Gimmesanity

My secret pal, the fabulous one who’s been spoiling me rotten these past few months, is Robyn, from Knit & Purl Mama. Not only is she a fellow momma to a newborn, she’s also the owner of Robyn’s Nest. Damn, did I luck out or what? heh.

Here’s my last package…I love, love, LOVE the sock yarn blanket kit. It’s genius. Robyn sent me the pattern and a bunch of wee skeins of sock yarn to get me started. Monkey and I spent the evening playing with the baby skeins.

She also sent four skeins of yummy wool in fabulous fall shades. I’ll be trolling Ravelry looking for a project.

Thanks again, Robyn! You outdid yourself with your gifts for not only me, but the girls, too. In return, keep and eye out for a thank-you giftie from us!

We’ve been doing a lot of hanging out at the park in the afternoons. We’re enjoying the crisper air. Somehow, the outdoors smells cleaner this time of the year. That’s big when you live in the city - clean air, what’s that?

I put away our summer clothes and swapped them for long-sleeved shirts and jeans. We’re looking forward to trips to the pumpkin patch and going apple picking in a few weeks. Of course, there’s also Halloween. Monkey wants to go as Belle…and a mermaid…and Cinderella. hmmmm.

I’m still working on Monkey’s Hearts sweater. I’m separating for the sleeves now, so the rest should go by a bit quicker. I’ve been sneaking in a few rows here and there while Monkey climbs around in the park…as long as Bean is napping, that is. I’ve also started going to a knitting group. It’s my way of getting out and socializing with someone who’s older than 3.

Running is my other escape. I’m back at it. I did 3.5 miles, hard. I was tired, but happy. I feel like I’m ready to finally bump it up to 5 this weekend. The coming of Fall also means that evening comes that much sooner. I’ve been getting better about timing my runs so I’m not out at dark, but there have been a few times when I raced the sunset home. I need to get in the habit of running earlier.

We’ve also be receiving prezzies in the mail. From my secret pal to the Bean. Very cute. Thank you, chica!

I got tagged by Mildred a few weeks ago. Thank you for giving me some blog fodder.

here are the rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post.
Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know your entry is up.

1) I love the Fall and am looking forward to wearing sweaters again.
2) I need more sleep.
3) I gave up coffee when I was pregnant with the Bean, but I fell off the caffeine wagon hard once she was born. This may have something to do with #2.
4) I’m pretty much tired of living in NYC. *gasp!* I know, right? It’s too damn loud here, too crowded, and I can’t wait to own a house again. Oh, and car insurance costs WAY too much out here. Ugh.
5) I may be feeling a bit grouchy today. We ran out of coffee (see #3).
6) I’m off to take a nap.

I’m not tagging anyone cuz I think I’m the last one to do this. I will, however, invite anyone to play along.

The chubby one has finally drifted off to sleep in her magical swing. This swing kicks all kinds of ass. Seriously. I’d gladly sell my left kidney for one of these things. Luckily, ours is a previously-loved gift from a friend who had twins. Bean is the 4th baby to use this swing. I heart it so.

Anyways, my point of this post wasn’t to go on about the magnificently wonderful sleep-inducing properties of the crack swing. Nope. I wanted to post pictures of the amazing package my Secret Pal sent me. Glee!

Secret Pal, how you spoil me. I love it.

Check out the goods. Some tea (we’re big tea drinkers in this house), Smarties (which I guess are like M&Ms. I haven’t opened them yet, though. Look at me showing restraint.), a pattern for some wee sock earrings, a set of earrings and a pendant made with “S” scrabble tiles (cute!), a hair clip and a little turtle for the Monkey, a CD of some make-me-not-so-crazy music, a fab-o knitting bag, an awesome canvas tote for groceries, and some gummy candies that I already devoured and hence didn’t survive long enough to be photographed (I take back the whole showing-restraint comment.)

Oh, yeah, and there was yarn. Pretty yarn. See:

My pal rocks! She’s also putting the pressure on me to make even more kick-ass packages to send off to my send-ee. heh.
Thanks so much!

