Coffee Swap 2 Questions!

1. Whole bean or ground? I really prefer whole beans if possible.

2. Fully-loaded or decaf? ONLY fully-loaded!
3. Regular or flavored? I do sometimes drink French Vanilla or Hazelnut but I usually don't care for the more exotic flavors except the spicy ones in the winter.
4. How do you drink your coffee? Black with no sugar.
5. Favorite coffee ever? I don't really have a favorite, I have used A&P whole beans most of my life from convenience but I've enjoyed many other varieties.
6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? When you drink coffee black there is no fooling around so I will drink it if there is no other option but I avoid no name cheapee coffee.

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? Scones and muffins which is why I've joined Weight Watchers!
8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? I'm easy to please and love to try new things.
9. Yarn/fiber you love? I love wool and any blend with silk in it.
10. Yarn/fiber you hate? I hate stiff rough yarn regardless of its content.
11. What's on your needles? STR socks, a noro entrelac vest, and a sweater from noro silk garden are active. I have others that are resting and waiting a turn!
12. Favorite colors? I love blues, greens and red.AND purples. I avoid neon colors and usually don't care for orange or brown.
13. Allergies? Iodine which I'm sure will not be an issue!
14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest?
I really enjoy receiving new items in swaps and trying out ethnic or local items.

Got My New Socks That Rock Club Package!

Right now I'm going through a part of the school year that I find boring, full of paperwork without the excitement of either planning for the new school year yet or the challenge of seeing how things really worked out. SO, I was plowing through yet another mound of paperwork and I thought that a new shipment of STR was due and there it was when I got home. It was a rainy, nasty day here in NJ but the priority pack was just the brightest spot in my day.

I really like this new shipment. It is a bit different from the other ones AND comes with a toe up pattern. Somehow I think that the silk in this sock will let it jump the line and get started next. AND I think I might even follow the pattern exactly! Or as exactly as I can.

A Blip in the Yarn Diet

Sometimes you can be minding your own business, knitting, reading or whatever and your friends will toss temptations, suggestions, opportunities at you! A few weeks ago I was just minding my own sock at our weekly stitch and knit when the subject of a local yarn store changing ownership or closing BUT selling yarn at a discount came up. So my friend innocently suggested a little visit. So we visited and I went on a Noro spree!!!! I love good yarns but I also love paying my mortgage etc. so as much as I love them I'm always looking for a bargain. I must be pretty good at this because I have enough fiber to keep me busy through my life time and several more reincarnations BUT I could just look and get new ideas---- Well, we all know the end of this story. I took my buying pass and went to town, I got enough silk garden to make a sweater (13), a ten pack of kureyon, four loose kureyons and TWENTY Big Bebe, and a Noro book. I have so many sweaters in the line up to work on that I feel guilty that the silk garden jumped line. I have the back and up to the arm opening of one front done already done. Getting this new influx of Noro into the house got me to work on my entrelac vest that has been hanging around since some time in the winter. I'm especially excited about the Big Bebe because I got a bunch of that on sale in Pa this winter for a $ 1 hank now I have to dig that from it's hiding spot and see what I can do after I finish the silk garden and vest. I'm not really sure who or what I'm hiding this yarn from! My husband never really caught on to how much money I spend on yarns and quilting stuff. He just had a Chico shopping bag radar that was incredible and if he knew how much I spent there he would has passed YEARS ago!!!
I'm really really not buying anything else until Stitches or Maryland Sheep & Wool if I can get other people to go to that with me!

coffee swap

A Great Box from my secret Pal 10

Last week end several boxes were left at the door. The top box was addressed to my daughter so I put them at the bottom of the stairs for her to open when she got home from college this weekend. WELL< I should have checked the name on the bottom box because my latest wonderful swap box was hiding under my daughter's stuff!
My partner out did herself. She sent two skeins of alpaca hand dyed yarn in dreamy blues,greens and browns. A great purse or bag knitted from red raspberry colored ribbon, a yarn needle and stitch holders ( I never have enough of these), a magnifying pen (what a clever little devise) and a Laura Ashley journal. AND a raspberry colored bag with a jar of red raspberry preserves! AND the cutest cat knitting card. I've never used alpaca before so I 'm going to look for a pattern for suitable for 100 grams of about worsted weight with a suggested gauge of 18 stitches to 4 inches on size 7. ANY suggestions?

