on the needles

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Next Project

I'm busily finishing up the Irish Hiking Scarf - still loving it! - but today I went out and got the yarn for my next project.

The Shadow Shawl:


This utilizes the techniques of illusion knitting to make a pattern of chevron stripes that appear and disappear as you move. I think it's going to look cool!

Here's the yarn I am using:



The Silky Wool is from my stash. I know you guys think I never actually use my stash yarn - but I do! The Irish Hiking Scarf is stash yarn too. :) So anyhow, I had five skeins of Silky Wool in color 8 leftover from my Leaf Lace Shawl. (And yes, I STILL have not blocked the shawl!) For the variegated yarn I am using Koigu in color P301. I've never used Koigu before so I'm psyched! It didn't show up well in the photo but the Koigu has a stripe of green that matches the shade of the Silky Wool. I love those earth tones!

Scout will be knitting the Shadow Shawl too. We are starting May 1st, by which time I hope I am done with the Irish Hiking Scarf.

I also owe a big - belated - thank you to Sherrill for the yarn she sent me.



It's 60 yards of her own handspun! It is so pretty!! There is no way the camera could catch all of the tones of brown in this yarn, but trust me, it's awesome. I was thinking I would use it with the tealish colored Peace Fleece I got in the KTC Mystery Swap from Heather. I'm thinking a hat with the brown as a stripe. I think it will be really cool to make something out of yarn I got from KTC members! :)

Now I'm off to watch the Sox vs. Indians. It's not the same without Johnny Damon and Kevin Millar but nonetheless...Go SOX!!

(Arghh!! Just as I typed that the Indians Peralta hit a homerun in the first!! Crap!)

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Meme-a-palooza

That's right - once I start, I just can't stop. :)

Here's the Wikipedia birthday meme. Do a Wikipedia search on your birthday, omitting the year.

Hopefully I will get some knitting content - with pictures - up soon!

Events:

1556 - Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic.
1779 - James Cook is killed by the natives of the Sandwich Islands.
1803 - Chief Justice John Marshall declares that any act of U.S. Congress which conflicts with the Constitution is void.
1849 - In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
1876 - Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone,as does Elisha Gray.
1895 - First performance of Oscar Wilde's last play The Importance of Being Earnest at the St James's Theatre in London.
1912 - Arizona is admitted as the 48th U.S. state.
1920 - The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago, Illinois.
1929 - St. Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven gangster rivals of Al Capone are murdered in Chicago, Illinois.
1945 - British and US bombers pound the German city of Dresden
1989 - Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal Disaster.
1989 - Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill the author of The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie.
1989 - The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit.

Births:

1817 - Frederick Douglas adopted as his birthday (d. 1895)
1913 - Jimmy Hoffa, American labor union leader (disappeared 1975)
1944 - Carl Bernstein, American journalist
1948 - Teller, American magician (Penn and Teller)

Deaths:

1317 - Marguerite of France, queen of Edward I of England (b. 1282)
1400 - King Richard II of England (murdered) (b. 1367)
1779 - James Cook, British naval captain and explorer (b. 1728)
1891 - William Tecumseh Sherman, Civil War General (b. 1820)
1975 - P. G. Wodehouse, English writer (b. 1881)
2003 - Dolly the sheep, first cloned mammal (b. 1996)


In Mexico my birthday is a Day of National Mourning (1831).
In the Western World my birthday is Valentine's Day.
In Iraq my birthday is 'Communist Martyrs Day' celebrated by Iraqi Communist Party.
In Europe/Catholicism my birthday is the Feast day of Saints Cyril and Methodius, patron saints of Europe.
In Denmark my birthday is Fastelavn. Children exchange cards known as gækkebrev.

Memeing - or Plays Well With Others

Wow!

The unexpected happened to me the other day - I got tagged for a meme! Despite my curmudgeonly postings about not really liking memes and never really jumping on the meme bandwagon, yada-yada....Karyn over at Noeys Mommy Knits was not scared off and nicely asked me to play along. Well I guess she saw right through Miss Cranky Meme Pants! Us grouchy folks are really just the awkward kids on the blog playground, sort of toe scuffing our way along the fence line, trying not to be noticed but hoping someone will notice us anyways. :) I have been reading Karyn's blog pretty much ever since I discovered blogs existed and I've been reading everyone else's responses to the meme with interest. I like getting to know other bloggers but it never occurs to me that anyone might want to know more about me.

