SP's, SP's, everywhere!!

Another GREAT knitting weekend! K and I had planned to go to Jacksonville on Saturday for the Fiber History Social. Due to the long drive, she invited me to spend the night Friday. Friday afternoon she reminded me that it was the last meeting of the Altamonte knitting group, which is sadly being disbanded. So, I was very happy that we got to go to that meeting! Kind of ironic really - their last meeting was also their best attended, with 5 people dropping by!

Saturday morning K and I were up bright and early. With only minor GPS issues, we arrived at the event location at 9:45ish. The location was Camp Milton, which has a lovely building that somewhat resembles an old farm house. Inside is a beautiful presentation room, but outside is a wide, deep, shaded porch. Since we all brought chairs, sitting out on the porch was convenient. The shade and breeze kept the temperature just right.

Many of the people that we met are involved in Historical Re-enactments from the Civil War era. We shared some techniques and knowledge, learning and teaching throughout the day. We also met Carol and Liz - and remarkably, Carol lives about 10 minutes down the road from me! She taught us the basics of needle tatting. I made a tiny little sample - enough to prove that I had a clue...I think that will be another skill like crochet - that I'll pull out once in a blue moon for a specific SMALL project, but not to become a regular part of my fiber endeavors.

After we left the event, K and I just couldn't resist dropping by one of the LYS's, KnitWitz. They had a nice selection of Fleece Artist rovings in LOVELY colors. Here's the one I picked up for me...I got one for my Spring Fling pal too, but I'm not going to show you that picture just yet.

After KnitWitz, I was still intrigued by the other LYS, A Stitch in Time. We met one of their employees at the event. She recommended the store highly (of course!), and had shown us some of the Aloe/Jojoba sock yarn - well, she showed us the sock. So, we ran over there and looked around. They had a nice selection of items in their sale bin, and after a little deliberation, I had to go to the car and bring in the Crayon Box box. As it turned out, one of the yarns that was put in the sale bin THAT DAY was just perfect! I also picked out another that was full price, and three balls of a lovely soft blend that I can see making a scarf or stole or something with...

Overall, some great purchases! K also found some yarns and rovings at both locations that she was happy to pick up.

While we at the event earlier in the day, one of the ladies did mention that Joann's had all of their Simplicity patterns on sale - for $1.99 each! So, on the way home last night, after we finished dinner, K and I ran in (at 8:45pm!) to raid their patterns. Here are the ones I picked out.

Three are gown/dress possibilities, and the fourth has several quilted bags. I've often ogled the Vera Bradley bags and other similar quilted bags...ok, I'll admit it, I'm an absolute sucker for anything resembling a knitting bag. So, if I can find some appropriate fabric, maybe I'll try making one myself...

Spent the night at K's again last night, since it was rather late by the time we got home. This morning we all slept in a bit. When I finally got out of bed, I worked on the CTH jacket some more. It was the focus of the weekend, and I have some news... THE BACK OF THE JACKET IS DONE!!

We all went out for breakfast, then to Target for a bit of retail therapy. I did pick up a couple of things for me, but MOST of what I got was for my two downstream SP's. Also stopped by the autoparts store to pick up some replacement bulbs for my brake lights. Came home, dropped by the neighbor's house, who let me borrow his star screwdriver. I was very proud of myself for changing out my bulb ALMOST all by myself. Yes, A insisted on helping by looking at the lit lights to see whether the one to replace was top or bottom. But, all of the physical "labor" of the swap was all me! Ok, so it took about 5 minutes INCLUDING researching which bulb was which. Glad to do it myself for a total cost of less than $5 than to pay someone else two or three times that much for their "labor" to change it out.

So, made it home today finally, only to find a BOX in my mailbox!! And a pretty good sized box at that! So, here's the contents:

It started with the YUMMY dark chocolate. From there it moved to a ball of TOFUtsies! Yum! I still can't wait to try knitting with some of this! There are so many things on my knitting agenda, and right now CTH is still dominating the list. If I have any prayer of finishing on time, there IS no time for anything else. Anyhow, back to the package. Lots more lovely yarns, kitty treats & toys, yummy tea. There's a great knitting book...where do you guys keep finding these great knitting journals?? This is number two, and just as wonderful as the first one! Oh, and the CARD! Did you make it SP? The dragonfly on the front is BEAUTIFUL! What a great package! So, CPURL, did you forget that I know your address? And I know you're at least reading my blog....which leads me to wonder why A) You would send me a package with your own return address, or B) You would agree to send a package for my SP, knowing that I DO know your address... It's a bit perplexing, but I'm putting you on notice, you're my #1 suspect at the moment :)

After perusing my lovely package, munching a couple of chocolates, as well as some of those Butterscotch Crisps from Ann the other day, I hauled out all of the stuff that *I* have for SP packages... It was pretty scary to see my entire counter FULL of various package stuffers! Some for SP8, some for Spring Fling for now, some for Spring Fling for later...and some for future unknown SP's! Put together two packages that will go out tomorrow. The Spring Fling one will remain a mystery, but the other, for SP8, will be mailed to Zimmie tomorrow. Ok, so here's where I need your help...if you are NOT Zimmie, don't tell her you read this...and if you ARE? Well, you found me!