All Good Things

I know I've been missing in action quite a bit lately. Some of it was laziness, and some of it was pure exhaustion. I hope all of you are doing well. I've had to double up on my iron intake for the past month. I'm anemic, and it's been kicking my butt for the past month. Aside from that, work's been crazy busy. But all in all, I'm hanging tough.

Anyway, my knitting needles have been a little busy. I'm almost finished knitting Victoria, which means I should have the pattern done very soon for all of your knitting pleasure. This time I'm trying 2 different yarns. One is Katia Samoa. Here's a sample swatch of what the yarn looks like.

It's a variegated yarn. I love the look, but the yarn doesn't seem to go anywhere. I'm hoping that once I block it, it will hang to the length I want. The other yarn I started testing for the pattern is King Tut. Sorry no pics yet. This yarn is a great staple, and pretty much hangs the way I want it to. Overall, so far so good.

I also started another design. I made quite a bit of progress on it this past weekend only to rip out half of it this morning. Oh well, that's what designing is all about right? Hopefully I'll have a sneak peek at what I have done so far by the weekend. I'm definitely in the Spring/Summer mode with my knitting right now.

In sewing news, I finally cut out NL 6828. I just have to sew it up now. I've also been busy picking out other projects to sew, but haven't gotten around to cutting them out yet. I'm hoping I'll have a little time this weekend. So much to do, and so little time. It sure hasn't stopped me from going to Joann's and browsing around. I want to make a Maxi dress. Mimi has an awesome video on how to make one from scratch. I watched the preview last week, and just might give it a try.

I finally broke down and bought a subscription to Burda Magazine. I love their patterns even though I haven't made one yet, and I was paying too much buying it over the counter. Has anyone seen the April issue yet?

I got it in the mail on Friday. All I can say is Oh myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. I love everything. I picked this summer top out that I want to make, but the directions are confusing. I think I might try to put it together anyway. I'm hoping that when I see the pieces laid out, it will make sense. I'm also looking at this top. I think I could put it together with no problem. I also purchased a few new patterns, one of which is the Amy Butler Weekender Travel Bag pattern, and I bought my first Hot Patterns. It's the Riviera Once, Twice, Three times a T-Shirt. I saw it on Assorted Notions a while back and fell in love. I just purchased them from Fabric.com on Friday.

I also need to give a huge hug and thank you to the Knit Machine Queen of Smoking Needles for giving me the Sisterhood Award some time back. I apologize for just commenting on it now, but I appreciate it all the same. It was very thoughtful of you.

In non-knitting/sewing news, I started working out last week which is something I haven't done in a while. With my busy schedule, I've been trying to do my workouts during lunch. It doesn't give me a lot of time so I usually do about 15 to 20 minutes of cardio and then I work on different body parts each day. I'm a week in now and it's all going pretty well so far.

By the way, I went to the shower weekend before last and the apple outfit was a hit. I think my brother-in-law wants a sweater now. He sent a message to me through Mr. D telling me his sweater size was a medium. I smiled.

SP Goodies and other stuff

It's been a while. I made it through that major snow fall we had last week. I actually took off from work last Monday. This little joker( He's my little baby Jack) kept me company all day.He loves being the center of attention. This is him trying to get my attention while I was knitting.

I started and finished this dress,

but didn't post it until now, because I had to find the right buttons for the dress. Mr. D's cousin is having a baby, and the shower is next weekend. I figured I'd throw something together for her. Of course I had to make an apple hat to match the dress. I still have to make the shoes, which by the way will be Mary Janes. I'll post them after I make them.

I received a lovely package in the mail the other day,

but this is actually my first time on my computer in days. All I can say is that my secret pal is amazing. I still don't know who she is, because she has one more package to send me, but I CAN'T WAIT to find out who she is. I swear she's my fairy godmother.

The first thing I opened was this lovely Misti Alpaca yarn. I love Misti Alpaca, but I've never worked with 4 ply before. I can't wait to work this up.




This lovely ball of yarn is 100% bamboo. My mine is churning as to what lovely design I can work this in to.


I think this Marble yarn is beautiful. I'm thinking I might make a shrug out of this.


I didn't even know that Cascade had 100% Alpaca. This lace yarn is gorgeous and I love power blue. I'll be saving this baby for a pretty shawl.



When I work with cables, I only like to work with wooden cable hooks or double pointed needles. The metal ones are slippery, and I'm not crazy about the plastic ones. I don't know how she knew, but I needles a new set of wooden cable needles as I've misplaced 2 out of the set I already did have. She sent me bamboo ones. I LOVE them!!!!


The next thing I opened was 8 ounces of Alpaca Roving. I can't wait to spin this baby up. It feels so good.

Last but not least, was Pink Grapefruit body spray from Bath and Body Works. Awesome!!!!! I love citrus scents.


Secret Pal, I wish I knew who you were already. You are the best. Thank you so so much. I love everything!!!!

I should be back in a few days, as I have more to post about. I'm just too tired to type anymore tonight. This time change is kicking my butt.