Boring is Boring

Wow, I'm completely lacking in the blog department. No thoughts, no witty stories, nothing! Actually I don't have a lot of knitting to blog about either. I've been working on my sisters scarf and can't seem to put it down so it's the only thing I've really knit on since I started it the other day. It's made out of Malabrigo so can you really blame me.

Here's a not so glamorous shot of it in progress.

There's about 40" complete with another 15-20" or so to go.I'll get a better picture of it after I'm done with it.The scarf will probably be done and in the mail by Wed at the latest. Then I'll head back to the two pair of socks I have on the needles or finish up the last 8 rows of my Bee Field shawl.

After a lot of contemplating and some major thinking I've decided that my spinning wheel is neglected way to much. Knitting is my one love and I can't seem to split time between knitting and spinning. So I've sold off some of the fiber I had purchased and am now looking for a new home for the wheel.

It's an Ashford Traveller, double treadle, single drive with a clear lacquer finish. I'm asking $450 plus shipping of choice. I've posted out on Ravelry but thought I'd see if there's a spinner who reads the blog who may love the wheel and give it the attention it deserves.

I did receive some goodies in the mail.

I made a small purchase from Woolgirl. I was after the square needles to try so I bought a pair of size 8's and to justify the shipping I threw in a skein of Neighborhood Fiber Co Watershed sock yarn. It's a seacell sock yarn. Colorway is: Sheridan Circle. I really like the Square needles. The cable is very flexible....way more then Knit Picks circular cables and I thought theirs was the most flexible. The only problem I've had is the joins catching on the yarn I was knitting. I'm not sure how well these would work for lace knitting but I was knitting a dishcloth and it didn't really bother me. I'm going to pick up a pair for sock knitting to see if I like them for magic loop. The people who seem to be having the most problem are those who are really tight knitters. I only bought one needles because I didn't want to fork out a lot of money just in case I didn't like them.

I think that pretty much sums up my overly exciting week. I have more goodies that should be showing up on my doorstep to include a skein of Sweet Georgia sock yarn and a much anticipated skein of cashmere dk weight yarn from Zen Yarn Garden which will become a very yummy cowl.

Hello World

I'm up in the air over the 10 days it took me to get another blog post out here. It's not my longest quiet period but it's not the shortest either. I wonder if I'll ever get back to regular posts? Probably not. I do have some stuff to share with you so this post will most likely be picture heavy. Sorry in advance to those who have a slow internet connection.

I have a new toy! I got a brand new Apple iMac..... Yes, yes I know, I know, I'm spoiled.....thank you! (takes a big bow to the crowd)

Actually I've been waiting three very long years to upgrade my computer. Other more important things have come up. We ended up going to Helena because there is no where in this town that has
Macs in stock (only special order).....man do I miss Best Buy!!!!

We didn't buy from Apple because our stupid "soon to not be" bank has decided that I'm to stupid to know how to handle my debit card properly and put a very low spending cap on it and then proceeded to tell me that it will take 24 business hours to raise my limit. Plus I really didn't want to wait through the long weekend and I helped support a local business. We asked for the raise increase on our cards only to find out that it won't do us any good because they count all pending authorizations as part of your limit so everything has to clear before the purchase amount is good. They tell us it's for our protection but it's really just there to cover the banks butt. After we found out it that if for some reason we had our wallet stolen and someone used our card that it would take the bank 2-3 weeks (yes weeks!!!) to get the money back into our account we decided it was time to change banks. All this occurred because we wanted to buy an elliptical machine from Amazon. The stupid bank told us to use an electronic check since it doesn't have a limit and you can do that with Amazon so we tried but our bank works it so that you have to have both individuals names put into the system for the computer system to accept it but Amazon only gives you the room to put in one name which is what any other normal bank requires on a joint account. So here I am still waiting to spend my money because my bank doesn't think I have enough responsibility to manage my money correctly. As a responsible 30 year old adult I really resent the banks need to control me through my money. No this is not a little bank it is a very well know major nationwide bank with the word US in it!

OK, rant is over with! Now it's time to go back to knitting related stuff.

First up is my yummy shipment from The Lord of the Rings Sock Club.

