I'm Not Dead Yet!

I've been so SICK the last few days. I spent a big portion of Christmas Day alternately sweating and shivering on the couch, and laying in the bathroom floor praying for death. Fever, vomit, etc etc. I don't even REMEMBER most of that day, then yesterday and today I just slept a lot. I'm still really weak and tired. So far this week off sucks rocks. Nothing is getting done around here, and that includes spinning or much knitting. I tried a little, but was too doped up on the flu medicine to work on anything more complicated than the old Dr. Who Scarf.
Lucky for me we did most of our gift opening on Christmas Eve.

That is my Niece Cassie opening her learn to crochet kit. I think she's excited. Her birthday is January 1st, so she gets her scarf then. My Mom was going to be at her house all weekend and promised to help her learn the basic stitches. She got the big bad Red Heart learner's permit yarn, some crochet hooks, and a book with some cute tween-ish patterns for things like arm warmers and trim for her pants and phone cozies and ponchos etc. I haven't heard if she's made anything yet or not since I've been insane the last couple days. I'll try to find out though.
I slept till 4PM today and I'm seriously thinking about going back to bed around 2AM, so hopefully I'll be up at a reasonable hour tomorrow and I'll have enough energy to maybe take some pictures of stuff or oh...leave the house for more than a quick run to the store for cough syrup. Wheee!

Excuses

Busy Busy...Xmas...busy busy TIRED.
I'm still working on xmas crafty things and trying to plan a Xmas Eve dinner thing and I have to work all week too :( There will be pictures and things here next week when I get to rest.
I started version 3 of the Dr. Who Scarf. This time I'm using Wool Ease. So far so good. It makes for good mindless tv knitting on nights when I'm too pooped to remember the lace pattern for the never ending baby blanket.
Meanwhile, I signed up for Secret Pal 7. If you want to sign up too you need to get on that before Jan 4th.

Random Pictures

These are some business cards I made up to hand out to people who might want to come to my local Stitch N Bitch. I have my contact info and the yahoo group address on the back. So far I don't think anyone who has been given a card has actually shown up more than once, but we do try.

We also hide these in knitting books at the local library.

This is some yarn I got at Hobby Lobby to make a drop stitch scarf with for my Niece for Xmas. You can see a bit of the scarf there in the pic, but I don't want to spoil it in case her Mom happens to see the blog.

It's a kind of frayed ribbon yarn and I really like how it looks. I wish Hobby Lobby's Yarn Bee brand would have something other than novelty yarns though. What they do have is nice for what it is, but there could be a little more variety.

OK this thing is the deal. I hate those crappy red plastic Ka-Cha, Ka-Cha row counters. They have no style, and they have no handle/loop with which I can tether them to anythhing. I loose those things constantly. I think I've bought three or four of them. Well, THIS thing I WILL NOT lose. It has a little weight to it. It has a loop I can tie it up with, and It's SHINEY. It's cheaper than the ugly plastic ones too.

It's called a "Tally Counter" and can be found at several different sporting goods and office supply places. I got this one on ebay for about $4.
I can't take credit for this idea. Angie that I go to SNB with had one and it made me drool so I had to get my own.

That's all I have to show you today. I'm off to watch Project Runway on the tivo.

No More Excuses For You

OK, all you people who think Entrelac is too hard or scary or whatever need to head on over to the new issue of KNITTY and make the Danica Scarf. Use a self striping yarn like Noro Silk Garden instead of what he tells you to use though. I promise it'll be beautiful and painless.

YAY!

The camera software is no longer lost :)
You'll never guess where I found it. The disk was in a drawer stuffed into the same envelope as my printer driver disk. When I finally gave up looking for it and decided to install my printer, there it was. duh.
OK, so on with the pictures!
This is pre-blocking so it looks a little wonky. I gave up trying to get good lighting so it's just thrown down on my kitchen floor under the sad fluorescent tubes:

The Glampyre City Shawl
I made this with some random chenille yarn I bought from ebay a looooong time ago. The only modifications made were that I used the different yarn and size 13 needles instead of the 15's the pattern calls for. I have enough of the pattern-selected yarn to make another, bigger one with 15's. I think I'll do that eventually.

Socks That Rock Yarn!!

It's sooooo purty...I wish I could dye yarn like this. The colors are just right without getting muddy and this yarn is super dooper soft too.

Sad News

Well, there won't be any pictures here for a little while. I got a new computer, and I guess the old laptop got jealous cause it promptly displayed the blue screen of death and went belly-up on me. I can't find the software disk for my camera, and it's not one of those that Windows just recognizes all by itself.
Thanksgiving was a little hectic and there hasn't been a whole lot of knitting or spinning going on around here this week. I think I'm in a slump. I just knit on neverending xmas gift scarves (I know I said I wasn't going to do that this year, but there was this cheap yarn and this easy pattern and well....yeah.) that I couldn't post pics of anyway for fear of being found out, and the neverending lacy baby blanket that you've all seen before. I'll admit that I can only do about four rows at a time on that thing lately, but damn I'm tired of it.
Pix of the finished City Shawl and the new Socks That Rock Yarn are trapped in the camera. I'm going to go on another search for the disk once Lost is over. Yes, I noticed the irony. haha

Look, Something Is Done

& I actually took a picture of it!
There is still that finished shawl lurking around here waiting for it's photo op, but I haven't been able to get decent light for it yet because it has been super cloudy here lately and the thing is black. I'm trying, honest.
So, instead of that you get to see the super Kittyville Hat I made for my friend Ms. Kitty Kitty Bang Bang for her birthday, which of course I'm gonna be like a week late with.

Same as the other one I made this year only with pink inside of the ears and pink in the pom-poms. Wheee!

PS: You may have noticed that this, too is black. Well, it fits under the light on my stove. That shawl is 6ft long and totally won't fit under the stove light. So there.

Awwwww...

You guys suck! There have been over 30 visits to the blog today and only 4 people bothered to sign my Frappr Map.
I hate to threaten people, but if you guys don't step up and sign my map I might not show you my new Socks That Rock! yarn. You know you wanna see it.
I also have a finished City Shawl I could be motivated to take pictures of.
I'm just sayin.

Sign My Frappr Map!

I've been seeing this thing all over the blogs lately, and the curiosity is just too much for me to take so click that link and Sign My Frappr Map!!

