huh?

curlerchik -- [adjective]: Full of bees 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

return from the dark side...

Done.


I went to the dark side, and returned unscathed! And, to be honest, I will go back. It was fun. A little harder on my left wrist (I'm a lefty) than I was expecting, but that's OK. I'm still not incredibly fond of the fabric that crochet creates, and I may save my forays into crochet for things that are a little lacier, but I'm very happy with this. There are some other projects in that magazine that I may go after - we'll see. I have Lucky Canuck to be my crochet pusher - she's good at it, and knows my taste, so I'll trust her recommendations.

Specs - Boteh Scarf form Interweave Crochet - Spring 2007
2 hanks of Shelridge Farms Handpainted Merino - I used virtually all of the two hanks. That final "Half double crochet all the way around" used up what I thought was a fair chunk remaining.
4.5 mm crochet hook.

In knitting news, I am still working on the endless stockinette of the black silk Lutea tank. This silk may be a little heavy for a tank top, but I think it will work out. I'm looking for something that I can wear to work, so I don't want it too clingy.

In other news, I took the day off yesterday to go on a field trip with my son's class. What a hoot! But man! I appreciate the teachers more every time I am surrounded by 22 rowdy kids, all clamouring at once. I'd want stock in Advil if I were an elementary teacher. Most of the kids are just normal level exuberant.But there are always a couple that are above and beyond - we're talking borderline nasty. They don't listen. Thankfully, I didn't have any of them in my group. What killed me was the number of kids that expected me to buy them something in the gift shop, ans were disappointed when I said no. I didn't buy anything for my own child - I didn't think that would have been fair. But, I loved spending the day with my kid, and seeing how he interacts with the others. I'm proud of him - he seems to get along across the board - he was hanging with the guys, horsing around and having fun, and he was very conscious of the girls, and even helped one of them pull her knapsack on the bus, and make sure she got a seat close to him. I hope he's as nice a teen as he is an 8 year old!

bleeding bees and beaded cuffs...

These have been named the "Bleeding Bee" socks: Sorry about the colour - it is way off. These are a clear yellow, black and red colourway - Fleece Artist Merino. I don't know why they are reading as pink. I colour adjusted - here's a better indication of colour:

I love these - my standard sock pattern (as of today) - Turkish toe cast on, wrap and turn short row heel, sewn down picot hem cast off. They may be for me, they may go into the Christmas box. Since I rarely wear socks from now until the snow starts, have time to decide.

For Joan in Edith's house in Vermont:

I bought some Baby cashmere from Joan a while back and said I would update her when it told me what it wanted to be. One ball was adamant that it wanted to be something out of the Arctic Knits book. So I listened. I think it was right. This beaded cuff is so delicious to wear. (Although, not in the 30C heat we have at the moment!) There will definitely be a match to this one shortly. The beads were my own addition. I used the crochet hook method of adding them this time, instead of stringing them on the yarn. Not bad, but some of the beads were difficult to get over the crochet hook. For a project this small, I don't think I would use this method again, but I will for the matching cuff, so it looks the same.

Joan? What do you think?

I still have tons of the baby cashmere left - I'm thinking of a matching scarf from the same book... The black silk I bought from her is already in the process of becoming my version of the Lutea Lace Shoulder Shell from Interweave Knits Summer 2007. I have enough of the silk for the body, but not the lace shoulders - I can either do them in a coordinating silk (I have some gold or some ivory), or I will use black bamboo to get some sheen. I'm leaning towards the bamboo...

well. that's better...

Don't get me wrong - I have nothing against pooling - I feel it is going to happen if you use handpainted yarns, and I just happen to adore hand painted yarns.

But this was not good:

This was beyond just pooling. This was a blob of tan on one side of a sock that was striping very nicely in black and white everywhere else. It looked like someone dropped a blob of bleach in one area. And it wasn't moving. It was just staying as a big blob. You couldn't even really call this pooling - it was just blobbing. (Do you get the whole blob thing? It was really blobby.)

So I went down a needle size, and I reduced the stitch count back to my regular count (I had increased by a few stitches to accommodate the fibre blend - less wool = less stretch).

