So many as promised pictures! First the goodies from my Ravelry Scarf Exchange package. (shessassy is AWESOME)

The whole shebang. (Minus the scarf) These are all the goodies she put in with the scarf.

Little knitted penguin. ADORABLE. I’ve named him ‘Neal’ as a combo of New and Zealand which is where he came from.

Little sewn penguin that I LOVE LOVE LOVE. By far one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I briefly considered using it as a pin cushion then decided that it’s just getting put on display among my other display penguins because I don’t want to shorten it’s life span by skewering it with pins.

And finally the wonderful scarf she knit me as well. The yarn perfectly matches my eyes. I get compliments on it all the time. I wear it even though it’s not quite cold enough to need it yet, but it’s skinny enough that it’s not too overwhelmingly warm. And it’s gorgeous.

So that’s the loot.

Now, I also knit a beret this week. It didn’t really turn out as expected, it’s too short and kind of falls of my head, but Laura had a wonderful idea at Knit Night last week, just pick up stitches and make it longer! She’s so smart.

It also looks good on Mike:

He looks intense and unshaven. He’s so cute.

I also finally finished the little puppy jersey I was knitting with some stashed Debbie Bliss Cotton DK. It took me about two weeks of knitting it only really on Knit Nights and the occasional doctors office waiting room time.

Dixie being a trooper and modeling the shirt even though she just had surgery on Friday. (Got the girl parts taken out so we don’t have any unwanted puppies.)

I just put this up for sale in my Etsy shop for a mere $26. Which honestly barely covers the cost of the yarn, but I’m not really selling these things to make a profit I guess. I just like spreading the joy of dog clothes! And my girls already have a whole dresser of clothes themselves, they really don’t need any more.

Another friend of mine (who will remain nameless until she’s had a chance to tell people herself) has gotten the baby bug and popped up pregnant, so yesterday I bought some plain onesies to practice embroidering on with the crazy new Bernina embroidery machine. I’m thinking phrases like “Future Knitter” and “My Mom makes my clothes” are going to get put on a few, and I have plans for some little girl monkeys, the occasional flowers and maybe even a few penguins for the others. If those go over well with the yet to be named bundle of joy, we may start selling similar things through the Etsy shop. We’ll see.

I just recently had to replace the first yarn baller I purchased a little over a year ago. I got the new baller about two weeks ago. It broke already.

I kill things. Evidently I used to be gentler when I was balling yarn because that first one lasted a long time, then now I’ve killed two (though admittedly it was a rough and tumble 17 year old boy who broke the first one.) in less than a month!

I bought a slightly different model this time, which should be arriving in 4-7 days. So here’s hoping it’s sturdier.

At least my $65 swift is still in good repair. I haven’t managed to kill it yet.

That said; Laurel and I had a little discussion the other day at work about how all year long I think “Wow, I should ask for that for Christmas” and then when the time comes and people start asking what you want my mind goes completely blank and I say stupid things like “Oh, I don’t know, just a gift certificate for Borders…”

So, in order to counteract the eventual brain fart that will begin somewhere around the first of December I’m going to start cataloguing the couple of things I do remember I want.

Hobbledehoy Hand Spun Yarn Club : 3 month membership to a yarn club that sends wonderful delicious merino blends hand spun yarn. YUM!

KnitPicks Options Interchangeable Needles: Knitting needles that have interchangeable cables to make various sizes of circular knitting needles. I like the colorful wood ones, but the metal ones are probably a more practical idea.

Blackberry Curve (red) : It’s cooler than the old Blackberry in so many ways, mainly that it has a camera and doesn’t weight as much as a brick. Also this one is red! I love red!

Papasan Chair or Gliding Rocker: either will work, to complete my comfortable knitting cove I’m attempting to create in the bedroom corner.

Teacup Piglet: They seriously stay itty bitty sized FOREVER. I need one. I’ll keep him in my knitting bag and name him Oscar. I’ll train him to hand me my double pointed needles or tape measure when needed. I can knit him tiny tiny sweaters and snout warmers.

This is the short and probably ‘not ever gonna happen’ list of things I want. On the sidebar there’s also a link to my Amazon wish list which is probably a more likely list of things I might actually get for Christmas.

I had my intake interview with my new therapist. I was so nervous in the waiting room I knitted three extra inches onto a dog sweater I’m working up. Then while I had to rip it out. Which I hate. But the new therapist is GREAT.

