My Crafting Ramblings

Moving....

2007-02-28T14:35:00.000-08:00

No I'm not physically moving, we love our house and love being here in Seattle again. My blog is moving. Come on over and check it out www.ldymstmorn.com

Yarn and another quickie FO

2007-02-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

The roving from my last post, spun up wonderfully quick. Now I wish I had more of it, because It came out beautifully. Long sections with the barber pole with intermittent sections of dark blue or light blue. Only 93 yards, but I'm sure I'll find some use for it.

I went into my roving stash looking for something else to spin and found a half pound of pencil roving. With all the sweaters I've got OTN, I decided I needed a quickie, so out came my ~~fence poles~~ #15 Addi's. I cast on 16 sts, knit 32 rows in garter stitche, then picked up 16 sts on the remaining 3 sides and knit away until i had about 5 yards of roving left and bound off in purl. Threw it in the washer and viola. I did learn one lesson, it seems I forgot to throw it in a lingerie bag, so I got lots of fuzz all over the washer. If you're going to felt roving in the washer, don't forget the lingerie bag, or at least throw it in something that will catch all that fuzz.

Interview and carding

2007-02-24T18:46:00.000-08:00

I had an interview yesterday for a contract position. I felt it went real well, so we'll see what happens. I'll know more about how it went from the hiring managers perspective on Monday or Tuesday. They want to make a quick decision and are looking to moving to the next step on the process rather quickly, so in the mean time I'm plugging away on DH's sweater and Eris, and I've cast on yet another pair of socks for the SAM3 KAL, I figure now is a good time to cast them on since March is right around the corner.

So while no new knitting pics,, I'll leave you with this. I discovered that I could take 2 colors of roving, while not exciting in and off themselves, not boring either:

I chose 2 shades of blue, partially because I had 2 1oz bats sitting in my stash doing nothing, and partially in honor of PS2.
tossed them on the carder, alternating shades and ....Voila, they mix to creat this lovely mix of colors. I'll spin these then ply them back on each other with light against dark at the start and let the spinning mix them to get a lovely barber pole effect, at least that's what i'm aiming for.

The thrill of an FO...the agony of ripping

2007-02-19T17:59:00.000-08:00

First we have an FO :)

Pattern: Angora Magic Beret, Designed by Judy Russi, purchased as a kit in an LYS
Yarn: Heirloom Merino Magic Shade: 219 (Light Blue) Laines Fonty Coeur d'Angora Color 219 (light gray, almost white)
Needles: Denise #8

This is in "training" for a future project, which I am waiting for the yarn to come in to one of my LYS's, (it's been ordered so the dye lots match). There was one issue in the pattern, but it was easy enough to figure out, just one place where they had the same color listed in a 2 color row. This will go into my Christmas pile for next year, it will look great on my bro's GF next winter.

DH's sweater has come to this, a ball of yarn and it's back to the ribbing. I screwed up the pattern again, and this time it couldn't be ~~fudged~~ fixed. I forgot 4 rows in the cable crossings, yet I continued on, got up to 3/4's of the back done, then discovered there was no way I could get the pattern to fit DH, to keep going the way I was going would have put a cable crossing right at the shoulder, which is not what I want. So out came be baller, and the back was ripped. I did make one alteration in casting it on again, I'm going to knit the fron and back as one piece and split it for the sleeves. So far I have the ribbing done *sigh*

Yarny goodness has come off my spinning wheel, approximately 316 yards to be exact. I finished the cabled yarn. 2nd picture has a dime to show the gauge, I haven't checked the WPI's yet, but this should make a lovely scarf.

While DH's sweater was in time out waiting to get cast on again, the collar for Eris got cast on and finished. Next I'll be picking up the outside edge so I can start the body.

Oh I found out to day that one of my LYS's, Village Yarn and Tea, will be having a special guest this Friday night at their next Knit Knight. A local artist will be having a Trunk Show, and I do believe I will be there and most likely spending some more money, they're hosting Yarn Pirate's first trunk show.

FO and other things

2007-02-12T12:22:00.000-08:00

Wow, I just realized that checked out of blogging for a week. Well while I wasn't here, there has been some knitting going on at Chez ME

The Knitters Bowl in PS colors jumped on the needles then off again and...

Landed in the washer. It felted wonderfully and is basking in the afternoon (just barely) sun light.

Pattern: Knitter's Bowl by Cat Bordhi from A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting
Yarn: Cascade 220, not exactly sure what the colors were but they were hanging on the wall.
Needles: Denise #10 & 11 condo style for the mobius and most of the bowl, #11 for the pockets and the base of the bowl.
Alterations: None, well at least none that I consciously made.

OTN is My So Called Scarf in Malabrigo, surprisingly I'm really liking the pink, and I don't do pink.
A repeate peformer is OTN, this is the same sweater I did for Dad, but I'm staggering the cross for DH, he requested white, I'm about 1/3rd up the back.
On the spinning front. I'm in a plying black hole, this is 50%merino/50% tussah silk. It's only a total of 12 oz, 4 oz of 3 different colors, but I spun it so fine it's taking forever to ply it. Once it's done, I'm going to ply it back on itself, my first venture into cabled yarn. I'll finish this yarn some day, I'm on day 3 of trying to ply it the first time.

Another FO and I fell off the wagon

2007-02-05T13:00:00.000-08:00

So here's a pair of socks... it's just that a pair of socks. They were knitted toe up 2 socks at a time on a Magic Loop.

Yarn: Regia Jacquard Color
Needles: Addi Turbo's #3

I'm not particularly pleased with this pair of socks, it was a love hate knit all the way. Now that they're done, I find that they are a bit large, ok way large, about 3 or 4 sizes to large for me. They may fit DH, but I'm still not sure how I feel about the socks. We'll have to see what happens with them, I'm sure they won't get frogged, since I'm fairly sure I won't knit anything else with the yarn, but where they will live remains to be determined.

I made the mistake of thinking I can go to a yarn store during Super Bowl and still be good, so off I went to Cultured Purls. It's a lovely little yarn store in Gilman Village. It's also where I bought the yarn for Rogue oh those many months ago. I opps'd and fell off the wagon, smack, right on my arse. Oh no, I didn't fall off small either, while there are only 8 balls in the picture, there really are 15 balls that came home with me. Cascade Yarns Cloud 9 (50% Merino Wool/50% Angora). This yarn is destined to be knit into Eris. I will most likely knit this up as a cardi.

Wicked

2007-02-04T13:14:00.000-08:00

I was inspired by Sknitty to knit this. I saw it on her blog looking so wondeful on her, I just had to have it. I dug into my stash, and voila, I have Wicked. Yes I've been on a Stash Bustin' binge as of late, and I'm still going.

Pattern: Wicked by Rachel Iverson/Sara Johnson Available at: Zypher Style
Yarn: Mountain Colors Mountain Goat, Colorway Mountain Twilight
Needles: Options #7
Size: 40-43(for bust etc.) & 32-35 (Decreases for a shorter length, but even further modified)
Mods: Again, shorter in the torso, by about 2" to accommodate my petite stature, they don't make patterns in Size L Petite, so most of my knitting is modified in this manner.

Rumor has it Dim Sum Knitter has also cast on Wicked, so in a round about way, we were knitting together for a bit.

What kind of Knitter are you?

2007-02-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Purist. You are an accomplished knitter producing beautiful pieces with a classic feel. You sometimes lament losing half of your local yarn shop to garish novelty yarns. Perhaps you consider fun fur scarves the bane of knitting society and prefer to steer new knitters towards the wool and cotton blends. Some might call you a bit of an elitist but you know that you've been doing this craft long enough to respect the history behind it and honor it with beautiful piece that can last a lifetime. http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz !

Project Spectrum Kick Off

2007-02-01T14:34:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of Project Spectrum II, and in honor of that one of my peg boards has changed colors to the blue white and gray of February/March.

I will be using these yarns in someting in the next 2 months, the 2 on the left are Cascade 220, and I'm thinking maybe they want to be the Mobius Knitting Bowl from Cat Bordhi's A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting, the lonely skein on the right is sock yarn and has all 3 colors in it, what a wonderful coincidence this was found in my stash.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did buy some Romney fleece and a pair of hand carders.
The hand carders are considered tools and not fiber so they are obviously not breaking my fiber fast, but the Romney fleece, well that's pushing a very fine line. See I just completed a class in Spinning at Weaving Works. And in that class we not only learned how to spin, but we learned about a fleece, what to look for in one, how to clean it, card it and spin it. Well, this fiber was purchased, not only because I wanted it, but because it was in the grease, which means I can take all the skills I just learned and further imbed them into my ~~blond little~~ head, so I'm more likely to retain what I have just learned. Therefore, since it's all in the interest of education, I'm not counting this fiber against my fiber fast, besides, it's only 4.75 oz and that's in the grease *wink*

Something ______ this way comes

2007-01-31T10:04:00.000-08:00

Next up is.... Wicked. For what ever reason my camera is taking blurry pics. Wonder what DH did to it when he took pics of Rogue.

Wicked is a raglan top down sweater. It's done down to the join beneath the arms. After miles of stockinette I'm knitting more. At least now I'm out of the never ending increase rows. I do love the way this is turning out, now hopefully the yarn will hold out, I'm stash busting again, so once it's gone it's gone.

With great pleasure I present..

2007-01-29T13:28:00.000-08:00

Rogue.

Pattern: Rogue, by the girl from auntie
Cast on 12/24/06, finished 1/28/07, a little over a month, but there were extenuating circumstances, we moved, I knit a sweater etc, etc, etc...
Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist Baby Twist (8.75 oz, 549 yards) I love the way this turned out, I thought the yarn may be a little soft, but cables pop, and the drape is perfect.
Needles: Options #6 and #8
Thoughts: I absolutely enjoyed this knit. While the instructions can be a bit intimidating (19 page downloaded PDF), once you start getting into the charts/cables, it's a quick knit. I will likely knit this again. The only alteration I made was in the length of the body, I knit one less cable repeat than the pattern called for, but then I have a short torso and it worked out perfectly.

I say if you're thinking about knitting Rogue, go for it, if you weren't, go for it.

Rogue on the Blocking Board

2007-01-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

Rogue is in the final stretch, finally. That trip to Sleeve Island was a long one.

This should be an FO by Monday, Tuesday at the latest, depending on how long it takes to dry and how long it takes me to do the seaming and weaving in of the ends. Oh yeah, can't forget how distracted I get by casting something else on.

Geisha called and I answered

2007-01-26T14:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, yesterday when I was at Madrona, Blue Moon Geisha called to me, but I left without it. I slept on it and I could still hear her cries, so I went back again today. Let me tell you now, I'm not going back again this weekend, you can't make me. I think after this 2 day binge I may just have to go on a yarn and fiber fast.

Blue Moon Geisha in Blue Brick Wall Blue Moon Sheep to Shoe Kit, 8.5 oz of superwash merino complete with instructions on how to spin the wool to STR standards. The kit doesn't tell you exactly what color way you picked, but this looks like Lapis, or maybe Rooster Rock. all I know is it's beautiful.

Blue Moon STR in Lucy, yes I know I just bought top in Lucy yesterday, but I really really couldn't resist. In the baggy is 4 oz of yak.
These are silk hankies from Crown Mountain Farms. On the left is New Blue and on the righ is Abalone.

I will not go back again this weekend, please someone forbid me from returning, pretty please.

Not my fault...

2007-01-25T14:38:00.000-08:00

This morning I drove my parents to the airport, which is half way between Seattle and Tacoma. Well, this is the weekend that the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat is running in Tacoma. So since I was half way there....

KnittersAnnonymous.com had a booth and look what I found.

The t-shirt just had to come home with me.

I've been in search of this bumper sticker since I saw it a few months ago while driving on the freeway and nearly got in an accident because I was laughing so hard.

