Wednesday, July 11, 2007

I'm a Lucky Girl!

Why am I feeling so lucky, you ask? Beacuse my Secret Pal 10 spoiler Megan, rules!!! Let me refresh your memory a bit... in March, this yummy package arrived and then in May this sock-alicious package... you say, well how could a spoiler top that? Here's how... the "Made in Maine" installment arrvied earlier this week!

SP10_3

OMG - how amazing is Megan?!?!? She sent me a marvelous Bark Harbor tote bag filled to the top with 5 skeins of Maine wool, beautiful stitch markers and Lobster treats for my kids from Bark Harbor! I heart my new knitting tote & the wool! Oh my goodyness, have a closer look...

Presenting 2 gorgeous skeins of 100% wool sock yarn... on the left is beautiful Carlisle Brook Farm wool (which Megan sadly
reports is no longer available - can you believe she gave me a skein for her secret stash?? I feel so not worthy, but can't wait to knit it up... if I can stop fondling it long enough!) and on the right is a delicious multi-color wool from End of The World Farm in Fayette, ME. You can also see the amazing stitch markers that Megan made for me.


SP10_3b


Here we have 3 skeins of Bartlett Yarn, which I understand is still made in an old fashioned mill in Maine. Love the colors! A hat and mittens may come of some of this...


SP10_3c

One of the most touching things of all, she thought about my kids! These extra special Lobster cookies were a present from her dog Zoe, who hand pawed... eh, picked, them from her favorite store and sent to my kids (they gobbled them down too fast to actually take pics of them with their yummies... sorry!).

SP10_3d

Thank you Megan aka Ebinla Birks! You have been so thoughtful, you really got to know me and what I like, and I look forward to getting to know you now! SP10 was my first secret swap experience and you sure did make it outstanding! Of course, now I'm hooked on swaps... take a look at my side bar "participation ribbons" and you'll see! I just signed up for Secret Pal 11 - did you?

So... what has everyone been knitting? I've got a gazillion WIP's going... see?

WIPbags

Don't see any knitting? Well that's because nothing is substantial enough for a photo, so those are some of my WIP bags piled up there in my knitting corner! I had to FROG my Cabin Fever tank eariler in the week, as I had realized it was impossible to join those gazillion stitches in the round without twisting I twisted the darn thing somewhere along the way. Kind of a good thing though, as when I pulled it off the needle, I realized it was way too big. So, I recast it on and went down a size (oh knitting goddess, please be kind and don't let me find out in a few week that it is now too small). Its only about an inch of ribbing right now, so photos will wait. I should've finished my headband by now (even with the Coronas!), but I keep tossing it aside for other things. I cast on ankle sock #2... Then, I got an itch for instant gratification, so I cast on and knit this sunflower washcloth over the weekend.

sunflower

Ah, the joys of dishcloths... cheap, quick and easy!

I also have been getting the itch to "clean sweep" my house and felt like I was having de ja vu reading Criquette's post today. Long lost twins, separated at birth??!! Maybe! I too have recently come to the conclusion, after 32 long years, that I just don't need so much stuff! Not only has it outgrown our home, but my patience as well... and so now comes the wonderful feeling of throwing things away (and purging some to Goodwill, listing some on eBay, etc)! Saturday I decided it was time to clean out the closet in the room which will hopefully become our office/my craft room by fall... 3 bags to Goodwill, 1 bag of eBay goods and 2 1/2 bags of trash later, I give you this...


Closet


A closet full of plastic bins and bags of yarn, fiber, beads and other related goods (as well as some winter coats pushed to one side, our pretend-we-have-a-life clothing "dress up clothes" to the other. Its no where near where I want to get that room eventually (think butt loads of shelving, a big book case, table space, etc), but its a start and it gets a lot of my stash out of the living room. Although I will admit, Matt was right... my stash has gotten much bigger than I had thought! What you can't see is 2 huge bins pushed to the left inside the closet... plus I have 3 of the 3-drawer rubber maid plastic do-dads on wheels in the living room still (full of mostly sock yarn, luxury yarn, etc.)... and several bags scattered about! And yes, I am going to be shopping at the Knit & Crochet show this Saturday... keeping in mind my newly adopted "do I really need it" philosophy (wish me luck).

As you know, my Baby Girl turned 5 last week. Here are some photos from our little family "party" (yea, no... it wasn't a party at all... but she did get cake!)...

Did somebody say c-a-k-e??!!

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She's really not this dainty!

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Birthday portrait with Mommy...

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Presents!!! She got a gigantic, hot pink Bobo!

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Which Teutul promptly stole...

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It's mine... no it's mine!

Lola_bdaytoy_closeup_Tut

King Tut manages to get both Bobos...

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All the while big brother Zeus just laughs...

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And does some birdie "watching" - remember how Daddy got them the longer lead for out front? He can now reach the tree where we hang the feeders (oh smart Daddy...now instead of laying in wait near the stairs and then jumping to make the birdies scatter, he can sneak right up on them even closer...)..

Zeus_71007_birdies Zeus_71007_birdiesB

I'm so happy tonight is knitting night! See some of you at Joanne's?

9 comments:

AllyB said...

ooo, nice doggie. Hey, Nichole! Love your nice clean closet...doesn't it give you a great feeling? Mine was clean once...before I started hanging out in the LYS, mwha-ha-ha-ha! It's a vicious cycle, binge and purge...fun while it's clean and organized though...

Anonymous said...

Coolbooty - I love when presents come for both the flesh and fur fam ;) Maslow has a lime green bobo - I libe those things!

NH Knitting Mama said...

Great post! Lots of good things going on with you!

I ESPECIALLY love the pics of the dogs. Too cute! ((wink))

Good to meet you in person last night FINALLY!

Unknown said...

Nicole - love the dogs! I have 4 dogs myself and they fight over the BooBo too!

I'm just stopping by to tell you that my Dish Rag Tag team totally rocks and we will kick your teams hiney!

Stop by and see my dogs - they're all clean right now! g

wildflower38 said...

Nice loot! :-) Your dogs are beautiful.

yarnophiliac said...

What a great SP package! I got stiffed :( . Sorry I missed you last night.

Anonymous said...

Bark Harbor is my favorite store in Bar Harbor! It is for sale, too. I wish I could move there, and buy it.

Kare said...

I love love love your pics!!!

Criquette said...

Wow, the closet looks great! Mine is still a ways from being organized since I took the weekend off. I love the way you use your photos to tell stories, especially about your babies. Glad she had a happy one!

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