What a difference a small change makes:

Much better. Amazing what such a small change can do...

Even Hubby commented - they are his socks, and he surprisingly takes a interest in their construction - actually I think he was just staking his claim, as two other people showed just a little more interest in them than he was comfortable with. (Men can flirt with me all day long, but no one had better show too much interest in his socks-in-progress, lest I give them away).

A note on the Tofutsies yarn - I love it. It's a touch splitty, and the jury is out on how well it wears, but it has a really nice hand and is fun to knit.

Next week - more completed projects! Really! It's exciting stuff, I know...

what the...

This is not what I expect to see on my drive to work:

A giant Mr. Peanut balloon. At 8am. The police officer driving behind me certainly did not expect to see me trying to drive a take a picture at the same time. He gave me the admonishing finger wave as he passed me.

Just a note - Hubby is away fishing for the remainder of the week - posting will be later than usual, as I am now responsible for getting child to school on time. Which gets me to work, not on time. I write a lot of my posts at home, but post them from work in the morning.

She may not have been amused, but we sure were...

Victoria Day weekend - also known as the May 2-4 weekend (regardless of what day it actually fall on). In the States, the unofficial start of summer is Memorial Day - here in Canada, it's Victoria Day. We honour Queen Victoria, known for being rather grim "We are not amused" is one of the stock sayings associated with her.


Grim is not how most of us treat this weekend!


Most have traditions attached to this weekend - lots of people just enjoy the extra day off. We, as cottagers, head north at the first opportunity. For us, this meant that as soon as Son was finished with his swimming lessons, we were off! I made sandwiches, chips, veggies and dip, cookies and fruit, and we had a picnic in the car - we do what we can to get going early!

The weather was fabulous - shorts during the day, but once the sun went down, the sweats came out, reminding us that it was still only May. The boys (Son and Nephew) decided to swim:
This is before they went in, but they did get all the way in and stayed in way longer than I would have expected. Of course, they were a couple of Popsicles afterwards...


Lots of exploring to be done:

poking caterpillar nests.

catching tadpoles. It should be a good year for frogs, based on the millions of tadpoles we saw...

a little friend that seemed to follow us around. Props to me for staying still long enough to take the picture. Thankfully I have a zoom lens. I wasn't all that interested in getting any closer...

No pictures of the adults partaking of their favourite activities - suffice it to say, beer was drunk, cards were played, sun was soaked up, boats and docks were put in.

And knitting was done - fickle girl that I am, I worked on about 4 different projects - pictures soon. And the neighbours put in a new hot tub. Yes, we christened it. Happily.

And... I found anew yarn store in Port Perry. We drive through Port Perry on our way north. We usually stop at the Dairy Queen on the way home. "Never Enough Wool" is across the street from the Dairy Queen. Alas, they are closed on Sundays and Mondays and we don't get into Port Perry early enough on Fridays, so this will be a hit or miss adventure!

My Knit List

In lieu of any other content, I give you my version of what's ripping around Blogland at the moment:

(Also - have you donated to Claudia yet? Go do it - MS is insidious, and if affects two very dear friends of mine. I want them around for a long time, so all help towards a cure is appreciated. I know she's in the States, and I'm in Canada - I also donate to MS in Canada, but I figure all money goes towards finding a cure - who cares where that cure is found...)

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.


Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book (I can dream, can't I?...)
Scarf
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money (how to suck the enjoyment right out of it...)
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn (anyone who wants to enable, feel free...)
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair (why?)
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

...and they're off!

We went to the races last night. Hubby took all the guys that work for him and the spouses out to thank them for a huge contract that just shipped. A nice evening - dinner, good company, horse racing...
I came out ahead, which is always nice. It also just makes Hubby shake his head - I know how to read a racing form - back in the days before family responsibilities took over our lives, we were part owners in a stable of Standardbreds. So I learned what all the little numbers and stuff on a racing form mean, and I can somewhat intelligently disseminate the qualities of each horse, and make educated guesses.

I don't.