I'm still suffering from crazy startitis
I ordered and started a Glampyre City Shawl for no real reason the other night. Impulse buy... I had the perfect yarn already in the stash and it was like when you're in line at the grocery store and see that Snickers bar just sitting there saying "eat me!" so you have to get one even though you aren't even really hungry and you have a couple of apples right there in the cart you could totally eat in the car. yeah.
I have the ears and the pompoms left to go on the Kittyville Hat which has to be in the mail sometime this week.
I have about 6 more pattern repeats to go on the baby blanket which has to be done by Dec. 3rd when we go see the baby.
Did I mention I started a Clapotis on size 3 needles and teensy yarn? Well, if I didn't mention it then it doesn't exist right?
um...okay...Go sign my map so I can be distracted with that instead of starting new stuff. Help a girl out.

There is nothing super exciting going on knitting wise around here. We've been trying to hurry up with all the yard work before it gets cold so I haven't had a ton of time to sit around on weekends. I've been building square foot garden blocks and trimming bushes and planting fall bulbs, defending them from squirrels...just all kinds of junk.
We did take a little train trip this past weekend which was an "employee activity" from my company, and therefore only $5 instead of the usual $35 a person so we totally had to go. I got to knit a bit on the train and while waiting around for the train to leave. I just worked on the ruffles scarf.
My big news is that I found a lacy shawl pattern I like. I found it at Hobby Lobby, of all places. Here it is:

Who knew they had cute patterns for cheap? Not me.
If you like this and there isn't a Hobby Lobby near you, or you can't stand the thought of being seen going in there (haha) you can get the pattern here. There are also a couple of other views there.

Happy Halloween

We had 120 Trick-or-Treaters.
We ran out of candy.
That has never happened to me before. I need to remember to stock up next year. Speaking of stocking up, I'm about fixed for laceweight merino thanks to my Not So Secretive Pal Heather. Everyone knows that the BEST part of Secret Pal swaps for me is when my pal slips up and I get to find out who she is before the end. YAY! I'm pretty sure that the person I'm spoiling already figured out who I am due to a stupid mistake I made right off the bat, but oh well. So anyway Just look at this:

Here is a closer shot of the laceweight stuff to show you the color better:

It's sort of an eggplant color and soooo soft. That's a MILE of yarn there people. There is also the cute and funny book, and some dye it yourself sock weight yarn that I think I'm going to use to experiment with crock-pot dying. I actually SQUEALED in the post office when I opened the package, which caused the little post office man to look at me funny and ask if I was ok when I saw the yarns. LOL Thanks Heather!

Spinning
Well, the WooLee Winder for the Louet S51 got here and I spun some with it on the weekend. I keep thinking I need to stop to change hooks still, but other than that and a few pulling too hard issues that I think I've got all worked out it spins like a dream. Here is some stuff I spun while I was getting the kinks worked out:

I'll finish out this bobbin and then do another one and ply them sometime this week.

Knitting
I have nothing fun to show you. I did a few more repeats on the baby blanket, but I'm STILL not done. I need to work on only that this week, but I want to finish that kittyville hat for my friend Rachel, and it just needs ears. Maybe that first, then the blanket, then some more socks? I give up trying to plan anything. haha

Hey, Look! I Finished Something!

Those are the socks I made for my Mom. I used Moda Dea Sassy Stripes in color #6948.
I'm really happy with the way these turned out. They match almost perfectly. There is a little bit of one row of the heel that is a different color on one sock than the other, but Mom doesn't seem to mind so I can live with that.
I'm still being passive-agressive about the baby blanket. I went to watch my Nephew play Pee-Wee football and my Niece be a 5th grade homecoming princess all day on Saturday. What did I work on? I knit almost an entire Kittyville Hat for my friend who's Roller Derby name is Kitty Kitty Bang Bang. Her birthday is coming up and she said she wants one and I've already made one earlier this year so I know it's super easy. How could I not?? haha I have no idea how big around her head is so I hope it fits ok. I swear I'm about to work on the baby blanket tonight while watching Alias reruns. For real...I swear.

First the Spinning...

I ordered a Woolee Winder for my Louet S51 today. I wish it could get here like NOW. haha I'm too impatient. The only part of spinning I don't particularly like is moving the yarn back and forth from hook to hook so it fills the bobbin up all even-like so I figure if I'm going to do this I should go ahead and throw in the cash to make it 100% fun. Right? See, I knew you'd agree.

Oh, and if you have a Louet or similar wheel and you didn't have a Babe first so you don't know this trick, I'm gonna tell you something now that will freak you right out. Go to the store and buy some stick-on velcro dots. Take one of the toothy ones and stick that sucker on the wood directly below the orifice. Now when you're in the middle of spinning something and you have to jump up to go to the bathroom or answer the door or get yourself a drink or whatever you can park your in-process chunk of yarn on the dot. This way the twist stays held. It doesn't unravel or spin back on itself and try to crawl up onto the bobbin so you curse and have to set it back up again. It just hangs there patiently waiting for you to come back. It's also a good idea to slap a toothy dot on every bobbin you own. Put it down where you tie your leader on and you'll never have that frustrating moment of the leader just spinning around and around the shaft of the bobbin instead of winding on ever again.

 

Then the Knitting... 

Tonight is SNB night and unfortunately I still haven't finished Mom's socks so those are going with me and the dreaded lacy baby blanket for if I finish the socks while I'm there. I think I haven't been knitting the last few days partly because I don't want to work on the baby blanket and if I knit on anything else I feel kind of guilty like I SHOULD be using the time to finish that blanket before the baby shows up in a couple weeks. I could possibly wait because it's still like 75-90 degrees here all the stinkin time and the baby won't NEED the blanket for probably another month-ish, but we all know that's just my procrastination gene talking.

Quickie Update

There are some pictures from my weekend over at the Livejournal. None of them are knitting related, but some of them are pretty nifty. We went to Petit Jean State Park and stayed in a cabin, hiked a 4.5 mile trail rated moderate/hard (I am just now starting to be un-sore from that), and ate a bunch. I also finished most of the second sock for my Mom. I can't remember if I have any pictures of these socks on the blog or not. They're made with Moda Dea Sassy Stripes on size 4 or 5 needles so they go super fast. I did the first one back in the summer and I'm just now getting around to the second. Only a couple more inches of ribbing and they're totally done. I'll take a pic then so you can see. I'm still working on that baby blanket. It's getting boring and sucking out my soul. Send caffeine!

