11/14/08: What I am Currently Spinning

Isn't it pretty?



It is a blend of BFL and mohair and the colorway is Cherry Cordial. I think of it more like cherry coke though, yum. I got it at this years Rhinebeck, which means I really must have liked it to already have it spun up in singles and ready to ply! At the moment I can't remember who I bought it from but I have it somewhere. Pretty sure it was from the same booth my sister bought her wheel from a few years back though, loverly folks there.



I also started knitting up a scarf (got the pattern at this years Rhinebeck too, crazyness I tell you) in this pretty cashmere merino blend. But I noticed I messed up a cable and I can't seem to move forward on it even though I told myself it is an ok mistake to live with (the mistake is not in the photo I have knitted much more since I took the pic). I think I know I will be ripping it back in my heart and just can't bring myself to do it yet, so it just sits there, while my neck has to make due with older scarves. It is a pretty pattern though and has a hat to match a pretty fun knit to work on, other than my idiotness.



Anywho, it is Friday and I am happy. I shall be making lots o' nut roll tonight for a bake sale. Wish me luck and lots of energy!!! (could end up being lazy and just watching movies instead :)

11/02/08: Candy Corn!!!

So instead of wearing the candy corn sweater for halloween this year, I finished knitting it on Halloween :) It came out pretty fun though and is a super cuddly kind of oversized sweater. I was too lazy to rip it back when I noticed it was coming out a bit larger than I meant it to. But I still love it.



The sister got us some fun slippers from target to go along with it as she was knitting herself a candy corn skirt.



Really some card she got last year is what made this whole thing come about, a girl was wearing a cute knitted candy corn skirt so we went nuts and wanted to do it too. Below is me in the full crazy neon knitted gear. Not originally intended to overload and be worn all at once, but it is quite an outfit doncha think? I even painted the nails orange for y'all to enjoy!


Hope everyone had a smashing Halloween too!

10/21/08: Rhinebeck 08

Was another loverly Saturday drive up. We went a slightly different way than past years and we got to see a hilltop full of sheepies and there were lots of baby sheepies. It is hard to see in my camera phone photo, they are just tiny dots at the top of the hill, but it was a pretty fun site in person. More sheep then I have seen at the festival itself :)



Of course the trees were super pretty too.



And oddly there were kangaroos and lemurs there too this year. I guess I have never really wandered over through the kiddie area before.



I got some stuffs too but my favorite thing is probably the giant drop spindle I got because Melissa needed a plying spindle. It spins for so long, I love it!

07/03/08: Finished the Baby Sweater a Month Ago

and here are the pics...
I used this short rows baby jacket pattern with gems sock yarn. Very lovely pattern to follow.

05/28/08: I am an Aunt!!

Yay! Can't wait to get over there and meet my neice, but until I get there, here are pics of the cutie stuff I am making for her :) If you are on ravelry sorry this is nothing new to you! Tiramisu crocheted blanket. Done. Saartje Baby Booties. Done. Garter Stitch Hat. Done. Short Rows Baby Jacket. Half Done, I have one week to finish it up!

05/17/08: New Goods

Isn't he cute?



So I had a quick little time at the Maryland Sheep & Wool. But it was very nice indeed. I was even behaving really well, and then all of a sudden I blew it :) I finally bought me some Jamie Harmon yarn. Enouh for a whole sweater! I am crazy but have wanted it ever since my first wool festival so I broke down this time.



And I got a cute little spindle and a pound of purple fluff which I am told will spin up like denim sort of. Fun.

05/02/08: Oh My Where Have I Been?

Lot's goin' on chez moi currently, some good, some bad, some happy, some sad. But hey it's alright with me, I love being a random mess of emotion, he he.

In crafty news. I swear I am making stuffs. Lots really. But I am a slacker poster so this is what you see, nada. I have not even put pics up on my ravelry page yet for most of it. Alas, let me think what do I have to remember to post some time?

Finished Project's:
Saartje's Baby Booties
Ribbed Lace Bolero
Toaster Cozy

Almost Done's:
Blue Collar by Teva Durham
Tiramisu Baby Blanket

Just Started's:
Handspun RPM Socks

Still Workin' On's:
Argyle Vest
Shopping Tunic
Hot Dog Amigurumi

Have not Touched but Should's:
Alpaca Tunic
Undulating Socks
Shopping Tunic
Garter Rib Socks
Alpaca Cardi

Need to Start and Finish Soon's:
Baby Hat
Baby Bib
Baby Sweater?

Yup I am still the master of too many projects at once! Ridiculous I am! But hey so my kitchen table looks like a yarn store, I don't mind really.

And so there, tomorrow I am off to Maryland again. I get to see more old friends, yay!

02/28/08: Deep V Update

Yup still knittin' Eunni. My progress on this slowed a bit but I am still pluggin' away at it. Am about 25 rows from finishin' the knittin' and then it is off to steekin' this baby. Yikers! I have it on dpns now since the stitch count is not so much anymore, which should also speed up the last bit o' knittin' I would think.


Sorry, I know I am the world's most boring writer in the world, but still I pretend to blog :) Oh and also I finished that granny afghan I showed a couple days ago, so yay!

02/28/08: Old Projects

Was cleaning up files the other day and came across my old completed knits galleries. So I added them to my progress page. Now you can see most of what I have created since the current obsession of knitting started.

