OMG!!!!!!

So yesterday I received an unexpected package all the way from England!  See, a couple of my Nerd Wars teammates were nice enough to grab me a couple of Olympic pins...I'm a fan of the Olympics (might have mentioned this) and I've been collecting pins since about Lillehammer....

The first package had some goodies too...a pair of wristlets and some fun cake toppings....I've worn the wristlets and I always feel like Jane Austen in them...

And then this package yesterday, I received...

another great pin and some Old Maiden Aunt yarn!!!!!  I was so thrilled, as I've wanted to try this!  It is the perfect color and so squooshy!!!!!! Nicki moved on to Team Browncoats (Firefly) but so awesome that she did this for me!

I'm one lucky girl!

Purchases at Stitches East

So I still can't craft...so here are some goodies I bought (took pictures with grey skies out, sorry if too dark)

Johnny's Socks - these were designed and packaged to raise money for heart disease research.  My family has a lot of heart disease, so I knew I wanted to support this effort.  The entire proceeds are donated.  In the package is a Schoppelwolle skein in Johnny's Red, a stitch marker and the pattern.  

Exclusive Malabrigo color by Stephen West, called Oeste.  I might actually make Oeste with it.

 I stood across from them for two days looking at their beautiful yarn.  So had to get some of the new Watershed by Harrisville Designs. This is Mallard.

Jimmy Beans' Wool was there, so I snagged the exclusive August colorway of Lorna's Laces in Runs With Horses.  It's their Shepherd Worsted, so squishy!

We saw a Stephen West, Rockfeller, hanging in a booth and had to make it...I don't know when I will, but these are the colors I chose....and oh yeah, after I dragged Maureen over there, she bought yarn too and is making it... A new to me yarn dyer, Wandering Wool, her colors were just yummy!

 Another Lorna's Laces exclusive, Blue State, on Solemate...just had to...

 And OMG!  Aren't these colors all full of awesome!  New to me, Dragonfly Fibers....gorgeous! 

And this is the perfect size bag for a sock project!  Loved the colors...by erin lane

So I bought a mix of new and old...and now that I can't craft, I want to so badly!  Even typing this blog post was too much...pain meds are my friend!

Stitches 2012

Again I helped out Mary in her booth at Stitches 2012.  It was a lot of fun.  Maureen was also helping out, and we get along so great!.  Because of the hand, I'm not going to go back today, but she had someone else coming in to help...so all's good...

We were across from Harrisville Designs and they had this beautiful display...and even with the Display Only sign, people kept pulling the yarn out.

Nick, at Harrisville, became quite an attraction....a nice-looking young man knitting...he says he uses a mash-up of Portugese and Continental...lots of people asked to take his picture...

Also across the way were the Shaker box people, Saw Dust Co.,  with their Tower...

And the Nautilus, the lids for the Tower...

The box on the bottom right has a copper lid, they were just absolutely gorgeous!

I ran into some old friends, Dee Staziano, who is the biggest crochet supporter I know was manning The Knit Shop Girls Booth...this is crazy, fun Dee...

Later, she and Mini-Dee scoped out and picked up some earrings from Ideal Jewelry, we were near them last year, too and I picked up a pendant.

Of course, my other favorite Connecticut shop, Madison Wool, showed up to represent...She was sharing space with The Spun Monkey and Indie Spun. That's Dayna sitting writing up an order.

And I finally met, in person, Stacey Trock of FreshStitches.  She and I have been blog reading each other (well I read her, not sure she has read mine in awhile) for the past year or so.  I had to ask her a question, so was so glad she was there.  Mary has asked me to do a beginning amigurami class and I wanted to ask for permission to use a FreshStitches pattern....yeah!

What else did I see?  I saw Swing Knitting for the first time.  Mary knew what it was, as she had taken a class at TNNA with this woman, Brigitte Elliott (who is also the model here). It was really quite interesting, and looked felted from a distance.

I also saw this woman, Marlea Willis, with her beautiful necklace that she created out of I-cord.  She said she just uses up her leftovers and makes them...She also has a beautiful smile!

I also ran into a friend, Emily, whose name was on the winning board and she didn't even know!  She won an entire kit from Lion Brand!

The last big happening on Saturday was the shaving of the guys.  Drew, The Crochet Dude, Mark from Kollage and Ben from XRX, Inc, agreed to shave their heads to raise money for the Halos of Hope charity.  Until 1:00, only one was being shaved, but there was a surge in voting the last two hours and ALL three were shaved!  Mark came on stage with about 5 ball caps and wearing a hood!

They raised $19, 000!!!  Isn't that amazing!!!!

I did make some purchases, but since this is so long, it'll come in another post.

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Maybe not so great, but a gorgeous needle-felted pumpkin from Decadent Fibers.  Decadent Fibers were one of the first vendors I have purchased yarn from...I have a special place for them in my yarny heart...I knew this was one of the things I would purchase from Stitches.  I had seen them last weekend in Brooklyn and hoped they'd still have some....I love it!

Now for your inner child...

I Love Yarn Day

As any reader of my blog knows...I really love yarn!  I will be surrounded with it this weekend....and I will be making purchases, especially since I can't craft for awhile!

What are some of your favorite yarns? Here are two of my favorite discontinued yarns!

This is Mission Falls Wool 1824....Mission Falls closed, but I absolutely love this yarn!  I buy it whenever I see it in a closeout sale and have quite a bit stashed, about 15 skeins!

Manos de Uruguay Cotton Stria, another discontinued yarn.  This is the softest cotton around!  About 43 skeins stashed....

And some Yarn Love shots...

Get the idea?

Tendonitis...ouch!

No crafting for me for awhile...just had a flareup of tendonitis....so I'll just have to buy at the several upcoming festivals!!!!

Good Evening

I have not been feeling well the past couple of days....I come home and go to sleep for an hour or so...I think I'm on the backend of it, but I am still very congested and so tired....

So I caught up on Homeland and am HOOKED!!!  It is so good!!!

And now I am watching Survivor....and will go to sleep again soon....well maybe after Supernatural....I missed the first episode..and it doesn't seem to be on On-Demand...

Good night...