I'll be Brief

I finished socks




And The B-side is patiently waiting for it's zipper (ordered but not arrived).

I spun today, so my mojo may be back, but it's really too soon to tell.

Stephen King has helped me realize that hate is the root of all evil (not like in person) so I'm going to work on my issues with hating people. I'm already doing better.

Back soon!

Looks Almost like a Sweater!

I've had this irrational anxiety about putting the sleeves on this cardigan. I think it's because I knit the sleeves in the round instead of flat, and that means I had to set a tube in a hole and i was worried that I couldn't do it.

Turns out, no need to be worried. I have one pinned in and it set right in there.



But! I have to finish My February socks before I sew this son of a nutcracker in here. I'm about 30% done with the second sock, so I should be able to manage a finish.

And, I've picked up three sides of the border on the Queen Silvia, so that is nearly there too!

We've had a bit of a long hard week here. This is one of the ways you can tell

I went to the basement to spend some time with my old friend NordicTrak and when I got back upstairs, he was standing in the family room CLEARLY just woken up. I said "just wake up?" He said "No, what?"

Um, yeah ya did.

So I went into the kitchen to get some water boiling for poached salmon and taters. Five minutes later, I walked back into the family room to this. Doesn't that just look like a fabu spot to curl up?

Guess Who's Back On Lace Again

Dear Lace,

Why have we stayed apart so long? I didn't miss you a bit, but once you were back in my lap, well. . . . And why didn't you tell me how much better the nickel needles would work for Nupps?

Love,

Me

I'm on the 16th out of 20 repeats for the center rectangle. Suddenly this piece of lace is just flying!



In a few days I'll be on border, I think!

I also finished a scarf for the Red Scarf Project. I thought maybe if I knit a few throughout the year, I could just pop them in the mail when it comes time this year. It's black, so it doesn't photograph well. I don't really enjoy knitting scarves, so this way I get to space some out over the year, and still do something good for somebody at the end.

I'm ready to put the sleeves on the B-Side too, but first I have things to go out and do. The sun is shining, so time to go and get busy!

Daisies are my favorite

Not surprising that a Gallup Poll found this place to be the second happiest place to live. A bunch of people on a Statewide site had terrible comments to say, but the ones who actually live here mostly had nothing but good to say. So, I guess we're happy if we live here, and everybody else hates us for it? hehehehe. Screw them!


I've got the shawl collar more than half knitted on my B-side and those sleeves are STILL pinned to my blocking board. I kinda screwed them up blockimng them the first time, but I've fixed them now. I may have a finished photo (except for zipper, must order from YKK)anytime now.

Yesterday I threw a great big roast into the leftover french onion soup with a can of cream of mushroom soup and it was a FABU dinner. I heated up some frozen pierogies and peas to go with it. Tonight is make your own pizza. YUMMMMMMMMMM. I've been thinking about pizza for days.

Also, thanks to that darn, Meghan I'm obsessed with the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. This is not my usual type of book. I usually read horror and murder mysteries and stuff like that. This book is mostly set in mid 1700s Scotland. I don't know if it's accurate in its description of the people back then. I suspect the level of brutality would be quite a bit higher, but the personalities are so much like my mostly Scottish husband, it's kind of scary. I've already ordered the second book from the library :|.

Oh, and I love snow, but I'm also ready to see a crocus or something. Yes, I said it, I'm feeling like I'm ready for Spring to come now. Hence, the blog's new looks.

Yes, I know I look funny today. I'll be straightening out soon!

So the Rhubarb Pie was a problem

Last summer our big freezer was left open and lots of stuff thawed. Apparently the rhubarb was a casualty. When I went down to get it yesterday and bake the pie, well it was plainly not going to work. I guess as it thawed, the liquid largely seeped out of it so it was really weird in the bags.

OH WELL!

Instead we put together an impromptu cookie tower with candle and the real cake will be Sunday.

I did some spinning today - an alpaca/Finn blend that I quickly whipped up on the drum carder this morning. And Lulu made dinner. I made Paula Dean's French Onion soup this morning and she's been simmering it all day. Put on top of that some croutons made from the leftover garlic bread (last night) and some broiled cheese and you get an after school snack for the boy and dinner for The Chief and me.



I also took a photo of the body of B-Side. The photo stinks, but that wouldn't be anything new here.



Other than that, no knitting, lots of work on books and things. Happy Tuesday!

Life is Just Like That Sometimes

Well a lot has been going on around here really. I've wimped out on Ravelympics already. In fact, I haven't been able to focus on knitting much at all for a little bit, but I did get a little bit done.

