On to a new year ...

Next year has to be better than the last one, lol. Not that horrific things happened (well, define horiffic) but there sure has been a lot of stress this year.

In looking over my last few entries I realized that I have photos to post. Oops. In the meantime, here is one.

I finished my blanket. I am in mad, mad love with this blanket. Now that we have a cold system that has settled into our area it is getting a lot of use.

I have also been doing some spinning recently. I bought some fiber from a fellow BB. Oh, the stuff spins like a dream.

Here is a partial bobbin full.


It is a corriedale and merino cross. Am loving it. I will Navajo ply it this weekend. Don't have a project in mind for it yet. But I want something that will be close to the skin. Maybe a neck warmer.

I have noticed that this week seems to be the time where everyone is posting on their blogs for the new year and what their goals are. I have been thinking about this for a while. Honestly, what I want for the next year is a healthy family and less stress. While my happy was not broken is was definitely pulled, twisted and bent. It will take a while still before I feel centered and all that good junk.

Last year I had the plan (ha ha) of making a pair of socks each month and a washcloth. While that didn't happen I certainly have enough socks to keep my satisfied. Though I plan on always having a vanilla sock in the car with me and a vanilla sock at work so I always have a project in hand.

I have never been one for casting on a ton of stuff at once and then stressing about it all but I plan to choose my projects a bit more carefully. There are things I would like to do this year like play with colorwork, learn to crochet, dye more fiber and yarn, and make a sweater.

I've been kind of introspective (is that the right word?) the last few weeks. I seem to go through this every so often. I realized that there are only a few places I really hang out online and drama, even online, can drain you. I have learned that there seems to be a new online knitting community drama that rolls around about every six months or so. I have start unsubscribing from certain podcasts that kind of feed into that or constantly mention certain web sites.

I've learned a lot about myself in the last year. I hope you all have too.

A Merry Christmas (cause we are still in the 12 days of Christmas) and a happy new year. Make it bring us more joy than than we had in 2009.

Float stole: The final chapter

I did end up frogging the stole :-( I felt just terrible about it.

But I did take up the suggestion to work on smaller lace patterns. I ordered some US 4 16-inch circular needles and US 8 16-inch circular needles from knitpicks because there was just no way I was going to try and do lace on DPNs. I have some patterns in mind


http://www.elann.com/ShowFreePattern.asp?Id=299024

http://www.carylldesigns.com/wavy_feathers_wimple.htm

http://bingeknitter.blogspot.com/2008/11/clmence.html

Haven't decided yet. Think they are all nice though.

Feather and Fan blanket

A couple weeks ago I cast on for a blanket. Had no idea what I wanted but said "what the heck" and looked up the feather and fan stitch pattern. It's such an easy pattern to memorize and just pick up and go with. Each row takes me not much time and I manage to do at least a couple repeats an evening. I decided to go with stripes and I'm pretty pleased with it so far.

It's Lion Brand hometown yarn and Red Heart Craft yarn. I'm quite impressed with how nice the Red Heart feels. Not as soft and the Lion Brand (and that stuff feels pretty snuggly).

I think this will be perfect for curling up on the couch with.

Float stole issues

Okay, so I am like *this close* to starting the first pleat. I've made my first mistake. You put a row of eyelets a few rows or so before the start of the pleat. Well, I don't have that. And this really bums me out.
As much as I love this pattern it is taking so long for each row. ... I feel kind of at a loss. I'm kind of thinking I should maybe try this pattern with a thicker yarn, less stitches. ...

I'm gonna sit on it for a little bit, but I have a feeling I'm gonna end up ripping this. :-(

Then what do I do with the yarn. This is the second lace project I've started that I have given up up on. Does this mean I'm destined to be a non-lace knitter?

In other knitting news: I have been busy. Will post pictures in separate blog entries. My knitting mojo came back and I've been busy with little projects.

FO ~ Mittens for DS

It's been a while, but I have a finished object.

I made this mittens for DS. Looks like I finished the second one just in time. The weather has changed and now it feels like fall. I will probably need to add an I-cord to them so he doesn't lose them right away.

Publish Post

I ... got nothing ...

Well, that's actually not true, I got stuff, but no photos. I'm still working on the same three projects.

