Halloween Clubs!

Ok, so I normally don't blog about giveaways, but I REALLY wanted another chance to win this, and I LOVE Halloween. I thought other people might be interested in knowing about these clubs... and some people who read my blog might have real jobs (as opposed to my fake, fantasy camp job) and can maybe afford them. Alrighty, so here we go. The first Halloween club I wanted to tell you about is by Twiggi Knits. She has come up with an AMAZING idea, the four weeks of Halloween club. Why not celebrate Halloween all month?? One day just isn't enough. You can purchase one week, or all four, or any combo in between. You will get a project bag, 4oz of yarn or roving, a knitting accessory, and some candy. Awesome! So go check that out. Also, Phat Fiber is giving away one week of this club, so go here and enter to win!!

The other Halloween club I wanted to tell you about is from Boho Knitter Chic. She is having a Halloween Spin-A-Long. The kit comes with either 2 oz of smooth batts or art batts. Then you can take pictures of your finished yarns and win prizes. How awesome. I would love to try doing a Spin-A-Long as I loved doing the Tour de Fleece.

So go check out the Halloween clubs. If you join one, send me pictures!!

Friday Fling!

So today I am taking myself out on the town. I have decided that since I don't have to work, I am going on an adventure. First, I am going to Wasilla to check out the yarn store that is going out of business, Ewe First. I am sad to see it go.... I love the name, and it was a beautiful shop. It is sad to see LYS go out of business... I hope it doesn't become a trend. Then off to the FAIR!! I love the fair. W and I are going next Sat, but one day is just not enough fair time for me. So, I am taking myself and I can do what I want and just have a grand ol' time! I am so excited about my adventure that I couldn't sleep and got up at 8. So now I am off to finish getting ready. I will post later about how it went, maybe with some pictures! Hope everyone has a great Friday!

New Goals

As I look at my blog postings, I am sad to see that I haven't done a very good job this month. I guess part of it has to do with the fact that I was in Oregon for a week, but really... I don't have an excuse. I'm lazy. So I'm now going to post some goals that I have for myself here in hopes that it will help keep me motivated and on track. After all, once I posted about how I was going to be on the internet less, it really did work. So here we go:
* I want to keep my sewing room clean. It is amazing right now, and I feel motivated when I walk in, not overwhelmed. I want that feeling to stay.
* I want to start exercising 10 mins a day. If I can find 10 mins to spin, 10 mins to knit, 10 mins to sew, and 10 mins to exercise, I think my days will be amazing. And all of that is only 40 mins! I can do that.
* I want to finish some quilts. My puzzler quilt comes to mind. And my baby chick applique.
* I am going to try VERY hard to work from my stash... my fiber stash, my yarn stash, and my fabric stash. I have an amazing amount of all of these things and there is no reason for me to be spending so much money on these items. I am worried that my lack of spending will adversely affect the economy, but in order to buy more, I need to make more space!!!

I think that is it. I will do my best to keep you updated on my progress on these goals.

Dog Children

We don't have kids, we have dogs. But sometimes, I feel like my dogs act like children. Here is a play-by-play of my evening.

12:52 am: Frito whines like he wants to go out. I get up and try to let him out. Snickers bolts out the door to look for the cat (there is a cat that often wanders the neighborhood at night...), Frito stands there and sulks because it is raining. Snickers comes back in and I go back to bed.
12:55 am: Frito clearly wants to go out. I try to let him out. This time he goes onto the porch, but refuses to go out from underneath the awning. He pouts and comes back in the house.
12:58 am: Frito is still whining. I ask W to let him out... maybe it will make a difference. W doesn't even make it half way down the hall and Frito steals his spot in bed. It was a ploy. W tells him, "I love you Frito, but you and Snickers are evolving and I don't like it"
2:07 am: Frito finally mans up and goes outside despite the rain. We all go back to bed.
5:02 am: Snickers for some reason thinks it is time to get up. But he just wanted to smell the air outside and see what the weather was. I tell him, "I'm not the Doggie Weather Channel. Can we please go back to bed?!?"

