SIL's Crocheted Birthday Slippers

I crocheted these slippers for my sister in law for her upcoming birthday:
The original pattern had been adjusted a bit to not have the strap going across the top, and because I was using thicker yarn, I used a larger crochet hook... hopefully she likes the colours!

And I'm still a teeny bit closer to getting on ravelry:
You are #16435 on the list.
8843 people are ahead of you in line.
5426 people are behind you in line.
33% of the list has been invited so far

take my fabric - please!

I came across this stock of fabric - all different kinds, sizes and colours. Unfortunately I'm not much of a sewer, so if anyone's interested, it's yours. The catch? All I'm asking is that you cover the cost of postage, that's it. Oh yea, and you must have a paypal account to pay for it. Just pick what you want, it's first come first serve.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/knits_yours_knot_mine/

You can email me at purplespirit1{at}hotmail{dot}com, title email 'fabric' for more info.

Dying Yarn - a post about this was bound to appear on a knitters blog!

It seems that whenever I sign up for a knitter's swap, I find my random internet surfing to coincidentally coincide with the swap's theme, and it's no different with this hand dyed yarn swap that I'm currently involved in.

I took a personal day to dye my swapee's yarn, using my own version of Kool Aid dying - a variation of how knitpicks and knitty go about doing it. And later this summer I plan to dye a wicked batch of sock yarn using Wilton's food dyes (instructions found here). As I was doing my skein today, being the environmentally concious person that I am, I was thinking what the process would be for more natural dying. (Anyone who has Polish grandparents like I do likely remembers colouring Easter eggs with onion peels!)

But then - (and here's where the random coincidence falls in!) - I get my newsletter email from Lionbrand about natural dying, using turmeric, yellow onion skins, grapes, and beets. And just for kicks, and also to not completely and simply endorse Lionbrand's website, dying yarn with black tea. I'm sure there's a link somewhere out there on how to dye with coffee, berries, and other naturals, I just can't find the links at the moment. But these shall hopefully keep you busy.

I've bookmarked all of these as things to do this summer while on vacation!

Oh, and just for kicks, knitty.com has a good article on hand painting yarn in a few methods - worth a gander if you haven't done so already!

testing the waters at etsy

I've decided to give etsy a try (here) - it's my first attempt of dealing outside of ebay, so we'll see how this pans out.

I realize that etsy has its advantages and disadvantages, like ebay. Etsy's great because it's an awesome place for crafters to sell, but then again few people know about it. Ebay's awesome because it gets a ton of traffic, but that's also it's downfall - when selling my handknits, I'm competing with people who sell similar items factory-made for a fraction of the cost.

I really got to learn how to start and run my own website! :P I'm reminded of that every time I get a bill for ebay - the fees are becoming much too high, and almost not worth it. But, I must admit, overall, it's been pretty good.

oh... and I must do this.... my ravelry update:

You are #16435 on the list.
9844 people are ahead of you in line.

woo hoo! my punk rock gift came in the mail!

I received my Punk Rock Gift Exchange package from Marion yesterday! Can't have too much sock yarn! I love the colour! A new sock pattern (with beads!) will be a fun one to knit up, and I'll have to better master my hand at sewing in order to use the skulls-&-crossbones material she sent! Oh, and btw, I think the kitchy key chain is rather cool! :) Thanks!


oh, and just for kicks... I found this maze game which is kind of fun... tee hee... enjoy...

ravelry progress, and rainbows

These are pictures I took about a week ago, after a very brief yet intense raining:
... yay, a rainbow!
... this pic makes it look like it's coming out of my neighbor's roof, no?
... and of course I had to include a pic of my front yard. The shrubby thing you see closest is a lilac bush that I got for my birthday from my DH, and a bit further away (hard to see in the pic) is a magnolia tree. Can't wait for those to bloom!

Also, my position in ravelry to date:

10130 people are ahead of you in line.
2564 people are behind you in line.
31% of the list has been invited so far

10130 people now, from 10590 nearly a week ago... at this rate, I won't get in for a couple of weeks! But there's progress nonetheless, so you can't complain about that! Woo hoo!

if you don't know what to blog today, blog this

I'm in a bit of a blogging rut, I've no idea what to post, and yet I'm urged to compose something - so here it is. A 'Ten Things Few Know About Me' list. If you're reading my blog and this entry right now, you've been tagged to contribute the same list to your blog. Go on. You know you want to. Don't make me come over there.

Ten Things Few Know About Me:

1. My favourite holiday is Halloween. For no reason. I don't dress up or anything, or I rarely do, but I still love carving pumpkins, scaring kids who come to my door, and decorating with cobwebs. Oh, and serving food with fake severed fingers.
2. I was raised speaking French as a second language. Actually, I didn't learn to speak English until I started kindergarden - people outside of my parents in the family were worried that I wouldn't pick it up.
3. I've wanted to publish a book entirely unto myself since I was 7.
4. I had a crush on a teacher when I was in highschool. It lasted for a very short while, until I found out he was a sexist skeeze. But he was pretty hot nonetheless.
5. I love hardcover books. I don't know why. They're just awesome. I feel smarter when surrounded with lots of nice, hardcover books.
6. As a kid, up until I started highschool, I absolutely loathed wearing dresses. I dispised anything that made me look 'girly'.
7. I've read the Bible from cover to cover. I actually sat down and spent time every evening reading it from beginning to end. Don't ask me why.
8. I like collecting weird items like skeleton keys, and then displaying my oddities as home decor.
9. Blood and guts gross me out on tv and in movies, even though I know it's fake, but I'm completely addicted to watching the CSI shows.
10. Since childhood, I've wanted to have a farm. Not the raise-animals-for-slaughter type of farm, but one with animals on it nonetheless. Since I got into knitting, I still think it'd be cool to have a vegetable farm, plus raise some sheep and llamas to cultivate a 'yarn farm' of sorts.

well, it sucks to be me a little...