I pick horses by name and by the colours of the jockey's silks.

Barbara - I owe you. My big win came on a horse named Cat's a Glitter, but most importantly, his dam (mother) was named ShadowCat. How could I resist? It was interesting to explain that I picked the horse because it's dam had the same name as a recently passed cat owned by a friend in Burbank that I have never met, but we share a love of knitting, and well, whatever. I won.

Unfortunately, Rowan Road didn't win. (I think he's still running...)

Everybody into the pool!

(Anyone a Flintstones fan??)

The tofutsies socks are working up nicely - this is great yarn to work with - a touch splitty, but not too annoying. Soft as all get out, and hubby loves the colourway.

It's a black, cream and tan colourway, and it's striping up nicely, or so I thought.

Wait. where's the tan?

Oh. There it is. Well THAT had better change soon...

Okay, I kept going on these socks and the blobby pool of tan continued to pool. Not impressed. Plus, I didn't like the way the fabric was knitting up - the sock looked huge. I had Hubby try it on, and ended up ripping back to the end of the toe shaping. I decreased the number of stitches, and went down to a 2mm needle from the 2.5 I was using. Hopefully this will create a firmer fabric, as well as a better striping pattern.

Appropriate

So, I'm trying to determine what is appropriate here. On Saturday, my son had his final basketball tournament. As I do through all his games, I was knitting a sock - small, portable, and easy to drop to cheer a great play. (Son sank two free throws, and scored 3 baskets. Youngest kid on the team - allowing myself to gloat, here!)
All the parents on our team know me, and know the knitting - they have been keeping track of the different projects that have appeared over the season.
So Saturday, another parent (I'm assuming parent here - may not have been - there were about 6 adults there associated with this one kid). She leans over to me, and says "Do you really think that's appropriate to do here?"

???

Let me fill in some blanks for you. She was wearing 5 inch wooden wedge heeled sandals (I love me some heels, but not on weekends). To go along with the footwear was a lovely pair of black hot pants, which unfortunately did not manage to cover the curve of the butt cheeks. Over this, a cleavage baring black lace tunic, belted at the hips, and not long enough to cover the hot pants. Enough jewellery to turn Mr. T's head, and to top it off, the crown of platinum hair, bleached so much as to resemble straw. Oh, and enough attitude that she sat with legs stretched straight out, encroaching on the court by a few inches, which she never moved, even after the refs asked her to, as it was a hazard to the kids running down the court.

And I'm "inappropriate"??

My answer to her question was simply, "Yes".

Side note to members of my Guild who also heard the swimming lesson story - yes, I seem to attract all the knitting-hating wackos. If there is a repellent available, please let me know - soccer season starts soon...

Mother's Day

This is part (the best part) of how I spent Mother's Day...

Hubby was away at a poker weekend with the guys, so Son and I went to Case Woodlot, a great area in Aurora - acres of woods, crisscrossed with paths and trails. We spent about an hour and a half, trekking around. We found trilliums:

and others celebrating Mother's Day:

Mother Goose was none too happy to see us. We started walking a little close, to get a picture of the goslings, and the above happened. While you can see her running towards us, what you don't see is the speed at which she was running! We backed off, and crossed the street to give her a wide berth, before resuming our hike.
All in all, a great start to the day. The rest of the day was spent grocery shopping and doing endless loads of laundry. When Hubby got home, he was probably tempted to nap (poker weekends usually mean little sleep), but I let it be known that sleep was not an option (I hadn't gotten my normal weekend allowance, so why should he??) He cleaned out part of the garage instead. Good choice.

I am a Knitter...

I consider myself a Knitter. (note the capital K - you'd have to be a reader of Stephanie to understand the significance of the capital K). knitters just knit. Knitters on the other hand, define at least a small part of their life by their knitting. In my house, you would be hard pressed to find a room that didn't have something of my knitting in it. Yes, even the bathrooms - where do YOU keep your Knitpicks catalogues?? In my son's room there are his sweaters, and some of his "craft projects" which all seem to have bits and pieces of yarn. There are WIPs here and there - Hubby was asking why there is a half finished mitre near the computer. Does he not know how long it takes some programmes to load? I can knock off a couple rows just checking email. I knit during get togethers with friends and family - they are used to it - some still think I'm odd, but, whatever. I knit during TV, and even at a movie - stockinette socks only, preferably in a light colour! I knit in the car when I am a passenger - cottage trips are 5 hours round trip - great use of time.

