Best Pal!!

So everything is winding down and final packages are arriving! I am so impressed and thrilled with how great you all have been to each other! Looking through all the donated prizes (and there are still a couple on the way) there are three amazing prizes for best pals. Until I get the last of the donations, I will not post the best pal prizes, so you will just have to take my word on it :)

I have been trying to figure out how to honor those pals who are the "best" and here is what I have come up with. All three prizes will be drawn out of the Shriner's Jeep Patrol hat by mr.sunneshine on June 12th. To nominate your pal, send me an e-mail with your name and blog and their name and blog and TWO sentences on why your pal rocked your world! I must have this information by June 10th at midnight Denver time. I know two sentences is not enough space, but you have 11 days to craft these two sentences. On June 11th, I will cut and paste a post with all the nominees and the two sentences glorifying their gift giving/friendship/best-ness for all to read. If you send me more then two sentences, I will cut/paste it down to two sentences - and don't try to submit crazy paragraph long run-ons either, the Nuns in grade school taught me how to edit those down, too. June 13th, I will post the winners and the prizes that they won (and e-mail them to verify their address).

I am still working out the future of prge - but there will be a future! I am thinking a one month, not secret summer exchange, then doing another long one this fall. If you have any suggestions/comments, feel free to post them here or send me an e-mail.

Happy Knitting!!

Sort of Unrelated, But I Need Your Help!

Y'all, it's the ultimate knitting nightmare. I ran out of yarn on a project with a fairly substantial amount to go, and discovered yesterday that it's been discontinued. *SOB* The project is Lucky from Stitch n' Bitch Nation, and the yarn is Berroco Softwist Bulky in color #7450-Violet. Here's what I have done so far:

The back and the right front, and I'm almost done with the left front. I still have the sleeves and the neckband/ties and the seaming to do. If anyone has any of this yarn, please let me know, stat, and I will be more than happy to pay you for it, pay for the shipping, and send you goodies and love as well. I just bought two skeins on eBay, but it won't be enough to finish the whole thing.

Any and all help, advice, ideas, suggestions and whatnot are greatly appreciated. I'm going to call around to all my LYS's today and see if they have any, but who knows what will happen there. You all just may be my last hope...

Jules Be on the Lookout

Final box mailed, I took a little extra time as I was making an extra special surprise for my Pal's final box, (didn't we agree to do this for 6 months?) heeehee
I can't wait til she receives it so then I can post a pic. Nothing stupendous, it just came out exactly as I wanted it to...Thanks Sunne for hosting this PRGE....it has been one of the most fun I have been in so far. Both my sending to Pal, Jules, and receiving from Pal, Piper are great. Very sweet, kind ladies(sorry I know lady is not a real punky word). The most awesome thing about them is the importance of their families in their lives. It has been my pleasure and honor getting to know them both.

BEST PAL PRIZES

Another gift for best pal arrived last friday (sorry Cheryl, I got behind!)!! Punk Knits by Share Ross. It has some awesome punk patterns and techniques for those who want to design their own! It was donated by Cheryl at Knitting Knut - Thank you so much!!

I am so glad to see the third packages arriving!! And people being so good to each other!!! The nominations for best pal will be opening on June 1st and closing on June 10th. There will be some guidelines to follow if you want to nominate your pal - they will go up on Friday!! I think there will be three amazing gifts to give with all the cool stuff people have donated!

Happy Knitting!!

PRGE2: The final package...

Yeah! My final PRGE2 package arrived! And, what, oh what, did it contain, you ask? A very lovely silk tie with penguins (how cute!) and a deceptively prissy little pink box that contained a skull keyring! If you lift the top part of the skull, the clock underneath is revealed. How cool are these gifts? Thank you so much Chrissie! You've been a great pal!

thanks Elspeth

Elspeth sent me some Cascade yarn, a cute little bag to hold my yarn, and the Knitter's Lib book. Thank you for all the gifts throughout this swap!

Staci

Yarny day!!!

Lets start off Yummy with Fairy Bread. Ok it did come from my final parcel.
But there was the gorgeous sock yarn and binary stitch markers for me. I only said the other day I need more socks for winter as its gonna be a cold time in Oz this year.
My Favorite type of needles in my favoured length and Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud. Knit picks is such a luxury to us folks in Oz they wont post us at all.
Now the Yummy stuff. Sprinkles for Fairy Bread. I love Fairy Bread so it was a great ecuse to make some again. Syrup Waffles that are very yummywith caramel between what tastes like speculas.