So this was one time when I was really glad this whole blogging thing takes place in the virtual world because when I saw I got tagged I immediately went mentally goofy, running circles in my brain, feeling flattered, (it's like getting invited to a bloggy playdate), feeling socially awkward (what do I do??), and finally getting a hold of my silly self and just doing the meme. But I still reserve the right to be a curmudgeon. Mainly because I really really like the word curmudgeon.

Seven Things To Do Before I Die:

1. Go on a country house and castle tour of England

2. Learn a language that is very different from English - like Russian or Norwegian

3. Write many books both fiction and non-fiction (especially the story of our family which I would like to leave as a legacy)

4. Live in London

5. Master the crafts I haven't gotten to yet!

6. See my great-grandchildren

7. Do something which will help humanity in general

Seven Things I Cannot Do:

1. Play a musical instrument :(

2. Smoke cigarettes or drink coffee

3. Lie

4. Stop worrying!!!! (This should probably be number 1)

5. Tolerate a hypocrite, liar, racist, child abuser etc.

6. Keep my mouth shut (especially when I am around # 5) :)

7. Figure out why people/the world is not fair and just

Seven Things That Attract Me To My Man:

1. His big doe eyes

2. How much he cares about our family

3. He tries hard to do things for me and take care of me. :)

4. He has the same politics as I do

5. He doesn't tell me to shut up when I talk to the players, coaches, fans etc. the entire time we watch baseball on tv

6. I'm a big pest and he puts up with it :)

7. We are very different and yet he still tries to understand me.

Seven Books I Love:

1. Kristen Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

3. The Original Oz books by L. Frank Baum - for their artwork by John R. Neill and the characters (I also like the Ruth Plumly Thompson sequels too)

4. The Brontes - biography by Juliet Barker

5. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

6. The Fate of the Romanovs by King and Wilson

7. Duncton Wood by William Horwood

As a child I loved the Narnia series, Ruth Chew's witch books, Andre Norton's magic books, Marguerite Henry's horse books, Zilpha Keatly Snyder's Changeling and Below the Root series, - my wish for my children is that they will find books which lead them to worlds and stories as wonderful as these!

As a teenager I loved Piers Anthony and Nancy Springer.

Authors whom I also love but couldn't pick just one book: Edith Wharton, Anthony Trollope, Elizabeth Gaskell, Sheri Holman, Donna Tartt and I will read literally anything on British History (but I especially love biographies).

Seven Things I Say:

1. Yeesh! (Used when things are crazy or sketchy)

2. Describe things as a 'big ol" this or that

3. Call my kids something prefixed by Sugar

4. Jimminy Christmas!

5. I love you!

6. Well Shaaaah!

7. Turn just about anything into a pun or play on words

Seven Movies I Have Loved:

1. Heavenly Creatures

2. Pride and Prejudice (BBC TV Version)

3. The Up Series - absolutely fascinating and heartbreaking

4. Paper Moon

5. Monty Python's The Holy Grail

6. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

7. Dr. Zhivago - both versions

Lady Jane, Shakespeare in Love, Bridget Jones, Wives and Daughters, Gosford Park, The Way We Live Now, Memento, Amadeus, Monster, Saving Private Ryan, Notting Hill, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...

I guess that's more than seven.... :)

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Ideas??

So I've been knitting along on my Irish Hiking Scarf & loving it. It's SO easy to knit. Mindless but not brain dead - just my kind of knit these days! :) Anyhoo - this is my first time using the Noro Cash Iroha. I love the feel of it, and I love the sheen. I think the stitch definition is great too. This is a great yarn for cablework.

But what I am not loving are the knots - 4 out of 5 skeins have them so far. You know how much I love knots. And the other thing I dislike is the...hmmm...shall we say "variable quality of consistency"? Every skein has at least one section where the machine (couldn't be a human could it??) that spins this stuff either fell asleep or burped or something so you get a thin bit and then a really big thick barfy bit. Annoying.