Projects completed in 2003 and in 2002.

02/14/08: Happy Valentine's Day!

Was feeling doodl-ie and although these are kind of too late for most to really use I am announcing them now anyway. New Labels! I have been making cookie based labels lately and these latest ones are based on some cookies I made a couple years ago. Enjoy!

02/12/08: The End!

Well it got much colder here yesterday and so I had to hurry up and finish the mittens so I could wear them. I love them!

They are a little big on me but I am going to let it slide since they are so pretty and really my hands are tiny, I could not do any of the section that adjusts how long these get or else they would have been huge! Perhaps I should have knit them on 0's instead of 1's so that they would be smaller. Eh, not a big deal really. Ok so with the largeness there was a little too much room in the glove to keep only warm air, and cold air seeped in. This is why as you may have noticed it really does bother me that they are big, but man alive I am trying not to care! Oh but hey I can be like some other folks I know who wear another pair of gloves under their mittens to keep warm, and if I do that then the bigness is needed right? I mean it was cold enough out there today to need more layers so perhaps that is the solution.

Also cause my grey yarn was alpaca it did not pop forward as much as the regia wool so even though the grey is the main color in the pattern it looks like the secondary one which is fine with me since I wanted crazy loud hot pink mittens anyway. Alright, whiny as I may sounds right now I really do like these, and the pattern was easy to follow and lots of fun to work on, so yay to a finish project! Now back to that vest I should go.

02/07/08: Still Mitten-ing

One down! And am almost to the top of the thumb hole on the second. It was weirdly warm here this week so I did not feel like working on these much, but well it is supposed to get cold again next week so I shall push through so I can wear these at least once this year.

02/01/08: Mitten Update

I was in the zone on my train ride home tonight and so now I have one mitten almost done, just missing its thumb. Yippee!!! They feel a little on the loose side but I think it will be ok. It would be cool if I could have these done for next week, superbowl is pretty long and since I only watch the commercials I think I have a shot :)

01/31/08: More Eunny on the Needles

So of course I strayed, but not too far from the vest, and only because it has been so chilly out that I had to buy a scarf at lunch one day. And it was a crazy hot pink that was begging for mittens to be knit to match. And so was born my version of Eunny's Anemoi Mittens.



I am using some hot pink regia I had left over in the stash from my tulip socks of long ago and some grey alpaca I also already had. See the scarf in the background? They are a perfect match! yay! If I have enough yarn left I would like to knit a hat to as well, so I can have a full set of course. But I am almost to the steeks on the vest so it has not been totally abandonned yet!

01/24/08: More Deep V Action

Actually committing to a single project the last few days here, which means you get another in progress shot of the Deep V argyle vest. I am now on the increases and soon to start my very first steek stitches, exciting times I know :) And every time I pick this up I think to myself hmmm seems like time for some Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies, yum!!!!

01/22/08: Because I am Crazy Like That

I cast on for 2 new projects over this long weekend. Hanging out with the sister will do that to you, as she also has the goods for both of these projects now. The first one is Eunny Jang's Deep V Argyle Vest and the second is Lion Brand's Cable Luxe Maxi.

Due to my huge stash I did not have to buy any yarn for this though, yay. I am using up some stash! Of course when I start a new project I am all excited to hurry up and knit it, so hopefully I actually finish these. I love that one is so cable-y and one is fair isle, two very different techniques will lessen my getting bored abilities :) Or so we hope at least!

01/17/08: Old Stuff I Could Not Show Earlier

Well I had a banner year for knitted gifts this past Christmas. I nearly finished everything I set out to do, which included:
6 pairs of socks
3 scarves
2 Christmas Stockings
and
7 or so washcloths

See below for what was not yet posted here:

Chevron Scarf for Cranky Monkey (if you read her she already posted about this :)


Garden Scarf for my Grandmother (started when I posted the pattern, but only actually finished it in December :)


Gingerbread and Tree Washcloths/Dishcloths for Friends







What is not quite finished are 2 socks. I am to or past the heel on both though and the recipients each got one complete sock on Christmas day so I was so close, but then I was all burnt out and have not wrapped those up yet, oops!

Sock 1 for my Brother


Sock 1 for my Father


I also made my own ornaments as you saw before, but what you did not see was that I again made some magnets. Well lots of magnets and more complicated than last years I must say. Good thing I had sibbling help :) I was very into gingerbread anything this past season. I even made a nice gingerbread tree decorated with mini m&ms. I have to get the photo from my sister so I can show you all that one.

Magnets Galore!




Besides that I have been slowly picking up the needles again so there will be more to come as usual.

12/22/07: Happy Christmas to All!

Well here are my pics of late. Am starting to feel better at long last, yay!


I made christmas ornaments for my tree this year using my favorite Crayola modeling magic clay. I had the help of me sister as well. I am pretty happy with how cute they turned out.


And as I mentioned before I finished both stockings! Yay. You can see the insides as well as the out. For the tree one I changed the top and bottom to green since the attern had it all beige and I wanted it to go more with the other stocking. I think it worked out well.
Pattern: Annie's Woolens "Evergreen" and "Holly" Christmas Stockings
Yarn: Knit Pick's Wool of the Andes


And then I was inspired to make a little mini stocking ornament with some sock yarn I had. Made up that one myself and am thinking I will want to make a bunch more for next years ornament project :)

Anywho hope everyone out there has a very healthy and happy holiday!