I finished the sleeves for the B-Side Cardigan, but they're blocking right now. I also sewed up the shoulder seams and blocked the body of the sweater so I can pick up stitches for the collar now. Photos of that soon!

I also finished one of the Marina Labyrinth Socks. The second is Cast On.

As usual, my photos suck, so I do recommend checking this pattern out. I knit it for the Sock Knitters Anonymous February challenge and it's in the Underappreciated category. Although I normally don't favor a short0row heel, this one is not too bad really.



We don't exactly celebrate Valentine's Day. It's not that we flatly reject the idea of showing that person you love some appreciation, but shouldn't it be a bit all year long? And is buying me jewelry (I don't wear much anyway) or flowers or candy really what I want out of my relationship? My Darling Husband did make me dinner (the same dinner he made me on our very first date) and we spent the weekend together.

And today is his birthday. I'll be making one of his favorite dinners and a rhubarb pie to celebrate having him around another year. The real celebration is Sunday evening though.

I missed posting a lot of other stuff that happened while I was "out". Life is a rollercoaster. Remember that scene in Parenthood when Steve Martin can hear rollercoaster sounds when his life appears to be spinning out of control and he looks like he's going to puke? Yeah, it's safe to say that's us right now. We'll adjust though!

Nothin' to See Here

I'm gonna take a week or two off. I've been feeling really worn out. I'm not dead!

I'm done!

I finished my Kilkenny Shawl about ten minutes ago. I have an idea about the shawl pin, but we'll just see how that goes shall we?



I wasn't that sure if I loved the yarn with the pattern at first, but I found that I need to get a good chunk of pattern done before I can tell. It's still true. After I finished a few inches, I loved my squishy Jacob lamb fleece and yarn, and now it's sort of gone. So sad!

Close up!


Next I need to finish up the B-side before Ravelympics. I'm doing Charity Curling for my event, and I would rather not have a bunch of projects hanging over my head (that's why I have a good finish rate; they hang over my head). Happy Groundhog day.

I Still Hate People

Well only some people really.

but, I meant to write about this two weeks ago. I was admiring this coffee cup at B&N just over two weeks ago. I mean honestly, it's pink, it's purple and some of those daisy are shiny, hot pink foil. What's not to like about that? I coveted it and walked away. When we hit the truck, my husband went back and bought it for me.

Yes, my wildly overpriced, but pink, purple, shiny, daisy covered travel mug was bought for me just because i admired it.

I guess sometimes it pays to be part Magpie.



My Kilkenny is only about two inches from the ending border. Granted it's two inches of 330 stitches, but I'm getting very close now!

Pictures of Knitting

I haz them!



The Wildfoote colorway is Rhapsody. I believe I got this yarn at like 60% off from Little Knits.

I would love to show you more knitting, but I have been focusing on that Kilkenney Shawl pretty exclusively and it would just be a picture of a bigger shawl that looks exactly like the last one. I am up to 20 inches wide (out of 28 before the ending border) so I'm getting there now.

I did get some of the black alpaca that the Chief bought me before Christmas washed last night. I don't think I've ever had a fleece in the house that waited that long for washing before. Every time I look at this fiber drying on the floor of my laundry room, I can't stop thinking of the Gorilla soldiers from Planet of the Apes. Not really the nicest, softest, yarn related image. I want to blend some with black shetland that's been rattling around my stash for awhile. Later for that though!


(That VM pretty much falls out during carding so no worries. Alpaca just doesn't seem to hang onto the grass and chaff the way wool does)

And we have a new addition to our family!

Why yes, I do name inanimate objects! Thank you for noticing! Our old crockpot had a crack in it on Tuesday morning when I took it out of the sink to clean it. I was just beside myself. I've been a bit obsessed with crockpot cooking for awhile now and I only have one crockpot. That crack meant I had NO CROCKPOT. On the way home from work on Tuesday, The Chief picked up Lulu for me. She is very new fangled and has the locking, sealing lid for taking potluck things. We think she's pretty special. Her maiden voyage was potatoes and sausage for breakfast which I threw a pair of eggs on this morning for everybody. Another crockpot success!

It's the Same Old Story

You have these two friendly acquaintances, or maybe casual friends, and they have some kind of falling out. Let's call them L and U. So L starts saying horrible things to the entire world about U. U keeps mum and some of the people you all like are listening to the bad things that L is spewing (some of which you are 90% sure are not true.

When you really think about it, wouldn't it be better to stick with U? U is being respectful and not saying bad things even though you're pretty sure she's being backstabbed to death. Isn't it a safe bet that if L thinks you've done something wrong, she'll stab the shit out of you too? Why don't people see that? It's weird, man!