7:00 am: W gets up. The dogs don't come to bed like normal. I get up to move my car so J can go to work. I see that W's car door is open... apparently someone decided to rifle through his car some time during the night. They must have been quiet, as while the dogs were antsy, they were not barking or acting as if anything was wrong. Luckily, nothing was taken out of the car... but really? Someone had to walk into the driveway to see if the car was unlocked (yup, W forgot to lock it... luckily, I guess...). I wonder how often THAT happens. Creepy.

Anyway.... on to happier things. I cleaned my sewing room yesterday. I organized my fiber stash and my yarn stash... I also saw all of my unfinished quilts. All of the organizing reminded me of the projects I have in progress and motivated me to finish some of them. Hopefully. I will try and post pictures of my stash(es) later. Now, I must get ready for work. I work hard for my money$$!! :)

Blog, oh blog

I started this blog a while ago... I think 3 years now. Wow. That is crazy. Anyway, when I started (it was under another name, but I moved all the posts to this one...actually after checking on that, it was a lie...they are on my .mac website...) it was mostly to make fun of Weston. He always talked about blogging and was teasing me that I should "go blog that", so I did. Then I started talking about all of the various things that I do (hang out with my dogs, knit, sew, spin, cook, etc). Every now and then I would talk about something in the news (the dog that got killed by a trap, the discrimination ordinance).... but now, as I realize that other people actually READ my blog, I wonder what it should be. It is really weird to me that people want to read what I have to write. Which is funny, as I spend a lot of my day reading what other people write, so it shouldn't surprise me that people read my blog, but it does. I actually LOVE that people that I don't know read my blog. I think it is really cool. In fact, in my dreams, my blog is as big as the Yarn Harlot's.... but again, that is just a dream. So, I guess I am just doing some blog searching on what my blog should be. Should it stay how it is, a mish-mash of my crazy life? Or should it be dedicated to my crafting?

Who knows, but I think it is fun to watch it evolve.

And if you want to know what happened in my life before 2008, you can see that blog here.

Oh, and also, a quick rant. I'm a bit tired of hearing about swine flu. That is all.

