Belated Birthdays, Yarn & Tattoos!

My sincere apologies that its been so long since I've blogged. My laptop is down, which is where I normally blog, and I have had to resort to the "big" computer to do any blogging. I have no idea how to fix my laptop either. It wont connect to the Internet and believe, I've tried everything. It just decided one day to say "up yours" without realizing how much I actually use the thing. I also cannot use my notebook because for some reason it will only upload certain pictures and not all of them. Not sure why that is the way it is, but that's the way it is. Now I have to pick times to write when my father is not around because the big computer is in his Man Cave. I love the show Blue Bloods but I cannot and think with a million episodes trailing back to back one right after the other when he is here. I bet you cant tell I'm a tad irritated about it can you?! Grrrrrr!!!!!! * breathe claudia, breathe * So, I truly apologize for taking so long to get back to the blogging world. I promise I will do better knowing now what my circumstances are.

It seems like a lot has happened since I last blogged. At the end of March Dilshani's two youngest kids, Nate and Anika, arrived for Spring Break! Nate's birthday was back in February just like mine but he had said before that he wanted to wait to celebrate it until he could do it at Granny Kay and Grampa Sam's house with everyone there. So that's exactly what we did. Nate and I made a pact that we'd do it every year that way! ABC Bakery did our cake again (if you're in Albuquerque there is no better bakery to go to!) and it was fabulous!!!!

In wonderful Easter colors! Easter, by the way, was fabulous. Dilshani came over and cooked brisket and all sorts of wonderful things for us to eat. We had everyone with us except for her eldest son Michael who had to work. 

When I was a kid my Mom and Dad used to hide our Easter baskets. They would put a note on the mirror in the bathroom which would lead to another note, which would lead to another note which eventually would lead to our Easter baskets. I decided to do something similar for the kids but I couldn't set up 4 separate hunts. I just hid them. I told them where they were not and every place else they should look. It was great.....

Everyone got a little something, Dan & Dilshani, all the kids, Mom and Dad and Aunt Betty too. It was fun!

I cant remember if I wrote last month that Dilshani had been away in Sri Lanka for, like, a month. It was so bizarre and odd that I couldn't just talk to her whenever I wanted to. The time difference was about 12 hours so that sucked too. At any rate, she is now home and I think she is still unpacking! She brought a little something back for all of us at Monday Night Stitch Group which was very very sweet. Although unbeknownst to me, there was another gift for me. My birthday present. When we picked the kids up from the airport we had lunch then went back to the house wherein she couldn't wait until the planned celebration that was forthcoming on Easter. I told her to wait. She didn't. She handed me a little red box that said 'Lily Barrack' on it. I got all mushy inside. I opened the box and got real mushy. Dilshani had brought back a huge, very uniquely cut amethyst from Sri Lanka and had it set at Lily Barrack as a pendant. It is so beautiful and I wear it every stinkin' chance I get. Check it out...

Now, look at the height this piece has....

This is such a wonderful piece of jewelry and I cannot believe she did this for me. I will treasure it the whole of the rest of my life.

I have received more yarn that I want to share with you. One bunch I had been waiting for over a month for...it was a dye to order request. I have been loving the gradients out there and have been really wanting a grey scale set since the gradient idea was born. My order from Woolhouse Fibers finally arrived and I was a very, very happy camper!

Lookit!! Lookit!! Isn't it gorgeous?! And I LOVE how they have skeined their yarn too. I'm pretty sure I already know what I want to do with this but I'm holding onto it as the design will be an upcoming collaboration with Crave Yarn. The yarn from Greece arrived and is so incredibly soft I cannot even begin to tell you....

It is a blend of alpaca/cashmere/silk and I want more more more of it. I found another source for it online if y'all wanna contact her for some. She takes orders via email. I have ordered a colorway called "Still of the Night" and I cannot wait until she sends pics for my approval which should be sometime next week. The shop is Sapphires N Purls and she has a lot to offer! I ordered some more wonderful Ceridwen Sock, in the colorway Scottish Heather, from my friend Anne Podlesak of Wooly Wonka Fibers...

And to top that off, a good friend of mine passed on a lovely skein of A Verb For Keeping Warm's Even Tinier Annapurna and it is beeeyoutiful!!

Those who know me well know that I have wanted a knitting tattoo for like, forever. Okay, okay, I know I've only been knitting since 2008 but still. It was like finding the meaning to my life. When my parents asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told them. My knitting tattoo. Mom got it. Dad...not so much. At any rate. The day after Christmas on December 26th, I went down to see Orlando at Shades of Grey to make my appt. He said the earliest he could get me in was April 10th. 2015. APRIL 10TH, 2015. Now, I know he's real good and he has a full schedule but I couldn't believe it.....four months away. When the day arrived I was so ready. Then he started. Oh. My. God. Anyone who tells you that tattoos are not painful to get is lying to you. Lying, I say...

Here is the finished tattoo....

At the wrist it says 'Knit' from one perspective and 'Purl' from the mine. Pretty cool, huh?!?! I love it. I am scheduled for more work next month on May 8th. I am getting a little memorial tat for my brother who I have been missing like crazy since his death May 25th 1999. I have been wanting to do something for him for longer than I have wanted my knitting tattoo. It will be a script letter 'D' with wings on each side on my right wrist. I'm also going to take care of an old ankle tattoo by covering it up with a larger one. I think. I'm still a little undecided about my ankle. At any rate. I love my new ink and will keep planning for more until I get my fill.

A very sweet friend of mine that I knit with on Tuesdays, Venetia, gave me a gift for being so brave in getting such a rad tattoo. She gave me two skeins of yarn!!! From Frabjous Fibers!!! I love Venetia. She is possibly one of the nicest people I have ever met in my entire life. Anyone who has her as a friend is the better for it....

Tomorrow will be an exciting day for me! I am releasing a new pattern as well as my first eBook! Yay! I will be back here to post about them tomorrow. I hope you all have a wonderful evening filled with yarn and love! Watch for tomorrow's post!! Audrey Grace is very excited about the new releases too...

Well, maybe not...

Until next time....Knit On!