I was making good progress on the vanilla sock, but then I had some pretty tense weeks and it looked like my guage was getting a bit tighter on the sock. So rather than worry about having one sock looser than the other I took a break.

I'm *this* close to making the first pleat on my stole.

I have one mitten done and just need to start that second one. Is there a such thing as second mitten syndrome?

Can't remember the last time I worked with my wheel. That makes me a bit sad.

There is lots of other things going on though. My son started Headstart. He's just loving it. I'm slowly adjusting to be the parent of a child in school. I'm still in awe of the fact that it's been 4+ years since he was born.

We also got the redesign done for work. I think it's pretty amazing that we accomplished in 3 months what other newspapers usually mess around with for a year. The web site is scheduled to debut Oct. 1.

So, a lot of changes at work -- in the whole building actually. It's been a crazy year.

In short, lol, I'm still here. Just trying to make sense out of the crazy that my life was for a while. It's bound to be crazy for a while longer. It better, cause I really miss my wheel and knitting.

Never forget

Current works in progress

A vanilla sock. Right now I'm thinking it may turn into a Christmas gift, but that could change. I started it last week but haven't really worked on it til this past weekend. Made with some vinca sock yarn (I think). I wanted this to be my work project, but so far almost everything I bring to the office to work on during breaks and stuff ... yeah, it doesn't happen.


The Float Stole. Slowly and bit by bit it's progressing. I'm starting row 14.


I love the little row of YO's. I think they look so sweet just sitting there waiting for the rest of the pattern so it can be shown off to it's best advantage. :-)



I did complete a mitten. I'm making a pair for DS for the coming winter. I'm making them with extra long cuffs and using a pattern "guide" thingy from a book someone was kind enough to loan me. I made the finger part of the mitten too long even though I had ripped it back significantly. The thumb gusset is perfect. I will rip the finger part *again.*


I have to admit though, I haven't been feeling much like knitting. I'm in the mood for reading. I requested the first book of the Stephanie Plum series from the library. Some of the women in my moms group have been tearing through them.

We have also been doing a little bit of geocaching. DS thinks the best part of geocaching has been finding the raspberries in the woods. We found one this weekend that was the start of a multicache. We haven't run across one of those before. I had no writing utensils or camera with me so we had to just put it back. DS said he wanted to find "treasures that had toys in them." :-) So you know where his mind was at.

FO ~ On the Metro socks

From Wendyknits "Socks from the toe up" book



I have to say that I'm so so glad to be done with them. Nothing wrong with the pattern. All errors on my part. But I did get frustrated with these socks. And with that's had been going on IRL it took me a while to complete the second sock. I can tell I was much more tense during the first sock.


I put no cuff on these socks. The reason: I wanted to just be done with that first sock. I seen a pair of socks in CookieA's book and they looked pretty fabulous without a cuff. I kind of like how the top kind of rolls. It has this ruffly look to it as well.

So onto the next project. I'm not sure what I'm gonna start next though. I do know I want to spend some time on my stole. Otherwise that poor thing is never gonna get done. I'm on row 11 I think.

FO ~ Fetching fingerless mitts

Fetching fingerless mitts. Actually I finished this a couple weeks ago.
I made these for my niece for her graduation. I figured these would be good as she walks across the college campus and studying.


I used knitpicks Andean silk yarn in the Merlin colorway. I loved the squishyness of this stuff.


I did an accidental modification on this. I used smaller needles. I realized something was amiss when I had plenty of yarn leftover when I finished the second mitt.

What is this?

This is my "lock box"


Inside?


Why it's my float stole! Yes, I started it up again this weekend.


I've pulled out all the stops on this one. I have point protectors, a row counter and whenever I'm not working on this it's going to go back into the lock box. Since I've taken this photo I've completed 4 full rows.

Mel Hunt, the designer of this lovely pattern has her blog here.

FO ~ Gossip Gloves

Pattern can be found here. Nice, eh?

I don't remember how I came across this pattern. I was probably googling fingerless mitts.

I seen this pattern and went "ah ha!" This pattern would be perfect for the handspun I've had just kind of sitting around and waiting for a pattern.


