Something I've never done before

Recently, I signed up to do something I've never done before, but have always wanted to do: attend the Knittin' in the Mitten retreat, organized by CoggieTM of the High Fiber Diet podcast. I've heard about this retreat over the years from Ravelry and other social media sites but for some reason I've never been able to attend -- either due to not having the money, or not having vacation time, or whatever.  I decided that I'm going to make the time and save the money.  So, I requested a spot. The first deposit is due at the end of the month, next deposit (to pay the balance in full) is due later this year and I'll just save for it. I've put the dates of the retreat on my calendar, and will make it work.  I'll get to meet new friends, as well as those I have only known "through the computer."  I'm very much looking forward a new experience!

I've been knitting on a "stealth" project lately and I think I am getting close to being finished.  I can't say a whole lot about it now, but I can show you a sneak peek:

It's going to be sooooooooo pretty, I hope!  I got this yarn in a friend's destash last year.  I'm not 100% sure of the fiber content since I got it without labels, but from the way it feels, I think it's at least 50% alpaca. It's fun to knit, and I hope that the person I'm making it for will love it. *fingers crossed*  It's currently the only one of my WIPs that I'm working on steadily right now. I think it's really the only way that I will make it through my baskets full of in-progress stuff (there are soooooo many projects).  One at a time.

Yesterday I spent some time in my yarn room, tidying up.  I've got 2 more bins of yarn and 3 bins of fiber left to add to my Ravelry stash. I'm excited to get toward the end of this longstanding project. It's really been helpful to do this, though.  Whenever I need a particular yarn, it's wonderful to be able to "shop my stash" -- search in Ravelry to figure out how much I have, and most importantly, figure out which bin it's in! This is one of those projects that is somewhat of an annoyance but one that is well worth doing.

I better get back to it ... these projects aren't going to knit themselves!

-mz