It's the little things that count!

A good friend, Cheryl, from Kavelizard on Etsy, makes the cutest garments and accessories. I met Cheryl in the "Day of the Dead" swap from last year, she was my spoiler. She made me the cutest knitting bag, and perfect for those real meaty knitting projects.

Remember this lovely bag?



I love this bag, she made it just for Lil'O me 8-), in fact she now offers them for sell on her site, she aptly named it "Rocka-ma-bag"! I love the tatoo'ish fabric, and requested a custom item from her Etsy site the other week for a Iphone cell phone case she has for sale, but since I'm a Blackberry girl, I asked for one that fits a Blackberry, in no other than my fave tatoo'ish fabric.

And she made whipped it up in no time and shipped it to me ASAP! I love it! It is now permanently attached to my Bella bag from Jordana. Funny, Bella, it's also the name of the lead female character in Twilight, kind of odd that name would mean so much to me now when I knew nothing of "Bella" when I purchased my Bella bag at the Stitches West 2008 conference. Isn't odd how one thing can mean something to you in one way at one point in time and then later on have a totally different meaning? Odd....

Enough digressing, here are some snapshots of my custom BB case.





Now you should know what my title means, it is little but definitely counts! I love it. A BIG thank you to my friend CHERYL!!! You Rock girl!

And onto a new WIP, real new, hot off the needles yesterday. I can't say the name of the pattern or who it's for, I can't ruin the surprise, but I will say it is a handbag and it is my first time working with pleats, but it's pretty much the same as cables or is cables, but knit somewhat differently. I picked this color because I know my spoilee likes neutrals, as I do, and this dark rich brown is luscious! The yarn is again a constant in my knitting stash, Blue Sky Alpaca 100% Organic Cotton. I've knitted with various weights of this yarn and I love it. It's easy to knit and very soft, and it won't felt, which is awesome in case it needs a good wash.

Here's a peek at the handbag, though it's about 40% done, it doesn't yet look like much, but I can't wait to see the final product. I need to go pick me up some 9 16' cause the 24''s circs aren't working out. I should be able to pick some up this weekend and have a spoilee FO to show off Sunday!



See that "Love Bites" stitch marker??? It's a gift from my spoiler for Love Bites, a heart with a band-aid, too cute!



And see that Golden Retriever stitch marker? So cute, from my other spoiler Minerva Wood a.k.a. Yogaknot. I've participated in so many swaps that I've been so lucky to have such wonderful spoilers who get me the cutest things.

More soon 8)

I heart my spoiler

My spoiler for HSK7 swap is Minerva Wood a.k.a. Yogaknot on Ravelry. The funny thing is that she was also my spoiler for the Hogwarts - A little bit of everything swap too. I came home today to my HSK7 package from Minerva, and am utterly flabbergasted!

She put such a great package together, I just have to share this with you.



Can you see all the great stuff?

-6 skeins of Knit Picks wool in Red (hmm...soft)
-A full set of personalized stationery set with "R" as the logo (I love!)
-A quill pen set (this is so cool, I've been wanting one of these!)
-2 packages of natural buttons in animal and leaf shapes (so pretty!)
-Hogwarts logo type buttons (very nice!)
-US 9 Hiya Hiya needles (I love these!)
-Clover stitch markers & needle protectors & flower pins (a need!)
-Printed copy of "Brea" Bag by Norah Gaughan (so pretty!)
-The cute lion scissors (I'm a Lioness at heart!)
-HP stickers (the kid in me loves these)
-A skull patch (too cool, it reminds me of ED HARDY, one of my fave designers)
-Twilight Ghiradelli bar (YUM-O!) with Dove Dark & Milk Chocolate goodies
-2 Wee One's "Golden Retriever" stitch markers (OMG, these are too precious!)
-Handknit by Minerva herself, the "Fashion Cable Knit Bag" with the most gorgeous handles (I'm totally in love with this bag, and it matches the hat she knit for me for the Hogwart's Swap, hat pattern was Jared Flood's "Habitat"

I can't express enough gratitude to Minerva for being the most excellent swapper.

Knitters are cool

What can I say? Knitters, and I shant forget, Crocheters, are so cool!

I have received 2 completed Traveling Scarves groups this week, both are beautiful.

First is my SO's scarf, all in really nice black and gray colors.



To all the gals from my TS#25 SO group, THANK YOU MUCH FOR adding your wonderful knitting to my SO scarf!

Next is my NORO scarf



It is so pretty, and I love all the different NORO additions. THANK YOU TO all the members of the TS#37 NORO group, I really really enjoyed Mod'ing the group. It's been a pleasure and I'm sad to see it coming to an end. Everyone is getting their scarves in the mail soon, I was lucky enough to get mine's last week.