In other news, on my spinning goal, in short: I ROCK!

I have my first fleece completely picked and roughcarded. The second carding is only two batts in, but it's started. The problem really is that it's going to take four passes to blend thoroughly (poop). The good news is that it is HEAVENLY. I've processed a number of Jacob lamb fleeces before, but this one is like buttah. I will definitely be contacting this Shepherd for a sister of this lamb's fleece next year. (I'm up to my armpits in fleece, :P) I've also just finished the third bobbin of the fleece that is in the goal for spinning.

Picked jacob


Shetland lamb fleece being spun


OH my, Lola needs a dusting doesn't she?

I've tarted knitting a blueberry waffle sock with Wildfoote. The yarn is really so colorful that I didn't want to try a "real" pattern with it. I tried to knit the Naive Socks with this yarn and the pattern just got totally lost. Later for the Naives.

I got one more thing. I have opinions. I don't think that comes as a surprise to any readers of this little thing I call my blog. (i blame my parents who had the audacity to encourage their X chromosomed children to express themselves. I mean really wth) So, if people have different ideas than me, I am cool with that. I don't feel like the world has to agree with me. Why is it so many people on Ravelry freak out if you just express an opinion that doesn't match up with theirs. Have we really wussified this country so much that we have to have everybody agreeing with us to keep our self-esteem out of the toilet?

If you don't agree with my opinions, I'm not sorry. In fact, that's great. You have every right to your opinion, and I am happy to listen. (but please for the love of all that's holy, have some type of back-up or reason. It makes it so much more interesting to listen to) Buck up, little soldiers! I'm sure I'll say something offensive any minute!

Annie Was Right

She mentioned that the bag really needed bedazzling. The reason it's funny is because: A) I already had three big rhinestones on the back pocket, you know, just for fun. and 2) I had already bedazzled a bow on Conchita's creepy, purple head.



That's right, my bedazzling skills are 100% unrivaled!

Also, I have a goal regarding raw fleece. The people who need to know what it is, already know. I have the first fleece half picked. It's a yearling, Jacob fleece (Laila) plus a couple of handfuls of the first Jacob fleece I bought last year. That's right, HALF DONE picking.



**not part of the goal**
Last year I got some Cormo and I've been having a tough time gettint it really, really clean. There is like mud on the tips and I have done everything I know of. If I remove the tips (1/4 inch) it's super awesome. I took a few ounces and soaked it for TWO weeks and then scoured it in a teeny lingerie bag. And everybody says you can't card Cormo. I say, Bullshit!



No neps and dude, it is so soft, it's almost like you aren't touching anything. That's carded IN MY DRUM CARDER, but at like .01% normal speed. It's ridiculous how much trouble I'll go to to process an awesome fleece.

Also, have you ever been digging in your stash and something turned up that made you say, "WTF??!!"? Happened to me . . . this morning . . . a couple of times.

January Goal: Check!

So I am not really a hoarder exactly, but I hate throwing away certain things. I have a stash of jeans that have holes or were grown out of in my fabric stash. I grabbed a pair of my husband's old jeans (Yes, Carrie, Hot husband had his ass in these) and made myself a new sock bag. I loved my old bag because it was the perfect size, but I bought it for a dollar at a flea market and it was getting frayed, and the lining was really getting shredded.

Meet my new bag!



I lined it with a purple bandana from my underwear drawer and folded the bandana over the top. Then last night we were looking at it and throwing out some ideas and I decided to use the leftover bandana to cut a skull to iron on. I looked online for the perfect free skull graphic and couldn't find one, so I designed one in Inkscape and used it to create a Cricut image. A little iron on fusible web and a lot of practice cuts so that I could make sure I had the placement right on the fabric. I only had one corner left and I wanted it to be pretty much centered.

Anyhoo, yay, it's a win for me! (I might add a little bow on the skulls head with rhinestones, but I haven't decided yet.)

Also, I forgot that I was supposed to show some photos of the stuff I was spinning last week. It's about 800 yards of thick singles. It's a mystery fiber that got to me on quite a weird trip; It appears to be mohair and wool. I'm thinking it might make a nice purse, but how knows!?



It is slightly darker than the photo turns up on my monitor. The wool was a dark blue, and the mohair was a nice venomy green.

Later!

I Didn't Resolve . . .

to post more here in 2010, and yet, I have. Weird.

