Xmas Recap

I ended up with only 4 extra people staying at the house for the holiday weekend instead of the 7 I was expecting. Ian's Dad, Stepmom, and Sister got stuck in St. Louis due to the Stepmom being sick and the Dad throwing his back out lifting heavy things at the book store he manages. The Grandparents took their gifts and will drop them off soon so I won't know how she likes the multidirectional scarf till later I suppose. The Aunt seemed to like her scarf, and she also liked the Batman alarm clock that Ian picked out to go with it. lol
One of my best gifts was a Gnomad gnome from Husband Boy. I named him Angus McYarn and he wants to travel around meeting other knit bloggers, visiting LYS's and in the summer he's going to Colorado with me. I will update his page with some pics as soon as I take him anywhere interesting. I also got lots of goodies from Candy and some nice cash plus a steak dinner from the pseudo-in-laws.
There was enough sitting around talking time over the weekend that I was able to knit an entire beanie hat save for sewing up the back seam. The hat is for a guy I work with who constantly comments on the black roll-brim Lamb's Pride Bulky hat I wear. He's always going on about how nice it is so I figured he could have his own but with a ribbed band so it looks more manly. I also started back to work on Klaralund and managed another two inches of sleeve before a weird stitch forced me to rip back three rows and I said to hell with it.
Yesterday after everyone left Husband Boy and I went to see The Aviator. The movie is about three hours long, but totally doesn't feel like it...fast paced and entertaining enough that you don't even notice the time. I really liked it even though I'm not a big fan of any of the main actors. I brought the smooshy Rowan Polar scarf to work on just in case the movie sucked, but never even took it out of the bag.
The plan now is to work on Klaralund and a super secret pink Cashmerino project all this week and then switch over to working nearly full time on the cheap-fab throw after the 1st so that it will be ready to gift by the 25th. Wish me luck on that. haha.
Oh, I also got 12 skeins (48oz at 800 yards per pound = 2400 yards) of worsted weight hemp & merino wool almost black yarn I'd bought off of ebay in the mail on Friday. The color is "licorice" and it's just ever so slightly mottled. I loooove it, but it doesn't photograph well. I'll try again tonight so you can see it.

No More Scarf Hell!

The scarves are finished. yay! Scarf #1 is a Multidirectional Scarf done in Silk Garden #211. Scarf #2 is a Drop Stitch Scarf done in black Trendsetter Segue. They will soon be living with my son's Stepmom and Aunt.
The Irish Hiking Scarf and the Seed Stitch Keuryon scarf are now going to be birthday scarves so they no longer need to be done by tomorrow. They are both also near completion, but oh well. Next year the xmas knitting starts in July...I swear.

Holy Crap! It's Almost X-Mas!

Scarf Hell continues, but you may get a photo-update tonight when I get home from SNB. The end is in sight for the drop stitch ribbon scarf and the multidirectional scarf! I'm starting to feel doubtfull that I'll get the others finished in time. Fortunately those people have birthdays in Feb. and March, so they can just get birthday scarves instead of xmas scarves if it comes right down to the wire and I'm still not done with them.
I have 7 extra people spending the night at my house xmas eve so along with all the scarf knitting I have to fit in house cleaning and stock up on food etc. These people are my Son's family. (his Dad, Stepmom, little Sister, Grandparents, Uncle, and pregnant Aunt who's vegan and also allergic to wheat & peanuts) We love them to bits, but I get a min-stress meltdown in the week or so leading up to their annual xmas visit. I like them to think my house is always clean and always smells this good...the cat box is always scooped daily, and of course the boy always keeps his clothes hung neatly in the closet. To maintain this illusion I have to start cleaning a week ahead of time and yell at everyone daily to make sure they don't mess it up again before the visit starts. Of course once they're gone we can relax and throw our clothes in a pile on the floor, forget to scoop the cat box till it gets stinky, and have dirty dishes in the sink again...shhh!

In other news, I signed up for the
Mariah-Along over at Eklectika! which doesn't start till Feb. so I figure that gives me plenty of time to finish Klaralund. I've already ordered my Paton's Classic Merino in black and I'm on the lookout for a double direction zipper...you know, the kind with two pulls that you can unzip from the top and bottom and have it still closed in the middle...those suckers are hard to find in anything but super long lengths around here. The pattern calls for an 18in zipper, but I plan on making my Mariah a bit longer so I'm looking for a 20 or 22in. zipper. Any help in this quest is appreciated.

Early New Year Stuff

I've been thinking about new years resolution stuff already. I do this every year. Some years I get more done than others. In 2004 one of the things I wanted to do was to finally learn to knit. (I also wanted to plant a garden, but poor soil and squirrels conspired against me so I had to put that one off.) So here is a list of things (some knitting related, some not) that I want to accomplish in 2005:
* Learn to spin really good, even yarn
* Dye my own roving and yarn
* Plant that garden and defend it from the squirrels
* Complete at least one big lace knitting project
* Complete at least three sweaters
* Learn to sew somthing other than pillows and curtains
* Visit Colorado and climb a mountain (an easy one..I'm not insane)
* Get back in shape (probably a good idea to do before I try to climb a mountain)
* Get really good at knitting cables
* Knit some socks
* Clean up the giant pile of stuff in my room and don't let it get scary again
* Make some improvments to my yard
* Fix up and rent out my extra house (this one is really badly in need of doing)

Ok, that's all I can think of right now.
Scarf hell continues, but most of them are now at least 50% completed. YAY! The end is in sight.

I'm Still In Scarf Hell

Sorry there were no progress pics. Not much progress to report. I did a few rows on the drop stitch ribbon scarf, a couple of repeats of the cables on the Irish Hiking Scarf, and maybe an inch or two each on the other two. I did start and get about a foot and a half done on a Multidirectional Scarf in Silk Garden 211 though. I'm thinking its for my Son's Stepmom, but it might be for his Grandma. We just have to wait and see which one it looks more like when it's finished. One will get this and one will get the smooshy Rowan Polar scarf.
I have to miss my weekly Stitch N Bitch today because I'll be knitting my way through a PTA meeting and Ian's 7th grade beginning band Xmas concert. Ian plays Trombone. We're video taping it because his other Parents and Grandparents etc. couldn't come...they'll have to watch it when they show up X-mas Eve. Husband Boy is running the video camera.
I know Scarf Hell is really super boring to read about, but just hang in there. I hope to be finished really soon, and then we have finishing up Klaralund, the rest of Cheap-Fab, Secret Pals 4 starting in January, Another wack at the Koigu Gypsy Shawl, the Koigu Keepsake Shawl, more time to practice spinning, and goodness knows what else to look forward to.

Husband Boy (HB) has a really annoying habit of still calling the house we live in, (which we picked out together last year at this time and which is in my name alone for tax reasons) "your house" and "your place". Nevermind that his laundry is done there, he eats 75% of his meals there, and a good lot of his weird camping stuff is cluttering up my yarn stash/spinning & sewing room. Nevermind we've been married for going on 5 months. He knows this irks me, and yet he continues to do it.
Witness this email exchange:

HB - I am getting ready to walk out the door now...should be at your place around 6....
Me - geeee thanks. ok.
HB - What is the geeee thanks for?????
Me - Its for the "your place". pthhhh!
HB - Oh... I will be at the yarn store around 6.... hehehe
Me - Ohh haha you're so funny...like I'd sell any of that yarn. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Meanwhile Ian is the bestest Son ever! He had an assignment from school last night to make this weird totem pole thingie out of a paper towel tube showing activities he does with his family. He included knitting, "Because you knit things and I wear them so that counts as a family activity." Awwwww...I just hope his teacher will buy that and not ask him to demonstrate his nonexistant knitting skills.

