I'm finally back in the swing of things after a bout with crafter's block! :) I'm designing a new pattern which I will post in just a couple of days. Can't tell you what it is...but I will give a small hint. It's a kitchen pattern. :)

My oldest son and step-daughter are at the homecoming ceremony tonight. :) Sonya is the club rep for the ceremony and Mikey is her escort. I took pictures of them before dropping them off at the school.



Don't they look great!!! I am so proud of both of them! :)

Also, we have a new family member.



This is Buddy. He's an 8 week old pomeranian/Jack Russell Terrier mix puppy. My digital camera turns all pet's eyes blue, and the red eye function won't fix it. His eyes are actually dark brown. He has one ear that stands up, and one ear that folds over. Kinda funny, but I think it makes him look cuter. :)

We've had Buddy for about 2 weeks. He can already play fetch. We're still in the piddle-opps part of housetraining, but he's doing fine for his age. :)

Buddy is just the right size to be around Joshua, and will max out at about 20 pounds or less when he's full grown (according to the vet). He has a perfect personality -- he loves to romp and play, and will be a great dog for me to take on walks once he's leash trained. I'm going to start working with him on the leash this weekend. Our fenced in back yard is just the right size for him. And, believe it or not, he gets along with our cats. In fact, the cats play with him. I guess they think he's a cat, and the dog thinks they are dogs?? Not sure....but he's fitting in just perfectly.

TTFN!

Goodies!

Now that I can blog again with pictures....I have some catching up to do!

A big thank you to my KTS2 partner who sent me the most awesome tea swap package!

Linda sent me a beautiful green candle with a pretty green flower-shaped trivit to put it on; a drip catcher shaped like a lemon slice; two skeins of Trendsetter yarn in "Dune'' -- a pretty purple and green variegated color; a book "The Green Tea User's Manual'', canister of Daily Green Tea (republic of tea) in Kiwi Pear, and a pretty teaspoon. :) Thank you, Linda!!! And, here's a photo:



I had a cup of the green tea last night before bed.....it's great!! :)

My SP for the fall round at C'ville was unable to complete the swap, but a troop of "angels'' from the 'ville filled in and sent some wonderful packages to me. I can't thank them enough!

I received a package from a c'ville rescue ranger from Lawrence, KS. I was born and raised in Kansas, so I really love the Sunflower tote bag she sent me. Here's a picture of the goodies...


She sent me the tote bag, 5 crystalite crochet hooks, two knitting magazines, a shawl pattern book, a ball of pretty lavendar #20 thread, and a note on a pretty kitty notecard. :) Thank you so much!

I received two boxes from RR's in Wisconsin. :)



In the first box, I received four balls of thread in pink, red, yellow and lavendar, 2 crocheted dishclothes and 2 potholders, a yarn cutting pendant, Wisconsin Badgers lipbalm, a 2007/08 planner calendar, handmade stitchmarkers, two crocheted flowers, a crocheted hook holder with 7 hooks in it, 2 crocheted bookmarks, a pattern book "Painted Doilies'' with patterns for making doilies with sewing thread (very pretty!), and a postcard from Ephraim, Wis. Thank you so much!



The 2nd Wisconsin box contained: 2 small bottles of hair conditioner, 1 small bottle of shampoo, 1 small bottle of shower soap, bath salts, primo body spray, 3 packages of notecards (knitting,shells, and flowers), package of sticky notes, shopping/memo pads, 2 packages of cocoa, two tea bags, two packages of flavored coffee, and two Halloween pencils. :) Thank you!

Oooops....two items got left out of the photo......some pretty stitch markers in their own holder, and some flavored coffee.... Here's a photo:


I also received a great package from a NC rescue ranger (howdy neighbor!!). She sent me a crocheted headband, several types of tea, lacey notes with a tea theme, some handmade soaps, and some beautiful teapot earrings. :) Thank you! :)

Here's a picture:




And here's a closeup of the earrings she made for me:


Then today I was totally shocked when the postman came with two more packages....wow! Thank you so much, everyone!

I received a boxie from a rescue ranger in Arizona.


She sent several really cute Halloween pencils, a tote bag, several dishcloths, 2 thread coasters and some yummy sugar free mint chocolate candy! Chocolate I can actually have! Thank you so much!!! :)

And, I also received a box from another rescue ranger in Washington.


She sent me six skeins of Luxor DK in a pretty fuschia, lots of tea in yummy flavors, 4 balls of beige #20 thread, a ball of #10 thread in beige, a pattern book "Homespun Handknits,'' two bars of homemade soap (they smell SO good!), a pretty black sparkly scarf and hat set, and a nice letter. Thank you!! :)

And, I also received a $10 gift certificate to Handy Hands (they carry the BEST tatting supplies) from LC, also a rr from c'ville.

THANK YOU to all of you -- I can't believe how wonderful you have all been to me. :) Big hugs for all of you. :)

Hugs! Juli

Rain, Rain and more rain!

