I've been doing TONS of stuff, including my trip to Joseph, OR and a trip to Boise, ID. I knitted practically the whole time I was in Oregon, and a day in Boise with my gal pal Mal(orie).
I also conquered a couple of tribulations I encountered. I started going to a knitting group here in Moscow (at the Needle Nook...they meet twice a week, and it's great fun. :-D). That is awesome, and it's very close to where I'm living. During my time in Joseph I had a cataclysmic problem with the baby blanket...I messed up one of the cables! And it was nothing to scoff at...we're talking six rows back I put one cable over instead of under, and now I was paying the ultimate price. What was I going to do...unravel SIX ROWS of 190 stitches? At that point, I had half a mind to frog the WHOLE THING.
Well, let me tell you. I really almost did it. But thankfully a wonderful woman in the knitting group (I forget her name, to be honest, but I'm sure I'll remember shortly) spent an hour with me, a crochet hook and a cable needle and we fixed that blanket right up. I use the term 'we' very lightly, as she did all of the work and I watched and referred to the pattern for her. What a wonderful experience it was to see everything that I had managed to destroy get cleared right up. Thank goodness for knitters and the knowledge they willingly dispense. Since then I've been following my pattern religiously so as to avoid a similar incident!
I finished Whitney's scarf...photos on Ravelry. But here's a teaser:
Gorgeous, right? :-) I know. It was the talk of the knitting group, let me tell you. :-DNo new photos of the blanket, but I promise you're not missing much. She's on the back burner for me...I'm certain that during the rest of my life, if I manage to finish this blanket at some point, someone that I know will have a child. My heart can rest until then.
I'm planning on starting Elefante tonight. So cute, and Whitney (big sis Whitney, not Spokane friend Whitney) will love it. She loves elephants, and I'm making it in a pink-ish yarn. I'm a little nervous that the yarn is too thick, actually,but I'm certain that if it is, I can find something else to do with it.
What else...OH! I got my dishcloth exchange package. I was so excited that I think I scared the UPS man. :-) And let me tell you, Jenny M. gave me everything I could have asked for and more. I have since creepily stalked her on Ravelry and read the last month or so of her blog. I find her very witty and really interesting, so I recommend you all go check her out. (I love writing like I have a huge army of readers...even though I know it's only like two people. ;-D)
Here are a couple of photos of the awesome package that I got yesterday:
From left to right let me explain what all these things are. :-D-The white card I knew right when I saw it...Starbucks card!! :-D
-Underneath it are six 'pick of the week' songs from Starbucks. These are free downloads of music. I haven't gotten around to downloading any of them yet, but I'm excited for that. :-)
-A little envelope that says "For keeping track of stitches and rows!" Inside were what I assume to be handmade stitch markers, shown below. They are SO CUTE, and I'm very excited to have some adorable ones instead of my (let's face it) bland green and purple ones.
-Next, an envelope that says "Time to make your own!" This came with travel bug tags...and she is RIGHT...I have never made a travel bug, but it is definitely time, haha. I'm itching to go geocaching now, but my GPS is still out of commission. Hopefully I can get it working again (or get a friend to 'tag' along, haha).-(NOT SHOWN) An envelope that says "For summer fun!" on it. Inside this was a GEOCOIN from IRELAND. She recently returned home from a trip, and this is SO cool (see photo below). At this point, I was ecstatic. It's really cute and really thoughtful. :-)
-"For summer relief!" --this contained the Starbucks card. :-D-"For your ears!" --this contained the 'Pick of the Week' cards. :-D
-Here we get to the dishcloth itself (see below). This is SO scrubby and cute, I can't wait to use it...but my roommate and I can't seem to bring ourself to wash our gross dishes with such a pretty cloth. :-) I'm thinking I might be able to convince myself to use it in the shower though?
-Along the bottom she included not one, not two, but THREE balls of yarn. Two are Sugar n' Cream (always reliable and cute!), but the third is a brand I have not heard of before. It's a fingering weight, too, so I'm trying to plan something really adorable for it. And it's purple/blue tones, so very nice. :-)-Also along the bottom is a cute little plastic container with four slots. :-) I'm thinking my stitch markers can go in here. :-)
All in all, I plan to do this again and consider it such an awesome first experience. How much fun it has been, and now I want to read her blog regularly! :-) Thank you so much, my dear dishcloth pal! :-)
I'm sending my dishcloth package tomorrow. I've been a very bad pal, and I should be thusly punished, but I swear her stuff is awesome and I know she will love it! Next time I will be more hasty with my choices, but I wanted to make sure to get just the right things...and Moscow is not super big for this kind of stuff. :-( I'll post a photo of the stuff I sent her once I'm certain she has it...the dishcloth I made is awesome...probably one of the coolest I've made so far.
I think that is everything. I know, it's a lot, but I tried to include pictures and keep it uplifting and short! So many cool things going on in the knitting realm of my life...and I found a pattern for a gift for Krysta for Christmas. Hooray! And potentially a pattern for my little bro, Collin. Better get started on that stuff, because with school right around the corner, Christmas is going to be here in a snap as far as my free time goes. :-D
