2005: Top 5 unifinished

End of December, hey? These past few months have gone by in a snap, hard to believe the end of the year is here already. September? October? Last Wednesday? Where'd you all go?

With the time flying like this, it's been tricky to fit in the knitting bits. Seems appropriate to do a year-end wrap-up, and get set for the coming year. Rather than covering completed items (of which there are few), here are the top 5 projects that will get bumped to the new year:

Ribby Cardi: waiting for sleeves since May

Knitty's Shedir: Seems like only a few rows left, how's this one slip through

Interlocking balloons hasn't made any progress since I took this photo last month

From Interweave Knits Fall 2005, cable and rib sock. Singular.

The least complete of all: Phildar Licorne zippered cardigan from Tendances Printemps 2005

Here's hoping that 2006 brings these stragglers round the bend. With much luck and perserverance, I'll manage to tackle these before beginning anything new in the new year. A difficult task for me, I like the allure of something new. We shall see!

Happy Christmas! All the best for the new year.

Friday eve

See? I can bake.  You haven't got the best of me yet, Martha.  From the same Holiday Baking issue as my last Martha run-in, the Chocolate-black pepper cookies are a safe bet for great tasting baking.  I highly recommend.  Tasty combination of chocolate, coffee, and pepper.  A rare combination of spicy and sweet.   

 
Martha Stewart cookies that are possible to make

Somewhere along the lines this week, I stumbled on the Anticraft, a most macabre Knitty-like assembly of knitting patterns and...  Well, I'm not sure exactly what.  Gloom and despair?  The dark side of knitting?  

  
The Anticraft will take to your knitting to the dark side

With projects like the above Bad Juju and Snowball's Chance in Hell armwarmers, and difficulty ratings like MoonPrincess RavenDark and AntiCraft SuperStar, there's some pretty quirky and dark matter to be found.  Definitely uncharted territory. 

Sweet Saturday

Ahhhh, Saturday. Finally. My favourite--Saturday morning, coffee and the CBC.   

 
yamaneko buttons

While listening to Go this morning, I found these great yamaneko buttons, and can't help but share.  Do enjoy the day.  

Winter knitting sets in

It's been some time, really. Knitting and yarn have crossed my path only via housecleaning lately.  A knitting slump, indeed.  I've had a number of projects tossing around in idea phase for a few weeks, and haven't had the chance to dive in.  Finally, on Friday while putting away some books, I picked up Scarf Style again, and decided to start in on Interlocking Balloons. 

Yup.  Another scarf it is.  The weather's certainly cold enough for it.  Snowy, windy, and wind chill has already set in.  Ahhh, winter.

 
Interlocking Balloons begins

And, despite my feelings of ill-will toward Martha in the baking department, I can't help but get sucked back in by the so so pretty christmas crafts on her web site right now.   

  
Martha uses glitter and glue for Christmas

Pretty cute and hard to resist.  I can say without a doubt that I'm not going to tackle this, so someone else out there, knock yourself out and make these glitter bird centerpiece and tinsel trees.

An open letter to Martha Stewart

Martha, ohhhh, Martha.  For weeks now I've been pouring over your Holiday Cookies magazine.  A beautiful issue, there's no doubt.  More than 100 recipes for the season, it's barely possible to narrow it down to a few to choose and bake. 

This issue has truly inspired me; you've pulled out all the stops.  I've already gone out and picked only the highest quality ingredients - even the unsalted butter - I promise, no cheating or substituting this time. I've spent nearly 40 dollars on ribbon, I've been narrowing my choices of cellophane bags and decorative tins, and I know that with enough shopping, I'll find all of the personal touches I need to wrap my baking.  Everything is going to be perfect this year. 

I get goosebumps just thinking of it.  I'm going to present each and every one of my loved ones with the most beautifully packaged delicious baked goods they've seen in their lives.  Me.  I'm going to do this.  This year.  This year, Martha, this year! And I owe it all to you.

Except.  Well, except the fact that your recipes are still impossible.  I honestly thought you'd changed.  In an attempt to reproduce your candy-stripe cookie sticks, I cut out the 3X6" cardboard stencil like the instructions call for and set myself to work.  I baked the cookies two at a time, just like you've asked.  

 
Baked two at a time, these cookies are impossible to pull off 

Two. At a time.  And then when they came out the oven slightly golden brown, I tried tried tried to roll them up as quickly to reproduce your work of art.  The best I got are burned fingers and broken rectangles with high arches.  Not what I was expecting.

