Revealed!!!

Wow - I received yet ANOTHER package from my Secret Pal!!! Look what came in today's mail!! 2 (count 'em - 2!!) skeins of Noro Cashmere Island!! Mmmmmmmmm - soft! The colorway is just beautiful - the picture doesn't do it justice at all. And looky here!

6 of the most gorgeous stitch markers - and my pal made them!

Who is this person who spoiled me rotten? She's Kathy at Sassy Krafty!! She really went above and beyond for this Secret Pal exchange - I mean, she sent me 2 packages in the last 2 weeks, and a special package on my birthday! I couldn't have asked for a greater spoiler! :-) I got really lucky this time, also - my "spoilee" was Kristin at Write (A Blog). She was an absolute blast to shop for - she's also a spinner, has kids that are close to the same age as mine, and likes a lo of the same things that I do! (Check out her graphic art when you get a chance - it is phenomenal!!) Many thanks to Kathy and Kristin for making SP9 wonderful!!!!

I was home from school today (no, we didn't have a snow day...) On Saturday, I discovered that my ice cream was soup...and my refrigerator was 50 degrees inside. A dead compressor (which they could replace, to the tune of almost $700!) Today, I stayed home and waited for the nice gentlemen from the Home Appliance store to arrive and take my (formerly) trusty fridge away. Thanks to the miracle that is "12 months, same as cash," these nice men brought me a brand new sorta-shiny (scratch and dent sale, you know) Maytag side-byside. To give you an idea of the smallness of my kitchen, I had to sit on the counter on the other side of the kitchen to get this picture.

A couple of small dinks on the edges, and they knocked off almost $500! Heck, with 2 teenaged boys, their friends and an airedale, it would have had those dings in no time anyway. :-) The compressor on the old one had been on its way out for a while - now we won't have to eat ice cream bars with a bowl and a spoon! Hooray!!

Knitting?? Oh yeah. I'm working on a project in KnitPicks Shine Sport right now, but I can't show you. Why?? Because it's GONNA BE IN A BOOK!! How cool is that??? I have a *very* tight deadline, so I've been knitting my fingers off for the last few days - and between the cold weather (9F this morning...that's -13C for the non-Americans among you...the windchill was -5F) and the cotton yarn, my hands are pretty much hating me right now!!!

I do have to take a break tonight and go to the library for this:

This is my Teen Hip Knits class on their first night of a two night class. In 2 short hours, they learned the long-tail cast on and the knit and purl stitch. Tonight they'll learn to increase, decrease, and cast-off. They've done really well!

Now....back to my knitting - I'll show you pictures when I'm allowed! :-)