I got my December Secret Pal package last Friday - but I’ve have a heck of a time getting this posted. Still don’t have photos! However, I have the most beautiful red koigu ever! It’s Koigu KPM, this bright, cheery santa red that matches my tree, and I can’t stop touching it! *lol* I’ve got it right here on my desk, and have, for days. Then, there were a few other things in there - like some girly stuff (nail polish, etc.) and some books for my 101 Days Book project, and a cute little mini knitting book, and some Christmas candy! Huzzah!

Pictures when I make this thing work. *kicks it*

First, a big round of smiling applause for my pal, who keeps sending me postcards depicting various fun things and/or spots she’s travelling to on her job. Evidently, she does a lot of travelling! Sounds fun. I’m going nowhere… I’m lucky if I get out of town to the grocery store once a month. *laugh* Anyway, I’ve been thinking of scanning them, but to be honest, I’m lazy, and my scanner is a lot of work, and… yeah, probably no one will look at them. So for now, they remain tacked to my fridge where I can look at them whenever I go find something to munch on.

Second, I’m putting together my pal’s December package. Got some nice yarns for her - a really pretty, vibrant ball of mercerized cotton that I almost want to keep for myself… and some other cottons, too suitable for her household knitting habit. :) I’m gonna toss in some regional specialties as a nice Christmas gift, too. Hopefully, I can get it packaged together and mailed out on my next days off. Hopefully.

Finally! Got some pictures to post to you all! First up, a photo of what kept me up for 38 hours with only a couple small naps to keep me going:

So, long story short… the dog, Kilo, a boxer that belongs to my brother, was bred to a couple other boxers in hopes of getting a wad of puppies, because every freaking patron at our bar wanted one of Kilo’s puppies. Kilo a bit of a ‘rescue’, as her former owner was mistreating her terribly, and she ended up with my family. However, she’s suffered some anxiety issues from constantly being locked up, and thus, couldn’t be trusted to be left alone without massive damage being done to wherever she was at. So, since my parents own a bar, and that’s where they were most of the time, and since in the last year or so, my brother has also /worked/ at the bar, Kilo baby spends a lot of time up there. And the patrons LOVE her. I mean, she’s smart, and friendly, and lovey, and… well, she’s got personality. The customers will put a dollar in her collar, and she runs around to the till to buy herself a piece of jerky. Spoiled puppy. ;-)

Anyway, she’s about six years old, and my brother’s been wanting to breed her for some time. Yes, he’s an irresponsible back yard breeder, yadda yadda yadda about poor puppies dying in shelters, yadda yadda yadda… This isn’t my dog, I didn’t do it, and my brother’s irresponsible about lots of things. The dog’s only one of them. And this is the boonies - “backyard breeder” is not a term used here. Ever. We don’t even HAVE a shelter here, okay? So, while I’m against his “let’s breed the dog to get money and because everyone loves her!” attitude… well, I’m in the TINY minory here, and if he’s gonna breed the dog, I’m gonna be excited about the puppies, dammit.

Political discussion aside, Kilo, who’s been a mama once before, before we ever got her, had a litter of 11 that time. Well… this time, there were complications. It turns out she only had ONE puppy. One. And thus, the puppy “got all the groceries”, so to speak, and was a wee bit too big (twice as big as typical, says the vet) to deliver naturally. So after a 19 hour labor process that produced nothing but stress and distress, Mom and I hauled the dog to the vet - 60 MILES AWAY - at 4:30 in the morning for an emergency bloody c-section.

That’s a $551 dollar puppy there, not counting gas.

*shakes head* Anyway, the pup’s a girl, and after a bit of trouble learning to latch onto mama’s nipple, and after destressing Kilo, who’d gone all anxiety attack after being left alone at the vet for 9 hours, they’re both doing well. The pup doesn’t yet have a name, but I hear that the bar patrons are putting together a list. They don’t get puppies like they wanted, but it seems they will try to play a part in her life. ;-)

Package!

So I mentioned that SP9 package, right? *grin* Here’s a photo! I didn’t get one while it was in the box… too impatient to run to Mom’s to find the camera, so I just tore into things like a kid on Christmas morn.

