Spinning Items for Sale/Swap

The following is a list of knitting/fiber related items that I am willing to sell or swap. If you have an interest in any of the items, please e-mail me at blondieknits (AT) yahoo (DOT) com. (Remove spaces and replace the at and dot with appropriate symbols.) I accept paypal only, no personal checks. Give me your ideas for swap items if that's the way you want to go.

All items are in good to brand spanking new condition unless otherwise noted. Stored in a smoke/pet free home. Let's just say I'm a shopaholic and often buy things that I don't need...

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FOR SALE OR SWAP: A Handspindle Treasury from Spin Off Magazine. Will sell for $15, including shipping.

In progress

I'm working on a baby hat from Itty Bitty Hats for a co-workers soon-to-be-born baby girl, Grace. So far, it's knitting up pretty easily and quickly, although the directions for seed stitch in the round were wrong at the beginning of the book, so I got through two rows and had to rip them out and start over.

I know I've been MIA - but I've been over on Ravelry so much it's almost like I shouldn't bother blogging (besides, not many out there are reading this anyway, right?)

Who knows what I'll do. For now - I'm just trying to knit!

Ravelry, how I love/hate thee!

I've been on Ravelry for a couple of weeks now. Let me count the ways/reasons that I LOVE and HATE Ravelry.

I hate Ravelry because:

• It makes me think that I don't have as much yarn as I thought I did. (which really shouldn't be a bad thing...)
• It makes it look like I don't really have a lot of finished items. (But I used to knit a lot of scarves, and I'm not going to post every stupid scarf that I knit for a craft show...)
• It makes me feel jealous of all of the beautiful things that other Knitters have created! (Because that's who I am - I'm jealous!)

I LOVE Ravelry because:

• It inspires me to try something different. (So many patterns, so little time...)
• It helps me organize my ideas and favorites with the click of a button. (Me - organized??? Who knew it was even possible!!)
• It gives me a different way of seeing my projects and feel accomplished for getting something done. (I do feel accomplished looking at my little projects all lined up in a row...)
• It allows me to connect with Knitters in my area or with similiar interests. (Anyone interested in an Iowa Group? I need at least three others to join...)

I suppose I'm just whining, but boy oh boy, Ravelry is doing some great things for me! If you don't have your invite yet, be patient, Jess and Casey are working full time on Ravelry to get it ready for everyone - and you will not be dissapointed!!

Goodbye, Secret Pal 10

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Originally uploaded by The Knitting Fool

Or maybe I should be saying welcome to my two new friends - I spoiled Cindy this round and she's a very interesting person with a unique background! She homeschools her children and has two therapy dogs - golden retrievers. I have a personal love for Goldens as "my" dog, who now lives with my parents because they won't give him back, is a golden. Although he's not a therapy dog...

Then there is Crafty Caroline, who spoiled me! The photo is of the most recent package I received from her - some beautiful yarn, a candle in vanilla and jasmine and some Burt's Bees products. The hot weather here melted the candle and Burt's Bees, but that's o.k. - I use a candle warmer and the other stuff is in the fridge waiting for me to take it out! That Blue Sky Alpaca yarn is screaming to be knit into a pattern that will keep me warm this winter - I'm thinking a cowl of some sort. Maybe a lace scarf...it would be my first! Thanks so much Caroline for making this a great time!

Unknown treasure

I was going through all of my knitting books and magazines last night and putting them up on Ravelry (so addictive!) and I came across this book, that I didn't even REALIZE I OWNED.Check out the date - I'm quite sure this was one of the original printings as the book is old and yellow. My cousin, who lives in remote Missouri, picked it up a while back at a garage sale and gave it to me. Look how much she paid for it...Luckily, she doesn't knit, so I don't feel bad keeping it, but now I'm going to make her something special for giving it to me - I don't even think she knew what she had! My favorite part is the "About the Author..."

I'm not knitting, but I am creating

The situation: I have a baby shower to go to this weekend. I wanted to knit Tulip Toes, but my knitting time has been severely cut down because I've been so busy. Enter the fleece blanket. A fairly quick (2 hours max) project that is guarantted to get some oohs and aahs at the baby shower! Yes, the baby is due in August, but it's IOWA so it's going to be a cold winter, and this blanket will be nice and toasty - and big enough to last for several years. (Finished size is 52" by 46".)

I purchased 1.5 yards of two kinds of fleece - one floral, one striped (I love stipes and flowers combined!!) Then I spread the fleece out, cut off the selvage edges and put one piece of fleece on top of the other to trim them both to the same size. You'll see in the above photo, I've also cut a 4" square out of all four corners of the blanket. It helps the blanket lay flatter. This next shot shows the contrast fabric on the other side, and the 1" by 4" strips that I cut into the sides.

I reccommend cutting and fringing opposite sides - and when you tie, start in the middle and work out - it helps keep the blanket from distorting. Me cutting (notice the other sides are already fringed and tied)And me tying - yes, this shot should have been before the previous, but oh well!

Close up for the blanket - I love how the frings flips over to the opposite side and shows the pattern on the reverse - it's so pretty! The final product with it's beauty shot on my chair. Please note the flowers in the background that J got me for my 28th birthday yesterday!!

Friday Storms

On Friday night, there was a tornado that hit not too far from where I live. Houses about 1/2 mile up the road have some damage, but luckily we were o.k. with the exception of our apple tree that got ripped out of the ground and thrown across the yard.

These are some photos taken with my little Canon Digital Elph from Friday night after the storms. They are not retouched at all! I'm not sure why the colors came out like they did - it must have been reflections from the sun or something, but they sure are pretty. Of course the rainbow was actually much brighter than in the picture, but the camera doesn't reflect that.