I'm still working on the scarves of doom. They still aren't finished. I'll work on them tomorrow and then post progress pics on Sunday. I have this nice idea that I'm going to get to practice spinning this weekend too, but there are lots of chores to be done and shopping for Ian a nice outfit for his xmas band concert on Tuesday to do. Plus I have those damn scarves hanging over my head so it may be wishfull thinking. We'll see.

Holiday Junk
Isn't this a cute gift idea? I found it while doing online xmas shopping for other things. I wonder what the yarn is like. If I can find one of these locally so that I can check out the book this just might be what a couple of kids I know are getting for xmas.
Speaking of xmas, I'm still knitting away on the scarves that won't end. I'm kind of sick of scarves at this point, but they are all at least 1/4 done or better after a weekish of work and I've got three more weeks to go so I figure if I mostly knit on at least one weekend I should be ok right? sure!

Your Advice Please...
I have decided that in 2005 I am going to go to at least one knitting/spinning retreat or big market thing or festival of some sort. I just can't figure out which one. I'd love to go to Rhinebeck, but that's out of the question since I have reservations that weekend to stay somewhere which had to be made a year in advance (no kidding!) so I can't cancel that. I don't get vacation days till after June 24th so that also makes things a little tough since I can't go to anything that happens before that date. (The Estes Park Wool Market is the weekend BEFORE that grrrr.)
So, what can I go to that happens after June 24th, is in the continental US, can be counted on to be worth my while, etc.? I'm interested in classes on things like dying, fiber prep, knitting math, felting, lace knitting, and stuff that will help improve my as yet not so hot spinning skills. Any ideas?

WIP Update Pics

The Irish Hiking Scarf done in Filati Cervinia 100% Italian Acrylic (very smooshy, very soft..wouldn't think it was Acrylic at all until you get it in just the right lighting conditions and it sparkles, which to me isn't a bad thing)


Closeup of the cables:


The Cheap-Fab Throw...not much progress going on here this week, but a few rows were added. This pic shows the detail better than the last one I posted:


Smooooshy Rowan Polar scarf detail..It's about a foot and a half long at this point. It kind of bores me because it's just garter stitch and it annoys me because I have to watch out or the yarn splits it has so little twist to it, but I still want to have it's babies:


I've been alternating between these three projects all week when I had the time to knit. There has been far less time for that than I thought there would be between cleaning and family obligations and me being sick part of the time. There has been a wee-teensy bit of spinning going on, but nothing to speak of. I'm mostly focused on getting all this X-Mas knitting done in time for the holiday.

Cables!

I've been all sick today and haven't even knitted. (That's pretty darn sick huh?)
I did make a new Logo thing for this blog though. That's it up there on the top. Yesterday I started X-mas gift scarf #2, which is an Irish Hiking Scarf, and my very first cable project ever. It's easier than I thought it was going to be if I can just manage to not lose the single dpn I'm using in lieu of a cable needle.
X-mas gift scarf #1 is just plain garter stitch in the lovely smooshy Rowan Polar, and should be done this week no problem. I'm starting to think I can finish all my gift knitting in time now. YAY!
I was planning on watching my spinning video and spinning this morning, but since there was the sick that didn't happen. Maybe I'll do that Friday. Saturday I'm planning on going to Eureka Springs to check out a store there called The Spinning Wheel. I'll let you know how that goes.
Everybody have a nice Thanksgiving! :) I'll be getting stuffed with food then I'm planting myself on the couch to knit for the rest of the afternoon.

Here is the cheap-fab throw after one round of almost all the colors. Sorry it's a little blurry. The flash makes the colors look funny and no flash makes me have to hold the camera super still, which I just can't do. lol So anyway it's looking pretty nice so far.

Cheap-Fab Throw Progress

I got a good start on one of the xmas scarves, (Though I'm tempted to keep it since it matches the lining of my favorite coat) and made it up through the first two color sections on Cheap-Fab. I decided to cast on 146 instead of 126, (8 18 stitch pattern repeats plus a single knit stitch boarder on each end) then I did six rows garter stitch in color #1, then one 4-row pattern section in color #2. I read over the pattern for the Ab-Fab Poncho, and if that is essentially the same as the throw pattern, then I feel pretty safe that I'm not stepping on their copyright if I publish the cheap-fab pattern and yarn requirements here since it's a different, tighter wavy type stitch they use. I'll probably post it all once the project is finished and put that it was inspired by the Ab-Fab Throw. Opinions? Do you think the copyright police could get me for this?

Gift Knitting

I'm so proud of Husband Boy!
Last night, with no complaining or nagging from me What So EVER (I was passed out on the couch having only slept three hours the night before due to the stash organization frenzy) he sewed up one of the knitting bags he cut out like two months ago. He claims it took him an hour and a half due to some unforseen bobbin business. Soon he'll hopefully make some more so we can get busy with the selling.
YAY! So I now have a project bag to keep the cheap but still fabulous throw in as I work on it. I'm going to cast on for it tonight at SNB. All the yarn is in labeled bags living in my Disgruntled Housewife grocery tote, but that thing is too big to take out in public suffed to the gills with cheap acrylic afghan yarn.(It'd make the baby jesus cry.) Maybe as the afghan itself grows and the yarn balls shrink there will be a swapping of totes.
This thing is going to be Cast on 126 stitches with size 11 needles then feather and fan it switching yarn every four rows. I have no idea if that is what the Colinette Ab-Fab throw pattern is, but I figure it'll turn out looking pretty close to the same and my sister will never know the difference anyway...she'll just think it looks nifty. Don't expect much quick progress on this yet though.
I have CHRISTMAS KNITTING to do:
1 hat for Kelton
1 poncho for Julia
1 poncho for Annabelle
1 hat for Husband Boy
1 scarf for Ian's Dad
1 scarf for Ian's Stepmom
1 scarf for Ian's Uncle Paul
1 scarf for Ian's Aunt Heather

So I'm starting in on the scarves tonight too...Rowan Polar is my new best friend...I'm having it's babies.

So Uhh....The Stash Is Now Organized

Ian said "Holy crap! It looks like the yarn store!"


Oooohhh! Ahhhh!

I'm an equal opportunity hoarder. I have fancy stuff right next to cheap crap destined to become baby blankets and afghans. I don't care. If it's on sale and it's nice, then I'll probably buy at least a sweater's worth just in case...you never know when you're going to have a sweater knitting need.
Surprisingly, the only thing I found that I didn't remember buying was a bag of ten balls of Rowan All Season's Cotton. It was a pleasant surprise. That won't be happening again since now everything is out in the open all pretty where I can see just what I have and how much. YAY!

Pictures!

Here is a closeup of the "barf scarf" so you can see the colors. It's a pretty boring plain scarf other than the barf-like coloring.


Klaralund progress! It's almost a sweater...yay!


The sadly no longer self-argyling Little Lola scarf...sniff sniff... :(
You can see there at the top where it stopped behaving.


The colorway for my Cheap But Still Fabulous Throw. This cost $37 total and is all machine washable. That's crazy important for my sister (the intended recipient) who lives in a trailer in Oklahoma with three children, a dog, two cats, and a husband who works with mechanical things and is often greasy.

Damn, I hope she doesn't see this.

Miss Kitty Fantastico is bored now...

I still haven't been able to find my good winter hat and the weather
reports are getting colder so I thought I'd start one last night. I
didn't expect to finish it because the last similar hat I made took me
three days or so to do.
WELL...I must be knitting faster because I got all the way up the
decrease rows where I'll need to switch to dpn's! I could have
finished it if I had felt like searching for them. So I guess tonight
I'll have a nice new hat...possibly with a crochet flower on the side
if I can find the smaller hooks. YAY! Instant gratification.