Oh yeah there were fiber vendors there too.

Hanging on the outside are rovings from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, on the left is the Lucy colorway and on the right is Rose Quartz. In the middle there, si some more sock yarn, no it's not STR, I figured I'd left enough of my money with them. The sock yarn colorway is Sky and it's from Angora Valley Fibers, a local artist, it's the same yarn I knit the neon socks I gave to Mom for Christmas.

Sorry DimSumKnitting, I totally forgot to bring the camera, I had to leave here before 7 this morning to get my parents to the airport.

Yarn, Rogue and Alpaca

2007-01-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

Look what showed up in the mail. We're not very good about checking our mail, so this may have been there for a few days. A while ago I helped KnitDevil add a button to her side bar, and in return she sent me these .2 balls of Mango Moon's Pash-Mohair.

Rogue hood is finished:
See it really is a hood.
Just had to have this 2nd shot to show the detail.

2 sleeves for Rogue, I'm just past the cabling, and the rest is Stockinette Stitch, so we'll see how long it takes. I'm still targeting the end of this month to complete it.

DH and I went for a drive Saturday, and guess who wanted to stop at Misty Ridge Alpaca Ranch, DH. Well he decided that these little alpaca needed a home, there was a 3rd one, but DH claimed and accosted him before I could snap a pic. There is hope for him yet.

2007-01-20T09:20:00.000-08:00

I just joined Knit Off '07 over a Yarn Monkey. Am I becoming a Joiner? This looks like it's going to be an interesting challenge, and should be lots of fun. Come on everyone, join me in this.

Rogue Hood is done and the sleeves are cast on, I'm just to lazy to take a pic of the hood right now.

It's just a hood....right?

2007-01-18T14:24:00.000-08:00

Here's where I'm at with Rogue, I'm about half way up the hood. That's it, only half way up the hood. It's only a hood, but the cabling, it's some mind boggling cabling. A pure joy, but there's lots of it. I love seeing it come to life as I knit, but I swear this hood is taking longer than the body to knit, and I sitll have the sleeves left. I do believe I'll be taking a day or 3 before moving on to the sleeves, whend and if I ever finish this hood.

A UFO...Rogue

2007-01-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

Knitdevil really is a little devil in my ear, but you can thank her for convincing me to put up a pic of an actual UFO. Don't know why, I just never have posted UFO's, it's become like a little superstition to me, if I post it I won't finish it type thing. If I finish this one, then it's likely I'll post more.

Ok her she is in her unfinished glory, Rogue.

The body is done and I'm off to work on the hood.

Here's a close up of the neckline, I'm a knitter not a photographer.
And more detail on the side cables.

What color purple are you?

2007-01-14T16:47:00.000-08:00

Saw this over on Mehitabel's blog, and since Purple is one of my favorite colors it seemed appropriate.

Dark Purple

To others, you seem a bit dark, mysterious, and moody.
In truth, you are just a very unique person who doesn't care what others think.
And you really enjoy your offbeat interests and friends.
You've decided that life is about living for yourself - simple as that.

What Color Purple Are You?

An FO and something in the mail

2007-01-13T12:34:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm being a bit on the lazy side here. Look what I've got, and FO and a new set of Denise needles from San Gabriel CA. Mehitabel bought this set of Denise needles a while back, but really didn't like them so she sent them up here. Good thing too, I was just thinking I need to get some more needles *wink*.

The FO is a bottom up Raglan, it didn't start that way, I just started knitting from the bottom following a Ball Band pattern that I had altered to knit in the round, then I decided that I didn't feel like doing any seaming, so I turned it into a raglan.

The Yarn: Bernat Solo (yes I'm aware it's acrylic, but I was stash busting)4 balls.
The Needles: Options #10 and #10.5
The Pattern: Didn't use one.
This was a very quick knit, I decided a week ago Thursday that someone who's been a great help to us in moving needed a sweater, she'll get it tonight, hopefully I'll get pics of her wearing it. Found this yarn in my stash as I was unpacking it and voila, 8 days later I have a sweater.

EDITED TO ADD: It's snowing, so this sweater is just in the nick of time for yet more snow.

New House - Down stairs

2007-01-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

Part II

The living room. The fish tank hasn't been set up yet, but the fireplace works. Louise is sitting on top of the futon, which we will be replacing with a couch one of these days.

And here's Louise wondering if it's time to run yet, behind her is the dining room. It's a small space, but it's under the master bedroom, the dining room is under the walk in closet to give you another idea of how lare a master bedroom we have.
And the kitchen, much smaller than the one we used to have in Azusa, but it's a very nice kitchen, that door leads to the laundry room then another door to the 2 car garage.

Part II

New house - Upstairs

2007-01-12T16:44:00.000-08:00

Coming to you in 2 parts because of blogger's limitations on pics per post.
The master bedroom in it's entirety as pictured from the door. Thelma is using an afghan that was given to me at my bridal shower, it's the only afghan in the house that I didn't knit or crochet. That is a queen size bed she is sitting on. You can see where my stash is. This room is huge, ginormous even. The book shelf back there contains books for both reading and knitting. My ball winder has already taken residence on the table, my swift fits up there as well, great ball winding station, IMHO.
Our computer room/office. Well ok, so right now it's a junk room, but that's going to change as soon as DH puts my book shelves up, most of those boxes have computer hardware and books, boxes and boxes of books are hiding in the closet too.

The guest bedroom is all set up and ready to receive guests.

Where I stash my stash

2007-01-11T18:05:00.000-08:00

This has got to be a record for me, 3 posts in one day.

So most of my stash is right here on the shelves from Ikea, sock yarn and lambs pride are hiding ther under the TV, and in the cabinet live my UFO's. My UFO collection has gone on a drastic diet. When I was unpacking them, I found 12, yes an even dozen, that I either had no clue where I was in the project or no clue where the pattern had gone off to and in some case what the pattern was. So I figured ripit ripit ripit. The window above the cabinet is the same one the views of our back yard were taken from. My spinning wheels even found a nice spot, below the sock blockers. Ahh yes, and in there there is a tiny whitish box in fron of the TV, that's my Mac Mini, it's hooked up to the TV so I can easly knit and surf the internets simultaneously. BTW, this corner is in my master bedroom, it's a huge bedroom, we have a queen size bed in there as well, not to mention a rocking chair. I'll be getting to the other pictures slowly, since they're not taken yet.

Ok, so there are about 50 balls, well closer to 100 under the bed, a few more in baskets here and there, and yet more hiding in another room, that is still and absolute mess.

I did it, I'm a follower too

2007-01-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

KnitDevil has convinced me to become a joiner/follower. I am officially throwing in my needles and joining Project Spectrum 2.0

I guess we got lucky

2007-01-11T11:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's light dusting turned into this slightly heavier dusting. Not enough that I'm snowed in here, but at Mom's reporting 6" in her back yard, and they are a mere 8 miles southwest of us.

Room with a View

2007-01-10T18:06:00.000-08:00

It may not be much, but this is the view from our master bedroom. Yes there is white stuff on the ground, woke up this morning to see a light dusting of snow. I just peeked out the window again, and there is more snow out there, about half an inch. It's not much, but this is how the last snow storm started, and it's snowing again.

I'm getting to the point where I may actually be able to take pictures of the inside of the new house to share soon.

Rogue is at a stand still on the upper back, but that's because I found some yarn and decided a quick and dirty sweater is in order, so I'm knitting up a sweater for my Mom. It's a bottom up raglan, and I'm 2/3rds of the way up the sleeves, so I should be joining to the body soon and hope to cast it off before Mom and Dad come to dinner Saturday night.

I did start to count my yarn, but somewhere around 400 my mind refused to count anymore yarn. I guess I can't count past 400 or any numbers that pass that. Oh well, I have lots of yarn, what more matters? At least I'll have yarn on hand to knit should I get snowed in again.

Internet is a wonderful thing

2007-01-03T17:57:00.000-08:00

We're back on the internets! On Day 5 of not having Internet access, we're finally up and running and I've determined no internet access is a major drag. I'm in the midst of unpacking, day 5 of that too, catching up on email and blog reading. I'll try and get some pics of the house up soon.

DH gave me a night off of unpacking last night, he sent me to my room to knit, ain't that sweet. It was a good thing to, I was getting grumpy with no knitting going on around here. Progress on Rogue isn't what I'd hoped it would be, but it's progress. The body is knitted up to the split for the sleeves and I'm passed the beginning of the arm hole shapping, so boring stockinette stitch for me, but hey, I'm knitting again :).

More when I can catch a breath.

almost a done did deal

2006-12-28T21:35:00.000-08:00

We did the final walk through on the new town house yesterday, signed all the paper work tomorrow, by tomorrow afternoon we will no longer be homeless. Moving day is slated for Saturday, on schedule. I will likely be off line until we get our internet connection up and running in the new house, no dial-up either since we'll be getting a digital land line through the internet connection, which is schedule to be hooked up and installed next Wed, the 3rd.

On the needle. After the holiday knitting madness, 6 pairs of socks in as many weeks, I'm knitting for me right now, so Rogue is OTN and flying beautifully. Peace shawl is also OTN, but it's taking a back burner to Rogue. The pair of socks I'm reknitting in a bigger size is OTN and ITP (in the purse). DH's Cardi is on deck behind Rogue.

The final Yule Gift

2006-12-25T21:35:00.000-08:00

The last thing I finished, and the last one to be photographed. Here's Daddy proudly showing off the sweater I knit him in 2 weeks. It would have been a quicker knit if it weren't for all those socks. Daddy spent the evening showing everyone his sweater and proudly telling them "My daughter knit this for me"

Yule Roll call

2006-12-24T22:15:00.000-08:00

And the Yule knitting fest is done. Out of 6 pairs of socks, only 1 pair didn't fit the intended recipient, little boys grow quickly. But all is well once we're moved and I can find the sock yarn, I can whip out another pair in no time at all, he may grow quickly, but he's still got small feet.

6 pairs of socks, one pair of Fetchings and Clapotis.

Another pair of Fetchings that didn't make the final roll call picture.

There is a sweater that hasn't been pictured yet, but I'll get it posted soon.

Happy winter holiday of your choice!

Done and done

2006-12-22T22:43:00.000-08:00

Yule Knitting List:

~~socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done~~
~~socks for his 4 yo sister - done~~
~~socks for my cousin - done~~
~~socks for his GF - done~~
socks for someone who reads this blog - 1/4th of leg done(2 socks magic loop)
~~Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done~~
~~sweater (cardi) for DH, No longer on Yule Knit list, he's getting something else~~
~~socks for my brother - done~~
~~Fetching for my aunt - done~~
~~Fetching for my cousin (well mom's cousin, so I'm not sure what that makes our relations, if anyone knows, please feel free to enlighten me)- done~~
~~sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog -done~~
Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year (this really isn't going to happen this year but I'm holding out hope)

Ok, so I just put the last button on the cardi, and it's heading to the box. Roll call to follow recipients receiving gifts, so keep posted for the finaly roll call either on 12/25 or 26.

Happy holidays!

I left sleeve island :)

2006-12-20T20:51:00.000-08:00

I left sleeve island today. Shoulders are seamed :). While I was hoping for a seamingly peaceful day, I decided to knit the button band before putting the sleeves on. Much easier to work with right? Well yes it's easier to work with, but there are over 500 stitches in this button band. I sat there picking up stitches thinking only an inch, no sweat....I'm only half way into this button band and I'm bored with it. another half an inch and I can put the finishing touches on this sweater and put it to box.

I've been tagged

2006-12-19T14:28:00.000-08:00

Mehitabel tagged me, so in the spirit of good fun and because I can't thank her personally for tagging me here goes:

6 weird things about ME.

1. I sigh everything ME and when they ask for my name at Starbucks or something I give them ME. Really it's my initials, so I use it quite a bit.

