Vintage

I've always had a place in my heart for all things vintage. Buttons, post cards, seed packets, jewelry, you name it, especially if it's art deco. I was pretty overjoyed when I stumbled upon this blog. She also had a love for vintage, and finds the coolest ways to incorporate vintage stuff into her crafts. it's got my mind working for some vintage inspired Christmas gifts- maybe ornaments? Little stockings? Printed sachets? Not quite sure yet... A contest may be in order! Do I have enough readers left for a contest? I guess we'll see. So, here's the deal. Leave a comment with your suggestion for a smallish vintage Christmas gift. Everyone who leaves a comment with a suggestion will be entered, and I'll do a random pick for a winner. Winner will get some of whatever I decide to make for Christmas, and some other little goodies, probably yarn since most of you are knitters. If you're not a knitter, I'll figure something else out. Check out The Vintage Moth and Vintage Printable for some more inspiration or to get some vintage images for yourself!

Randomosities

Remember, tomorrow is the last day of the Army of Women contest. Get your blogs posted and let me know! Also, if you wanted to donate a prize for the goodie box, please get in touch with me. It would be much appreciated! Thought I would give a short "life" update. School has been going really well, and keeping me pretty busy. tomorrow I register for next semester's classes, which I am excited about. Been hunting for a job and a daycare for the Monsterette. I've been dealing with some rougher stuff, like my grandpa having cancer again, that is making life just a bit more stressful and not so fun at times. I got glasses. I was getting really bad headaches with all the time I've been spending at the computer, and I knew it had to be vision-related. They've helped wonders, and I'm getting over how old having to wear glasses makes me feel, and starting to kind of like them. I've been knitting on a hellacious project for The Hubbster. It's very cool, and he'll love it, but it has been driving me crazy. I just can't seem to get in the groove with this one. I'll be blogging more about that in the future, though. I think that's about it for tonight, it is late and I need to get some sleep! See you tomorrow!

Recruiting

Hello again, folks! I got an email this morning from a good friend, and I think that it is an amazing idea. So, women out there, I want to recruit you to the Army of Women. (Please, click the link!) This is going to be a massive study for breast cancer research and prevention, something that should be important to each and every one of us. So go sign up, spread the word to your mom, your sister, your daughter, your friends. Because I think this is ridiculously important, I want you guys to spread the word! So, if you post a similar message of support on your blog with a link to the Army of Women site, you'll be entered into a drawing for a box of knitterly goodies (unless you're not a knitter, then we'll figure something out). Just leave me a comment and let me know you've posted it! Send your friends here to participate in the contest, too! And if you'd like to donate a goodie for the box, leave a comment for that, too! GO SPREAD THE WORD! I'll keep the contest open until November 14th.

Summer Knitting Goals

I don't know about you, but summer in New Mexico doesn't really scream "knitting!" at me. Sure ,I could quit knitting for the entire summer, or make nothing but little cotton dishcloths. That's kind of silly, though. So, since I know I'm going to keep knitting (although maybe not as much), I decided to set some summer knitting goals, and get a chance to win a great prize in the process! My Summer Knitting Goals 1. Finish the Jaywalkers. 2. Crank out the UFO's, especially the ones that have been languishing for quite some time. 3. Knit only from the stash, unless it's for a gift and I do not have yarn that could be used. 4. Start Christmas knitting! 5. Finish at least one more pair of socks. 6. Try colorwork. 7. Knit Hubbster's dream dice bag. 8. At least 4 charity projects, and at least one being a blanket. 9. Knit something for the Monsterette. 10. Knit something with my handspun (note: spin enough yarn to knit something with.) There! I think that is a totally doable, but not too lame, list of goals. Don't you? If you want to do this too, go ahead! you can sign up for the contest here.

Ten Things

Robyn challenged people to find ten things in their home that they've never used, which goes hand in hand with her slow month. Here are my ten things! 1. In Stitches by Amy Butler 2. Tab dividers for my knitting/crochet pattern binder 3. Photo frame 4. Stupid Sock Creatures book 5. Notecards- I have a hoard of these, but most I've used. Some I've never opened. Must send more notecards! 6. Sheepy journal. I got it to organize my knitting projects. With Ravelry, I've put it off, but would still like to, so I can keep ball bands and such together. 7. Markers. I got these a few weeks ago, and haven't used them. I know I will at some point, though. 8. Bead stacker organizer. 9. Black beads. I got these to make myself some stitch markers. 10. Knitpickers mini travel bag for knitting. Apparently, I missed the contest deadline by a day- I, for some reason, thought TODAY was the 21st! Oops. Oh well, it was still fun. My goal is to use all these things by the end of the year, or get rid of them. See you tomorrow!