I think the only thing I would add to this pattern is maybe do a thumb gusset. I'm not sure how I would go about deciphering where in the pattern it would go so I will have to research that. I really do love fingerless mitts. This is the first pair for myself though. All the others have been gifts. The fiber is "bluebell" colonial top from Ashland Bay company.

Yes, this is *that* blog entry ...

You know, the first one after not blogging for like a month.

So here is a couple of daisy's from the garden.


Once again, life is busy, but thanks to having a day off from work and basically unplugging from the Internet I feel like I'm starting to catch up on things and starting to feel balance again.

Work is still crazy, but I'm getting used to that. It will still be a while before things settle back down into a routine.

I've finished some things and started some things. I will post them all separately.

This past weekend we went strawberry picking. I got my canning fix and out of one bucket of strawberries I got 12 - 8 ounce jars and 6 pints of strawberry jam. It is very yummy if I do say so myself.


I have also collected a new hobby. I am now a geocacher. Last Monday I got my new handheld GPS. It took me a while to figure it out. But once I did, everything else seems to be just falling into place. We got this one because it has all the maps you could want. Some GPSs make you buy the maps and the cheap ends up expensive. And since I figured I'd want this to OTR directions as well, this one seemed like the perfect one. I'm very happy with it.


So far we have found three geocaches. We even discovered a cemetery that we didn't know existed. It's somewhere around 100 years old but someone is still taking care of it. There were little flags next to some of the tombstones. I'd love to go back there and stay longer but the flying bugs were bad even with having repellent on.

My baby tomatoes seem to be doing great.

They are about 3 weeks old and are just getting their second set of true leaves. The are looking pretty healthy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.


I know at some point they are going to be too big for my little bookshelf green house. I may make a light stand out of PVC so I can adjust the lights once these guys are in bigger pots. I'm debating on whether to bring the bigger bookshelf greenhouse up from the garage. I've have to rearrange some stuff in the living room if I do. Then I suppose I'd have a good excuse to start even more plants.

Bad knitting week and some garden babble

Earlier this week I had a mishap with my sock and I couldn't fix the error. I frogged it.

A couple days ago, after six hours of work (not consecutive, of course) I had a misshap with my stole. Not my fault. But I was in the middle of a row in the project and the stole got flipped and a needle pulled out. No way of fixing it.

So that's been frogged.

What is up with the week?

And the stole is the first project where I have really felt the pain of having to rip something back. I was just starting to see the pattern and I'm just so excited to have this piece done so I can wear it.

The sock I started over again last night but I didn't get too far into it. The good news about the sock is that I've learned how to use Judy's magic cast on. I went to the knitty.com article and learned it. I tried watching the Cat Bordhi video on youtube. But honestly, all the talk about the vine, the sideways clock and the funny voices didn't do anything to help me learn this technique. Plus it was slow moving. I think I would have understood it better if it flowed faster. But that's me.

Well, I'm not sure how much knitting I'm gonna get accomplished this next week. I get to start showing the new people at work the ropes and routine of putting the paper out. I also intend to start getting more exercise in so the knitting is going to be put a bit further down on the list for a while.

Meanwhile, my garden seems to be doing good. DH mentioned how I used to be so proud of my garden and how I used to take all kinds of photos, which is true. I haven't taken much photos this year. This year I've got all these baby Jacob's Ladder popping up.

Since having a child and always having to mind what he's doing outside (and not running out into the street) I've been kind of lax on the photo taking and garden care. Gardening was my first passion. But the last four years I haven't been able to concentrate on it.

The green houses around here have not too much of a selection this year. I haven't gone to the higher end green houses yet. But I'm sure they are pricier. This coming fall/spring I intend to give it yet one more shot on starting plants indoors. Seeing Chrissy's success at the indoor stuff has just spurned me on. I certainly have the space. I have the lighting. It's no longer freezing in our house during the winter. I have no excuse. DH has even encouraged me and reminded me that I have two greenhouses, lol. The only thing I have to lose is the investment of time and the money I put into buying the seeds.

Today I am so proud of myself

I work for a weekly newspaper. Since January I've been "it."

Yesterday I went to priest and trans. deacon ordination and today I put all that together and finished a 16-page tabloid newspaper. Not to mention that fact that I sold all the congratulatory ads for this issue. Out of 16 pages I had almost 4 pages of various sized ads that I had to find places for. It's like a puzzle fitting all those ads together.

