Naughty Blogger...

I feel like I'm constantly posting apologies for not posting....actually, not even constantly, because then I'd still be posting and wouldn't have to apologize for not posting....but you get the idea. And I was doing so good for a while there. I kinda fell off the blogging wagon. Actually, I was pushed. I was pushed by guilt.

For a really long time (for me) I didn't buy new yarn. Then I went on vacation and bought two lovely skeins of yarn whilst visiting my grandma in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. I rationalized that yarn as "not stash--Souveniers!" But then I bought some yarn to make a Christmas present and rationalized it as "not stash--Prezzies!" Not too long after that, I placed an order online with Jessie because if you order $50 you get free shipping and since I was splitting an order with someone else, it was saving a ton of money so I rationalized as "not stash--Economizing!"...at that point I realized I had ruined my Stashy Sunday idea. And it's difficult to write Stashy Sunday posts and ignore the pile of newly purchased yarn sitting right next to your desk. Soooo I just didn't post. See how that works?
But now that I've made my full (ok...partial) confession, I feel like I can get back to posting with a clear conscience.

I actually have been doing a great job of knitting from the stash, even if I haven't done as great a job at not buying new stash. I've been madly knitting away for Nerd Wars, which is just about the funnest thing I've ever done. I swear, I've laughed so hard at some of the things other people have posted and am making a great dent in finally doing a lot of the projects I've wanted to do for a long time. I learned to crochet and I've learned a LOT about many different things I would never have known about without Nerd Wars.

Here's a picture of one thing that I've wanted to make for forever but didn't know how to crochet and so put it in the "Someday" list. He's tucked into a potted plant at work and makes me smile every time I see him!

I also made Kim's cat a costume. Meet Father Riley:

Dr. Who Swap--Part Two

I was so surprised to learn that my swap partner would be my sister that I burst our laughing in the middle of Starbucks knitting group and about half the buildings occupants gave a concerned look at the lady laughing maniacally in the corner. Surprised, but REALLY happy. She's so crafty and creative that I just knew I would be excited to receive whatever she cooked up. And boy was I! Here's a picture of all my "loot"! She made me Puppy Chow (one of my favorite snacky/desserts) for K-9, the robot dog companion of The Doctor. Also included are Tea, Popcorn and a banana (because the Ninth Doctor likes bananas). She knitted me up so TARDIS Coasters and bought some "Waters of Mars" Geek Chic yarn. It's such a great color and I am thinking of making another Hitchhiker scarf like the purple one I just finished.

She also made me some Doctor Who return address labels (one of the perks of having a swap partner who knows me is that she can make me things with my address!) with pictures of The Doctor and my favorite companion, Donna Noble. Sooo fun! I've already used 4 of them and each time I did a little wiggle dance of joy. The people receiving them might not have any idea of why my address labels have pictures of other people on them, but it makes me happy to think of some poor unsuspecting Letter carrier/processor getting a kick out of my Doctor Who labels.

Probably the most labor intensive thing she made me (by far) was this bag:

It is a fabulous project bag made to look just like the TARDIS (basically, The Doctor's time/space machine). Now, one of the drawbacks of having a swap partner you know (and spend a lot of time with) is that it's trickier to be sneaky. So I would hear at work about how Kim slaved away all evening, several evenings, many lunch hours, part of the weekend, etc., working on this project. I was starting to feel really bad that she was putting in all this time and effort into a present for me. But only a little bad--I was also really excited to find out what she had up her sleeve. Here's a picture of her working on the project:

I think at this point, she was a little disenchanted with the project and wanted it to just either be done, or for it to jump off a bridge and die.

She also made me some amazing stitch markers with pictures of Who related things (The Doctor, Donna Noble, the Sonic Screwdriver, Weeping Angels, etc.) paired with quotes from the show. They are currently being used in my Tilting TARDIS Cowl and they make me smile every time I come to one of them.

Overall, I think I was pretty lucky! I have some spectacular new Who related things and some tasty snacks. Thanks KIM!!! I would swap with you any day!

Dr. Who Swap--Part One

One day whilst roaming around Ravelry, I stumbled across a Doctor Who Swap that had just opened up for sign ups and couldn't resist signing up to participate. One of the requirements was that you had to give your recipient yarn, something handmade and any other assorted goodies you wanted to include. Of course, I was hooked! I managed to talk Kim into signing up with me (but really, I didn't have to talk to hard...she was game!) and in a small twist of fate, we were assigned as each others swap partner. It was such a fun process! Just thinking about what I was going to make...what other goodies she would like...how she was going to love love love this gift, etc.

Here's the package of Doctor Who lovelies I put together for her:

I learned how to make a box bag using this great tutorial but I also added a handle on the end. Let me tell ya! Finding a zipper to match this odd color of fabric was tricky! I also did a cross stitch with a very Who saying.

We are lucky enough to have a local indie dyer called Geek Chic who stocks her yarn with The Knit Addiction in Clovis who is very fond of The Doctor.
I also learned how to make stitch markers so that I could make Kim these cool "disappearing TARDIS " baubles to mark her place. I really feel like I need some too!

But probably the best unveiling was when Kim opened the Jammie Dodgers just because they were sooo unexpected. The Eleventh Doctor (played by Matt Smith) is very fond of his Jammie Dodgers, but thus far, I haven't ever seen them before. One day last week I went into Cost Plus World Market because Valerie told me they had great jewelry...and THERE they were!!!

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on all the goodies I received!