I still really like working with this yarn which is a good thing considering that I have two more bags of Cash Iroha in my stash. But I was wondering, is there anyone out there who can give me any suggestions for a worsted or dk weight yarn that gives a similar effect? I'm looking for that sheen, the smooth soft texture (but sturdy!), nice stitch definition and is made of pretty much the same stuff - Cash Iroha is 40% Silk, 30% Lambswool, 20% Cashmere, 10% Nylon. Also - want something with a good silk content that won't break the bank!! And I can't use soy silk due to allergy issues. :(

Surely there must be something similar out there with a better production quality!!

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

More Signs of Spring...

I've expanded my flock of finches! There are now seven Gouldians and four Society Finches in my mini-flock. And I have moved them into an even bigger flight cage which is about two and a half feet wide, a foot and a half deep and over three feet high. Lots of flying room.



From the top moving left to right we have:
Parvati and Padma (the Patil twins), Myrtle, Neville and Nimbus.
On the perch from left to right: Sirius, Rosmerta, Minerva, Godric and Rowena.
Missing from the picture is Ariel - perhaps he is feeling alienated to be the only bird with a non-Harry Potter name??

I had always wanted to have a few more finches so I was really happy to find another Gouldian aviary in my area.

The new birds are:



Gorgeous Godric! He is so beautiful only the name of Gryffindor's founder would do for him. The yellow back and white breast are among the more rare mutations. Goderic is an active, curious fellow. You can tell he is intelligent and alert.

Here is Godric sitting with Minerva:



and another one:



I am hoping Godric and Minerva (named for Professor McGonagall) will pair up because their combined genetics will result in lots of yellow babies. So far they are just pals.



Minerva is a very calm, smart bird. She talks a lot!

My other new Gouldian female is Rosmerta. Here she is sitting with Sirius.



It is hard to see sometimes but Rosmerta is actually a redhead. She looks a lot like Minerva (and they talk to each other all the time. Minerva tweets and Rosmerta answers.) but genetically Rosmerta will produce quite different babies. You can see her red feathers in certain lights. I'm hoping she will pair up with Ariel. But so far both she and Minerva like to cuddle up to Sirius.

I guess Sirius is just hard to resist. Rowena (yep - she's named after Rowena Ravenclaw) seems to take it in stride. She's very calm and not the jealous type.



Sirius and Rowena.

The new Society finches are:



Parvati and Padma and Myrtle (after Moaning Myrtle) on the nest. The Patil twins actually are sisters and do look very much alike. You can tell them apart because Parvati has a large white patch on her forehead. Those two girls are youngsters. They are still quite flighty and they talk non-stop. They sound like crickets chirping.

Here is the flock with Myrtle doing a fly by:



Myrtle is Nimbus' lady. When the new birds came I got them in two sets, the Gouldians and Myrtle, then the Patel twins. When the first set of birds came home and I released them into the flight, I could see Nimbus thinking, "Gouldian, another Gouldian, yet another Gouldian, and .... HELLO GORGEOUS!!" He hopped right over to Myrtle and launched into his song and dance, literally. Myrtle was a bit disoriented at first but within a day it was clear that the feeling was mutual. They have shacked up in one of the nests. Neither of the Patil twins have a chance with Nimbus. Luckily, they have each other!



The Gouldians say - See you next time!

Craft Room Update

Finally got some seating for the craft room:



We got a used futon (love those newspaper furniture finds!) because: a)It's cheap but nice, b)It's relatively small to fit in with the space, and c)The room may have to double as a guest room some time in the future.

So now the craft room is slightly closer to being a place where I may actually want to hang out and craft. :) We will be hanging the colorful giraffes painting you can see as well as the rest of my collection of original children's book illustrations. I have lots of Lynn Munsinger's illustrations from the Tacky the Penguin series of books which were written by Helen Lester. You can see some of Lynn Munsinger's artwork here - many of the ones marked SOLD live at my house now. :) I absolutely adore the artwork in children's books. I think it is so underrated. There are so many really talented artist's that choose to work in that genre.** I think it will be so inspiring to knit, sew and just be creative surrounded by these pictures!

