On the upswing

I walked the dogs this morning for the first time in a while. (W has been walking them alone since I haven't been feeling well) It felt good to be outside, back in my normal routine. I'm hoping that I am on the upswing of my illness. Last night I slept (!) in my own bed for the first time in 3 nights. It was nice to actually sleep and to be in my bed and not on the couch. The couch is great for napping, but not so great for days at a time. I did have to get up at 4am and eat some cereal because I was STARVING. That is not really too unusual though. :)

In yarn news, I finished spinning my burlesque SAL batt from bohoknitterchic.  I even added the add-ins so there is some fun yarn and sequins mixed into it. It wound up being 82 yds of aran/bulky weight yarn. Pictures later, as it is in the sink right now.

I also received my first shipment of the 2010 Loopy Ewe Sock Club, and it did not disappoint. This year the club is including a pattern for a pair of socks and something else, in case you don't want to knit any more socks. I think this is great, as I love socks... but since there are two of them, they don't always get done. The pattern that came this month was a fun scarf/shawl thing and they also included two fun shawl pins to wear with the scarf. LOVE it. And the sock pattern was designed by Wendy of Wendy Knits fame, and is actually spectacular... I'm going to have a hard time deciding what to do with my yarn. I wish I could have gotten two skeins and knit each project!

Alright, enough blabbing. Sorry if this wasn't as coherent as normal... I'm still very stuffy. I have to go get some work done as I have a booth at the fiber festival this weekend... probably should have some stuff to sell. :)

Sick

I haven't been posting. I know. I have been pretty busy... I have a lot of deadlines looming, and then this past week I got sick. It is kind of kicking my butt. It's just a cold, and I'm hoping to be over it by Monday, but until then I'm hunkering down on the couch and being miserable. Well, I do have to work today and tomorrow, but if I'm not at work, I will be on the couch. Lame. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Olympic Questions

So as I have been watching the Olympics (NOT often enough, thanks NBC... still don't understand why I live so close, yet I don't see anything live...) I have been thinking about a few things. Just figured I would post them here in case anyone knows the answers... I'm sure if I spent some time, I could figure it out, but really, who has time for that?? :)

* Do you think the athletes train differently for sports that are judged vs. those that are strictly timed? Do you think they have to do research into what each judge looks for?? I'm sure that the judges have guidelines, but they are people and I'm sure they also have preferences and certain things "tickle" them.

*What do the other people in the bobsled do besides push? Or are they just along for the ride?

*Why do speed skaters wear sunglasses?

I'm sure I had other ones, but they have slipped my mind. Today Fur Rondy started, which is exciting! I love to Rondy! My favorite things include the snow sculptures and the dog weight pull. I love watching the running of the reindeer, but sadly, I have to work during that this year. :( I am going to be doing a spinning demonstration tomorrow for Fur Rondy! Hopefully encourage some new people to learn to spin... I have yet to decide what I was going to take to spin... I will have to dig through and see what I have.

Oh, and since my Ravelympics bid was ruined (thanks, Frito!) I am going to be doing Iditaknit... which is starting and finishing a project during the Iditarod. Much more Alaskan and therefore much more amazing. :) I actually am thinking of doing the same project, with sock weight yarn... I have a great green alpaca that I have been dying to knit. We will see...

Desert Garden Farms

Sooo, as if I haven't been posting enough pictures (check back for my Wordless Wednesday post) I figured I would share what I have been getting in the mail from one of my favorite Etsy shops, Desert Garden Farms. I am in almost all of her SAL-s, and last night just finished up my last skein from the Shel Silverstein SAL.

I also recently received my KAL package that included a pattern for a beret from Danido Crafty. I also had ordered 4oz of batts and had WON 4oz of batts in her Ravelry holiday picture competition. Yea!

On Friday, the Pirate SAL ships, and I know that I will be getting 8oz of batts again.... oops. Her shop is just full of wonderful-ness! It might also contain some yarn.... The other SAL-s I am in that are coming up are Bunnies! (I am getting the Easter bunny and the Trix bunny), and a Murder Mystery SAL, which should be extra fun. So go check out her shop and buy something so it doesn't come home with me! :)

Fat Quarter Shop

If you ever need to buy fabric or patterns online, I highly recommend FatQuarterShop.com.  I order charm squares (my shop doesn't carry them, sadly) from their site quite often and I am always impressed with how fast their shipping is. Last week I ordered two patterns on Tuesday and got them in the mail Thursday.  Then I ordered fabric on Friday, and it came yesterday! Here is a picture of what I ordered....

