Spring Felted Bag Exchange is Here!

Mailcall! In my Spring Felted Bag Exchange box, I found this, along with 2 felted bag patterns that I can't wait to try!
First, is the Ballband Bag Pattern by Monica...knit for me by my wonderful Spring Felted Bag Echange partner, Judy. This bag is beautiful! Judy used Cascade 220 in Chocolate Brown (color 8686) for the main color, and Noro Kureyon Color 139 for the secondary color. It's just gorgeous!

Ballband Bag Felted Bag Pattern By Monica (worksforyarn.blogspot.com)

Materials
1 ball Cascade 220 ( I used black) (A)
1 ball Diakeito Rococo ( I used color 104) (B)
10 1/2 circ. needle 16"
Pre felted my bag was about 9" wide and 14" tall, post felting it is 8" square


CO 39 stitches with (A) and knit 13 rows in garter stitch, place a marker(pm) and pick
up 6 st along the short side, pm, pick 39 st on cast on edge, pm, pick up 6 st along side, place beginning of round marker.
Knit 4 rounds
begin pattern:
Rnds 1&2 Knit
Rounds 3-6 with (B) K4, SL1, *(K5, SL1) to 4 stitches before first marker, K4, SL marker SL1 , K4, SL1, sl marker* repeat from * to *
Rnds 7 & 8 Knit with (A)
Rnds 9 - 12 with (B) K1, Sl1, * (K5, Sl1) to 1 st before marker, K1, sl marker SL1, K4, SL1, sl marker* repeat from * to *
repeat these 12 rounds for desired length ( I did 6 pattern repeats)
Knit 6 rounds in (A)
end with an attatched I cord bind off, marking center on one long side for an i cord button loop and marking the 6 side st for a 6 st I cord strap to pick up after bind off is finished. ( I am applying purchased straps to mine.
The button loop is a 3 st I cord 4 " long , pick up 3 st along the center on the inside of the bag and knit 4" I cord and graft to the inside of the bag.
Felt , shape let it dry and enjoy your bag.

Also, Judy sent me her directions for her pattern, available on her website, the Walden Knits Noro Ruffled Felted Bag, seen here.

I also received 2 skeins of yarn to create a Ballband Bag for myself (!), a nice "K" sticky note pad, and some almond toffee crunch, along with some beautiful handmade stitch markers. Thank you, Judy!

I'm a Nerd? So They Say... My Results:

65 % Nerd, 34% Geek, 47% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

SP 10 is Revealed

I have received another swap package this week...from my SP10 pal, Debbie from Georgia! I don't know her blog yet to link her here, but I need to share what I received, and the box made my day! I'm taking the time (with our Suburban STILL acting up) to clean the house, and organize...and yesterday, the post lady brought me...a box from Georgia! I didn't think I'd be receiving another package from my SP10 pal, because I've been truly spoiled too much already (my grammar needs help, huh?)
Well...inside was a lovely hand-knit Heart Double Knit Hotpad (along with the pattern), Mary Engelbreit notecards, sticky notes, a cute magnet, and a magnetic list pad.
I also received 2 packages of sock-shaped point protectors (always needed!), and TWO sock kits...one from Gardiner Yarn Works/Succulent Socks Kit with C*Eye*ber Fiber yarn in an absolutely gorgeous "Gardiner Yarn Works" colorway, created especially by Mama-E (in browns, greens and a hint of blue). The second kit is...gulp...a Cider Moon kit in the green Congo colorway! Thank you! I had to "pet" the yarn when no one in my family wasn't looking...Thank you, Debbie!!! Pictured in Cider Moon superwash sock yarn in the Congo colorway.

Mail Call!

I have been lax about writing my thank you's for my packages that I've received in the past week or so, and I apologize. Since I've been "car-less" (without reliable automobile to use), I HAVE been cleaning and organizing...something that has been put on the back burner since Christmas! It feels wonderful to be able to locate items, store them properly, and to tranform a bedroom into a craft/study/sewing room.
Back to the goodies...I received a delightful surprise from my surprise swap partner in the No Sheep Secret Pal Skein Swap...
3 skeins of Wick (made from soy!)which I look forward to trying, and coffee and assorted chocolate goodies which are safely hidden from the kids...Thank you , swap pal! Wick will knit up some socks nicely this fall!
In another swap, The Small Knit Kit exchange, I received another delightful surprise...this time from Sylvie in France! This kit includes: 2 skeins of Philar Preface (for socks), a skein of soft magenta wool for felting, shortbread cookies (already devoured), 2 luscious hunks of nougat, a perfect small striped knitting bag, carambar nougat candies, 2 French postcards, clover needles...AND an Alpage scarf kit from La Droguerie/Paris! Thank you, Sylvie! I am very excited to start this kit within the next month or so!
Thank you, Sylvie!!!