August Phat Fiber Box

"Meet Me At The Fair" was the theme and the contributors went above and beyond with their packaging! It was amazing. My pictures aren't the best, but I am going to try and post links to every shop, and you can click on the pictures to make them larger. First up, stitch markers and patterns. I recieved a stitch marker from 4 Stitch Me Knot (I guess her shop isn't up and running yet...) and one of my favorite phatties, Twice Sheared Sheep. I wasn't lucky enough to score the corn dog pattern, Pogo (nuts!), but I did get a gorgeous headband pattern from Katherine Vaughan Designs. She has some wonderful patterns for sale on her blog. I really admire designers. I have a hard (make it close to impossible) time trying to come up with ideas for knitting, much less figure out how to make it work. I am getting better at being more creative with quilting (I designed my own quilt and have.... one... block done), but that is a flat piece, where knitting is much more 3-D. Moving on....
The rest of my box is FIBER! I scored a fluff box, partly because I'm obsessed with spinning and partly because I didn't want to risk getting one of my own samples. :) I have seen some of my samples on the Rav Phat Fiber page, which is VERY fun and exciting. But here are the links to the shops...
Carly Original sent in a sample called "gymnastics" (It is purple, blue, and pink) that is hand dyed bamboo. I LOVE the colors and can't wait to practice on this hard for me to spin fiber. She is also a very nice person who messaged me on Etsy when she saw I made my first sale! I thought that was awesome.
Desired Haven Farm sent in a big batt that is red and black titled "Derby". I spun it up, and really enjoyed the black part of the sample. The red (which was Gretchen and Alpaca) was a bit lumpy, which made a cool effect, but I'm more into smooth yarn, so it wasn't my favorite. It was VERY soft though, and if you are into art yarn, check it out!
Silver Sun Alpacas sent in a gorgeous natural sample of 90% alpaca and 10% mulberry silk. I can not wait to get my hands into this. I've spun some of her stuff before, and it is amazing.
Plum Crazy Ranch and Fiber Art had a ginned cotton sample titled "Cotton Candy in the Buff". I thought that was rather creative. I have ever thought of spinning cotton, so this will be an interesting experiment. It was also neat to see such and organic sample from them, as normally their samples are crazy colors (which I actually love!).
Pacos had the small sample that looked like a candy apple. It is 100% alpaca and while it looks like a small sample, is actually a good amount! She really packed it on there! I love how rich the color is... and I have loved spinning alpaca, so it might not be too long before some of this makes its way to my house.
Another one of my favorite Phatties, Fiber Fancy, had a gorgeous candy apple batt. She is having an amazing sale right now, so be sure to check it out. Her prices are REALLY reasonable and having ordered from her multiple times, I can attest to the fact that her products are gorgeous and amazing. I'm supposed to be on a fiber diet, but her sale may break me....
Hands and Notions (a phattie I have not seen before) sent in a sample of wool locks titled "Jubilee". They are a very earthy color and look fun to spin. She also has some fun fiber grab bags on her site that would be neat to see... I love surprises!
Weston's favorite sample was from Whimsy Wool and is called "Big Top". It is a very soft merino wool in some gorgeous colors. If you are looking to purchase some hand spun yarn, her prices are incredible!
Jela's Fiber was my pick for favorite color... the yummy green batt is so pretty and has just the right amount of sparkle. It is made of merino and bamboo with a hint of Angelina. This color matches my coat, and is my absolute favorite shade of green... it looks like spring grass.
WC Mercantile (which is where I bought my spinning wheel from!) sent in 100% milk fiber in a cute little popcorn box. I'm telling you, the packaging this month was amazing. I know that spinning this will be hard for me, but the color is so amazing, I'm going to give it a shot anyway! And if you are looking for a spinning wheel, check them out! I got AMAZING customer service and a bunch of free fiber... plus the shipping was really quick!
(RuLe OuT) Fiber Addiction, NOS sent in a silk hankie called "Mosquito Bite". I thought the name was very creative. And fitting. It is a pink, mottled color. I haven't spun from a hankie before, but I need to try as I also got one in one of my club packages recently. And, because of our weird "second summer" we've been having recently, I actually got two mosquito bites on my foot last week.... annoying.
Beesy Bee Fibers sent in a gorgeous pink merino/tencel sample. The color is so pretty... I LOVE tencel yarn so I will have to see how much I love spinning it. :)
All Twisted Up sent in a wool/mohair sample in a soft pink called "Cotton Candy". The color reminds me of a baby girl... I love it. Her shop is full of different things for the fiber artist... she sews, knits, spins, dyes. She reminds me of myself. :) She dyed a lot of roving in colors that depicted the different world fairs, and they are available in her shop as well.
Boho Knitter Chic sent in a box of three samples in blue, yellow, and pink. I think it was called "Clown Hair", or at least that is what it reminded me of. And it came with a lollipop! How fun. These have just the right amount of sparkle as well. I LOVE sparkle in my batts and fibers, and these are just very fun. The bright colors are amazing and I can't wait to spin them up! She is having her first spin-a-long based on Halloween. I just read the description and UGH, these people have such wonderful things it makes it SO hard not to buy them! I LOVE Halloween... what is a girl to do???
And last, but certainly not least, is my FAVORITE sample of the box. I have admired this shop for a while, and have been VERY tempted by at least one of her rovings. Now that I have sampled her items, I don't know how much longer I can just look at them on my computer screen. The Spinning Sheep sent in a sample with a small fiber braid (in gorgeous fall colors), a sample of her hand lotion in "Pumpkin Patch" and a small bag of candy corn. I LOVE her logo, with the cute, crazy sheep. And her lotion has a soft scent that isn't overwhelming, which I really appreciate as I am very sensitive to smells and was excited to be able to actually use this!

So now that you have WAAY too many shops to tempt you, go spend some $$! And if you are looking for sock blanks (and who isn't!) go check out my shop. And in case you were looking for more Halloween fun, Twiggi is doing a Halloween club. I haven't decided if I want to just do one week, or all four. Seriously, how do these people come up with these amazing ideas?!? I love it! Alright, off to do some work and spin up more of my wonderful samples. Did you get a Phat Fiber box? What was your favorite sample?