12/06/07: Christmas Stamps

I am obviously loving the knit Christmas Stamps available this year! Yay!

11/27/07: Christmas Knitting is in High Gear Here

I was lucky enough to have last week off for the holiday and so I have much progress on the Christmas knitting front.


First off the needles is a handspun pair of socks. Love how this yarn turned out, it is a 3-ply yarn I spun from a Spunky Sock Kit called Down in Flames knit on size 2 needles which for me is a big needle making it a fast sock to knit :) Now I just have to wait and hope they fit the recipient.


Next up is one of two planned Christmas Stockings. Loving knitting a giant sock it goes even faster than the handspun! Knitting it on a 12 inch US 8 circular needle so it is a lot more even than when I tried it on my dpns. Almost done with the foot and then I get to add the heel and toe. I am using this pattern.

11/20/07: Finished the Dragon Scarf!

This is such a fun pattern to knit. And I love Morehouse Merino's yarn! So soft and easy on the needles. The scarf came out a little smaller than I expected, so not to be worn on a really windy day, but it is fun. This one is a gift though so I hope they like it.

11/18/07: Rocket Pops Complete!

Yay! This baby has been sitting in a basket for months just missing one tiny sleeve. And now I get to wear it at last! It is such a soft squishy raglan and so colorful, I just love it!


I knit this with some of my handspun Spunky Merino in the Rocket Pops colorway into a 2-ply worsted weight yarn. Then used this pattern to work a top down raglan. I am pretty happy that I had enough to knit a real sweater with it, even if it has short sleeves, I think I only had 8 ounces of the fluff.

Up next on the finishing block my super chunky turtleneck or will it be the alpaca cardi??? (yes that one has been stalled for such a long butt time!!!)

11/05/07: New Labels!!!

I am finally putting up new gift labels for those who may want to use them to dress up their gifties.

Fall Label


Winter Label


Original Labels


Now, I had new Christmas labels done as well, but somehow I lost the files and poof! Rats! Oh well at least there are some fall and winter generic labels to play with.

So don't forget 'tis now the season for all the gift knitting craziness, I know I am starting to lose feeling in my hands already!

11/02/07: iPod Upgrade

I had to upgrade my iPod recently which meant I also had to upgrade my sleeve for it.


I used my own little pattern for this but added some stripes this time around.

11/01/07: One Done...One Still Going...

I finished my handspun garter stitch scarf a couple months ago, but forgot to post about it. Now that I am actually wearing it since it got colder I figured I would put it up here. This is probably my most even spinning of all time and the fluff is from The Sheep Shed. This has to be my favorite place to get merino from, it is prepared so nicely. I think I have enough yarn left to make matching gloves, we shall see.


Oh and I picked up my Chevron scarf again. Makin' good progress on it this time around, guess I am into purple scarves right now :)

10/30/07: Dragon Scarf Start

In the spirit of Halloween, I am working on a Moorehouse Merino Dragon Scarf kit I got at Rhinebeck this year. I was so well behaved only bought this and some fluff, of course we were only there for like 2 hours at the end of Sunday :) And, we did have a loverly fall drive through some very pretty and windy country roads that afternoon!


And Carolyn was right, I was very close to done with those socks, so above on the right is the finished pic of the pair. I used the same cable patern I came up wth for my trekking socks but these are knit with Fortissma Disco sock yarn that has a metalic thread running through it so it sparkles.

10/29/07: Blue

More cabled socks on the way. And some spinning in progress.

08/15/07: Super Soft

So I was perusing in Anthropologie one afternoon and I noticed a stack of yarn! Now I love that store more than I already loved it*, if that is at all possible. And next to the yarn was the Twinkle's Big City Knits book. Hmmmmm. I know there are few fans of a chunky knit sweater out there**, but this was the actual yarn called for in the pattern book and it is seriously super soft and tempting.

So I came home with a bunch, did I mention it was cheap? I mean like half off of it's normal price, so how could I resist? I plan to make 2 of the patterns with my hoarding. And I must say on size 19 needles my first project is coming along very speediliciously! I forget which pattern it is by name, but it is a tank with a huge cowl neck. Super squishy pretty fun!

*Seriously I love it there, even their window displays are the cutest ever. Mini cakes all decorated pretty are in them right now, love it!

**Now it is fine not to like a chunky knit. Even I am a little wary of them, but if you are a yarn store owner who likes to actually sell yarn and needles to people, I recommend not being flamingly rude and snarky. Do not make comments to someone else and laugh and mock the customer who is very much in ear/eyeshot of you! Hello stupid store you didn't even know what I was using it for, rude, rude, rude! And due to my extremely offended reaction, I shall NEVER buy anything at the closest yarn store to my house again! Nope am done with them, they are almost always nasty anyway and whispering and gossiping about someone, who needs that? I shall drive 20 minutes farther to my yarn oasis with the happy nice and fun people instead :) But really, I miss my old LYS they were the best. So sad they closed last year.

08/14/07: Still Scrapghanning

I think I am up to 65 something squares now. With a goal of at least 300 to make the afghan. So far I have not needed to knit anymore socks in order to work on the scrapghan which is kind of amazing that I had that many scraps laying around. I don't think I will have enough for the whole afghan though, so more sock knitting will have to resume at some point.

