interesting and it's a great way to meet a lot of really wonderful people! I hope I explained it right, it's really fun and if your a fiber addict it's a great way to get new yarns for your collection and its a wonderful way to meet new people. :) Here are some pics from my swap.

First the pictures of what I sent out. My swap buddy was a young mommy, like myself, named Jen, Shes about the same age as me and she has 3 beautiful little boys. They are trying for a third, (hoping for a little girl) and just found out they are expecting! :D Knowing that she was hoping for a girl, I tried to send a little girlie energy her way with my goodies and knits. First, the yarn I picked, It's a wonderfully soft Ella rae fiber. I wanted to pick something fun and colorful :)


Next.... the star of the show! Mr. Bunnymen the pink can cozy! LOL Seth thought it was hillarious and I've already made a seccond one for the lovely Mrs. X.



And some chocolates I picked up from a little shop in old Downtown Littleton. MMMMM tasty
I also wanted to send her a special thank you for being so understanding, there was a slight delay in the package getting send due to.... well honestly I was broke LOL... so I picked up a little extra pink. ;)
I also "picked up" some local caramel and cranberry ice cream topping, but I forgot to take a picture of that before I sent it off, it was the last thing to arrive and the first thing in the box LOL.

And now... for my goodies, this partner was from Vancouver, BC. Her name is Melnida, she too has a couple of youngsters but they are almost all grown up at this point. She and I really connected and have alot of similar styles and tastes, not to mention chaotic lifes and goof ball sweeties. One of the little snaggs we ran into tho is I'm not a big soda drinker and so I asked her if she could make my soda cozy a coffee cozy... and boy did she!!! Not only did she send me a new coffee cozy but she sent me 3 new coffee cozies!!! Each one is soooo... beautiful! Almost like minni sweaters for my mugs :D
This one is my fave as you can see, It fits even my super tall travel mug in the mornings to keep that first cup extra cozy warm.
I haven't had the chance to use this one yet, It's really nice and thick, hopefully it'll fit a couple of my mugs :)
This one fit Scotty's tea mug great, (even if when you've got rum and coco instead of tea in it LOL)
She also sent me a beautiful photo album, full of amazing photographs that she and her husband snapped of some of their favorite places near their home. The photos were stunning and just took my breath away. (I'll try to scan in a few of my faves and post them later)
Inside the cover was a darling little book mark with a photograph of a coast close to her home.
She also sent 2 amazing balls of a rusty orange Italian Merino wool, I can't wait to make it into something, I can't decide what to make... it's killing me searching and searching, it' has to be the perfect... thing... maybe slippers, maybe some gloves, or a cute little hat :D hmmmm.... any suggestions?
And the last 2 items that came tumbling out of the green almost see through envelope... well they brought me to a mix of tears and giggles. One was a post card, with a lovely little note and an amazing shot of BC.
The note says..."Hi Melanie~ I sure hope you like your cozy swap package. I had so much fun making the different patterns and am really hoping one will fit on your favourite mug. Have to admit I caught the bug and have (made) my daughter a bodum cozy and 2 mug cozies using the Debbie Bliss pattern. Hopefully the album doesn't bore you to deth and the woll color is ok. Enjoy. Your swap partner, Melinda a.k.a Cluxewe"
Start the water works! Eyes watering... soo happy.... This is by far one of the best gifts I've gotten and it's perfect! The seccond item had me in stitches!!! It was...
The cutest turtle measuring tape!!! You tug on his left front foot and *click click click!* out comes the measuring tape then you push the little button on his belly and *zip* in it goes and he's back to normal! So cute!

I have to say, I'm really glad I decided to participate in this swap. I met two lovely young ladies, with stunning taste, amazing children, and a spark for life that resembles my own. :) I'm so excited I can't wait for my next swap!

I leave you all with a little food for thought for the day... be true to yourself, because you is all you truly have.

Oh happy Grammie days!!!

One of my good friends at work has recently become a grandmother, and I wanted to surprise her. She has been really down on her luck lately, and I wanted to give her something to cheer her up. I decided to make her a hat and blankie combo for the new little cutie booty.

I hope she likes it :D
I think I'll make a couple more as back ups for last min baby showers
and Christmas/ birthday gifts. :D

Do penguins make great projectiles?

I was bored, was sick of working on my other project, so I decided to add a quickie to the list.

