I just found the most awesome little sewing gadget out there! It’s called a “Sidewinder,” and it’s made by Wrights. It’s a little bobbin winder, that you can either plug in or use a battery with, so that you don’t have to stop your sewing project, unthread your machine & all of that just to refill a bobbin. I really want one of these & as soon as I can swing the $30 for it, I’m ordering it!

I received my swap package, from my swap angel Terri. Thank you so much Terri, I loved everything!

Ok, onto the pictures.. here’s the bunch of goodies when they came out of the box:

Next, we have the beautiful yarns that she sent me. The purple is Patons SWS, which is a wool/soy blend. I love the color. The cream twist on top is a wool from Wool in the Woods, I’ve never felt anything that soft before! And some nice natural Sugar ‘n’ Cream cotton.

Then the purpose of the swap, which was a dishcloth. She sent me a beautiful purple & orange Ball Band cloth and some yummy soap by The Soap Fairy. I already put the soap in my shower & the dish cloth is in the kitchen, ready to be used.

The next packages had The Knitting Answer Book in them, along with row counters, stitch markers & a cute kitty measuring tape. Terri had commented on my post where I was having problems with my camper dishcloth about row counters & stitch markers & knew I didn’t have any. I had the book on my wishlist & I appreciate them all so much. I really want to become a great knitter & I think these will help me.

Next were some goodies to help me relax, an awesome ocean surf CD & some sandalwood incense (which is my favorite!)

And finally, some yummy smelling chocolate cherry coffee that I can’t wait to grind & try in the morning!

I was very disappointed when I didn’t receive anything initially in this swap, but Terri made the wait so worthwhile. She was an awesome angel & if you ever get the chance to swap with her, count yourself lucky.

I cast on the next dishcloth last night (this one – it’s a fairy for Spring) and I have it a third of the way finished. I’ll probably finish it by tonight, or at least, I’ll try to. I changed the border on it, I don’t like that moss stitch style that’s on the pattern, it’s far too much work. I also tend to screw up a lot when switching back & forth on every stitch like that.

Today, I’m cleaning the living room, getting it ready for Christmas decorating. Tomorrow, I’ll work on the kitchen. I’m also still trying to decide exactly what I want to make for my booth for July. There are things that sell very well that I don’t really like to make (like lip balm), so I tend to put them off until the last minute. Ther are things I love to make that don’t sell at all (the tooth fairy pillows). The first five years in any booth are more like doing market research than anything else. If you don’t figure it out during that time, you probably won’t. We’ve had two seasons, and I’m still trying to figure it out.

I absolutely love the look of French cuffs on a man. It looks so classy and yet, casual and sexy at the same time. I’d really love to make a few shirts with them so that Troy could make use of some of the sets of cufflinks that we’ve both inherited over the years. I’m not sure if there’s a commercial pattern with those cuffs even available anymore, but I’d really like to find out.

I haven’t yet cast on the next dishcloth, I’ve been fairly busy since I finished the snowflake one, but I plan to tonight, after dinner. I’m feeling a little better than I was yesterday, thankfully! I need to design a stencil for a t-shirt in the next day or so, too, so I can get that cut out & ready to go on. It’s for a friend, for Christmas. Dawn’s son drew his name & didn’t know what to get him, so we found the saying & thought it was perfect for our friend & so that’s what he’s giving him.

Have you ever thought about what we call things & how they really sound? There are days when I can amuse myself for quite awhile thinking about it. Like “boom box” really sounds like a device you’d use to detonate a bomb, but it’s a box we listen to music on. Plasma lifts sound like a medicine you’d take to raise your plasma levels, but you really use them for a plasma or LCD TV, to lift it up off the floor. A hot pad could be confused with a pad that you use to heat up sore muscles, but you actually use it to keep from getting burned when taking pots off the stove. Flower bed sounds like it should be a place of rest, instead of one of work, like it is.