OK, I lied. No pictures yet. I took some ...then the camera batteries died and I don't have any replacments till I go to the store tonight. I got pics of the barf scarf, klaralund, and the sadly no longer self-argyling scarf though. Just you wait and see....
I'm trying to start getting organized for the new year already. Part of this organization is that I want to move the yarn stash from it's current home in the built in cabinets of the den to the sewing/spinning room closet. I want it all out where I can see it in some nice little cube thingers like yarn store shelving. The only trouble is finding said shelving cubes. I've looked at walmart, k-mart, target, and the dollar general store. I've come up empty handed at every turn. Where do they sell that stuff??

This is what karma does to me for mentioning that Schaefer Little Lola self-argyling scarf...yep, it immediately took a turn for the worse and stopped self-argyling. I think it was because I switched from bamboo straight needles to addi circulars. I thought about frogging it back to the row where the switch took place and then doing a few rows again with the straights to see what happens, but this thing has already been frogged twice and my patience is thin so feh. It has been banned to the bottom of the knitting bag until further notice.
So, I now have half of my second Klaralund sleeve (the klaralunding just never ends around here does it?) and 3/4 of what Steve and Ian are calling my "barf scarf". The barf scarf is thusly named because they feel the blend of Lion Brand Landscapes and Paton's Divine I'm using is the exact color of most vomit. It's kind of a beige with flecks of pink, blue, and brown. They do have a point, but oh well... I like my barf scarf and will wear it with pride when the winds turn chilly. So there.
Pictures to come later tonight...stay tuned.

OK, the time has come again when I need to make a list and prioritize the WIP's lest they bury me.
Actively Working On
1) Klaralund - I have one body section, one sleeve, and about 1/4 of another sleeve finished. YAY!
2) Schaefer Little Lola self-argyle scarf - I really need to get a pic of this to show you or you're not going to believe it. Crazy stuff, and keeping me entertained as I wait for the point where it quits self-argyling and ruins the project. so far so good though.
On The Back Burner
3) Dr. Who Scarf - I'm starting this thing over properly. The curling is driving me mad... Chris, you'll get this some day I swear...maybe sooner ... maybe later.
4) K1C2 Meringue Shawl - Work has pretty much totally stopped on this thing. Will likely resume next summer as it's not too cozy on the lap.
5) Seed Stitch Noro Scarf - I need to finish this thing before xmas so it's likely to be moved up as soon as I finish Klaralund.
6) Big Bad Baby Blanket for the Moose Baby - I started it then put it down and havent touched it since. Baby is due in late March.
Frogged & Forgotten
7) The feather & fan baby doll blanket I was going to make for Rockett... I got a better idea so it's history.
8) Poncho I'd started for myself out of Cash Iroha and Recycled Silk. - I don't think I have enough silk to finish it so it's undone now. Maybe I'll make a hat and scarf instead.
9) Koigu Gypsy Shawl - I don't have the patience for it right now. Maybe after xmas.
Need To Start Soon
10) Cheap But Fabulous Throw - my cheapo version of an abfab throw for my sister for her birthday in Jan.
11) Three or four hats for various people...these will go quickly.

FO Pix

This is my kitty bed that I made for Petfinders. It's off in the mail..yay!


This is Cassie in her new poncho! I'm glad I didn't frog it. The crochet edging and the fringe really made it straighten up. whew!

Knitting On TV

HA! Just now on Desperate Housewives, the one who's cheating on her husband with the gardener..well, her Mother-In-Law is visiting and she was knitting! I have no idea what horrible ugly yellow and mauve horror it was she was making, but she was actually knitting not just going through the motions.
I love when I spot something like this. I'm such a dork.

Gangsta Knitter Video

Maybe it's because I'm sick today and woozy on meds, but this (click the post title...it's a link to the video) made me laugh waaay too hard.

OK, I am going to resist the urge to frog the Harlot Poncho. Cassie
doesn't care if it's a little crooked down the back so I'll just
fringe the thing and send it on it's way. I WILL make another one
starting with a larger neck opening though, and hopefully this one
will stretch over her shoulders without going all wonky. I really
think it's a size issue more than a pattern or gauge issue.
Pics of that and of the finished kitty bed for petfinders coming soon!

Poncho Problem

I spent most of the weekend working on A Very
Harlot Poncho for my niece Cassie. I almost finished it too. It
just needs crochet edging and some fringe. It's doing a weird thing
though. The front line of eyelets will be straight and the line down
the back ends up crooked. I counted stitches and it's totally
symmetrical. Maybe blocking will solve the issue, but did anyone else
have this problem? Did I cast on too few stitches to start with and
the shoulder area is too small so it's stretching funny? It looks ok
laying flat. It just doesn't line up when it's on. She doesn't care
and loves it anyway so I guess I shouldn't care either, but it's
bothering me. Oh well. I'll get some pics once the fringe is on
tomorrow.
Tonight I need to finish my kitty bed for Petfinders so I can get that
mailed off this week then it's back to work on Klaralund and after
that I'm starting a fake Ab-Fab Throw for my sister's birthday. Sorry
I'm a really boring knitter this week. I'll make up for it with
pictures tomorrow!

This weekend Husband Boy and I went to Petit Jean State Park. On the way we tried to visit a yarn store in the little town of Ola. I was interested in going there because they are the only Schaefer Yarn stockist in this area and because well, I'm always interested in seeing a new yarn store.
Unfortunately it was closed, but I got some pictures of the main street, the shop window, and the front door signs. The one there just above the red ribbon reads "no shirt, no shoes, no service!" I guess shirtless, shoeless people trying to buy Red Heart yarn is a problem in Ola.
I got lots of knitting done in the hotel Saturday night and on Friday while waiting for my Mom to come out of the doctor's office. Klaralund is now officially half done! I have a back and a sleeve. (sorry, no pics of that today) I'm casting on for the other sleeve tonight. I also recently finished off Pierre Le Pug's doggie sweater, but haven't been able to drop it off yet. There are plans for me to go up to Fayetteville sometime at the end of this week so I'll have pics of him modeling the finished product then. I've sucked another person into the Arkansas Knitting Mafia...my friend Michelle (Pierre's owner) has started work on her first scarf. I'm going to show her how to fringe the scarf and take her to the LYS.
OK, must go do actual work now.
If you're interested, the rest of the non-knitting pics from the state park trip are here.

YAY for ebay! I got a copy of "Spinning Wool Basics and Beyond" on vhs for $10 cheaper than retail including the shipping. So that should help me out with the spinning technique.
I feel like I make decent yarn now, but I haven't tried to spin anything smaller than worsted weight and haven't tried to ply anything yet. I'm wishing I had more time to do it, but it seems like every time I get going something comes up that interrupts me. I guess this happens with the knitting too, but its not as big a deal to put down the knitting as it is to stop the spinning then leave and come back to try to get into it again. It's looking like I may be off work every friday this month, so maybe that will give me some time.
This weekend I got one full bobbin of decent yarn and half a bobbin of questionable yarn spun. I ended up not dying anything yet because if I'm going to make a mess I figure I'll wait and make a BIG mess. Plus it was rainy and humid and I was afraid it would take forever to dry whatever I did.
Mostly I ended up knitting on Klaralund. I got another few inches on the body finished. The plan is to do another sleeve next, then the rest of the body. Everyone keeps calling this a quick knit but it seems to be taking me FOREVER plus 4 days. (Of course I can't always get in an hour a day of uninterrupted knitting much less the 3-4 hours a day I know some people manage.)
Friday I went to the not so local yarn store in Fayetteville as planned. They had a bunch of Collinette Point 5 which made me feel a little better about my thick and thin spun accidents. I ended up getting four more balls of keuryon in color 52 which I'll put with the 10 in my stash and it may turn into Butterfly unless I see another pattern I like better between now and the time I finish Klaralund.

