Secret Pal Finales!

Well, Secret Pal 8 is almost over, and I have revealed myself to my spoilee, and gotten a final package and reveal from my spoiler. Let's check out the goodies first:

This would be my attempt at and artsy photo. My final SP8 package include Four skeins of Cascade 220 (two in an olive green, and two in a lighter green "heather" color.) These will likely get felted into a purse at some point. Then, over to the right, you'll see a partial skein on Blue Sky Alpaca yarns - Suri Alpaca. SOOOO soft. There are actually two skeins in a light grey in there. I have no idea what to make with it. It will make a super-soft scarf, so I might have to do that! I also got a deck of Alaska cards, because my pal is from Alaska, and some more Burt's Bees lip balm!! My favorite!

So, MONICA - thank you so much for spoiling me the past few months! It's been so much fun, and I'm now happy to say I have a friend in Alaska!! I can't wait for the knitting bug to bite me again so I can dig into all of this stuff!!!!!

Then there is the issue of the pal that I've been spoiling. Her name is Laura. I had a great time spoiling her! She is in school in Oklahoma. And, she is a very inspiring person. I don't want to overstep my boundaries too much, but let's just say that Laura has a lot of challenges going on in her life and what impressed me most is that she is not a complainer by any means, and always looks at the bright side...read her blog and you'll get a lot of the details.

So, SP8 was a great time for me! Can't wait for #9!

Now she spins, too!

I'm a spinner...kind of.
This weekend, I thought I would bust out that roving I got back at the Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival in June, and try my hand on the drop spindle. First, I tried spinning from the long thick piece of wool like the lady at the festival told me to. That didn't work. Then, I pulled the roving apart into that little ball of fluff at the bottom right of the photo. That helped, but I still ended up with this:

I do think that it counts as yarn, but it's a little over-twisted. The thing is, if I let it twist any less, it fell apart. I'm going to have to keep practicing!

It is what it is...

What's that you ask? Knitting. Summer is not knitting time for me, this I've only discovered now that it's AUGUST!!

I did a little knitting here and there - made a baby bootie, didn't like it so I ripped it up. Started a baby kimono and log cabin blankie for one of several pregnant friends. Haven't quite gotten around to finishing those either. I need to get re-bitten by the knitting bug. I need energy and creative inspiration.

I'm going to try to inspire myself a little bit this weekend as I sort through my yarn stash and get rid of some stuff. In the past, I've donated it to Goodwill or just given it to knitting friends, but I'm not sure who/what I'm going to give it to this time. I'm also planning on going to the State Fair to check out the sheep and knitted items contest. I'm sure there is going to be some inspiration there!!

So the other part of this is that I have a secret pal named Laura that I have been spoiling during this round of SP8. I'm trying to give her hints to who I am, so I think this hint might help a little. So far, I've told her the following hints:

• My name is Antoinette.
• I live in Iowa.
• I have blonde hair.

We'll see if she finds me!!

New pattern to try

Anyone out there subscribe to Berrocco's KnitBits newsletter? As you know, I am a big berrocco fan, and I've been getting their free patterns for some time now.

This week, I saw this pattern. So simple and basic, and I love it! I haven't tried their ultra alpaca yarn yet, but this might be the perfect pattern to use! I think it would make a cute black cardi.

remember me?

Slack knitter, slack blogger. I know, I know. Well, I do have some family members who like to tease me for having a blog (HI DAWN!!) but that doesn't matter.

I am still not knitting much, even though I have 7 days to complete the log cabin blanket for a friends' baby. The blanket is 20" by 20". I'm not sure if I can get it to 40" by 40" in that time, but we'll see. I'm heading back to St. Louis this weekend for friend's wedding shower that I'm in, so that's about six hours of knitting time in the car if I share the driving duties with someone. Then, when I'm at home, I'll be able to knit a little here and there.

The Iowa State Fair is coming up soon, and there is some sort of sheep to shawl demonstration that I'd like to see. We'll see though.