Slumber Party Recap

Ok, I'm fairly rested up now so here is the story of the retreat.
I was feeling a little hesitant about going at all because I had never met any of these people and I figured most of them were a lot older and probably a lot more conservative than I am. I seriously expected to just go, buy stuff, and end up sitting alone knitting probably 90% of the time, but that's totally not what ended up happening.
I got there around 3PM on Friday and didn't have any trouble finding the place. El-Reno is a pretty small town and everything. There weren't very many people there when I arrived so I just went in and found out where to dump my things, got my nametag, then wandered around looking at things the vendors had set up. Right away I got myself some great smelling soap from Leava's table and some "Mystery Roving" from someone else's (can't remember who it was). Here is a pic of the roving:

It's crazy looking. The color in that pic isn't perfect, but it's a wild acid green and a burnt orangey something. I think I want a hat made out of it.
Friday night I mostly just knitted and talked with people. Everyone was really nice and friendly and not stand-offish or judgemental at all. I got lots of compliments on the projects I brought with me, (The lady eleanor stole, the baby blanket, and the ruffles scarf) and I made a lot of progress on the Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole.

See? It's starting to be a rectangle already. :)
It was cool to see other spinning wheels besides Louets and Ashfords in real life. There were all kinds, but I didn't ask anyone to let me try them because everyone seemed to be working on some project or another and I didn't want to bug them.
I stayed overnight there at the fairgound building. About five or six other people stayed with me, including Leava's husband Jeff who had a crazy monk looking robe and big felted slippers. haha Jeff is super nice and really enthusiastic about his silk worms. Talking to him made me want to get some silk worms of my own, but I think that'll have to wait till we get some of the clutter out of here.
The next day we got up super early and had breakfast. Gloria made some reference to having to "pay a fine and pick up the garbage in the snow" in conversation with someone else so for the rest of the day I had Alice's Restaurant stuck in my head. Gloria is really nice and funny and she had the cute service dog with her. She's also the one who made the awesome felted rocking horse. Gloria gave me a hard time the night before because I was wearing a Ramones t-shirt. She asked if that was my Mom's shirt, which made me laugh just thinking about it because, well...you'd just have to know my Mom. I told her no, it's mine and yes, I know who the Ramones are. I even know that there is only one Ramone left and I have a greatest hits cd out in the car. (I think Jeff would have died if we put that on though...he's way into the Yanni cd's)
Pretty soon more people showed up including Ruth and Lara, and then it was time to start the novelty yarn spinning class. I had a crazy good time with that. Here are some of the yarns I made:

That is a Marled yarn. It's made by spinning two different colors together at the same time then plying as usual.


Isn't that pretty? That's a Core-Spun yarn. It's mohair locks fed onto a previously spun single, then plied with sewing thread to bind it. Want a closer look?

I think that one is my favorite.


That's a Cabled yarn. It's made by spinning four super tight singles, plying them to make two energized two-plies, then plying those into a balanced 4-ply. It takes a while, but it looks really neat.

The other people in the class also made some Boucle, but I was too busy petting my Core-Spun sample. haha
After class, the nice little lady who's name I can't remember showed us how to skirt a fleece and gave us tips on what to look for when buying a fleece at a fiber festival. She was really entertaining and cute and funny. We had lunch while she talked, then she gave away a bunch of extra unwashed fiber she had with her, but I didn't want to be smelling it all the way home (a 3 hour drive for me) so I passed on that. I packed up my stuff and spent the last of my money on some soy silk and a Bosworth drop spindle, then hit the road.

I had a really great time, and enjoyed meeting so many other people who live relatively close to me and who like all the spinning/knitting/felting madness as much as I do.

I'm Back Home

I'm home from the Okiefiber Slumber Party! I had a really nice time and met lots of really nice people who's names I will sadly forget go with their faces. I'm a goober like that. Hi to Ruth & Lara, who provided me with my first experience of people coming up to me, recognizing me, and saying "I read your blog!" I'm sorry if I seemed a little weird, but I was fixing to go start my class and that was just wild. It was really great to meet everyone.
I'll take some pictures of the things I got and the yarn I spun in my Spinning Novelty Yarns class tomorrow. (corespun, cabled, marled, and some confetti thing. I was supposed to do another one but the corespun turned out so good I just sat there petting it during that part of class. I told you I'm a goober.)
Meanwhile, HERE are some pictures from the retreat itself. It looks like there weren't many people there, but there were at least 30 of us. That room was really really big. Also I kept just taking pictures of people way across the room from me. So people sitting on my side of the room were totally safe from my lens. Maybe someone else will post some pics and I can show you those too later this week.
Right now I'm going to bed. I'm sooo tired I could just fall right over.

Baby Stuff

This week's knitting time has been more or less devoted to the Baby Blanket. It's almost half done now:

I'm feeling really optimistic about finishing it before the baby gets here in about a month. I also made some booties, as you can see up there in the photo. Want a closer look?

One of them looks bigger than the other one because that's the first one and it got passed around and played with a little too much. haha I expect it to pop back into shape when it gets washed.
I think despite the evidence (booties!) I almost have my startitis under control.
SNB & OkieFiber Sleepover
I WILL be at SNB on Thursday this week. I missed last week due to a stupid migraine headache and the week before because I got too hot at work and almost passed out. ugh.
On Friday I will be driving 3 or 4 hours to El-Reno, Oklahoma for the Okiefiber Slumber Party retreat. I'm driving alone :( because I guess everyone else had other junk to do and because I can't convince Husband Boy he could find anything else to do in El-Reno while I'm at the fairgrounds. haha I'll be back Saturday evening sometime with pictures :)

SP6 Loot and some WIP's

I got my first package from my new Secret Pal today, and boy was it a doozie!

I got a crazy orange plastic tote full of yarn!


It also had some nifty Halloween cards and some super nice fancy stitch markers.


Just look at all that yarny goodness! There are three balls of orange cotton ease, one of noro keruyon, one of "new wool", a skein of blue Sockotta, and three little skeins of recycled silk. That plastic tote really came in handy today too since it was raining like crazy when I went to the post office. (We got the remnants of hurricaine Rita)
Thanks Secret Pal!! That was awesome!

While I had the camera out I figured I'd show you guys some of those new things I started. Here is the Lacy Baby Blanket from the 50's knitting pattern book:

I know it looks kind of freaky and uneven, but I have it jammed up on 24" circulars and I was trying to stretch it out over a black chair so you could see it. The original pattern was written for fingering weight baby yarn. I'm using a heavy worsted Plymouth Encore Colorspun. The swatch I made for this washed up and evened out to look super nice so I'm just trying to trust the swatch. Of course right now I can't FIND the swatch so you'll have to just take my word for that...I think it was abducted by kitties.
Here is the Noro Silk Garden #211 Ruffles scarf:

Couldn't you just die with the awesomeness??? I love this thing.