And now for a Knitter who can really put a package together! This is my package for my Harry Potter - A little bit of everything swap. It comes from the wonderul Minerva Wood.



She knitted me "Habitat" from Jared Flood, my absolute favorite designer. I love the red and the pattern. Everything in the package was perfect, and I got goodies for my dog and cat too, which they've loved playing with.

THANK YOU Minerva a.k.a. Yogaknot on Ravelry.

~R

The Rhythm in the needles

I have so many WIPs right now, including new projects I need to start. Awhile ago, Leslie, invited me to the Socks that Rawk "Leyburn KAL". I quickly joined and was supposed to cast on back when I joined, but never did, as I gave more attention to the projects I had.

Well, this past Thursday, I kept thinking "I gotta get started on my Leyburns", and I finally did. The purpose of the KAL is to have everyone participating in it knit in Socks that Rock yarn only, and in any colorway, hoping to get as many different colorways knitted up for the "Leyburn" sock pattern by Mintyfresh. It has a lattice pattern look, similar to the lattice you would see going across the top of some fenced homes.

I casted on Thursday evening, got the toe and foot started, and contined a teeny bit Friday, but not really, and the on Saturday, kind of did nothing. That is until later in the evening when I finished up other tasks I had to do, and I turned the heel, and started the leg. I was all fine to keep on knitting, but I was tired from cleaning and other random tasks I finished during the day, so I put my sock down.

Come Sunday morning, and I was flying along, like my heading says "The Rhythm in the needles", and it certainly was. I had memorized the pattern and was knitting "blindly". I finished my first sock by mid-morning, even weaved in the ends. The pattern really looks very nice in the Dragondance colorway, and wouldn't yah know it, it's the perfect color for Valentine's Day!

Here's how it started, TOE UP, my fave way now:



And then voila, I got one down and another one about 50% of the way done!



I quickly casted on for the 2nd sock, but had to put it down to take Rosie, my doggy, to the doggy park to play with other dogs. My hubby and I left and visited a dog park in North San Jose, one we hadn't been to before, but it was perfect. Wide open, a bit smaller than a football field, with benches and chairs to sit. Rosie had a great time, she runs like a race horse and we call her Sea Biscuit when she runs like that. Golden Retrievers have amazing speed and agility, it's really neat to see them in full stride. She was a good girl, and got along with all the other dogs, who all were behaved very well. Here, she's resting, after having stole a tennis ball from another dog.



Oh, and she made plenty of friends, including this little guy who just wouldn't stop following her around



When we arrived back home, I started working on finishing the toe, and again, the rhythm took over, and I stopped at the leg portion, which I'll work on tomorrow. I should get these done by Tuesday, I'm giving myself some slack for working *-)

Now, I need to get my beauty sleep, work again tomorrow! And rain is in the forecast, which means I can bulk up with some of my knits, which I love!

The 2 hour handbag

For my Hogwarts swap I was tasked to create a pouch or bag for our Flying class. I've been playing catch up since I joined the swap late, so I've been fiercely trying to get on top of my homework! I've always been a honor student, and there's no stopping me now 8-)

I improvised this pattern, used chunky yarn, and knitted this pouch up. The entire thing was knitted and crocheted from the same strand of working yarn, not once did I break to continue elsewhere, I figured out the best way to seam it up and add the crocheted embellishments plus the crocheted chained straps. I casted on just before the Superbowl yesterday, and finished up by the end of the game. The only part that wasn't in the "2 hour" timeframe was the Golden Snitch emblem on the front, which I just crocheted a circle and then added wings, again improvisation on this. I'm just a beginner at crochet, but I can feel my skills gaining speed. I'm most proud of 2 things for this project 1) That I was able to knit & crochet the entire pouch from one working strand of yarn and 2) That I created something out of crochet that turned out so cute.

I don't have a name for it, and I'll put a pattern up on Ravelry for free if anyone wants it, just let me know 8-)







I hope my Professor Madam Jak likes my homework **crosses fingers**

And onto other fun news, here are some snapshots of my Swallowtail, yes, still on the Budding Lace, I just need to dedicate more time to it, but it is turning out so pretty.





I need to get busy on this, ooh, and guess who I found snoozing beside my bed...



Oops! I disturbed her sleep! Bad Mommy!



Darn, scared her away!



She has a look like she's thinking about what to do, and yep, I did scare her away, "Bright Light" as Gizmo says!

More to come tomorrow 8) Happy Monday!