I have a freakin' AWESOME Secret Pal!

Who, isn't a secret anymore!
My Secret Pal is the blogless Maiziemama, and see what she sent me!




(without the shadow of my hand holding the camera, this would be a great shot!)



This little batch of loveliness is 4 oz of 100% colonial from CJ Kopec Creations, in the colorway of "Crayons". I think I've ogled this shop's fiber before. It's really lovely stuff. Soft! Like, I would sleep with my face on this soft. (hhmmm . . . knitted pillow cases?).

In other news of lovely stuff I've received in the mail recently, here's a photo of the bag I bought from Momma-Monkey:



The photo is a little blurry and the sock project has been frogged. . . one of the "risks" I mentioned in my last post. I was trying out a stitch pattern for a sock, and that pattern didn't look good with the variegated yarn. I just got a bunch of 32" cord circular needles, and a book with Magic Loop Instructions (thanks, ZMrK!), so I will probably pick a pattern that works with variegated yarn and knit my hand-dyed that way. Then I'll do some cool stitch patterns on plain yarn.

Oh, here's a closeup of the skull:



I love it. I may not just use it for sock projects, as I have some baby hats to knit. They'll fit.

Oh, and Momma-Monkey updated her shop recently, so I suggest going and getting yourself a bag! She has lots of cute fabrics to choose from, and the quality is excellent! Much better than I can do! I can sew, but don't really have the eye for details or the patience to make something look professional. I am so not a perfectionist. I guess this is why I don't have a shop, right?

A local yarn store is becoming REALLY local for me. Circles in Jamaica Plain is moving to my little neck of the woods! So, that means. . . MOVING SALE!!!!!

Here's some Blue Sky Cotton I bought for 30% off:



I also got some in black, but the photos came out poor. I'm planning on making the "Candy Cane" hat from Itty Bitty hats, for my grand-niece-to-be.

Here's some Manos Stria that matches my Gila Monster beer bottle:



Not to be outdone, ZantiMisterKnit posed the green Manos Stria with his St. Pauli Girl N/A bottle:



Yes, it's true. People DO drink beer for the taste. At least in our house!
That Gila Monster beer is AWESOME. I got it at Trader Joe's for about $5.99 for a siz-pack. It is so freakin' good. I also got a really good Malbec for $7.99 that blows the ass out of some of the more expensive Malbecs. I should have taken a pic of that, but -- glug, glug -- it's all gone!

Probably inspired by Momma-Monkey, I was looking around on eQuilter.com and some fabric fell into my virtual shopping cart:





I'm a sucker when it comes to cats.







I was recently told by a friend that I should make cards of some of my photos, and sell them at crafts fairs. I really love taking photos, especially of cats, so maybe there's something there.

All of the above photos were taken at Winslow Farm, an animal sanctuary in Norton, MA. The full set of photos can be found here.

Oh, and speaking of being a sucker. . . our trip to Winslow Farm really sealed it for us. We're ready to bring home another cat. We got the okay from our landlady, and providing we get approved to adopt (and there's no reason why we wouldn't), we hope to be getting a cat tomorrow night. Hopefully I'll have some cute photos to show y'all, and there will not be much fur flying over here!