Long Beach Swap Meet and Knitting Fun

This weekend was pretty productive - here's some of the things that happened in no particular order:

I started (and finished) a hat for Wanda Wisdom - a 32 year old single, sober drag queen who podcasts for Lavender Media in Minneapolis, MN - I promised a hand knit hat to him/her before Christmas because he/she runs a lot - he actually has lost a great deal of weight this past year by working out and running and eating more healthfully! - I enjoy his podcast - he makes me laugh and smile and I'm glad to know him... this hat should go out to him sometime this week.

I got a wonderful package from a friend in Vermont - he's a knitter who found my blog - and wanted to send me some goodies to thank me for all the new resources (including Ravelry) that he had discovered by reading my posts. He's a special friend and I LOVE all the handspun he sent me - a gorgeous collection of merino, wool, even some cotton - that I plan to mix with other collections of yarn and eventually will add to a blanket I have planned - Most of you know, I tried spinning - and it wasn't really my thing - I admire those who have the patience, but for now, I know I'm not quite ready for it... I'll just have to appreciate the talents of others until I have the drive to slow down and practice! (Thanks, Chris!)

I also finished the collar on the green sweater, and attached it... I'm in the process of blocking that sweater now - it needed to be about 1" longer than it was hanging unblocked - everyone seems to think that it'll be fine - so I'm trusting all the experts - I wet it, pinned it out to dry and it's drying (slowly).... can I just say, yarn that has not been washed stinks when it gets wet! ick! I put this out, then we went out for the afternoon - when I got back, the house smelled like mold - it was gross! I hope that stink doesn't stay in the sweater... I might have to spray it down with cologne or something... (anyone have suggestions on what to do re: the stinky wet sweater?)

I also finished up another bag - this was the "first" felted bag I started way back in December, 2006 - it sat in the closet about 50% done because I knew that it wasn't going to be perfect (I used only one strand of wool instead of doubling up) - it turned out a little thinner than I wanted, but it's still pretty neat... Anyway, after felting it in the washer, I put some plastic boxes in it and laid it out to dry outside overnight on the lounge chairs - in the morning, I was surprised to find that when it's c-o-l-d outside, felted things freeze!
stiff as a board - but looked pretty cool... I let it lay out there all day, then last night transferred it to the garage - it's pretty dry now - I just have to find the right fabric to line it, and a strap and then it's off to the finishers!

We went to the Long Beach Swap Meet on Sunday - and I found some neat goodies I wanted to share.... I had wanted to find some neat patches to put on the bags - and I found 2 of them (for $5) at a booth - then, I stumbled upon the holy grail of patches... $.50 each! - the lady had bought thousands from someone, and had been selling them forever - these were the leftovers, but I found some fun ones:

I also found these really cool felt flags - they're from cigar boxes (or so the ladies told me) - there were smaller ones (around 6" x 9" or so, and larger ones, around 18" x 26") and I guess they were some sort of giveaways... anyway, I thought they'd be cool inside a bag, or sewn into a lining in a jacket, or as a pillow backing (the bigger ones) ... I have no idea when I'll use them, but I had to have some of them because they're interesting.... and like I told the ladies selling them, If I don't buy these, I'll regret it and never see 'em again - but if I buy them, they'll be everywhere! I bought 5 little ones and 2 big ones...

I started a new scarf last night - since I was exhausted from the day and literally walking in circles trying to figure out what to knit - I didn't want to work on the snowflake sweater (too complicated for me being so sleepy) and I didn't want to tackle the guernsey (math involved in figuring out how to center whatever patterning I decide comes next) so I found a neat diamond seed brocade pattern in a stitch dictionary, grabbed some yarn (from my stash earmarked for scarves/hats/etc) and started working on it. I like the way it's turning out - it'll take a little concentration being an 8 row repeat, and since I'm not an expert at paying attention, having this as my "TV" knitting will be good for me...

Hope everyone has a great week!