08/07/07: Well I Was Knitting Socks Way Back in June

This is my spunky club dandelion superwash merino hand spun yarn. Starting to knit it into a lacy sock. So far really like the feel of it, but set it aside because I have to pay too much attention to the pattern and don't have that kind of quiet time at the moment.

I have not really been working on this sock for a month or so, really slacking on the 52PP idea. Oh well, I have been making more scrapghan squares though, up to about 60 now.

07/22/07: Scrapghan & Dress

Still barely knittin' the socks I said I would be, mostly just makin' little scrapghan squares. I am up to 42 now.



And I finally actually wore the knitted dress last weekend, just thought I would put this up for the heck of it.

07/06/07: Sock Scraps

Am behind on knitting my socks, have not been so into knitting them this past couple weeks. But I have been using up the scraps from socks I have finished over the years.



I had a couple of ideas for a sock scrap afghan in my head for some time now. Started by making some icord and planned to knit something chunky and quick.



That is a size 1 sock needle for scale, the orange needles are 35's.



While it was fun all chunky and huge, it just didn't work so well with only scraps of yarn leftovers, it might be fun to do with full balls of yarn though.

Then I thought well I have been liking to crochet lately, perhaps a granny square afghan. But with all the color changing and striping yarns it was coming out scary.

So I am going with a mitered square afghan. The stripes are pretty fun this way and so far and I have 20 squares since they are so quick to knit, and not one uses the same yarn yet. There will be plenty of repeats in the end to be sure. The pieces are coming out to be 4 inch squares. Here are some of what I have so far.



Although I have to admit I have thought of seaming these into one long crazy sweater jacket. We shall see as time goes on what it ends up being.

06/24/07: Rebecca Dress is Finito!

Voila!



I started knitting this little number over 2 years ago. And well I actually knit it up right quick cause it was on 8's and that is chunky for me lately. But it was looking so miniature to me (rather I was looking plump to me), and I was lazy and didn't want to knit the straps and try it on to see how long they needed to be or if it would even fit. Yeah am all about the straight knitting, all those nasty finishing steps kill me.

So it sat in a pile for a long bit. Then I thought maybe if I pull it out and leave it on my table and it stares at me long enough I will have the will to finish it. Well that almost worked. I got to knitting the straps over 2 weeks, knitting a row here and there. But still not trying it on.

And then there was the yarn inventory and it still sat there undone. Well I finally tried it on after that and it seemed like it fit? What? Crazy talk. So then I was like well I have to finish it. Must attach the straps! Another couple weeks went by. They are attached at last!



But the ends oh the countless ends!!!! I couldn't fathom doing all that weaving so I let it sit again. Then got to thinking it is kinda revealing on top, perhaps it needs a shrug. Fiddled with the scraps and knitted up a one skein wonder one night. Cute! Love to knit. So fast! But ugh, now I have created more ends. I suck!



Anywho it was a battle. But the ends are tucked (the ones that show anyway :) And now I can finally declare this a finished knit! Fabu! Perhaps I need a finishing elf to wrap up all my loose ends here. So many more things are so close...but I see no cigars.

05/09/07: My First MDSW!

This was my very first trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival and I have to send a super huge thanks to Alice for driving me even when I was nodding off (terrible navigator in the sun I was). The yarn acquired has upped my yardage to 150602.75 yards or 85.57 miles. Not too bad really because I only bought sock yarn and no sweater yarn, right? Well a lot of sock yarn, I managed to be the big buyer of the group. I just finished 3 single socks therefore I am knitting with lots of sock yarn right now so it's not that bad, he he he. More about the socks in a couple days, for now on to the many pics I have decided to share with y'all.

Here is a shot of the Delaware Bridge on the way there. Purty sunset, but right after that we decided we hate Delaware, stupid traffic!



There were license plates to amuse us while we chugged along waiting to park Saturday morning.



It was early while we waited in the souvenir line so Claudia could stock up on prizes so someone took a little nap :)



Lots of cutie animals:











This is what I bought. I was a little sock crazy as I said. Been wanting to knit the fun Cookie patterns and needed solid sock yarn. Yes I am aware I bought more than just solid sock yarn, oops.



So that is Shelridge farm starting on the left, heathered and apricot, there was a loverly peacock blue too but I already gave that to the lil sis. Then 2 colorways of koigu. Next up are two colors skeined together of sock yarn from The Flock Bransonas. Some Louet Gems in a pretty light green. Tess Designs Laceweight merino (one for me one for my sis). Now for the top left there is Dzined wool/hemp. And 2 colors of Trekking sock yarn. phew!

Also got some spinning fun. Some cormo cause Sil's love for it in yarn form rubbed off on me, first time playing with this soft soft soft fluff. Already tested it out on the hand spindle.



And then some other fluff which I am blanking on where it came from at the moment. But Rosemary said it was lovely to spin so I got me some.



And finally since I have been wanting a bunny I had to get some angora fluff after I saw Leigh's.



Yummy food was eaten, hung out with some lovely ladies, and had a very nice weekend.

This is the Delaware bridge home.



And here we are at the Tappan Zee. Thanks also to Leigh for showing me to the kettle corn, yummmm! It kept us happy on the drive.



And another plate we saw. There was another girlie named one but I didn't get a photo. Naturally only boys were driving these girlie plated cars?