The 4 Question Interview

My Knitty/swap friend Erin had a great post about being interviewed by a friend. I asked her to interview me and she sent me four questions that I have to answer. If you want to play too, leave me a comment that says “Interview Me” and I’ll get you going as well. I’ll put the “rules” at the end of this post if you want more info!

1. What was the best job you ever had and why? Hmmm...I've only had a few paid employment positions... working at our farm's produce stand while a teenager, working as an aide at a nursing home, I have my bachelor's degree in nursing, so I'm officially an RN (most rewarding, but most stressful) in the neonatal ICU and then Labor and Delivery for a dozen years or so, and my unpaid job now is wife/mother/homeschooling mom of 3 sons. Although my most challenging and most prized "job" is of wife and mother, and the blessings of being both, the best paid "job" I had was manning the farm stand while growing up.
I didn't realize it then, but my generation was the last at my family's farm in CT to grow the most sweetest corn and amazing fresh vegetables, and 5 generations later, we're finished with growing crops and the land is now surrounded by large huge homes owned by NYC CEOs and the like. I thought it was so wonderful to pick fresh corn early in the morning for $1 a bag, and to assist my dear grandfather with the veggie stand. So many memories, I could ramble forever. The best strawberries, tomatoes, corn, and the old cigar box from Long Hill CT that held the day's profits. We used to also have people from NYC drive up for the really heavy corn (what we call "cow corn") and thought it was SO funny back then. People actually wanting to BUY heavy, tasteless cow corn! :) I miss the simplicity, or what I thought was simplicity, of the closeness of the family, the farm, and the special bond between my grandfather and I.
OK, that was a long answer, but this IS an interview!

2. Tell us about the best item you ever knit and why it was your favorite. Well, I've only knit socks, a shawl or two, and a dinosaur sweater a dozen years ago for my eldest son (the one heading to Norwich U. next month). I think the nasty acrylic dinosaur sweater is my favorite...because knitting was re-introduced to me by my then-neighbor Nancy, in her 70's, and she patiently taught me about casting on, pattern reading, gauge, working with two colors, carrying yarn, etc...and although the sweater wasn't perfect, it was handmade with love, and that is the moment in time I KNEW I'd be a knitter for the rest of my life, even if it took me a decade to take it up again. Since then, no more acrylics, and I'm an unabashed knitter who loves fiber and colors, and the feel of yarn on needles.

3. What one food item could you eat constantly and never get sick of it? Hoo-Boy...one item?
Well, I've had gastric bypass surgery 5 years ago, and that has greatly changed my perceptions of food, what I can enjoy, and what I can eat (although NOT constantly!) and never get sick of it...it's not sweets anymore...I like them, but they definitely cause me distress since the surgery.
So...something not as dramatic, such as shrimp with seafood sauce, a nice medium/rare filet mignon nibble, the original Swedish Fish, or a nice HOT cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee with extra cream and Splenda, with a good Scottish shortbread.

4. What would you do if you won a million dollars? Probably something less dramatic than you'd think. Pay off the house and bills (not a large number), purchase a new but economic car and a truck for hubby,put aside a bit of finances for children's college costs (if they decide to take that route), take a week second honeymoon with hubby (he doesn't want to visit outside the US, though), and then hand off the rest to church ministries, where I would not be accountable to where it was spent, because I know others who are gifted of the Lord in money management who can disperse finances to those in need, whether here at home or for those on the mission field). It sounds trivial, but I'm already blessed with my husband, children, family, church family, and even the things I've listed above seem that I don't deserve them. I won't ever be in this situation, but that's what I "think" I'd do with a million dollars! I really don't "need" anything (except yarn, right?) :) Perhaps take a fiber holiday to Europe, with other yarn fanatics?

Here are the rules in case you would like to be interviewed next:
1. Leave me a comment saying “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you four questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them four questions

KM has taken the challenge! I've posted 4 questions to her...watch her blog for her upcoming interview!