Klaralunding
I must be a really slow knitter. I worked on a Klaralund body section last night from 7-10 while watching Lost and Law & Order SVU and regular Law & Order. That's 3 hours of knitting and I only had about six inches of 22in wide stockinette to show for it! (I'm starting to think I should take this down the street to my neighbor the machine knitting lady's house, but that would be cheating.) So far I have a nice Klaralund sleeve and I guess about 1/4 of a front or back. I'm starting to get bored working on it, but then I see all the nice finished ones at the yahoo group and that makes me want to finish it soon. I'll keep working on it for at least an hour a day and maybe it'll be done before xmas.
Spinning
I haven't been spinning very much. I feel like I need at least an hour or so to sit down with it, but I can't seem to find the time. The wheel is in the sewing room which has no tv. I have lots of tv watching that I do in the evenings and knitting that I do while I watch the tv. I can't haul the wheel out to the room with the tv in it because I have cats that will no doubt become fascinated and fling themselves at the moving parts...plus I still need to really pay attention while I spin and I can't do that while watching shows.
I'm off work all day tomorrow and the weekend. It's supposed to rain a lot so hopefully I can finish spinning up a skein or two and play around with the kool-aid dying. That's the plan anyway. Look forward to pictures if that happens :)

Tomorrow my friend Candy and I are going to Fayetteville to the yarn store there and to Target. Sadly, we have no Target and no real yarn store here in Ft. Smith. Supposedly there are plans for both in the next couple of years, but I'm not holding my breath. The lady who is talking about opening a yarn store does the knitting classes at Hobby Lobby and seems like kind of a kook. I can't imagine a bank giving her a business loan. Who knows though maybe she's got savings for it or something. I'd try to open one myself if Husband Boy had a reliable job to pay all the household bills. Ahh some day!

Yarn Spinning Update

Morning Glory Yarn & Fiber

I suck and forgot the camera yesterday for the country yarn store expidition. :(
It was actually pretty easy to find the place. The directions were perfect right down to the dogs letting us know when we arrived. They had 4 super cute doggies who all came around by the time we were ready to leave.
Jan was really super nice! She showed me all the wheels and let me watch her spin & ply so I have a better idea what I was doing wrong. (I was treadleing too fast and letting it get too much twist before it fed onto the bobbin, then when I started to treadle slower I wasn't letting it get enough twist before I let it go and I was trying to use too much fiber at once.) She said if I'm having trouble with anything just call her or come up with my wheel and she'll help me.
They sell Louet and Ashford wheels. She had a great wheel, an Elizabeth, and a Joy set up in the shop, then two different Louet wheels that I didn't get the model numbers of. I think if I ever get a wheel other than the fiber starter I'll get a Louet...they were just nicer, more modern looking, and have the same tension setup as my Babe.
Jan's husband (who's name I can't remember..I'm terrible with that stuff) showed up after a while, but he mostly stayed out on the porch with Steve. Then they went to look at the sheep and the Llama and the highland cows. I was busy shopping so I didn't get to see the cows :( Maybe next time I will. I ended up getting some larger size dpn's that I'd been looking for, (11's & 13's) an extra 16in size 7 addi turbo circular needle, a spinning reference card/spiral book thing, and some wool wash stuff that smells like lavendar.
The only yarn they sell is the Green Mountain Spinnery line. Most of these yarns were pretty nice, and if I'd had more money I would have gotten some. They also had several different spinning fibers...everything from cashmere to yak, several blends, dyes, drop-spindle kits, and even weaving looms and supplies. I'll be back for sure.

Spin!

Tonight at SNB I get to bind off the sleeve of doom and then cast on for Klaralund Body Section #1.
I didn't do that last night because I was too busy making some really horrible thick and thin yarn. I'm having issues with getting it to take up onto the bobbin fast enough. I guess I need to adjust the brake and it'll all work itself out, but I'm also getting too much twist in the yarn so I have to spin slowly to avoid that and the slowness gives me take-up issues. At first I was trying to draft too much fiber at a time, but I think I have that part mostly worked out. The little half-bobbin I spun is strong and usable at least. I'll just call it a novelty yarn. Oh well...practice making perfect and all that jazz.
The Babe wheel was super easy to put together and get started. The instruction booklet it comes with leaves a lot to be desired though. I had to dig into the other book I bought (see yesterday's entry), which is awesome and has a good troubleshooting section. So yeah, if you get one of these wheels to learn with you'll need another book or someone to teach you.
I did especially like the little bits of velcro they put on the bobbins to make starting a new one that much easier and I didn't have any trouble with the whole thing trying to slide forward or move around on the floor as I was using it like some people say they do with lighter wheels.

Still no Spinning Wheel at my house :(
I'm told I shouldn't worry unless it's not here tonight. UPS (which we've taken to calling "The Brown Man" after seeing some spoiled little girl on Dr. Phil call them that while waiting impatiently at the door for a delivery) doesn't usually come through my neighborhood until at least 7PM, so we'll see about that tonight.
My Hands On Spinning book from Overstock.com DID show up, so I've had a chance to look it over. The directions seem pretty straight-forward and easy to follow so far. I really think I'll be able to catch on to this with little or no trouble as long as my hand/foot/eye coordination will work. I can pat my head, rub my tummy, and tap my foot all at the same time so I'm told I have all the coordination I need for this. LOL
The Klaralunding Never Ends
I FINALLY finished that darn sleeve last night while watching Charmed. I thought it would never end. Tonight it's on to the body, which I am hoping will take less time to do than the neverending sleeve. Then one more sleeve and I'll have a finished Klaralund. yay!
Kitty Bed-Along
I'm participating in the Kitty Beds For Pet-Finder Project that Wendy started last week. If you would like to help out an older cat with a nice warm kitty bed, just click on the link there to the right and join the yahoo group for the knit-along. I started a bed yesterday, but I'm not liking the colors together so I'm going to frog it and start again tonight while I wait for The Brown Man to show up with my wheel.

New LYS!

Yesterday I was all excited about the spinning and thinking ahead to where the heck am I going to get supplies besides ebay. So I did a search to see if any of the local (meaning within 2 hours of me) yarn shops carried spinning supplies, and I found one that I didn't know existed before! It's called Morning Glory Yarn & Fiber, and it's in Bentonville, AR which is about an hour and a half from me. I have never been there, so I emailed the shop owner for directions to her place. She emailed me back this morning telling me the hours and directions.
It's on a working farm, and the directions are a little countrified: "Look for small country cemetery on right side of road." and "The concrete road will continue left when you come to a board fence. Bear right at the end of the road and proceed on the black top road through the gate at the wooden board fence." and end with "Our dogs will let you know when you arrive."
So that's going to be an adventure. I plan on going Thursday the 30th since I get off work at 11AM that day and will have the whole afternoon free. I'll try to remember to bring the camera and take a few pictures. Jan, who is the owner, said that she will be leaving for SOAR the next day so the shop is closed that weekend. If I don't go Thursday I'll have to wait till she gets back the following week, and we all know how not good I am at the waiting for things. The only thing keeping me from going earlier is that my wheel isn't here yet. I want to give it a try and have any questions answered while I'm there, plus if I get to where I reasonably know what I'm doing maybe they'll let me try out some of the wheels they sell.

OK, so I couldn't wait to patiently read the book about spinning. I watched a few tutorials online, figured I could do that, and ordered myself this Babe wheel to learn to spin on. Doesn't it look spiffy? I'm way more excited about this than I probably should be. I wonder how long it'll take to get here.