Sale Day

So... I'm a bit burned out on Sock Summit blogging. I may come back and explain in more detail, but here is a quick summary of what I haven't told you. The Ravelry meet up was AMAZING. They really know how to throw a party. We got some awesome swag bags and just had a great time. I met the lady who had a knitting needle stab into her leg (I know, crazy, right?!? She just sat down, and it was at just the right angle out of her bag and BAM! Into her leg. She was fine. And quite a good sport about it as well.) and some other fun people. It was a blast. I also loved visiting the LYS (Local Yarn Shops) in Portland. I went to Knit/Purl about 4 times. What a cute shop! I also made the trek to Twisted and bought a lot of fun stuff there as well. Both were wonderful shops. Also, I fell in love with the Button and Ribbon Emporium. It was amazing. I'm SO glad they have a website to order from, because I spent almost $100 there and definitely did not buy all that I wanted. There were so many amazing things to look at. The people who worked there were so nice and generous! I loved every minute I spent there. I had the BEST time at Sock Summit. When people ask me how my trip was, I get tongue tied, as there really are no words to explain it. You had to be there.

ANYWAY. Yesterday was Sale Day at Quilt Tree. It was my first sale day as an employee. It is a pretty big deal, I remember as a customer waiting in line to get in and combat shopping all day. As an employee, it wasn't much different. I was putting away fabric and helping customers find things all day. It was a pretty manageable sale day, I think a lot of people are starting to shop BEFORE the sale, as they are not in the mood to fight the crowds. I thought it was fun though. I was exhausted after working for 7 hours, and was definitely ready to go home. I'm glad it won't happen again for a while... :) I'm also glad that I have three days off, because by the time I make it back to work the shop will be put back together!

W and I decided to go on an adventure last night. We drove around town and explored places we had never been. Drove by the new Target they are building... then followed that street all the way around. Did you know it makes a loop back to Diamond? Yea, neither did we. Crazy. Then we stopped by the Diamond Mall. Wondered around there for a while. Now I don't have to go to the mall for 6-12 months. It was crazy. I don't enjoy shopping in malls (at least here at home. I normally don't mind when I am outside the state as they have a lot of stores we don't have, so I will do it.) and last night really reminded me why that is. The stores had loud music, teenagers working (nothing like a 16-year-old working and answering questions for you to make you feel old), and just too many people. And I just don't like the consumerism feeling of the whole thing. I don't need any of that stuff. Seriously. Who needs pants with holes ALREADY in them for $60?!? Somehow, American Eagle has made people think that is a necessity.

I finished the baby hat I was knitting. OMG, it is amazing and probably the most adorable hat ever. I will post pictures soon. I am very lazy about pictures lately. I am now struggling to choose what to knit next... baby leg warmers or a scarf for myself. And just to set the record straight, there is no baby in my near future, I just enjoy knitting for babies! Quick, little projects are very satisfying. Now off to start my day.

Soap Box

Sometimes (ok, actually quite often) I am disappointed in my town. I'm pretty sure that Anchorage is one of the most diverse cities in Alaska (and possibly the US if I remember right) but we kind of act like an all-white hick town sometimes. I'm not going to get into it too much, as it gets me really worked up (which is a big deal as there are only about three things that get me worked up: recycling, humane treatment of animals, and humane treatment of HUMANS), but yesterday our mayor vetoed a bill that would make it illegal to discriminate against gay people when they are looking for a job or a place to live. The assembly had passed the anti-discrimination bill 7-4 after MANY town hall meetings and listening to hours of testimony. Our mayor (who I'm not sure had been to any of those meetings) decided that same-sex discrimination "does not exist" in Anchorage. Really? At least have the guts to say you voted with your party, or you have a problem with the way the bill is written, or SOMETHING. Don't come out and say that discrimination doesn't exist.

I don't think we have a single politician that I want to vote for again (or that I voted for in the first place, for that matter) in office right now. I'm incredibly disappointed.

Clubs!

By request, here is some information on clubs that I know of. If you are a fiber artist and have a club, feel free to post about it in the comments. Also, if you are a member of a fiber club, please feel free to post that as well.

Huckleberry Knits (you can see about 5 skeins of yarn in my picture from her) is going to be starting a club here soon. I think she is going to start a sock club and she is thinking about a mystery club and a "soaker" (little baby pant things) club. When she starts any of them, I am joining. Her yarn is amazing.

Danido Crafty has an amazing "Choose Your Own Adventure" club. She is all about customization, and she is the person who bought my first item out of my Etsy shop! *yea!* She is also from Alaska, but lives in Vegas. And, because our state is so small (in population), I actually just found out that I play softball with one of her good friends. CRAZY!

