A Month of Softies

I've finished my month of softies submission just hours before the deadline. This months theme was May flowers so I decided to whip up a few of the felted flowers I like so much. These flowers are not original, they're from the spring Knitty. The flowers look great pinned onto bags and such.

The pink ones were knit using Cascade 220, the purple with Galway and a little Fizz mixed into the middle. The dark pink middle has Pon-Pon mixed in.

Secret Pal 5 Questionnaire

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
I like natural fibers best. I have used novelty yarns in addition to natural fibers but I'm not into 100% fuzzy plastic scarfs. I typically shop at yarn shops as opposed to hobby shops and I have been known to buy RH & LB but only when no one's looking.
2. Do you spin? Crochet?
No & no.
3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
No true allergies although I don't like the smell of smoke.
4. How long have you been knitting?
About 2 1/2 years.
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Amazon, there's a link to my complete profile on my sidebar which has a link to my list.
6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I tend to go towards vanilla since it's safe, I'm not really into florals but I do like fruity scents.
7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
Did I mention I'm a Dental Hygienist?? The answer is YES.
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I like to quilt and bead. I have done some scrapbooking and I am always willing to try just about anything.
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like a variety of music, yes my computer plays mp3s.
10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I like bright fun colors: red, orange, lime green, purple. I also LOVE pink.
11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Married, 1 dog ~Casey.
12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
Oh boy...to stay healthy and happy.
13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
Koigu KPPPM is my most favorite, a close 2nd is Galway for felting.
14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Fuzzy, furry 100% plastic yarn like this.
15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
Anything felted.
16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Small projects that are easy to transport.
17. What are you knitting right now?
Baby booties & a hat for my cousins baby.
18. What do you think about ponchos?
'Let the poncho go!!!!'
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
I like either.
20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Birch are my favorite but I also like bamboo, aluminum sometimes, plastic hardly ever.
21. Are you a sock knitter?
Oh yes!!!
22. How did you learn to knit?
My mom showed me the basics and from there I taught myself with lots of help from the www.
23. How old is your oldest UFO?
Probably a set of mittens which I started last November.
24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I love dogs.
25. What is your favorite holiday?
My birthday of course.
26. Is there anything that you collect?
I've been trying to stop collecting things...but I guess you could say I collect yarn!
27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
None
28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
Not really although I have some on my wishlist.

Blue Skies, Nothin' But Blue Skies

It's a beautiful day here in MN (80º & sunny) and since I have a couple of extra days off from work I've been relaxing like mad. Today I hit the open road on my motorcycle to have lunch with Kyle and of course visit a LYS near his workplace. I couldn't leave empty handed so I picked up 2-150 yd skeins of Blue Sky Cotton. It's froma local company Blue Sky Alpacas, Inc. although it's 100% cotton. The color # is 608 named Lemongrass which I think is a very light lime green, not yellow. It matches a hoodie I have in for repair at the moment so I figured I could make something summery with it...any suggestions?

More knitting news...I have a felting project in the washing machine as I type and I've joined Secret Pal 5. I hope to have my SP5 questionaire up later today or tomorrow.

Memorial Day

Today we remember those who have died serving our nation. Kyle and I were lucky enough to visit the Pearl Harbor memorial while in Hawaii. It was a sublime experience. This wall represents all who lost their lives on the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

I Spy A Spinning Wheel

As I was bringing Casey to the vet a couple weeks back, I spotted a spinning wheel in my neighbors window. I think that's pretty cool.

We're home this weekend stewing in the nasty, wet weather. Hopefully tonight I'll get some knitting in (don't I always say this?). Sorry about the lack of posts this past week...I've been busy with what seems like nothing, I have sunburned ears from last weekend-ouch-and I need to get outside and mow the lawn today inbetween sprinkles.

Subtle Brother

Way back when I posted about projects on the needles, one of those projects was this camera condom for my brother's camera. Check out these comments for his very subtle hint for me to knit him one. Sweet isn't he? I just realized I never posted a photo of it and since this is a slow knitting time for me I thought it would be appropriate to show it to you. I added a button to it because I wish I had one on mine since it's pretty slippery.

Since we're on the subject of my brother, he has also sent a subtle hint regarding posting a photo of him here. So here you go Chris.

He was in Alaska a week or so ago for business and did a little Halibut fishing. Apparently they caught their limit every day for 3 days in a row. Halibut fishing is one of my favorite memories of Alaska so I know he must have had a great time.