Click Here To See The Goodness

You must rush over to the yarnpants blog to see the horrors of patterns past..do it now! It's awesome.

Crazy Spinning Wheel Lady

OK, I'm giving serious thought to getting a spinning wheel and learning to spin now. Laugh all you want. I know I once said I'd never turn into crazy spinning wheel lady, but now I'm thinking..hmm...it wouldn't be so bad to have yarn I spun and dyed myself. It could be cheaper since a pound of roving is generally cheaper than a pound of nice 100% wool yarn depending on the degree it's processed. (Though I'm sure in reality it'll just be an additional expense since I'm still going to want to get new yarn because I'm sick like that.)
I ordered a book that explains the whole spinning process in great detail. I guess I'll read that and if it's not too overwhelming I'll start looking for a nice used wheel. Or, I could figure out how to build one if that doesn't seem too difficult. I've seen some on ebay someone built out of pvc pipe and regular wheel parts. I really like the look of those Indian Book style wheels, but they only work with cotton or silk don't they? Oh geez, what am I getting myself into now?
Klaralunding Along
Klaralund is still just one sleeve. I am about three inches away from finishing the one sleeve and I'm tired of looking at it. I'm going to take it to SNB with me tonight and we'll see if I finish it. I meant to do a lot of knitting over the weekend, but just managed to really work on it for a little while Saturday night. Sunday I was on a cleaning rampage and couldn't make myself sit still long enough to knit more than a few rows on a scarf. So, yeah..pics of the Klaralund sleeve will be forthcoming if I finish it tonight.

I'm almost done with my first Klaralund sleeve! I'm doing the body next just so I can be finished with more of it faster. This sleeve took forever.
Looking at all the pictures of finished Klaralunds that people are posting, I think I'll make the body of mine a little longer since horizontal stripes hitting me at the hipbone isn't something I think is gonna look so hot. I also decided for sure that this first one will be a pullover, and I'll do a cardigan version later with the different yarn.
I don't think this is going to take all 14 of the balls of silk garden. It's looking like two for each sleeve maybe and then three for the front and three for the back so yay there will be silk garden leftovers.
Not much other knitting is going on. I still have way too many projects going and way too many plans for other things I want to make and way too little time to work on them all. Oh well.
Stitch N Bitch last night was pretty fun. Candy came to learn to knit and she's going to keep coming back every week now (I hope) so that'll be nice. A little old lady told me I looked cute while I was waiting to get my drink. She said her Mom used to make her wear pants under her dresses while she waited for the school bus back in the 40's and then she thought it was horrible but now she thinks it looks really cute. lol I said thanks. I wear capri length jeans or rolled up men's pants under short summer dresses a lot of the time lately. I guess it's nice to know not everyone thinks I look like a bag lady. :)
Oh, and we had a lurker. This one lady came into the room we were using and sat near us but didn't knit and didn't talk to us until we were all leaving. She came up to me and Sarah and said that she was there every Tuesday waiting for her daughter to get out of dance class at the studio in the same shopping area that the coffee place is in, and that she is having to read a book for some work-related thing, but that when she finishes it she might find her knitting needles and come knit with us instead of reading. She said she liked to sit close to us and eavesdrop for now. Ok lady, whatever floats your boat.

Klaralundicardi?

I'm not even finished with the first sleeve of Klaralund yet and I'm already thinking of going off on a different tangent and turning it into a cardigan. I figure I'm going to have to wear a shirt under it all the time because the material is so thin and vaguely itchy so why not just make it an open front with one button or an i-cord tie there at the V of the neck? Maybe make the body a little longer and add some extra garter stitch edges down the front? Why not?
Of course this leads into, why not just make it out of that black worsted in the stash? (Hahaha I always end up with a black sweater.) Probably what I'll do is go ahead and finish Klaralund pretty much as written..make the body a little longer because I don't like how the giant sleeves look with the body that short, but otherwise knit it as written. Then, I'll get out the black yarn (or that "northern lights" dark purpley superwash!) and make a cardigan based on the same pattern but a little different...less thin for one thing, and give the sleeves some shape.
So if I do this is it a new pattern? Is Klaralund now a "type" of sweater construction like a raglan? Could I get away with calling that my pattern because the measurements are different on the body and sleeves are shaped, its a cardi not a pullover, and the yarn is different? Maybe. Would I? Probably not.

Knitbags
The knitting bag design and construction is going pretty well. I might have a few up on the site to sell week after next if we get our accounts open so I can set up the paypal shopping cart. I'm really loving the fabric colors and the way they look all put together.

25mm Poncho Is Done!

I think I might put a few rows of garter stitch on a smaller needle
around the neck for stability, but for all intents and purposes this
thing is finished.
Now it's on the Klaralunding full force for the rest of the week.

This is a free pattern. Copy it as many times as you want, give it out to your friends, make paper airplanes out of it and sail them out over the city for all I care, just don't let me catch you claiming it's yours or selling it anywhere or I'll kick your butt.
Super Cheap 25mm Poncho
Use 2 skeins super bulky acrylic yarn and 25mm needles. (I used 2 skeins of Red Heart Grande for it's cheapness because I'm sure I'm not going to be wearing this more than one season..fashion being fickle and me being cheap. I don't want to constantly worry about snagging it on something and ruining it. If it's super cheap I won't care. lol)
Cast on 34 stitches and Knit 34 rows in garter stitch, which you'd think makes a square, but because of the super stretchy open way it works up it makes a rectangle. This uses almost one skein. Bind that one off and Do it again with your second skein to get another identical rectangle.
Lay your big netty rectangles out on the floor and line them up at right angles to one another like a big L. Sew them together, then fold the sides over to make it poncho shaped. Don't forget to leave room for your head. Sew this seam together and there you go!
I'm 5ft3 and the long part of the points come to my knee when my arms are down. If you're shorter or taller you might want to adjust the number of stitches you cast on or the number of rows you knit accordingly. It's hard to measure this thing because it's so darn stretchy so you're on your own as to that.

Ok, So here is the baby picture I told you to expect:

That is my son's sister Rockett. Isn't she cute? She's only 4 months old so she doesn't knit, but I spent part of yesterday teaching her Mom how to knit and purl, and I gave her a cute little hat made from some super chunky superwash yarn I had laying around in the stash.
Klaralund
With all the excitment of the Birthday Weekend I didn't have too much time to knit beyond the lessons and the hat and the tragedy of the 25mm poncho.
Here is my sleeve so far:

Not too much. I'm going to get down to some serious Klaralunding next week.
25mm Poncho
Oh God...I left my almost done second side to the poncho laying on the couch and Miss Kitty Fantastico decided it would be fun to play with. UGH! several stitches came off the needles and unraveled all the way down. It's so loose-knit that I couldn't pick them back up and had to frog it all the way back to nothing. I started over:

I'm back up almost to where I was now..that was taken yesterday, but no serious Klaralunding is going on till I finish this thing. Poncho poncho poncho...yep.

Well, I've been Klaralunding along but not as fast as I'd hoped. I alternated between my sleeve and the other side of the 25mm poncho last night. Got a few more inches up the sleeve and almost finished the poncho before I got so sleepy I had to stop. I must have had a busy day yesterday since it was only about 10:30 when I crashed out. lol
Tonight I have to clean like a madwoman because my Son's Dad James, Stepmom Anita, and 4 month old Sister Rockett will be at our house for the weekend. (oooohhhh! a baby head to sniff! Expect baby pictures here Monday if not sooner.) The guest bathroom is in a horrible state. It's been being used for kitty wrestling matches since the last time anyone stayed over. (Bathtub full of cat hair..ewww!)
Anita is trying to learn to knit, but says she hasn't made much progress since Ian and I visited them in St. Louis back in May. She's a crochet girl like I was before I started the knitting, so I know how hard it is to get your hands used to not having a hook on the end of your needle. It took me 7 years off and on to figure it out. Hopefully we can get her doing some garter stitch before she goes home on Sunday.
Pouting
I want a secret pal! :( Everyone got in on this thing and I didn't even know where to sign up till it was too late. phooey.