Skeindalous is starting a sock club that is based on the natural wonders of America. Her yarn in the picture is the green and gold yarn. It is called "Greed" as she did a line of yarn based on the 7 deadly sins. I had a hard time only buying that one skein, and can't wait to see what wonders she chooses for her sock club!

The Spindies Cooperative (a group of amazing fiber artists) does a club. I just checked out their page and it looks like they have a lot of size and length (how many months) options, so there is one for everyone! I believe they feature a different artist every month, which is pretty neat.

Maude and Me has a fun fiber club. I just love the pictures in the post! I haven't actually gotten my hands on any of her product, but it looks beautiful and I really want to try it. I need to spin at least some of my stash down before I buy any more. Seriously. There is only so much space in my house.

Serendipity Fiber Arts has a fun Myth and Magic club. There are many options to this club as well, so you can customize something to fit your budget. Her samples in PhatFiber are always amazing.

Perfect Day Yarns has a Dead Poets sock club. The next round goes on sale Aug 20! What a fun idea! I would love to see what a yarn based on a dead poet looks like.

Hampton Artistic Yarn (H.A.Y.) just started a roving and batt club. I love her little logo! Again, her roving is beautiful, but I need to SPIN, SPIN, SPIN!!!

Desert Garden Farms does a Pamper Yourself club (that I am in!). You can join for one month, or three. You get to pick if you receive hand spun yarn or roving. You will also get some lovely pampering items and a hand made bag! I love this club and am eagerly awaiting my next installment!

Twice Sheared Sheep has started a secret pattern/yarn of the month club. I treated myself to the July installment and loved it! I haven't knitted my hat and hand warmers yet, but they are high up on my queue of things to get on the needles.

Serendipitous Ewe has a Retro Video Game Sock Club that my friend joined while at Sock Summit. I love her yarn and plan on ordering some soon. Her puffin colorway is very fun, and puffins are my favorite bird, so I probably need a pair of puffin socks! :) Her striped entry for Dye for Glory won as well!

That is all that I know of at the moment. Let me know if you know of more. Clubs are my favorite things to buy because it is the gift that keeps on giving! You get packages for months! :) Now off to finish dinner (homemade pizza) and spin so I can order more!!! :)

Opening and Closing of SS

Thursday was the Opening Reception at Sock Summit. It was amazing. I'm sure if you were following me on Twitter, you read all of my tweets about how funny ST-1 was while giving their speech. I loved the story about how SS was started. Tina and Stephanie had been talking about SS "kind of how we talk of moving to Katmandu. Fleeting and not often." Then Tina called and said she rented the convention center, for "that Sock Summit we've been talking about". Too funny. I'm glad she did though, as it was the best four days EVER! It was fun to meet people... and everyone was excited to hear that we were from Alaska. And people also didn't need to talk about Sarah Palin for too long, which was nice. Every time it was brought up I would just say that I would rather talk about Alaska, not politics. A lady I met in line waiting to buy drinks said that SS was the best knitting convention she had ever been to. The caliber of teachers and the marketplace was just out of this world. So basically, I am spoiled and can never go to another knitting convention without being disappointed. But I am thinking of visiting some of the wool festivals, as they sound like a lot of fun.

Sunday was the Luminary Panel. It was also pretty amazing, except for the fact that it marked the end of Sock Summit. It was really interesting to hear the panel talk about different knitting topics and learn that Barbara Walker had indeed invented SSK. Amazing. I was in the same room as the woman who created SSK. The panel was a bit long and some (ok, one, who will not be named) of the panelists spoke for a bit too long, but it was still amazing.

I have been home for almost a week and I'm still sad that Sock Summit is over. It has been nice being home and getting some work done around the house. And I have been spinning some amazing roving from my good friend over at Northern Lights Fiber Co. It is gorgeous, as is all her stuff. Now I am off to hide in my sewing room and get some sewing done for my different swap partners. Both W and J have to work today, so I have the house to myself... hoping to get a lot done, but you never know. I should also take the dogs out for a quick walk... so many things to do!!!

The Marketplace!

Thursday the marketplace was open for students only for two hours before the Opening Reception. The marketplace was actually so big and beautiful it made my head hurt. There were so many vendors who had so many beautiful things it was overwhelming. I bought a ton of stuff... here are the pictures.