The Unique Sheep didn't disappoint! The yarn sent with this shipment is Foot Prints and the color is Hobbiton. It came with a cool pattern by Lobug Design. If you want to see the pattern knit up head on over to the Ravelry page for a look. All I took a pic of was the yarn. We also got the pattern, tea, and a button.

I've picked up a few skeins of yarn here and there from Ravelry destashes.

The top pic is of two skeins of Shelridge Farms soft touch heather sock yarn and the bottom pic is of two skeins of Rowan Cotton Glace. The sock yarn I bought just because I wanted too and it was very reasonably priced. The Rowan Cotton Glace was bought because I have a dress pattern in mind for it to make for Bree. I'm making things easy for myself this year and am making some of the dresses that have a knit top and a cotton fabric skirt. This way I can make several dresses for both girls.

Yummy mmmmmmmmmMalabrigo!

Man do I love thee! Malabrigo is definitely knitters crack! This was also bought with a specific project in mind. Some few months back I promised my sister a scarf. I forgot about the promise and I'm pretty sure I made said promise before the holidays which makes me an even worse sister. Loving sis asked about said scarf the other day and I had one of those head smacking "doh" moments. Do you think this lovely Malabrigo worsted is enough to get me out of the doghouse? The colorway is Oceanos and I bought it from The Loopy Ewe. I'm planning on using the My So Called Scarf pattern (Ravelry)(non Ravelry).

Amidst all the yarn buying I did manage to finish a few things too. Wow, Shock and Awe, what a surprise, I finished something. ;~)

First up is the Inner Truth Scarf (Ravelry)(non Ravelry) that I knit for the Crystal Palace Yarns KAL. I used a little less then 3 skeins of Bunny Hop so I have two more skeins that I need to figure out what to make. I'm thinking I have enough to make one of the girls a hat. I've mailed off the scarf and when they're done photographing it they'll send it back to me.

A dishcloth!

I know, not exactly a challenging project. This was for the 1 Feb Monthly Dishcloth KAL. It's been thrown into the dishcloth pile until someone needs it. If anyone needs some dishcloths or knows someone who does, let me know I'll send you some.

Stripey Stripey socks are done.

I finished these the other day while we were out running around. There's still enough yarn leftover to make a pair of socks for Bree. I've put it in to the leftover sock yarn pile which is getting pretty big now. The yarn is Red Hearts sock yarn Heart & Sole and the colorway is Spring Stripe.

I've also finished one sample sock for Woolgirl and am about halfway through a second sock but I can't show these to you yet.

I started a pair of Baudelaires (Ravelry)(non Ravelry) for the informal KAL in the Makin' Cookies Ravelry group.

There's a KAL going on while waiting for the new CookieA book to be released. I've already pre-ordered my copy right along with the new WendyKnits book.

I'll leave you all with this.

We bought a bouncy ballpit for the girls. Well they paid for part of it with the money they've gotten for holidays and such. They didn't have enough so Shawn and I kicked in the rest so they could get it.

Happy Crafting!

Wow! Time Flies....

when you have sick kids and a house that has gone to pot while taking care of them. Not to say that Shawn doesn't do his part but he works 10hrs a day (sometimes more) so I can only expect him to help so much. I've been playing catch up and haven't had the time or inclination to post out here on the blog. I have been Plurking more so if you're on Plurk let me know and I can add you as a friend. Here's the link to my Plurk page. It's a lot easier to send out a quick plurk then to sit down for a blog post. Both girls are fine now although Bree didn't get as sick as Kaity did....no big surprise there. I'm been feeling run down and yuck so I think I'm trying to get what they had.

It doesn't help that this has been keeping me distracted, my new LG Voyager Titanium came in the other day.

I was finally eligible for an upgrade. Well actually I still had almost two months to go but the fab people at Verizon were kind enough to waive it and let me get the phone. Out of the 3 or 4 different cell phone companies we've used over the years Verizon has to have some of the best customer service. Which in this day and age is hard to find. Course that's a whole "customer service rant" blog post all in itself. Back to the blog post at hand.

Needless to say after this long of an absence from the blog I have a lot to post about. I actually had to pull up the post to see just exactly what I had blogged about.