Ok now that is all I have to say about that.

05/04/07: And the Winner Is...

Beth!!! She guessed 147,400 yards. So this Finn will be going to her, congrats!



So what was the real number you ask? 146,040 yards! Beth was really close. It is the same as 83 miles of yarn. As crazy as that seems some of those guesses started to make me feel like I didn't have so much after all. he he he. Yeah I know it is still a lot. Oh well at least now I know where it all is :) Thanks Carolyn for all the help!

04/30/07: Guess My Yarn Yardage Contest!

So Ms. CrankyMonkeyButt made her way over to this neck of the woods for a work filled weekend. Most importantly she was my yarn inventory specialist. In preparation for Maryland I needed to know in miles why I should be restrained in my purchasing next weekend. Let me tell you this fiber fest shall be more about the socializing than the purchasing, which for me is very difficult I gotta say. Anywho in light of the monumental yardage we uncovered, I am going to have a little contest.

Leave me a comment or send me an email of how many yards of yarn you think I have in my stash including the wall of yarn and some baskets of afghan yarn. Closest one to the truth wins some of my handspun!



Current photo of the wall of yarn above.

Below are some little hints to help you make your guess.

1. Each cube is about one foot cubed of space.
2. There are a total of 43 cubes that contain yarn. The others are notions and fluff and do not add to the yardage.
3. Outside the wall I have almost 15000 yards of afghan and in progress yarn which is part of my total stash yardage.
4. There are scores of miles of yarn in the wall.
5. I tend to like thinner yarn, DK weight to laceweight, which makes for more yards per skein.
6. It is more yardage than Monica has, yikes!

Here is a pic of most of the cubes with yarn (greens ones were added later so you have to guess how full those are).



Ok so that is it. Please send in your guesses by Thursday, May 3rd, 5pm EST. I will announce the winner on Friday. Then it is off to Maryland!

Good Luck!

04/19/07: Ripple Socks...sort of

I am using the Ripple Socks pattern from Socks Socks Socks, but skipped the reverse stocking rows cause they were a little too much. These are gift socks and going along nicely so far. I usually knit on size 1 needles so being on 2's these seem like they are zipping by.



Since I got the short row thing down in garter stitch from the garden scarf and because Beth suggested it I tried the Lucy Neatby garter stitch heel too. Love it!! It really does fit well and I didn't have a gap or hole issue, woot! Glad she mentioned it and that I finally tried it out.

04/12/07: Yet Another Scarf

Got some loverly Rowan "Tapestry" yarn the other day and decided to figure out a short row scarf of sorts. Oddly I can't do a real short row in a sock but in this garter stitch scarf it seems to be working out ok. Very odd. Anywho I got the idea from a few places on the web (of course I have no idea where those places are now) that I saw versions of a wavy scarf so I fiddled around to try and make one for meself. I also held a strand of mint green Kid Silk haze with the wool yarn, which is making it extra soft and loverly on the skin. Good thing Spring seems like a cruel joke at the moment so I am still knittin' on the cold weather items.

04/08/07: Completed Capecho!

At last all the ends are woven in! And although it seemed like it was going to be on the large size, I think it ended up pretty close to how I wanted it. The most important thing was detaching the collar. The pattern called for a 1:1 ratio of neck band stitches to the body, but that made it very drapey and not easy to keep on. So I ripped that out and then sewed on the collar picking up 1 stich of the body to 1 stich of collar and then 2 stiches of body to 1 stich of collar. This did the trick. Now it is all closer to my shoulders and doesn't fall all over the place. Woo hoo! Still it is a little looser than the pattern photo so beware, but I feel it is wearable so phew, no wasted knitting time for me.

04/06/07: Happy Easter!

This sock just looks right for the occassion.



Every time I work on it I think it is just too ugly to bother. But then well, as Sandi says, "It is SPECTACULARLY UGLY!" Which means it is just so ugly that you can't help but like it. So now I will think of it as the easter sock cause well that is what the colors seem to go with today. Hope everyone has a loverly day!

(I accidentally typed in "Hop" the first time around, such a festive typo.)

03/29/07: So Fetching

Presenting another Fo here. Finally found some scrap yarn to finish of the thumbs on these babies. And it is actually kinda chilly here still so I have been able to use them. Can't believe they were sitting in my almost done basket for months, it took maybe 20 minutes to wrap these up. Anywho here they are and this time they are for ME! yay!



Pattern: Fetching: Knitty Summer 2006
Yarn: Karabella Aurora, 1 ball + tiny bit more in grey
Needles: US 6

On another note, I am all sad because this blog software I use doesn't seem to allow me to recieve both email addresses and websites when you leave comments. This makes me TERRIBLE at responding to comments cause I have to hunt down the email addresses :( Please don't be offended if I don't email. I am trying to figure it out somehow so I can be better about it. As long as it has taken me to post more regularly I am even worse at correspondance, hopefully I improve soon.

03/28/07: Slowly Updating My Site

So I finally got around to starting to set up the completed knit galleries. And even a couple spinning galleries. The links in the sidebar on the progress page actually take you somewhere now. Still have older stuff I wanted to put up. We will see if I ever get that far.

03/26/07: Spring Cleaning...