This from someone who had no training whatsoever in page layouts or Quark software. I have basically plunged into doing page layouts and literally done this by the seat of my pants and learned as I went. I am very proud of myself and feel a great sense of accomplishment in this.

It's been a tough and sometimes rocky road, especially towards the end. I have had a lot of support from people at my workplace and from those higher up in the ranks. May wasn't an easy month because of all the illness in the household and one issue I ended up putting together in twelve hours because I was home sick almost that whole week. Unless you've been in this line of work I don't think you can truly appreciate what it's like.

My mettle has been tested and I have passed.

To celebrate my "grand finale" if you will, I went out and bought a Sara Lee cheesecake to
eat. This is the (hopefully) last paper I have to plan and layout by myself.

On the knitting front, I'm just a few rounds away from starting the gusset and heel on a toe up sock.


It's the "riding on the metro"sock pattern from Wendyknit's new book.

I'm really liking this pattern so far. I just wish I had more time to work on it.

I'm getting ready to start the first panel on the Float Stole. However, I left it at work so I can't show my progress so far. It's not a lot to look at so far. Just six long rows of garter stitch. :-)

Another May FO ~ Lacy mock cable cloth

Pattern is here.


Rather than take a picture of the FO, I scanned it. I'm pleased at how well it showed up. You can see the detail much better. Not sure if I will keep scanning things, but I'm glad I did for this one.

And yes, I know I'm a bit late in posting it since now it's June. The color is almost blaze orange. I was going to make a Halloween washcloth and make a pumpkin cloth, but I wasn't able to find a pattern that really grabbed me. I seen this pattern and knew I had to make it, lol.

New project ~ Float stole

I seen the Float stole pattern in the IK Spring 2009 issue and I just fell in love with the pattern. To me it was beauty in simplicity. Very elegant. A classic look if you will.

The only that held me back so far was the pleats in the pattern. I have never made pleats before. I searched for information and couldn't come up with anything. One of my online buddies urged me to keep the pleats in the pattern when I mentioned maybe making the pattern without the pleats. So I sent a call out for help in finding a how-to and I had the idea to contact the designer and see if she knew of any tutorials. She got back to me fairly quickly and later sent me some instructions and information. Thanks to her and another friend I was able to swatch last night and make a pleat. Yay!


Thanks to the information the designer sent me I realized I was doing the lifeline incorrectly. I also learned how to insert a lifeline through the back of the item.


Tomorrow, I cast on!

May vanilla socks

I finished these socks last week. My first official toe up socks. I really like making socks this way. I love the fact that I don't have to wiggle the circs around when you get to making the gusset and turning the heel.

I've started another pair of socks from Wendy Johnson's new book. The "Riding the Metro" pattern, I believe. Naturally I've already made an oops, but I was sure to make a note of this so I can do the same thing in the second sock. I'm almost through with the first repeat.

cold brew coffee revisted

I forgot to post an update after I tried the cold brew coffee. It's really good. I can't drink it black, but I can use *WAY* less creamer for it. It is much smoother. In fact, I tried to pawn some off on my MIL and she was having none of that, lol. She's strictly a drip brew coffee gal.

I followed the recipe Meghan from the StitchIt! podcast posted on her Web site.

Cold brew coffee

I was listening to the most recent StitchIt! podcast today and her favorite thing this week was cold brew coffee. So I thought "what the heck" and whipped myself up a batch tonite for tomorrow morning. I made double what the "recipe" said. I'm always on the look out for coffee that tastes as good as it smells. Plus Meghan and several blogs I looked up said that the acid content on the coffee is much lower than the hot brew coffee. I would love to be able to use less creamer and stuff.

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it being coffee concentrate. If I could make up a batch on the weekend and nurse it all week, that would be wicked-awesome!

What did you get for Mother's Day?

I got stomach flu. Are you jealous?

Last Friday DS got sick. By 11:3o a.m. I knew this time the sickness was different from the last time he had a bout of vomit and diarrhea. So I called the doctor. DS's white blood cell count was 22 (12 is considered high for a child) and off we were to the hospital.

