Knit Sock Kit Swap

It's here it's here it's here!
My Knit Sock Kit Swap package has finally arrived, all the way from Germany! My poor pal Nicole had some serious mail issues trying to get it to me, and ended up sending it via her neighbours who are US Military (I think. It came via usps.)
Definitely worth the wait, though. Check it out:

Chocolate covered clove/apricot bicuit thingies (mmmmm), other candies, awesome stripey bag that matched the outfit I was wearing the day I got the package, 2! kinds of sock yarn: Regia Canadian colours and some blue cotton... stuff? Looks interesting. And some blue plastic (my favourite type of needle!) double pointed needles, and a lizard, and a postcard. The postcard really threw me off - it says sweden on it, and then the candy is german, and then the package was sent via US post... I had to ask where on earth my pal was! Anyhow, SO excited about the yarn. Especially the blue stuff becasue it MATCHES the needles. (Yay!) And there was a pattern in the Fall 2006 Vogue Knitting by Cat Bordhi for interesting socks that I think will go well with the yarn.. but other projects first.

And just because, a Christmas ornament I unearthed while I was doing the tree. I think I made this when I was about 14, before I really started knitting much.

Setting Limits

Today I had some free time, so I was tidying in our bike/craft room. I started to sort through all my craft supplies and assorted accessories.

Hoo boy.

I think I've let good intentions and nebulous poorly-formed plans get the better of me. While I don't have tons of craft stuff, at least not embarrassingly so, I do have enough that I think I need to take a step back and reassess.

I have two (very) large rubbermaid bins full of yarn. Plus about 2/3 of a bin floating around the house in various bags, baskets, and project stages.

I have one (overflowing) large rubbermaid bin full of scrapbooking paper, trims, stickers and assorted geegaws.

I have a shelf full of thrifted fabric, a box of assorted ribbons, zippers and buttons, and an enormo-bag of polyfill.

I have a small rubbermaid tub full of beads and beading notions.

I have three small boxes (boot boxes from work, actually) full of crafting magazines - mostly beading and knitting.

I like to think of myself as the kind of person who doesn't define herself through acquisition, but I think I just made a big liar of myself.

I think that 2007 will be my year of de-stashing. Wendy at wendyknits (one of the first knitting blogs I ever read) has decided that this will be her year of "knit from your stash". I think she's onto something. 2007 will have to be my "craft from your enormous pile of stuff". I'm going to have to think about how I will do this - cold turkey just won't work. What if I'm trying to get through all the scrapbooking stuff and I run out of glue in May? What if I want to knit someone a gift and they request something for which I don't have the appropriate yarn? By Jan 1 2007 I will have some guidelines for myself, I will post them here, in public, and best of all, tell Richard about them so he can help me keep on track.

Maybe the money I save can be set aside in a "2008 craft supply blow-out" jar? Hehehehe.

And by the way, Richard comes home tonight. So excited!

Spare time? What spare time?

Last Saturday Richard and I had one whole glorious day off together (first one in a couple of months). The weather cooperated, so rather than waste the day, we went for a walk at Point Pleasant Park. Though the sun was shining, it was chilly, and we eventually made our way downtown and went for coffee, had some fish and chips, checked out Sam the Record man... it was a really nice relaxing day for once.

That, of course, has been the sum total of my real 'days off' for a while. Most of the time I end up doing laundry, cooking, and cleaning. Don't get me wrong; these aren't horribly onerous chores, and Richard does his fair share. However, it was nice to just have a day where nothing had to be done, and we could just go where the wind took us.

In other spare moments, I've been making christmas cards. Here's a sneak peek:

This is a kindof fun picture, without giving away too much. Richard and I both like these cards better than the ones we sent last year (not that they weren't nice, too), and these ones were actually faster to make! (Hint: I invested in some rubber stamps). Tomorrow before I go to work, I'll be addressing cards and envelopes and hopefully these will be in the mail early next week.

In other exciting news, Chapters did a company-wide contest to see which store in the country could do something or other (not even sure what it was.... oh well) and our store won! Which means that every person employed there (40ish people) won an ipod shuffle! So... even though I'm not really a technophile, I've got this nifty little gadgety doodad... for doing my job. Fun times. It's a neat little thing - it can hold 1 GB of music or podcasts (Cast On is my favourite) but it's small enough that it looks like it should be a keychain decoration or something. I'm afraid of losing the dang thing. I guess this is my Christmas present to me for working so hard.

I will probably not be posting many pictures over the next couple of weeks. Richard has taken our new camera with him to San Francisco for a conference, and yes, I know we have the Old Camera, but I am now Spoiled, and also to use the Old Camera, I must Venture Out and Buy Batteries. (I'm capitalizing because I've just finished a book on Victorian leisure and I love all the old adverts. "For the Highest Quality and Lowest Prices, buy your winter wardrobe at Robertson's! Our products are guaranteed to Amaze and Delight!")