Robert has been wonderful in this exchange I have got things I love and new things to try. I now have things to think of what pattern suits what to make.

Punk Rock Gift Exchange - The Final Package

The third and final package of the Punk Rock Gift Exchange arrived yesterday. It was waiting patiently in the mailbox for me when we arrived home from Nicholas' doctor appointment. And it was a great package to come home to. My upstream pal - Kate - had sewn this really funky bag. I am gonna take it out this saturday when I do the grocery shopping. Also there were two balls of cotton from one of the Vickie Howell lines. This was from the Craft Collection - 35% Milk Fiber and 65% Organic Cotton. It is really soft. I have no idea what to knit with it. But its not gonna be dishcloths. The color shown is 775 - Chica. The cool part is that lil Nathan actually recognized Vickie. He has seen alot of Knitty Gritty with me. And last but not least, a very cool necklace with pirate & nautical charms. Big thanks to Kate!!!

Barbie is listed...

Many of you know that I made a punk Barbie for a design contest for the Rocky Mountain News!! Well, Barbie was posted in the news today, finally!! Here is the link:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/fashion/article/0,2792,DRMN_62_5552102,00.html

My Barbie is "modern mohawk". The Barbies turned out so well that they are being auctioned off on ebay for Dress for Success, a great cause!! You can rate all the Barbies on a scale of 1-5 - if you go please, give my Barbie a 5!! To see all the dolls, and there are some great ones, you either have to go to the ebay link or rate the dolls... Its super fun and kinda punk... And I really want to win, so I am trying to get all the votes I can...

Thanks for all the support, in advance!

Thanks Staci!

My Amazon package finally came in after they sent it to someone else TWICE. Staci sent me two great books, Sew What Skirts and Craftivity. I think I'll have to get started on the shopping bag knit from cut-up plastic shopping bags ASAP. And after that I can sew a skirt, and knit a sweater to go with it, and, and, and...
Somebody stop me.

If there was one thing you'd love to get...

What would it be?

Go!

Shhhhhhhh

Vewy vewy quiet here. My pal's final package will go out in a week. How is everyone doing?

Thank you!

Thank you so much to my pal Carissa!!! She sent me yarn, a book and some great cookbooks I really need to try. I really appreciate it!

awesome package!

hey! i hope everyone is enjoying this as much as i am. i found out who my pal was when she sent me a birthday present, how cool is that?!?! its lesley!! seriously shes so freakin awesome! and this is what i just recieved from her:

two kraemer yarns in the color birch, two knitting pins, a cat tape measurer, a row counter, a eyeball sticker!! a problem solver book, and a containter with a collage on it of music/knitting/fashion!! omg im seriously in luv with it all! Thank You Lesley, you rock my socks off!

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut...

and if you're one lucky gal like moi, sometimes you get an awesome package from your secret pal, and mine is the fabulous Ms. NutScraps! Look at this rockingness:


Where to begin? We have an uber-cute graphic flower notebook, some oolong tea in an awesome package, some KILLAH bamboo yarnage, a vintage yarn cutter, asian plum candies (delish!), a truly fabulous hello kitty MARSHMALLOW pop, a cool little vintage candy tin, some kind of squishy purple thing that will come in so handy on blah office days, Prozac Nation by Lauren Slater (she even checked the ole Amazon.com wishlist, y'all!! we are talking serious awesomeness here), and a funny little tapestry pillow. A delicious mish-mash of goodies, indeed that might not have been if the post office had carried out its dastardly scheme to steal muh package!

And of course, she included some more crack for muh boy... he's lolling in a nip-induced coma right now, and I am laughing at him. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ms. Jennifer! You're awesome indeed!

Best Pal Gifties from O'Kitten

Okay, the pictures of these suck! There are two awesome sets of magnets made by O'Kitten donated to the best pal fund!! I didn't want to unwrap them, so you'll just have to take my word that these really are amazing little magnets and they are wrapped up so cute! Thank you O'Kitten!!

Package 2 arrived in UK!!

Thank you abbytrois for this great package. I LOVE the scrabble tile stitch markers, they are so great. What can I knit next to show off my markers? The Sugar 'n' Cream yarn will be used to make a picnic blanket for my little granddaughter Livia, and I might even edge it with the Bling Bling if that's not sacrilege. The alpaca is the most lovely colour, a crushed raspberry, and so, so soft. I'm afraid the chocolate has disappeared into my greedy mouth! I appreciate everything, even if I haven't mentioned everything. Thank you again, you rock!