But I can't hang any of my pictures until we get the rest of the room together. We have two huge sets of shelves which will be going into the craft room as soon as we save up the money to replace them with the english style library cabinets which I have my eye on. This is what I want to get:



The Garrett Glass Cabinet from Pottery Barn. I need two of them. Not cheap. :(
But they are exactly what I have been looking for (forever!) so I guess we will just have to bite the bullet and buy them. Most book cabinets are just too small and short for what we need. I have a ton of books folks! And I feel like nice books are an investment that should be taken care of - ie. stored in a cabinet rather than on open shelves getting dusty. So - as soon as we get the cabinets the current book shelves will go down to the craft room where they will hold my craft books and patterns and probably this:



The drawer caddy holds all of my knitting tools, needles etc. Those boxes are the "stash overflow". That's all the yarn for the colorwork kits I have bought (two long coats, two jackets) and yarn that I bought from Elann for another jacket plus random skeins which will become hats and such. So you see why I need more shelf room! Especially because:



This is what my stash closet currently looks like. :) Click on the pictures for a closer view...

**(I would love to do a children's book swap over at KTC - what do you think??)

Jane Austen Quiz/Meme

Okay, okay, I took the test.

I'm okay with the results because Lizzie and Elinor are my two favorites (besides Fanny from Mansfield Park and I'm pretty sure NOBODY wants their test results to come back as Fanny! - although I do love her as a character.) I'm glad not to be a Marianne or a Catherine as both of them are rather juvenile and a bit tiresome. And Emma is a spoilt brat. Looking forward to reading P& P next month with KTC... :)


You scored as Elizabeth Bennet. As one of Austen's most beloved characters, Elizabeth Bennet represents what most women would like to become: strong, independent, and loyal. Of course, she has her faults including a stubborn will of iron and a clinging to first impressions. Overall, Lizzie is bright and lovable...something to admire and aspire to.


**edited** Took out the score table because it was messing up the sidebar.

Monday, April 17, 2006

News Flash!

This just in from the blogosphere.....

Stitchy McYarnpants has moved MOKS (that's the Museum of Kitschy Stitches) to it's own site where she will be posting (she promises) almost daily doses of evidence of past crimes against knitting.

Why all the MOKS activity?? Because Stitchy has a book coming out!

Three cheers for Stitchy and her kitschy stitches! Her write ups are hilarious and I can' wait for the book to come out. I only hope I don't pee myself by laughing too hard...

:)

Yarn P0rn!!

Okay, I finally took some photos of the loot I got when I went yarn shopping with my Mom. I had heard that one LYS that I usually don't go to had recently revamped their yarn stock, so of course we had to go see.

Here's what I got:



Click on the photo for a closer view.

On the left - a super delicious, superb, fabulous, scrumptious heap of Green Mountain Spinnery's Mountain Mohair in Sky Blue - destined to become Rogue or Eris. I am not a big fan of cotton yarn and all I had ever seen from Green Mountain Spinnery was their cotton. But I LOVE this yarn!!! Run, don't walk, to your nearest source and, if at all possible, roll about naked in a pile of this luscious yarn. I have super sensitive skin. But this feels like one of the softest wools ever! The only thing softer is Malabrigo and you know that is going to pill like crazy with wear. Also, the Green Mountain Spinnery is not too hairy, despite the mohair. (You know how I feel about hairy yarn, ugh!). It comes in at least ten colors that I LOVED and a whole bunch more that were beautiful as well. Unfortunately, the camera cannot capture the subtle depth of color in this yarn. I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT! Did I mention I really love it? I am really interested to see how this knits up.

I also got some Lornas Laces Shepherd Sock in Baltic Sea. This is only my second set of LL - I have yarn for another pair of socks in the stash. I've never knit with LL but it feels really nice and the colorways are so great.

I also got some Lana Grossa Meilenweit Colortweed in #1005 (the pinky purply stuff), and another skein of Lana Grossa Scala (which isn't pictured here because I already started a pair of socks with it. I also got a skein of Austermann Step (the avocado colored one). This is the yarn with the aloe vera and jojoba oil in it. I just had to get a skein of this & try it out. It certainly does feel soft. You can definitely feel that they have done something to the yarn. I just wonder if it is going to slime up my needles.