That’s one lovely book off my Amazon wishlist, two gorgeous skeins of Rowanspun DK wool (color is somewhat lavender - not sure how the color will turn out on your monitor - but trust me, it’s yummy!) and some size 4 bamboo dpns! Muahaha! I envision super yummy socks to warm my toes this winter! Oh, and not shown was an Assam teabag from Two Leaves and a Bud, but I drank it already. Very yummy. Must order tea from there!

Thanks so much Secret! I loved it all, as I told you in my email. ;-)

Anyway, expect ongoing puppy updates in the next few weeks, because yes - I lurves puppies, and it’s really not often at all (try never) that I get to see pups from birth on!

I got a package from my SP9 Secret Pal! But I have no pictures yet, and I’m incredibly tired - dog in labor, gonna have puppies! - since I haven’t slept in 24 hours except for an hour long nap.

Bigger update later!

I got mail from my SP9 secret pal! Just a teaser postcard - from Chicago, it looks like! I’m excited! She also says there’s a package on its way to me! Hurrah!

Speaking of packages, I have one nearly ready to send to my pal. :) Just need to package it up nicely and smoosh it into this box. *lol* It’s got some large (fat) skeins of yarn she requested in there, and they take up nearly the whole flat rate box alone! *lol* Ah well. I think she’ll enjoy it!

I got some better pictures of the stole up at last! Reminds me that I really need to set up a photo album here, but… ach well… eventually.

Here’s the new stole pics, anyway:

That’s a crooked photo, as you can tell, but it should be better to see! It’s quite long - four feet or so unblocked? Something like that. And below here is a closeup of the edging, which I swore the entire way through would just not work the way it was supposed to. I was convinced it was all messed up and mistakey and everything else, but guess what? It was fine. A little irritating to knit, if you ask me, but gorgeous just the same. Aside from the center medallion, the edging is my favorite part of the stole.

Moving on, Secret Pal 9 has officially begun! I’ve been in contact with both spoiler and spoilee, which is great! Heh. Even sent my spoiler a coupon for $5 off to Adagio on request. :) I’d send one to my spoilee as well, as she drinks tea, but I’m sort of afraid that my name will show up on it as something other than Secret Pal, and it’s really much too early to ruin that surprise! So… actual tea it will be. ;-) I’ll give her a coupon to buy her own at the END of the swap, perhaps. [PS: if anyone reading this wants a coupon for some Adagio tea - $5 off your order - just drop me a line in the comments and I’ll email you one.]

My spoiler and spoilee both sound very friendly! I’ve exchanged several emails with the latter, and while it doesn’t seem we have a lot in common on the surface aside from a love of knitting, I hope to learn much more about her. And I hope to learn much more about my spoiler, as well. :)

There is an incredible number of people taking part in this swap. There’s no way I could possibly go through and look at everyone’s blog, so I’m afraid I won’t even try. But I do slip over to the participants list to check out one or two every now and then at work, just to read something new! :)

In other news… not much. I fear I’ve got a cold (thanks A…) and have been reading Nora Roberts’ new trilogy (The Circle Trilogy), which is good, and of course, I’ve been working. Went to quilt class Friday. Took A with me and Mom, but she was sick (again, thanks A) so she spent the whole night out of it. Quilting was good, though. The class sucked, but then, it’s not much of a class so much as a “pick up your block” club deal. I should take pictures of my finished blocks and post them, I suppose. *muses* Yes… But I got some gorgeous flannels for wintery pillowcases, and a Halloween quilt pattern that I just LOVE (need fabric, need fabric…) and… some stuff I needed at Pamida (the dinkiest store on the planet), and some groceries.