So, Martha, I'm not sure exactly sure what else to say on the matter.  Really.  I'm really just not quite sure about this anymore. 

fini!

Oh, how it has been a long haul.  After weeks of squeezing every possible knitting minute out of every possible day, Miri's Forbes Forest came out complete this past weekend. I wasn't sure I was ever going to see the end of this scarf, but to no avail, billions of bobbles, cables, and popcorn stitches came together here to make this scarf complete. 

 
After a long haul--Forbes Forest is complete

I wasn't convinced at first.  The cables and bobbles looked weak when I started in, and I wondered if alpaca could do this pattern justice.  But, as I worked through and gave it a test block with some steam, the stitches opened up, and the pattern bloomed  through to the end. 

Without a doubt, this is a scarf I would have never picked myself.  Before this swap, I'd not even remotely considered making this scarf, not even for a second.  But, now that I've made it, and I see first-hand what this pattern's got to offer, for sure I'd make it again.  I'm even considering one for myself. 

 
Forbes Forest in Blue Sky Alpaca

The Forbes Forest pattern is genius, and kept me interested right to the end.  Casting off was bittersweet; happy to be finished, and sad to say goodbye to the pattern.  I already miss working on this, and am sad to see it go.

Miri, I hope this scarf finds you well, it's certainly cold enough in these parts for this super warm scarf.  It should arrive with you shortly! Loads of thanks to Kris and Jacqueline for hosting the SYNO swap--great idea, fabulous hosts!

Happy Halloween

Still looking for a halloween costume?  I'm still up in the air myself, but have found eons of inspiration here at the New York Village's Halloween parade.  How fun that must be, hey?  Litterally thousands of pictures of great costumes.  

remember mixed tapes?

Completely unrelated--remember these?  Japanese blogger Not Wild Style has put together a collection of hundreds of images of blank tapes in Cassette Jam 05. 

Happy Halloween!

No crochet

Via kraf-o-la, this book by Jess Hutchison may well save me from re-learning how to crochet. The crochet hook and I don't get along so well, despite any adminaration I may have for crocheted items. Do have a look--this free bunny pattern should whet your pallet.

no crochet here

I've grown a small urge to crochet again, and have been secretly stalking these free patterns. Now that knit patterns are to be found, let's just say the crochet thoughts are out the window. Hooray, I've staved off the crochet hook for another day.

Shoptoberfest success

Shoptoberfest was a success!  Love visiting Toronto (operative word: visiting); so much to see, nice switch to a faster pace.  The faster pace was much required, only a few hours of shopping time by the time I got into town on Saturday. 

Did a quick runaround downtown, spending most of my time at H&M, where a few purchases were made.  When you live in a government town, stocking up on non-government-worker wear is a must.  What a lunatic store though, that H&M, intense patience required.  3 floors of clothes and accessories thrown randomly throughout the store.   

 
Acrylic and grey, this H&M scarf broke my no-scarf-buying policy

No yarn shopping, the closest I came was picking up a few scarves.  That's right, I got scarves the easy way.  It's ridiculous how much I fell in love with this plain grey acrylic scarf.  Of all colours, and all fabrics: grey acrylic.  Toronto has some fun yarn shops though, in particular Knitomatic, Lettuce Knit, and the crazy mess at Romni, but I truly don't need any more yarn.  Honest.  So no yarn shopping this round.  Only yarn in the form of finished product is allowed in the house right now, anway.

I keep meaning to post a thank you for all the postcards received from the Postcard Swap. 

  
 
Swap Bot postcard swap

Clockwise from top, postcards from Lisa, Adam (K-State card), Melanie and Brad (no blogs).  Hope the trial run helped iron-out any Swap Bot bugs.  Imagine, organizing a swap without even one person having to juggle Excel graphs. 

Shoptoberfest

With a heavy heart, I'm passing on a yearly tradition, Oktoberfest in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.  I've attended with Mr. Clickety Click since we met, and while he's in Waterloo zigge-zagge-zigge-zagge-ing it up, I'll be celebrating a new tradition: Shoptoberfest.   Off instead to Toronto for one-day power-shop--I see visits to H&M, some new shoes, and some downtown fun coming my way.  

2005: Oktoberfest becomes Shoptoberfest

Happy weekend, happy shopping!  

Arrived!