I know who's been spoiling me rotten.

Admist all the other lovelies in my package, there was one item I didn't really harp on. My pal tells me the nail-in-the-coffin clue to her identity was in the box...... I think it's those lovely RED Boye knitting needles ----- as in Red Stick Knits.


Dear Shannon Ann,

Are you my pal?

Sincerely,
Kate

Post Office Woes...

I don't know if anyone has had problems with the postal service delivering their packages (besides Amazon)...

I highly recommend purchasing the tracking/confirmation... even though it is a few bucks more (and adds the inconvenience of someone having to sign for it, and having to go to the post office if they aren't home to sign for it).

A week ago Tuesday, I sent my pal her package... insurance and all... and she still hasn't received it. :(

So, from now on, I'm purchasing the tracking option.

i am spoiled rotten

This lovely box arrived on my doorstep Monday afternoon --- there must have been some stormy weather or something along the way but the contents were in PERFECT condition. :)

Look at this yarn! Lorna's Laces is a legend to me - I can't get it around here so whenever I hear about it or see it, I'm always so jealous & now I own some & I love it. My pal has my color choices spot on - I love this colorway & the yarn she sent me last time. She also included some size 2 straigts that are the perfect size for the yarn & seriously --- the only needle size I don't own.

I always love some knitting magazine reading.

There are two patterns I especially like --- for a little girl's dress & for a camisole tank top.

I am fighting the flu (aren't you glad the cyberworld is between us?) & this tea is the only thing I can taste. The orange is delicious. The chocolates will have to wait until my tastebuds return. And this gum..... I don't know what I used to chew before Trident came out with Tropical Twist. I'm a pack-a-day kind of girl (there are worse addictions).

What kind of movies to pirates watch?

Ones that are rated AARRRRR.

Yay for stationary. I have a notepad habit almost as bad as my love for Tropical Twist Trident. :)

So you are wondering who this loot is from.... I am too! I made some accusations a while back as to my pal's identity on my blog so I guess she's tormenting me a little longer. If I was a smart (and super bored..hhmm.... I am home sick.....) I would go back through all these recent blog posts & mark off who has been claimed as a pal to narrow mine down some more, but I might just let this tormenting go on a little longer.

Thank you pal!

I would like to interupt all this great gift giving....

to blind you with my very white legs!! Hehehe! Thanks again to my pal Spinalcat - she sent me this wonderful Tofutsies yarn and this Tidal Wave pattern, and here we have the socks!! They are my second attempt at sock knitting, so don't look too hard at the toe. However, I am wearing them today. I love 'em!! For more sock making info, check my blog!

Great Gifts! PRGE #2

This is the lovely package that my super pal Roxtar sent me. She is great and has really super taste!! THANK YOU, BUNCHES

Amazon Stinks!

My wonderful Pal, Staci sent me two lovely books from my Amazon wishlist. I know this because she asked me if I got them yet. Well, Amazon says I did. But I didn't :(
So Staci is a great Pal even though Amazon decided to suck this time. I don't think we should let Amazon's suck keep Staci out of Best Pal contention because she is Super-Duper no matter what!

Package #2 has landed...

I got my #2 PRGE package from Leigh today!! I stayed home from work so I could go sign papers for my house (finally!!!), and was glad I did when the mailman came and I was there to rip open the package right away! I did take pictures, though.. wanna see?
Undyed sock yarn...


notecards and girly accessories..


aaaand.. CHOCOLATE!


Full disclosure of the package contents can be found, of course, on the blog. Thanks again, Leigh!!

Dawn Rocks the Casbah!!!

Hooray! Mybox #2 arrived! It actually came on Wednesday but haven't been able to take pictures of everything until today. My pal is Dawn of Wild Yarn and she has totally been spoiling me.

What did I get?

Yarn:


Two balls of the green/turquise Luna Park 100% merino sock yarn in colourway 200 and 1 ball XXL Trekking in color 66. I think the green yarn is destined to become the Pepperknit zokni socks. I'm not sure about a pattern for the trekking yet. Any ideas?

I also got these that I LOVE:

They are stitch markers made by the oh-so-crafty Dawn and a punk rock case that she made, too. I love them not only because they are cool but becasue they are small enough to use on socks (where they are going tomorrow). I LOVE the case.

