Noolie Knits

More Goodies

It's going to take me a while to catch up on reading blogs and on writing posts (especially when I don't post when I told you I would).  I promised you pictures of the rest of the loot that was waiting for me when I got home on Thursday.  Since I always keep my promises, here are the pics of the awesome Sockapalooza4 package I received from Jill.

Socks for me and Clover, beautiful stitch markers, Sockotta sock yarn (in the perfect colors), an adorable mug, wonderfully scented and really pretty soap, and check out that sock bag!  Here are some close ups:

My socks fit me perfectly and feel like heaven! I've made a pair of Lorna's Laces socks for my sister, but have never had any for me; these are incredibly soft. And check out how cute Clover's itty bitty sockies are :-)

If you didn't think I was spoiled after reading the last post, I'm sure you do now! Thank you so much, Jill; I LOVE everything.

I met Sara and Cheryl in Portsmouth on Saturday and we had a great afternoon; more on that in the next post.

Have a great day!

I'm Home and I'm Spoiled!

I got home last night and couldn't be happier to be here.  I don't know why I wrote in my last post that I would be going home on Friday when I knew all along that my last class was Thursday; I think the heat affected my brain!  Other than the "Room from Hell" the first 2 nights, the school was actually pretty good.  First there was the Welcome Reception which was really just about 10 people sitting on a screened in porch at a guest house (where the State people got to spend the week) drinking beer and catching up.  Monday night's Lobster Bake was excellent this year and the beer was free!  Can you say "Corona with lime" (six or seven times?). Damn, they sure tasted good. 

What?  Doesn't sound like school to you?  Well, I really did have to spend the days in classes (where the room temp was the complete opposite of what it was in the dorms - about 32 degrees; brrrrr).  There were actually a couple of the classes that I found interesting.  Yeah I know; I'm wierd.  No normal person finds property taxes interesting, right?  After checking into the motel on Tuesday night, I seriously considered blowing off Wednesday's class and sleeping; I'm really glad I didn't do that.  The class was all about Florida's Homestead exemption and Save our Homes program.  I didn't see how that class could matter one bit, but it really was the best class all week.  The Duval County Property Appraiser was the speaker and he was excellent.

When I arrived home yesterday, there were 2 packages waiting for me and then today 3 more came!  OMG - such great stuff!  Two of the packages were of yarn I ordered and the other 3 were swap packagaes.  It's getting late, so I'm going to show you the awesome loot I received from Christine, my Summer Stash Swap pal tonight and tomorrow I'll show you the other awesome swap package I received from my Sockapalooza pal.

Christine sent so much that she had to send it in 2 packages!  I was amazed with her generosity when I received the first package yesterday and then there was even more today - incredible.  Check this out (the hand dyed is by Christine!):

 

Close ups (click to enlarge):

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK

Malabrigo, color "Velvet Grapes"

Tussah Silk to spin (Yummy!)

Hand dyed merino/silk fingering weight, "Mango & Melon"

"Frog Lilly Pie" hand dyed Peruvian wool sock yarn

Hand dyed silk

Oragami Butterflies and Christine's knitting accessory of choice - paper clip stitch markers :)

Can you believe the generosity?  Thank you again, Christine, for the truly wonderful package!

(BTW, in case you were wondering - 435 new posts on bloglines; don't be surprised if I don't do much commenting, but I'll definitely read or at least skim all of them).

Have a great night!

THURSDAY EDITION

Where does the time go, and how is it that the work days seem to drag on FOREVER, but the evenings just fly by?  I fully intended to use the Sheep's WNBP (Wednesday Night Bullet Post) format for a post last night, but by the time I was ready to sit down, it was already 8:45!  WTF? How did that happen?  I hadn't knit a stitch or read a single blog yet, how could it be that late? 

But it was, and I had to choose between writing a WNBP, reading blogs, knitting on the Sockapalooza sock, knitting on the Simple Knitted Bodice, or doing some spinning I've been wanting to get to.  The spinning won out (the fact that I want to use the resulting yarn for Clover probably influenced my decision a teensy bit).  I had some of the same fiber I spun for her hat left over and am hoping I can spin enough to make a teeney tiny pair of baby mittens.  I'm spinning a whole lot finer now and will have to ply this. (I really don't have a clue how to do that, but I'll figure it out.)

Check out how thin this is compared to the first batch. It's also a LOT more consistent.  After spinning for about 1 1/2 hours, I took the remaining fiber and pre-drafted it so it'll be all ready for the next spinning session.  Here's what I have left.

Fuzzy Balls :-)

I did finally finish the cuff of my Sockapalooza pal's 2nd sock this morning.

The plan is to knit the heel and at least through the gusset decreases tonight and try to finish it tomorrow night.  I really don't know what is taking me so long to knit this pair of socks.  Well, that's not really true; I do know.  I seem to have a bit of ADD lately and can't stay focused on only one thing.  There are just so many things I want to knit, then there's Ravelry, and blog reading, and planning baby knits.  I need to focus! 

Speaking of blog reading, Bloglines has done something really screwy to me.  One minute it said I had something like 70 blogs to read, and the next minute it said 20!  I do not read that fast folks; it just willey nilley marked a bunch of my feeds as read.  I am not a happy camper!