Caroline Job Promotion

This is my post to brag about my daughter. Caroline is just the best daughter ever. She has been such a help to me and is turning into a wonderful, generous, beautiful young women. For the last few years Caroline has had a part-time job while she attended college full time. Today is her first full day as a permanant employee. She has been hired full time before she even graduates from college. Caroline will graduate this summer and move back home with me. Caroline has turned into a hard working, full of life and very loving daughter. I am always posting pictures of socks and other stuff but what really makes me feel the best is that both of my kids are doing well and have turned into kind and loving young adults. There were times in their teens that I wondered if it would happen!

Easter Bread

Every year I try to bake Easter bread. Some years I bake more then other years --this year I stopped at eight. These breads are made from a sweet dough and braided around uncooked eggs. Each braid has a filling of almond, orange peel and chocolate. Some years I add anise seeds also. I'll bring some with me on Easter day and give some out to friends sooner. If I get my energy back I'll drizzle a simple confectionery sugar icing on them. I'll probaby eat one myself with sweet butter for breakfast over the next few days. It's a good thing that we are starting Weight Watchers at my school on April 17th!

Apologies to my Secret Pal

My secret pal has been great. She sent me a beautiful card then a needle organizer and samples of different yars and a very cool tape measure which clips to a key chain. I goofed and failed to post or probably even say thanks! All I can do is say I'm sorry and plead brain blip! I thought about doing it so much I think I convinced myself that it was done!
So Secret Pal thanks for everything and please accept my apology for being so late to acknowledge these gifts!

Knitting nice and cozy

I spent most of today doing errands and running around. I did manage to have lunch with my daughter at her office. She showed me her new little cubicle, she is proud of landing a full time job before even graduating. While I was doing that--- new central AC and new heating units were being installed in my house. It has gotten cold again here so I'm still using the heater. I stopped at Whole Foods and got myself some brown rice sushi, and a few other treats so now I am going to curl up to just knit the night away!

A Three Strike Day

Today was the first day of my week off for Spring break. I did some laundry and some how in the cleaning out of Bob's stuff one of his FISH HOOKS, one with three hooks, must have fallen on the laundry room floor, and got snagged on a sock and GOT WASHED WITH A DOZEN on my hand knit socks. So far it seems that only a poor koigu sock was partially destroyed. Although when I saw the fish hook I came close to passing out and there must be many more gray hairs then I had before!

Next, a few days ago I bit on something and heard and felt a crack in a back molar. I was hoping for a filling but today I experienced an tooth extraction from a dentist who looked about 12! He was very gentle and very sweet but that tooth must have had roots down to my knees.

Finally, the guy who is installing my heating and AC called to tell me that his helper had a death in his family and they are postponing my installation until Wed. My perfectly planned week is drifting away!

Oh well, on the lighter side I did get lots of knitting done waiting at the dentist's office and I am going to take another pain pill and hopefully get a great night's sleep!

Still Busy just NOT with Knitting!

We put this door in years ago and never painted it because I wanted red and Bob wanted white. His huge compromise was black but black was not closer to red for me then white! Yesterday, I painted and now I have the reddest door in my town. It looks splotched in the picture but that is the camera ( little cheapee camera that it is!) but it real life it is pure true fire engine red. My daughter hates the hat and hid it when her date came to pick her up last night. Very mature for a 22 year old.
The floor is my other big accomplishment. I had tired stale old never can really get clean anymore carpet in my bedroom. I don't like wall to wall carpet but Bob never wanted bare floors in the bedroom. Yesterday when I was trying to vacuum it clean for the millionth time but really hoping to change the color and age of the carpet with a Dyson I decided to just pull it out. What could be so bad under that old disgusting carpet? Well, this floor does not look so great now but it will soon.
So between work, having to attend a funeral this week and these two projects my socks are resting quietly in their spots not even daring to call out. Today is a paper work day, Monday I'm getting a new AC and heating unit installed so I may have time to knit then or not!