I have been obsessively collecting fabric panels to make fabric books for kids. I love them. They are a quick, easy sew, and they are just wonderful for little kiddos. These two are golden books and they don't have any words in them, which I think is VERY cool because as your kids learn to talk, they can make up their own story. And the charm squares are the fabric line "Blush" by Basic Grey. We received some bolts at the shop the other day and I LOVED them. I am going to sew the charm squares together in a basic top, then applique a bird (there are birds on the fabric) on top. Then, I will use my favorite fabric for the back. Quick, easy, fun, cute.

I also got my Burlesque SAL batt in the mail yesterday from Bohoknitterchic! I sometimes feel bad that I get so many packages... I'm sure my mail man isn't too pleased with me. :) It is BEAUTIFUL. I have to think about how I want to spin it, as I am going to try and make it a bit more "artsy" than what I normally spin. I am also in her Retro Pin-Up SAL, and I'm sure those will be amazing as well!

Picture Tour

Many of you may remember, my craft room used to be a bit out of control. The door was always kept closed. It was stressful to be in... here was the view that I saw when I walked in:

Crazy, right?!? I don't know how I let it get that bad, or even how I found anything. (Ok, actually, I do know how it got that bad... I never put ANYTHING away. I would just put things in there and close the door.  And I couldn't find anything, which was a constant annoyance to me.)

Now, here is the view from the door:

WHAT!?! I had carpet? I had to move EVERYTHING out of the room to clean the carpets a few weeks ago, and when I put it back in I was determined to have a functional room.  I measured everything, drew pictures of what I wanted, and went to work. It is now a functioning room that I can have the door open and be seen by other people. It is a bit messy in these pictures because I have a project going. This is it messy. I'm so happy!

In these 10 baskets are all of my yarn and fiber. The yarn is sorted by weight. I have wanted to get baskets for these shelves since we moved in, and I was very happy to finally find the perfect ones this January. 

This is the other half of the closet. All of my stamping supplies... and *cough* ignore the pile of unfinished quilts over in that corner... this could still use some work, but the fact that I can SEE everything is a big improvement. 

This shelf has all of my business stuff, dyes, and fabric scraps on it. 

All of my fabric is stored in this dresser. It is all sorted by size, and has tags sewn on it that says how big each piece is. I have even continued to do this with the new pieces I have been buying... not that I needed more fabric... and on the windowsill there (hard to see because of the sun) are mason jars full of zippers, buttons, and knitting needles. 

My sewing table. Note the big ball of green yarn that needs to be untangled.... Frito thought it was a play toy. Luckily, it was still in a hank, so I think I will be able to fix it with little trouble. 

And...lastly, I can leave my ironing board up! This is amazing. On the board is my project that I am currently working on... and what I need to get back to today. :)

So there you have it, a picture tour of my new, improved crafting STUDIO. It has been great having a room that I can work in. I'm loving it. 

Alaska Weather

I don't like to complain about the weather. (Not that I am immune, but even as I am doing it, I think... I don't like this...) Mostly because I think it is silly to complain about things you have no control over... I realize the weather is something that everyone can talk about, because everyone experiences it. But, I also hate small talk, sooo basically, I'm not really a fan of talking about the weather.  I love winter. I like summer. I HATE break up. People have been looking forward to summer, as it has been extra warm around here lately. I would be all for it, if I had a guarantee that summer was as great as last year, but I know better. I know summer will probably be more normal, meaning one sunny day a week if we are lucky, and mostly rain or the chance of rain. I don't really care for rain, because unlike snow, you can't shake it off and stay dry. I figured I would share some Alaska weather facts with you.... maybe it will cheer some people up...

Average Jan. temperatures: High 24 Low 5
Average Feb. temperatures: High 25 Low 11
Average March temperatures: High 32 Low 19

This Feb. has been more on par with March, or even April average temperatures. Also, we normally have at least a week of sub zero temperatures in the winter, and that did not make an appearance this year. So overall, a pretty mild winter. And I can tell every day we are gaining more light.... it is pretty amazing that it is light enough for me to walk the dogs at 8:30 instead of 10, and it is still light at 6! Crazy.  So cheer up, Alaskans! You live in the best state of the Union... and although the weather is unpredictable, hopefully you love it here. You should only live somewhere you love.