So explain to me what the hell this is...

and why am I enjoying it so much? (Except the counting. There is way more counting in crochet than knitting). And, to be honest, I'm not that enamoured of the fabric created by crochet. But, I'm still having fun!

I will still be defined in some way by my knitting. But you will have to forgive my forays to the dark side. I was always that kid that had to push the envelope, the one that had to be pulled back from the edge of the cliff.

(specs: Boteh scarf from Interweave Crochet, Spring 2007. Shelridge Farms Handpaint 100% merino - yummy stuff!. 4.5mm hook)

back to the birds...

Sadness with regards to the robin's nest in our hedge. Son and I took another peek last night, and where there were three eggs on the weekend, now there are two. There is no sign of the broken shell anywhere in or around the nest, so it must have been carried off. Dang.

My son was some ticked off that there is one egg gone - he wants to check every day now to make sure "his" eggs are safe.

Knitting... there has been some... not much... hey! look - flower pictures!

(Can you tell, I'm hoping to distract you from the lack of knitting progress?) There are socks on the go, and a crochet scarf started (and ripped back a bit - I zigged when I should have zagged). I'll try and post pics of that soon.

The orange pansy is in a big urn near our deck - we planted it last weekend, and will continue to change the plantings in it all summer - it gets hot where it is, and pansies don't take heat well. The bluebell-like plant is in one of my shade gardens - I have no idea what it's called. I always start with grandiose plans - I chart my gardens and put the cultivar names in, and then I move things around, and lose my diagrams, and well, screw it. I just want to enjoy the plants.

My son is enamoured of my hostas - I have close to fifty different cultivars all around the place (we have a lot of shade!) He decided to take this picture, and I thought it looked pretty cool.

A shout out to Lunadog - thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment! Hope you come back again. (Lunadog is a friend from the About.Knitting/com forum.)

Really, I still knit...

Helping the Toronto Spiders!

On Sunday, May 27, the Toronto Spiders will take up the International Wool Challenge (Back to Back Competition) for the fourth consecutive year. This competition, involving teams around the world, requires that a sheep be shorn and the fleece spun, plied, and knitted into a sweater (according to a standard pattern) in one day.After two years at the Ontario Handspinning Seminar and a year at Toronto's Riverdale Farm, this year the Toronto Spiders will be at the Pickering Museum in Greenwood, as part of their Opening Day. The team is made up of Wannietta Prescod (the fastest knitter in North America in 2006), Barbara Aikman, Julia Lee, Judy Pergau, Denise Powell, Karen Richens, and Lorraine Smith of Spinners Quarterly. Our shearer is Bob Comfort, and Joan Kass and Judy Findlay will be our timekeepers and educators. We look forward to having lots of interest and support from passers-by. Like all Back to Back Challenges, we will be raising money for cancer research.We will be attempting to beat our Canadian record time of 6 hours, 51minutes, and 15 seconds, so hope to finish some time between 4 and 5 p.m.If you are in the neighbourhood, please do drop by and wave, say "Hey y'all", but don't expect us to stop what we're doing to chat with you until the sweater is done!

Note from me: I personally know both Wannietta and Lorraine, and aside from being truly great people, they are truly great knitters and spinners. While I will not be around that weekend to cheer them on in person, I will definitely be cheering them on from afar. It's a great cause, and a bizarre challenge. Think about it - from sheep to sweater in a few hours! Mind boggling...

knitting, not birds...

I started the Linette tank top I bought at the Knitter's Frolic - from Grand River Yarns, I believe. It's a tank top - with an open lacy pattern, meant to be worn over a cami or something. I love the deep orange-iness of this yarn. It's a rayon-linen blend, and the rayon gives the crisp linen a shine and drapiness. The bottom picture shows how the pattern will open up once blocked.