This morning, I finally finished blending the Border Leicester lamb that was dyed a month or so ago. I love it. It's 2 parts very blue, one part tealy blue and one part barbie pink. The thing I ended up liking about it is that the pink and green seem to knock the edge off the flat blue and tone it just slightly less vibrant which is good. I love me some color with depth. I'm planning on spinning it longdraw because really it is just so much faster!



I have a gift I need to spin up first anyway.

And also, I'm going to achieve my January goal today!



(notice the fluff was still in my hand and is now framing the picture. Love that!)

Come back and see what I sewed!

So You Know How It Is

I took photo after photo of the Kilkenny and could NOT get anything decent. The flash was just showing the color variations in the yarn, but obscuring the pattern. So Annoying!!!!

I took a flashless picture this morning with the sad light that passes for full daylight around here. At least the pattern finally shows in a photo!



I love, love, LOVE this yarn and pattern too. It probably would have been even prettier in a yarn that had no or less tonal variation, but it's still beautiful, soft and squishy. I'm really looking forward to being able to wear it.

I do feel a little bit sad that this fleece is going to be used up. It's silly, but it stops having potential when you finish knitting a project with it. Every step of the process narrows the potential of the fleece, and this is the very end. Boo!

Good thing sheep keep growing wool huh?

I also finished a sleeve for the B-Side and it fits! That means one more sleeve, a collar and the construction. If I can force myself to block the body today, it would be great, but I'm not holding my breath (hint: You shouldn't either).


I'm making some tough decisions right now too. But, one thing I've learned from my husband (and annoyingly, I have had a lot to learn) is that I shouldn't make them out of emotion or too quickly. Wish me luck!

Muahahahahaha

It's Cookie's Birthday! Happy Birthday to youuuuuu! Click Here to wish her a happy birthday today!

Kilkenny!

I got started on the patterning yesterday for the Kilkenny Cable Shawl. I'm using Jacob lamb handspun, and the color variation is kind of hiding the pattern. Doesn't matter. It is very soft and scrumpshy (it's a word. I'm knitting this wrap with THIS handspun and that's it. Deal!



I finished up some handspun too. Mystery fiber (which I am sure is mohair and some type of wool) that was given to me by a new spinner who felt her stash was too big (thanks, M). I worked on fat singles with it. Still needs to be skeined, washed, and thwacked. I do think I managed a good handle on the fat singles though. It took a bit. In fact I'll have to throw out some perfectly good yarn that is just too thin to be knit up with the rest. It's only probably about 10 yards or so though. Pics tomorrow? I never know!

Tonight is Jr. Rifle League so I'll be going north for the evening. I'm too tired to do this on Thursdays!

I effed an oh, Bitches!

Oh shit, just deleted first post.

Last night I finished this pair of lovelies. The pattern is quite busy, so I went ahead and used a mostly plain yarn. It's Knitpicks Stroll tweed. The pattern is The Boyfriend Socks by Alice Bell. I didn't modify them much. I used a Turkish Cast On instead of the one the pattern called for, and I changed the cuff to a 2x2 rib that followed the pattern of the sock all the way up.



I love, love LOVE these socks and I will definitely be making these again. Really, I love them. A lot.

And, the cranberry, cinnamon, pecan caramel corn, well, yum.

I've cast on for the Kilkenny Cable Shawl which is our local New Years Cast on. Pics soon! Like who knows, maybe tomorrow even!

Oh and I'm trying to finish up some mystery fiber I'm spinning. I believe it's wool and mohair, and I'm working on thicker singles. I should have it all spun up sometime today!

So, Here's the Thing

I got a Cricut Expression for Christmas. And, being me, I want to be able to cut things that I design myself. I don't want to buy the stupid cartridges with designs that somebody else did. Plus, they cost a fortune right? Soooooo, there is this software program called Sure Cuts A Lot where you can cut anything that's an SVG file.

I'm not even going to go into what an SVG file is.

Anywho, there is a free download that allows you to create just about anything you want in SVG format, so i downloaded it and I've been learning to use it. Which reminds me, how the hell did we learn to do stuff before Youtube?

but, I digress.

So I made that button over there > and I'm spending like 20 minutes a day learning to go on from there. Hey I'm beginner! (but I did finish up a possible logo option for something else that could be announced here in the next month or so).

I had to rip back the sleeve for my B-Side. Cookie's brilliant suggestion for this whole "trying it on" thing told me that my arms are too fat for it, so I'll be adding back those two stitches.

poop.

I've been carding on that Border Leicester Fleece, but it's on it's first pass through the carder and still looks kinda like shit. Not to worry, it's been my experience that subsequent passes will fix the shitness.


I spent my KP gift card that I got for Christmas.



