Let there be ROARange Bliss

My birthday was yesterday, but my big surprise came in today's mail from my Secret Pal in the Favorite Color Exchange. My package was delivered this afternoon when I got home from my first day back at school.

I decided to savor the surprise and not open it for a few hours. It is nice to just contemplate a gift sometimes, not be in a big rush to open it all quickly. So, after I had done a number of tasks I went back down to my dining room to begin opening the gifts.

Everything was enveloped in my favorite color - orange. OMG, was it wonderful to see so much of that color all in one package. Here are the BEFORE and AFTER photos of my gifts from Melinda McCaffrey, my Secret Pal. http://mjmknitting.blogspot.com/

What was IN this package????
Patcholi Soap, made with fair trade and organic ingredients. My favorite scent:
2 balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton dk - never had any DB before, and I am so excited with this orange color; Lip Smackers Starburst for my luscious lips; a Post-it cube and a Twinkler's Jiggly light up pen for my desk at the college; a new journal with an orange cover; an artist canvas becaue I am a painter; mango licorice because I love exotic licorace; Peach Daquiri Nail Polish, six Stitch markers with orange crystal made by Melinda herself, and a wonderful CD that I am listening to as I write. This package has something for all the senses, taste, touch, smell, sound. What could be more wonderful than that?

How can I possible express the joy of receiving such a personal and thoughtful gift from a person who has never even met me in person? You are amazing and I thank you, Melinda. This is bliss.

My Secret Pal who loves purple

This one is for my Secret Pal , Valerie Cheel, in the Whose Lace is it Anyway exchange. As you can see she loves purple so everything for her package is in shades of purple. I sent her purple lace weight yarn from http://www.blackberry-ridge.com/lacewght.htm , a lovely pattern for a lace shawl, a book of poetry with a purple cover (authored by me!), a book marker, lavender handmade soap and bath salts, a piece of pottery with purple glaze, by a PA artist and some cdelicious candy I brought back from Germany...I wrapped it all up in purple and send it off this week. It is delightful to send off packages to a Secret Pal and it was so much fun shopping for this lovely lady. I hope I did a good job for her. My cat, Angel, is taking a look at the contents of this package. I think he was hoping that I had some catnip in this package but instead it was the fresh lavender he sniffed out. And, I can't wait to ge MY package from MY Secret Pal, too. You can visit VALERIE at her blog to see what this very talented young woman is doing. http://trilliums.blogspot.com

Retro Red Fuzzies

I have completed my first projects made from the One Skein book. OH, am I excited!!!
Here are my three felted bowls. I never did anything like this before and I am so thrilled with my first attempts, I am now working on more of them. My family members love them and so I plan to make some for Christmas gifts this year, too. What do you think?

The one that is BLACK and RED was made for my Secret Pal in the One Skein Exchange. She is Shelly and you can read her blog here http://theyarntart.blogspot.com Her kitchen is RETRO in RED, BLACK, and WHITE. I decided she needed a very wild RETRO felted bowl to match her kitchen. She said she thinks she will use it for her ball of yarn when she is knitting. It is one wild thing for a gal who is one wild thing, too. Enjoy your stuff, Shelly.

Red is the color for my Secret Pal

OK, I have FINISHED my shopping for my secret pal in the FAVORITE COLOR SWAP. Her color is RED and I have hunted for lots of things in RED for her. I created some things that I think she will enjoy. I searched for things that were made by other Pennsylvania artists, too. I selected some things at various arts festivals over the past month as I was gathering. And, I selected a nice yarn for her in REDs as well as I gathered some other goodies for her to enjoy. Here are the photos of the selection of gifts and then another one of how this package looks before I sent it off across the big pond to a land far away. Bon Voyage!

Right On the Money!

Your Career Type: Artistic

You are expressive, original, and independent. Your talents lie in your artistic abilities: creative writing, drama, crafts, music, or art. You would make an excellent: Actor - Art Teacher - Book Editor Clothes Designer - Comedian - Composer Dancer - DJ - Graphic Designer Illustrator - Musician - Sculptor The worst career options for your are conventional careers, like bank teller or secretary.

I took this little test and the results are above. I am an artist and art professor, so I would say it was accurate in my case. The worst career options for me are a bank teller and a secretary. No kidding! You definitely would not want ME to be taking your money at the bank. Lord knows, I have a hard encough time just taking care of my own finances. I would much rather be making stuff.

I have to admit that I was a secretary once - for three weeks. It was pure hell and I did not even want to get out of bed in the mornings, and I lived for the lunch break. After three weeks, I decided I would rather starve than make my income this way. My spirit was dying by the day. It was a time in my life when I really needed the job and the money, but I could not live my life this way. One day, after my lunch break, I went to the owner of the little company and said, "I want to turn in my resignation." It was one of the smartest moves I have ever made, when I acknowledged that I did not have what it takes to be a secretary. It was a living nightmare for me. I can't see myself doing any kind of job that requires standardization and doing the same thing every day. I thrive on change and changing and changes.

Thank God, I am doing the work I was created to do. But to think, I could have spent the rest of my life in a job I hated. I refused to do that. I just wonder how many people are doing a job every day that they actually hate. I think there are a lot of them out there. I say, follow your bliss and do what you love.

What's Your Ideal Career?

Lace Swap

Here's a swap that should be fun.

You meet some really neat people by participating in the swaps and knit-along groups.
http://laceswap.blogspot.com This is a LACE SWAP. Since I have never knitted lace (at least not much) I decided this one would be good for me to do. The idea is that I will begin to TRY to do it. I even bought a new book at my LYS last week that is all levels of lace knitting. I think I will pick out an "easy" one to do.

Here is what you are going to do if you participate in this swap.

You will get a "Secret Pal." That is your DOWNSTREAM Pal. Then, someone will get YOU and that is your UPSTREAM Pal. (I like the idea of an Upstream and Downstream Pal. Makes me think of kyaking or something adventurous like that.) You will send your "ownstream Pal" the following items:

1200 yds laceweight yarn (broadly speaking we're talking cobweb to fingering here)
A nice pattern or needle to knit it
A little treat - chocolate, candy, whatever you feel like sending

The Adminstrator says, "I guess it's hard to come up with something for a total stranger. The rule I use is that if I'd be happy to recieve it, or I'm proud to send it, then I've done my best." That is what I intend to do. I will shop as though I am shopping for me.




~~ Here is my response to the questions for this swap~~

1. Would you consider yourself a beginner, intermediate or advanced? A raw beginner

2. What shape of shawl do you prefer - square, circle, triangle? I love them all! You can choose for me. I will be delighted with your choice

3. Favourite colours? Russets, Violets, Greens (but not bright green)

4. Solid colours or variegated? solid

5. Is an international swap pal okay with you? yes, I would greatly enjoy doing an international swap

Irish Hiking Scarf

I have FINISHED my first Irish Hiking Scarf. I joined the knit-along to keep me motivated. Now, I am showing it off. Here's the link if you are intersted in knowing more about this pattern. http://irishhikingknitalong.blogspot.com/
I made mine using Gedifra Fashion Trend Stripe in a lovely warm blend of burgundy reds. It is so soft. I made mine about 67 inches long so I could wrap it around my neck and have ample scarf to hang down.