I am going to wear my spinning wheel tshirt to work and then a concert tonight. I'm pretty excited about that. :)

I also collected a bunch of cards for different vendors that are going to be starting clubs. Clubs are some of my favorite things, as you can pay for the whole thing up front and then get multiple packages for the next few months. It is pretty awesome. If you have any questions about which things came from which vendors, let me know. I may be more motivated to post links later, but I am in the middle of one of my baby hat kits and I just figured out the eyelet stitch!!

Classes at SS09

I took three one hour classes while at Sock Summit in addition to my class with the Yarn Harlot. I actually really enjoyed my one hour classes... it is the perfect amount of time for me to learn a simple skill and feel like I have walked away confident in what I just learned.

Conquer Short Row Heels!
This was my first one hour class. It was taught by Chrissy Gardner, who just released a new book (the name is escaping me right now, even though I bought it and had it signed by her) which is pretty amazing. I had never attempted a short row heel because the "wrap and turn" part scared me. I didn't know what it meant. Then as you keep reading the directions, you have to "unwrap" the stitches. Too confusing. So, I took a class and realized that it wasn't really that complicated at all! So now I just have to decide which pattern in the book to try first... they are all so fun and pretty, it will be a tough decision. I will keep you updated.

Continental Knitting
I felt like I could have had a two or three hour class in this and would have been better off. While I did learn the basic concept, I am very clumsy. Holding the yarn is a challenge for me, as when I throw I don't really have a technique for holding the yarn. I am going to try and keep practicing with this technique, as I do want to knit faster. I have been practicing lever knitting and getting better at that... I also have been knitting MORE, which really has done wonders for my knitting progress. While in Portland, I knitting my brother a hat for Christmas. It is pretty amazing. Now I have started a baby hat (which is adorable) and I am almost to the patterning section which means, I'm almost done! It is amazing how much knitting you can get done if you actually KNIT instead of THINKING about knitting!

Judy's Magic Cast-On
This was my last class of Sock Summit. This cast on is amazingly simple and also just plain amazing! It is completely invisible and I can see so many different uses for it. Judy Becker was very nice and I thought she was a great teacher. I think she is coming out with a book, which I am eagerly awaiting, as she showed us so many different ways to use this cast on (shawls, hats, socks, anything!) that I bet the book is bursting with great ideas. I have been following Judy of Twitter for a while before I realized that she was Judy of the Magic Cast-On. I felt like a dork when I figured that out. I also thought it was neat that after my class, she tweeted that she was sad she was done teaching and all of her classes were amazing. Now, I know she wasn't talking about me specifically, (although I am amazing) but it was neat to know that I was included in the group of "her classes at SS!"

So that was my experience with classes at Sock Summit. If (no, when) I get to go again, I think I will try to take a lot more one hour classes, as I learned a lot in them. Now off to get my morning under way as I have to go to work here in a bit.

Meeting the Yarn Harlot

Even though I am a Knitter, I was a bit ashamed to say that I did not know the full scope of the teachers at SS. I did some research to find out who they were before I left, but even after all of that, I was still most excited to see Stephanie P.M. aka "The Yarn Harlot". I read her blog religiously and think she is hilarious. When I was able to snag a spot in her class "Knitting for Speed and Efficiency" I was beyond excited.

My first encounter with the YH at SS was during registration. K and I went down to register and pick up our goodies and she ran by us... with an orange shirt on and her fancy radio. I just about died. I had been less that 6 feet away from the YH! It was amazing.

Then at the opening reception, we took our picture with her. Sure, it's blurry. But there we all are (me with my happening bangs) with the YH in all of her tired glory. From the way she talked, I'm not sure she slept much the entire trip...



Then I had class with her and it was amazing. For three hours I got to learn and listen to her talk about how knitting has changed over time and how we have become less efficient as knitters in our society. Then she showed us how she knit, which is SUPER fast (60-70 stitches a min) and I practiced that. I still need a lot more practice, but I think it is do-able for me. It is called lever knitting, or body knitting, and you hold one long straight needle under your arm and it doesn't move. I have decided I will call it armpit knitting. It is the style people used to knit when they had to knit for a living. Fast, efficient, and easy (once you get the hang of it).