I know there are people out there wondering why I am knitting this is two pieces, when it's just crying out to be knit in the round to the underarms.

Two reasons. One - since this yarn has no elasticity, and is very drapey, I thought side seams would give it a little bit more stability. And I really don't mind mattress stitch.

Second reason - the pattern. As it stands, its a 6 row repeat, with one of those rows the eyelet row, and one row a purl row. If I were to change it to knitting in the round, there would be TWO purls rows per 6 row repeat. I hate purling. It's mainly this reason that I'm working back and forth.

Since the pattern came with two hanks of yarn, I'm knitting the front and back at the same time, since they are the same until the neck shaping. I'm probably going to change the neck and armhole edging as well - I'm not fond of ribbing on the edgings - I find it to be almost outdated in this type of garment - very 70's. I'm thinking a tight, rolled stockinette edge, or attached i-cord, for a finished look.

And I bought something last night. A magazine. An Interweave magazine. Interweave Crochet. Yes, I used the "C" word. I bought an entire magazine for one pattern. The Boteh Scarf (Google it - the blog pictures are way nicer than the Interweave one). After an extended email discussion with Lucky, I decided to do it. I can crochet, and I can follow directions, and I really love this scarf. I grabbed some of my Shelridge Farms handpaint in sunny yellows and reds and I started it last night and had 5 rows done before I decided that I was using too small a hook (the pattern called for 4mm - I had 3.5mm and 4.5mm. Figures.) I'm starting over with the 4.5mm tonight if I have time (busy night ahead...) I may be headed down a disturbing path...

more bird stuff

To cover for the lack of much knitting progress, I give you this:

This nest is in the hedge near our driveway. It's about 8 feet up, and I was standing on a ladder, with the camera out at arms length, while I took this blindly. I didn't want to stay up there too long, as Mama Robin was in the maple tree nearby, keeping a close eye on me! This has become a family project, as Hubby and Son see the Mama every morning. We will take pictures every few days and see what happens.

Another reason knitting time was limited:Meet James the Butler. Son is doing a puppet show in class (there are 4-5 groups of kids, each with a different story to tell). Son's character is James the Butler, and he came home last week saying he needed a puppet for Monday. Son designed the whole thing. I only sewed the puppet shape, and handled the hot glue gun. I also cut out the hand shape - that one was giving Son some problems. Other than that, it's all his. (Note the inspired use of BOA yarn for the moustache...)

Hopefully, knitting news soon!

bird wars

We have the Theatre of the Absurd outside our office these days. There are two birds that spend add day - seriously, ALL DAY! - on on the cars here Just hanging by the driver's side window - preening, fighting, just hanging around. It's become sport now for us all to watch. Here's one pic of just one bird - the other was divebombing someones head at this point:

It's almost like he's yelling at us for disturbing him. And yes, that is bird poop all over Brenda's car. (You should see the back of the mirror!) I'm trying to get a picture of the WWE action that goes on on the ground - the two of them were rolling around like horny high school kids after the prom.

There has been knitting going on - finishing, even! I finished another Leaf Cravat, this time in worsted weight - merino/mohair blend from Welllington Fibres. With this autumn-y colourway, how could I resist a leaf themed scarf? The only changes I made were the yarn and the needle size (a 5mm, I think) I also shortened this - it just wraps around the neck and ties in front, with the leaves hanging. Very pretty.

However...

do you see it? THE HONKING BIG ERROR??? Okay, maybe not so big (my co-worker, whom I made look at this thinks I'm over-reacting), but still! And of course, it's right in the middle of the picture i take to show off the lace pattern. On the right side, right in the middle, one vertical line veers off to the border instead of following it straight up. I put a YO in the wrong spot, obviously, and didn't even notice during blocking. I only noticed once I uploaded this.

Actually, my co-worker didn't use the term over-reacting. She asked if I had ever noticed the ANAL in ANALYST. (I'm a sales analyst). After I spit out my coffee, and stopped laughing, I realized that she is right. No one is going to see this. (Except me. And now you.)