Scarf swap scarf has arrived--hooray!  An utterly perfect Backyard Leaves arrived just in time for fall scarf season.  Perfect timing, Winnie, thanks a million.  ...Still amazed at how quickly you turned this scarf around.  

   
  
SYNO Backyard Leaves in Knit Picks Mernio Style
  

Thanks again Winnie, love it!     

Thanks Emily!

Many thanks to Emily for the great SP5 gifts.  Love the stitch markers and the hand-dyed wool, and looking forward to trying my hand at the mitten pattern you sent along.  The chocolate's long gone, and the tea kept me warm on some chilly days this past weekend. 

 
SP5 stash

Thanks again, hope you had fun with SP5--have fun with SP6.  Cheers!

California, Thanksgiving.

Why does California get all the fun?

826la presents Rick Moody

Fellow Canadians, Happy Thanksgiving. CBC's back next week, hoorah.

Postcard swap

Postcard swap postcards: sent this week.  I originally thought I'd take the non creative route and pick up some postcards in town.  But, as I was shopping for just the right cards, a flurry of ideas came to mind.  I picked up some blank card stock instead, and jumped in to make a stack of black and white make-at-home vintage knitting pattern postcards. Knitting, Canadian, retro, fun. 

 
 

Postage is crazy, boy.  85 cents to mail to the US and 1.45 international.  For postcards!  Yeesh.

Sn*w.

All knitting aside, folks, something serious: Snow fell in Calgary. Booooooooooo.

Calgarians step it up 15 feet in the winter

Kind of explains why they've built room temperature walkways 15 feet above the sidewalks, connecting the downtown buildings. I was impressed by the walkways when visiting, ideal wind chill escapes.  I was also quite impressed with the sign design--the cowboy hat, especially.  

On the plus side of this cruel winter reminder, I suppose mitten and scarf season is only a few weeks below zero away.  Bittersweet, hey?

Scarf Swap Update

It's official, Forbes Forest is on the needles for Miri. It's been a struggle to find time to knit these days, I've fallen out of the swing of things. This one's got me back in the saddle, without a doubt. Every row brings a new twist--this has required extreme concentration to get even this far. I see many quiet nights in my future.

Cables and bobbles gallore

Winnie has pulled a finished scarf out of thin air, and has already finished my Backyard Leaves scarf. Winnie, outstanding! Can't wait to wear it.

Enter: The Wool Winder

Thanks to an extra thoughtful boyfriend, my ball winding woes are over.  Fresh from the UK came a gently used wool winder, ready for table mounting and immediate use.  I don't know how I've survived this long without this unbelievably useful tool. One-hour ball winding and knot detangling sessions: Good Riddance!  Thanks a million, boyfriend.

Thanks also to my sister for the extra extra thoughtful knitting reference book she sent up for my birthday, I've referred to it a few times already.   

Caring and Compassion?

Here's something neat: Knit It, a worldwide knitting exhibition piece about caring and compassion. I've been hearing some buzz about this these past few days, and decided to look in to it. I haven't found much, other than tomorrow, knitters in select locations around the world will wear black pants, black jacket, white shirt and red tie, and knit something white. In Ottawa, the action will be at the Parliament buildings.

knitting something white means that you care

I'm not exactly sure where the caring and compassion comes in to play here, but who am I to say?  You can take part if there's an event organized in your city (listed on the Knit It site), or create your own event.  Details here.

Birthday weekend

It's been a rainy and dreary weekend. The sun is fighting to break through some clouds this morning, and the rain has finally let up from a steady drip since Friday. Another busy weekend has flown by, this time with my birthday to celebrate. Another year older, another excuse for shopping.

I'm quite fortunate in that Mr. Clickety Click most often will take me for a nice dinner, and shopping for my birthday each year. Last year we went border-bound, and hit some great deals in America in Vermont. This year: Montreal. Before leaving, we checked into a craft sale locally and picked up a few gems, which proved to be far more fruitful than the trip to Montreal.

Animal Embrace prints: amazing!

Some prints for apartment decor, featuring ladies embracing wild animals, which I think are extra fun. Also, a very finely made silk pillow with a great screen.

Pillow and nearly finished mitts: even more amazing!