The Heartbreak Of Startitis

There is a reason you hardly ever see a finished object on this blog lately. I have contracted a case of Startitis. Yes, friends...Startitis: the inability to stop starting new knitting projects when you get tired of knitting the current ones. It happens to everyone at some point, and before you know it you're like me: over ten projects on the needles and more that you can't wait to start. They call to you at night from the yarn room. (or closet as your case may be) "Knit ME!!!" they say, "That thing you're knitting now is so old and boring! I'm new and different and fun!"
Here is what's on the needles now:
1) Klaralund waiting for seaming
2) Half done second pink sock
3) First Mom sock needing bound off (lost in a handbag somewhere...must search and rescue)
4) Half done second geek sock (also MIA in a handbacg or drawer somewhere)
5) Almost done first green sock
6) Julia's Poncho I quit working on when the weather got hot because it's fuzzy and sweat-inducing
7) Cheap-Fab throw I quit working on for the same reason
8) 30% or so done Ruffles Scarf in Pink Cashmerino
9) Half done Ruffles Scarf in Silk Garden 211
10) Top-Down V-Neck Raglan sweater almost to the sleeve separation point (I'm too lazy to put it on stitch holders and try it on to check)
11) Irish Hiking Scarf I tried to finish for someone for xmas last year. I failed to finish it in time and never touched it again...maybe I can finish it before xmas and give it to him this year?
12) The Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole...I'm on my 3rd or 4th ball of Kureyon and the entrelac is losing it's charm. zzzzz
13) Lacy baby blanket I just started for my niece-in-law (husband's much older sister's daughter) from a 1950's knitting pattern book we found while cleaning out the In-laws' house. The baby is due by c-section Nov. 3rd. I can so do this if I don't get distracted...but, we know how that goes.
14) I forgot this one and had to come back to add it. I started a green scarf with a pine tree looking pattern panel down the center a couple weeks ago. I can't decide if I hate it yet or not so I haven't frogged it, but I haven't worked on it again either. haha
15) I forgot this one too! There is a 35% done Wavy scarf (from knitty) hiding in the yarn room.
These are things I want to start like NOW, but I'm trying to control
the madness and not start any of them until I finish SOMETHING:
1) Corrugated Asymmetrical Pullover from Loop-D-Loop in the big size for me and the little size for my son's little sister. I also want to make the hat, but I can't think of anyone I'd be able to get to wear it. haha
2) I bought yarn for the Koigu Gypsy Shawl again. I used up all the original yarn I bought for it on socks and what-not. This time I'm going to try it in the black Baby Alpaca Silk that's on sale for $2.50 a skein at elann right now (Shut up, I so needed that yarn...you just don't know) I managed to blow up the horrible chart and made myself some notes so I think things will go much more smoothly this time around. I tell you it's gonna work!
3) There is a lacy baby sweater and a hat and booties in the 1950's pattern book that go with that blanket.
4) I have a skein of Treking XXL in color 100. It is trying to decide if it wants to be socks or a hat. I'll let you know when it tells me.
Let this post serve as a warning. Don't listen to those voices that tell you to start more stuff. Just tell them to sod off and go knit on your second sock. Trust me.

Secret Pals 5&6
Ok, so SP5 is over, but I got one more package from my super secret pal Aimee!

I lurve the lamb beanie baby. In fact, I'm getting quite the sheep/lamb toy collection around here. People keep getting them for me. They are starting to outnumber the gnomes.
This is how I figured out who my pal was before the reveal this time:

Aimee had recycled an envelope that someone had sent to her. I'm a nosey, curious sorta gal so I removed the tape holding my address down and tah dah! There was hers in sharpie marker bleed right underneath it.
I've already contacted my new spoilee, and been contacted by my SP for SP6 so we're off and running on that again. I love doing these. YAY surprises!

Oh, if you're way into Halloween all year long like I am or if you're the Secret Pal of someone who loves Halloween, check out these fab dishcloths and the mug I got at WalMart this morning:

They had plates to match the mugs, but I figured that might be overload. lol The cat DOES sort of look like our cat Bungee.

Knitting Content
I need to STOP STARTING NEW STUFF right this minute, but oh god...there is so much I want to knit. I started ANOTHER ruffles scarf this time in Silk Garden 211 I had left over from some xmas scarves last year. At first I thought it was going to be a xmas gift but now I'm selfishly gonna keep it. ha!
I'm going to make the hat shown as the "swatch" for the Corrugated Asymetrical V-Neck from Loop-D-Loop with the fab red Crystal Palace bulky yarn that Aimee sent me. That might end up as a xmas gift unless I get all greedy and decide to keep it.
I also started a v-neck raglan sweater. shhhhh....that's for me too. lol
I need to update my FO gallery with the Branching Out scarf and the fringed Celebrity Shawl, but I still haven't gotten good pictures. That will be a top priority once we get finished with all this furniture moving.
I'm not even gonna talk about the socks.

SP6 Questionaire

The questions are the same except for the last one so for questions 1-28 I refer you to my sp5 questionaire from a few months back. Nothing has really changed except that now the cd stuck in my car stereo is The Ditty Bops.
29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another??
Not especially. The last batch of patterns I was coveting were in the Loop-d-Loop book, and I'm waiting for that to arrive right now. I would like a general sweater design workbook type thing, but I haven't found one I like yet.

Bees!
To read about the bee drama we had over at the In-Laws' place yesterday and see some pictures that Steve took of the aftermath, go read this post on my Livejournal.