But that’s all I’m going to say about that.

I finished reading “Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair” which I highly recommend. It’s hilarious. And sad. But mostly hilarious.

I’m so exhausted, but I just wanted to put something up here I guess. I have a huge list of things I need to post pictures of. Mostly berets. And gifts from wonderful girls in New Zealand.

Tomorrow. Seriously. Promise.

I think I’ve assumed for a long time that I should only use my knitting blog (this here.) to blog about strictly knitting related things. The problem with that is that there is so much more to my life than just finishing projects and posting them here. There is this whole side of my knitting life even that rarely gets reported on. Except in my personal journal, which sometimes gets a bit weepy or pathetic, though it does more often than not mention knitting as well.

I’ve been reading other knitting blogs though, most notably Crazy Aunt Purl (and I’m reading her book as well.), and more often than I thought these intrepid knitters mention their personal lives as well. Children, husbands, boyfriends, school, dreams, parents, animals, car trouble, friendships, yarn pr0n and other tidbits of real live people that exist past their knitting needles. I am not just fingers flying through superwash wool, I am also Daniella Cortez. I am also a sister, daughter, girlfriend, best friend, kitty and puppy mommy, student and employee/employer.

So here’s the skinny: I’m exhausted, full of emotion and going just a tiny bit crazy. If you read my personal journal as well, you’ll know that I have been slowly but surely cracking up the past few weeks. I’ve dug deep and found parts of my self that I forgot where there, and I’m not entirely happy about finding those bits and pieces. They need to be aired out and exposed to sunlight and fresh air, but like a sweet tooth that’s due for a filling it stings to air hit the open cavity.

I’m also incredibly fulfilled for the first time in my life, which I think may be why at this seemingly odd time, all this stuff is floating to the surface. I’m guessing that I’m in a solid enough spot in my life for the first time ever that I can actually handle the debris from years prior.  I’m in a stable, though certainly not perfect, relationship with a boy that is far too good for me. I have a job that I love, a decent wage from a family full of wonderful supportive employers. I am surrounded on a daily basis by a chaotic house full of life, noise, animals, people and most importantly YARN. I work in a creative yet still professional capacity. I get to flex my marketing, business relations, networking, management and sales muscles on a regular basis. Every day is different than the one before it and I have carved out at least an hour each week to go and sit on the patio of my favorite coffee house with three of the funniest, weirdest, wittiest women I’ve had the honor to befriend. (Plus whoever else shows up, but Christa, Laura and Laurel are the chicas I speak of.)

I am the proud mother of two miniature Schnauzers and a GIANT Maine Coon. The Schnauzers (Dixie and Allie) are often featured on this blog as the unfortunate models of my Puppy Couture line (available on Etsy.com), and the cat (who we refer to most often as ‘The Buhunkis’) is pictured more often than not destroying something expensive and/or intricate that I’ve knit, sewn or bought.

I also harbor an intense fear that my life is not ever going to be okay. This manifests in many ways, but mostly in kind of subtle ways. Like feeling insecure because I live with my boyfriend and his parents. I moved out of my parents house when I was just barely 17, and I feel like a mooch because I live here rent free. They won’t accept rent from me, but still….

I really ought to be writing my Sociology paper. It’s quite an undertaking, tackling several topics including: homosexuality, rape and prostitution. Good times! (It’s a Sociology of Deviance course. I love it.)

I also just received my Ravelry Scarf Exchange package from my swap partner. It was a box full of PENGUINS! (and a note with the statement “I really hope you weren’t joking about the penguins…”) Which of course I wasn’t. I love absolutely everything she sent, including the scarf, though by far the favored item is the little googly eyed sewn penguin she did. I think I’ll hang him from the mirror of my new Subaru Forester I’ll be buying at the end of this coming week. I might even velcro his knitted counterpart to the dashboard and just penguin out  my new ride. (Pictures of the whole package coming soon; just as soon as I get at least two sections of my paper done.) She also sent me two hanks of New Zealand Merino Wool *drool*. I think I love her.

On the to do list: Finish the scarf that I’m knitting for my swap partner and find equally exciting package extras. Finish the hat I’m knitting Gavie in time for the records I bought him to arrive so I can ship out a whole package of goodies for him. And finish the beret I’m knitting myself.