It’s really no wonder that English is one of the hardest languages to learn, is it? We have so many words that mean the same thing, and others that can have more than one meaning. I’m thankful that it’s my first language and that I don’t have to try to learn to speak it!

I finished the winter dishcloth today while I was watching TV. I decided that I’d sit down & work on it & wait to come back here and get on my computer. I’m happy that I did, because it’s finished and I can start on the next one this evening, now. I like how it turned out, but I didn’t get it done exactly like the pattern. I clearly need to go back & learn to do the whole yarn over thing again, because I didn’t do it right.

One of the local farm & ranch stores had some great deals on pet supplies on Friday, and I had planned to go there & get Tiny a new bed, but I was so exhausted by the time we went out shopping for groceries that I couldn’t even think of anything. I may stop in there tomorrow and see if they have any left, because we had to throw her other one out after she had an accident on it. (It was a miniature couch & couldn’t be washed) They sometimes keep the price down at the sale price if they don’t sell out, so maybe we’ll get lucky. If not, maybe I’ll just get a pattern & make her one.

I went & bought the yarn for my mom’s Christmas dishcloths last night. I managed to get 4 balls of Sugar ‘n’ Creme cotton for around $4.00, because I walked into a nice sale at the craft store. I started the first one this morning, it’s a snowflake pattern (this one) in cornflower blue. This one is done the same way that the camper one was & so far, I’m not having any problems with it, so I’m hoping for the best. I’m a third of the way finished with it, but I stopped before it got more complicated. I’m thinking it’ll be the middle third that might give me problems, because the last one is identical to the first. I’ve never done decreases & increases while knitting, although I know how they’re done and there are some in this one. Hey, at least I’ll get some practice & learn some things, right?

I am getting better with every little project I do, and that really makes me happy, because I never really saw myself getting better when I was crocheting. I actually have an easy baby sweater pattern picked out, but I’m waiting to buy yarn until we know the baby’s gender (friends’ baby) before I pick colors.

My Fall into Autumn swap angel sent my package the other day & I’m excitedly waiting for it to get here, I appreciate her for stepping in & putting things together for me so much

It’s also almost time to whip out the popcorn machines and make up a bunch. What for? The awesome old-fashioned tradition of the popcorn garland. If you’ve never done it, here’s a great tutorial about it. It’s a lot of fun and it kind of looks like snow on your tree. It’s neat to mix in some whole cranberries while you string it, too, especially if you plan to give the garland to the birds after the holidays. You will want to make extra, especially if you have little ones helping you, they tend to eat at least as much as they string for garland! While you’re checking out the garland tutorial, make sure you scroll to the bottom of the page and look at the other holiday tutorials down there, hey have a lot of really great suggestions.

I’ve been thinking about my Christmas baking, and when I finalize that list, I’ll post it & the recipes on my cooking blog. I did find, in my wanderings, one that I think could qualify as a food and a craft, depending on what you did afterwards. It’s a candy cane recipe, for cookies that you can hang on your tree. I think if you baked them up & them put some varnish on them, you could reuse them every year, making them a craft. You could always just put them in the tree and snack on them, too. I think I remember making these in home ec & have always wanted to try them again, so they may get added to my baking list for the season, if I think I’ll have time for them.

I’m really dragging today. I feel run down and sick again, which isn’t a good sign with a busy week ahead of me. It starts with a wedding tomorrow & ends with grocery shopping next Friday, I don’t think I really have much downtime between then & now, but it’ll be nice to be able to sleep in most of the week next week. I plan to really give the house a scrubbing down & decluttering in the next few days, so we can get ready to decorate for the holidays. I plan to take advantage of Troy being off this weekend to help me & my daughter being off next week to finish it off.

Tonight, I’m taking my knitting with me to Dawn’s & I’m going to try to finish the dishcloth that’s driving me crazy, so that I can buy yarn & choose patterns for mom’s Christmas gifts. It’s nice to have money in both checking accounts to be able to get what I need for that project. I think I’ll grab some more cold medicine to get me through the week, too.