Labor Day

Boy did we ever labor today!
I'm going to be glad to go to work tomorrow to get myself some rest. Today we had to get everything of any value out of the In-Law's house. someone tried to break into it last night so we figured it was a good time to get moving.
On the bright side, I have a good idea where I'm going to put all the things they've given us. One of those things is an awesome cedar chest with a "moth-free guarantee" letter inside the lid :) Hello, meet the future home of all my rovings which are currently in a closet in tied up trash bags. There will be pictures as soon as it's in place and everything is all cleaned up. Right now it's sitting in my garage with a bunch of other things.
There hasn't been a lot of knitting going on here since the moving/packing/cleaning started. I'm starting to work on some xmas scarves. Two ruffles scarves out of different yarns so far. I don't want to talk about them too much just in case the people I'm planning on giving them to read this.
I spent a lot of time today re-arranging my small dining area in the front room. It had a table and 4 chairs there that we never used for eating. We're slobs. We eat sitting on the couches or at the counter in the kitchen. We only need a table at Thanksgiving and Xmas and the one we use for then isn't that one. So now it has this little flowery rocking chair from the In-law's house, an ottoman, a little marble topped table, and a magazine rack full of magazines. The table has been pushed up against the opposite wall and will now be my crafty desk. The only concern I have is that taller people will try to walk over there and end up hitting their heads on the light fixture. It's hanging kind of low because it used to be over the table and I can't fix it myself because it has chains that need to be cut to resize it. Oh well..tall people need to stay out of my office/sitting area anyway. haha
Pictures and more actual knitting content to come soon.
Still no word on who my secret pal 5 was. :(
SP6 starts soon! YAY!

Old People
Things are just crazy around here. We closed on the sale of my in-laws' house Tuesday. Now we have 30 days to get everything including my Father In-Law moved out. He doesn't know it yet, but he is moving to the nursing home on Tuesday. I'm afraid he's just really going to have a bad time of it, but there isn't anything else we can do at this point. He has Alzheimers and he's afraid of the shower, afraid of the toilet, and pretty much afraid of any water anywhere.
The house is full of junk and trash and boxes of old magazines that have mildewed together in the basement. It's just a huge task to even think about cleaning it all out. We got a giant dumpster and that's our weekend project. At least Ian is excited about it. Steve and I aren't. haha
Stitchin N Bitchin
Let's see..what else is going on? We moved the local Stitch N Bitch night to Thursday starting tonight. I hope the crowd at the coffee place is nicer. The Wednesday night crowd was full of pyramid scheme people and rude old ladies.
Speaking of Stitch N Bitch, I'm trying to organize a weekend retreat for the Arkansas SNB yahoo group I moderate. I'm getting quotes for enough space to sleep about 20 sometime in April 2006. I'm trying to keep the cost under $40-50 per person including a place to sleep, and so far it hasn't been that difficult. All the quotes aren't in yet though. The reason I'm keeping it small is because I'm going to have to pay all the deposits out of my own pocket to ensure we get the rooms. I can cancel whatever we end up not needing the week before. I also want to make sure everyone gets to attend and isn't stopped by the cost. So many nifty knitting/spinning retreats are crazy expensive even when they don't have big name teachers attached...I'm not getting quotes from crappy motels here either. These are nice places. All I can think of is that someone is making a killing organizing these expensive trips.
So far I have 13 people from the group saying they're interested. I'm thinking we'll arrive wherever on Saturday, check in, hang out meeting and greeting and getting to know eachother, get together for lunch or dinner, do some classes and a stash swap, hang out some more, then have breakfast together Sunday, check out and go home. It isn't going to be terribly organized time-wise...lots of hanging out free time etc. If this one goes well I'd like to do another one in the fall at one of the state park lodges. I'm excited about this, but I'm also a little scared. What if people have a bad time? What if the place I pick turns out to suck and everyone blames me for picking such a sucky place? I'm going to narrow it down to two or three places and let them vote. haha
Knitting Out
September 10th in Dallas, 10 am - 6 pm Half Price Books, 5803 East Northwest Highway is this year's DFW Knit Out & Crochet Too event. There is a scarf design contest being held. The winning pattern will be published in Interweave knits. I want to go, but that's a 4-hour drive for me and I'm not sure I can afford the gas right now. We'll see. Anybody want to carpool and split the gas cost?
I'm still knitting on five or six of the same old boring things. I won't show you any more half-done sock pics or slightly longer entrelac stole pics or pics of gnomes or even pics of the cats. I got nothin new, but maybe I'll finish something sometime soon. It could happen.

Pictures!

Monday is my birthday so I headed up to Fayetteville on Saturday to take advantage of the LYS's birthday discount program. (You get a percentage equal to half your age off your purchase within ten days of your birthday. I got 16.5% off.)Here is what I got:
Ok, the most exciting thing first. I was looking at a little basket with some sheepy tape measures in it. The nice owner lady was doing some inventory things there behind the counter and said how cute she thought they were. I asked her if she had some kind of list she could put me on to hold a black one for me because I've always wanted one. She said no but she thought she had a full bag down there under the desk somewhere that still had it's black sheep.

So, white sheepy has a new friend!
I also got some yarn. I got this super pretty Toasty Toes handpainted sock yarn:

(Colors there are pretty well true.) I also splurged on some Touch Me to make the vintage velvet scarf from Scarf Style. The pattern calls for 5 balls, but I'm going to use 3 and then decide if I need it longer than that or not. I'm pretty short, so I may be able to get away with a shorter scarf.

ahhhhh sooooo sooooooooft!
My Secret Pal once asked about my gnome collection. Besides Angus McYarn, I have three other gnomes that live around my house and yard. They don't have names.

I got the flirty guyon the left at the Highway 64 yard sale this year, the middle one came from Wal-Mart, and the guy with the shovel on the right came from Big Lots. He sits in the house next to my tv.
WIP Pics!
I got a lot of work done on my green sock Saturday. We got a flat tire on my friend Julia's van, so we ended up sitting around for 3 hours waiting to get a new tire. It went from this:

to this:

I'm still working on the second pink sock:

and on the Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole...here is the progress so far:

Someone asked what the back side of entrelac looked like so here is a closeup of it:

I have some other stuff to talk about this week, but I'll save it for tomorrow. I'm getting sleepy and I have to get up early. Nighty night!

OkieFiber Slumber Party!!

I almost forgot to post about this. I'm for sure going to be there, (already sent in my registration $$) and I think if you live in the Oklahoma area you should come too!(I'm talking to you April in Broken Arrow!)
There is an emphasis on spinning, but there will be plenty of knitting/crochet time and a few of the classes are knitting-related. I know they're doing a socks on two circular needles class and a beginning continental knitting class...there may be some others. It would be a great thing to go to if you're a knitter and you've been thinking about learning to spin, but you don't know anyone who can teach you. It would also just be a nice getaway from the house to hang out with other fiber addicts weekend.

Where: Educational Building at the El Reno Fairgrounds, El Reno,Oklahoma which is half an hour west of OKC on I-40.

