You know how you make something for someone and it's so painful to see it go?  yeah.  I'm going to have to make one for myself as soon as I can. 

I'm going through the same thing myself here. As I work on stuff for the swap and birthday/Christmas gifts, I keep thinking "man! I want one of these for myself!!"... it's just gonna have to wait until January, though!

I got a whole box full o' goodness from flower today!!

Opening the box...



*squee!*



So much goodness...





There's a neato storage box (perfect for storing tea bags and spare coffee!), a frame, stitch markers (yay!), some earrings and hairpins, a super awesome mug pincushion (which may get mercilessly poked into being a DPN holder), a transfer thingy (haha, sorry, I dunno what to call it but it's so cool!) and coffee-colored fluffy yarn! Oh, and the best smelling candle ever, which is already half-burned down and making my townhouse smell super awesome.

Thanks flower!!!!

I got my package from flower today!! It's awesome - going to go post pics now! I feel so spoiled and I put my gloves project down to buckle back down to my swap crafting, bugger getting the gloves done by Friday, I want to get THIS done!

I have a question for you all, since you are coffee-aholics. 

My husband and I are considering getting a real espresso machine... not just the Mr. Coffee $20 version.  Any advice, brands etc we should consider?  I would like a really nice one, one that is able to produce the crema(?).  Thanks in advance!

Also, what is/do I need a french press?

I have the Starbucks Barista machine. http://www.starbucks.com/retail/espressoMachines.asp It's a rebranded Saeco machine and I absolutely LOVE mine, for the price the quality is fantastic. Mine's an older stainless steel one, which they unfortunately quit making, but man... I can't say enough good stuff about this machine. You can get them secondhand on Ebay for fairly cheap, I think I paid around $250 shipped. Also keep in mind that you should probably think about investing in a decent grinder too - another $100 or so for a good burr one that'll last you a good long while. (I have - surprise - the Starbucks grinder, too... hahaha.)

A french press is basically a glass cylinder with a round mesh that's the same circumference as the cylinder on a post so you can lift it up and down within the cylinder. You fill the press with hot water and coarse-ground coffee, let it brew, then push the mesh down to trap the grinds at the bottom and allow yourself to pour out the coffee. It's by far my favorite way of making regular ol' coffee, easy to make just a cup or two, and soooo flavorful and lovely. Mine's a totally generic http://www.bodumusa.com/shop/line.asp?MD=1&GID=3&LID=524&CHK=&SLT=&mscssid=X3DQQ7BPGVBP9N2MMN2TL72R2EBEEFS7 Bodum one, but it works like a charm when I have guests who don't like coffee as strong as I do!

I would really, really, really be interested in a pattern!

I'm still at the half-done-with-everything stage... except for one thing that I'm going to knit up one of these nights. And I tell you what, the project I'm currently working on for a friend uses fingering weight yarn on five #2 DPNs... I cannot TELL you what a relief it's going to be to get into normal worsted yarn and regular straight needles to work on my swap project... oy!

I got mine!! THANK YOU!! So fun!

It'll definitely be at least another week for me - I've been soooooo busy lately, ugh! I've been snatching 15-20 minutes here and there but I just want a day to sit down and MAKE STUFF. Hopefully that'll be Thursday and Friday, but my house also needs a seeeerious cleaning first... uugghh!

I just wanna sit on my butt and make stuff for a while! This whole responsibility thing sucks! :-P

Yes!  You may start sending on Oct 4th!    The last official day to send though is Nov 4th. 

I hadn't anticipated the swap filling up so fast and so we have very loooooong crafting time for this swap.   

I'm so glad we have a long time to craft!  I just started a new job on Friday and have already been taking work home.  My partner is a first time swapper and I want time to make it super-special for her!!

Aw! <3 you're so sweet. I'm such a scatterbrained crafter, all you people who are saying you have xyz many done and one on the way... I always have a million things going at once, I never manage to just complete one project before moving onto the next! hahaha. But I have some fun ideas here, I just have to sit still long enough to finish them! :-D

It's friday night, I've got coffee on one side, a 'gourmet turtle brownie' from Publix's bakery on the other, and there is some crafting goin' down over here!

What do you mean, normal people go out on Friday nights? Huh?