First up is Lorna's Lace Shepherd Sock, color: Vera.

This was a ravelry trade with Somebunnyslove. Gotta love Ravelry.

Next is the first installment of the Yarntini Happy Hour Sock Club.

The colorway is Mint Chocolatini (variegated sock). The picture doesn't do the colors justice. There was no sun for several days so I had to make do. I haven't decided what I want to make with it so it's marinating in my stash right now. I will be getting a bonus skein of self striping in the Appletini colorway in March with my final shipment. I'm on a self striping yarn kick right now.

My 6th shipment from the 7 Deadly S(p)ins club came in.

We got a beaded fingerless mitt pattern by Sivia Harding, The Unique Sheep House Blend (silk, alpaca, merino blend) colorway is Envy, matching beads, pen, crochet hook, and goats milk lotion. The House Blend yarn is very pettable. I'm contemplating making something for myself with it, maybe a cowl?

Some more yarnie goodness.

I finally managed to catch a Twisted Fiber Art update. I went out to the site to check out some info and low and behold I found an update in progress. I decided to check it out and there is was, my holy grail of yarns, Arial in the colorway Warlock. For once I had money in my PayPal account. The pink skein is a some Lion Brand sock-ease that I bought from a Ravelry destash. I figured the colors were right up Kaitys alley.

Now on to some knitting, first is one complete Cabley Lace sock.

The pattern is Karen's Socks (Ravelry)(non Ravelry). It's a great pattern. I've made a few mods, I'm knitting mine toe up with a short row heel. I've found myself knitting more and more socks toe up. I'm using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock that I won from Knittech's blog contest awhile back. I had originally picked out a beaded sock pattern but it didn't work out. The sock turned out to small. I liked the pattern but I will have to use a slightly thicker sock yarn for it then LL.

Another project I'm working on is the Inner Truth Scarf (Ravelry)(non Ravelry).

This one is for a KAL being sponsored by Crystal Palace Yarns. They sent me the yarn for free and I'm going to knit the scarf in the pattern and then send it back to CPY to have it photoed. They're going to send it back to me when they're done. It sounded like fun so I decided to join in. The yarn is CPY Bunny Hop which is extremely soft and nice to work with. The colorway is Strawberry-Lime, #0432. I wasn't sure how well the cables would show up in the variegated yarn but they seem to be plenty strong enough that they aren't being hidden.

I got another haircut.

This one is a tad shorter then the last one and I like it a lot more. Note to self: trying to take a pic of yourself could lend to chubby looking cheeks. Sheesh. You'd never guess from that pic that I've lost almost 10 pounds. 8.5 pounds to be exact. I'm really missing bread right now but we'll soon be adding whole wheat & whole grain bread back here in the next few weeks.

Wow....ok I think that sums it up for now. That was a long post. I have a few goodies that should be in here in the next day or two and I should have some more progress to show in my next update.

Happy Crafting!

It Never Lasts!

The warm up in the weather was just to good to be true. Actually it was unseasonably warm here with some days hitting into the mid 60's (Fahrenheit that is). That all changed this morning. When Kaity left for school it was 42F outside and in less then 2 hours the temp was registering in the 20s. Sheesh! It appears as if we are going back to the subzero temps again. Anyone wanna remind me why we didn't take those orders to Las Vegas? Their temps are in the 60's for the next 5 days. Oh, I remember now, it was the crime, crowds, traffic, etc. OK maybe I'll keep dealing with the cold.

For those of you wondering, my root canal went great with very little pain afterward. The pain was from the 500 million times I was stuck with the Novocaine needle. Ok, ok, it was more like 6 or so and the dentist was really nice. I still need to get my crown put on but my dentist couldn't get me in until the beginning of next month. I may still have to have one more root canal on a smaller tooth but at least now I know what to expect.

I have done a wee bit of knitting since my last post.

First up is my hat. At least my head will be warm now that the temps are dropping.

My goofy assistant helped model the hat although my head is bigger then hers so the hats a tad to big. The pattern is the Classic World War II Watch Cap (Ravelry)(non Ravelry). The yarn is Tosh worsted and it took about 3/4 of a skein.