When: Oct 7 and 8, 2005 - Friday from noon on,Saturday til we leave
Friday afternoon and evening will be hanging out spinning,knitting etc with beginning spindle and wheel classes.
Saturday will be demos,classes and more hanging out so far we have knitting, dyeing, needlefelting, fingerweaving and more offered.

Vendors: Only Oklahoma vendors this first time til we know what we are doing.
No charge for a table except for the donation of a $10 door prize as this is a first time,small event,space may be limited.

Registration Fee: $15

Class Fees: Each class costs $5 with a $5 materials fee contact Linette (info below) for class schedule

Food: Bring food to share for Friday night and your own breakfast for Saturday morning and we will chip in and order pizza or whatever for Saturday noon

Accomodations: You can sleep on air mattress or cot for free in the building overnite.Bring all your own gear to do this.
Overnite spaces limited to the first 25 women registered unless more space opens up.Or of course there are several nice motels in the area.There are no accomodations at the facility for married couples.

Co-Coordinators are Leava and Emmelita and other coordinators are listed below.
Please contact them with any questions. E-mail Gwen for the address to mail registration to.

Feel free to post this basic info on any list you are on and we are extending a welcome to participants from any geographic location as well as newbies through experienced.

Please join the okiefiber yahoo group for updates and to meet your fellow slumber party attendees!

Vendors/Leava - hrblsoap@swbell.net
Classes/Linette - nettelane2003@yahoo.com
Demos/Keynote Speaker Emmelita - Angoradoes41@aol.com
Registration and Class Fees/Gwen - gwitherspoon@cox.net

I knit a lot this weekend but I didn't finish anything. Maybe that's because I have way too much stuff going at once? Nahhhh couldn't be!

Socks - 2nd pink sock, 2nd geek sock, 2nd mom sock, 1st new green foresty sock
Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole - I'm two balls of yarn into it. Fixing to start ball #3. I hear it takes 10.
Ruffles Scarf - haha, I started it AGAIN and this one looks like I might actually finish it
Klaralund - Still haven't touched it lately
Scarves Left Over From Last Xmas - Irish Hiking Scarf and maybe a couple others
Branching Out - I might finish this tonight. It needs two or three more pattern repeats and then the bindoff stuff. I could do that.

I got another package from my SP5 Secret Pal. Two big balls of bulky red wool and some really cute buttons she made for me :) Thanks Pal! (I took a lot of pictures of that, knitting, cats, gnomes and my poor dying yard. I'll inflict those upon you later tonight.) I started packing up the Pal I'm spoiling's final gift box. She's so cute! I'm gonna miss being her SP at the end of this month. That reminds me, Secret Pal 6 is already taking signups so you should head on over there to get your name on the list if you want in on this go-round.

My Mother In Law is now all settled into the nursing home. The first room they put her in was horrible, but after Husband Boy yelled at some people they moved her to a good one with a nice roomie who watches the church channel 24 hours a day. That would make me want to poke my eyes out, but MIL loves that stuff so she's in hog heaven.
The next step is closing on the sale of the house, then moving the FIL over to the nursing home and having the estate sale. The way things look right now that will all be over in 2-3 weeks. Keep your fingers crossed the timeline works out because if it doesn't I think Husband Boy may have some kind of breakdown.

Still no word from my Secret Pal about her identity and whether I've
guessed right or not. :( darn.
My secret project had to get frogged almost back to non-existance and
restarted. I have until the end of next month to complete it now so
it's not keeping me up late at night with worry or anything.
Other than that, the knitting has been rather undramatic. I'm still
trying to get some second socks done, still working on the entrelac
stole, and still haven't touched the almost finished Klaralund.
It's been in the high 90's and low 100's with a heat index of at least
100F for a while now here so I pretty much melt all day and knitting a
lot when I get home is the last thing on my mind. There is too much
cleaning and boxing and moving stuff to contend with.
Speaking of boxing and moving stuff, my Mother In-Law is getting out
of the hospital and moving into the nursing home this week. She seems
pretty cheerful about it and is excited because they told her they
have computers and a library and typewriters and stuff so she can
continue her geneaology hobby. She's suddenly all about getting back
to walking so she can go on some of the outings they offer too. Before
she didn't seem like she cared if she walked again or not. So I think
this is going to be really nice for her. Now all we have to do is get
the house sold and get the Father In Law moved in with her. Then
things can get back to normal around here and I will get to see my
husband for more than an hour a day.
Sock pictures and entrelac progress will be along any day now.

Gotcha!

Yesterday I received a copy of Zen & The Art of Knitting from my Secret Pal. Thanks!
After subjecting the last two envelopes to intense forensic examination, I am now 99.995% sure that my pal for SP5 has been Aimee from Slave To The Needles. So yeah, if I'm right she's soooo busted and I'll reveal how I figured it out once she 'fesses up.

There hasn't been as much knitting going on around here as there should have been this weekend. I am pretty sure I'm not going to finish my super secret project soon enough, but I'm going to keep on trying.

Knitting & Spinning In Public

Yesterday I took the Babe wheel with me and met Miranda at Sweet Bay early for SNB. She's going to borrow it for a while to play with. I figured we'd probably get some stares and more than the usual "what the heck are you doing?" type questions from people. We spent about two hours plying some of her yarn, then me spinning some and showing her how to do navajo plying with it, then her running some yarn she'd spun on her drop spindle through the wheel to practice treadling and to put some more twist into the yarn so it wouldn't try to fall apart on her when she plied it. There were only one or two people asking questions, but I'm told there were a lot of double takes and curious looks through the doors into the room we were in. The door was behind me so I don't know. I think I might bring my other wheel every once in a while and spin there some more.

I spent pretty much my entire day yesterday knitting and spinning in public. I had to go for my yearly girly checkup and it took THREE HOURS to get in to see the doctor. ugh. I knit almost half of the second pink sock and the first sassy stripes sock I'm making for my Mom is ready to bind off now. Waiting rooms are hellish, but at least it wasn't 110 degrees and I wasn't sweaty. haha

I think I'm going to start a secret project tonight. I have pictures of the sassy stripes sock and of my progress on the entrelac stole that I can show you this weekend, but if I'm going to finish this secret project by it's deadline then I'm going to have to not knit on anything else until it's finished. I don't know if I can do that. If I can't then the intended recipient may get an IOU or a target gift card instead depending on how much progress I'm able to make in the next couple of weeks. Wish me luck.