Let The Klaralunding Begin!

Klaralund starts today!
I'm a little freaked by how wide the sleeve looks. I've checked my gauge several times, and I'm right on the money so I guess I'll just have to trust the designer and go ahead. If this one turns out ok I'm thinking of making another in a different yarn. I can't wait to get home so I can work on it.

Big Needle Poncho
I finished half the 25mm needle poncho last night at SNB. I decided to do it in two blocks and sew them together instead of just one long block with a fold so it's not done yet. It looks pretty freaky, and I am not at all sure it won't stretch way out of shape while I'm wearing it, but hey, $5 in yarn and it has been really fun to knit. There were some little girls at the coffee shop last night watching us. I think the giant green and blue needles freaked them out. The ladies said I looked like I was knitting with giant crayons.LOL

Knitbag Designs
I've got five designs so far. Two different handle variations in large and small, and a tote. I am going to screen print something on the totes because the material for them is just plain black, but I don't know what yet. Maybe just a logo? I need to come up with one of those.
I sent off for advertising information from Interweave Press and from Vogue Knitting. I'm kind of afraid to find out how much it costs to place an ad. I think it's probably pretty pricy. I know that I look through the ads in each issue and visit websites for products that look interesting. I'm betting other knitters do the same so it could totally be worth whatever the cost is. I'm also going to look into getting ads in Readymade and possibly another crafty type mag. I also need to see about getting tables at convention type gatherings and festivals and the like. I have no clue what that costs.
The first shipment of wooden handles arrives next week so all the poor baggies with no handles will be completed and the website can go live. I don't expect to have a lot of sales right away, but it'll be neat to just have it out there.

Pictures!

This is Pierre trying on his sweater for the first time:


Isn't he cute? The sweater is from this pattern on the Lion Brand site. Pierre is a little more rotund than the doggie they have modeling on the pattern, but we modified it special for him.

This is the yarn and the needles I got this weekend.
Isn't the yarn purty? I have been petting it off and on since Saturday. heehee

Saturday we went to Fayetteville for the yarn store sale and to try
the doggie sweater on Pierre. He seemed to like his sweater and looked super cute in it even without it's collar and cuffs. YAY! It fits him! I don't have to move the armholes! I'm going to try to get the collar and cuffs done this week or next.
At the sale I ended up getting one skein of Lambs Pride in a funky blue/green to make myself a hat with, some novelty stuff that was 50% off, and the coveted Colinette Enigma in Florentina, which is mostly pink. (I'll post some pics of Pierre and of the yarn I got later
tonight. I'm at work and the camera is at home.)
I started a poncho made of cheapo Red Heart Grande on 25mm needles yesterday. It's going super fast and should be finished tonight. Steve says I'm knitting a black fishing net.
Other than that I currently have on the needles:
- Green K1C2 Meringue shawl
- Big Bad Baby Blanket from SNB in Plymouth Encore
- Klaralund (Ok, I cheated and cast on for a sleeve..no more touching
it till the 1st though I swear!)
- Seed Stitch Keuyron scarf
- Dr Who scarf
I really do need to work on the Dr. Who scarf.
When does it get cold enough for giant scarf wearing in Chicago?

Swatchy Swatchinswatcher
I made another 6x6 swatch last night for Klaralund. The #10 needle swatch I made at SNB was knit with Sarah's Boye interchangable needle on a really short cord so I started getting paranoid that maybe I'd knit looser or tighter on my addi turbos and just had to check. It's fine. yay!
The first ball of yarn I had seemed like it had an awful lot of sticks and splinters in it. I thought maybe it just got some junk in it floating around my bag or that it had been a fluke or whatever, but damn...every skein of this stuff is FULL of sticks and twigs and all manner of grassy pointy splintery junk. Every few rows I was having to dig out a twig so as not to have my fingers poked. Yep, the Garden is full of sticks...at least color #84 dye lot C is anyway.
People on the yahoo group are telling me theirs are full of sticks too now so I can take comfort in knowing I won't be the only girl going around in September with bandaids on her fingers. lol

New Business?
I bought a domain name and some web space yesterday. I bought Knitbag.com and we're going to start selling old fashioned wood handled knitting bags there pretty soon. I love these bags, but not enough to pay $130 for an "In The Bag" or "Wooly Bully" model so Husband Boy and I are making some up. I think ours will be nicer than the examples I've seen from both of those companies, will have more pockets, nifty material, and cost about half as much or less. We're planning on two sizes, Big Knitbag will be about 16x20 not including the handles, and Little Knitbag will be about 10x14. I'm doing the designing and picking out fabric, marketing, website development, etc. Husband Boy is sewing the bags. He says he'll teach me to sew too, but I want people to get a good, well made product so he's head of fabrication.

Klaralund

I almost forgot to mention...I swatched for Klaralund last night. The pattern calls for size 8 needles, but it looks like to get the gauge I will be using size 10's! Man, that seems awfully loose-knit. I guess I'll end up wearing a t-shirt under it unless it evens out somehow or shrinks a little like some people have been saying it does.

Beanie Hat

Here is a blurry pic of that hat I made for my nephew. I couldn't post it last night because I didn't get back from Stitch N' Bitch till almost 9 and wasn't feeling so hot by then.
I finally got my order from WEBS yesterday. Those people take forever plus ten days to send stuff. I don't think I'll be ordering anything else from them in the near future. I got some new addi turbo needles for the baby blanket I'm un-crocheting and re-knitting, a bunch of lambs pride bulky, and some lana d'oro wool/alpaca in a tweedy purple with red and blue flecks. I'm not sure what it's going to become yet since I just got it because it was on sale. lol
Speaking of sales, for you local people there is a giant clearance sale going on starting Friday at Hand Held knitting gallery in Fayetteville. 40-50% off all yarn in the store! I'm going Saturday even though I really don't need any more yarn. Seriously, I have pleanty...but...but...SALE!

Tonight We Sew!

I finished my nephew's blue beanie hat while we were in Hot Springs
for Birthday Weekend. I took some unflattering pictures of myself
wearing it last night but they're still trapped in the camera because
I couldn't find the cord. I'll find it tonight and post pics when I
get back from Stitch N' Bitch.
The hat turned out pretty nice except that Rowan Cork is REALLY REALLY STRETCHY. I'm afraid he'll stretch the hat out of all proportion and not be able to wear it much. Oh well. He picked it and my sister says she doesn't care so I guess that's all that matters as long as he's
happy. I'm sure I'll end up making him other hats. Now it's on to his little brother's green beanie made from some alpaca & merino stuff I have in the stash.
I ordered a sewing machine last week. It arrives tonight. Husband Boy is very excited because he actually knows how to sew. He has grand plans to supply me (and anyone who wants to buy one) with wood handle knitting bags in the style of Wooly Bully and In The Bag though not near as expensive... big old doctor-style bags with wooden handles that is. I have a vintage bag that has round bamboo handles he's offered to teach me to sew by replicating in some fabric remnants I got at Hobby Lobby the other day. I want to add some pockets to it and make it really cool. I'm all jazzed about this and I hope to have better luck with the sewing than I've had in the past. History says sewing machines hate me and want me dead. :(

