Progress

When my sister moved to Belarus, she got herself a blog and a cool new knitting habit to go along with it. She's "Learning to Walk in Stilettos" on my sidebar. She and I have been getting each other in quite a bit of trouble. Basically it goes like this: find something wonderful, blog about it, the other person HAS to try it! Or, sign up for it, as the case may be. Hence, I sent out the first of THREE swap packages yesterday morning. I was quite pleased with the package, but, in my haste, forgot to take a picture. After it's opened and posted on my pal's blog (which will be Valentine's Day, at least), I'll post the same here.

So, besides the Be My Valentine swap (find the group on Ravelry), she's also convinced me to join the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap (#4), and that's proving to be fun because, while I'm receiving the materials to do a pair of socks, I only have to knit a bag. I was getting a bit weary of knitting socks for others. I like to wear socks that I've knit myself - although the ones I receive are always very lovely, I want the satisfaction of saying I knit them myself! I'm knitting Gryfindor colors (again), which is great, because they're also Redskin colors, and I get ideas galore in the process!

I'm also in the Hot Cocoa swap, which is for "beating the winter blahs/blues." I hope I'm picking things for my pal that will suffice. Don't want to give away too much here, but it's always so nice getting to "know" someone this way, and lemme tell you - my pal has EXCELLENT taste in yarn, which has been very costly for me, but only because I bought just as much for myself as I did for her! After I've sent and I know the package has been received, I'll post all the specifics (again). I do want to post a few sneak peeks, though, because this has been a big part of this weekend, with a little more to go!

Here's some knitting for one pal:

And, and x-rated shot of the hot cocoa made with the GOURMET marshmallows (I know, who knew!!??) I **achem** sampled for my cocoa pal:

It felt completely illegal, I swear! They were "Chocomint" flavored, by the way! I've got an "Amaretto" flavored one simmering in some cocoa right now. I'm sold! Go by Laura's Candy and get some for yourself!

Then, while rooting in the closet for The Boy's knee pads (he's determined to become a Skater Dude), I came across this: A dyeing project from when The Boy was a wee baby. I knit him a scarf made with yarn I'd dyed with kool-aid. Wish I could remember which packet made which color, because I really loved that purple and the bright, intense red. I do plan to dye again one day, but I'm not sure what colors I'm looking for, and I'm plenty distracted by other goodies right now anyway! I just thought it was sweet, and Can't believe how well it turned out, and that we still have it.

All this swapping and planning and Boy Stuff has meant very little work this week on my Tilted Duster, which I still plan to finish next weekend. I really only have about 8 more inches of ribbing and the collar to do (besides the finishing), so I completely think it's do-able!

:O)