And somehow, I still have no food. Imagine that.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

Ooh. Hard to say, actually. I’m very unpicky. My main criteria is that whatever I’m knitting with be /soft/ - whether that be alpaca to acrylic. If it isn’t soft, it isn’t for me. :) I am really fond of anything with a hint of silk in it. I can’t think of a single fiber that really makes me upset, unless it’s rough and unfriendly to my fingers.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

An strange pottery jar, currently. And a drawer for everything that doesn’t get put into the jar. Keep meaning to make myself a needle roll, but I just haven’t gotten around to it. Grr.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

Started knitting in October 2004. :) So two whole years ago! Wow. I’d consider myself an intermediate knitter. I don’t have a lot of problems, but there is sooo much I haven’t done - virtually any colorwork, aside from stripes, for example. Any sweaters or anything large like that… I taught myself from books and the internet, and I have virtually no resource for instruction aside from that, so anything outside of my comfort zone is definitely uncharted territory. I’m doing my first ‘big’ project now, which is a lace stole, and it’s turning out beautifully.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Yep. And the link is in the sidebar.

5. What’s your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)

Fruity scents, and autumn/wintery scents (cider, pumpkin, spices, etc.), and vanilla-y scents, and foody scents. Not so fond of flower scents, or really deep, perfumey ones. I do like most watery scents as well.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Actually, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, thanks to overly sensitive teeth. I love salty stuff, though. Someone sent me a bag of this Archer’s Farms cajun trail mix, that was salty-sweet, and it was really good. That’s the kinda stuff I like. :)

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I don’t spin, though I’d love to learn! I also do a bit of cross stitch and a lot of quilting and generic sewing of random stuff.

8. 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 huuuge variety of music. Celtic, new age, rock, top 40 hits, alternative… Stuff like Matchbox20 & Nickelback & Alanis are great. But so are people like Loreena McKinnet and Midori and other stuff. Not fond of electronica, hip hop, rap, r&b, jazz, classical… Yes, I can play mp3s.

9. What’s your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can’t stand?

I love earthy colors - browns, greens, tans, etc. And most jewel toned colors - purples, blues, golds, etc. I like virtually any shade of blue or green there is. I like a lot of reds. I am not so fond of most pastels (except blue, green, purple), or most yellows, or most pinks or oranges, except in verigated/hand painted type yarns, where they aren’t the dominant color. I also like verigated springtime colored yarns, or gardeny type colors, if it’s all verigated together pretty.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I live alone, and I have three kitty cats who think they own the place. And a best friend who drops over unannounced to raid my fridge and my closet, but, you know… whatever… ;-)

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

Scarves, hats, & mittens are my standard winter wear! I don’t really wear ponchos. Could be because I doni’t have much for them. Or it could be that I’m just not /that/ fond of them.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

I’ve really enjoyed knitting the hats I’ve knitted. Scarves are quick. I’m /really/ enjoying my lacework, even though it’s time consuming. I’m looking forward to making my first pair of socks, too!

13. What are you knitting right now?

The Mystery Stole II. It’s huge and taking up all my time. *lol*

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Of course!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I use both straights & circs. I love bamboo, but I also like aluminum ones. Plastic is somewhat less happy.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

*sniffle* No. Sadly, no.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

Probably about a year and a half old? It’s a scarf that would take me like, a half hour to finish if I’d just /do/ it….

18. What is your favorite holiday?

The winter solstice/yule/christmas combo, without a doubt. I love everything about it, from the chilly air to the wintery spices and the decor to the gift-giving and merry-making!

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Like, besides everything? *lol* I am a packrat. No, capitalize that. Packrat. Yes. Books are a major collection. Computers are another. Haha. Postcards by the dozen… yarn, of course. And fabric.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I have a subscription to KnitScene. Am dying to get Weekend Knitting, and virtually everything else on my Amazon list. I just bought the latest Interweave Knits, and I’m hoping I can manage to get a copy of their Holiday edition when it comes out. It won’t be around /here/ in stores, though. I rather like the magazine Cast On, but I haven’t seen it lately…

21. Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn?

Would love to learn fair isle & cabling. And how to make socks that fit my small feet. *lol*

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

I’ve made 3/4 of a sock once, then quit when it was way too large. More like house socks. I vow that my next attempt will not be so bad. I have like, 2 pairs worth of yarn and really need to just… get started. My foot measurements… I’m actually not sure how to measure for this. But I wear a US Size 5-6, average width. Slightly narrow heel. Small ladies, anyway, just a smidge larger than most kiddie socks. Grr. Same with my hands. Tiny as heck, but too big for kiddie gloves.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)

March 26.