Don't you just love those decreases! I still have about 1 full skein and maybe a total of about 1/2 a skein left over between the cowl and the hat. I don't have any plans as of yet for the last skein but I was thinking maybe a nice pair of boot socks. I'm going to let it marinate in my stash for a wee bit.

Dishcloth #2 for the Monthly Dishcloth KAL.

The picture isn't all that great but that's what you get for trying to take a picture when the natural light stinks. There will be a total of 24 cloths by the end of the year. The group knits two cloths each month. It's about the only KAL I can actually stick with. Most are to long and lose my attention quickly.

The stripey-stripey socks are making progress.

They now have heels. I have no idea how long I'll make the cuffs on this pair. I'll knit until I'm tired of them and then start a new pair. I only work on these when I'm in the car which is probably why I haven't gotten tired of them yet.

I've started Shawn's cabled hoodie but I haven't made a whole lot of progress on it. 240+ stitches in garter stitch in the round is slow going. Plus I've set it aside to finish up the test knit I was working on. I'll pick it back up in the next few days.

That pretty much sums up everything here. It's been a little dull. I think it has to do with the diet Shawn and I are on. Basically the first 9 days are a vegetarian type diet and then you slowly add meats and other things back into your diet. There are no really "no-nos" with this diet after you finish all the phases, what it's teaching you is to make proper choices like instead of grabbing a bag of chips for a snack get a piece of fruit or a yogurt and that exercising is important. Not to mention helping you drop the weight. This diet has made me realize a few things: (a) I am not cut out to be a vegetarian. I Like Meat!!! I really really miss meat!!!, (b) I can live without Starbucks but don't want to, and (c) I really miss chocolate but can live without (shock, gasp, I know who would have thought it). 4 More days and I get a reward of a Grande Caramel Frapp from Sbux. I will succeed! I shall be like The Little Engine That Could, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

It appears that we are trying to come down with a head cold. Kaity started it with a stuffed nose and a sore throat and has moved on to a cough. Bree and I are starting to feel yuck too. I'll be back soon with another post. Hopefully I'll have more to update on the hoodie and I know I have some club packages coming in so the post will probably be full of goodies.

Happy Crafting!

It's A Heat Wave

Wow things have really warmed up here. Mid 40's may sound cool to some people but to me it sounds like a heat wave after the bitter cold we had last month. I am going to try to enjoy the warmth while it lasts. You never know when the cold and snow will be back, not that the snow is completely gone. It's piled up so high in some spots (from snowplows, blowers and shoveling) that I swear it'll be there till July. There are some seriously huge mounds of snow out there in some of the parking lots.

We managed to get the root canal issue straightened up and it looks like everything is going to be alright and it's scheduled for this Friday. I was a little worried I was going to have to do the unthinkable and put a skein or two of Wollmeise out on eBay. Do you know that Wollmeise generally goes for around $100 a skein....totally crazy, I know! I don't know about you but I'm not going to pay that much for wool/nylon sock yarn no matter how pretty it is. For $100 it better be special yarn like qiviet. Shoot I wouldn't pay the $50 for a skein of Sweet Georgia yarn (this was the lowest price I found it for after she stopped dyeing yarn) even though I really wanted to try it. I still haven't gotten any of that come to think of it. Oh well! Anyway, I got side tracked, back to what I was saying: thankfully the Wollmeise is safe, the insurance is going to pay for 60%, and we have enough to cover our portion so life is good. Wish me luck!

I have been doing a little knitting. As if there is ever a day when I don't knit! Although I haven't finished any super exciting things.

The first dishcloth of 2009 for Monthly Dishcloth KAL.

 

I'm trying to knit every cloth this year. It's a twice a month KAL with a small handful of rows each day so it shouldn't be to hard.

My socks are making good progress.

 

They are just a basic toe up sock. I've found that casting on two at time socks is much less fiddly when you go toe up. The yarn is Red Hearts sock yarn Heart & Sole.

I finished my Urban Necessity Gloves (Ravelry)(non Ravelry).