So I've been hearing a lot about Ravalry and decided to sign up and get myself in the loop. I signed up, and waited for an invite because apparantly I need to get some sort of secret VIP pass! How exclusive!

Then, I found out about this via Cassady's blog - and I find out this:

Found you!
You signed up on Yesterday
You are #16435 on the list.
10590 people are ahead of you in line.
318 people are behind you in line.
33% of the list has been invited so far

Holy crap! I'm practically at the end of a very long line! It certainly sucks to be me! But you know what, it sucks even more to be the 318 people after me, cuz they's gots to wait that much longer!

So, neener neener neener!

woo hoo! sock yarn swap!

Suh-weet, I found a sock yarn swap! And not just any sort of sock yarn swap, it's to swap Hand Dyed Sock Yarn! If you're interested, sign up - Celena's looking for at least 25 folks to join, so please do!

http://www.thehanddyedyarnswap.blogspot.com/

I'll put a link in my sidebar for easier notice/attention for those of you whom are interested.

just my luck...

I already pay a pretty decent fee for keeping my store stocked with regular store inventory, so I usually wait until a 'discount day' to list 7 day auction items - a day where the regular rate isn't 41 cents or whatever, but less, whatever their promotion is.

So, I waited and waited, and weeks went by, and I got no notice. So I went ahead last tuesday and posted some items. Yesterday, of course, I get an email that there's a discount listing day for today! It's almost like ebay is waiting for me to list auction items, then have the discount listing day two days later! It's a conspiracy! lol!

Anway, I still took advantage of it and listed a few yarn lots. They're only for a few skeins each, but there's a good colour variety. In case anyone's interested, here they are...

lot #1 ~ lot #2 ~ lot #3 ~ lot #4

Many of the colours listed are in my regular inventory at regular price (for under $2/skein) but these lots were put together with yarn that I don't normally carry. Bid away, help me make a bit of room in my office! Thanks! :)

speaking of socks... again...

Can you tell that I love varigated yarn?!? :)

I knit these up in Patons Kroy Jaquards, in whatever the colour is called that makes this pink + green + orange varigation. The pattern I used is Magknits' Rainy Day Socks and it turned out awesome.

The only thing I changed on the pattern is the top - not that you can tell from the picture - but I'm not a picot-edge kind of girl, so I made a k1/p1 ribbing for the first 5 rows.

I gots me my yarn swap package!

The pal I had for the yarn swap I organized was Marion and I absolutely lurve what I've received! I've one skein of bamboo yarn (the Opal) and the Trekking - both very cool varitaged sock yarns! woot!

She also quite skillfully sewed together two cases for dpns, and included a set of wooden 2.5 mm dpns to knit these two skeins up! (the rolled paper to the left is the instructions she found to make the dpn cases, handy!) I envy anyone who can manage to sew, and I adore what I've received! Thanks, Marion!

Prizes for those who've signed up for my yarn swap!

Alright, I've decided to join the bandwagon in rewarding some of the people who've signed up for my first organized swap with some prizes. I initially decided to do this via email rather than blogging it to make sure that it gets read, but then I changed my mind and thought I'd post it here too!!

There is actually a chance to win 2 - yes, two! - prizes!

Here's the deal: The FIRST person to RECEIVE their yarn swap package in the mail, please email me at purplespirit (at) hotmail (dot) com letting me know the name and address of the person who's sent it to you, as well as (if you can read it) the postmarked date on the package. If the date is ON or BEFORE June 30th, as stipulated in the swap on the blog when packages ought to have been mailed out, then the person who has sent it to you will win a knitting-related prize of some sort. (It's not a million dollars or anything, but I'll try to keep it a decent enough little prize nonetheless.)

Second prize: once everyone has received their packages, even if it's postmarked after the 30th, please notify me then as well (your sender's name + address). I'll do a random draw and send a little gift for that person too, but that draw won't be done until I know for sure that ALL swap packages have been received.

Oh, and by the way, I won't do the draw either until everyone has posted on their blogs that they've received and have thanked their swaps too, so be sure to include YOUR blog info, for me to double check! It'll ensure your name in the draw as well.

As I wrote recently, all packages SHOULD HAVE been mailed/postmarked by last saturday, but for those of you whom are still straggling, please make it a point to have your boxes mailed BY THE END OF THIS WEEK please! There are people relying on you to have sent out your stuff! (and yes, I said please twice, I want you to sense my urgency!)

Please email me with any questions or concerns asap! Thanks again, you guys, for participating! This was a lot of fun!

Be sure to check back at my blog during the summer - due to the success of this swap, I'll be organizing another swap to my fellow knitters, crocheters, and bloggers!

Happy Canada Day! (alright, a day late, but whatever)

Yesterday we spend the day here, at Lock 8 in Port Colborne (Ontario) - they had their 13th annual Classic Car Show where they were also raising money for the Sick Kids Hospital. My hubby being the car buff that he is, wanted to go check it out, so we took the drive...
Well, naturally, we went a little camera happy with all the cars (he took many pictures of mostly the Impalas and Corvettes) but I wanted to post a couple pics of the cars I thought were just kitchy... This first one I thought was cute because it's got that '50s roller-skate-diner plate hanging out the side window...
... and this one I thought to be particularily bad-ass because of the whole skull theme he had designed into it. Rather cool, no?
Anyway, despite all the driving around that we did, it was overall a great Canada Day, and I managed to not get a sunburn! (Now there's a big surprise!) We ended the day last night with fireworks in Port Credit, which was very stellar.