I got a package from my Secret Pal, and boy did I get good stuff!  Let’s see, where to start?  I got an autographed copy of the bookbookbook.  Isn’t that cool?  I’m so excited that my Secret Pal was so thoughtful and I won’t get the chance to meet the lovely and talented Stephanie so this is very special.  On a side note, Ms. Pearl-McPhee commented on my blog yesterday!  I love all of you, but she’s something of a blogging celebrity (as you well know) and I feel honored that she stopped in and said hello.

Ok, back to Secret Pal goodies, I got the cutest little sheep tape measure.  He will have to stay away from Riley because there was recently a sheep murder over at Got Gauge and Sophie is the prime suspect (dogs are dangerous to sheep).  I also got two fabulous sock yarns - sock garden from Knit Picks in pansy and some lovely Plymouth cotton in great spring/summer colors.  I also got a booklet on the magic loop and a 40″ size 0 addi for my socks to come.  Also included was a book on knitted accessories - yummy patterns that are going to add more projects to my to do list.

As if that isn’t enough, I stopped by Bath & Body on my way home from work to get some body cream and just had to get this tote bag.  The colors and price were just too good to resist.  So, another bag to add to my collection.  I’m thinking it will make a great summer knitting bag.  What do you think?

At the request of my hgtv pals, I’ve posted a couple more pictures of my kitchen paint.  Now, I took these without a flash late yesterday afternoon (about 6:00) and they still don’t appear very green and look a little darker than the paint actually is.  I’m so bad at this picture thing, but the color may be somewhere between today’s pictures and yesterday’s, but more olivey/sagebrushy.

I am about 5 rows from finishing the left front of the Zip Cardi and then I’m on to sleeves.  I’m headed to Casper, WY for a couple of days for work so I’m hoping to have knitting time in the evenings.  The bad part of the trip will be limited blogging.  If I can find a computer, I’ll stop in for a quick hello, but it may be Friday before I can get back to say hello.  Have a great week.

I feel like I’ve been gone for ages.  I have so much to tell you that I don’t even know where to start.  I guess I’ll start at the beginning

Friday when I got home I had yarn.  Really yummy yarn.

I am totally in love with this stuff.  It’s Blue Sky Alpaca Cotton in Shell and it is so soft and snugly that you can’t really believe it’s 100% cotton.  This yarn is destined to be Grumperina’s Tivoli T-shirt and I can hardly wait to finish the Zip Cardi so I can start on this project.  Actually, I couldn’t wait to swatch so I did that Saturday morning.

19 stitches and 24 rows on size 8 needles.  It will be a nice change from 4-ply cotton!

Speaking of 4-ply cotton, I’m making good progress on the Zip Cardi.  I finished the back Saturday morning.

I finished the right front last night and have a good start on the left front.  For the fronts I switched back to the addis and the gauge is the same, but the tension seems to be a bit more even.  I’m a spaz, I know.  I switched from the addis to the bamboos to try to fix my tension and then I realize that it’s actually better with the original addis.  Oh well, I’m nothing if not difficult.  :)  So I only have the left front, both sleeves, and 7 ribbed bands to do (yes, 7).  I may have this finished in time to wear it on Labor Day!

Saturday was beautiful and Travis and I worked outside.  We’re replacing the fence around the house (the entry fence, I like to call it) with a nice white pvc fence.  We did half of it last summer and are doing the other half this summer.  We spent Saturday replacing the fence at the entrance to the property.  It was sunny and warm - a really beautiful day, especially for Laramie.  Travis wore shorts and I had on a t-shirt and we both got a bit of a sunburn despite our sunscreen (spf 30 for me, 15 for Travis).  Sunday and Monday were cold and nasty.  The high on Sunday was 55 and yesterday was maybe 50.  It was windy and rainy (we always need rain, but come on) and not really the type of weather for you to be outside.  Sunday I went to the store and made a cherry pie (a big hit, but no pictures - if you look closely at the first kitchen picture you can see part of it on the counter).  Sunday night we went to a birthday party and had a great time.  It was a nice day despite the weather.

Yesterday, I painted my kitchen.  I know, I’ve been talking about it forever, but I finally got it done (well, I only got the first coat finished, but it still looks good).  What do you think?