 

I really like this glove pattern. It's a quick knit and the fingers were really easy. They're a tad fiddly to work on 6 inch dpns but not impossible. Kinda makes me wish I would have bought the short little glove dpns I saw when I first started knitting. I think they were about 4 inches long. My gauge is a little tighter then the pattern states instead of the 21sts per 4 inches I'm knitting them at 24sts per 4 inches but even with the gauge issues I'm still only knitting the Medium and it's turned out perfect.

I still haven't started the swatches for Shawn's hoodie but I have plans to get those started soon, which is why I added it to my Ravelry projects page. I've also started a hat for Kaity with the yarn from the hat I frogged. The pattern was just way to slow and tedious. Kaity wants a new hat and with the way I was going I would have been lucky to finish for next winter. So I'm going to knit a watch cap for her using both yarns. I'll post a pic when I have more to show.

I'm also working on a test knit for Woolgirl but obviously I can't show that so you'll have to settle for my one and only pitiful yarn acquisition.

 

It's a skein of Opal Brasil, color 5001. I've been wanting this one for quite some time and I found someone destashing on Ravelry before I went to the dentist and found out about my tooth issues. Luckily for me I still have my 7 Deadly S(p)ins club and Yarntini coming in this month, my first Lord of the Rings sock club and Yarntini next month and my final Deadly S(p)ins shipment and Yarntini in March. I'm in no fear of running out of yarn. Thank goodness for the stash. :~)

I've decided to do more charity knitting/crocheting this year. I've picked to knit/crochet Snuggles for my local animal shelter and I want to help a local animal adoption program raise money by making things they can sell. They don't have a shelter, all animals stay in a foster home until they are adopted. They get donated blankies, animal toys, bandannas, and I even seen some potholders that they sell. It doesn't have to be pet related it just needs to be something that will likely sell. They use this money for medical treatment for the animals.

The Snuggles aren't an issue. I have plenty of patterns to pick from and tons of acrylic in my stash and a local wally world to acquire more if I run out. My issue right now is trying to decided what to make that the animal adoption program can sell. I was thinking maybe some dishrags. Does anyone have any ideas?

Happy Crafting!

A Measure of Common Sense

** I actually started writing this on the 3rd of Jan but things got in the way of me finishing my post and it's sat unfinished for the last few days. It's warmed up into the 40's and the snow is melting now....woot! I'm kinda sick of snow right now. We had a record breaking 30.5 inches of snow for the month of Dec....well record breaking for this town anyway. A good 9 inches of that fell in one night. Lucky for us our neighbors borrowed a snow blower and cleared our driveway when they cleared theirs. Shawn was sick when all of this was going on so I would have been the designated shoveler. 9 inches of snow + a bad back and knees = lottsa pain later on.

Today we're going to talk about common sense or lack there of. The stupidity of some people gives me blog fodder so I'm going to run with it. Lets set the scene:

The sun has set, the parking lots have been plowed, although anyone who lives in snow prone areas know that there is still plenty of snow on the ground even though it's been plowed. Anyway back to the set up, the temp is a balmy -10F not factoring in wind chill....I have no idea if there was a wind chill or not my car only give ambient temps. So anyway, you get the picture it's freezing ducks and the ground is slick. Now the sensible lady (that's me) is sitting in her warm car with her heavy winter jacket and warm winter boots happily knitting on her new pair of socks while patiently waiting for her Super Hubby to get back from a quick trip into the store when into the wintery wonderland parking lot drives Pretty Pretty Princess and Hunky Boy Prince in their BMW SUV (no I don't have a problem with people who drive BMWs or SUVs, I drive an SUV). Now Princess and her man step out of their car dressed like they were strolling through LA on a balmy spring day. The sensible lady mutters to herself about the craziness of some people when she notices that Princess is trying to walk through a snowy, icy parking lot in 3 inch heels and a very lightweight 3/4 sleeve jacket. This of course made the sensible lady think WTF! Princess did manage to make it through the parking lot and down the sidewalk without falling. She had a very bony butt so I'm sure it would have really hurt if she fell. The entrance into the store has you going at a downhill slope so it's easy to slip if you're not careful. Cutsie little jacket $200, 3 inch high heels $600, walking through a parking lot while wearing these when its -10F outside, Stupid!

Now that I've had my fun I can move on to the things I've finished knitting and some of the projects I've started.