You'll note a finished pair of Koigu mittens. Well, an almost finished pair of mittens. Hiding under the top mitt is a stitch holder holding the stitches where the thumb originally lived. I hacked into the stitches about six rows down from the original thumb location after finishing the entire mitt, and picked up the stitches to make another thumb lower down. The thumb was too high up on the mitt, so I relocated it. I'm so not afraid to cut into stitches and boss things around a bit. All that's left now is for me to dig through some knitting books and learn how to graft stitches. I've done some preliminary reading, it doesn't look so hard. We shall see.

Tick-tock and swap-bot

Ohhhh, how slowly knitting progresses when never the needles are in hand.  Seconds leap into hours, leap into days, then weeks.  Before I know it, a month has slipped by.  Long gone are the easy days of summer, boy.

These days, my fingers are aching to finish something other than a sentence; I've been struggling to find time to sit down and knit.  I see a window clearing up, so Miri, don't fret, your scarf will be done, complete, and in your hands before the weather turns to cold.   I'm contemplating daily affirmations in the form of staring at this beautiful Forbes Forest scarf each morning, imagining it to be completed by me in lush brown alpaca.  

Bring a little swap into your life

Way back, a whole 2 months ago, when signing up for the CD Swap, I discovered the makings of Swap-bot, a clever swap engine that takes the grunt work out of online swaps.  Being a swap keener, I've been checking in every now and again to see how things are progressing.  Things are looking up, the site officially went up this week, swap-bot is now a go.  If you want to give them a hand in testing it out, do wander over and sign up for inaugural swap-bot post-card swap. 

File under: nothing

Almost every time I sit down to post, something comes to mind. I've been thinking and wondering for a while now, and am just going to come out and state it. Blogger--why no categories? Clearly, there's a need, surely you've seen how popular it is with the kids. Are you really asking us Bloggers to leave our posts out and about all willy nilly, instead of into neat little categories like most decent folk? Even Wil Wheaton has categories, so why can't we?

I have been lazy these past few weeks, too lazy to take pictures, and too lazy to sit and type. I'm drawn in only barely today to acknowledge that I'm still about.

A preview of things to come... 

a very beat up mitt, ready for surgery

The koigu mittens have been made and remade a number of times, finally settling on a construction with no increases for the thumb gusset. Variegated yarn is tricky, and I'm fussy as hell, so you can imagine what kind of thought went into this. I'm not happy with the thumb placement that I ended up with (too high on the hand), and am not in favour of compromising for longer mittens. So, out came the scissors, a new and improved thumb location is on its way to being. I'll get the best of you yet, darned mitten.  

In SYNO news, it turns out that Winnie is quite the clever lass, and has sussed out from mere emails that I'm her swap pal.  Well done secret agent Winnie.  I hope your yarn arrives to you soon.  I hate to make you stalk your mailbox for much longer. 

Errrr...

Yup, so I should check my calendar, hey? Tomorrow is September Eve, and Thursday's the first day of September. It's going to be a long week I suppose, what with all the anticipating. Hello to Kathy nonetheless! I hope my scheming works and you read this, otherwise I'll be sending you a boring old email shortly.

September Eve

Almost better than Christmas, tomorrow is the first day of September!  Best season of the year, just around the corner! My sweaters, scarves, and gloves are just about leaping out of storage, waiting to be worn.  I'll bet yours are too.  Wouldn't you like a nice calendar for you desktop to celebrate?   

 
Celebrate September!

Of course you would!  Click here and click on the image to get this, or other cute desktop designs from color-club.com.  Maybe someone who reads japanese can explain to me what this site actually is.  I haven't a clue.

And now, for a little scheming that hopefully some of you will help me with.  I would like to subtly reveal to Kathy at Evolved Yarn that I'm her Secret Pal.  Rather than sending her an email, I thought I'd link to her site, and maybe you can all help by clicking through to visit her.  With any luck, she checks her stats, and will wonder "What the heck is going on over there at this clickety click place?  Why are there so many incoming links??" 

If this works, a giant HELLO TO KATHY from Calgary, Alberta.  I had great fun reading your blog, and sleuthing out things to send to you.  I'm not a decision maker at the best of times, so it was a real feat for me to choose yarn and other items that I felt confident you'd like.  I hope I hit the nail on a few, and I hope you make more beautiful things for me to read about on your blog.  At first, I tried to pretend that I wasn't Canadian, to try and trip you up a bit, but I'm certain that you figured this one out after receiving a number of packages from Ottawa, Ontario.  So much for the mystery, hey?

Anyway, Kathy, I hope you had fun.  Cheers!

