Update on Swaps!

Yay! The dishcloth for my spoilee for the Dog Days of Summer Dishcloth Swap is done!!! This is an anonymous swap, so my spoilee doesn't know this is for them!

I love this pattern, it can be found online here. It is super easy and quick, but attention does need to be paid to the cat pattern to make sure it comes out looking like a kitty :o)

I found the snitch for Hufflepuff for the second round of Quidditch for the Hogwart's Sock Kit Swap 2. There will also be a third swap this fall! Check out the blog for details!!

I finished the handmade bag, stitch markers and found a great pattern. Then I made another goodie for my swapee. I also got some edible goodies and some HP stuff. Now I am just waiting for the yarn and needles to arrive to me and then I can send it to Owl Post! This was a really fun swap!!

For the Knitters Virtual Vacation Swap I have many ideas of things to get for my swapee after reading that person's blog :o) I have a list of things I want to get on my travels through my state and will be doing that this summer.

I signed up for the Secret Pal 11 swap this fall! Check out the blog for more info.

I found some cool charms online that I am going to order for the Stitch Marker Exchange.

Summertime Fun & Socks

Yesterday my BF and I went to The Butterfly Place near where we live. This time we brought the camera! The first time we went we weren't sure what it was like so we didn't bring one. Now we know better, LOL!

Also, this time I think we went later in the year, this time in summer, last time in spring and there were a lot more butterflies to see at this time of year.


It is quite hot and humid in there for the butterflies, so we usually only stay and hour or so. I didn't check the time, but I think we were in there for an hour and a half this time.

Some of the butterflies are so large, when they fly by you instinctively duck ... looks like a bird is flying at your head!!



Its also amazing to see all of the different people that enjoy coming to see the butterfiles, kids, elderly, disabled, middle-aged and young people, everyone seems to enjoy this habitat.

There is also a koi pond with some very large koi! And this time there was also a parakeet and a lizard.

There are also the resident (what we think are) partridges. They are the cutest little things. There were only three last time that I remember and this time there were several. They run around the sanctuary space loose, but have some areas that are off limit to people that they can get into if they want to get away from visitors. Here are two of them by their feed.


After out visit to the butterfly place we stopped off at the local bead shop that I have never been to before. While it is small and expensive (there were some beads that I could easily find for a lot less at a chain store) they did have some exotic things and some cool charms. I made these stitch markers when I got home. With a butterfly of course, LOL!

I think I will be sending them off to my Dog Days of Summer Dishcloth Swap partner :o) I made them large enough to accomodate size 7-9 needles which are the usual for dishcloth weight cotton yarn. This swap is anonymous, so this is not giving away anything :o)

I am also almost done with my dishcloth that I am sending, I have about 12 rows left. Then I need to order the yummy soap I found and get some other goodies and this package will be ready to go!

I made some more progress on my toe up sock. I was hoping to have the 8" completed by the next class so that I can begin working on the heel, but not sure if I will get that far. There are a few people struggling, so I won't be behind anyway, we are all working at our own pace.

I finished mending the loose seam on the bag for the Hogwart's Sock Kit Swap so the bag is complete! I also found the perfect pattern for my swap partner. As soon as I get the yarn and needles I ordered this package will be ready for Owl Post!

Socks from the Toe Up!

I signed up for a Toe Up Sock class at my local yarn store. I was excited to see the teacher was a woman who did the shop tour I took last month, she's very nice (I'm sure they all are, but I like her very much). We students picked out our yarn and needles and then the store provided us custom sock patterns using the Sock Wizard software so that we would be making socks that would fit our own feet.

I picked out this yarn called Trekking XXL . It is 75% wool and 25% nylon. I just loved the colors, they were bright and funky.

In class we started with a provisional cast on, which was cool because I have never done that and wanted to learn how. This also creates a sock with no seam at the front of the toes. Then we continued with the toe, which you can see I have finished here and then taken off the provisional cast on waste yarn and picked up the stitches to continue knitting in the round.

I am going to continue to knit this until class next Wednesday, but she told us to stop at the heel if we get that far by then so that we can do it in class.

I also picked out 5" needles for this, which I have not used before. I love them for socks! I find that the 7" needles get in the way and cause me to pull at the stitches and stretch them out, not so with the shorter needles.