Good Karma

I participated in yet another Good Karma swap on Ravelry. Yet again, I got an awesome swap partner. This time we exchanged with each other, which was kind of fun. I enjoyed getting to know her and felt like we had a lot in common. She doesn't have a blog so I won't link, but I will say that alura (Ravelry ID) is a pretty cool Momma. :)

She gave me this....

Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn in Beach Fog. I've really wanted to try out this yarn, but never was willing to pay shipping for sock yarn that I haven't squished in person. I know lots of people who rave about it though.

This... Lantern Moon rosewood needles. And a little black sheep measuring tape. Which is perfect because sometimes I feel like a black sheep. By the way, all photos have been borrowed from their own websites... I am a total slacker/sick person the last couple weeks and haven't taken photos off my camera.

I also got some super cool tan wool/yak blend worsted weight yarn. It's from a local-to-alura place I think. Sorry, don't remember where.

Then to top off the coolness, I got a bag of my favorite coffee (fastest way to my heart), a handmade project bag, and 2 kid size crowns (perfect for the princesses in my life) and 2 coloring books for said princesses. The girls were super excited about their crowns.

So now I had better get crackin' and knit up some of the great yarn I have. I've been feeling a bit guilty about the sheer craziness of the amount of yarn I have. It's. A. Lot. I'm hoping to have a finished project soon too.... My pink cardi is over halfway done. Just in time for fall!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I have nothing witty to say today. I'm at the tail end of a super nasty cold. It hit me like 3 semi trucks loaded with bricks. It hit me hard. I ran a fever for 4 1/2 days and have a cough that just won't quit. I'm feeling better now, but mostly just want to sleep. It's been a week so every day I get up expecting to feel just fine.

We celebrated my birthday last weekend at the cabin. Our friend from college came with her little boy. The kids all played. I don't think Lily quite understood that this was just a baby - after all, he's 10 months old and the same size as her! She played a little rough, but by the end of the weekend we were able to convince her that he was a baby.

Our friend bought me this yarn for my bithday. The blue is Mountain Colors fingering weight - just over 400 yds. The red is 800 yds of lace weight Misti Alpaca. Pretty! Sorry, no links, I'm tired and I'm running too many windows as it is right now.


I also got a nice gift certificate to my LYS from my Mother-in-law. I headed there yesterday for some low-impact knitting, but haven't bought anything for myself yet. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm getting, but I have so much in my stash right now I want to wait a bit. I'm really hoping I can do some stash elimination for Christmas. Otherwise I'll be on a yarn diet for the new year.

Check This Out

There's been minimal knitting in the Big Blue House by the Shores of Lake Superior this week. I started a new job and have been completely wiped out at night. I've fallen asleep at around 8:30 in Lily's bed every night this week. The information overload at the new job is just over the top. My head is swimming with rates, sizes and projects that are going on.

I'm hoping to get back on track this week and I've found some motivation to do so. Living Crafts magazine. This month is full of fun wool crafts, including a very cool set of felt crowns. I think I'm going to make a couple for Christmas. I think it would be a riot to see my nieces and nephew along with my own girls running around in their crowns. Plus, there's a great resource guide in there for wool roving. Gee, twist my arm to get more spinning done. :)

I guess it's a little neurotic to be planning Christmas presents already, but I have a lot of ideas swimming in my head. I'm hoping to do a lot with the stash I already have. It's going to be Stash Christmas this year!

What's the Story Morning Glory?

Sorry for the blurriness of the photos, I am having camera issues. I haven't been doing a great job of blogging lately and just wanted to catch you up to date on what I'm doing. First, I started a new job today. It's full time so I have all these Mommy Guilt issues to work through. Not to mention the busyness of having a 4 year old's birthday party, closing up things at my old job and the hubby being out of town. It's just a generally busy place around the Up North Household this last month.

We did get out of town for Labor Day weekend. We went to the Minnesota State Fair. I hadn't been there in almost 15 years - not since I was in high school and marching in their parade. I was shocked to see that the price of the All You Can Drink Milk went up to $1! Really it's a deal when you consider that a bottle of water was $2.



I drug my hubby into the Creative Arts building on the off chance that I would see this Blankie. It's Shelly Kang's blankie. I haven't really been keeping up with her blog, so I wasn't sure if she even entered it this year or not, but I knew she had wanted to. This photo doesn't really do it justice, but it's all mitered squares make out of leftover sock yarn. It was beautifully blocked and finished with an I-cord edging. This blanket is amazing in person - way better than any photo can show. There were a lot of other really neat knitted projects. I wish I had known Adam had my camera with so I could have taken more photos. There was an adorable little girl's Fair Isle cardigan with the abc's at the bottom. There were also lots of socks and popular patterns that looked great, but my favorites were by far the ones that people had designed themselves.

I'm tired and heading to bed, but first I want to ask... have you ever entered anything in the fair??