International Tote Exchange III

Here are my answers to the questionnaire for the Tote Exchange:


2007Questionnaire1. Name and blogger handle: JaneV
2. Blog URL (if applicable): http://janevdoviak.blogspot.com
3. Do you want a purse that is felted - surprise me!
4. Color/fiber likes and dislikes: I like blue, green, purple, pink, brown, black, red, just about any color. I have no fiber allergies - love it all!
5. Do you tend to be dressy or casual? Casual
6. Prefer a pal who lives in the USA or international? USA
7. Miscellaneous info (anything you want to tell your pal): The best part of these exchanges is meeting new people with the same interests - so I can't wait to 'meet' you, and hope I will hear from you often!

I received my pal's name for this swap and also for the dishcloth exchange. My dishcloth exchange partner's kitchen is blue/green/yellow, and I just happen to have a skein of Sugar N' Cream in blue/green/yellow variegated! I started the Mason-dixon washcloth - twice! The first time I read the directions wrong, but at least I had only done 4 rows. Still - with all of those stitches cast on I was not happy to have to frog it and CO again! It's a round cloth, with bobbles and eyelets, and I've been wanting to try it. I will probably make her a ballband 'warshcloth' too in green and yellow, and maybe a soap sack too with some handmade soap.
Now - I have to figure out what to make for my ITIII SP.

My First Post on New Blogger!

Well, blogger was getting pretty persistant - so I took the plunge and moved.....it was painless and nothing has changed on my blog, so I guess they got all the kinks worked out - at least I hope!

I finished the Aibhlinn from Knitty.com - it's a cowl and I used Alpaca yarn instead of the cotton called for in the pattern, and only made it half as long. I love the pattern, but I'm not quite sure how to wear it.

I started my 'thrum' mitten from my KMKS - it's on two needles - looks brown in the picture for some reason, but it is actually green. The inside looks quite strange! I think the idea is that as you wear them the inside fleece felts and bonds together so you don't have all those loose pieces of fleece hanging around.

Thank You

Thanks to all of you for you Anniversary wishes. And just in case you are wondering - I'm about twice that size now - and I didn't grow any taller LOL!

Anniversary

42 years ago today it was snowing in my hometown of Clifton New Jersey, and I was getting ready for my wedding! How could so many years have gone by? How could we have been so young? When did we get so old? How could we have been so thin???

It's Michelle in Colorado Springs!

My KMKS is Michelle in Colorado Springs! Thank you Michelle!

KMKS Package

I got home from work today and found a notice that I had a certified package at the post office that could be picked up after 8:30 a.m. tomorrow. Well, there is no way I was waiting until tomorrow for my package! This is a small town and I knew the mail truck (car) would be back at the PO by 4 - so I went up to see if I could get it, and sure enough, he was just walking in the door with it.
Here is what was in it:

A beautiful felted bag, a cute cloth bag, both in my favorite colors, two books,
Maggie Sefton's Knit One Kill two, and Laura Child's The English Breakfast Murders (she knew I liked mysteries),
a beautiful box of chocolates!, a noodle mix and a rice mix that both look delicious, some pretty tubes of fabric, that I don't quite have figured out yet. The yarn is Lambs Pride Bulky in a pretty green along with some beautiful roving and a pattern for 'thrum' mittens, which I have been wanting to make. She also included a scarf pattern.
There is only one thing missing from this package - I still don't know who my pal is!!!! Whoever you are - thank you so much for a great package!

Lazy Sunday (Edited especially for Linda)

Cold outside - 12 degrees - windchill well below zero
Warm inside
Coffee and donuts for breakfast (very bad!)
Sunday paper
knitting - Aibhlinn from Knitty in Alpaca
Reading - James Patterson's Cross
Drinking tea - Vanilla Caramel
Chatting on-line
Roasting a chicken (with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravey, creamed spinach, biscuits - pure comfort food)
Wine - Merlot
Knitting a ballband 'warshcloth'
Watching football - Go Colts!!!!!

Hooray for lazy Sundays!!!

KMKS

My KMKS pal, Linda, received her package today and I think she liked it!

SNOW DAY

We had a snow day today - but we actually got more rain than snow here on the coast. It didn't turn over to snow until noon - but I'm not complaining about having a day off! Actually I'm fighting off a cold, so I just watched HGTV and DIY and knit. I made the 'ball band' felted purse from the pattern that Monica was nice enough to post on her blog. I used Paton's Classic wool in black and LionBrand Wool in "Ocean Blues". It's 12 x 16 before felting. It felted down to 8 x 81/2 x 2 1/2" deep and is drying now. Here is the pattern. I like the way it came out but If I made another one I would probably make it deeper, and use a brighter contrasting yarn so the black slip-stitches would show up better.

Page 123 Meme

The Page 123 Meme
1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123, look down to the 5th sentence.
3. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog.
4. Include the title and the author's name.
5. Tag 3 People.

It was almost 4:00 A.M., and Sampson and I were riding back to the First district station house in his car. I was wide awake now, and wired. My nervous system felt like it was vibrating. Maria's murderer? After all these years? Was it even a

Cross by James Patterson

Oh Baby!

These are gifts for two co-workers who are expecting babies in February - we are having a combined shower for them on Friday. The hats are from Pick Up Sticks, both made in the smallest size. The pink ballerina slippers are "pitter patter" from Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Knitting, but they are really a tiny version of the Fiber Trends ballet slipper pattern. The boys booties are from a free pattern at Warm Woolies They are a great pattern for charity knitting too. The bibs, of course, are "Bibs O Love" from Mason Dixon Knitting. I may make a couple more if I have time before the shower on Friday. There are basketball games (my grandchildren play) every day this week, and the bibs make great basketball watching knitting!

Christmas Keeps on Coming!

I came home today and found three packages had been delivered - none of which I will receive a bill for! The first I opened was my Winter Wonderland Swap package from Toni The package included two of the softest washcloths, machine knit with baby terry, a ball of Sugar n' Cream yarn, a magnetic note pad, and some beautiful handmade earrings and stitch markers. The second package was my order from Purely Alpaca that I got with my gift certificate from my sister-in-law. In it were the three skeins of Classic Alpaca that I had ordered, which are a beautiful shade of lavender and very soft. But..that wasn't all. As a thank you they included an adorable alpaca farmers pin,
and...a gold foil wrapped piece of chocolate! Now, any company that includes chocolate with their yarn order will certainly get another order from me! The third package had already been opened by my DH, as it was for him - a box of Omaha Steaks, ordered with a gift certificate that he received for Christmas- in fact, two of the steaks are cooking right now - on the grill, in January, in Maine!

First FOs of the New Year

Now that Christmas is over I have been busy knitting baby things. Three babies are due soon. My nephew and his wife are expecting a boy at the end of this month, and two co-workers are expecting babies in February - one a girl and one a boy.
My nephew's wife's shower is next weekend - so that had to be done by this weekend and in the mail bright and early Monday morning. The sacque and bonnet are from a Leisure Arts booklet, Precious Layettes to Knit. They are made with slip stitches, much like the ballband dishcloths are. The drawstring pants are from Last-Minute Kitted Gifts. The whole set is made with Caron's Simply Soft, which is machine wash and dry and really holds up well - a must for a baby garment!
I have also finished four "Bibs of Love" from Mason Dixon Knitting. They are made from Sugar n' Cream cotton yarn for the other baby boy. Next on my list to knit is a tiny pair of felted Mary Jane's from Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Knitting and the Two-Striped Flopsy hat by Pick Up Sticks for the baby girl on my list. We are having a combined shower for these two co-workers on January 18 so I need to speed knit!