Awww....My Belated Birthday Blog

Yeah.....normally I'm content for my birthday to slip by quietly like a thief in the night.  I'm not one to make a big fuss about getting older growing up :-)

But this year my birthday didn't sneak in at 12am on The Ides of March and out again at 12am on St Patrick's Day.  This year my birthday celebrations started a week early with a wonderful package from Toronto!  And two days later, another two little packages!

Do you wanna see what was inside the Toronto package?

Ta daaaaaaaa......

ViewSonia ViewPad 10.1" Tablet

This little sweetheart is a dual boot tablet that supports both Windows 7 and the Android operating systems for the best of both worlds.  Features include an LED backlit multi-touch screen with a 1024 x 600 resolution, built-in Wi-Fi, battery life of 4-6 hours, 1.3 megapixel camera, two USB ports, G-Sensor and E-Compass, 2W speakers, headphone jack, microphone jack, mini VGA slot, webcam, SD card slot, and 16G HD.  Including the battery she weighs just 1.93lb (875g)!

SWEET!

Inside the two smaller packages - wireless router and wireless D-Link USB adapter.  Yup, pretty boring...BUT they enable my laptop, desktop and tablet to become wireless and Wi-Fi friendly :-)

Then yesterday, umptyleven messages from well wishers on Facebook, loads of birthday emails, phone calls from family and friends, a wonderful home made lemon bundt cake with chesse frosting, BBQ for lunch, badly needed haircut AND a mini DVD writer for my new ViewPad!

Crikey!

And today, an awesome caramel cheesecake/birthday cake from my friend Roxanne.  Our birthdays are a week apart, so on Friday we'll share this calorie punching dairy product of deliciousness :-)

Thank you so much to everyone for making me feel so special on my birthday.

Here's a photo of my bbq'd birthday lunch (yup, that's a mega sized T Bone steak there.  It was lunch and dinner)!

And here's a pic of my cake and short hair!

PS.  I still don't like birthdays!

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses!

That's what I'm full of.  I've got an excuse for everything.  And I'm quite content to lay blame on whoever and whatever gets caught in my peripheral vision.  For example:

• Why can't I go knitting to Little Red Mitten tonight?  ::looks around:: because of the weather!
• Why haven't I knit more on my sweater?  ::looks around:: because of my nieces socks!
• Why don't I have more time to knit now?  ::looks around::  because we opened for business again on 1 March!
• Why haven't I blogged in a damn long time almost six weeks?  ::looks around:: because I'm too busy doing everything else!

So, even though it's not my fault, I'm gonna apologise for not blogging in ages.  It's certainly not for lack of blogworthy material!

KNITTING:

I finally got around to making myself some felted clogs.  I call these clogs my Travelling Felted Slippers because they live in my knitting bag and I slip them on whenever I visit a knitting store to shop, socialise or knit.

Travelling Felted Slippers

Pattern:  Felted Clogs (AC-33) by Bev Galeskas

Yarn:  Cascade 220 Wool (Emerald and Dark Green)

Next I knit myself a hat.  I call this hat Not Another Square.  I used some of my handspun for this hat.  It is a great fitting hat and super easy to knit.

Not Another Square

Pattern:  Turn A Square by Jared Flood

Yarn:  Roving Winds Farm Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Wool (Gray) and Zen Yarn Garden Superwash Merino Roving (purple, pink, black, gray)

My next project was cast on because I was bored and needed something to knit at social knit nights.  After much searching and spending endless hours on Ravelry, I settled on a beret.  I call this beret Tanis Druidess.  The pattern utilizes cables and bobbles and some twisted stitches.  I enjoyed knitting this beret - another well fitting hat.

Tanis Druidess

Pattern:  Druidess Beret by Anna Bright

Yarn:  Tanis Fiber Arts Yellow Label DK Weight (teal)

And because it seems I enjoy making things in threes....I knit a hooded cowl that I call Rogue Chapeau.  I didn't want to call this my "red hat"; hence the French.  I dyed this yarn using two different acid dyes.  I would have liked it a shade deeper, but I'm still really happy with how it turned out.

Rogue Chapeau

Pattern:  Through the Woods... by Kalurah

Yarn:  Cascade Yarns Ecological Wool (hand dyed)

Phew!  That's the finished projects during the last six weeks.  Then I have a bunch of projects I cast on during the last few weeks:

Glitter Sox (socks)
Wellington (vest)
22 Starry Leaves (shawlette)
Siena (cardigan)
Mirasol (beret)

AND THEN there's a new beret pattern I downloaded that I want to knit for my Mum for Mother's Day.

In between all of this I've been buying some beautiful yarns too (mostly for the aforementioned projects).  Here are a few pics:

Berocco Metallic (Glitter Sox)

Mirasol Hacho (Mirasol Beret)

Madeline Tosh Pashmina (Galaxy Beret)

Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Lace (Siena)

Hmm...there seems to be a coppery/orange/red brick theme going on here!

 And yes, there's more, but not today!