Edited - some people said they had trouble seeing the HUGE ERROR (obviously, not as huge as I am seeing it to be...) I've added a visual aid...

A final note: I was in the drive through line at Tim Horton's this morning. How addicted to this coffee are you, when you are drinking a Timmy's in the DRIVE THROUGH at Timmy's to get another one?? Yes, the guy behind me was sucking on an XL, two cars away from placing his next order.

Fiona Ellis

Last night, The York Region Knitting Guild was graced with a visit from Fiona Ellis, knitwear designer extraordinaire. If you haven't seen Inspired Cable Knits - run, don't walk to your nearest store to pick it up. It will have even the most cable-phobic swooning. (I am SO going to make the Celtic Icon Hoodie!)
On top of being a wonderful designer, Fiona is just a really nice person. We had a ton of laughs, and her presentation of how she gets inspired was, well, inspiring. I loved seeing the pictures from nature and beyond, and how she translated them into cable patterns. It all made so much sense, and really made the patterns come to life.

She also gave us a sneak preview of her new book Inspired Fair Isle Knits - tentatively coming out in October of this year. Fingers crossed there are no shipping "incidents"! I hope she'll be back when it releases...

The other cool thing about Fiona? She went and picked up my raffle prize from the Knitter's Frolic, and brought it with her! When she gave it to me, it was a ziploc bag with a blob of black yarn - no ball band. Since I was driving, I thought it prudent to wait before I checked it out. Once at the Guild, I opened it up, and how bad is this - knew within nanoseconds of touching it, what it was. (I need to get out more...) 2 skeins of Headwater Wools New Zealand Romney lace weight in black!

I have some of this yarn already in sage green, mustardy gold, and rusty red. The black will make a nice compliment to the stash. Thanks, DKC! I'll be back next year!

finally, frolic pictures!

I finally had the time to download the pictures of my haul from the Knitter's Frolic. But first - how cool is it to have a picture of yourself wearing a shawl you knit, alongside the designer of said shawl?
Here's me and Amy Singer, with me wearing Tuscany. Sorry for the blurriness - I forgot to tell Lucky how to focus my camera... (And Amy? You'll notice which picture I used - even though I looked better in the other one...)



Now for the stash enhancement...
Twilley's Denim - 5 balls in the bag - $25 from Goodbuyyarn.com. This will go great with my denim stash from Elann - denim sweater for me, coming soon! Sock yarn - Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in the Baltic Sea colourway at the top. Fleece Artist Sea Wool (I loved the Sea Silk so much, I had to try this...) And Tofutsies - wool, soysilk,cotton and chitin blend. Chitin, you ask? A fibre derived from crab and shrimp shells. Yep. Hubby read that and claimed it as his own. He wants to wear shell socks.A close up of the Lorna's Laces - I *heart* this colourway.

Zen Garden cashmere sock yarn from Pick Up Sticks. I am SO not putting cashmere on anyone's feet. This will probably become a scarf from my Arctic Lace book... Also, Claudia Handpaint sock yarn - Hubby has also claimed this. For a guy that is pretty conservative in his garb, he loves the bright socks...

A linen blend tank kit. I love orange in the summer. This will have lots of friends in my summer wardrobe (especially, my pale orange linen skirt...)

Sari Mix. Not for me. Long time readers will remember I have a SIL that is a Tibetan Nun. She will love this, and I like doing special things for her...
Not bought at the Frolic, but gained there anyway - Socks that Rock, Baybee! LuckyCanuck, my STR enabler emailed me when Lettuce Knit got their new shipment - she went at lunch and picked up these three colourways for me - Harlotty, Footzey Foo and Lapis. Yeah, baby! Is it obvious I love this stuff?
Tonight, I pick up Fiona Ellis and drive her north to our Guild, where we will have the pleasure of listening to her speak, and seeing a trunk show from Inspired Cable Knits. I can't wait! Pictures tomorrow!

Also, how cool is this? Fiona is picking up my raffle prize from the Frolic that I missed picking up. So I will get that tonight, too!