Thank Youuuuu!

To my new friend Cheriwan (real name Jillian - rechristened "Jennifer" don't ask) who vvv generously sent me the following in the recent Ravelry swap:

Don'tcha love opening mystery boxes with wee individually wrapped presents inside?? Some lovely yarn (have always loved working with Crystal Palace yarns!) in pink (looks more red in pic), v. handy looking stitch markers, skull yarn notions bag (love.it.) funky bubblegum girlie card and bookmark - candy! And 2 patterns!! Yay She even went to the trouble of ordering me things from etsy - have included the links.

Thanks again Jillian!

What's new with you?

Wintry weather setting in here...worked at home last Friday and enjoyed this - this - and this - And wore my new socks!

Made them way too big though. They are practically slippers - I always do this, none of my knit socks are fine enough to actually wear with normal shoes. For once I actually used the whole ball of yarn though, have maybe 2 yards left, instead of the usual small ball that you hate to throw away (the thought!) but can't think of anything creative to do with. Though there's always these.

Right now am back working on the Babette, crochet blanket. Hit All About Yarn on Saturday to get in more pink n green yarn supplies. Am on the home stretch, in terms of making the squares. The sewing and weaving-in-of-ends awaits...New pics coming.

Yarn as art

Look at this site:


I want every single thing she makes, especially this:

This is how it's described:

"DOLLHOUSE UPSET - This yarn is split into two skeins (because it was hard to fit on the bobbin with those doll heads). It is spun from various colours and fibers, a thick and thin single. There are hard plastic doll vintage doll heads throughout. Their hair is spun right into the yarn. "

I could never knit with any of it though - it's too pretty and magnificent to disrupt from the skein...so while it's the most impractical yarn purchase I may ever make it just might have to happen...will let you know...

all quiet

Not a lot to report - am on my 5th scarf in a row - a blue stripey one for the brother, birthday in less than two weeks, and seeing as he is in Ireland and I left it in Panera's last week (thanks Sarah for minding it for me!) it may end up being a Christmas gift. It's a very simple pattern, 2x2 ribbing in Lion Brand wool, simpler the better if you actually expect a guy to wear something knitted I have found.

I've picked up the second Grandiflora sock, looking good. Plus it's coming into sock-wearing weather here. Thing is, am getting so pregnant - now weigh more than Himself - that normal sizes don't fit me and I have a lovely case of the cankles! Maybe will wear them in Spring.
Scored some lovely Sheila Rovelstad yarn for the Winter Wonderland Swap. Won't post a picture in case the swapee reads this :) (And I will also spare you a picture of my cankles).

Neat things

I have all kinds of neat things I'd like to show you - and have finally uploaded pictures.
The blue&green flat feet socks are blocked and ready, hopefully my friend's legs are as slim as I think they are...and if time permits this weekend I may even break out the bead stash and make her earrings to match. Sure all the best-dressed folks have socks that match their earrings nowadays.

The pink/red lacy scarf for a friends birthday (already a week overdue, and she lives in Europe) s done done done, scarves are so boring to make, even when pretty. But for this one, one skein made a nice-length scarf (about 5 ft). I read somewhere the optimum scarf length is approximately equal to the height of the wearer...so if she hunches over a bit while wearing 'twill be perfect.

A couple of Friday's ago I got that serious burning-wallet feeling and ordered myself some yarn from Little Knits and from Webs. Little Knits should be arriving today (I should have paid for expedited shipping, I have nowhere near the amount of patience required for online shopping) and (most of) the Webs order arrived last week. Lovely lovely sock yarn, including the Opal Harry Potter yarn in Tonks, that are on their way to becoming the Grandiflora socks as we sit here. yay!

I think my knitting blah period is well and truly over for the year. I love the Autumn.
So what are you working on? Don't send me to Ravelry - comments please!

really fun project!

Have a look at this great link from Berroco: Minutia 2008 - 12 tiny sweater patterns, some knit, some crochet instructions - perfect for favours or coworkers and a great way to use of left over bits-n-pieces of yarn. Yay!

Quickie

Finished Talia! Here it is before the edging to armholes and neckline:

Great pattern to make - and fast. Didn't much care for the yarn though - the wee bit of mohair in it sheds everywhere. I think I would make this again, maybe in a cotton mix, something less sheddy.

Next, need to block this, and then put away till xmas! Aren't I organized..okay, doesn't fit me so not like I'll be tempted to wear it...sigh. 24 weeks and counting!

Stash acquirement...

So, this week finds me in Fort Collins CO, visiting some coworkers, and loving it here.

There are mountains...
trees...wildlife...

(the Colorado Boston Terrier contingent)...

and yarn stores...

First place I stopped was The Stitchin' Den in Estes Park

Picked up some Lamb's Pride worsted and Mango Moon Chakra for Talia.