Hi Again! (And a Winner)

Yes, I'm alive and good. I kind of dropped the ball on NaBloPoMo, didn't I? I just really didn't feel like blogging on the crappy, slow computer at my Aunt-in-Law's house. Thanks for the concern, though, you guys are sweet! I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and ate good food and all that jazz. We had a great time, and the food was awesome. I'm so excited to holiday season is here! On a different note, WE HAVE A WINNER! I did it old-school style, names written on tiny bits of paper and stuck in a bowl. The Hubbster picked a name out of the bowl and the winner is (insert dramatic drum roll here).... Jeri! Congrats! Now, everyone else, go buy some! Really, you're all winners, though. Everyone who participated gets 15% off a pair at my Etsy shop! Just mention the contest, and I'll send an adjusted invoice. Thanks to everyone who participated!

E is For...

Alright, everyone, I'm really excited about this. E is for earrings. Now, I love earrings as much as the next girl, but this is about special earrings- ones that I have created! Knitters, prepare to rejoice, and get your wishlists ready. I present to you all, knitting needle earrings! I am really, really, in love with these! I made a pair for myself (size 9's, of course), and now you can have a pair, too! I have the pair above, as well as a pair made from size 6 needles, listed in my shiny new Etsy shop. Go check it out, read my profile for extra goodies. Wait, there's more! A CONTEST! Finally, here at Saving Nine, there will be a contest. For, of course, a pair of these swanky earrings! Maybe other goodies too, or runner-up prizes, I'm not really sure yet. So, here are the ways you can enter: 1. Leave a comment on this post. Easy, huh? 2. Blog about this contest, and link to this post. Leave a comment or email me (address below) to let me know you did this one, otherwise, I'll never know! 3. Donate a pair of aluminum knitting needles. Each pair is one entry. This has an added bonus- the first pair you donate is worth $5 in my Etsy shop. each additional pair is worth another dollar off, up to $5 more! Email me (address below) for my address to mail them to me. This contest will be officially closed to new entries on midnight (Us mountain time) November 23rd. If you donate needles for an entry, they must be postmarked by this date. Winner(s) will be randomly chosen by some completely random and yet undetermined method. Bribes will be graciously accepted! See you tomorrow!!

NaBloPoMo and Contest

Yep. NaBloPoMo. I'm sure you're thinking, "What the fuck is that?" Well my friends, it is National Blog Posting Month! I am going to post every day in November. Lucky you! I think this is much more do-able for me than writing a complete novel. (I'll try for that next year...) Knowing my past blogging record, there may just be a complete month of posts with random babbling and what I had for dinner. Now, before you run off to bloglines to stop subscribing to my blog, let me offer you a suggestion. How about we have a contest? Yep. That's what I said. A contest! Everyone loves contests, right? So, here's what we're going to do. I want all of your suggestions for blog topics. Maybe you would like me to research the mating habits of mosquitos in the Panama Canal. Maybe you have a burning question you've been dying to ask me. Maybe you want to know my favorite recipe, or see pictures of all the sinks in my apartment. I'm game! So, give me your wackiest, your funniest, your scariest, or even just plain old normal ideas. You have until October 31st at midnight to leave me a comment or email with your idea. My favorite one will get a package of goodies from me. It'll be a great package, too. I promise! So, get to thinking. Get to commenting. If your lucky, you'll get to winning! C'mon. You know you want to. Don't be shy. Lurkers, this means you, too!

Fiber Love

About a week ago, I won a skein of Malabrigo yarn from the stash of L. over at Is It Time To Knit Yet? and I got it a few days ago. I have never really seen this yarn, mostly because I am a really cheap knitter and I think shelling out ten bucks for a skein of yarn is silly. As a direct effect of my cheapness, I tend to stay out of high-priced yarn stores where I could stumble upon this skein of Uruguayan beauty. Okay, sure, I've heard about it here and there on my daily stroll through Knitbloggia, read about it's lush softness and gourgeous colors, but c'mon! TEN BUCKS A SKEIN?! No yarn can really be worth that much, right? I mean, damn, it's just sheep fur! Wrong. This yarn is worth it and then some. It really is buttery soft. The colors really are magnificent. The handspun, hand-dyed yarn is delicious. Well, not that I actually tasted it, but if it tasted the way it looked, I bet it would taste like the best cheesecake in the world. Smothered with fresh raspberry sauce. With dark chocolate on the side. And a really big glass of excellent red wine. Served by some really hot, shirtless, musclebound man with a really sexy accent and olive skin and peircing green eyes and... well, I think you get the picture. I am so glad I won this yarn, because had I not, I might never have been exposed to it, and I will definitely be buying more in the future. So, what is to become of this lone skein of lovely? I'm making it into a cabled scarf- the Double Cable Scarf from One Skein, if you were wondering. I should have approximately 75 yards left when I am done- any pattern suggestions for the leftovers? Otherwise I may just knit it into a little square to carry in my purse to rub against my cheek when I'm having a bad day. so, onto the next thing... What? You want some pictures? Oh, well, I suppose you can have a few... Pretty, huh? And really, the pictures don't do it justice. So if you're a fiber lover, go buy some. If you're not, go buy some and send it to me. I'm off to go lovingly fondle this jewel of a yarn some more.