Happy Early Birthday To ME

My Birthday is this coming Sunday (August 22nd....I'm gonna be 32...shhhhh!)
Husband Boy is getting me a Spaceboard blocking thingie! It should be here today or tomorrow. He didn't go pick it out or anything he just asked what I wanted and I said that and he said ok, so I ordered it because he didn't know anything about ordering stuff like that.
Now I need to finish something else so I have something to block on it. lol
We're also going to Hot Springs to visit Magic Springs and ride roller coasters, swings, log rides, etc etc then we're going to the science museum to see the Tesla coil. We loves the Tesla coil. :)
I need some size 17 32-40 inch addi turbos..someone should get me those for my birthday too, but I fear that is too crazy expensive a thing for most of the people who would buy me knitting related goodies so I guess I will have to drive the 45 min to the LYS and get them myself one of these days. Maybe Thursday?
I'm frogging a crochet baby afghan that I'd started for Ian's sister and knitting it up in a different size for Ian's new cousin. The mother of the sister got put on rest during the last month or so of
her pregnancy and crocheted one almost exactly like it. The project count is inching back up to 5 or 6 again. uh oh....and I need to start back in earnest on the Dr Who Scarf or it won't be done by the time the wind starts blowing cold in Chicago...though I'm having this compulsion to start it over again in the intended garter stitch despite the fact that it's pretty darn long already.

I ordered six more skeins of koigu today. (This madness must stop.)
It's for the Keepsake Shawl. I have been playing around with the
solids and the six matching skeins of kppm that I got a while back. I
just can't make a pleasing color blending out of what I have so I give
up and mine will be all one varigated colorway. So there. I'm boring.
This leaves me with five solids that go fairly well together, one
crazy bright pink solid that goes with NOTHING in nature, and one
varigated red, black, gray, white type skein which I thought would be
ok since it was so cheap on ebay, but turns out that no, it's not ok
with anything I currently had either. feh. What to do with all this? I
don't know...I guess I could make socks or stripey scarves or
something.
Of course I also still have the six balls of earth tone varigated kppm
for the Gypsy Shawl. It was started, but the yarn snapped in my bag
and I already had a couple of visable mistakes so I frogged it out and
wound it back up. I am thinking of starting it back again once I'm
done with all the hats and Klaralund.
Speaking of hats, I'm about two inches into my nephew Zack's blue
Rowan Cork hat that he requested. I did a funky point twisted stitch
rib for the band. I hope he doesn't think it looks too girly. (I'll
take a pic when I'm through.) The rest of the hat will just be
stockinette with some decorative decreases at the crown..."no puffy
thing on top" was his only style suggestion. (he's 8)

Finished!

YAY! I finished the 6in basket weave afghan square tonight at Stitch N' Bitch.
I'm finishing the front of the doggie sweater and sewing it up partially tonight. It'll be done Sunday I hope...need another fitting. That's two down! YAY!

Last night I got over halfway done with the chest panel on the doggie
sweater. I am now worried that I'll put the leg holes in the wrong
spot. I need to sew it part way up, then take it to Michelles house
and try it on Pierre before I do the leg finishing I think. Maybe I'll
do that this weekend if she'll be home. I could finish it up right
there at her house. Otherwise I'm just guessing and hoping for the
best. Pierre is a Pug, and while the sweater pattern was written for a
pug it was written for a much skinnier one I think. Going by the chest
measurement I'd have made the sweater way too long for him, but going
by the length it wouldn't have fit around his belly.

I keep wanting to start Klaralunding. I don't know if I can wait till
September for the knit-along. I might have to start sooner. I'm gonna
tell myself I'm swatching and if it turns into a sleeve then oh well.
How about that? Would that get me disqualified? LOL

UFO #1 Seed Stitch Noro Scarf. I've only worked on this thing while traveling and one time at the coffee place while talking to Candy and Mona.

UFO#2 - This blurry pic is of an afghan square I'm working on for the yahoo group trade thing.

UFO#3 - Feather & Fan baby blanket thing for Rockett. I have a hard time finding time when nobody is trying to talk to me as I knit. If people talk to me while I'm doing the row with the yarn overs I screw up somehow.

UFO#4 - K1C2 Shawl. This pic doesn't show the color so well, but it shows the yarn overs at the edges.

UFO#5 - The Doggie Sweater That Would Not Grow. This is the back part of it taken with a flash so you can see more detail. I still need to bind it off and start on the front part of the sweater. I hope to finish this thing soon.

UFO#6 - The Dr. Who Scarf....no picture available because that thing is huge and I don't feel like dragging it out across the floor and fighting the kitties who will want to play with it.
All other previously mentioned UFO's (the skull scarf and the gypsy shawl to name names) are on hold waiting more patience from me.

This is the plan:

• Finish the doggie sweater and the afghan squares
• Baby blanket/hat combo for my son's new cousin due in March/April
• Hats for the current cousins and other family who are demanding hats
• Klaralunding Along! I got the pattern today, and I think I'm going to for sure do that boddice and possibly the first 18in of sleeves in the round. I don't see why I can't. If anyone knows of a good reason I shouldn't try this, then please tell me now. I really really really hate to sew seams.
• More afghan squares during all this as I plan on constantly having one going

Wish me luck!

YAY!!

Not only is the UPS man bringing me new work shoes today (steel toe
new balance trail runner style instead of these big clompy black
things I've been wearing for two years..yay!), but he's also bringing
me my Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton Book 2, which (despite it's faulty
math) makes me go wheeee!
~*~*~*~*
Elabeth
*~*~*~*~

I have ten balls of Plymouth Encore color 1405 - Taupe Heather. It
looks sort of like this.
Do you think that would be ok to make a Baby Blanket out of? Would
people be all, eww if they got a tan-taupe type baby blanket? hmm...I
have enough to make a matching baby hat as well. The baby will most
likely be pale with brown eyes and dark hair because both parents are
like that so I'd think a nice tan color would be flattering and
gender-neutral. We aren't finding out if its a boy or girl till it's
born in March or April and I want to give the blanket + hat to them
before then.
I'm going to go with the SNB Big Bad Baby Blanket pattern and then
just a little stockinette hat maybe with a seed stitch band.
Must now finish the Doggie Sweater That Would Not Grow. lol. I swear
this thing hits points where it just won't lengthen another inch. I'm
done with the fuzzy back part and am casting on tonight for the front
panel. YAY! Hopefully we can try it on for size this weekend if
Michelle & Pierre are going to be home.
After that I need some small projects that will actually finish so
that I can feel productive...hats, baby sweaters, baby hats, etc etc.
before I start Klaralunding along in September.
Tonight is UFO picture night. I know you're all just on the edge of
your seats in anticipation. Pictures to be posted probably around
10PM-ish at the latest.

Yesterday I bought this book...Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick. I love this book. It has nice little stories with each pattern and a few recipes even.
There is this baby sweater I want to make for Ian's sister Rockett. It's so cute, but the yarn they have listed is "Hemp For Knitting". This little sweater takes 6 balls of the stuff and it's $9 a ball, so forget that. I have to find some other yarn that'll work. Hopefully something I already have. hmmm..
Why do pattern writers do this? Why use crazy expensive yarns and then not give alternatives? It would be really nice to show the pattern in the fancy yarn and then say "oh by the way, you can also make this pattern in X yarn that's $3 a ball and have it turn out perfectly fine."
I need to kick myself in gear and finish more stuff. I just found out that Ian's Aunt and Uncle are having a baby in March or early April. I see a Big Bad Baby Blanket in their future...yep...in Plymouth Encore of course.

Miss Kitty enjoying her Pi Kitty Bed. This is a test of picasa picture posting thingie.

