Here’s what I’m working on … excuse the crappy picture … a cozy for my new toy. It’s just so fragile and needs some covering of some sort, and I had a free skein of Lion Brand Chenille, so I’m stashbusting as well!

It’s my lucky day! Can you believe I got two amazing packages today? I don’t know which one to show you first, since they were both so amazing! Well, since this is a knitting blog, I’ll start with that. My Punk Rock Gift Exchange pal previously sent me some gorgeous black Manos yarn, and now she’s sent me a red-themed package! Isn’t it gorgeous?!

Gorgeous Artyarns and Blue Sky Alpacas yarn, both in gorgeous red shades (I’ve never owned any Blue Sky Alpaca yarn and I’ve been coveting it!), some delicious cherry/almond/dark chocolate which is also gorgeously red colored, cute ladybug beads, and Eucalan wool wash which I can definitely use! I am totally in awe of my pal, she has sent me two amazing packages!

I also got my Candyswap package today. I sent mine off yesterday even though it was supposed to be sent on Monday (oops! I did tell my pal, though), and today I received some delicious Canadian-themed (Hi Shannon!) candy –

I’ve never tried the coffee candy before and it is so good! I did let BR have one (there were more, but we got to them first!) but the rest are all mine! Also, I have always loved Smarties since I was a kid, and now I have Halloween colored ones! Jennifer also sent pumpkin fudge (I love fudge and I love pumpkin, so how can you go wrong?), candy corn (yum!), Aero bars and some local to her chocolates. Did I mention Jennifer lives in my favorite city of all times, Vancouver?! We visited there when I was a teenager and my dream has always been to move there.

Thank you so much to both of my pals!

Zonda is such an enabler! She just emailed me to say that she was lucky enough to score some of Yarn Pirate’s Shiver Me Timbers sock yarn that I was lucky enough to buy maybe a month ago, so I had to check out the store, and now I got lucky too! She had two skeins left, and one was my 2nd favorite colorway, “Culture Club”! I can’t wait to add this to my collection:

I feel like a butterfly collector, killing my prey just to put it in a glass cage. Of course in my poor yarn collection’s case it’s a closet. Maybe I should get a china cabinet to display my yarn.

All done! Finally, both of my Tiny Dancer socks, made in Knit Picks Palette. After knitting with it, I decided I don’t really like it at all, and I’ve got a lot of it! That reminds me, I was going to take a picture of how much yarn I have left from whatever project, but I don’t have time to go through my stash right now. I think I have about 7 balls left and I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. Anyway, here they are:

ETA: I just found 6 more balls of Palette in white and black. Argh!

I should be doing this (notice the pile isn’t getting any smaller, even though I’m supposed to have one paper done by now?):

I haven’t even done much with my new toy:

But I am almost done with my Tiny Dancer socks:

and I have made a lot of earrings:

Next I either need to start my Sock-ret Pal socks or something un-sock related. I’ve said this before, but I’m all socked out. I really need some sweaters. Is it sacriledge for a knitter to buy sweaters? If so, I’ve been really bad lately.

Yet another meme. I suppose I should have put this on my library blog, but oh well:

1. One book that changed your life: Crackpot by John Waters. It got me researching about a lot of his favorites and other books and subjects out there.

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: Borgel by Daniel Pinkwater.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: Any collection of short stories, preferably an Alfred Hitchcock collection.

4. One book that made you laugh: Al Franken’s “Lies and the Lying Liars…”

5. One book that made you cry: I don’t remember the name, I think it was “The Other Woman” and it was a fiction book I read for work about a woman whose husband was having an affair. It was a pretty sad story.

6. One book that scared you (I added this one — it is Halloween, after all!): Among the Dolls by William Sleator. I still shudder at this one, but my son was nonplussed.

7. One book that you wish had been written: More books by Roald Dahl!

8. One book that you wish had never been written: Anything that a bad movie came out of.

9. One book you’re currently reading: Everything Bad is Good For You.

10. One book you’ve been meaning to read: Assassination Vacation.

Knitting everywhere

Just in case you’re interested, here is a sort of “fluff” piece on craft shows on the DIY network.

I made some more earrings today but haven’t photographed them yet. I’m still hard at work at my second Tiny Dancer sock. It’s really slow going!

It hasn’t been really cold yet (it was actually hotter in S.F. than at home today, even) so I haven’t gotten my leg warmers set up yet, but I will. Speaking of which, I should have finished my smaller, first paper by yesterday, but I haven’t. Oops. But I did buy my new computer today! It’ll be ready tomorrow (actually it was ready today but not when I was on campus). My first Mac. (Well, BR used to own one but got rid of it somewhere around 1996). It’d better be as cool as they say ….

Just in case you’re interested, here is a sort of “fluff” piece on craft shows on the DIY network.

I made some more earrings today but haven’t photographed them yet. I’m still hard at work at my second Tiny Dancer sock. It’s really slow going!

It hasn’t been really cold yet (it was actually hotter in S.F. than at home today, even) so I haven’t gotten my leg warmers set up yet, but I will. Speaking of which, I should have finished my smaller, first paper by yesterday, but I haven’t. Oops. But I did buy my new computer today! It’ll be ready tomorrow (actually it was ready today but not when I was on campus). My first Mac. (Well, BR used to own one but got rid of it somewhere around 1996). It’d better be as cool as they say ….

Okay, I did it. After test shopping at Webs and Artfibers (I wish I had time to go over there in person!) and updating my dream yarns list, I settled on a predominantely wool yarn for my anniversary gift. I’d probably tell B.R. about it if I didn’t get anniversary presents (checks!) from relatives, and if I didn’t feel guilty for buying another anniversary present along with the computer, but this was too good an anniversary to pass up!

So I hope to get soon, one skein of Fleece Artist Blue Faced Leicester in Sangria:

Isn’t it gorgeous? I wasn’t entirely sure on the yardage because different sites had different sizes, but I hope one is enough for something.

I haven’t had any time to knit! I have been “lugging” around my Tiny Dancer sock, but never get a chance to do any of it! I’m also freaking out about my paper. The “short question” should be done by Tuesday and I can’t seem to get more than a page done. I spend the day at the library looking for books that might help, and now I have more reading, and less time to write and I need to write!

I did take a quick peek at the knitting section and thought it was interesting that their knitting collection consists entirely of design and stitch books, no pre-made patterns. I borrowed Barbara G. Walker’s Sampler Knitting, Bredewold and Pleiter’s The Knitting Design Book, and Dembrow’s “Better Sweaters”. I hope I get a chance to read them before they’re due since I should be reading about the uses and gratifications model and/or sound aesthetics if I have reading time.

It was fun being back at a university library. I can’t believe I have worked in libraries since I was in high school yet haven’t been at work in 7 years. It’s got such a familiar smell and feel and I miss it. I miss being able to find materials on everything (I used to work for the Library of Congress, remember) and having time to read.

I almost forgot. My anniversary is on Tuesday and I’ve convinced BR that I should get a laptop for my anniversary present, but I found out that the traditional 7th wedding anniversary present is wool. Can you believe it? I can wait until it’s silk (13, I believe) but I was thinking maybe I should get a *little* yarn? Right? So does anyone have any suggestions for a decadent predominantely wool yarn that I could get a couple of balls of for my anniversary present? I don’t want to spend too much since I’m already buying a computer, but some token wool present would be nice. Suggestions?