Impulse buy

Cleaning up today, I found a lost relic from this past weekend that I'd completely forgotten about.  I went to a local music festival to check out the Weakerthans and Feist, and after a few drinks, left with an orange ukulele.

craziest impulse buy ever!

You read right, a ukulele. Bright orange. The mini size of this guitar, plus the ultra cute carrying bag closed the deal for me. This raises the impulse-buy bar to new heights. Sitting there on display, with so many colours to choose from, I couldn't resist.

 

And, if you've ever wondered, "is there anything out there that doesn't have a blog community?", you'd probably wouldn't be too far off if you answered no. No, there is likely nothing out there that doesn't have a blog community. Even ukulele-ers blog it up. You can even go to uke school online, then Rock That Uke! low-fi style on this must-see site.  

Gasp!

I...I...I....I'm speechless! Scarf Swap pal Miri has full-on blown my mind with the arrival of her scarf yarn. A package so filled with treats--personalized--treats, no-less, words alone can't do it justice.  

 
Unwrapped package

 
Almost open.  Getting closer...

 
: gasp : Blue Sky ALPACA!

Underneath: more alpaca!

 
Tucked away in the corners: lemon and verbena products!

Miri, thanks a million for your thoughtfulness.  I was eyeing the hand lotion and the soap last month in Bath and Body Works, and I didn't buy it because I couldn't justify the purchase.  Such a treat to get some Bath and Body Works products, no BBW in Canada makes me long for their products.  You couldn't have picked these products any better! 

I love the yarn, and the pattern you've chosen.  I've been thinking of the Forbes Forest scarf a lot lately, and am more than a bit excited to knit this up for you.  Let the swap begin!

No need for cubicle decor

Much to my delight, my new workplace cubicle came fully decorated in a quiet office environment. A former dweller left a number of Marcel Dzamas illustrations, which decorate my new space quite nicely. Without knowing it, I'm Dzamas fan, and have come across his work many times. He illustrated the Bed Bed Bed book with They Might Be Giants (which I picked up earlier this year for a friend's daughter), the cover of the most recent Beck album, and a Weakerthans release. I sense the new job's going to be a-ok.

Marcel Dzamas takes the drab out of cubicle workspace

Little knitting progress this week, busy with new job. I'm eager for the wind-down of SP5 at the end of the week, and to reveal to someone out there that I'm their SP. It's been great fun getting to know someone new, hopefully I've hit the mark with more than a few packages and items throughout the past few months. Some good folks out there, spoiling complete strangers. For those of you so inclined to take a random chance at yarn swapping, SP6 is open for takers.

Scarf swap, eh?

Earlier this week I sent my yarn out to my scarf swap pal. I hope she doesn't go too crazy watching the mailbox in anticipation of receiving this. I was out of town when the swap partner info was distributed, and was only able to send this this week. Also, it's being sent to another country, so I imagine it will be another week or so before it's received. SNYO pal, when you finally arrive here and read this, my apologies for keeping you waiting.

Destined to be a backyard leaves scarf, a wee peek at the package sent:

When this yarn grows up, it will be a scarf

I hope the yarn goes over ok. I'd been having reservations about sending this, which in-the-know knitters will quickly determine is Knit Picks. I'd hoped to find something made in Canada to send, but came out empty-handed. After scouring the 3 yarn shops in town, I found nothing, not even a piece of local yarn. Hmf! Well done Ottawa, capital of Canada.

Yarn shops just haven't quite caught on here, the selection is mostly geared toward an older generation of knitters. It's rare I find yarn in colours I like, but there's no shortage of acrylic blends. There's one shop in town that sells some interesting yarn, including Rowan, Noro, and Debbie Bliss, but I just lose my brains at the prices. An average of $20 for a ball of wool is ludicrous, and I just won't have any part of it.

Anyway, before I go bananas on this topic, suffice it to say scarf swap pal, it wasn't my intention to send you Knit Picks yarn. It's Knit Picks Merino, if that's any consolation. With any luck, you've been wondering if the Knit Picks yarn is really all it's cracked up to be, and you'll be super pleased with this yarn. Whatever the case, pretend it's made in Canada and everything will be just fine.

Goodbye walls and door...

Hello cube-land! Today marks the end of a giant office for me, complete with walls, filing cabinets, 2 desks, comfy chairs for visitors, my own printer, and most importantly, a door.