I wanted to also get some Trekking XXL sock yarn - but they were out. Will I ever get my hands on some Trekking?? Same thing with the Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch. I've been wanting to try this yarn based on the stretch element and also the way the colors on the sample photos blend so seamlessly into each other. But no luck there either - all sold out. But at least I know there's a local source now. :)

Lastly, in the photo are some balls of Cascade Fixation that my Mom picked up for me when she went to another LYS later in the week. I wasn't able to go but I asked her to get some Fixation for me because it's another sock yarn I haven't had a chance to try yet. I'm excited about trying it because I have really liked the look of the socks I have seen knit up with it. It will be nice to knit some socks on a size 2 needle for once! In my opinion though, the big drawback with Fixation is the colorways for the self striping yarn, which are mostly blah. They look slightly nicer knit up but still could be a lot cuter.

I also got Hip to Knit Hats. A good book, but a bit less "must have" than I had thought it would be. I really like the hat on the cover though and since I am aiming to get all my Christmas knitting done over the summer I thought this book would be a great resource. I also recently got Fiona Ellis' Inspired Cable Knits. This book is definitely a "must have" with the only drawback being that the yarns used are sometimes obscure (at least to me) Canadian yarns with no information for substitution included. I guess I can look everything up on the internet but that is kind of a pain. That said, the patterns are great!

Coming up next - finished Harry Potter Scarf (yay!), finished Skull Illusion Scarf (yay!yay!), and by popular demand, an update on my stash. :)

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Dye-o-rama

Okay okay I know what you're thinking. We spend a little personal time together and then I don't blog again for almost a week.

Please don't feel rejected. It's not you , it's me.

But I do have an excuse. I wouldn't have been good company for the past couple of days. P.M.S. = a lot of laying about on the couch in my jammies crampy and crabby.

I know I promised everybody some lovely yarn & goodies that my Mom and I looted from the LYS but I'm just not up to all the picture taking today.

So instead, how about this? -



Scout has come up with the great idea of a yarn dying swap! Click on the button to check it out. You KNOW I'm going to sign up for this one. I've been dying to get dyeing for awhile now. And check out Scout's directions for making a warping board too. Endless yarn loops of fun!

Thursday, April 06, 2006

In Which We Spend Some Personal Time Together...

I hardly ever respond to comments that are left on my blog with a personal email. I sometimes do, but not usually. I hope this doesn't offend anyone! Believe me, I read and smile/laugh/shake my head etc. at every comment that I get. And I greatly appreciate it when people take the time to leave me one. The reason I don't usually email someone back is mostly because I can't quite seem to figure out how to easily get the email address to respond to - I swear I knew how to do this once but it slipped through one of the gaping holes in my brain and now there's no getting it back.

Anyhow, I thought I would do some On the Needles "personal time" every now and then to answer all of your burning questions. So pull up a comfy chair, put on your grubby sweatpants (you know, the ones that give your tummy some breathing room), make yourself some tea and let's get started.

1:Wendi asks where I was on flash your stash day.

A: Well, Wendi, I was luking in blogland, keeping my head down and trying not to be noticed. I don't want to become famous for my humongous stash. Especially because it has grown since the last photo I took and is now spilling out of the closet and piling up along the wall. Someday I will take some more photos - perhaps just my sock yarn or just the boxes of Malabrigo - you know, show it in bits so it doesn't frighten anyone. You know, like my husband. The good news is I have an endless source for the prizes I get to giveaway over at KTC. :)

2: Not really a question, but both Karen and Chris noticed the Little House on the Prairie and Princess Diana videos/dvds that reside behind my knittin spot.

A: I admit I kinda did think twice about putting that info out there in public. I realize that I've already admitted on the blog to liking to knit to the soothing sounds of LHOTP and to my obsession re: Princess Diana, but it's so much scarier when you have visual evidence of my weirdness. I thought about cropping the photo to take out the dvds and thus (presumably) make myself appear more normal. But then I decided, hey, if I can't be weird on the internet....!! I guess I can only hope you will all love me in spite of myself. ;)

3: Again not a question but Jenni had the courage to own up to being a parakeet killer.

A: So I guess I also have to admit that I am lethal to parakeets as well. I had several as a child that all met with a premature end. Luckily my bad bird mojo seems limited to parakeets! (Fingers crossed!)

4: Also not really a question, but Carrie claims to be surprised that I didn't know Robert Sean Leonard was on House.

