Gobble Gobble

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! We have our christmas tree up (already!), and Norah couldn't be happier! Our fridge is full of leftovers that I DIDN'T cook (thanks mom!!!), there is a little boy dancing around in my belly, and I finally have some of that lovely yarn on the needles for the first time:

Hope everyone else is as feeling as thankful as I am! :)

Wound up

I wound up a ball of the Purl Soho yarn, but haven't knit with it yet. It's ready and waiting for me though! :-)

In other news, I am blocking a wee cardi for my friend's little boy. This time (first one I made see here) I did the tapered sleeves instead of the straight ones, as I think it will be better to stay close to little newborn arms. I still need to get buttons but here is a progress pic from when I was still knitting it:

Pattern: Puerperium Cardigan
Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist - Baby Twist

Currently on the needles is a pair of fingerless gloves for my friend Natalie. She sent an amazing package in the mail which contained not only YARN, but hot chocolate mixes AND homemade (yes!) marshmallows. YUM!!!! In exchange all I "have" to do is knit the yarn up into things. The yarn is super amazing, so it's really just like one big treat for me!!!!

Yarn: Shepherd's Wool (Stonehedge Fiber Mill) - worsted weight

It's super springy and cushy for 100% wool! Plus when I was winding it up it DIDN'T shed little bits of fuzz like a lot of wool has in the past. I'm a big fan of this stuff! :) As for the glove pattern, she had sent me a photo of some gloves she had seen in a store that she liked. Working roughly from that, I am really just winging it with my own pattern. (scary!) Here is what I came up with:

I borrowed the amazing stitch pattern from this hat: Claudia Hat

The rest is cobbled together and I am hoping they will suit her tastes!!!! I will keep you posted to see if I can make the 2nd glove the same size/pattern. LOL. (I took notes but it's still hard!) I might also have some ideas for the rest of the yarn (seeing as I am going to have plenty leftover!).

Last and also least, I finally gave it up and frogged that sweater I had started for Norah. It just wasn't what I wanted, and I'd much rather make something we will both enjoy wearing and using. Oh well!

Thank you Purl Soho!!!

Yes that's right folks - I am a WINNER! Specifically, I won an online giveaway! I occasionally comment on blogs and enter myself in various giveaways but have never won something. UNTIL NOW. The best part is that I won one of the best things in the world..... YARN!

I've been reading/following the Purl Bee blog (run by the Purl Soho company) for awhile now, mostly because they have GREAT free knitting patterns! Besides being free, the patterns are stylish and things I would actually want to knit. All-in-all it's a great site. Recently they decided to go into the yarn biz and introduced their first yarn, Super Soft Merino! It's a beautiful super bulky merino wool. (Click through that last link to see all their colors!)

Anyway, if you clicked the link you will see they had a giveaway on the blog of some free yarn in honor of their first production. Of course I entered! Lo and behold... I WON. I still can't believe it! They sent me the nicest email and asked what colors I wanted for my FREE 10 SKEINS OF YARN. 10!!!! ZOMG! It took me awhile to decide (and frantic emails to a few friends lol) but I finally emailed them back using 1 zillion exclamation points. Not even a week later this arrived on my doorstep:

_{(4 peacock blue, 4 oyster grey, and 2 yellow yellow)}

Is it not amazing??!?!!!? This is the best contest I could have ever won! :) I had my assistant helping me to open and asses the yarn:

...and she knew exactly what to do with it (rub it on your face to check the softness!):

Needless to say, the name of this yarn totally lives up to the hype. IT IS SUPER SOFT. Like butter. I am sooooo excited to get this on the needles and see how it knits up, but as it is in the skeins I am more than pleased! I promise I will share when I get something cast on. In preparation I have created a folder on my desktop in which I am saving knitting patterns that would suit this yarn. I hope to be able to get as much as I can out of this amazing free yarn!

THANK YOU AGAIN PURL SOHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I promise I will buy from you in the future! :)