One Lone Bootie

Remember all that knitting time I thought I'd have on the drive down to Iowa? Well I managed to knit 1 bootie the entire weekend, not including the tie. Boo. One positive note...we had a BLAST at the racetrack. Good times.

Repair Complete, Checked Out

Apparently this is the status of my laptop these days. Hopefully I'll have it this week just in time for the long holiday weekend. Tomorrow I'll show you the extent of my knitting from the road trip this past weekend...beleive me it's not too exciting. I'm pooped so I'm headed to bed.

May Flowers

While at my eye exam appointment yesterday I finished up the reverse-bloom flower washcloth. If you haven't tried this pattern yet, do, it's very fun and quick too. The pattern is found in the Winter 2003 Interweave Knits or Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick. This particular one is headed to a birthday girl tomorrow. This 1st photo shows the true color, Splatgirl says "it looks like buttah". It looks so wrinkled here because it's a pre-blocking photo. Also, I just noticed this is the backside but it's just as pretty I think.

And here it is after blocking. Today it was very overcast and rainy so the sun wasn't helping at all, it looks very washed out here.

Tonight on Stacked Sydney (Pamela Anderson) went to a knitting circle and she was actually knitting! Yay Pam.

The Knitty surprises are up! I think Trellis is a very nice baby sweater and Blythe Gear is cool if I had a doll.

Splatgirl's Salmon

Sunday night Splatgirl invited me & Kyle over for a little dinner, company, knitting and Desperate Housewives. It -of course- was a scrumptious meal of salmon sandwiches, grilled potatoes and coconut macadamia nut banana bread. Visit her blog for more photos and recipes. I'm so glad I had a 2nd shot at this sandwich since the 1st time she served one to me I had filled up on chips & guacamole and liquor beforehand and couldn't finish it. On Sunday, my plate was cleared. Yum. I knit a little bit on my reverse bloom flower washcloth and I'm nearly finished, maybe I'll have a photo later today even though it's not the most exciting knit.

To Be Knit

Yesterday I gathered up a bunch of projects that I need to knit and thought I'd share. Clockwise from the upper left: baby booties for my cousin who's having a baby this fall-I'll use Koigu for them, a reverse bloom flower washcloth for a friend at work who's celebrating a birthday this upcoming week knit with Cotton Chenille-pattern in Winter 2003 IN, a felted teeny purse bag knit with a special dyed pink wool for breast cancer awareness month (free pattern with purchase), and finally an Ann Norling fruit cap for the previously mentioned baby-on-the-way knit with Cotton Fleece and Cascade Sierra. And how did that chocolate make it's way in the photo? That happens to be Michel Cluizel 70% cocoa dark chocolate, the best chocolate around, IMO. Hopefully in the next week I'll have some finished objects to show and also I am hoping to get my laptop back soon so I can get back to my regular blogging life. I'm sure you've been as bored as I have with my blog. Next weekend I'll be down in Iowa for some motorcycle racing which means one important thing...knitting in the RV for 6 hours straight! Whoo Hoo.

What Big MittsYou Have

Yesterday after work I swung by my co-worker/fellow bookclubber/friends house for a beer. She had these mittens on the table all ready for felting. Aren't they HUGE? Tracy loves knitting felted mittens and she's really good at it too. She also has a lot of friends and a big life...

Dizzy Izzy X 2

Yes I've been to Izzy's twice in the last 6 days. I ordered a Dizzy Izzy both times. Saturday night we took Kyle's mom there for an early mother's day treat. This time I had coconut, maple nut, cotton candy, mango sorbet in a cup and if you look really close you'll see the bubble gum. Mmmmm ice cream goodness.

Then of course after dinner last night another trip to Izzy's! It's no surprise I chose bubble gum and cotton candy but I mixed it up a little and added strawberry, peppermint bon bon and maple nut in a waffle cone. I *heart* Izzy's.

Lemonade & Zero Knitting~Sorry!

Sorry I've been so lax in the blogging world lately. Yesterday I spent what seemed like 100 hours working on spring clean up, yardwork stuff. I seriously could not fit another leaf or blade of grass into the truck or trailer. The yard looks fab tho, well as fab as my yard can look. Needless to say I didn't feel one ounce of guilt when I sat in front of the TV for 3 hours last night. Amazing Race was...amazing. I'm pleased about the outcome and of course looking forward to the next season. Tonight I had my book club dinner. Since we read The Kite Runner, we chose a Afghan restaurant close by, Khyber Pass Cafe. It was very good. We began the meal with roasted eggplant dip, hummus and flat bread. I chose the marinated chicken kebabs with walnut-cilantro chutney and basmati rice. It was all very fresh, flavorful and well prepared. My drink was this Italian sparkling lemonade. Very good but Italian?? Strange. The can was a very cool and bright shade of green, hence the photo. Now I wish I would have snapped one of the meal. Mmmm. Of course since we were in the neighborhood I coerced my fellow book mates into going to Izzy's for dessert...more on that tomorrow.