That’s about all I have to gab about.  Nothing earth shattering, but a nice weekend.  I’m not ready to be back at work and I have to go out of town Thursday and Friday which always makes me a bit cranky.  Have a good day.

It’s finally Friday and I’m really glad.  Not only Friday, but the Friday before a holiday weekend.  WooHoo!  I’m shaping the armholes on the Zip Cardi, the back should be done tonight, and the yarn for the Tivoli T-shirt should be here today - swatching this weekend.   Jenn tells me the yarn for the Ombre Blanket has arrived and she’s shipping my portion next week.  I’m going to have yarn coming out my ears, but it will be heaven!

I got a lovely package from Jenn with some great sock yarn - a thank you for finding her a pattern to match the Irish Hiking Scarf she’s making - she’s very nice to send such a lovely thank you gift.  I took a picture, but it was horribly blurry - I must have been jumping around when I took the picture so I’ll have to try again tomorrow.  I’m going to have to cast on for another pair of socks now - my list just grows daily.

Here’s a picture of Mom’s house (it’s kind of hard to see with the trees, but it’s really cute):

In other picture news, here are a couple of shots from the birthday dinner:

My Mom, Her SO, and his son.  Aren’t they cute?

Have a great holiday weekend.

Rebekah also asked to be interviewed.  So here are her questions.  Please see yesterday’s post and the one from Tuesday for the complete rules

1.  What’s the best part of owning Basil?  What’s the worst?  What’s the biggest difference between owning a bird and a dog?

2.  How did you meet your husband (I’m a sucker for stories like this)?

3.  What’s your favorite finished object and why?

4.  What do you find most interesting about knitting?

5.  If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

I have pictures of Mom’s birthday party and the SSS, but I got home too late to download them, so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow (gotta keep you coming back somehow).  She says it fits (which is great) and she really liked it!  Woohoo.  Have a great day.

… Get your interview questions here.  I had 4 people request interviews and I’ve composed 4 sets of questions.  Please forgive me if there are a few that are the same, I guess I’m not that creative and I wanted to know the answers from all of you.

So, first I suppose we should have the rules again.  Rules aren’t any fun, but we have them, so we might as well use them.  Here we go:

1.   You will update your blog with the answers;

2.  You will include the complete explanation (see yesterday’s post) and an offer to interview someone else;

3.  When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them 5 questions.

OK, here we go.  First up is Lynette:

1.  What about photojournalism attracts you?

2.  How did you meet your husband (I’m a sucker for stories like this)?

3.  What do you like most about knitting?  What do you like least?

4.  Of all of your possessions, what do you value most?

5.  If you were stranded on a deserted island (think LOST), what 5 things would you want with you, and why?

Next is Cyndi:

1.  What do you most like about law school?  What do you like least?

2.  How did you meet your husband (I’m a sucker for stories like this)?

3.  What type of knitting project do you most enjoy?

4.  If you could give a new knitter one piece of advise, what would it be?

5.  What is your all-time favorite project and why?

Next we have Adele:

1.  What do you like most about living in (or near) Toronto?  What has been your favorite place to live?

2.  How did you meet your husband (I’m a sucker for stories like this)?

3.  What’s your all-time favorite yarn and why?

4.  If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

5.  What do you like most about knitting?  What do you like least?

And last, but definitely not least, we have Caitlyn:

1.  What’s the best part of living in California?  The worst?

2.   How did you meet your husband (I’m a sucker for stories like this)?

3.  What’s your favorite knitting project and why?

4.  If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

5.  What do you like most about your career/job?

OK ladies, those are the questions.  I can’t wait to see what you have to say.

I’m still making progress on the Zip Cardi and tonight is the big reveal of SSS. I can hopefully get a picture of it on the recipient.  If so, I’ll try to post the pattern details tomorrow.  It dawned on me last night that I’d been remiss in that, so I will rectify that asap.  In other news, I have an odd question for any of you inclined to answer.  How many regular push-ups do you think you can do?  This is just an informal little survey based on something my karate instructor said last night.  That’s all I have for today, I’d better go upstairs to the birthday party or I’ll be in trouble.  Have a great day.