I even got to chat with her at the book signing. I took her newest book (in hardback) for her to sign. She is just so nice and funny and willing to help out other people. I just wish I could hang out with her more often! :)

The other thing I really enjoyed about meeting her is that she has people that she was VERY excited to meet and was gushing over. That made me laugh, and made me feel better about how excited I was to meet her. It's always good to know that you aren't *too* crazy!

Alright, off to get to housework stuff. More SS news later! :)

Home Again, Home Again

So I made it home. I am still in a bit of a post-Sock Summit funk, but making my first Etsy sale helped with that! I just can't believe it is over. I already want to go back and do it again. Because I have a lot to do today (apparently when I am gone, a lot of unusual things don't get done at the house... like no one has read the daily calendar since I left, and I have a lot of mail to go through, and the bathroom trash apparently didn't make it out on trash day... who knows what else didn't go on. I haven't even been awake for an hour!) I am just going to tease you with a list of things I will be blogging about over the next week or so. I really think it will take a lot of blog posts to go over everything that happened while at SS09. Here is what I am planning on right now...

*Meeting the Yarn Harlot
*My classes
*The marketplace (OMG The marketplace!!!)
*Opening Reception
*Luminary Panel
*Ravelry Meetup
*Not all fun and games...
*Yarn shops (and the button shop) in Portland
*Basking in the glory of SS
*Blog, what are you? (not really SS related, but I wanted to put it on the list so I didn't forget)

I'm hoping to get my spinning wheel together tonight. I have to work from 3-7:30, but if I get all of my chores done before heading to work, I should be able to put two screws in when I get home. It is pretty nice to be around the dogs (and W, but he is at work.) again. I was really missing them. And since I had spent my entire budget (and then a bit more) I couldn't just buy more yarn to soothe myself. :)

The worst part about the trip is that both times I was on the plane, my right ear refused to pop. I still can't hear out of it. It took about a day to fix itself last time, and I'm hoping it gets better soon.... it is quite annoying. Alright, off to check on Ravelry and then to get to some housework.

Sock Summit, here I come!!!

I leave for Sock Summit tonight. TONIGHT. The day is here. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was making my flight reservations and dreaming of this day.... but it is here. Am I ready? No. I'm not packed AT ALL. I don't know what knitting projects to take. (Actually, this is stressing me out more than the packing. I can survive in one set of clothes, but what if I get bored with my knitting??) I just checked the weather and it looks like it is supposed to be cooler (only 80*ish) which is nice, because I was going to DIE if it was 100*. It also says it might rain... hmm... I live in AK where it rains quite often, yet I do not own a rain jacket of any type. What am I to do??

Alright, enough stress. My spinning wheel (a beautiful Ashford Kiwi) came on Sat. Last night I finally had enough time to seal it and put it *almost* together. I am two screws away from it being done. I don't have the appropriate screwdriver to finish the task, and I realized it at 10:30, so there was no where to get one either. I am hoping to finish it today, but who knows. At least it will be waiting for me when I return from my epic adventure in Oregon.

W is almost done with the awning project in the yard. The awning part has been done for close to two weeks, but he has been collecting rocks and laying them in the ground to create the porch. Sunday we drove to Seward (which was amazing, and I totally could live there) and we picked up a bunch of rocks on the way home so he could finish. I hope it is done when I get back, as the dogs really need a bath, but with all the dirt out there it is a bit pointless right now...

Speaking of the dogs, I bought Snickers a gentle leader head harness a few weeks ago, and let me tell you.... it has revolutionized my dog walking. He used to hate it, but now he is pretty much over it. He even sits down so I can put it on him. And before walking him was a pain because he pulled like a mad man. Now, I could walk him with one finger. He listens when I tell him where to go... it is amazing. Frito is getting one soon, as he has a very big pulling problem. I actually refuse to walk him because the last time I did he really hurt my hand. So if you have a dog that pulls, I highly recommend the Gentle Leader. It is amazing.

Alright, I guess I should go tackle my day... not like I can just get this stuff done tomorrow, because I will be in PORTLAND!!! I don't think I am brining my computer, so this will be my last blog post until my return. If you are incredibly curious about what I am doing, you can follow me on Twitter. The link is on the right side of my blog. Have a great week and weekend!!!!