That evening hit Lambspun, like a yarny candy store...
Buttons and yarn balls andneedles and weaving supplies...

and this is all I got...some pretty yarn for a scarf (maybe this?) and buttons for Talia.

Finally, visited My Sister Knits (like Lambspun, not someplace you'd stumble across, but well worth finding). No pictures...all I bought was more Lamb's Pride Worsted, for another Hey Teach :)

Anyhoo - the upside of business trips, in addition to guilt-free yarn shopping (it's a souvenir) there is time to knit on cross-country flights and nights in the hotel room. What could be cuter than an eggplant baby cap?

An eggplant baby cap and a strawberry baby cap!

Sunday update

Finished 'Hey Teach' - I tried to wear it yesterday but it was realllly humid here. I am pretty happy with it - except it seems a bit big - when it blocked out I had to stretch it a little to let the lace show - but this made it very wide. And I am already on the unusually wide side what with being 'with child' and all...

On Wednesday at S&K The Other Denise very nicely wound my Blue Heron rayon metallic for me - and I started to make the Drop Stitch shawl pattern that came along with it...Here's how far I got till I lost confidence in it. The wee little 3x2 in. picture that came with the pattern didn't look anything like what I was making, plus it was looking way too pointy. So I frogged it. Yarn is pretty slippy and tangly, so not sure what to make now - maybe Jeanie? Or another Clapotis?

Meant to show you the yarny gifts I got recently:

from my ole college friend J:

a needle-felted doggie to match my real dog :)

and from work friend P:

a necklace made, I believe, from Bernat Matrix -

clever way to use this yarn, and it's a pretty striking necklace. Plus now I have an idea what to do with the several balls of this stuff I picked up a couple of year ago, thinking I was getting a great bargain (hah!)

I'm off to Ft. Collins Colorado tomorrow, for the week. Have already scoped out where I'll be buying my souvenirs: here and here.

Fun weekend

Ah summer weekends. This last was a fun one. Spent Saturday morning/afternoon knitting/chatting/shopping/eating - doesn't get a whole lot better than that. Visited an LYS I hadn't been to before and bought the supplies for this lovely thing, thanks to Lyn for helping me find just what I needed - a bright red cotton blend yarn. I'm not sure whether I'll make this for my(ever-expanding)self, or for Mum (birthday in 2 months). Hmm...

Am on the last skein of yarn for the lace ribbon scarf - of course, I am thinking that the "lace ribbon" in the name suggests I should have used something finer, but the colours are pretty. And heck I'm 6 skeins into it - some people might have the patience and sensibility to rip and do over but that's something I could never face :)

On Saturday night myself and Himself went to a restaurant in Baltimore to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. I bought him a wedding ring to replace the one he lost last year doing yard work, and he bought me a pretty new ring just because. Aww.
I think I'll keep him.

My Olympics project

Decided to start something new, to knit-along to while watching the Olympics (I tried to link into my knitting group's Ravolympics site but had technical difficulties :( ).
Anyhoo, had fun looking round Ravelry and Knitty, and decided on the Lace Ribbon scarf. Trying to use stash yarn (of which there is scads, of course), and picked Louisa Harding, Cinnabar: So - got about 5 pattern repeats done here - it's a fairly simple pattern though the yarn is surprisingly hard on the hands. My left index finger callus will be back before long - anyone else have a knitting callus?
Coming out quite pretty. Hope to have finished for one of the 4 female family-member birthday's in Sept/October.

Have another business trip (Atlanta) this week... and I volunteered for it!? Need to learn to keep my big mouth shut...but at least 'twill give me plenty of knitting time. Last trip I flew US Airways, where I was relieved of $25 for my checked bag and $2 for a bottle of water. Will let you know how Delta manages to coax additional $$ from me.

A short one.

Here's what's been languishing in my knitting bag...this lethargy is hard to shake...
Baby boy sweater - this is the back of a sweater for a 6-month old (to be born in August) that will have a brown heart on the front. Hopefully.
The toe-up sock I am making from the Flat Feet yarn - really love how it is striping, though perhaps the pattern I've devised here isn't the best to show that...
And this is the Debbie Bliss bear I've been working on..It is honest! I cast on for this months ago, got this far, and then realized with all those increases and decreases etc. it just wasn't going to happen with 2 dogs, 1 kid and 1 husband all wanting stuff ;) maybe I'll rip out and make Twiceknit's elephant...Red is a good elephant colour right?

Speaking of dogs, look how happy Paddy was this weekend:Bought him a new basketball, and put some water in the old baby pool. He was out there all day long, just chewing and snorting up a storm...

In other news - am off to Ireland in a week (yay!) to see family and friends, and attend the wedding of a very dear friend in Dublin. I'm sure I'll have lots of say about that when I get back...unfortunately last weekend I learned that my brother and his fiancee are no longer an item...which means that I made these in vain...