I joined this Yahoo group that does afghan squares to trade. I sent off the first one yesterday. I'm kind of stressing about this. It was supposed to be 6x6in, and it WAS when I finished it, but while it was blocking the cat got it and stretched it out a little, then I wet it again and let it sit in my car all day in the heat thinking that would fix it but it was still the tiniest bit out of wack when I put it in the envelope. This new one I'm working on is coming out a little short unless I stretch it way out on the needles. It's so hard to tell how it's gonna be till it's finished and bound off. What the heck do I do with the squares that hate me? I guess I could just keep them and make a "squares that hated me" afghan out of them.
I haven't been working on any real projects other than the squares this week. I plan on being home all weekend so maybe I can finish Pierre's doggie sweater. I also need to start swatching for Klaralund. My pattern book got mailed to me yesterday so that should arrive soon. I'm glad Wendy is gettting all the errata straight from Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton before everyone gets started on the Klaralund-along. I had this idea yesterday to knit Klaralund partially in the round, but I have to see the pattern to decide if it's worth trying or not. I think I can probably do it though.
Blogger is going to take some getting used to for me. Just putting in those two links was a giant pain in the bootie. I do think that this blog will be nicer to look at and more organized than the old one at livejournal. I still need to set up wip and finished object galleries, add links to journals I read, and tweak a few settings here and there.

OK, I'm tired now...

I'm tired of moving stuff from the old blog to this new one. All the rings are now pointing here, and I just didn't want people to have nothing to see if they landed here.
To see the old stuff, click here.

The Knitting Has Moved

I just rediscovered the fact that I had this blog. I set it up sometime in the summer of 2001 then never used it because I started using livejournal instead. I think I am going to put all my knitting stuff here instead of on LJ. There is more freedom as far as how I can set the thing up. Stay tuned.

All hats from now until the end of time shall be knit in the round without the need for evil hat seams. So it has been proclaimed. ha! Ok out of that big project list I posted a while back I have finished the long-neglected dishcloth and the kid classic hat. I cast on for a feather and fan scarf out of a dark pink cashmerino, but it's just two rows big right now so it doesn't count. I still have the segue ribbon thing going which I can only do a little at a time because that stuff is slippery and the giant needles I have to use make my wrist hurt. I also still have the k1c2 meringue super plain looking shawl (Right now that's my favorite project) and of course the Dr. Who scarf which is currently 30 inches long. Today the Gypsy Shawl pattern and the rest of the yarn for the Keepsake shawl should be delivered. (That UPS guy had better put it way up on the porch and securely out of the rain or else.) I hope to start that sometime this weekend if the pattern isn't too hard to figure out. I sometimes have trouble with patterns confusing me and I just end up doing my own thing if there is nobody to ask for help. Oh well. Stitch N Bitch is tonight. I finished the flyer for it yesterday. I think it turned out pretty good, but I didn't have time to make buttons for people. Maybe next week I'll get to that. I have to rush home after work, change out of my big stompy work boots, and figure out what I'm gonna take with me to work on. I want to get there early. I hate having to go looking for people I don't know and have never met so if I get there early enough they can just go looking for me. haha

Pattern Drama

OK, so I ordered the Gypsy Shawl pattern from Handworks Gallery in Little Rock this weekend. They called me and said that oops they list crap on their website that they really don't have in stock, (bastards!)and that no they won't be getting any more in EVER. The lady was kinda snippy with me, but she did give me the number of a shop in North Carolina that she said might have the pattern. I called the shop and spoke to a nice lady with a cool British accent (which I wasn't expecting calling North Carolina haha) She told me that they too were out of stock, but that she expected to get more and that they DID have the Keepsake Shawl pattern that I wanted. She took down my order saying she'd ship them both when the Gypsy pattern came in. Later last night I found out that purlsoho.com had 6 of the Gypsy pattern in stock, so I placed an order there for that plus six solid colors for Keepsake. So now I have two orders with purl. (I ordered some size 3 and 4 addi turbo circular needles from there over the weekend to knit Gypsy with) The first order will be here Friday, and I haven't gotten a shipped email about the second yet. I hope they don't come back saying that they are out of it too now since I called and left a message at that shop to cancel my Gypsy order and just ship the Keepsake ASAP. The shop doesn't open till 9AM so I have about an hour to change my mind I guess. My luck I'll cancel with her, then purl will send me a "so sorry, but you're screwed" email about ten minutes later. ugh! Maybe that's why more people aren't knitting these. Everyone I've spoken to who's out of the Gypsy and Keepsake patterns offers me Charlotte instead. I guess they all overstocked Charlotte and understocked everything else or something. phooey!

YAY I finished my Mom's green and white stripe dishcloth thing. I'm not posting a picture because it's totally boring. Just picture a green and white stripe garter stitch diamond shape thing about a foot wide and eight inches tall. There you go. This weekend I've also worked on the Segue scarf and the kid classic hat and even a little bit on the noro seed stitch scarf. I need to finish at least two more things before I can start the shawl and my nephew's hat. Did I tell you people I measured his head? The child is 8 and his head is 22 inches! 22! oh damn. His sister is 10 and hers is only 20. I can't believe how big that boy's head is. He says he wants a blue hat. "Blue or uh...yeah blue" lol.

Gypsy Shawl

Everyone is knitting the Charlotte's Web shawl, but I really don't like it... the thing is just ugly! I just ordered the pattern for the Gypsy Shawl instead..much nicer IMHO.

Mine's gonna be this color:

Now I just have to finish a couple of these other little projects so I'll have the time to work on it.

Must stop buying yarn. I have about fifteen skeins/hanks of assorted things needing to be wound into balls right now. I have a bid in on a funky looking old swift on ebay. If I don't win the auction I think I can make one out of a block of wood, a spinny hinge thing, and some old wire hangers. Seriously. I saw instructions somewhere on how you can use a kitchen mixer as a ball winder too but I'm not that desparate. lol
I have five projects cast on:
1) The Dr. Who Scarf
2) Another hat in the same style as the one I made for my niece only out of the Rowan Kid Classic and knit flat like the pattern calls for as opposed to round like I did that one. (Seriously thinking of ripping it out and starting over with circular needles though cause it was so darn easy.)
3) Mom's poor neglected second dishcloth
4) A scarf out of this awesome ribbon stuff I got in Fayetteville on Saturday. (Trendsetter Segue) I need to go buy some beads or something for frige. It won't look right with no fringe and the ribbon will fray at the ends too much for me to use it.
5) The Seed Stitch Noro scarf from Hip To Knit that I started on the plane last weekend for Ian's Dad probably for Xmas (shhh don't tell him) I'm forcing myself to finish at least one or two of these before I start up anything else.
Here are the things on my mental list of projects to start:
1) Hat for steve out of the blue Alpaca.
2) Seamless sweater knit without a pattern. ( I have the concept down, have yarn I want to use and everything I just need to swatch and measure and do the math)
3) Julia's Hat (I need to compare my pink yarn to her gloves and I'm good to go)
4) That rollover sweater from Hip To Knit
5) Hot Head Hats from SNB for my Nephews
6) That doubleknit skull scarf I did all the practice swatching for. (I need some more practice first)
7) The Chinese Charm purse from SNB (I have handles and a really awesome fabric for the lining already)
8) A Fall Poncho of as yet to be determined design...maybe kind of a loose stitch design out of the green and blue alpaca if I have enough of that left after steve's hat.
9) Another scarf out of the Trendsetter Segue only this time in Black (Just ordered the black off ebay last night for $6 cheaper - even after shipping charges - than I paid for the multi I got in Fayetteville)
10) Some scarves/hats/felted bags for people for xmas
11) An afghan out of all the leftover bits of stuff I'm sure I'll have. Wow that sounds like a lot when I list it out like that. I'd better get busy finishing the stuff I've started. LOL