Happy Mother's Day!

Finally a FO photo of the buttonhole bag. The reason I haven't posted it before now was because I was waiting to give it to my mom for Mother's Day. I sewed a pin onto the back of the flower so she can remove it if desired. Look here for yarn details. I am definitely going to knit another one of these bags since it turned out so darn cute. My mom loved it. Kyle & I went over to her place and we grilled dinner for her and my dad. Then we drove up to see their land which eventually will be their new home. Now it's thunderstorming and I'm going to go cozy up in front of the TiVo for a little Desperate Housewives. So scandalous. Hope all you mother's out there had a nice day!


Here's another shot without the bright sun.

Correct Change Please

My latest customer service gripe is change counting. It seems now days no one can count the change back correctly. Probably one in 25 get it right. What am I talking about? Take for instance this Arby$ receipt. The change due was $35.98. The cashier gave me my change while counting out to $35.98 "Five, twenty five, thirty five, 98". WRONG. The correct way would be to say "98 cents makes 15, twenty, thirty and fifty". The correct way is to count from the amount of the bill to the amount the customer gave to pay. Is this a legitimate gripe?

Even if it's not a legitimate gripe, it annoys me.

Has anyone besides Sandra gotten a Minnesota quarter? I'm still looking...

Napoleon Dynamite Sighting

While in Brainerd this past weekend we ran across Napoleon Dynamite. Gotta love the moon boots.

This is actually a fellow racer...Dan. Too funny. He didn't appreciate being called Napoleon Dynamite and he said he hasn't seen the movie. I thought everyone has seen ND. Sorry for the fuzzy photo, I was trying to be sly about it.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

New Book New Bag

I finished reading The Kite Runner over the weekend. Excellent read. The new bookclub book is Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. It looks to be fairly interesting and there's a few illustrations so I'm psyched. Don't you dig the Dorothy bookmark?

Peeking in from the background is the buttonhole bag and flower, each pre-felting. It is now felted and drying, I'll have photos this weekend.

Ready for Felting

This is my finished buttonhole bag ready for felting. It was fun knitting this one. I enjoyed changing colors willy nilly and it was super fast to do.

I knit this using Plymouth Galway color #123 and Plymouth Galway Colornep color#527. I used less than a skein of each and hope the felting process turns out as well as it did the first time I used Galway.
Tomorrow night I'm going to see Lorna Landvik speak about her new book Oh My Stars, I'm really excited. I've seen her speak before and she's hilarious.

Dear Geeks,

Remember when I said it was refreshing not having a computer at my arms reach? Well I'm officailly over it. I WANT MY LAPTOP BACK! NOW! You have had it in your scrawny little nerd hands long enough. Also, it's been harder on my friend than it has been on me so I'm begging you, send it to me today!
Laptop-less,
Carrie

Friday Lunch and More

On my way out of town Friday I stopped for lunch at one of my favorite sandwich shops, Jimmy John's. My usual? Number 1 plus onion & oregano. I especially love their packaging. I seem to be obsessed with food packaging, no? Can you see my knitting in the background? I had to slip that in here somewhere since there's not much else to show. I'll have fiber photos tomorrow...I promise. I knit a little bit on the buttonhole bag and also started the #4 flower from this seasons Knitty.

I made it up to Brainerd on good time, in fact I had to take this photo of the MPG reading in the truck because I knew Kyle would never believe it. You see, he wants to get rid of it because it's a 'gas hog'. I told him he just has to be nice to it and it will deliver. I snapped this one while I was eating my banana malt plus extra malt from DQ. Mmmmm.

When I arrived at the track, I found my boy wrenching on our friend Karl's bike. It was doing some funky stuff out there. Diagnosis several hours later and after dinner (sirloin medallions with bleu cheese)...he snapped the crank. Done for the weekend, on that bike anyway. Another friend of ours borrowed Karl his bike so he could get some racing in. Did I also mention it was snowing? In fact it snowed the entire weekend on & off. It was cold (highs in the low 40's) but luckily I have warm clothes so I was toasty. And we have a nice warm place to sleep, thanks mom & dad. More tomorrow...