Monday marks a new beginning in cube land for me. I’ve worked in cubicles in the past with no problem, and I have no issues with returning. The downgrade from office to cubicle is a welcome one for me—my new job offers new challenges, fun work, and most importantly, is located downtown. I’m eagerly anticipating walking to work; I’ve been doing hand stretches and flexes to ready my hands for coffee-holding walks each morning. I’ll gladly give up my office door for all of this.

I stumbled on this site the other day while reading this super cute blog, and can’t help but laugh a wee bit about the Everyday Superheroes they sell as cubicle accessories. Quite funny. Most of their stuff’s a bit too hard-line nerd for me, but my relocation to cubicle working has given me a newfound appreciation for their cube goodies offerings.

thinkgeek.com's Everyday Superhero collection

And now, I will likely spend the rest of the day opening and closing my office door, just to get it out of my system. Door open. Door closed. Door open. Door closed. It’s going to be a great day!

Summer wind-down

Yup, I'm sure glad I took my vacation when I did--right in the heart of the best days of summer!  Safe for 2 days of rain, I had a good 12 days of solid sun.  Nice warm nights with only a few mosquitoes out to get me.  Seems like ages ago at this point.  It's starting to feel like Fall in these parts at night, hot summer nights may well be gone for another year. 

Last night I wore closed-toe shoes for the first time in ages, and the feeling of the need for warmth sent me running home to cast on the Koigu mittens. 

 
1 skein Koigu Kersti + 1 circular needle = 1 magic loop miracle mitten cuff

I decided to try my hand at knitting in the round with one circular needle.  After getting getting a quick lesson at Kaleidoscope Yarns in Vermont, plus some blog-reading encouragement from Diana at Streets and YOs, it took all of 1 minute to get things rolling. This is a seriously quick and efficient way to knit round things.  I'm knitting this on a 24' needle without even the slightest problem.   Magic Loop, you are a miracle.  I love the efficiency of needing only 1 needle where I previously used 4 that you've brought to my life. 

I love the colours in the Koigu, but I suspect I'll want some 2 skein action soon.  I've heard it's the thing to do?  My first experience with multi-colour yarn, and I'm not quite sure how to apply the technique.  I suspect some playing around will take place during the construction of these mittens.  I'm making these with no pattern, and I'm so happy to be knitting something with no instructions, no care for gauge, no care for much other than a pleasing result before, during, and after the process.  I believe notes will be an integral element to ensure a double performance.

CD Swap

Swap update time. I didn't intend to cram all of the CDs I received from the swap into one post, but most of them came in while I was out of town, and I feel badly for taking so long to thank everyone.  Such great surprises were waiting for me when I got home, what a treat! 

Some truly amazing work of creativity was poured into these CDs.  Kira of Wax and Feathers sent this adorable mix.  Cute design, great music, so well done!  I was happy to find Elvis Costello and Bright Eyes on her mix, who I both saw at the Newport Folk Festival earlier this month.  I want to frame the liner notes, they're that adorable.

 
 
Salt & Pepper shakers: so, so cute!

Fellow Canadian Maureen took her creative skills full-tilt and sent her CD in a hand-made cloth case.  How's that for crafty?  In the same picture (left, below), Sandy of Burnt Orange's Disassociate mix matches her blog so perfectly that I knew exactly who it was from before even looking at the return address. 

 
CD Swap 2 brings me home to a mailbox full of CDs

Above right, Lindsey sent items that caused great oooo-ing and ahhh-ing.  Cute cute cute glow-in-the-dark stickers, and adorable candy.  The labels say they're "Made in Corea".  Hm...  The accompanying postcard lists the tracks.  I haven't listened to this mix yet, but I'm anxious to get to it--great stuff, some Pixies, Xiu Xiu, Broken Social Scene.  Nice!  Amy, to you I owe an apology.  Your CD's in my car, not near me at all at the moment, so you'll have to forgive my not posting a picture just yet.  I love the hand-made envelope you made for the mix.  The first Blonde Redhead track has started the day for me every day this week as I drive to work.  

Loads and loads of thanks to each of you--it's been great fun swapping mixes.  Thanks also to Jen at Piddleloop who took on the monolith task of matching everyone up, and getting us all moving to make and send out mixes in just under a month.  I'm going to miss the little monkey on my blog.  Anyone interested in taking part in a more intense CD swap should check into the Dual Disc Debacle. 

Again, thanks everyone for the great swap!