2. I lose words, stutter and have a lisp (I know hard to believe huh?) so everything I can't think of the word for or can't say becomes a "damn thing"

3. I love my sandwiches squished, especially cheese sandwiches.

4. I think in 2 languages, if I can't find a word in English but I know it in Tagalog or the other way around, I'll substitute words without thinking about it.

5. I love the rain! I think it comes from being raised in Seattle ( have I mentioned how great it is to be back in Seattle after living in So. Cal for 6 years? There's weather here, ok, so it's a little more than I expected but it's weather)

6. I still chat with my last ex boyfriend, he's actually the one who told me I'd marry my husband...he and I were still dating when he told me that. (he just chatted me while I was typing up this list, otherwise I would have had to find something else.

There are a ton of weird things about me, I just can't think of them when I need to.

Yule Knitting List:

~~socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done~~
~~socks for his 4 yo sister - done~~
~~socks for my cousin - done~~
~~socks for his GF - done~~
~~socks for someone who reads this blog - 1/4th of leg done(2 socks magic loop)~~
~~Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done~~
~~sweater (cardi) for DH, No longer on Yule Knit list, he's getting something else~~
~~socks for my brother - done~~
~~Fetching for my aunt - done~~
Fetching for my cousin (well mom's cousin, so I'm not sure what that makes our relations, if anyone knows, please feel free to enlighten me)
sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog - So I missed the boat, I'm getting closer to the dock, I'll catch the next boat off and take a leisurely cruise down the Isle of Finishing.
Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year (this really isn't going to happen this year but I'm holding out hope)

Now the reasons I'm still stuck on Sleeve Island, We lost power briefly Thursday night to the wicked windstorm that blew through here. I say briefly, but it was really for about 12 hours. Considering there are still people here that don't have power, 4 days later, 12 hours is nothing. Anyway, when we lost power, I was doing fine on the sleeves, then I got to an increase row, and knitting in the dark, which usually doesn't faze me one iota, got me off track. I picked up the socks and finished those, no increases to confuse me. Then I got side tracked to fetchings, My mom's cousin showed up needing to be thawed out and since I haven't seen her in 5 years, we caught up. The sad part is she lives in San Diego, just a few hours from where we were living in Azusa and haven't seen each other in that long a time, I had to move back to Seattle to see her. I know these are all just excuses, the fact is I got bored and something else jumped onto my needles, I think I have all of an inch left to go on the sleeves, so I should be finished with the sleeves tonight, unless that last pair of fetchigns jump on my needle first.

And the sock knitting goodness spreads.

2006-12-17T16:17:00.001-08:00

I've done it again! Another knitter is born (well ok born again), but this time she's learning the joys of knitting on circular needles. This is my Mom, she tried for years and year to teach me how to knit, but since she taught me how to crochet first, I just never quite got along with straights. She's tried with circs before, but never could get the hang of it. I actually started her knitting socks on DPN's but that lasted 5 or 6 rounds. So here she is knitting her very first sock on a #2 Addi's, using a magic loop. She'll learn to knit socks one at a time.

Oh update on the Yule knitting list. Another pair of socks done, I'm not going to do the Peace shawl, there isn't enough time to finish it and have it blocked in time for the family dinner. We had a brief knitting interruption on sleeve island, it got real windy and the power was knocked out for about 12 hours. Yes at this point I know it's an excuse but the end result is I'm still on sleeve island with a pair of sleeves about half done. The sweater will be done in time. Oh I've also added a pair of fetchings to the list, it's not a make or break item, but it will add variety to these sleeves.

I'm scared to count my stash...

2006-12-14T10:18:00.000-08:00

Knit Devil inspired a moment of insanity, she counted her stash ball by ball, skein by skein and found she had accumulated 600 balls/skeins in 3 years. Going with her average of 200 balls/skeins a year, that would put me at...800 balls/skeins a year since I've been knitting for at least 4 years. Mind you most of my stash is in storage and inaccessible. Well a few weeks ago I got a bug and actually inventoried 2 of the bins of stash I could access, and well I only got through 2 bins before my stash started blowing my mind, and that was without totals. I pulled those sheets out this morning, did some quick math, and found that in those 2 bins, there are 340 balls/skeins of yarn. I have 10 bins of the same size, 5 smaller bins, a mountain of yarn that I has mysteriously grown since arriving in Seattle. Not to mention the various balls of yarn hidden in boxes used as packing fodder (yarn makes good packing fodder). If I remember right Dad even used several garbage bags full of yarn to make sure my glass cabinet didn't break in the move (it worked, no glass breakage). Oh yeah, there are at least another 50 skeins hiding in my car waiting to work their way quietly into the stash. I can't forget the 200 to 400 hundred balls/skeins that have managed to populate my mothers stash, her stash comes from mine, as she doesn't see a reason to buy yarn when she can get it from me.

Oh my! My stash is like tribbles! I know this won't stop me from buying more yarn, but this post is enough to make me really wonder how much there really is left in my stash, not including what has enhanced mom's stash over the last 4 years. Maybe I'll do a complete count once we've settled into the new house after the New Year.

So I've turned the heels on Bro's socks, and the sweater is progressing, so it's back to sleeve island for me.

Progress Update

2006-12-11T18:11:00.001-08:00

Yule Knitting List

~~socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done~~

~~socks for his 4 yo sister - done~~

~~socks for my cousin - done~~

~~socks for his GF - done~~

~~socks for someone who reads this blog - 1/4th of leg done(2 socks magic loop)~~

~~Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done~~

~~sweater (cardi) for DH, No longer on Yule Knit list, he's getting something else~~

socks for my brother - OTN

sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog - WEEEE! The fronts are done and I'm off to Sleeve Island

Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year

Sorry no pics, but I am making progress on the sweater. I left for Sleeve Island this morning. Hopefully I'll be back by the end of the week, with 2 sleeves and a pair of socks :).

and another sock is complete

2006-12-08T17:25:00.001-08:00

but no pics, since the recipient has been known to read my blog and I'm not giving away the surprise.

Instead, let me send you here. This is how I've spent my day today instead of knitting on the sweater or the last pair of socks on my list. Many thanks to January One for such a wonderful site, I just wish she had waited until I had finished more of my holiday knitting.

Yule Knitting list

~~socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done~~
~~socks for his 4 yo sister - done~~
~~socks for my cousin - done~~
socks for my brother - OTN
~~socks for his GF - done~~
~~socks for someone who reads this blog - 1/4th of leg done(2 socks magic loop)~~
sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog - back done, fronts OTN 1/3rd done (both sides at the same time)
~~Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done~~
~~sweater (cardi) for DH, No longer on Yule Knit list, he's getting something else~~
Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year

I know I know, I really do need to do this, it helps me figure out how much I need to knit to get to my Peace Shawl....18 more knitting days.

and another sock is complete

2006-12-08T17:19:00.001-08:00

but no pics, since the recipient has been known to read my blog and I'm not giving away the surprise.

Instead, let me send you here. This is how I've spent my day today instead of knitting on the sweater or the last pair of socks on my list.

Yule Knitting list

~~socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done~~

~~socks for his 4 yo sister - done~~

~~socks for my cousin - done~~

socks for my brother - OTN

~~socks for his GF - done~~

~~socks for someone who reads this blog - 1/4th of leg done(2 socks magic loop)~~

sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog - back done, fronts OTN 1/5th done (both sides at the same time)

~~Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done~~

~~sweater (cardi) for DH, No longer on Yule Knit list, he's getting something else~~

Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year

I know I added another ticker, but it's set for a countdown to my Mom's b-day so no one else need feel any holiday knitting pressure....it's not my fault my Mom was born on 12/25.

Back to knitting

2006-12-05T12:41:00.000-08:00

3 pairs of socks, all Koigu on Addi Turbo's #1

Updated Yule Knitting list
~~socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done~~
~~socks for his 4 yo sister - done~~
~~socks for my cousin - done~~
socks for my brother - OTN
~~socks for his GF - done~~
socks for someone who reads this blog - 1/4th of leg done(2 socks magic loop)
sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog - back done, fronts OTN 1/5th done (both sides at the same time)
~~Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done~~
~~sweater (cardi) for DH, No longer on Yule Knit list, he's getting something else~~
Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year

Ok, so now it doesn't look so bad, especially since DH's cardi has been removed. I'm down to 2 pairs of socks, and a cardi. Maybe I will get the Peace Shawl done.

20 knitting days left....

Knitting Interuptus

2006-12-04T20:51:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I took a day off of knitting through my Yule knitting list. But here you can see why. DH and I got new toys via the lovely FedEx man. What are they? A pair of Toshiba Notebook computers. Oh yeah, can't forget the pair Creative Labs Zen Vision W, we picked up on Friday. You can even see the socks I cast aside when the FedEx dude showed up. They're almost done, I'm working on a tubular cast off. I should be done by tomorrow some time, if I can tear myself away from the new toys long enough to finish that last row and graft the socks done. DH isn't getting his sweater for Yule this year, it'll be a BDay present. He's getting one more toy, but I won't post that here, just to be on the safe side. I'll pick that up later this week while he's at work. Good thing I grew up in this house, I know all the secret hiding places.

Tomorrow or maybe at some point later this week, I'll be back to regularly schedule self imposed knitting deadlines.

Yule Knitting list

2006-12-01T21:51:00.001-08:00

Here's the current tally on my Holiday Knit list:

~~socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done~~

~~socks for his 4 yo sister - done~~

socks for my cousin - heel turned, leg 1/3rd done (2 socks magic loop)

socks for my brother - not yet started

~~socks for his GF - done~~

socks for someone who reads this blog - heel turned leg started(2 socks magic loop)

sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog - back done, fronts OTN (both sides at the same time)

~~Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done~~

sweater (cardi) for DH, he may get it for his b-day in February

Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year

To be updated as I make progress.

24 days and counting...

snow and and an FO

2006-11-26T21:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, so shortly after I posted this morning that it was snowing, the snow decided to stop, so DH and I went out. Well, while we were out running errands, the snow started again. The forcast for tomorrow is more snow. DH starts his new job tomorrow, so I'm hoping it doesn't stick, or at least he can make it to work safely. Seattle drivers react to snow the way So Cal drivers react to rain....no one is quite sure what to do, so they drive the way they normally do. *sigh*

Here's what the backyard looked like when we got home. I know it's not a huge amount of snow, maybe 2 inches, and it's likely to be all the snow we see for a while. It doesn't usually snow in Seattle, maybe a couple times a year, and rarely before the end of December (usually in time to just miss Christmas), it's not usually supposed to snow in November.

I did manage to get a little cold weather knitting done, and now I have a hat to wear to keep my head warm, I'm really not used to the cold anymore, living in So. Cal. has made me soft.

A quick 2X2 rib, knitted in the round on #10.5 Options Needles, out of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande.

ummm, it's snowing

2006-11-26T09:47:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite places

2006-11-24T19:27:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite places is Deception Pass. On the north end of Whidbey Island WA, this is one of 2 ways onto the island, the other is the ferry on the south end of the island. My MIL lives on Whidbey Island, and that's where we went for turkey. On the way, we simply had to stop and drink in the natural beauty.

This picture is taken from the south end of the bridge, it was 37 degrees outside and windy on the bridge, we didn't venture far out on the bridge on foot. The view is northwest, towards the Pacific Ocean. Beyond the smaller islands, you can see Canada in the distance.

Same place, but a different angle. The view is of the north end of the bridge, or the main land. This pic is straight down from were were standing admiring the view and freezing our hands off.

The underside of the bridge from the south end of the bridge.

Oh and in case you didn't realize it falling from anywhere along the trail near the bridge can be deadly.