This weekend was a weekend of a bit of cleaning, and as part of my 'fiber' spring cleaning, I decided to organize and figure out what I have going on right now. I have plans to get through seeing what is in the stash at the end of April, but for now I was just trying to see what I have currently started, ie. on the needles or am spinning. I am ridiculous as it turns out. Well I knew this already but I am now sharing it here.

That there folks is a list of in progress works as updated as my brain could figure at the moment, I am scarily sure I forgot some things though. You see I love to test out new yarn and fiber, immediately, but then I get busy or side tracked or just plain lose patience with it. I should just be a swatch queen or something, but instead I start in on new projects and then leave them to chill in my yarn wall. Anywho this list is going to get me to hopefully remember what is in there and to pull it out every so often so I can finish more stuffs! Some of it is really close to complete so I am going to try and only really work on around 4-5 items at a time. And as they get done I can add in something from the on hold list.

So here is the result of my cleaning:
I recent finished object
4 crochet projects
5 currently in progress
6 gift knitting projects
9 spinning projects started

and

33 on hold projects on the needles!!!!!

yup I am ridiculous. but I love it!

03/22/07: Forecast Socks Complete

Here is a shot of the completed socks. Can you tell that I got a new toy? Finally bought a sock blocker the other day, it really does make the socks take prettier pictures. I love how these turned out and it just makes me want to get back over to the wheel and spin some more, alas it is time for bed. Happy Friday to all!

03/18/07: Look at All That Purple

Yup that's the start of my chevron scarf.

03/15/07: Since Snow is on the Forecast Again...

I am still knitting my scarves.

The handpun one is coming along fine. I still can't believe how much yardage I have in that purple.

And then cause I still seem to be into purple lately, I cast on for the Chevron scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts that everyone is knitting. I am using some left over yarn from my Picovoli tank along with another color of that fabulous Diarufuran yarn from Carolyn's Picovoli. It is so soft!

And then today I saw this pattern: Kureopatora's Snake. It looks like lots of fun. Here is a link to some more snakes by Ishi. (Scroll past the shawls to see the scarves. And I recommend checking out all her galleries, she has some amazingly well made knits in there!) I am kinda loving the look so I will have to hold on to this pattern to add to my growing scarf collection.

Even with all this scarf love, I am anxious for spring to arrive.

03/07/07: Lots in Progress as Usual

So am still knittin' that purple merino scarf. It is taking a right long time since I keep on napping on the train these days. It will most likely be for next winter along with the hat and scarf plans, even if it did snow today I just don't see winter lasting quite long enough to wear this this year. I will try and keep working on it though even if it does get warm out. I am trying my darndest to be a more committed knitter.

And in that committed to current projects already underway spirit I bring you the started candy stripe socks.



Welp I am to the heel of the first sock, but I am thinking it needs a white heel and toe, so this of course means I will need to spin more yarn first before I can knit that part. Which is sad cause it is so fun to knit and I am loving the result and I don't want to stop working on it. So yeah now I really should be spinning boring white fluff instead of starting up with the latest Spunky Fiber club fluff that I got in the mail recently, but of course I am not. I think I am going for the world record of most projects started, least completed ever!

I should mention also that I am also really trying to weave in ends on the capecho but seriously I never weave in ends so it is really annoying that these particular ends will really show if I don't do it, not to mention that there are a billion of them. Making an almost complete project really slow to finish. Anywho here is a shot of the capecho blocking. Goofy looking isn't it?



And I am wondering how all of this project starting is coming along when I was out all weekend and again last night eating up a storm! I gotta start up some working out ASAP, spinning yarn counts as cardio doesn't it? If I spin it really fast?? Yeah I know I need help.

03/05/07: Finished Plying Candy Stripe Merino

Ok, am seaming up the capecho but lots of weaving in to go too, so before that photo can be taken here is a shot of the Candy Stripe merino all plied up. It came out super fun and is destined to be socks.



I got my inspiration for the double spinning here. And I really think it did make it more springy and defintiely nice and strong for sock yarn. I am thinking a triple ply like the original did would be even better. But alas I only made a 2-ply this time around.

You can see Maia's finished socks here. I just love them!

And here's a more traditional photo of the plied yarn.

03/02/07: Capecho Update

Well I finished up the sleeves and tried the pentagon crazy capecho on last night. It looks like a go. Phew! It will need some blocking for sure but I think it will work. I was all nervous cause it is so huge and odd looking right now, but somehow it all sorta comes together when it is on. I have started on the neck band and so hopefully next week sometime I will have a finished knit for me! Woot!

02/20/07: Pentagons

Yup it's the cover pattern from the latest vogue knitting. Am really diggin' knittn' this top! I chose to use my fav debbie bliss cashmerino aran yarn, shockingly not in blue. And so far it has been loverly to knit up. I have completed all the pentagons and am on the first sleeve now, woo hoo. Somehow I have committed to this project a little better than others so I might even finish it, which is such an amazing thing. I am a little concerned with the fit, seems highly floppy in this super soft yarn so I am crossing my fingers. Here is a close up of one pentagon.



Was trying to finish this for my vacation. Anywho instead it is just coming along as a vacation knitting project. Yay!

02/19/07: Actually Met a Knitting Goal!

Or Happy Birthday Ms Cranky Monkey Butt!