I had even knit their initials into the heels, eegit that I am. After his wedding a few years back(he was recently divorced) I cross-stitched a whole sampler for them... Next time I'll hold off on the handknits till at least the first anniversary...

Ta dah!

A momentous day.
The purple cardi is done! And the birthday Jaywalkers are ready too (top right).
Blocking away on the dining room table (I won't need it again till Thanksgiving so no rush)
Of course, I am still adding to the stash. I was in Bryan, Texas this week, at The Hook and Needle ( lovely wee store) and got some "Flat Feet." Basically a piece of knitted fabric that you knit from, without ever rolling into a ball. Colours are great, and I'm planning to go to Goodwill to pick up an old knitted wool sweater next time I need some sock yarn ;)

Jaywalkers and Tuvstarr

I am so pleased my my new commuting arrangement: having a dedicated train project makes me feel much better about the hours I spend there...

Here are K's Jaywalkers - still on track to have them done for her birthday. Took a pic of them laying on my clapotis/blanket, and no matter how I adjust the colours either the blanket or the socks look madly psychedelic...
Other things I have done on the train to amuse myself include:
- talking to people (hah!)
- reading work related materials (awoke snuggled up to grim-faced fed muttering about how she was getting too old for this shit)
- reading books from my stash (had to draw the line when the 7lb Happy Potters were released)
- reading the free papers (Metro/Examiner/Onion/City Paper)
- audiobooks/podcasts
- crosswords (I <3 Timothy E. Parker)
- Kakuro (haven't yet managed to finish a Sudoko...)
- people watching

Now there's a new distraction Bit o lit - the premier issue came out May 5th and included an excerpt of the book Sold by Patricia McCormick, the story of a young Asian girl sold into sex slavery. It's an overused word - but I found it riveting.

In other knitting news: my Tuvstarr vest is nearly done:
The Bling-Bling yarn leaves you all a-shimmer, but I think it'll be very cute when finished. I don't want to put buttons on (to avoid that grandpa look) and instead am going to just have an i-cord string to tie. I'll need to add a single crochet edging - look at the messy way I've knit the edges:
The bumpy side shows where I carried the silver and gold flecked yarns to alternate rows. Ah well.

I'm still collecting my guilty pleasure songs - which Bon Jovi song to pick? Which Air Supply? Decisions, decisions...

My Sheep and Wool haul

I went along to the Sheep n Wool festival last Saturday, as did every other fiber enthusiast within a 500 mile radius (and some from waaay further afield by the sounds of things). It's just such a treat, quite the nicest thing I've done for myself all year. It was held at the Howard County Fairgrounds, only about 17 miles from home, and was set to open at 9am. I left home a little before 8, thinking I could amuse myself (by knitting maybe) before the gates opened. To my surprise, when I got there (missing all the traffic yay) the parking lot (i.e. surrounding field) was about 1/4 full, and the gates were open, and the majority of the stalls were already doing a steady trade.

Second stall in I met Helene and Karen from Sip N Knit, and we talked about how we were going to be good and pace ourselves...then another friend came and joined them, her shopping bag already happily bulging.

Later on I met up with Lyn and Knitty McKnitknit and we walked around fondling yarn, cooing at alpacas, marveling at the skills of Textillian and others who fared well in the various competitions, and wondering if the small of roasting lamb flesh had anything to do with the apparent consternation of some of the sheep...

And my haul: I got these, from "The Fibre company", 4 skeins of about 100 yards each of...something...in my rush to avail of these ($2.50 each) I managed to snag 2 skeins with no label, and the other two have labels but no yarn name. It's an alpaca/ingeo/merino/silk mix. Anybody know what it is??

Then, in a fit of madness, I bought 400 yards of boucle (mohair/wool/nylon)- I could not resist - look at these colours, all natural dyes, from, appropriately enough a company called Natural Dyed Yarns, who do not seem to have a website...
I say madness, becuase I have 400 yds of undyed boucle from last years S&W, which has been wound into a ball but lain untouched for about 9 months...maybe the two will come together some day in something wonderful. Maybe?
After I left Lyn & Debbi to go home (to bring DS to a birthday party) and was heading for the gate, I was called, drawn I was, to Tess' Designer Yarn, where I bought the pattern for the traveling cable top, and 2 skeins of microfibre ribbon. Soooo silky and pretty. I think I might make this into a waistcoat/vest rather than a shell as pictures...will see. And finally - couldn't make it all the way out without getting some sock yarn.
Lovely lovely soft hopefully non-itchy sock yarn. I felt kind of bad for the bloke running the stall though - his wife and daughter were keeping up a constant stream of moaning at the old guy.

But I left with a song in my heart, ten skeins of yarn in my bag, a sack of kettle korn in my hot little hand. Ahhhh life is good.