Escrow closed

2006-11-22T14:53:00.000-08:00

On day 65 of a 45 day escrow, our So. Cal. house has officially closed, and with it our last physical tie to CA. There are many friends I wish I could have brought up to Seattle with me, but alas, Seattle is not for everyone.

Another not so local LYS

2006-11-20T20:36:00.000-08:00

I was getting antsy today, so DH sent me off to a yarn store. He told me to go to the one up in Mount Vernon, which is a good hours drive away, but I didn't quite make it. This one is about 20 minutes away. Great Yarns in Everett WA.

And they lived up to their name. Another cute little shop in a house, with rooms full of yarn.

Far be it for me to leave a great little yarn store without yarn. The damage?
The purple and black? Prism's Kid Mohair in the Midnight. The bright stuff that is kind of hiding behind all that purple and black mohair goodness is a hand dyed machine washable merino sock yarn. I know it's not my usual color choice, but the recipient of those socks will adore the colors, the name of the yarn...Fly Super Sport. Hand dyed by a local artist Pat Fly.

Fiber Enhancement

2006-11-18T16:59:00.000-08:00

DH and I went out looking at paint ball parks again today. I got so bored, I made DH take me to a little store called Lamb's Ear in Tacoma, WA along the route to Mt. Ranier. Just to look, honest, I had no intention of buying anything. Well I found just 2 things to help me out.

The drop spindle is handcrafted by Jonathan Bosworth of Journey Wheel out of Acton MA, and it spins beautifully, and spins and spins and spins. Now I get strange looks when I knit at the paint ball fields, but those looks are nothing compared to when I'm spinning at the paintball field. Not much got done, but that's because it's been a while since I've used a drop spindle, none of the ones I have make happy enough to get much drop spindling done, but this one, it's a beaut. I for see lots of happy hours with this spindle, after I get my Holiday knitting done, which should be some time in January LOL. Oh the fiber is merino.

On the knitting front, Clapotis is coming along and is much more behaved this time around. I'm through the first ball again. The socks have been finished and I'm on to the 3rd pair in that group. As if I didn't have enough knitting going on, I cast on a sweater for my Dad, he was complaining that I had all this wool and he still didn't have a sweater, so guess what he's getting for Christmas. DH's sweater will probably be done in January, but he totally understands. Oh and I cast on some more lace, Fiber Trends Peace Shawl, I'm aiming to get it done in time to wear it to Christmas dinner, but well see. Also on the needles are some much needed mittens, living in So. Cal. for the last 6 years has made me soft and the temps in 40's and 50's are much too cold, so my hands need a bit of help keeping warm when they aren't knitting or spinning.

Knit Devil reported back to me that my blog entries aren't being picked up by Bloglines. I updated to the Beta and it looks like something went screwing somewhere in the update, but I've checked and reset the feed, so hopefully that will take care of that.

*Edited to add: Because of the beta version, my site isn't feeing in RSS format, but it is updating the Atom Feed.

FTP blogs are not publishing their site feeds in RSS format. Until this is fixed, either use the atom.xml feed instead (most feed readers that accept RSS accept Atom as well) or use: http://www.blogger.com/feeds/blogid/posts/default?alt=rss to get your blog’s feed in RSS format

exciting news

2006-11-15T21:32:00.000-08:00

We're expecting to finally close on the house down in Azusa this Friday, I'm not holding my breath at this point, even next week is possible, closing has been pushed back a few times, but now all the papers are in place it's just a matter of funding.

DH got a job, it didn't take him long at all he starts at MS after Thanksgiving, since everyone is on vacation next week.

I'm officially a WA resident. I have my WDL and WA license plates.

Plea to the Knitting Goddess

2006-11-13T14:40:00.000-08:00

To the Knitting Goddess

And yet another UFO has gone to the frog pond, and another one is threatening to jump in after it. In the last week all my Holiday knitting has decided to rebel. The latest in this streak of rebellion is Clapotis. Granted I was tempting the fates with that one in my arrogance by actually thinking I had memorized so simple a pattern and knit most of it while in the midst of an interstate move. Did you have to wait until I was 3/4's of the way done before showing me the error of my ways?

I really am not sure what I did to tempt you and the fates. It seems I must have done something big, since I can't seem to finish anything these days and am spending quite a bit of time sacrificing my almost completed UFO's to you at the frog pond. Was it the 2 week sweater? The 10 Pacific Northwest Shawl? The rash of recent FO's? Please hear my plea and let me know how much more I must sacrifice before I can complete an FO. I am pushing deadlines here, must I brave the last minute rush of Christmas shoppers this year? If that be the case I would prefer to know now if I will be allowed to finish any of my holiday knitting before I be forced to brave the Holiday Mall Crawl.

I will promise to do my best to understand that I am fallible when it comes to knitting projects. I do ask that you give me a pardon at least until I get my Holiday gift knitting done, as I am facing deadlines here. Or have I bitten more off than I can chew, given the time frame and the circumstances. I really had planned to start my Holiday gift knitting much sooner than I did this year, however my life happened. Next year I will try not to wait so long to get knitting started.

O Knitting Goddess hear my plea
Let my needles sing to thee
So that I may have knitted gifts to share
With those for whom I deeply care.

Blessed Be.

Frog Pond!

2006-11-11T21:54:00.000-08:00

I so hate the frog pond these days. The socks I turned the heels on had to go back to the frog pond, they were way to large for the tiny little foot, they fit my mom's little feet, but even her feet weren't as small as the feet they were meant for. No worries, it's back up to the heel again, just set me back a little. I also started a pair of X-stockings, or Yule Stockings as I prefer to refer to them as. One stocking is still going strong, the mate, in the opposite colors is heading for the frog pond. Earlier today, I discovered I had turned one cable wrong, near the beginning but decided that since it was to the Wall (or not public side, it would be fine). So on ward I went with it, only to discover that there was a cable that I completely forgot to turn. I tried to fix both cable turns, and well the whole stocking is now in the frog pond, patiently waiting for me to finish it's mate which is turning out wonderfully, before it gets ripped and re-knitted.

Weekend.

2006-11-06T20:45:00.000-08:00

Saturday we went on a road trip to visit the MIL. And knock me over with a feather, she was actually nice to me. Those of you who have heard tales of my MIL will understand the shock factor involved here. She treated me like I was a person, and not only listened to me like I had something to say, but we had some nice conversations. Not the stilted conversations of 2 people where one person isn't interested and is actually dismissive, but actual conversation where both parties are interested and have something to say. Either she's really happy that DH and I are back in the PNW or she's actually listened to DH. So much better than being treated like a non-person. I never asked her to be friends with me, all I ask is that she acknowledge that I not only exist but am married to her son, who knows maybe that's just a bit much to ask of a person. I am truely amazed by how much this woman has changed in her attitude towards me.

Sunday morning, we went to sign some more paper work. Basically we have until the end of the November for one of us to get a job, or to decided to go with a Stated Income loan. Either way, it looks like we'll be welcoming the new year in our new home.

After signing the paper work DH and I went on a scouting out the local paint ball scene. I confess to actually enjoying watching paintball - DH's hobby. I like the strategy involved, and quite frankly it's fun to watch. We were both disappointed by the 2 indoor paint ball parks we saw, the one didn't look safe, and was unky (is that a word?) Anyway, just watching from outside the nets (the fields are surrounded by nets for the protection of those watching) the astroturf was a sticky gooey mess, needless to say we didn't stay long at all. But accross the street, we found this:

I took one look at the Autorized sign and noted the name on the sign and the door, turned to DH and asked, "so if we park there they will tow our car where? to where it's parked?" LOL.

Lots of knitting did get done this weekend, nothing got finished, but I've turned the heel on another pair of socks, once this pair is complete it will make 3 x-mas presents done, I won't post a pic of this pair of socks until the 3rd of the pairs is done since it's a family present and the colors all go together in a family kind of way. I did also make quite a bit of progress on Clapotis, which won't be posted here until after X-mas since the recipient reads my blog.

Seattle is very wet and a bit on the cold side of what I've become used to....but....I love it. We're in the 3rd of 3 storms that are blowing through. We are expecting 2 days of no rain, or minimal rain Wed and Thurs, but then the rain will come back just in time for the weekend, and I've never been happier about the weather :).

promised pics

2006-11-02T22:03:00.000-08:00

I so love the fall in the Pacific Northwest and the drive up here did not disappoint. The colors were much more spectacular in person, but I was driving, and this is my favorite shot of all the pics my camera took of the fall in the PNW.

Nothing quite like 2 ferry's approaching each other in the night with the Space Needle and the rest of the Seattle skyline in the background. There is an anchored tug in the shot too, that's the one in front, the ferries are slightly to the left of that and behind. This shot was taken from a park in West Seattle.

The truck, was packed, here's DH's friend, who drove the truck and Dad starting the unloading process. It's a 26 ' truck to give you and idea of the work that was done to get it loaded and unloaded.
Truck half onloaded, and storage is partially full, but there was still quite a bit of work to be done when this pic was taken. No more pics after this, since we were trying to beat the Seattle Rain....we won, everything was safely dry in storage before the rain came.

Here's a sneak peek at our new place. We do have pics of the inside, but I'm saving those for another time, since we're waiting for new everything to be done inside, they're doing a complete remodel. We are hoping to be in by the end of the year, but we were told Janurary for sure, possibly sooner.

Edited to add: Stash is handy, very handy, it's at the other end of the house, sharing a room with the cats, they are gaurding my stash very nicely.

Hectic

2006-10-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

So after loading up the truck, we realized none of us wanted to spend the night in an empty house. So we hit the road at 8:30 pm, drove to Bakersfield and spent the night in a hotel. Jumped back on the road around 6 am. DH and the truck took the longer way around and went back to the I5, I'm still not sure how that happened. I chose to continue on up the 99. By the time I got to the I5 DH and the truck were a good 2 hours behind me.

I decided to push it all the way through to Seattle, since my GPS gave me an estimated arrival time of 10:30 pm. The guys decided to do the same thing and arrived 3 hours later at 1:30 am, and suddenly we were a day ahead of schedule. Spent the next day unloading the truck, and the last few days settling in to Mom and Dads. Things are still a bit up in the air, but hopefully we'll be back on broad band soon and I'll be posting more.

We're here, we're safe, it's cold, but it's wonderful :).

Progress

2006-10-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

In the Master bedroom we have a bed and a bunch of little things that still need to go in boxes...
Remeber yesterday, this room was full of boxes.... well looks like we've found the walls. Lots of little things, again more boxes, but the bulk of this is gone believe it or not.
Where'd it all go.... That's where DH's car would normally go, I guess the boxes have kicked him out of the garage until we get the truck tomorrow.

I know, it's making it quite hard for some of you to be in denial, seeing all these boxes and half empty rooms, but it's really true, we are leaving for Seattle this week.

I will miss you all, but I will keep posting on the move when I can.

Sorry not much knitting going on around here right now, but I did finish a pair of felted clogs and socks....hummmm wonder which box they went into?

boxes boxes everywhere

2006-10-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

I'm surrounded by boxes! Yess all the one's in this picture are full, but we've also got a ton of empty boxes that still need to be filled.

We did make a bit of progress today, with the help of these 2 elves :) No I didn't kidnap them, their father is sacked out on the futon, it's been a long week for all and he's got a lot of work to do tomorrow before he goes to work. We get to keep the elves all day tomorrow. The one on top is 7 and the one below is 10. Very good packers they are.

Oh the Irony of it all

2006-10-16T01:09:00.000-07:00

You Belong in Summer

Energetic, creative, and very curious about the world...
You're not going to let anything hold you back, especially a cold day.
Whether you're chilling out at the beach or partying all night, you live for the warm weather.

What Season Are You?

2 Week Sweater

2006-10-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

I finished this sweater in 2 weeks. I had no intention of knitting it in 2 weeks when I started. As a matter of fact I had no intention of turning it into a sweater immediately when I bought the yarn. I purchased the yarn to add to my stash for some as of then unknown sweater.