I said I was hoping to finish the purple handspun socks in February and welp I did it! Amazing isn't it? Anywho, the one sock is still a little smaller than the other but the recipient can at least get her feet into them so we decided they were ok? I hope it doesn't bug her too much. I think I even have enough yarn left to make myself a pair of these socks since I aparently make short socks as well. But I have short calves so maybe that is why they never seemed short to me before?



Hope you are having a fun day Ms C.

02/15/07: Hairpin Lace Info

Since it was requested. Here are some links to helpful hairpin lace info.

I used this one when making my grandmothers scarf.

And then this link for the joining of the strips.

Here is a page with other helpful links.

All you need is a hairpin and a crochet hook, or you can get one of these like I did. It is lots of fun if I do say so myself!

02/14/07: Happy Hairpin Lace

Here is a little scarf I made my grandmother out of some acrylic mohair I got from france awhile back. It was a fun test of making hairpin lace. Really easy to do and comes out so fancy looking I think. So I am giving it to her for Valentines Day. Of course I won't be seeing her until the weekend but a little late is better than never. Isn't the container cute?

01/26/07: Wanna See What I Didn't Finish for Christmas?

Well here it is:



Those squares are going to become a sweater for my mom someday, just not sure when. The one ball is socks for the dad they were coming out huge so I ripped them back. And in the box is something I finally finished for my grandmother. I know I said what I didn't finish, but I did manage to get this one done. It is a ponshawl (poncho/shawl) and pink mohair of some type not sure the brand.



But mainly instead of socks this year I thought I would try fingerless gloves. In the end only one pair was completed and it was for my sister. They came out cute so I even started a pair for myself only problem is I ran out of yarn for the thumbs on mine so they are still in the undone basket. Oh well. Here are the cuties I gifted anyway, they are the fetching pattern from knitty.



Then there were the endpaper mitts for the brothers. They each have about one hand done. I have yet to start on the matches yet. Shameful. I figured these would be good for them since they both smoke (YUCK). Of course I did not originally intend to help them keep warm while they keep up with their icky habit but I thought they would be a fun knit for them anyway.

01/12/07: Socks for the Hubby

While I did not finish most of my Christmas knitting I did finish these on time! Yay me. Not much new here same as his other pair 4 by 1 rib, this time in lorna's laces yarn. He likes to wear them in the house, ONLY, as he is worried they will be ruined if he puts them into shoes. He is funny. I keep trying to tell him it is fine, they will last and I will just make more if they wear out. I can't complain though, at least he does wear them all the time indoors. So, it is not a waste to make them for him :)

Of course I do remember being afraid of hurting the very first pair I made. It seemed so wrong to step all over something I had to work so hard to make. I would walk all goofy like the silly way I hold my hands after I just painted them with nail polish. And, by "just" I mean even 4 hours later where I irrationally believe they are still wet and need to be protected from ruin. So perhaps in time and with a couple more pairs knit for him he too will come to understand that even though I knit them they are just socks and can be used in the normal way. We shall see.

01/04/07: Purple People Socks

I started on these a little while back using the grape handspun yarn I spun single ply. Technically I completed 2 socks already out of this yarn but they don't see to be the same size so I am starting over. I have a February goal for these so hopefully the second try comes out better, I think the first skein I used was spun thicker than the rest so that made them totally different in size even though it was knit on the same needles. Hopefully this time I use two skeins closer to the same thickness. Wish me luck.

12/15/06: Since December Isn't Over Yet...

I won't put that month up in the review until it is. So for now in order to try and keep with having something here more often I shall share another pair of socks I knitted this month as a St. Nicholas secret swap. These were knit using Regia Banner Stripes yarn. Probably the fastest thing I knit all year because somehow I managed to get them done in under a week.



I also started knitting the cabled jacket in Debbie Bliss's Cashmerino DK book along with Carolyn. Some super slow going on this baby cause I am no good at remembering cables and memorizing charts but so far I am really liking it. I made the chunky cabled jacket of hers and while I love it, it is a little too warm for most occasions so am hoping this one will be more used in the end. I have only done 2 other projects with Debbie Bliss yarn so far and one was with cashmerino baby, one with cashmerino super chunky, and now of course cashmerino dk. All of these done in the same baby blue color, boring aren't I? Also I am sad to report that at the moment I am a little stalled out on this sweater, but I guess that is mostly due to gift knitting so what can I do?

12/07/06: I Will be Knitting for Christmas

And I am way behind as usual! So here are some older Finished items for you to peruse in the meantime.

There are a couple baby hats I made for my cousin. They are very funny I think and she is due any day!



And these are the socks I made her mom to keep her feet warm. Hope they are working. I used Koigu yarn for these, which reminds me that I really need to make myself another koigu pair since it is the best yarn on the feet!



I had another pair of socks I recently finished for a secret santa gift, but I do not seem to have the photo uploaded yet, so they shall appear at a later time.

But yeah as for the christmas knitting, I keep starting stuff and having to rip, not cool. So cross your fingers that I can get at least some of it done. How many things am I making you ask? Um, let me see here, 8 items plus one for a wee bit after the deadline. And none are finished, and really what was I thinking? Um, yeah I think the same thing every year now that I knit. I think it is possible and no problem, and most of the time I get pretty close but at the moment count me nervous and behind!

10/03/06: Handspun Socks Rock!

Ok so I have not finished any of those recently, but my sister has, see, and I plan on stealing them, mu ah ha ha ha ha!