Other stuff I got:
A sweet lacy/skull notebook
Body Poof
Yummy Apple Body Wash
Black mod-looking notecards
DPN case (also made my Dawn....I totally needed one of these, too!)
Stitch counters (not in picture as they were promptly put to use)
2 Tape measure (one is retractable, which is exactly what I needed, also in use)
Monkey stickers
Coin purse from Guatemala
And this:
His name is Sheepy (creative, eh?) He's squishy and has fun googly eyes. I'm glad Dawn was able to wrestle him away from her son to come live with me beacause I like him!

In short, Dawn is the best darn Punk pal I could ever ask for who has spoiled me silly and sent me all kinds of wonderful presents that I LOVE. I am definitely nominating her for best punk pal not just for this round, but for EVER.

THANK YOU, DAWN!!!

1st Time Ever... I'm Speechless!

OK... so when they said, ask and you shall receive... I never, ever expected to get what I got!?!

Check out my kick a$$ package # 2 from my pal, Nana! You are so, so generous!!!!



So, Nana asked me what things I'd like to knit... and I told her how crazy I am about the Noni bag designs and I just hadn't gotten around to getting one of the patterns and stocking the stash...

Holy-Moly-Dear-Mother-of-Baby-Jesus!!! Not only did my buddy pick out the exact bag I wanted to make... but she chose the bestest colors ever!

Spoiled = ME!!!

I now have a great Noni bag pattern with the bonus flower-ruffly pattern to add to its beautifullness... and 3 hanks of Cascade 220 in black, 3 hanks of green and 2 hanks of a great fushia pink! The pics don't show the true colors... I guess you'll have to trust me that they are gorgeous!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Kathy I'm sorry hun!!!!

Hey guys! Kathy had a birthday and I got her birthday gift to her but due to some unforeseen events, I can't get your package for April to you by tomorrow. HOWEVER Monday I WILL be shippin it to you overnight US postal service!!
You are such a fun person to spoil and I'm sorry I've not been able to get you your second package.
Big Hugs!!!
Lesley your frazzled pal

Photos don't do it justice!

Last night I received my second package from my punk pal ... the glorious, lovely, beautiful, generous, and talented Shannon H!! What's really funny is that I was her gift-er, too!

In addition to an adorable box decorated with sheep photos, I received a slew of wonderful goodness: burgundy and indigo fiber, two skeins of Cotton Classic, a pink post-it pad, three skeins of her very own handspun, a bag of specialty pasta (which will be used for a special romantic dinner with Mr. Fury), and a beautiful bracelet that she made herself, presented in a handknit bag made from her own handspun.

I'm extremely lucky to have such a fantastic pal. :-)

I got my package!!!!

The girls and I actually waited outside for the postal carrier to deliver the mail this afternoon, when this showed up.

In my package was a copy of Domiknitrix: Whip Your Knitting into Shape! I have been wanting this book for a while. Along with the book was: two bars of soap (grapefruit and tangerine! Yum!), a handknit warshrag (I so need a copy of Mason-Dixon…), a little bag of chocolate espresso beans (already being enjoyed), and a nifty post card with Satan’s Cheerleaders on it.

A closeup of the postcard shows who was my pal! It’s none other than the lovely Scarlett(she’s the redhead arm wrestling on the bar, if you didn't know already)!!!



Thanks, Scarlett!!!

I Don't Deserve This...

I so don't deserve this. I just got a great package from my Aussie pal Metal and knit
I feel so guilty.
This is really amazing, here's a pic:
Included are neat Australian mementos. How cute is the boxing kangaroo? And I love the card, remember in the eighties, when all things Australian were super cool? I had a whole family of koala bear stuffed toys. I loved them so much. Also some chocolate, and Liquorice tape!! But the best part is the yarn, oh boy, wool and alpaca. It's so soft and a lovely shade, plus four balls is enough for something pretty big, will have to start looking for patterns. Yummy. Thank you pal.

Thanks Pal

I got my package number 2 from my Pal Angela....I never figured you out. I am off to work so will post pics in the morning. I got really great things....REALLY....I love it all. I don't want you all to drool over your keyboards with the descriptions so you must wait til the morning when I post the pics, heehee
MY PAL ROCKS!!!