Pattern: Symbolic Knots by Melissa Leapman (from the book the Best of Knitters's Arans and Celtics)
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky, Kiwi Colorway
Needles: Options #8

I absolutely loved knitting this sweater, even the miles of endless seed stitch. I developed a rhythm rather quickly. I do knit English and throw my yarn, even though I know how to knit Continental, I am working on evening out my stitches ( I purl tighter than I knit). This sweater will be perfect for my upcoming move to Seattle, the weather there will actually allow me to wear it quite often.

As I was getting ready to leave SnB this morning, Beth saw a picture sitting in my lap. Currently, all my projects go perfectly with my purple Jordana Paige Satchel, so Beth and I felt the need to capture the shot to share.

A sick boy and his kitty...

2006-10-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

DH did have the drains removed today and is resting quite a bit more comforably. His energy levels are up as well, and he is on the road to a full recovery.

YIPPEEE!!! HE'S HOME!

2006-09-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

DH is home, what more is there to say....

good news... I hope.

2006-09-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

DH may be coming home tomorrow, it all depends on his blood work. Doc says if his white cell count is down and managable with oral antibiotics he can come home :).

By Special Request

2006-09-28T23:37:00.000-07:00

Since Mary was not able to join us knitting this week, for a better pic of Lady E, she'll have to go to Annette's blog, yes I know she's been there already, I saw her comment, but there it is in all it's glory.

Triple tagged - a meme

2006-09-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

Tag you're it.

Tagged first by Annette, then by Marie, then by Madge so I'm spreading the love. I'm only doing 10!

10 knitterly things you didn't know about me.
1. I alter just about everything I knit for me to make it shorter, otherwise I'd have things that drag on the floor, or hang at my knees.
2. My favorite color is purple, but you couldn't tell by looking at my stash.
3. It took me 14 years to learn to knit, by the time i finally got it it took me about 14 min once Marie pointed me in the direction of Circular needles. I started crocheing 33 years or so ago.
4. I currently am in posssion of over 5o pairs of Addy Turbos (ok, so maybe you knew that)
5. I collect purses that are big enough to hold my knitting, current count is scary, but I know I could easily go a month or more without ever using the same purse 2 days in a row.
6. I have yet to use a life line when knitting lace, and I still haven't planned to use one.
7. I am a process knitter, I will knit anything and everything I possibly can.
8. I spend too much time knitting, I really am not as fast a knitter as everyone believes, I just get into a groove and have been known to knit as much as 12 - 16 hours a day.
9. I am an ADHD knitter, and I have at least 2 dozen UFO's to prove it.
10. I will be knitting in Seattle by the end of October, if I have my way it will be by the 25th of October.

DH and house news :)

2006-09-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

Well DH is doing much better since they drained the rest of that "crap" from his stomach. They took him off the liquid IV's and he's down to just the IV antibiotics. He's eating great. Doc says another day or 2 and he can go home. Both DH and I figure they'll keep him there until Friday.

On the house front, Inspection was Monday, and we passed with flying colors. Appraisal is tomorrow, and we will know for sure that the loan is funding by next Tuesday.

Note to the fates: This is just an update, please don't take it as anything but, I'm really not trying to jinx my life again, just sharing good news.

Knotting and knitting

2006-09-26T16:52:00.000-07:00

DH is still in the hospital. Remember I said that they had found a couple pockets of fluid, one found it's way to the drain and is now gone. The other one, they added another drain this morning, and now it's draining. DH is feeling a lot less pressure but is very tired today, they inserted the 2nd drain this morning, so he's resting much more comfortably today. We still don't know when they'll set him free, but things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully he'll be home this weekend and I'll be sleeping again by Monday.

Last night I went knotting with Marie, she knit while I knot. I finished Lady E, much to my surprise, I didn't realize how far I had gotten with her while waiting in the hospital.

Pattern: Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style
Yarn: 6 - 7 balls of tapestry by Rowan (I started with 10 balls and have 3 full balls and 3 partial balls, so i'm not sure how of the 7th balls is actually in Lady E)
Needles: 10's

Moebius returns: this was knit from start to finish in DH's room. I brought up a skein of yarn the day after the surgury, balled it by hand off my knees, cast it on, knit several rounds, figured out that I had misstitched by about 15 stitches, ripped it and started it again. Pattern: Thrummed Moebius by Cat Bordi (I know there are no thrums on this)
Yarn: It's a kit that you can see here
Needles: Denise #13 and #10 condo style
Alterations: I wasn't sure about the thrums, so I started to put them on, DH looked over, frowned shook his head and gave me a thumbs down, so out they came. I'm glad he did because I wasn't liking the look either.

And off the wagon I fell. Well I wasn't really on the wagon, but this started the first night DH was in the hospital, remember this post. The mystry yarn is on the left, it's the blue Araucania yarn. In the middle is some wonderful Prime Alpaca, yardage is over 600 yards, this will go with the yarn that mom brought me back from Peru and become a sweater. The Lamb's Pride worsted, that was picked up after I dropped off all the Escrow paperwork and in a fit of I need to buy yarn, it's destined to become a sweater and has already jumped on the needles.

sorry no pics today, maybe tomorrow

2006-09-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

I thought DH was getting better. Well he is. Blood transfusions helped quite a bit. He's even eating solid food. We even went for a short walk today. He is getting frustrated with not being able to come home, so I guess that's a good sign too.

So the results of the CT scan took me for a big loop. They show some pockets of fluids that aren't draining. So he didn't come home today. Tomorrow the doc will figure out what to do, he's thinking they can be removed with a needle, if not, they may have to go back in.

I just want him on the mend enough to bring him home without having to worry about him so much, at least then maybe I could get some sleep.

here's hoping...

2006-09-23T19:17:00.000-07:00

DH got 2 pints of blood yesterday, he's doing much better today :). He had a CT scan this afternoon, good results could mean that I get to bring him home in a day or 2. Today, for the first time since he was admitted, he determined that he was ready, physically ready to go home. he's feeling much better. Lots more cuddle time, a couple of sponge baths and DH is on mending path.

I did buy yarn yesterday, but simply haven't had a chance to take any pics. I'll try to take pics before heading out to the hospital in the morning.

Updates and rambiling

2006-09-21T16:44:00.000-07:00

DH is doing better today, they removed the stomach pump, and depending on how he does today, he'll be taking liquid meals tomorrow, at least 2 and if he handles that well he'll be moved to semi liquid/solid meals, at least 2 of those and if all goes well solids. They're letting him up and walking without a nurse or aid present, but he's not getting very far right now, but it's progress. Still no idea when he'll be sent home, but I'm hoping it's once all goes well with the solids, so if you count the meals starting tomorrow, Sunday would be optimistic at this point.

He is still very cuddly, and we took a long nap together today. He's ready to leave but he knows that he can't until he can handle solids. I did leave the GameBoy with an assortment of games with him today.

On the knitting front, because DH is being cuddly and alert, there really isn't much time for me to knit at the hospital, but I'll gladly give up my knitting if it helps him heal faster.

Times like this you learn who your true friends are. My SnB group, has been incredibly supportive, following his progress here on the blog and in sending their support via the comments section, as well as at our weekly group "therapy" meeting. My friends on Fertility Friends, my family, and yes even DH's family (who don't think I'm right for him) have been very supportive of both of us. Members of DH's paintball team, have send their well wishes, and some have even come to visit him. But there is one friend in particular who I would like to metion.

I have a very dear friend, who has been incredibly supportive of me during this time, and I am absolutely amazed by her strength. I know this is a very bad time of the year for her, frought with very sad anniversaries, including the anniversary of the loss of her DH and oldest son, yet she has been extremely supportive of me, and has let me babble on endlessly and generally helped me to keep a foot on the ground. She reminds me to eat and to at least try to get some sleep. I really don't know what kind of mess I would be if it weren't for her constant support, whether it be time to knit over coffee, in chat, email, on the phone, she does manage to find the time to listen to me even when she is still grieving her losses. To her I send many many thanks, I can never express how thankful I am for her support during this time, and I will always remember it, even if we do end up on opposite coasts. I will miss her dearly when I move to Seattle, maybe I can convince her she needs to move to Seattle too. To that dear friend, you know who you are and I do want you to know how much I do love you and appreciate your support, and I do wish I could be there more for you during your time of grief.

I am a sock knitter....

2006-09-20T20:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, with pair #3 I will admit I am a now a sock knitter.

But first another update on DH. They had to pump his stomach because his body wasn't absorbing anything he had taken orally. The are taking the pump out tonight and he'll be on liquids tomorrow. Hopefully, this time his body will start doing what it's supposed to do. His heart rate is good as is his BP. His white cell count is nearly back to normal today, so the antibiotics are doing their job. He is at the point where he is one frustrated patient, but that's a good sign if you ask me, it means he's better enough to be frustrated. Today, he even insisted on some cuddle time. So I climb up into his bed and cuddled, and actually got in a short but restful and much needed nap in his arms :). I know it's a bit mushy, but considering it's the first time we've been able to cuddle since he got sick, it's a wonderful step. (The latest update as promised to Dim Sum Knitter)

And now back to the knitting content:

Yes another pair of socks. I put them on the only model available to me at this time...ME. The are a little on the big side for me, but they will fit the intended undisclosed recipient.

Pattern: It's the Cat Bhordi sock pattern in the latest issue of Vogue Knitting, which I can't find right now, so I cant find the name of the pattern. They are toe up socks.
Yarn: A little over 1 ball of trekking XXL knit double stranded.
Needles #6
Alterations: I did follow the pattern but I stopped the repeats after 2 repeats, said recipient doesn't like long socks, so these will work beautifully.

No I'm not really speeding along on the knitting, these were actually off the needle before I cast on the PNW shawl, it just took me this long to get around to sewing down the picot edging on the cuff. I am terrible at getting around to the final finishing, and these are a X-mas present so there was no hurry, but after giving Knit Devil advice to just do it, I had to finish these socks just to set a good example. That's a hint Knit Devil, do the finishing on that sweater, I know, socks are not a sweater but ya know what I mean *wink*

Pacific Northwest Shawl done

2006-09-18T16:04:00.000-07:00

First an update on DH. He was moved to a cardiac unit Sunday morning, he is looking better, he has color again, even the doctor commented on it :). He is able to get out of bed on his own, but they want him to keep that particular activity down to only when he needs to go to the bathroom because his heart rate is still high. Doc says maybe Friday he can come home. Is it Friday yet?

Many many thanks to the wonderful stitchers in the Pasadena Day timers, this is what the Little Knits GC ended up as:

Here's the PNW shawl in all it's glory, being stretched to within an inch of it's life. It's a big one, that is a double bed it's spread on.

And a close up for more detail:

Pattern: Fiber Trends Pacific Northwest shawl
Yarn: Sea Silk 2 skeins Colorway: Lily Pond
Needles #6

This one took me a little over a week and a half to finish. I really can't believe that's all it took, but I've been in a knitting groove this last week. The edging, all those shells, well 75% of those were done at the hospital. Still not quite sure how I managed to knit so much lace under so much stress, but there is the end result.

I jinxed my life!

2006-09-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, so after that last post my life went on fast forward and high stress. We got 2 more offers on the house, one we rejected, the other we countered on. We went into escrow on Friday, looks like we'll be moving by the end of October. That's not the jinx part, that's the good news.

Now the jinx part, I spent the better part of last night first in the ER then in an OR waiting room. DH's appendix ruptured, and had to be removed Friday night, just gotta love emergency surgury. The up side to this is I've managed to make some major knitting progress, well ok, it would have been major if I hadn't been tinking or ripping every row and reknitting it 2, 3 or 4 times. The sea silk PNW shawl would have been done, but again with the counting thing. My advice and lesson learned, don't work on lace while in an extremely high stressed situation. Same thing goes for Lady E, she's been knit on and reknit on and reknit on. Take all that reknitting and add it up and it would likely equal 2 FO's. As it is, they're still UFO's.

