Thank you SP!

Well unfortunately this post will be pictureless. Today I am on a quest to find a way to take decent pictures in my home. We'll see what happens. Since it's raining, it'll be hard to find a place with decent lighting. I did want to say thank you to my Secret Pal, because she sent me a terrific package! She sent some new Hiya Hiya circular needles, which I've never used before. They come in some lesser known sizes. These are US size 1 1/2. She also sent a book of dog patterns! There are some fun ones in there, and then a Fiber Trends pattern to make a matching dog sweater and people socks. Oskar will be nice and warm this winter, which really helps his arthritis. He doesn't like being dressed up, but when we take him out in the winter it's a must. In the summertime he acts like a playful puppy, but the winter really shows his age.

My pal also sent a Jasmine sachet, and some Bath and Body Jasmine scented shower gel, yum! The whole package smells like Jasmine now. She also included some tea bags in different flavors, and one of those yarn cutters you can wear around your neck! What a great package! Thanks again SP!

This week has been so crazy. My best friend's grandma passed away last week, and the funeral was Monday. She was an adopted grandma for me, but she is in a much better place now so I think we're all at peace about it. The day of her funeral was the day aforementioned best friend was supposed to move apartments. So we've been packing and moving until all hours of the night trying to get things done since she couldn't move Monday. Hopefully tonight we'll have her out and the old place cleaned, so all she'll have to do is unpack in the new place. She's had a stressful week so I'm trying to take good care of her!

awesome package, flash your stash contest, and other stuff

Well this week will be an exciting mail week! To start if off, on Saturday I received a package from Beth with lots of great local (she's from New Hampshire) goodies inside! She sent some beautiful J. Knits yarn in Tampa, and some yummy cookies and chocolates to munch on! She also sent some Earl Grey Le Creme tea from Portsmouth Tea Company that is wonderful! She also sent an engraved tea strainer that is the perfect size for a tea cup! I love the cards and magnet she included with sheep on them! Thank you so much Beth!! Unfortunately the pictures aren't great, I tried to take them outside, because usually that's the only way to get the lighting right, and they totally didn't come out! So I took them indoors. One day... one day I will get a good digital camera.Here are a couple of random pictures. This weekend we celebrated Katie's birthday at Incredible Pizza. It's kind of like a Chuck E. Cheese, except it appeals to older kids. They have bowling and go karts and bumper cars along with all the regular games like skee ball and stuff. Here she is blowing out her candles.

And I finally got a picture of my Weasley clock tshirt.

Okay time for stash pictures. I have more yarn than I thought! Though nowhere near as much as many others. Here it is in tubs. The orange tubs are Rubbermaid's cedar tubs, very convenient for wool!
Okay, we'll start out with the cotton and blend yarns, basically everything that could get by without being in a cedar bin.
This is my lace weight, though the flash completely wiped out the three skeins of natural colored cashwool. (I'll probably dye a couple of these!) Lace is a new thing for me, so this area will probably grow!
Here is my wool sock yarn:
This is my sport and worsted weight wool:
And here is the bulky weight wool, not anywhere near as much of it!
And last but not least here is my hand dyed yarn, covering bulky weight, worsted weight, and sock yarn! I am determined to take a decent picture of this stuff!

fundraising and contests

There are a couple of contests going on right now that I thought I'd tell you guys about. Hope is having a blogivesary contest and all you need to do is email her your favorite patterns (what pattern, and where to find it). She's also wanting to increase readership on her blog, so go check her out. Tell her I sent you.

Also, Dorothy has some fantastic prizes that you can win for donating money to her Relay for Life account. Relay for Life is a huge fundraiser for cancer. She has a separate blog for her fundraising efforts, and pictures of all her incredible prizes! Her goal is $2,000, and her husband doesn't think she can make it, so let's prove him wrong!

Both of these are time sensitive so check them out soon!