First up, another stupid monkey.

I should have made one for Bree for Christmas but I didn't think she would want it since she isn't a stuffed animal kid. Boy was I wrong. She kept running off with Kaity's monkey which of course caused fights between the two of them so I cast on for another monkey post haste. I knit this bad boy in a record breaking two days. So now both girls have monkeys and everyone is happy.

I finished my modustar cloth (Ravelry).

This cloth is way bigger then a standard cloth. I gave it to the girls and they're using it as a blankie for their dolls and beanie babies. I'd definitely use thinner yarn if I wanted one about the size of a washcloth/dishcloth. Someone on Ravelry gave me the idea to make these in wool and then felt them down to coaster size. Love it! They would make great gifts and wonderful extras for swaps and such.

I finished moms Errant socks (Ravelry) from the second Mason-Dixon book.

The foot is pretty stretchy but once you get past the heel and start working on the leg there isn't as much give in the socks because of the cables. Hopefully they fit her. Oh well, no point in worrying. If they don't fit mom she can send them to my sis and I can make her a new pair.

I finished my Mocha Chai socks.

These are just a basic toe up sock with k3, p2 ribbing on the foot and leg. The yarn is Crystal Palace Merino 5 print and the color is #9814 (if I remember correctly). I had no problems at all getting a pair of socks out of two skeins for my big foot with a cuff that measures around 8.5 inches long not counting the short row heel. The yarn is a worsted weight (if I remember correctly). At less then $14 for a pair of boot socks, I'd definitely buy it again.

I've also started a few things for myself. I know, I know! It's about time I started something for myself.

I've finished cowl for myself.

The pattern is Forest Canopy Cowl (Ravelry)(non Ravelry) and the yarn is Tosh Worsted, colorway: Jade. This pattern worked up very quickly and the cowl has a nice close fit....very warm!

My Stripey-Stripey socks.

I'm using some Red Heart sock yarn I bought awhile back. I originally picked out a skein of Beyond Basic Knits self striping out of my stash but as it turned out the yarn was variegated and had the wrong label on it. The dyer has kindly offered to swap the skein out for some self striping so I picked the Red Heart to use this time. The yarn isn't to bad. It has the typical feel of a wool/nylon sock yarn. Not super soft but I'm betting it will soften up quite nicely. These socks are going to be bright! I shooting for matchy matchy stripes which isn't as difficult when you are knitting from two 50g skeins.

I'm also planning on starting a pair of Urban Necessity Gloves (Raverly)(non Ravelry) for myself out of some Tosh worsted and the swatches for Shawn's cabled hoodie. This is going to be a big project so I want to knit up a bunch of swatches to wash to see which one will be best. The last thing I want to do is spend all that time on the sweater and not have it fit right.

I'm not making any New Years Resolutions this year. I've never really been big on New Years Resolutions. What's the point, most people never follow them and aren't committed to them when they write them down in the first place. I'm sure there is something new I can add to my knitting bag of tips and tricks. I need to exercise more, lose weight, eat better, etc etc etc. I do want to make more time to really put in the effort to spin. It's been hit or miss for me when it comes to spinning. I will say that if I'm not using the wheel more by the end of 2009 I'll find it a new home where it will be loved and used.

I was planning a big contest this month but with a root canal and crown looming in the very very near future I've decided to put it off. All extra spending has been curbed until that's taken care of. Thankfully we have insurance so part of it will be covered but the portion we have to pay is still going to hurt. The only exception is the few clubs that I'm in since I'm already obligated to continue them and I hate having to back out of things. Plus two of them will be done very soon anyway. Never fear I have plenty of stash to keep me busy and now have confirmation as to why it's good to have a stash. You never know when you might need it.

Happy Crafting!

Happy 2009!

2009 was a  busy year for us. We were still working on getting settled into our new place. We're settled in and looking forward to 2009. On the knitting front I was very busy. Flickr has made it easy to share my 2008 FO slideshow. This does not include pictures of test & sample knits that I did.



I had this big post planned but we were busy yesterday and today is going to be just as busy so the shorter abbreviated version is what everyone is going to get.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Years celebration.

Happy 2009 Everyone!