Knitter Monkey

This week has been an excellent knitting/fiber week, but first things first - I got home from work today to find my final reveal package on my front step from my pal, Jennifer. Now keep in mind that I have already received three great packages that have included handspun yarn, handmade stitch markers, new yarns I've wanted to try, and monkeys galore (plus there are always treats - SP, you got my husband hooked on Fruitabu!), but she really completely outdid herself with this last one. Usually I refrain from postings photos of the box before I start unpacking it because it seems excessive, but look!

Each brown bag package had its own hand-drawn and hand-written note with a "Monkey See" theme!

Then I began unpacking, and every bag I opened up was even better than the last! There was so much in the box that I couldn't get it all into one decent picture, so I tried to take two, but every time I set up this stuffed monkey, Ruckus knocked it over like so:

so I only got a decent picture of the other half:

In this picture are special monkey pillow cases made just for Dan and I (!), and one of those cute baking kits where the dry ingredients are in the jar and you add the other stuff - the mix is for cocoa brownies and there is a monkey cookie cutter attached! I know my pal didn't know this, but I am a little obsessed with these kits! You can also see in the corner some candy bananas, which were a part of the other half - this included a sock monkey kit (I am so excited to try this - I'm hoping to start it this weekend!), the aforementioned monkey, and a wind-up monkey that does flips.

But wait, there was more!

This is the yarn that my pal spun (and named Monkey Knitter after 4 PM!) just for me. It is purple plied with brown and I can not wait to knit something with it; I just have to figure out something worthy of it. Currently stuck into the yarn is a pair of US6 knitting needles with monkey head ends, which it does not say but I am pretty sure are also handmade by my pal, because they bear a striking resemblance to these....

I love everything about this package, but I think these are absolutely my favorite because without actually knowing me or seeing my insane collection of monkey accoutrements, Jennifer somehow created exactly what I had in my mind as my perfect stitch markers. I've looked on eBay and etsy for months and found nothing even close - I want to use stitch markers for every project I have now! I'm knitting a washcloth, and I'm like "hrm I wonder if I might need stitch markers?!?"

I am in luck, though, because this afternoon I signed up for the Mystery Stole 3 Knitalong! I'm really excited about this - the last two years, I have stumbled across it on week three, when membership is closed already. Just by coincidence, I saw it today, the day it started, and was finally able to join. I just need to pick out some beads for it and I can get started on it this weekend!

In my other knitting excitement, after treating myself to a birthday facial at Natural Body (I don't know if I really need facials, but I am not allowed to get body massages due to my clotting disorder so I kind of milk the "decollete massage" that is part of a facial for all it's worth.), I went to my LYS and spent my birthday gift certificate on Blue Sky Alpaca Royal in the natural black color. I mentioned what I was about to do to my co-workers and how I had been coveting it for months because of its hefty price tag, and someone was like "so this is like the Cadillac of yarns?" And now I have it and yes, yes it really is. Given this little outing, I am probably a little insane for even thinking about it but my other LYS is having a sale this weekend where you go and get whatever you want and when you get to the counter to pay, you draw a duck out of a bucket (?) and the duck has anywhere from 10-100% off on it. So at worst, it is a 10% everything in the store sale, and it could potentially be anywhere in between that and 100%. I think they are doing the sale online too if anyone is in the mood for a gamble.

Finally (last paragraph I promise), I scheduled my birthday spinning lesson for next Saturday morning, and I can't wait to learn! Just what I need, I know, another hobby that involves amassing quantities of fiber. Oh well. :)

Posted by Erin at 09:59 PM | Permalink

Saturday was my birthday, and my friends and husband planned two days worth of fun to celebrate 26. We spent Saturday in Chattanooga at Rock City and the aquarium, and when we got home I had a special birthday package from my Secret Pal! She sent me an adorable book called Doggy Knits and several skeins of a gorgeous blue handpainted mohair/wool blend. Thanks, SP! That was a fun treat to come home to and end the birthday festivities.

Also in knitterly birthday goodness, my husband got me a book called Spin to Knit and a gift certificate for a private spinning lesson! I don't have any idea how to spin but I'm quite excited to learn.

Posted by Erin at 10:21 PM | Permalink

Actually doing appropriate math and gauge swatching is fun! Last night I cast off the body of Wicked with much excitement, and tried it on to find that I finally made a sweater that matches my exact measurement specifications!

It fits perfectly - not too loose, not too tight, it goes in where I go in and comes out where I come out, and the length is just right and the neck not wide, and even the arm holes are exactly the right size. The only problem of course is that it is 95 degrees, and thus even when I finish the sleeves this sweater won't be wearable for months! I'm working on them anyway, and maybe when it's done I'll take a lot of trips to overly air-conditioned restaurants or something.

Posted by Erin at 06:19 PM | Permalink

I keep meaning to take pictures of my knitting so I can make a post, but it's always that I'll wait until it looks more interesting, which it generally doesn't until it's done. I knit another pair of camo socks for Dan, this time in a more brown-and-olive-green colorway of Regia Stretch, which he has appointed as "the best ones yet." The same day that I finished them, the Cascade Dolce I ordered from the WEBS sale (for more than half off!) arrived, and as soon as I saw it, I wanted to make it into Wicked. I tried to talk myself out of it for a day, considering that it is 95 degrees in Georgia and will be for the foreseeable future and this yarn is mostly wool and alpaca, but I have been inexplicably drawn to it! So I am knit-knit-knitting away - and using the stitch markers my SP made me! - and am about halfway done with the body already.

Since I really need to knit something more summer-y while I have time, next on my list is going to be to use my blue Regal Silk to make this cami.

The sweater is going quickly too, so I might even get to it before July. My husband has been trying to figure out why he thinks this sweater looks so much nicer than the other sweater I made, which was over a year ago! I am guessing it is a combination of actually doing proper gauge swatches and measuring at this point plus an extra year of daily practice.

Posted by Erin at 08:09 AM | Permalink