Scotty is a BIG fan of the computer company Linux, we use it on all of our computers, spends alot of time in the tech rooms helping out all that cute nerdy stuff. Well the Linux mascot is Tux the penguin, I decided I was going to make Scotty a penguin, something he could take to work, and proudly show his Linux pride. :D

After searching for a couple hours, the only “tux” patterns we were able to find were all for sewing and (even tho I’m a beast at knit and crochet) I’m a HORRIBLE seamstress. Never made a straight row :P Scotty then stumbled across this little cutie and decided to give him a whirl….He's a free pattern on the Lion brand Yarn website, if you like him give him a try, I'd love to see your little penguins :D

Link to the Pattern

Now, I’m making at least one (hopefully 3) little penguins for my can cozy swap partners little boys. It’s going to get it’s real first test on strength and durability (or throw-a-bility as Scotty calls it) and if it holds up I’ll be workin’ away!

Crazy for cables!!

I have been learning a lot of new stitches lately, and one of my favorites has been the cable stitch! I love the twisty, look that adds so much warmth, strength, and elegance to almost any piece. These are the pictures of a scarf I put together for a friend at work. Susan was one of the first people I sat with on the call center floor in training and has been a HUGE inspiration through out my time there so far :D

I have finished it! I'll see if I can sneak a couple shots of her wearing the finished piece. See, I keep forgetting to take photos of my stuff when I'm done, LOL I get so excited I can't wait to share it with the person it was made for :P

Treasure hunts gone awry...

Seth and I are big fans of treasure hunts. We like to pretend to be pirates and we make maps (usually with crayons and some colored construction paper) and we set off with a list of things to find... or errands to run ;) (makes my day 10 times easier if he thinks its all part of the game :D).

We decided to have another hunt this weekend but this time we wanted to do a photo scavenger hunt... our target... things that a pirate might like if he were living today. Basically, I thought it would be fun to walk around the mall taking pictures of pirate-ity things. Well... it went great!

We started seeing things before we even go in the front door. Used his new camera and he did most of the shots himself. Things like a large fish sculpture made of recycled bicycle parts, some hand built replica ships at an art shop, and he even got the idea of taking a picture of his lemonade... "they didn't want to be a...mmm... what was it again?" LOL "limey buddy"

We had a great time! We ate dinner, made a couple of laps around the mall, and had some me and him time :) Then.... we get home and try to take the pictures off his camera. Apparently, the cheapo camera I picked up for him for Christmas is indeed just that... cheapo. It appears that the batteries sit in there just a little loose, and when it gets jostled even just a little, it resets and wipes the memory on the camera. His poor little heart was broken, as was mine :( we had a great time! and he was really hoping to have pictures to share. Were going to try again next weekend, but I think were going to bring a different camera. I'll keep you posted, and I have some finished projects to post too!

On that note, I have finished all but one of my projects... so naturally I have started another LOL. I'm working on a hat for Scotty and it's gonna look awesome :D... if I can ever get the pattern strait... *rme*

Wholy knitting maddness!!!

So, I have been knitting almost non stop since late September, and its been a whirl wind of yarn and fibers. I've made 4 scarfs (working on a 5th as we speak) 2 hats (working on a 3rd LOL) 1 shawl, and started a back pack for Seth. PHEW!!! Hopefully, I'll remember to take pictures of everything as I go along. I'm really starting to get the hang of this whole cable thing, and it's really encouraging that I'm getting all of these projects done so fast!

It's kinda silly, but i am starting to feel funny if I don't have either needles/a hook in my hand, or keys under my fingers. I love the online comunity I joined, www.ravlery.com loads of free patterns, feed back, and all sorts of tips and tricks! If you are a knitter, or just love looking at really neat home made projects check it out! :D

Lawng scarf is Looooo...ng

So… Last year for Christmas, I received this beautiful soft and lightly colored acrylic yarn. I had received quite a few crochet based gifts last year and decided to try a crochet pillow cover with this batch. Well… it was one of my many unfinished projects and I have since decided to give it a new life.

After hours spent unraveling the previous piece I had about 5 baseball size balls. It’s a simple scarf, with a very simple pattern which I will post later once it is done. I have been working on it for about a week now and I’m down to the last ball… So I decided to finally post it. I will post more pics once it is finally complete. :D