All I'm asking for here, is that you keep DH in your thoughts, and prayers to what ever god you believe in. I'm sure everything will be fine... but... it can't hurt right?

Oh when does that mysterious order from WEBS count against my ticker. I found an email receipt from about 2:30 am this morning, when I checked my email after a dismal 2 hours of sleep. Does it count when I get it? Does it count from today? Do I not count it and just chalk it up to the delerium of having spent a good 6 hours in ER waiting to find out what's going on, then another 3 hours waiting to find out how the surgury went?

Nothing new

2006-09-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

I know I've been negligent in posting but there really isn't anything new to post. My life is in a holding pattern until we sell this townhouse.

There has been knitting, but no new FO's. No new yarn purchases. Really quite boring to be me right now. There simply is nothing happening, so please forgive me for not posting, I'm sure something will happen soon.

On the UFO front, I'm working on Fiber Trends Pacific Northwest Shawl and I'm using Hand Maiden's Sea Silk the color way is Lily Pond and considering I'm desperately waiting to sell this house to get to the PNW (Seattle to be a bit more specific), it's an appropriate project to be working on now. The bulk of the shawl is complete and I'm working on the edging, so there should be an FO posted soon, I hope.

I'm also working on Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style using one of Rowan's new yarns, Tapestry in colorway 123, whirlpool. So far this knit has been an absolute delight. I love the way the colors are coming out, this yarn is perfect for Lady E. SOFT...This yarn is so soft. I'm about 3/4 of the way through this one, again another FO soon.

It's just a matter of which one is going to be done first. There are several WIP's going on as well, but these 2 are my main ones for now.

My Seattle Haven

2006-09-02T15:07:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot that I didn't post these pics. This is my father's pride and joy, his back yard.

I particularly like this section. When I was growing up there were 2 big Fir trees back in this corner. You can still see the stump from one of them, it's got the basket and shells on it. It's a wonderful place to photograph yarn, to bad I didn't think of that while I was there.

Same corner of the yard from a different angle.

There is this lovely patio that dad is in the middle of redoing to sit on and enjoy the the view and just plain relax.

And here is a close up (well closer up) of the bench of plants along the lower portion of the deck.

Such a relaxing back yard. The grass is a bit on the brown side, but it's August and it costs a fortune up there, just as it does down here, to keep a grass green. The rest of the year it's green, but I'd rather see it green 9 months out of the year and see my parents conserving water.

FO's from my trip to Seattle

2006-08-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

Yes I'm back from Seattle and now have a real connection to the internet. Granted I've been back for a few days now, but it's just occuring to me that I haven't posted at all since I got back.

The Manos that DH bought me on our Anniversary trip, or was it my B-day trip, either way, I finally plowed my way through the Marigold, which was a chore in itself, since it's not a color that I was fond of, but it did turn out rather nice with the green, if not a bit 70's'ish.

Here's Thelma trying out the bed before I could get it felted.

Here's Thelma after the felting. Louise wouldn't touch the bed pre-felted, but then it took me a couple days to get her to "allow" Thelma to jump in so i could take a pic comparing the bed with the same cat in it. I think this one is definately Louise's bed. Thelma is scared to go near it when Louise has decided to use it. I have a feeling there was a little bit of Louise exerting her Alpha feline position over this bed.

For my cousin, I knit up these beaded cuffs, they were a very quick knit even on size 0 needles and fun to do, despite the stringing of the beads. She loved them :) Happy B-day dear cousin.

Mom went with me to Hill Top Yarns East and oohh'd and ahhh'd over the choker sample, so of course I had to go back to Hill Top Yarns (the Queen Anne store is closer to where I was staying) and buy the yarn and knit this choker and bracelet for her without her knowing, not an easy feat since I was staying at their house, but I got it done behind her back and she loved the set. I did get a nice surprise, because the yarn was 50% off when I went back to pick it up at the Queen Anne store.

And last but not least, the first FO, yes these are listed backwards, Jay Walker socks from Mag Knits Sept '05 issue. When I found this sock yarn in my stash, I couldn't remember buying it or why I would buy these particular colors, they are not my normal color combination choice. But when I was knitting them, I figured out they would be perfect for my mother, and I was right. I cast them off, she tried them on and despite the fact it was 75 degrees in Seattle at the time, she proceeded to find shoes she could wear with them and went out wearing wool socks. I do believe she likes them.... a lot.

That's about it for the FO's from Seattle.

I did put up a new yarn buying ticker, but it's been reseet after 10 days, since I found the perfect yarn to go with the alpaca that came back from Peru with mom. I did pay for it, but it's on order and will be shipped as soon as it comes in, so no pics of that yet. Since I did pay for it in full today, my yarn ticker will be reset. No goal in mind this time around, just a means to keep track. It will probably be rest tomorrow since DH is playing in a paintball tournement, so I get to go yarn shopping, hopefully on him, but we'll see.

I was driving up the I5 and lookie what I found...

2006-08-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

I know I know I haven't been posting, but this DU is so slow, I was going to wait until I got to a faster connection before taking pics of all my stash enhancements, a couple FO's and some general vacation pics and spread that out over a short period of posts.

But this was worth waiting for the DU connection to post.

I was driving up I5 today, about 45 minutes North of where I'm staying, half way to the Canadian boarder, well ok maybe 3/4ths the way. Anyway, I'm driving and look over, and what did I see on the side of the freeway:

Misty Ridge Alpaca Ranch to be exact.
A little blurb about Alpacas posted in front of these littles guys.

They must have thought I had food because they came right up to me, the little beggars.

This guy is in another paddock, he saw me coming from a bit aways because he was waiting when I got there.

This one was a little slower, must be all that fur slowing him down, but none of the others came up to say hi.

They have quite a few Alpaca and I wasn't even out looking for Alpaca, but I know where to find them now if you're ever up this way. I'm sure I'll be visiting them a few times once we're moved up there. The farm even sells their own fiber, both raw and in yarn form, of course I had to buy some, but you'll see that later when I post vacation yarn porn.

FO and stash acquisition

2006-08-07T22:16:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Seattle safe and sound last Thursday night. Spent the night in Medford, sorry no pics, seems I forgot the memory card for my camera in the other computer, but a trip to Best Buy in Salem fixed that :).

I did detour to have lunch with my cousin in Vancouver WA, which turned into an 8 hour 2 meal detour. Her 4 yo daughter talked me into going to see her at her gymnastics class, and of course how was I to say no to my cousin when she wanted to go buy yarn, it was only Joann's but it's still yarn and I do try and encourage her when she gets a bug to crochet something, it's not often. I think I've even got her convinced to try her hand at knitting, we'll see how long that lasts.

Went to my 20 year HS reunion Friday and Saturday night, that was interesting, found some people I had lost and some that I wish were still lost, but c'est la vie. Had a blast none the less, sorry no pics.

FO FO FO....finally and FO.

Yarn: Koigu
Pattern: 2X2 rib, the wandering rib is from a pattern in Loop de Loop, for the tree bark sweater.
Model is my Mom.

Stash Aquisition:

Thank you to the lovely ladies in my PAS SnB group. The GC came in very handy, but I got carried away :) at Little Knits. It's not the store I thought it was. This one is in West Seattle. She only has Store hours on Saturday, the rest of the week it's by appointment. It's run out of a very cute little house, in the middle of a residential neighborhood, but it's zoned commercial/residential. She is just setting up her space, so it's not as organized as she would like it, but she is working on it.

The Damage:
3 skeins of Sea Silk colorway lily pond and 1 skein of Schaefer Yarns 100% cultivated silk - lace weight colorway Edith Piaf.

I have so far managed to go to Acorn Street yarns, that's the store i was thinking of that has the wonderful feel of an old book store, sorry again, no pics, forgot to bring the camera with me. I bought a Dale of Norway pattern there and a pattern for some beaded wrist warmers.

I did also check out The Weaving Works, lots of roving :), but more importantly books, lots and lots of books, I'm not sure i've ever seen that many books in a yarn store, there were 2 walls covered with books.

I went to Barnes and Noble this evening too and picked up the new issue of Vogue Knitting. Of course I had to check out their knitting book selection, and they too have a lot of books. I keep running into knitters here and not just in the yarn store. Wednesday night I'll go check out the Seattle SnB group.

I love my SnB group

2006-07-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, I confess, I got tired of the heat and decided I needed to cool off a bit so I took a little drive to The Black Sheep in Encinitas and the beach of course. So what came home with me, some Reglia Bamboo sock yarn and 2 cones of Habu Textiles Wool Stainless Steel. It really is 75% wool and 25% stainless steel, it's lace weight, but curiosity got the better of me.

I love my SnB group, AKA my weekly therapy session. I showed up today and there was cake and presents. Someone said surprise and I think I asked what's the occasion...LOL. The occasion is my going away, even though I don't have a move date yet, I will be heading up to Seattle, sans DH, for 2-3 weeks, then it's just a matter of time until the house is sold and we move to Seattle for good. We had cake with our weekly knitting goodness.

They gave me presents....me....presents....*sniff* These are some of the sweetest ladies I know. They gave me a $60 GC to Little Knits, which also happens to live in Seattle, I know, I've been there it's an adorable little store. I'll have to take pics to share when I go there in a week or 2.

Back to the presents: A bag that was hand painted by our Joan, 3 candles also pianted by Joan, some stitch markers hand made by Joan...(I'm noticing a theme here), another candle and

some note paper.

And there was the basked, full of coffee, teas, hot cocoa, a glass, a margarit glass, a coffee mug and some ice cream toppings.

More yarny goodness:

3 skeins of Lorna's Laces Sock yarn for less that $6. I know such a steal, well it's not as good as all that I did manage to fill a card on my last vist to Unwind so that was $30 saved right there.

and last but certainly not least, some Blue Sky Aplaca - Aplaca Silk in amethyst.

Wow that's a lot of blog for one day. It's hot and I'm worn out.... back to the knitting.

When I fall....

2006-07-22T16:10:00.000-07:00

When I fall I fall big..... Went to a fishbowl yarn sale yesterday and bought the Mountain colors, Koigu and Debi Bliss Cotton angora in the middle. Some how ended up in Long Beach this morning and 2 skns of Lorna's Laces Helen's lace followed me home.

Ok, so it's starting to look like yarn diets are good, it's the binge buying at the end of the yarn diet that isn't so good.

Mea Culpa

2006-07-17T20:25:00.000-07:00

Bless me knitters for I have aquired stash. It has been 1 month and 1 day since my last stash aquisition.

I did it, I went a month without buying yarn !!!! Don't know how but at least i know I can do it...see it's not an addiction ~~really it is~~ I can stop buying yarn at any time ~~NOT~~.

I wish I had stopped at 2 skeins of Koigu, I was good with the top skein, I only bought 1, but that bottom skein....well I bought 6. So I broke the yarn diet with 7 wonderful skeins of Koigu.

It's not like I planned on going to buy yarn, I actually left the house this morning to have my car serviced. Marie (TC) came out while I was waiting for my car and we went to coffee. Who put Unravelled between Starbucks and the Honda dealer? Somehow or another on the way back to the Honda dealer to pick up my car Marie's car stopped at Unravelled and well now we know what happened.

In my defense, there is an FO :).

One pair of toe up socks for DH. He likes his socks short, but since their dress socks and I like those fairly long, we compromised and came up with these. Simple 2X2 rib, worked toe up.

Llama Llama Ding Dong

2006-07-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

May I proudly present Llama Llama Ding Dong. I know it's a strange name, but he's been called llama by Marie and I now for a few days in chat and last night he became a ding dong, not quite sure how that all happened but here he is.