 

Update on the MIL situation: She's still doing ok. They say she should be out of the hospital in 6-8 weeks and by that time we hope to have things set up so she can be released directly to the retirement home. We've found a buyer for their house and closing is set for about three weeks from now. The buyer is an investor who plans on flipping the house and there isnt a big time crunch for how fast we get everything out of the place as long as it's within a reasonable period after the closing. That means we can get the Dad all moved and set up in the retirement home, then have our big estate sale and clear everything out right about the time Mom gets released from the hospital. Hopefully old people logistics hell will end around mid-September and I'll get my husband back. yay!

This week has been BUSY...

Steve's Mom had her surgery on Monday, and they've already moved her to the rehab wing of the hospital. If you ask her she'll tell you she's doing horribly and in a lot of pain and stuff, but the doctors say she's doing really well for her age and considering her other conditions etc.
We've been working to get their house all cleaned up and sold and I've been working to make space here at our house for all of Steve's stuff he had been keeping over there. I have to make a place in the yarn room for his computers and in the patio room for his big ugly Soloflex machine and in the garage for all the mountaineering junk.
On top of all that I've had to be at work an hour early all week to fill in for someone who is on vacation...Oh, did I tell you the place I work isn't air conditioned and it's been 95-102 degrees F this week? It's an air conditioner factory. Ironic, yes?
Getting up just an hour earlier has been super hard to get used to. I'm finally feeling ok with it though and I think I'll try to continue to get up at the earlier time even after next week when the guy comes back. I'll use that time to walk on the treadmill and watch the news and stuff. That's my current plan anyway. If I do that maybe I'll be ready to climb mountains this time next year.
So due to all that there hasn't been a ton of knitting going on. I'm almost done with the first of the socks I'm making for my Mom and still working on the second pink sock. I'm 25% done with the Entrelac Stole. It looks like it could easily be a pillow cover or the front of a sweater at this point. I love it. It looks very impressive and is crazy super easy.
Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes and things. You guys are awesome. :)

I'm Goin Nowhere

I took down the countdown thingie that used to be here.
We can't go to Colorado now.
My Mother-In-Law fell and broke her hip yesterday. We still don't know how long she'll be in the hospital or even if she'll make it through the surgery they have scheduled for her Monday morning. All we do know is that there is no way she'll be home any time soon and able to get around enough to watch after my Father-In-Law who has Alzheimer's and can't be left alone. Husband Boy has had to be at their house watching after him.
This all sucks bigtime for everyone involved. Least of all me.
I'm thinking I'll cancel my planned vacation days and hope that we can go somewhere next year(MD Sheep & Wool perhaps?)

Coolest Ghost Ever

From the Menger Hotel's website (San Antonio, TX):
A lady sits knitting in the original lobby of the Menger Hotel. She wears a dated blue dress and a beret with a tassel. Her glasses are small and metal framed. An employee asks "Are you comfortable...may I get you something?" The lady replies "no" in an unfriendly tone and disappears.

Weirdness
OK, first up is the crazy crochet poodle. I have no idea who made this thing or more importantly WHY anyone would make this thing. It seems to be vintage early-mid 1980's judging by the style of 2-liter bottle cap it has and the yarn it is made of. I think it's "Dazzle" which was this funky acrylic yarn with sparkles that my Mom used to use for various early 80's crochet projects.
My friend Candy bought it from a local thrift store to be our SNB mascot. She cut a hole in the poodle's 2-liter bottle so we can fill it with prizes and trade it around as a sort of doorprize every week or two. I need to find some stuff to stuff it with so it can go to someone else on Wednesday.
OK, so here it is in all it's glory:

Here is it's creepy and oddly expressive head:


Spinning
Hey! Look who turned up!

It's Angus McYarn! He's holding up my first attempt at Navajo Plying. This fiber was a sample wool/silk blend I picked up in Bentonville when I got my Bobbins. I wasn't thinking about doing this with it when I spun it so it is kind of thick and thin. That means after plying it this way it is running worsted to super dooper chunky:

There are less than 20 yards probably. I have no idea what I'll end up doing with it, but it was nice to learn on.

Knitting
I decided to frog the seed stitch noro scarf that has been hanging around unfinished since about this time last year. It was originally intended for Ian's Dad, but since he recently moved to San Antonio I don't think he'll be needing it. haha
The yarn I was using for the scarf is going to end up part of the recently started Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole from the Scarf Style book. Here is my progress so far:

I don't think I will do the fringe the same way the pattern calls for. I feel like it is too wispy for the heaviness of the yarn I'm using. Maybe I'll do some kind of crochet border? I haven't decided yet.

I have some things I need to show you guys.

My way bulky first attempt at Navajo plied yarn

The Crochet Poodle (why?? why??)

The Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole (Yes, I started another thing. Shut up.)

An almost finished Branching Out scarf

A finished 1st Geek Sock

A started 2nd Pink Sock

Zines and goodies from my Secret Pal (Thanks! Those were spiffy.)

The thisclosetodone Klaralund

 

but

 

Pics are still trapped in my camera until later this evening so you just have to wait.

I wish I could find my gnome. Angus McYarn seems to be missing. I suspect the cats.

The plan has changed. Now I'm getting my bobbins a day earlier and closer to home. :) Jan has some at Morning Glory Yarn & Fiber in Bentonville so I'm going to run up there tomorrow to pick them up. Hers are cheaper than the ones in Dallas too. So YAY I should be spinning fast by tomorrow night. I'll try to remember to take the camera this time, but I have to go get new tires and do other errands before we leave. Miranda is coming too, so maybe one of us will remember a camera. I also have to get two new tires and a haircut, then do all of Ian's laundry and pack his stuff to go to his Dad's house when we get back so tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

I started the second pink sock last night at SNB and then spent two hours driving my Mom around to different stores looking at refrigerators until she found the perfect one. I think she wanted one just like her old one, but that wasn't gonna happen since that one was about 40 years old and a brand they don't even make anymore. The fridges were all "too modern looking" for her, but she finally settled on one at the first store we had gone to (Lowe's) and set it up for delivery today. I hope they like to listen to old fridge stories. haha

Oh, and I have 43 miles of yarn in the stash. This is not counting yarn I spun myself or yarn actively attached to projects. I'm just sayin...

