Michael and Ellie made a little video about our Winter Weather.
Why yes, we DID wear pajamas all day Tuesday. Didn’t you?
PS If you don’t have time for the whole thing, skip to the end to see Ellie driving her pink Jeep that Santa brought.
Monthly Archives: January 2014
Neither Rain, Nor Sleet…
Mail service has been restored! Look what they brought me:
Swap box!
Isn’t it fun when stuff happens at just the right time? We’re melting and Ellie is back in school today. It’s a perfect day to make a Sparkle Collar (Polaris by Rozetti – it’s got sequins) and start a new book! “The Gerbil Farmer’s Daughter” – I flipped through and there are pictures of gerbils! I can’t wait!
Thank you so SO much, Donna (in Wisconsin, where they take cold seriously), you made my snow day.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have 120 stitches to cast on.
You Don’t See That Every Day
It looks all snowy and pretty, but y’all, it’s all ice. I didn’t even leave footprints.
No school tomorrow because that mess isn’t about to melt with two hours of above freezing.
But it’ll be 70° this weekend!
Swap Box
The swap box it up on top. The post-it reads “cats cats cats cats.”
I’m almost finished with the dog too!
You Are What You Eat
I tell you what.
There are ups and downs to having a Daisy Girl Scout in the house during Cookie Season.
I wish I had not opened that last box of Tag-A-Longs. I feel ill.
Slip Up
With all the cold and the days off from school, and then the nice weather and all the work the yard needs, I’ve not had a lot of knitting worth showing.
OK. Except this doggy custom.
She gives me a big smile.
I’m also on tentacle eight of the octopus example AND almost ready to ship my swap box.
I know some boxes are already packed and on the way. Y’all are making me look bad.
The Hard Way
How I make partners in a round-robin swap.
I did most of the matching and then handed off to Michael. I was feeling really guilty about the amount of work I unknowingly talked him into.
Y’all. We really need a universal ap for this. I’d happily, gleefully, delightedly pay money to host a swap with an ap that saves swappers’ profiles, and allows me to make custom questions for the current swap. And then makes matches with selected pieces of information. It’d be cool if it were smart enough to know that Zonda gifted Brenda (or whoever) in the last swap and not match them up again for the current one. And I’d like to be able to hand tweak the list before partner information is emailed in case I have insider information. I know someone will get right on this.
All that said: partner information was sent out last night! It came from Michael at YarnMiracle in case you need to check your spam folder. If you don’t know who you’re gifting, let him know. If you’ve got other questions or need your partner to clarify something while maintaining your anonymity, please let me know!
Start gathering goodness – boxes should be mailed no later then January 31. Quick reminder: if you are shipping to another country, go low-tech! DVDs and things don’t work the same way from nation to nation.
Matchmaker
Our questions are answered, let the matchmaking begin!
PS When I asked Michael to make the matches so I could be surprised, I said “Oh, I’m sure there won’t be more than a dozen folks who want to participate.” I was really wrong. Thank you! I’m completely tickled.
Swap of Discontent: Fill out your Questionnaires Please!
Heeeeey, swappers! Signups are closed!
Y’all please fill out your quick little surveys and get them back to me! We need them before Michael can make the matches. We haven’t heard from about half of you (there will be individual guilt-making tomorrow if necessary). If you didn’t get a survey, email me (emily at yarnmiracle) or comment with an email address that you check! I’ll send it to you.
Through cutting and pasting in haste, I lopped off the “What is your mailing address?” part of some of the questionnaires. If you were one of the lucky few, we really do need that piece of information. Just add it to the end when you answer the rest of the questions.
One last thing:
Who DOESN’T have cats and dogs? And if you have no furred animals and a smoke-free home you get extra gold stars. I needed to put that in the survey – I’m sorry, it’s been a while since I did this and I’m rusty. Please please email me (or comment if you’d rather) about your allergen-free status.
The Swap of Discontent
Sign-ups are closed for this Swap
“Now is the winter of our discontent”…but we’ve got to make our own bright spot since we don’t have that York fellow to bring the summer. Knitters, I present:
The Swap of Discontent
This swap intended to provide at least one cozy evening indoors.
Swap boxes should include:
– The yarn and pattern for one smallish, comfy knitting project to ward off the cold (scarf, hat, cowl, nose warmer – think one-size-fits-all-outerwear)
– A book or movie
– Something warm (or warming) to eat or drink.
Here’s the catch: At least one thing in the swap box must be Pre-Owned. Yarn from your stash, a book you’ve already read, a pattern that you’re done with (purchased in a physical format or free to distribute – be mindful of copyright, please). Actually, everything in the box can be pre-owned! There’s no reason to spend anything but shipping if you don’t want to. We’ve all got lovely things and patterns and yarns that we may never ever use. Why not let them fulfill their knitting destiny in the hands of a friend?
Swap boxes should be in the mail no later than January 31, 2014.
Michael is going to make the matches for us because I want to be surprised! Let’s make it a secret swap. Because that’s fun – reveal your identity in the box you mail!
To sign up, leave me a comment before the end of the day Friday (January 10, 2014) and I’ll send a short questionnaire to the email address you use for the comment. Mostly I want to know about allergies – nothing worse than a yarn that makes you itch or nut-filled chocolate that you can’t eat. Non-US residents are more than welcome! Michael will make matches this weekend.
To hit the highlights:
*In the box: Yarn and pattern for project, book or movie, warm drink or snack. ONE must be pre-owned, but all can be.
*Comment by the end of the day Friday, January 10.
*Fill out your questionnaire.
*Matches made over the weekend.
*Boxes in the mail by Friday, January 31.
Ready? Set! GO!
Sign-ups are closed for this Swap