Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I bet my neighbors heard that squee and with as much noise as they have made in the middle of the night and early mornings lately, I really don't care if they did hear it. After all, I squeed with glee when the mail arrived at 2 in the afternoon, not in the wee hours of the morning, when their disruptions of my sleep occur. I know this is not a very mature attitude, but I am cranky from the constant loss of sleep.

What did I squee about? I won! A few months ago, Vicki Howell (yes, the Vicki Howell) ran a contest on her blog. She had just put out a podcast that included an interview she did with Drew Emborsky, aka The Crochet Dude, and then asked her blog readers, "What was Drew's former profession, before becoming a crochet designer?". To which I replied, "He painted pet portraits!". She drew winners from the correct responses, of which mine was one. What did I win? Look what came in the mail today!

You would squee too, wouldn't you? I must say this book is incredible. Not only is it well written by Annie Modesitt and Drew Emborsky, but it is just a beautiful book. It is a hardcover with very hefty, sturdy pages and great photography. I am not sure what I enjoyed looking at more, the two-legged models, the four-legged models, or the patterns. Eye candy for everyone!

I must admit to having a couple of favorite patterns in the book which will be making it into my queue. One of them is the Man's Rasta Hat, which I find is a free pattern now that I own the book! I am hoping that one of my nephews will enjoy wearing this hat once I make it. Also, there are a couple of very helpful charts in the book. One showing mens size measurements up to 4x! The other of note is the doggy size chart. Where else are you going to find one of those?

Here's a quick update on my Ravelympic knitting. I did finish the Rainy Day Scarf at 12:34 am on Aug, 18th, 2008. This is a nice easy pattern that I will most likely make again. I think it would look better in a variegated yarn than the solid color I used.
Finally, I have cast on for a pair of mittens and I will try to get a picture of the WIP up tomorrow. I hope that you find something to squee about today!