Thank you all for the well-wishes. Big A and I managed to get over the Ebola outbreak from last week just in time to play hosts to his mom and sister. It’s been a crazy whirlwind of a week with guests and new classes (both for me and the Monkey.) I managed to fix my schedule so I’m only going one day a week, freeing me up to stay home with the Bean. With Monkey, I was back at work full-time after about 12 weeks and it was so incredibly difficult. It broke my heart knowing that somebody else was spending more time with my little one during the day. It didn’t help my PPD any, either. Having been on the other end of the working-mom schtick, I know I’m lucky to have this opportunity to stay home with Bean for these next two semesters.

Another thing lightening the mood around here is the beautiful package I received from my Secret Pal. Thanks so much! This is a kit she had sent over from Tanis Fiber Arts. The color on this yarn is so delicious - so vibrant and rich. Seriously yummy stuff. The yarn came with an accompanying pattern. This is perfect for subway knitting on my class days. I also received some stitch markers and a fun little note card. Thanks again, chica!

But, wait, there’s more!

A few weeks ago, my pal also sent me an envelope chock full of patterns. She’s too much. Trolling through my ravelry page, she included a bunch of patterns from my queue and a few extras, too. Part of that packet included the pattern for Juliet. I had bought the yarn for this a while back from Brooklyn General. With the pattern in my grubby hands, I was able to finally cast on.

Pattern: Juliet
Needles: US9 Denise
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky, Color M-181 Prairie Fire (3 skeins)

I gotta admit, I’m kind of lukewarm about this one. I love the color, and the idea of a sweater thingie to put over a long-sleeved shirt is awesome for those chilly classrooms. But, the fit is a little weird. A part of it is that I have bigger-than-usual boobs thanks to nursing (is that TMI?) Seriously, they’re like 2 cups bigger - sometimes more - than pre-pregnancy (OK, that was TMI.) That, coupled with the 10 extra baby pounds I’m carrying around right now are kind of messing with my head. The shape of the sweater, the way it kind of just hangs on me after it manages to scale the mounds of mammary glands, makes me feel a little lumpier than I already am.

I just need to get over myself.

The yarn was pretty easy to work with. I found one knot in the last skein, which I normally wouldn’t even mention except that it happened to fall in a very inopportune spot in the pattern and totally pissed me off. The mohair in it is pretty hairy. The pic above is a close-up of the feline-esque quality of the stuff. It’s been shedding on everything. Will this slow down? Anyone have experience with this yarn? The pattern itself is really straightforward. Like other Zephyr patterns, though, this one runs ginormous. I made the size xs and it still fit the DD girls (yes, I did just go there…)

So, in conclusion: thumbs up for the pattern if you’ve got titty bitties, a ‘meh’ if you’ve got boulders.

but you get the answers every once in a while. That’s how I roll, yo.

Question #3:
What would you consider the perfect amount of stash?

Hmmm, I’m thinking enough so that you can peek into your stash and find enough yarn to make something substantial. I have plenty of sock yarn (because everyone knows that it doesn’t count towards your stash), and I also have enough worsted to pull out a pair of mittens or a last-minute stole thingy. I don’t buy enough for a sweater unless I already have a sweater in mind.

I’ve actually hit a point in my stash where I don’t feel like I really need anything particular, per say. Unless it’s for a specific project, I have plenty of yarn for effective stash-diving.

Question #4:
A) What yarn (that you don’t have/haven’t used) would make your stash “complete”?
Probably linen. I’ve yet to use it, but it’s on my list of things to try. Plus, I hear it makes yummy handtowels.

B) What yarn do you never want to be without?
Wool, definitely. I love the stuff.

Question #5:
A) Where is your favorite place to go for vacation/holiday?
The beach. Anywhere beachy, really. Turks and Caicos was a ton of fun. I’d go back in a heartbeat. We’ve been considering a trip to Hawaii during my winter break. A and I have wanderlust and find it so difficult to stay at home for more than a few months at a time.

B) Where is one place you’d like to go?
Europe. I’ve never been. One of these days, the dollar will stop sucking balls and I’ll actually be able to travel through Europe and enjoy myself.