Swaps and such... progress

As I just wrote on the ITEIV blog...

I've gotten so much work done being on vacation! I'm in Miami for a week visiting my family and have done so much on my bag. I am definitely going to have to buy more yarn to make myself a similar purse. I really hope my downstream loves this as much as I do!

And thanks to all for offering suggestions for lining. Once I finish, I'm going to try to find a similarly sized bag to use.

Lastly, here is an intentionally blurred progress picture...

And I mailed the scarf to Milly for the AMH Scarf Exchange earlier this week. I am so dang proud of how it turned out!

I really want to make myself one now.. LOL I learned a new stitch and it was super easy. I'm so pleased with myself! ;)

I also joined a new yarn swap and my downstream partner is Cass and now I get to try to find her some of the yarn she loves.. I've already started buying some stuff for her... now to just find that pesky yarn. ;)

I can't wait until 1 July so I can sign up for the stitch marker exchange! not that i really use them, but they're so darn adorable!

Home to me...

It's Dialogue Friday over on Create A Connection!

Just what is Home to me? I use the word a lot when referring to my apartment or where I grew up. My parents are obviously home to me, but I don't live there. My apartment is definitely home to me, but I'm still putting down roots. So where is this elusive home place anyhow?

I'm going "home" to Florida tomorrow for a week. It's in quotes since it isn't truly my home. My home is now North Carolina and will never be Florida again. My parents are still in Miami, brothers in Miami and Hollywood, best friend in Jacksonville, tons of wonderful friends in Gainesville. But yet, I will never live in FL again if I have my choice. I have continually moved north ever since college and finally left FL altogether last year. Now to just get my parents to finalize their move to GA or NC and I will never have obligations to go to South FL again!

"Home" is where my family is. Where my heart is. Where my dogs are. Where I grew up and lived. But on that note, the home I grew up in no longer exists. My parents sold that house about 5 years ago. Now all I have of the "home" from my childhood and teenage years are pictures and memories.

For a month every summer for 8 years, home was summer camp in the Blue Ridge mountains of GA. It became home for 10 weeks the summer I was 19 also.

For 3 years, it was my own house in Gainesville during college. Gainesville always felt like home to me during my college years and again when I moved back there. I have a connection there with all the Gators, with the town, the university, the football stadium. ;-)

I am a nomad and have lived in many different apartments in Miami, Orlando and Gainesville and never for more then a year at a time.


I am 30 and it is finally time to put down roots. Last July I moved to NC and it was one of the scariest, most exhilarating things I have ever done. I knew no one up here. I had 1 friend and he lived 2+ hours away and I never saw him again after I moved here. Home is now where I live and go to school. Where my expanding circle of friends now live. Where I have made great friends, and experienced heartaches. Home is my adorable apartment that I re-signed a lease on. For the 1st time in my life, I will be staying in an apartment for more than 1 year. Also scary, also exhilerating, also very exciting.

Home to me is anywhere that people I love are. That's the bottom line. When my parents move, that will also be "home" for me.

Green Box o'Goodies

Look at the lovely things I got from Katie via the CAC Color Swap!

She sent me fun fur yarn, a crochet needle, beads-lots-o-beads!, tea, chocolate! and twisty ties... oh how much fun I will have stringing up the beads and making a nice furry scarf with the yarn. The crochet hook might actually inspire me to learn to crochet!

Bloggity Blog Blog

Today is Getting to Know You day over at Create A Connection... and the topic is blogs. I think I know a thing or 2 about blogging. So here are my answers

When did you begin your first blog and what inspired you to do so?
I needed an outlet and I type considerably faster then I write. and my mind goes considerably faster then I type... so my journals tend to be a big mess of thoughts. But getting them all out and able to get advice and encouragement was a phenomenal experience and I was hooked! I started my 1st online journal on OpenDiary about 7 years ago.

Do you have more than one blog? Why? How are they different?
I certainly do! I have my main journal on Livejournal which is where I talk about anything and everything and in great detail. I also post lots of pictures and vacation recaps and all sorts of stuff. That one is seriously friends-locked, and I don't just let anyone view it. Very private thoughts and relationship discussions.. Yes, I kiss and tell...... sometimes ;)

Also on LJ is my craft journal: ribart_designs. Periodically I will post updates to my Web site, etc. I don't normally post pieces there. I also have a weight loss journal on LJ, but I tend to just update my main journal with that info and just filter it to a few people.

I started my Blogger blog to be able to participate in the swaps and exchanges on here. I decided to use it mostly for my knitting projects and info about the exchanges I participate in.

I also have the standard MySpace and Yahoo 360 blogs, but I hardly ever write in those.

How would you characterize your blog? Creative, Political, Informational, Community-oriented, Something else?
Mostly creative, but not just tangible creativity.. I enjoy writing and putting a spin on things. Also, telling stories about my dates, etc have been a big success with my readers that love following the budding romances I've had over the years. I'd say I have a following that is very much like a family to me.

To paraphrase Oprah, what is "one thing you know for sure" about blogging?
There are some amazing people out there in blog-land just begging to be discovered and are full of creativity and similar experiences. I also know that the more you write, the less likely people will read and comment. It can certainly take over many hours in your days if you let it. OK, so that was 2 things...

Is it important to you to get feedback in terms of comments or pings? Why or why not?
It really depends what I am writing.. on LJ, if I write about my dates and uncertainties, I truly value the feedback and hope my friends will comment and give advice and encouragement. Pings, well, I don't care how many people visit my blogs in a day or week. As long as I am getting comments from friends, then I am happy!

What 3 blogs would you recommend to our readers and why?
Photoflavor - This is one of the feeds I have in my Google Reader and love the pictures this guy posts. They are gorgeous and a wide variety of subjects. I have saved a fair number of them to my hard drive for a slideshow screensaver.

I don't consistently read any public blogs. Most of the ones I read are my friends on Livejournal and keeping up with their lives. The link is here, but finding public posts, that aren't community posts, are somewhat rare.

If any of you have an LJ, I would love to friend you! Just comment here with your username and I will find and add you on there.

Blue swap goodness

I had so much fun with this swap! Miss Amy is getting a boxful o'blue goodies! and the box is so damn pretty that I want to buy myself one. I will post the contents in a few days after she receives the box!

I bought a different patterned one for my ITEIV downstream pal to pack up her purse with some other goodies when I mail that out.

Exchanges

What better way to make new friends - and crafty one at that - then by joining some exchanges!

I joined the Color Exchange over at JustBe... Connected

I am working on a gorgeous bag for my downstream pal over at ITEIV.

and I am working on a scarf for Milly from the AtMyHouse Yahoo! group.

Exciting stuff!