A: Protest all you like missy - I know you were tryin' to hog the RSL love! (LOL!) I think it's a given that ladies of a certain age still retain a small crush on RSL from The Dead Poets Society days. And therefore, the rules are, if RSL is to be had, you must share.

PS. No bogarting Hugh Laurie either! ;)

5: Carrie also asked if I would post some pictures of the tattoos I have done.

A: Well, my husband has two so I'll see if I can convince him to let me take some photos for the blog. :)

6: And Laura asked if I have any tattoos myself.

A: Yep I do. Six. Which is a lot or a little depending on if I'm on the east coast or in the south west. But I'm not telling what I have or where they are - not today anyway - I think the LHOTP & Princess Diana thing is enough freakyness for one post! (LOL)

***Newsflash!***
My mom is in town and you regular readers know what that means...!! Yep, completely gratuitous stash enhancement!! Stay tuned for the results...

Besotted Scarf

Finally took some photos of the Besotted Scarf that I finished a while back:


This close up is more true to the color of the yarn:


Here's the specs:
The Pattern: Besotted Scarf from Hello Yarn
The Yarn: 4 skeins of Gedifra Fashion Trend in color 4901
The Needles: Addi Turbo Circ's size 6
What I learned from this project: Mostly that I'm not a big fan of Fashion Trend. It's not a bad yarn and other people may not have any problem with it at all but to me it was just a bit too Lopi-esque to be totally enjoyable. It makes a reasonably soft fabric, not as scratchy as Lopi, but knitting with Fashion Trend was not the nicest. I dislike the crunchy squishyness of Lopi and Fashion Trend struck me the same way but to a lesser degree. (Does crunchy squishyness make sense? I just can't describe Lopi in any other way. Next time you see some hold it up to your ear and give it a squeeze. What you will hear is crunchy squishyness.) I also didn't like the slight "halo" that the knitted fabric had. I don't like fuzzy cables. I like my cables crispy. Anyhow, I would probably use Fashion Trend again because I didn't hate it that much and I do have more in the monster stash but it won't be my first choice for yarn.

I did love the pattern though. I was very easy to memorize, easy and enjoyable to knit.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

My Knittin' Spot



Awhile back someone started a meme - don't remember who - about showing your knitting spot. Well - here's mine. Nothing special except for the Ott light which I think is essential since I almost never get daylight knitting time and I don't want to go blind. Overhead lights just don't cut it!

In the left corner you can just see my WIP pile. On the couch are my bunch of pillows which must be arranged just so before knitting begins and my current WIP, the Skull Illusion scarf. Hubby gets the other half of the couch. :)

Monday, April 03, 2006

Awesome and thoughtful swap pal!

My Mystery Swap pal was Heather from Paperclips. I was totally psyched to get this:



She sent me some Peace Fleece in a pretty teal color. I've never even seen Peace Fleece in person before but I had wanted to try it. I think it wants to become a cabled hat or two. She also somehow (even though I didn't mention it on my questionaire) knw that I have a thing for bees. She sent me a gorgeous needle case (my first & only one!) which I think she made herself - she's super multi-talented. (Go see the things she makes on her blog - you'll see what I'm talking about. The gal can do anything I think!) I don't know if you can see it in the photo but the fabric has little tiny bees all over it. Love it! There was also a cute little mesh bag filled with stitch markers (now I can liberate the rest of mine from their dinky plastic bag prison), a really cool bookmark (love it!), some tea and a copy of Ready Made magazine (both of which my hubby claimed were his!!), some dark chocolate (definately not his!), and two mystery books. I have heard of Rita Mae Brown and also about Maise Dobbs - but mystery is not my usual fare so my vague memory was something like "those sound good - have to check them out sometime." - and now I can.

I really want to thank Heather. She did a fantastic job of coming up with things I would like - even though I'm sure I sounded really picky on my questionaire. I love the whole greeny - bluey color scheme. I saw the tealish color of the yarn, did the hold it up to my face to look at it with the hair (red) & eyes (blue) and thought "why don't I have more of this color?? It fabulous." :) I will be sure to show you guys when I get around to making something with it. (I hope everyone will show us what they make with their gift yarn - I'm sure the giver would be thrilled!)

So thank you thank you Heather! Whoever gets you for a partner in the next swap really lucked out!