The yarn is llama and hand spun, the pattern is from Fiber Trends and it took me all of 1 day and 2 nights to knit this quick knit. I'm in love with my LLDD.

So I got a little carried away....

2006-07-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

I finally went out and checked out Stick and Stone last week, and look what followed me home.

From left to right: Baby Alpaca- black; Cashmere/Silk; Baby Camel/Silk; Optim; and the last 3 on the right are Merino/Tussah Silk (I think I'll ply the last 3 together)

I took a trip down to La Petite Knittery, Lori Lawson of Capistrano Fiber Arts Studio had bins and bins of fiberery goodness. Again from top left to right then bottom left to right: Extrafine Merino/Bombyx Silk - Colorway "Limited Edition"; Merino/Tussah Silk - Colorway "Nosegay"; Merino /Bombyx Silk/Angora - Colorway "Bordeau Marl"; Merino/Tussah Silk - Colorway "Tahitian Pearl"; Merino/Kid Mohair "Blue Bird";Merino /Bombyx Silk/Angora - Colorway "Tiger Lily Marl"

Ok, so I got a little carried away this week. Maybe it's time to add a counter for roving up top too, it really has helped me not to buy yarn.

sigh

2006-07-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad just got back from Peru. Before they left I asked Mom to pick me up some Alpaca, should she run into any. They went to a farm and look what they brought back for me. This is hand spun on spindles by the women as they walk around doing their daily duties, in true Peruvian fashion. There are no labels, and there wasn't enough in any one color so Mom picked me up "a few pretty colors". The yarn is in Seattle and will remain there until I go up in August, hence the *sigh* Since Mom wouldn't mail it to me and is making me wait I did ask her to send me a pic of the yarn, and now I want to get my hands on it even faster. I really don't know what the weight is, but am told that the balls are 3-4 inches in diameter.

House is being listed...

2006-06-30T22:41:00.000-07:00

We met with our realtor tonight and signed a ton of paper work. The Town house is going in the MLS listings tonight, and we're planning an open house for 7/8. Wish us luck! I know the sooner it sells, the sooner we move. It's both good and bad, since we really do want to be home in Seattle, but it's bad in that I'll be leaving a wonderful group of friends :(.

LaLa Scarf

2006-06-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

Presenting LaLa from the book Greetings From the Knit Cafe in all her glory pinned out and blocking.

I used Feza Kid Mohair, there are 275 yards in a ball. The label says it weight approx .88 oz, but my scale isn't that accurate, both the scarf and the remainder of the ball weight .4 oz, so it's about half of 275.... 137.5 yards for the scarf as it is in the pattern.

Next one I do, I will add more repeats and make it longer. As written in the book it really is just an accent scarf.

Edited to add: As Marie pointed out in the comments, this is made with 1 ball of yarn, the yarn is verigated so all the color changes come from the yarn itself. Thanks Marie for pointing that out.

No knitting content.

2006-06-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

This is what my desk used to look like, no wonder I rarely used my desk top.

Well after a bit of organizing and purging, I found my desk. Amazing what little attention my desk needed to be a desk again.

Here's Thelma playing her little game of peek-a-boo. I swear my cat thinks she's not a cat, she sits and rolls over on command too.

Off the wagon I fall...

2006-06-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

Marie is keeping me honest, and Mary caught me being honest. Yes I did fall off the yarn buying wagon, but for good reasons and I did reset my ticker to relfect falling off the wagon. I also managed to stay on that wagon for 12 whole days. I even went to a couple yarn stores and bought no yarn durning that time. Pasadena Daytimers SnB, my weekly group therapy, has been around for a year now and we are getting together for lunch and a KAL, we're knitting the LaLa Scarf from Greetings From the Knit Cafe

3 balls of Feza Kid Mohair. I was good this is all i bought. Needles don't count since they are tools and not yarn and I only bought the set seen in the pic.

Ok, now that I'm back to square one, and DH is wondering if I'm sick, he gave me a little bit of money to spend on yarn while he's off doing his paintball thing Saturday. We'll see if I go get a pedicure and a manicure or buy more yarn. I really need to get the pedicure and manicure, but I want to get more yarn (i really don't NEED more) We'll see just how far I can stretch the little bit of money he gave me. Don't worry I will be honest and update my ticker if I do buy yarn this weekend.

Yarn Candy

2006-06-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

On the yarn crawl I picked up some wonderful roving at La Petite Knitterie.

I did remember to actually take a picture of the roving...but just barely. I had spun all but what is in the pic before I remembered....blog....camera...pic, but you get the idea. It started out like this:

This is Hand Painted Rovings by Lori Lawson of Capistrano Fiber Art Studio. Unfortuantely I can't remember the colorway, but it is approximately 2.0 oz and it's Alpaca/Merino Wool/Tussa Silk (50/30/20)

And this lovely yarn is what I ended up with. It is approx. 130 yards. 10wpi, so that makes it a worsted weight yarn, and it is wondefully soft. This is the best pic I could get, and I still don't think it does justice to the colors.

I'm thinking it either wants to become wrist warmers or a narrow drop stitch scarf, I haven't quite decided yet, we'll see what it finally turns out to be.

Group Therapy Field Trip...

2006-06-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

...in other words my weekly group therapy....Knitting with the Pasadena SnB group, decided to take a field trip. We went on a yarn crawl in the OC yesterday. I haven't yet taken pics of my acquisitions...Yes I do realize I'm still owing on the last post, but I'm cleaning, organizing and packing and in the midst of all that I keep forgetting to take pics.

This yarn crawl has resulted in me deciding to go on a yarn buying fast, hence the newly added ticker, you can get and customize one at Ticker Factory. Oddly enough I knew about Ticker Factory even before it went live, I am a guide at Fertility Friend and have been for years and know the owners, Ticker Factory actually sprung from the message boards at FF and grew to the point where the founders/admins of FF decided they needed another site. As a member of the guide team, I get to preview new developments before they go live. Oh where was that thought going....oh yes...I knew about way back before it went live, but it wasn't until Marie (The TC one, sometimes it's hard having a friend with the same name) pointed it out to me on someone else's blog that I ever thought to use it as a yarn purchase ticker. So far so good, 1 day and no urge to go acquire more yarn, we'll see how long that lasts.

I arrived at Yarn Lady to find Mary and Melise already debating about yarn in the play pens at they're June Bag Sale. No worries it was still early, and even as I was checking out the busy workers there were loading more yarn into the "play" pens.

The sorting....

My take, less one bag of white Lullaby. A bit more than I expected to spend, but it's still not the most I've spent at a Bag Sale, and Mary did spend more than me, I think she held the record there.

At this point, the batteries in my camera decided to die on me, so you'll have to enjoy the rest of the pics at Mary ,Jillian and Teresa's blogs. Honestly, my camera is a good camera, it's just a little thing that doesn't ring, which why I have so many problems with it....I can't call it to find it so I rarely remember where it is, but when I have it, I forget that it needs batteries.

After that we went to lunch, needed to refuel for the rest of the day. Over lunch we went to a lovely little knittery called, La Petite Knittery, I had been there once before, and fell in love with the roving they have. This trip, I fell in love with the hand painted yarns. The owner of the store is very helpful, and grateful to have our little troupe stop in, none of us left empty handed. Definitely a store I hope to visit again, before I move back to Seattle. I will take pics of what I bought there, but it's 2 skeins of hand painted, 2 balls of lace weight silk and 2 bags of roving.

After taking pics, we were off and running again, no at this point I guess I hadn't spent enough money, because I ended up buying some Rowan Denim and some DMC crochet thread at Velona Needlecraft. A veritable warehouse of yarn, thread, books, and crosstitch supplies. This was only my 2nd trip there, but it still is a bit overwhelming, row after row of yarn on shelves that seem to go to the ceiling, they may have actually gone that high, but I'm not really sure. Definitely a place to explore over the course of several trips. Luckily we had Madge(who is sadly blogless) to guide us through the store, she is a Velona Vetran.

What good is a group knitting therapy trip without stopping to knit and chat. We drove to the other side of the parking lot, it really was hot and we had done quite a bit of yarn shopping at this point, to stitch and bitch for a bit while restoring our energy for the trip home at Starbucks.

All in all a very worthwhile Yarn Crawl and I'm glad I didn't bail out at the last minute, DH's wasn't so happy when he heard how much I have spent... he hasn't seen the bags of yarn yet and I don't thing he will see it all at the same time, well at least not in a way he can tell when I bought the yarn.

That's a lot of yarn

2006-05-23T22:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry all no pics.

I just finished spinning 10 oz of llama and it's downstairs hanging to dry. It's roughly 380 or so yards, which really surprised me. My spinning is getting better....i think, which is kind of hard to do right now. I sat down to spin a little this afternoon, and ended up not stopping, so now the skein is drying.

Oh, I did do some Stash enhancement, I'll take pics in the next day or 2 and post them. I had to use some of my Bday discounts. Luckily DH had a Paint Ball tournement near LBC, which resulted in a trip to Almitos Bay Yarn Company. Take was 2 balls of Katia Jamaica in purples/pinks/white(verigated) 3 balls of Trendsetter Super Kid Seta - Animal Print and 2 skeins Lorna's Laces Sock yarn - Uptown teals/purplse and pink verigated. Yes, that last is Sock yarn, I have tried to avoid making socks, I don't like making socks, but they seem to be sucking me in, I suppose someday I could actually like making socks, they are sucking me in, I really like the 2 socks on 2 circs method, it helps me to avoid the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome.

But my stash enhancing didn't end there. Yarn Lady just started offereing a 10% Bday discount recently and of course DH handed me the post card entitling me to that discount last night. I took that as a mandate to take a trip down there today and take advantage of the discount....DH didn't know (but I'm sure he will when he reads this) that I went and brought home 8 skeis of Debbie Bliss's Pure Silk in mauve.

FO and a new "tool"

2006-05-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

I know I know, I'm such a bad blogger. I really haven't had much to blog about. I'm happily unemployed :), my last day was Friday 5/12. There's money in the bank and more coming as soon as the paperwork I just turned it gets processed, so I'm not worried about fiber aquisition for the time being.

I did finish the Caftan Pullover from the Spring 2006 issue of Interweave Knits, last Thurday, but just now finally got around to taking a pic of it.

Monday was my B-day and I got myself a present (with help from DH, Mom, Dad and my former employer :). I took a trip back up to Solvang, this time I took my car and not the other way around, but I still forgot the camera. I'm going to have to nail that thing to my hand if I'm ever going to remember it.

So what did I come home with....well no roving this time around, but I did come home with a Lendrum Folding Spinning wheel, double treadle, complete with a fast flyer, a plying flyer and bobbin, and a tensioned lazy kate with 3 additional bobbins for a total of 4 bobbins. WHOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!

That baby sings, she's smooth and flies great, I do believe I will be quite happy with this wheel for a long time to come. I am still spinning llama on the Louet, but after that's done we'll see if it will stay or not. Regardless I'm quite happy with both wheels, but happier with the Lendrum.

a dapper teddy bear

2006-05-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

Teddy, yes that really is his name, I know, I know, not very creative, but I didn't name him, the little girl that gifted him to me named him, who am I to change it, besides he likes it very much. Anyway, Teddy is just helping me out here. It's the sweater that he's wearing that I'm showing off. From One Skein, this Baby Bolero is meant for a precious baby boy due at the end of June.

So, as promised, a bit late, but here none the less, my aquistions from Solvang.
One can never have enough tools (or so I'm told and so inclined to believe) I purchased a Staunch Jumbo Ball Winder, the ball next to it is 17 oz of yummy chenille. Yes that is just over 1lb of yarn in a ball, the ball winder works quite well.
This yummy lucious 4oz ball of goodness is 80% Merino and 20% Angora.

