Extravayarnza

Sign ups are here for the Knitting Gnome Swap!

Who?
This swap is for those of us who work with yarn (knit, crochet, spin). You need to have a blog that you update fairly regularly (2-3 times a month minimum). We welcome international swappers. Norm (the gnome) would love to visit as many places as possible! Please only sign up if you can hold up your end of the swap. No one likes to feel like they've been forgotten.

What?
Each swapper will receive a box with Norm (or one of his friends) and knitting related gifts (yarn/roving/needles etc) from their pal. Your task is to take Norm out for a tour of your town. Take some photos of him at local landmarks (and yarn shops!).

Write up a little post about his stay with you. Send his photos to his flickr album of the trip. Then put Norm and your gifts for your pal in the box and send him on his way. Please send out the box within a week of it getting to you.

Boxes should be send Priority Mail with in the US (with delivery confirmation please) and Airmail when being send internationally. Norm would like to avoid being boxed up for weeks on end, plus the quicker it gets to the next person the more fun we'll all have!

Suggested spending is $25-$30 not including postage.

When?
Sign ups will be open until midnight EST on April 21st. You'll receive your pal's name, address, and questionnaire before the end of April.
I'm aiming to have the swap completed before the end of August, but that's up to everyone being timely about sending Norm and his buddies onto the next person promptly.
Remember each gnome can only visit one person at a time, so he could arrive to you anytime this summer. I recommend picking out your goodies for your pal before he gets to you, so you can concentrate on showing him your town when he arrives.

Where?
Hopefully Everywhere! If you live in the US and don't wish to ship internationally just let me know when you sign up.

Why?
The inspiration for this swap is the Traveling Gnome Prank where gnomes are stolen from their owners yards and sent on a world tour sending back photos and letter to their owners. This was featured in the movie Amélie and also in a group of Travelocity commercials.
Besides being fun to see these little guys travel the world, I think it will be fun to see the world through the eyes of knitters. We are everywhere! If you look around blogland you'll find knitters from just about every continent/country. I think this swap will be a terrific way to share our little corner of the world with knitters from around the globe.

How?
Send me an email at ExtravayarnzaATgmailDOTcom (you know the drill there) with the completed questionnaire by April 21st.

Name:
Email:
Blog:
Shipping Address: (please type this out in multiple lines like on a shipping label)
Do you knit/crochet/spin?
Any other crafty talents?
Do you have any allergies (pets/smoke/fiber)?
Is your home pet or smoke free?
What colors do you love?
Any colors that you can't stand?
Can you think of any yarn that you've be dieing to get your hands on?
Are you a sock knitter?
Anything else you'd like to share with your pal?

This weekend really breezed by. The whole weekend was filled with wonderful activities. Even here at work I had our new employee Rachel in & we got more done than I could even have imagined. Every ball of yarn that could be out is now out. The class room is once again a class room & the storage system is now complete with all shelves & boxes packed with yarn. I once again have some breathing room.

This weekend I found myself knitting on two projects that have some close deadlines. The gnomes really should have left on their journey the end of last week, but gnome number 2 still needed some knitting done on him... Well he's down to the finishing touches, all that hairspray & jazz. I want him perfect for the big trip, but I have to share a photo of my favorite gnome knitting stage with you:
The webble wobble...

The other project is one that I just can't photograph. It's a sport weight shawl that was cast-on then forgotten about a few months ago. The shawl's knit from the center out & is hexagonal in shape, so there just is no good way to photograph this thing! It's just this purple pouchy misshapen blob squished on a set of circular needles. However, I'm hoping to continue my tradition of finishing a shawl for/at TNNA (first weekend in June...). I'll knit on this one a few more days & if it's seems undoable I'll probably sneak back over to my half finished peacock feathers shawl. Either way I need a new shawl in 4 weeks!

Robin continued to have a big eventful weekend. Actually Saturday was a day of rest for him. However Sunday totally made up for that!
We had the first meeting of the new Yarn Tails knitting group!!!!
Luckily we found one of those square picnic tables that up to 8 people could sit at & for those of us with dogs who can't be held on to at the same time as knitting, the table had lots of spots for leashes to be attached. Robin was loving spending a few hours with some really cool dogs.

Plus it was the first Sunday gallery walk in Old Town & the farmers market. We broke up the group early to head down to Gone for the Dogs to get the pups some treats then zipped over the farmers market to look at handspun yarn & get the dogs more treats (one of the vendors had all natural liver dog treats).

When we got home Robin & I enjoyed some good grub on the grill & headed for a long walk. I decided to go along the grassy side of the river & see how Robin would do off leash. Umm yeah, he walks better off leash than on. He stayed right by my side, came right back when he stopped to smell something. The bikers/joggers on the paved side of the river didn't phase him. and we got to play fetch! This will now be a permanent part of the walk. I'm just so pleased with how well he minds me off leash.

In fact I was so pleased he got rewarded with a bath when we got home *lol*

I don't think he saw it quite as a reward (the work torture might have come into his mind), however the massive amount of *oh he smells so good I just want to hug him & squeeze him* cuddling he gets in the days after a bath more than makes up for the bath.
I'm just going to leave you with some photos of flowers in our yard & on the path from this weekend...

Finally, Gnorm & Gnuman the knitting gnomes have been sent on their way. Finishing up Gnuman took everything I had in me, but he turned out so cute!
So, this morning they started scheming...

They opened up the Knitter's Travel Guide to try and decided where they should stop first.

So Where will they stop first? Swappers keep an eye on your mailbox. Gnorm & Gnuman have packed their bags, jumped on a plane & should be arriving at their first stops early next week!

Now that the Gnomes are on their way off I've gone a bit crazy starting new projects.
The first thing I started with a Ballband Face Cloth (I don't do wash rags)

I'm using Online Alpha which is a dk weight mercerized cotton. The yarn is really soft & shiny plus the colors are very rich. Everyone has been right about these being addictive. I've just about finished the first one & am who else I could knit one for...

We received a huge order of Claudia's Handpaints today. I had to swipe a couple of skeins to hop on another big knitting bandwagon, the LMKG chevron scarf. Just look at how much creamy goodness is in these colors!

I played around with test knitting these a bit tonight & the scarf is going to be just smashing.

I also want to share with you a few pics that the photojournalist at the dog paddle took of me & Robin. The other pup who's in some of the photos is McKenna a 4 month old collie. (Robin is in the bandanna)



The last pic is the one that made it into the newspaper, but I just love all three. I'm really glad they posted the additional pics on their website. I suspect that free professional photos don't come along very often...
I've noticed that the photos make it look like Robin is beating up on poor little McKenna. Trust me, she was giving just as good as she was getting, it's all just puppy play.