Very wet day here in NC! I think I will start building an ark soon! Sorry that I haven't been blogging lately.....I've just been totally swamped at home this fall. Now that it's getting colder, I have more time. In fact, I have some crafty things that I will blog tomorrow to share with everyone! :)

I apologize for being AWOL. But I had to take a bit of vacation from blog-land to spend more time getting yardwork done, and chasing after my 2-year old. :)


Here is my questionaire for SP9:

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? While I really do like most yarns, I really love sock yarn, plus lace weight and fingering weight for lace scarves. :) I don't really care for fuzzy novelty yarns, although I do occasionally use some. About the only yarn I don't care for is very thick "plasticy'' feeling acrylic yarns (like the old Pop'n Yarn Walmart used to carry).

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? Unfortunately, they are just on a shelf in a heap right now. I desperately need to find something to store my needles in.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I learned nearly 2 years ago, but before that I crocheted for 16 years, so I picked it up fast. I'd say I'm an intermediate knitter.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Yes, there is a link to my Amazon list on my blog.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.) Spicy scents like Patchouli. Please no floral scents -- they give me a headache and make me sneeze (allergy).

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I am diabetic, so please no candy unless it's sugar free. I do allow myself 1 serving of flavored coffee or cocoa per day as my allowed "sweet''. :)

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I crochet, embroider, tat a bit...but mostly I knit. I'd love to learn how to spin, but haven't yet. And I also paint pewter miniatures.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I love music! Anything but rap or screamer music -- can't stand those at all. Mostly I listen to Classic rock from 60s/70s, or folk/celtic/new age mix (like Loreena McKennitt, enigma, enya, etc)

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? Please, please....no light pink. I have red hair, so just never really liked pink since I can't wear it at all. I like most other colors. :) Autumn or jewel shades of purple, blue and reds are my favorites. :)

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I am married with 2 sons -- one is 16, and the youngest is 2. I also have 2 stepkids -- 19 and 17. We have 1 dog, an 8-week old Pomeranian/Jack Russell Terrier mix puppy. And we have 5 cats -- Fooful, Frenchie, Grover, Elmo and Kato. They are mostly outside cats, although they do wander in and out to get pats, ear scritches and lap time. :)

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Big no to ponchos. lol. I do really enjoy scarves, hats and mittens though! :)

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Socks, purses/totes scarves, and dishcloths/potholders are my favorite projects. :)

13. What are you knitting right now? I'm working on a purse -- and finishing up a long-term project (a cable knit sweater vest for my MIL)

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? I LOVE LOVE LOVE handmade gifts! :)

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I use both straight and circular. It depends on the project which sort I use. I use bamboo, aluminum and plastic needles. I prefer metal DPNs for socks....just easier to slide the small gauge yarn without pulling too tightly. I use bamboo or wood when I'm making sweaters or other larger projects where it's important that the stitches not move until I want them to. :) And I use plastic needles when I need a strong point to pick up stitches easier....it seems the plastic needles really have a more defined point while my metal needles are more blunt at the ends.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? No, I don't have either. Wish I did though!

17. How old is your oldest UFO? Oh my.....do I have to admit it??? I have a cable knit vest I've been working on since LAST October. lol. It's the never ending project.

18. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween! :) Fall is my favorite season, so I really enjoy Halloween. And after that, I really enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas. :)

19. Is there anything that you collect? I collect tea pots, and interesting glass pieces (like unusual candle holders, glass bottles, glass art, paperweights, etc), and anything with chickens on it for my kitchen.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I subscribed to Knit Simple, but have only received one issue so far. I have several knitting books listed on my Amazon list -- any of those, or anything remotely like them would be nice. Free patterns and links to pattern sites on the internet are great too! :)

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? I want to learn to knit lace....I'm just now starting to knit from charts and I'm enjoying it. Any beginners to intermediate lace patterns for scarves or even shawls would be so awesome!

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? I enjoy knitting socks. :) You can ask for my foot measurements if you need them.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) 07/11

Creative Again!

Well, finally I am over my creative block. Life was really busy for awhile, and I just didn't feel like knitting or crocheting for awhile.

But, the urge has returned! Right now I'm working on a purse, and getting ready to assemble an afghan from 12" granny squares. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Nothing too new on the home-front. Doing fall yardwork...actually....doing summer/fall yardwork....lol. With a 2 year old, I haven't had much time this year to do any work on our yard this season. Things were looking a bit straggly....so gotta get busy and weed, trim and neaten things up. I bought 3 huge bags of mulch at Lowe's on Friday.....and a bigggggg jug of weedkiller. Gonna make some weeds very very unhappy this afternoon. Die, you weeds, die!!! Gonna dig 'em out, spray what's left, and cover 'em up. That'll teach those pesky weeds to make my front landscape bed look bad. :)

I'll make a more interesting post tomorrow. :) Gotta get out and get to work on the yard. :)