Dove Knits

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Birthday loot!

I forgot to show you my fantabulous birthday loot! How silly of me.

First off, a friend sent me this lovely Alpaca Boucle from Plymouth Yarns:



Three whole skeins! I wonder what to make with it...

Another friend sent me Knitting Lingerie Style by Joan McGowan-Michael and Bead Knitted Bags by Julia Pretl. And I bought myself Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits.



I never even considered Knitting Lingerie Style until I got it, but I am very, very taken with it. There's knitted lingerie and underwear, true, but there are also alllll kinds of garments. Socks, tops (shaped as camisoles or corsets), skirts, pants, shorts, and a dress. And while I may never make knitted undies (and if I do, I may never tell you), I'm definitely making at least some of the tops from that book!

And the beaded bags book is definite eye candy. Each bag pattern is preceeded with a smaller project to help you learn the techniques, and I want to make all of these! I love the feel of beaded fabric, and I'm a total magpie for everything shiny. And the book even comes with a DVD to demonstrate the techniques!

I'm also quite happy with Fitted Knits. It is pretty repetitive with the patterns, but since I like one of them, I like the rest. I am certainly planning a few things from there. Ooo, maybe I can make one of the shrugs with my Alpaca Boucle!

And I also got baking stuff. My sweet husband got me THE coolest Bundt pan ever:



He is so sweet. He says he thinks making and decorating this cake will make a great tradition for our kids. You know, the future, hypothetical kids.

And I got myself a shortbread mold:



Though the shortbread made in it doesn't quite come out crisply stamped, it has, nonetheless, been delicious.

And a question for you guys: do you listen to knitting podcasts? If so, which? I recently joined a gym and need something to keep the boredom at bay while I work out.

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16 Comments:

At 9:45 PM, Blogger RangerSarah said...

Wow I love that shortbread pan! Even if the designs don't transfer, its a work of art in itself. I also like your bundt pan, cake is always more fun when its in the shape of a castle :)

 
At 4:56 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Looks like you did pretty well for your birthday! Love the shortbread pan.

My cable was out this week, so I tried out some podcasts. Cast On by Brenda Dayne was very good. I also liked Knitters Uncensored. That one, however, is long. Like 90 minutes. But it was interesting and kept me laughing. I've got a few others I haven't tried yet, like Socks in the City and Sticks and String. Lots of people love Lime and Violet. I didn't quite get it, but you might enjoy it while you work out!

 
At 5:40 AM, Blogger Bonnie said...

Happy birthday! You got some wonderful birthday loot. I love the Bundt castle. How sweet!

I've been listening to Cast On pretty much since it started and have really grown to like it and look forward to each new episode. I also listen regularly to the weekly Ready, Set, Knit, which is by Steve and Kathy Elkins of WEBS. It's partly about what's new at the store, partly a knitalong (they just finished up socks), and usually there's also an interesting interview with a guest. WEBS is my LYS, so how can I not listen to it?

 
At 9:35 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What great pans! I really love that bundt pan, but I doubt I'd ever be able to get the cake out of the tree tops. A baker, I'm not. But I sure wish I were.

I don't listen to any knitting podcasts, but I do listen to my soap operas (which are released in MP3 format) but somehow you don't seem like the soap opera type. Another option is to try some place like Audible.com and get audio books. I listen when I walk Hannah. Sometimes, I have music playing but I really prefer listening to a story.

 
At 3:13 PM, Blogger Heather said...

That bundt pan is great! You'll have to show us if you make a cake in it!

 
At 5:49 PM, Blogger The A.D.D. Knitter said...

Happy Birthday! You will love Fitted Knits, so many inspiring patterns. Podcasts: This American Life, I've decided that most knitting podcasts aren't worth the irritation;)

 
At 6:17 PM, Blogger hopalong682003 said...

Happy Happy Birthday! You'll have to make some birthday castle cake.

I've never listened to a knitting podcast, so I'll have to check some of these out.

 
At 6:51 PM, Blogger Cornellian said...

I love the bundt pan!

 
At 7:51 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy belated birthday! And woah, you sure got a heap of goodies there - I'm absolutely in love with the shortbread pan!

 
At 4:17 AM, Blogger Ser said...

I want that bundt pan! I think I'll go looking for one for the next round of birthdays. My free form truck and superhero cakes are leaving something to be desired.

As always, thanks for your supportive comments on my blog. Luke is getting ready to start church school at our new church, and I'm sure we are going to be missing you and your co-teacher!

 
At 5:07 AM, Blogger Tusa said...

Hey! Happy Birthday! I listen to Cast on, Knitting News and BritKnit Cast among others.

 
At 6:36 AM, Blogger Kary said...

WOW - what great gifts! Do make a cake ... would LOVE to see that!
Hugs & happy B's!

 
At 9:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

love both pans!
i havent listened to a podcast in a long time, since my kids are not hypothetical. :-)

 
At 4:02 PM, Blogger Melinda said...

Happy belated birthday! Looks like a nice collection of presents. (That is an excellent bundt pan--what a cool gift!)

As for knitting podcasts, I really like Cast On with Brenda Dayne. I tried a few others, but I found she had the best "radio" voice and had a good quirky sense of humour.

 
At 6:26 PM, Blogger Jenny said...

Hey Tanya,

I miss your birthday! I'm so sorry! Forgive me. I love the cake pan. I'm trying to track something equally cool down for Anna's birthday this Friday.

In the meantime--thanks for your note. We're all starting to feel better!

 
At 8:54 AM, Blogger Donura said...

You must try Brenda Dayne, Cast On and Marie Ishard. Brenda is funny, easy to listen to and plays very eclectic music from the Pod Safe Network. A good way to hear music they don't play on the radio. Belated Happy Returns.

 

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