My First Contest!

Now, I know that most of us knitters have a slight problem with self-control when it comes to yarn, so it is with a guilt-laden heart that I lay this tidbit of information at your feet. There is a new indie-dyer on the scene. She's a gal who lives in the great northern woods of Minnesota (my beloved home state) with her sweet family and she has an Esty shop where you can browse her new yarns.
I just purchased this:
. . . and if you can guess what the name of this yarn is (or come pretty darn close), you will win a little surprise (if you're a non-knitter, your surprise will be something to knit, so take care . . . ). NO CHEATING (you can look at her 'sold' items and find out what it's called but in the true spirit of good girls, please don't peak!)

Next Friday (February 8) I will choose a winner based on the closest guess. If there are several correct answers, I'll draw your name from a hat. Good Luck!

And now for some knitty-gritty business. For the first time in my life, I shed tears over my knitting. I tried three times to make my first short-row toe for my February sock. And my conclusion? I. HATE. SHORT. ROW. TOE. It is evil and I will never look back at that technique again. Door closed.

Here is the sock in White Oak Studio's TVyarn Fat Sock - "It's Valentine's Day, Charlie Brown"
The pattern tends to disappear with this yarn. Lesson learned - a solid would work better with this pattern.

This weekend, my hubby left to go ice-fishing 'up north'. I tucked in the kids, grabbed my knitting, chocolate and movie (in that order) and settled into bed for a peaceful and productive evening of knitting.
At the exact moment I began to eat my chocolate bar, this other chocolate monster woke up. Guess what he was thinking. You lab owners know, there is only one thing on a lab's mind at any given time -

can I eat that? And more often the answer is no, but it goes down the hatch anyway. This explains crayons and Polly Pockets in his little poo piles. (ok, not so little)

Now he's mad because I just enforced my ALPHA FEMALE position in our little pack and voraciously protected my chocolate.
And so, he tries a new tactic and decides to eat my arm instead. I'm ok with this decision because the chocolate is intact.
ps. not much knitting was accomplished.