 

Acquisition

I'm going to Dallas July 2nd to drop my son off with his Dad for his summer visit. They live in San Antonio, and Dallas is pretty well the halfway point for dropping offing. The big plan is to drop him off then go to a place called White Rock Weaving Center. A nice lady there named Anne has put aside three new bobbins for the Louet and they've got my name on them. The bobbins that came with it are the old style two-speed, and they really only go 1 speed since the flyer is the same diameter as the fat side of the bobbins, and even though people are telling me to just jam it in there I don't think they know what they're talking about. It is still faster than the Babe can go, but I want more options dammit.

In knitting news, I've decided I'm going to hurry up and finish Klaralund even though the heat indexes lately are over 100F and no way will I be able to wear it till at least November. I want to start another sweater, but I just can't till that one is finished. I have 8 projects already. I don't want to add another one to the pile until I finish at least one similar item. Mostly I've got scarves (3) and socks (2) the 1 sweater, a poncho, and the throw. Oh and the fringe still needs added to the shawl. ugh. I need to update my WIP list in the sidebar over there.

I've been pretty good about not buying more yarn, but I did get three bags of Cotton Ease in blue yesterday from that Tuesday Morning store. It was $2 a ball. Don't tell me you could have walked away, cause I know you couldn't have either. 

New Wheely Goodness

Here is the new wheel in the place where I use it most...right in front of the TV:

The Grey wool on the bobbin as I spun up the first batch the other night:

I spun the rest last night for a total of about 7 or 8 ounces, and then I dyed it this morning with some Black Cherry Kool-Aid. (My house smells awesome now) It came out kind of more burnt orange than dark red, but I love it anyway. It's pretty bulky so I think I probably have enough for a hat.

There are a few floofy slubby parts, but overall it is more consistant than the past attempts. These are only my third and fourth finished skeins EVER so I feel pretty good about them. They're the first ones I'd actually knit into anything.
The only knitting I've done this weekend has been a little work on the Geek Sock while waiting for Steve to finish eating dinner and then while waiting on him some more betting on horse races at the casino Friday night, then a little more sock action before/during the Batman movie. Batman is a little slow the first half.

Are You On Drugs?

Have I mentioned I love the new spinning wheel? The rest of the grease boogers washed out of the yarn just fine and it is super great now. Even though I was all drugged up on migraine meds when I made it, this is the most consistant and least slubby yarn I've spun. I think I'm going to try to finish up the stinky wool tonight so I can get on with dying it and knitting it up.

The kool-aid dyed stuff is all pre-drafted and ready to go so that will be up next. When I brought it home from SNB last night I left it unattended for just a minute and the cats tried to run off with two little buns of the purple. I chased them down, took it back, and wiped the cat spit off it. I guess I will have to watch them closer when there is grape-tastey koolaid wool laying around.

Stitch N Bitch was way fun. Sarah  brought a really wacky lady named Tricia that she met at the book store who wanted to crochet a baby blanket. Tricia had three GIANT skeins of yarn, a hook she kept calling her needle, and just loads of excitement and energy. At one point I asked her if she was on drugs she was freaking out and jumping around so much. Maybe that is why new people sometimes don't come back, but damn I couldn't help it. The woman had the energy of ten small yappy dogs and three skeins of yarn each bigger than her head. I kind of hope she comes back, but we should for sure not let her get any caffeinated beverages. haha

We also met some really nice older ladies who have a knitting group that meets Monday mornings at the local Cancer Support House. One lady brought in a really awesome afghan pannel she had in her car that was a sampler of different aran sweater cables and bobbles and honeycomb stuff to show us. She said that they have a fall weekend retreat they do in November at the Sky-Vue Lodge, which is a nifty travel court type place built in the 1940's or 50's. It's only $55 for the weekend and its across from the folk center where the regional spinning guild meets. She's supposed to let us know when they have this year's date.

My only other semi-knitting news is that I scored a copy of Loop-D-Loop for $12 because it has a ripped dust jacket. Wheee!

Spinning

The spinning wheel showed up and I managed to get it put together. I spun some of the stinky grey wool and made some fat yarn cause I was too uncoordinated to make skinny yarn. (I was full of migraine meds yesterday) I know why it's so stinky now. When I washed it, I didn't use super hot water just kind of warm water and some dish soap. Well, it came out with grease blobs on it. Ewwwww! So I have to wash it again in hotter water with more soap to melt the grease blobs before I can dye it or anything. If it still had enough grease in it to  make blobs then yeah that is what's stinking it up. I have enough of it for one more skein about the size of the one I made last night, and then I'll dye them both together once I get all the grease out. I should end up with around 100 yards of bulky, non-stinky yarn.

The Louet wheel is way easier to adjust the tension on than the Babe wheel. I like the faster bobbins too. Once I figured out the best place to stick my foot on the pedal I didn't have trouble stopping it when I needed to or getting it going again in the direction I needed. I'm thinking I'll bring that wool I dyed with the kool aid to SNB tonight and spend the time pre-drafting it. I hadn't spun any of it on the old wheel cause it was being kind of a pain in the butt.

So yeah, new wheel. YAY!

The new spinning wheel did not get here this weekend. It was mailed Wednesday instead of Monday so it'll be here tomorrow. Its in Little Rock right now being held hostage by the brown men. (UPS) I am antsy.
National Knit In Public day was celebrated by knitting in a pizza parlor, a grocery store, and a book store/cafe.(In other words, going about my daily business haha) Unfortunately for you I didn't think to bring the camera with me, but rest assured a good time was had. The freakiest comment of my day was some little kid waaaay across the room from me in the pizza place saying loudly, "Hey she's sewing! She has needles!" and none of the adults correcting him or even seeming to pay attention to what he was on about. The Geek Sock and I were ever so slightly put out.
Other than turning the heel on the Geek Sock and a few pattern repeats on Bugging Out, I haven't accomplished doodley squat when it comes to the knitting this week. Speaking of Bugging Out, one pattern repeat takes me about 20-30 minutes if I don't get overconfident and screw it up. I think I have about ten more repeats to go before I finish. That's oh..about five hours. sheesh! I think I'm just going to try to do one repeat a day on it and be done in 10 days.
I wish my wheel would hurry up and get here.

More Pictures

This is how much sock you can knit mostly during a Ren. Faire and Star Wars Episode III. I'm calling them my geek socks.

Ok, so here is my first package from my SP5 Secret Pal:

Just look at the awesomeness! I love this doll. She has ponytails with gray hairs in them just like me:

She looks a lot happier about it though.
Then, TODAY I got this envelope:

Wanna see inside?

Whoo! Care Bear stickers! Thanks Secret Pal.