OK as you can see I posted a pic...let's see where to start...
That is a KnitPicks Sock Pattern,(Autumn Leaves Lace Socks),2 HUGE skeins of Cascade heathered pine green yarn(how did Angela know I intend to move to Maine where all the pine trees live?)a most adorable pink sock change purse, perfect for my lab coat pocket and change carrying. There are some delicious decadent chocolates, uhm...were...well the box came half empty...REALLY! (not) Can you see the sweet little Cinnabons tin, it is filled with mints that taste like-you guessed it-CINNABONS!!! A photo album, two year calender, address book and notebook with pink pen, all so girly, hey the chocolates box matches as well, how cool is Angela? WAY COOL!! Oh, and very neat little card from my Pal..
Thanks so much Pal...I really appreciate the spoiling....

Update...it is so darn cute I thought it warranted a closeup

:( I Suck.

Okay, so the world fell into crisis. :) But I still did my secret pal shopping. However, with no car, and being on crutches, I didn't get it out yet. But the doctor should okay me to walk tomorrow, and then I'll get it out ASAP. Otherwise, my sister will be down in the next couple of days, and she'll take me to mail it. I'm sorry!!! So SO sorry! Please forgive me!

PRGE Gift 2!

I got 2 lovely books for Part 2. What the Buddha Taught, which I've read from the library and been wanting to own, and Arctic Lace. I'm really excited about the Arctic Lace book. It has a lot of history, cultural information, tutorials, and info on designing. It's definitely not just a pattern book! Thank you mystery Canadian pal!
(There's a 2nd part to Gift 2, so I haven't found out for sure who my pal is yet.)

-Spinalcat

Yes, I suck.

I hope you all have your rotten tomatoes ready...I want to make a public apology for being the worst secret pal ever. I have not yet sent my pals second package, but I swear I will do so first thing tomorrow.(EDIT: it's in the mail now, should be with you in five days)

parcel #2

Stella over at My Evil Twin showered me with all sorts of goodies for this latest round. This book has beautiful photography and marvelous patterns that seem very clear, and it's even spiral-bound so that you can easily refer to it while knitting. That's my one big pet peeve with Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks -- what a pain in the a$#. I spent last night flipping through Favorite Socks and trying to decide which pattern to knit first.

What better to accompany a sock book than some marvelous sock yarn? This is Austermann Step, a superwash sock yarn infused with aloe vera and jojoba oil. Leave it to Teutonic efficiency to combine keeping your feet warm and dry with experiencing the benefits of moisturization and aromatherapy! Seriously, this yarn smells really good, and my cats were transfixed by the aroma. Or possibly by the aroma of Stella's cats. :-)

There's also a handknit dishcloth in perfect colors to go with my kitchen, yummy Choxie mint chocolate, and colorful post-its. She made me some very cute ladybug and blue flower stitch markers, too.

Look, one of them already found its way onto my needles. This is a basic garter rib sock with Cider Moon's Glacier sock yarn in the colorway June Carter.

Thank you, Stella!

I know who my pal is, I know who my pal is!

Hey folks!! I received my 2nd package from my pal Barb Too cool!! It's the new book by the Yarn Harlot!!! She also sent me a pretty crocheted book mark and a sweet little note letting me know who she is!! I love it!! I've been wanting this book too!!! I'm almost finished with Knitting Rules and I'm so tackling Casts Off Next!!
Thanks Barb! You Rock hun!!!

Punk package 2.1

From my Punk Pal, ShadKitty, I received some awesome stuff. Two balls of Cascade wool, two buttons, Burt's Bees Almond Milk Hand Creme, and an awesome t-shirt. I feel really rockin' right now.











I apologize that this is so short, but I want everyone to know how awesome Shadkitty has been to me. Just about every other day I get some sort of e-card or greeting, I've gotten a postcard, lovely packages, and tons of good feelings are coming my way from her all the time. I know that she and I have a lot in common already, and I can see our friendship lasting well beyond the duration of this exchange.

Hello, Admin Type Post Here...

So looking through the site, it seems that only about a third of us have received our second packages. Is that right?? Has everyone been posting there packages here? Or is this site about to become a flurry of activity as the packages squeek in just before the May 5th deadline?? Let me know how its going...

Also, due to the amount of generous donations for Best Pal - I can host one more contest for this month. However, I have no contest ideas. So if you would like to see one more contest and have an idea for what it should be, either comment here or drop me an e-mail (sunne(at)rmi(dot)net).

Happy Punk Knitting!!