Here we have in "pewter" one very large ball (1.72 lbs) of Merino roving. I think it's going to be a sweater...or something, we'll just have to wait and see what it wants to become once it breaks out of it's cocoon and grows into yarn.

I'm back to working on Dad's Golf Shirt yet again, we'll see how long it lasts this time. On the Caftan Tunic, the back and front are done, I'm making quick trips over to Sleeve Island, once those sleeves are done I can do the inserts and finish it off. Sounds so easy when I put it that way doesn't it. Also OTN is a scarf for the mom of the precious baby boy that is getting the bolero. I'll be casting on some bibs for the baby, and face towels for everyone, then boxing it all up and it will work it's way to Beaverton OR. I would love nothing more than to deliver the whole bundle personally, but baby is due a month before I'll be in the area, so I'm thinking a quick quilt and will just hand deliver that when I go up to Seattle for my reunions in August.

I got my tote :)

2006-04-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

I have finally reached the end of my quest for a moebius tote. Finished it Friday, but DH had the pic on his camera and just gave it to me tonight...finally.

i'm weaving in the ends on yet another FO, the Baby Bolero from One Skein. Pics of that tomorrow when I have better lighting.

Oh my car kidnapped me Friday and took me up to Solvang. My car didn't give me any notice and fogot to bring my camera, so i don't have any pics. I did tell my car that the next time she decided to do something like that to at least talk to my camera and give it a chance to come next time. I am in love with Solvang, it's a quaint little town. More on that tomorrow when I take pics of what came home with me.

almost forgot this FO

2006-04-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

Opps I almost fogot to post this FO. Thank you Melise for reminding me. This was a special request from my DH, so I knitted it up for our Anniversary, he absolutely loves it.

I hate fringe, and I avoid it at all costs. But DH insisted that finge was called for in the pattern. Of course it wasn't, since the pattern came off the top of my head, and no where in my head does it read "fringe required". The things I do for DH. I did have help with the fringe. I brought the fringless afghan to Pasadena Evening SnB with me last week, and Melise and Marie helped me fringe it, thank you again ladies I owe you for the help.

Recipe for this afghan
Yarn: 8 balls Trendsetter Pandora
9 balls Trendsetter Omega
1 skien of Prism ribbon whose name eludes me.
Needles: US #19
Notions: Crochet hook and VCR box (I think I used the Little Mermaid, but choice of movies is optional)

Using Pandora, cast on 100 sts, knit until you run out of that ball of Pandora, *Change to Omega, knit until you run out of Omega, change back to Pandora and knit until you run out of Pandora, repeat from *

The fringe: wrap Prism around VCR box lengthwise, and snip, repeat for Pandora and Omega. Using crochet hook, add fringe using 1 strand Prism ribbon and 1Omega, alternating with 1 strand Prism Ribbon and 1 strand Pandora.

For the fringe, good company helps, and helpful company speeds up the process ever so much (thanks again ladies, I simply can not thank you both enough for the help, I so detest fringe)

Stash Enhancements

2006-04-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

Spinning is really addicting, and I am addicted. Friday I went out and bought this.

Alpaca/Merino Wool/Tussah Silk (50/30/20)

50% Superfine Alpaca/50% Blue face Leicester Wool

DH and I had a wonderful time down in Encinitas. We took a stroll down the main section of Encinitis and ended up at The Blacksheep where DH bought me this:

5 skeins of Manos del Uruguay. He chose the colors, the marigold (3 skns) will be the main color with the green (2 skns) for accents on another cat bed since Louise had determined that the one I made is her's and will occasoinally share it with her sister, Thelma.

When we got home, look what I found on the door step, 10 oz of Llama:So much for my attempt to keep my roving stash in control, it looks like I'm sliding down that slippery path of a Roving stash.

a swatch, a swatch

2006-04-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, my 2nd ever swatch. I've decided that swatching may be a good thing, I've been tempting the fates for a bit too long, I've only ever done one other swatch and that was only because I didn't have a pattern for the sweater I was knitting at that time.

So, in honor of my newly turned ~~swatch~~ leaf, I'm posting a swatch of none other than the Berroco Ultra Silk I found on my door step yesterday. My stitch gauge is right on, but the row gauge is a row off, but since the pattern follows measurements for the rows instead of a row count, it should be all good.

With no further ado:

DH and I are going away for the weekend, and there are 2 yarn shops fairly close to the hotel. DH, being the wonderful man that he is, and having a proper respect for my knitting/fiber addiction, has decided that he's going to take me on a mini shopping spree to the LYS. I'll post my new stash enhancements when we get back.

I love UPS....

2006-04-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

I love UPS, especially when they drop off a box :). Here's what I got in my box today:

20 balls of Berroco Ultra Silk. I'm planning on knitting the Caftan Pull over from the Spring 2006 issue of Interweave Knits.

Non Knitting Content
Well it's kind of non knitting content. I got laid off this week, so it's kind of knitting content because it will give me more time to knit. This really isn't a bad thing, it's more an opportunity. DH and I have been planning to move to Seattle early next year, this just steps up our plans. For now, I'll be working until 5/12, then I can start packing up all this yarn and sorting through who knows what we've collected since we moved to California almost 6 years ago. So instead of moving in a year, we are now trying to move sometime in the next 6 months.

But as I said, I'll now have plenty of knitting time, and even better yet, I'll actually be able to not only knit sweaters, but knit sweaters that will be worn this winter :).

Comment Response

2006-04-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

From Mary

Congrats on completing your first skein of yarn from start to finish! I can't wait to fondle it and see it knit up. What do you have in mind for it?

Thank you Mary. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it, I have another half spool of spun from the same roving, so I'm going to see what kind of yardage I get from it, then decide where to go from there.

From Mercene (who is ~~sadly~~ blogless)

Wow.....you are becoming a blog queen :-) Thelma kitty is a felt queen!

I am and always will be a princess...to much responsibility with the title queen. I like princess, all the benefits without the responsibilities *wink*.

Thlema does love that felt. There is a moebius basket ~~gone awry~~ that Thelma has turned into a toy/portable bed for when Louise has decided to be a hog and not share the felted kitty bed. I think Louise is more the queen, but occasionally let's Thelma think she is... Thelma knows better.

Camera found

2006-04-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

Found the camera, then needed to find the memory stick. Found that in the computer, silly place for it, since I can't very well take pictures if it's in the computer. Camera decided to rebel further, I turned it on and off it went, repeated this process a few times....Oh yeah, batteries are a good thing for a digital camera.

Ok after all that Thelma decided to help with the pics of the purse that was supposed to be a tote.

Couldn't work my way around her so I'm posting with her "enjoying" her new toy. She really does love felt. I've discovered it doesn't matter where I put the cat bed she will find it. She's taken to attacking it before her naps.

Here's a pic of my Niddy Noddy that DH finished Sunday night, he is just wonderfully handy to have around.

So I got home from work and put the niddy to good use, it was quickly broken in with my first skein of yarn spun by my very own hands.

It's almost dry, so I threw it up on the swift to finish drying.

Ok, camera is in the top drawer of the night stand, memory card has been returned and it has fresh batteries. Hopefully I'll remember where I put it next time I need it, but posting it's location here should help, if it doesn't I'm sure the Other Marie (TC one) will remind me where it went *wink*

Update...no pics camera's hiding again.

2006-04-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

I really need to do something about that camera, it likes to play hide and seek. I wish I could blame the kitties, but they don't like to play with the camera. It's just me ~~throwing~~ putting the camera down somewhere and not remembering where I last saw it. Did I mention, I'm not very organized.

DH finally put my niddy noddy together this weekend, and even stained it a nice natural color for me. This is good because I filled my first spool yesterday, and I'm dying to take it off the spool. So I have a date with the spool of spun yarn and the niddy noddy when I get home from work today :). If I can find the camera, hopefully with a memory stick in it, so I don't have to hunt that down too, I'll have pics of my first real hand spun yarn :).

For some reason Saturday, I felt the need to crochet, and not just anything, it was lace I was craving to do. So I hunted down my tiniest crochet needles, not an easy feat, they were hiding in the back of the bottom of a drawer that no one ever uses in my house. Searched high and low for crochet thread, found that in the bottom of a box in the back corner of a closet (it's been a while since I've wanted to find that) and started hooking away at of all things a doily. I'd love to say it's half done, 18 rows out of 32 done, but it's more like 1/3 if that, since the darned rows keep getting longer, every time I finish one. I don't even know what I'm going to do with a doily, all my ideas are going on where.
end table - don't have any

End table - we don't have any
Coffee table - see end table
Dining room table - we have one, but it's under a mountain of stuff, including yarn, fabric and 1 of my 2 sewing machines.
Night stand - I'd have to find that under the hill of stuff on there

I can just see myself walking around my house for hours once this doily is done trying to figure out where to put it. Maybe I'll just find someone who wants to adopt my doily.

Oh, I did felt yet another bag, still didn't turn out big enough to be a tote, back to the drawing board, this time, I'll throw more yarn at it and less hot water. This last one hung to the grown from my shoulder before I felted it. Yet another reason I need to find my camera.

OTN

I'm still working on the surprise present, at the rate I'm going it will be done on time *knock on wood*
Dad's shirt is not getting anywhere quickly, I think I may be time to take some drastic action and actually work only on it (nononono, I really didn't say that).
Tank top from the spring issue of IK.
Felted case for my Denise needle set
A wrap around shrug from Wrap Style, it's green in the book and called Green something, I can't remember the something, but it uses the honeycomb stitch and I'm doing it in lavender.

Moebius

2006-03-28T14:52:00.000-08:00

It seems my addiction of late has foucused on Moebii. This not a new concept to me, I've done several moebius scarves in the past. Without further ado... I've finished yet another purse. The bear on the stairs dediced to help me take a pic of it. See how nicely, he poses there, nice and still, not like Thelma who likes to move a lot. Have to be quick when using Thelma in pics, but Mr Bear is very easy to work with.

The scarf with a hood I've been working on for my cousins daughter has stalled. It's being suitably punished in a corner while I try and figure out how to get a hood on there. 2 tries and it simply doesn't want to cooperate.

I cast on yet another Moebius purse, hoping it will felt out to a tote size, I suspect it will, but one never knows when it comes to trusting that precious knit to the washer.

I'm still working on the other thing that's hiding in my bag, I'll get pics up once it's been gifted, since the recipient reads this.

There was a scarf in my bag, it was supposed to be a gift, but I didn't like how it was turning out, so off it went...hippity hoppity to the frog pond. The intended recipient, instead got a set of Denise Needles....Happy B-day Mercene :).

So that puts me at 2 projects in the bag...hmmm that means room for 3 more. Now the hard decision, do I start something new, or should i just grab something that's already OTN. Oh well let me know what you think and I'll let you know what happens.

Kitty cuteness

2006-03-21T16:20:00.000-08:00

Oh look what I found when I came home from work The kitty in the front is Louise and Thelma is the one who looks like she doesn't have a care in the world.

Looks like they figured out how to share the bed, so I'm not as pressed to WIP out another one.

No I'm not being a mean mommy, the really like to be that close together, they always have.

We adopted Thelma and Louise (those are the names they had when we adopted them and they stuck) through Cats in Need, a "non-profit/no kill" pet adoption organization. They came from a household with several cats and were severly neglected. DH and I saw an empty cage with a moving bed and decided that that the kitties under that bed needed us, we didn't even know they were tabby's. The came home with us and hudled under the bed for days. Thelma finally came around to whip cream, and she hasn't crawled back in her shell since. Louise, on the other hand is my skitty kitty, she is still shy and jumpy, while she doesn't hide under the bed often anymore, she does demand attention but you can't make it look like it was your idea, it's always her idea. Both still run from strangers, but Thelma will run up to you eventually, Louise will stay hidden.