10/02/06: I'm Still Knitting, Honest

You just can't see it since I have been terrible with keeping up with the posting these past 2 months. There has been lots of blah blah blah going on in these parts so I got a wee bit out of the habit. Am hoping to put some pics up soon of some recent things I finished. And am thinking I NEED to finish that brown alpaca sweater for Rhinebeck. Think I can actually be bothered to sit and seam it up? I guess I better at least try since it is just such a waste laying around as knitted up pieces for so long, (um the knitting of it was done in May!) and now the weather is perfect for it.

07/24/06: I Finished Some Stuffs

Not that you can see it here. NO photos yet, but I finished the morehouse merino tank and a pair of socks for the littlest bro. Perhaps I will get to taking pics sometime this week or perhaps not, we have a bit of house renovation going on at the moment so regular pics may be delayed you see.

07/11/06: Another Neglected Tank

Ok once I finish up the moorehouse tank, I am on the tiny icord straps now, I want to try and wrap up this little ditty. It is knit in cascade fixation and was goin fast but somehow I became disenchanted with it once I got to the armholes. So hopefully I will work on this and get it done this summer too. I certainly seem to like knitting more than finishing don't I?

07/10/06: Zippers! Ack!

Been done knitting the pieces for this summery hoodie tank for a couple weeks, and last year I was still waiting on a store for the zipper, well I gave up on that, took way too long. I just picked a normal white one up and hope it will do. Of course I have no idea how to get it sewn in but it is fun to try new things right? Ok, not sure it will be fun but I do want to get this one done, wish me luck.

07/06/06: Sari Silk

While out with Winnie the other weekend I picked up a skein of really pretty Sari Silk. I liked that it wasn't as red and pink as most I have seen. Am knitting up a rectangle in moss stitch to see if the one skein is enough to fit this pretty handle I also bought that day. Keeping my fingers crossed that it works. I must say it is tough knitting though, my hands get a little crampy from it's stiffness. It is oddly smooth at the same time and I think it will make a lovely bag in the end.

06/20/06: Moorehouse Camisole

Here is my most recent train knitting. It is a cute little kit Carolyn sent me. I am pretty much done with the body and on to the part above the armholes. I keep forgetting to wind the next skein into a ball so I can keep knitting this, which is really slowing me down. Anywho here it is:

06/01/06: What Was That Yarn?

I am terrible at looking up yarn info for projects, but since it was asked here it is for the knee high socks.

I used 2 balls, 100g each of James C. Brett 'Marble' 100% acrylic yarn from AC Moore, but I see you can get it other places on the web like here and here, and if you are in the U.K. here. And look over here, Ginny thought it was loverly stuff too! Oh and it looks like someone even finished a sweater with it already, which I plan to do in the "distant future" with the other colorway of this I have in the stash. Oh yeah and my sister is working with it too and needs to get going on that project again!

05/25/06: New Needles

Check out these fun colorful needles my sister and I found at Joanne Fabrics this past weekend. They were so cheap we just couldn't resist, I mean who can pass up needles for $1? Plus needles always come in handy around here where I start way more than I finish.

05/22/06: All done with the Knittin'

Welp this is quite an old project here, I believe it was over a year old this February. The sad thing is I have been trying for months now to finish this thing on my train rides. But the twisted ribbing and small although yummy alpaca almost got the best of me. I finally finished the knitting but who knows when I will get to the seaming. Although it has been chilly enough to actually wear this so I know I should hurry up and finish it. It has been so long since I finished a sweater I just don't know what to do with myself but procrastinate on it.



I have two buttons to choose from and then maybe I'll get started.

05/11/06: Yup, I Actually Completed a "Second" Sock!

Amazing I know, but I cast on for the second sock to make this chunky knee high a complete set and before I knew it I was done. I also got a new camera since my last photo of the socks, and it really shows the color better. So this is my new pair of socks.

04/15/06: Another Single Sock

Here is my latest sock creation. It is a knee high and a nice and thick one at that, knit on size 4 needles. Love the acrylic yarn on this one, and as usual knit it really quickly and have not bothered to start the second. It is amazing I have any pairs of completed socks at all. I liked this yarn so much that I went and got me some more in another colorway so I could make a nice casual raglan sweater one day.

03/27/06: Lots of Organizing Going On

Here is what I started with:



That is an entire pool table full of yarn and two huge baskets of afghan yarn behind it. Also the table that is cut off on the right in the photo is overflowing with in progress knits. Yikes!

I needed to better organize what I have so that I don't buy more. Hence investing in lots of fabric cubes.



You can see I had a little helper in there. Here is a better view of her.



And finally the new wall o' yarn! Now I am not supposed to buy anything that won't fit in this wall. As if what is in there isn't already enough. I just love texture and color so much it is hard to stop!

03/25/06: New Image Size Test

Here we go, trying to find the ideal image size for this here layout. Am hoping this will do it. Now on to adding the photo.

This is my most recent completed knit. Picovoli is the lovely free pattern from MagKnits. I added ribbing to the bottom as it was rolling halfway up my tummy and not looking so attractive, but that is not in the photo below. I will have to take a better shot with me in it with the ribbing at some point.



The yarn used for this project came from IndiGirl Amy's new store and was something called dsdaldkjl. Yeah it was a japanese yarn and I am blanking on all real info. Will get back to you on that as well.