Three sweaters worth of yarn. How fun is that?

And last, much like half the blogs I've been reading, it's cold here.


but tonight, we are staying home with a fire and a movie and bowls of chili.

Extreme Close-UP!!!

Remember those? Me too.



Wouldn't you swear he's like right inside your screen? The Chief took that picture and it just cracks me up.

I am working on a sleeve for the B-side. I've modified the pattern to knit the sleeves in the round. I just thought it seemed silly to knit the body all in one piece and then knit the sleeves flat to be seamed. Silly. I do hope I did not screw up. In fact maybe someone will have an opinion. All I really did for the part I'm on is eliminated two stitches that I figured I would use for seaming if I was knitting if flat. Otherwise the counts are exactly the same, but it seems narrow. I'm sure it'll be fine.



Oh and The Chief made a fabulous batch of homemade bagels along with some Giardiniera (sp?) cream cheese which is my absolute FAVORITE. Having a husband who can cook rocks the party, swearz.

Cuz I'm Scintillating Company

But, isn't he a cute boy though?

So yesterday I sampled from the fleece I dyed on Tuesday. It's nice and it spins up like buttah! The Barbie pink just adds a little bit of purpley depth, so that works well. I figured it would work out, but life is just an experiment for me really (which some would say is part of my charm, and some find very annoying) :S.



You can't really see the colors well in the photo, but there will be plenty more where this came from once I get this fleece all carded up. Probably TOO many.

Oh! And hey! Guess who has two more fleeces to wash! Yeah, it's me.

This is up next. It came on Christmas day but I've been way too busy to fool with it. The shepherdess sent me some washed locks from this ewe and they are loverly. I really am looking forward to getting her washed up and dyed.



Last, I have a bit of a situation with B-Side. KP sent me one ball of a different dye lot, which normally is not a problem because I typically order one extra and I almost never have to use it. I can't tell by just holding the balls (yes, I was holding balls today) if there is a color difference, but we've all been there. What if I start knitting and there is one? You know it's happened to you. Knitterly denial is the only kind I've found more powerful than the family denial I use to cope.

So ok, here's what I'm thinkin': B-Side has a shawl collar, and right now i am just about 20-24 rows from the shoulder on the back. Do I dare use the wrong dye lot ball for that since the shawl collar will pretty much cover it? I probably don't even NEED this ball to finish the sweater. Or, does it make sense to use it for the ribbing on the sleeves because there's going to be a change when it goes to stockinette and your eye will fool you into thinking that's all you see? (because it will). Or should i just stick the poor singleton in my stash to be knitted up into a scarf later along with a ball or two of plain black? Any advice for me?

It's snowinggggggg

i love it.

So today we got U-verse (instead of cable) and the guys were here for literally HOURS. Since the TV and internet could/would be down for any period during that time, I decided to do projects. I cleaned all the stray wool and alpaca out of the drum carder thingies. Then I dyed the Border Leicester lamb I had washed up for my next sweater!

Oh and did I mention that yesterday i washed a charcoal alpaca fleece? I did.

My kitchen table right now.



I'm going to blend the raspberry, teal and blue for my next sweater. Yes, I am blending crazy. Don't read the Ashford book of carding or you will be blending crazy too.

I also did go ahead and take a photo of the yarn for the Chief's next sweater. The color of the singles in the last post is closer, but I couldn't quite get it right by fixing the exposure. Kinda weird since I used sunlight, but whatever.


I am excited to work with it, but I won't be able to until I finish this:


My B-Side Cardigan! woo hoo! I'm using the Knitpicks City Tweed and I love it. I'm almost done with the body now. It is a super quick knit (and yes I did screw up the cable but no one will know unless they stare at my left boob and I will punch them if they do that.

Oh yeah, and I've been working on a pair of socks too. It's the Boyfriend Sock pattern and I'm using Knitpicks Essential Tweed for those. Hopefully I'll make some progress coming up here soon!

Soooooo it's 2010

I'm not going to do the retrospective thing. I don't really want to review last year!

But!

This year I plan to make myself a monthly goal/challenge/resolution. January will be to sew something from my fabric stash. I can sew, but anything beyond beginner is beyond me. I thought maybe I would try to challenge myself a little bit.

Oh and remember that Romney I washed, carded, dyed and blended?

Not much of a sweater huh?

I got about 1600 yds out of it a three ply worsted. That should be plenty for a sweater for my hubs. I spun American supported longdraw from carded batts. I'll show the yarn sometime soon.

Everybody is back to work and school and I am off and running now. Hopefully I'll bbs!