Another Surprise Package!

I can't say it enough...I love getting mail, especially packages! Anyone else with me??

They just always have such a nice, personal touch & it makes a person feel good to know that someone out there is thinking about them and wanting to brighten their day, just a little bit.

I met Jenn when I was living in Monterey, CA. I was having a hard time meeting people (as is sometimes the case when you move somewhere not knowing anyone) and decided to join this knitting group on Meetup. The group contained about 5-10 ladies (all different ages) who got together every week to eat, knit & chat...it was a blast! Anyway, Jenn was one of the leaders of the group and we very quickly became good friends...going to get coffee or dinner, taking short road trips, attending the midnight release of Twilight's New Moon at the local Borders, and even taking a sewing class together. Our love for knitting, DIY, Twilight books/movies, etc. bonded us for life, I'm pretty sure! :)

Have I mentioned that she is one of the craftiest people I know?! She knits, crochets, paints, cooks, makes handmade cards, sews...you name it, she does it...or she'll figure out how to do it! She has such great ideas - I just love them all. She has a blog too - Piles of Patterns, and she's promised me that she'll be updating soon!!

So I received this uber-thoughtful package from her and had to share it:

It was partly a belated birthday gift - even the gift bag was personalized!

Cutest handmade card AND envelope - it says "Sparkle & Shine"

Some AMAZING sea salt caramels from Lula's Chocolates in Monterey (I also featured them here on Friday - so you can see what the caramels actually looked like). Needless to say, they're gone by now, not a trace of them left! :)

A darling bookmark that displays the quote: "Where there is love there is life" ~Mahatma Gandhi. I am currently putting it to good use, as I'm starting the 3rd book in the Fifty Shades of Grey series!

Some fun 'create-your-own' magnets...you just stick a picture or piece of scrapbook paper or whatever you want behind the glass, stick the magnet on and you have personalized magnets for your fridge! Very cool idea - will have to share my finished product when I'm done.

And finally, a beautiful, handmade cowl - made from jersey knit material. It is soft, light-weight AND reversible (you can see both sides in the pic)!! I love it and have a feeling that I'm going to get A LOT of use out of it.

So as if I hadn't listed out a lot of ideas & suggestions for care packages here, there are many more options above, if you enjoy DIY/crafts/sewing/etc. Jenn knows me SO well, and this package screams it - I love her thoughtfulness and can't wait to send her one right back!! Thanks Jenn :)

Do you all have any other items you enjoy receiving in the mail or in packages? Please share!!

Don't You Love When You Win Things?!

My knitting meetup group recently had a raffle to help raise money for the group and

I WON!!

Haha, I never win anything...and it was too funny...our group organizer who was holding the raffle was sitting next to me that night and she asked someone else to pull the winning ticket. I quickly volunteered, totally not expecting to pull my own name...but low and behold, I DID! Everyone was laughing and I was like, OMG, I totally didn't pull my name on purpose! It was too funny!

But look at all of the lovely goodies that I received:

A cute little basket with bow, including:

• A handmade project bag for one small knitting project
• A handmade "goodies" bag which can be used to tote necessary knitting tools (needles, scissors, etc.)
• A skein of Patons Pure cotton yarn
• A crochet hook
• Extra-long knitting needles
• Little notepad to keep in my knitting tote in case I need to make a pattern note or keep track of my stitches

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all of it and am so excited to use all of it! Thanks to Jenn and Heather especially for contributing to the raffle and its handmade goods! :)

Knitting in Circles

So, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to join a meet-up group that involved knitters/crocheters. If anyone doesn't know what meetup.com is, it's a website where you can search for groups around your area that are tailored to specific interests (running, knitting, yoga, etc.)...one of its major goals is for people who have just moved to an area and don't know many people to, you guessed it, meet new people!

Well, my first meet-up was last week and I had a blast! The group meets once or twice a week at various restaurants, pubs and coffee shops around the Monterey area. Everyone is so friendly and I mean, sitting around with fellow knitters/crocheters...talking about knitting...my kind of get-together! :) I've been knitting for quite some time, but I feel like I've been kind of out of the knitting "loop" for awhile...and now I feel refreshed and ready to continue my obsession.

A couple of the girls told me about a woman, living in Colorado, who dyes her own yarn. Now, dying yarn is a complicated and tedious process...not just anyone can pick up the trade! I go to check out her website, and holy crap...she has some of the most beautiful yarn that I have ever seen! She is literally a genius in this stuff! I mean, I couldn't resist...

"Esme Island"

How beautiful is that skein of yarn??!! And yes, some of you might recognize the name "Esme Island"...she has an entire collection/line of Twilight-inspired yarn. Bella's Truck, Forks, Edward's Volvo...just to name a few! Let's just say she is one talented yarn dyer and I plan to continue to purchase from this woman. Oh, and let me tell you...she updated her store this past week and the new yarn that she put up literally sold out in a matter of minutes (I watched it happen)!! You can find her yarn at Sunshine Yarns *Check it out

I also ordered this kit from Red Heart yarns for HeartScarves.



Basically, it's a kit that comes with everything you need to knit/crochet a scarf (yarn, needles, pattern) AND after you knit the scarf, you send it to the WomenHeart Support Network and they deliver it to a woman undergoing cardiac surgery or rehabilitation.

I mean, come on, how awesome is that!! The whole program was designed so that everyday knitters' scarves could offer support, comfort and hope to a woman undergoing cardiac surgery or rehabilitation. I just started on it, but will definitely post pics when I'm finished...the pattern is really pretty.

Finally, (I know, I told you I was back to my knitting obsessed-self), I taught myself how to crochet last weekend. Well, I only learned one stitch, the single crochet (sc) but it was quite weird to use only 1 needle, versus 2 in knitting. I just decided to practice by using up some old yarn that I had and crochet a scarf...here's the work-in-progress and the finished product:


P.S. I am almost finished with my veggies...all that's left is 1 pea pod, so I will definitely post pictures as soon as I get the whole group together. Those things were pretty tricky...swearing was definitely involved at times! ;)

Well, I must go run some errands...I hope everyone has a great Saturday and a fun Super Bowl Sunday!

And the Garden Gets Bigger...

The newest addition...let me present, the garlic:

Hehe...I can't help it, I just think these little vegetables are so cute! A trip to the yarn shop is a must tomorrow...gotta get more yarn for my carrot, cucumber, and pea pod! And then the collection will be complete! Muuaaahhh! :)

Oh, and I also joined a knitting Meet-Up group which I'm pretty excited about. I was a little hesitant at first, but I figured it'd be a good way to meet some more people here and at the same time, get to do something that I love. Plus, they do a lot of knitting for charity (knitting scarves/blankets for local homeless shelters), which is something I am really interested in doing. So, stay tuned for "As the Garden Grows..."