At the hospital he tested positive for rotavirus. After an exhausting night I was able to bring him home. He was wore out, I was wore out.

We attempted to go to where we planned our vacation Sunday but only spent one night (oh yeah, lol, this past weekend was supposed to be the start of a vacation). We came back home Monday. Tuesday I spent the day on the couch and by Wednesday it was my turn. DH is starting to come down with it now.

Now I have today and Monday to get the paper done. Let's not forget that I'm still learning. I think I will be calling in some favors, lol.

And for whatever reason I was dreaming of going to drive buses. But I couldn't cause the pope was in town. Bizarre.

Just so this won't be a pictureless image, here is a shot of my toe up sock by the fire that DH built at the cabin.


Wearing wool socks and being next to a fire when it's 40 degrees out. Oh! It feels good!

I have since finished the sock. Inbetween trips to the loo and when I wasn't feeling like death warmed over. I will post a picture when I have finished the second sock. At the rate I'm going, that could be a while. I am thrilled I figured out the heel though. I think I messed up on the bind off though ... No biggie though. I will know it for the next pair of toe ups though.

When I was laying on the couch DH really stepped up and took care of both me and DS, and taking over household stuff. That's one of the many reasons I love him. I know not too many husbands would do that. I am very lucky when it comes to my guy. :-)

Frogged the last UFO this morning

Apparently I thought that there was a lot more time to this month than there really is. Just goes to show how busy I am at work. Where the heck did the month go? Last night I thought it was Wednesday. Maybe I am itching for it to be the weekend again? lol.

So yeah, I frogged the last thing this morning. It was a simple shawl made out of the LionBrand sparkley mohair yarn. I set it aside some time ago because I made yarn overs in the wrong place and it was *so* obvious. I'm kind of bummed because it was three balls worth of yarn. I was more than 1/2 way done with it. *sigh* oh well.

But now everything is off the needles, so to speak, and I can now start anything I want. I'm seriously debateing on having a project at work, in the car and one for around the house. But I can't decide if that will be too much. I also have to start thinking of another gift to give come July but I don't know what this person would appreciate. A hat, should I try to make socks, or just look on their Amazon wishlist?

knitters block?

Cause I seem to have it, lol.

This weekend I was sick. And with all this talk about the swine flu, who knows if I got it or not.

Last week I had the problem with the sock heel. So I decided to rip it and be done. Then I could have kicked myself once I figured out my problem.

So I got some knitting magazines from the library. I really like Knit Simple from Vogue. I can't tell if it's cause they have a lot of patterns that I could see myself wearing or the bright colors most everything was done in.

I found a couple patterns for lace shawls and stoles

I decided this weekend that, Yes, I am going to frog the MS KAL 5 stole. So I found a pattern to use the yarn with. It's simple and elegant looking. I hadn't invested a TON of time in the MS KAL. It's not that the pattern isn't pretty, but I think that, at this place in my life, where I have a lot of brain power being expended, I want something with a simple repeat and this new pattern has it.

There is one more UFO hanging around the house. It's the start of a simple little mitten for DS. I'm gonna frog that as well. The rest of this month is going to be used to organize new projects, go through my little stash and possibly give some up. Most of my stash of other yarns is acryllics. I bought it all with the intention of making blankets and stuff. Maybe I should finally start a blanket? That should be simple, right? LOL, I have been thinking of starting a modern log cabin blanket.

Other than the one project (which I still can't share of photo of yet) I have finished nothing else. I didn't even finish the bobbin I started earlier this month. This has been kind of a poor knitting month now that I think of it.

Frogged the toe up :-(

I just do not *get* the pattern and I can't visualize how it's supposed to turn out since I've tried it twice and I don't think it was coming out how it was supposed to. ... I think I'm gonna need someone to show or explain IRL to me what it's all about.

In the meantime I think I'm gonna need to clear out the cache so to speak. I'm thinking of working with my handspun but I don't know what do work with it yet since it's still so thick and thin. ... I wanted to do something other than a scarf, but I am thinking that might be my only option right now.

A little more about that darn heel

That short row heel is kicking my butt. I got to a point where I was going back and forth and either p or k 2tog and it wasn't making sense. I shared my pain with some knitting friends and one of them told me that the way it was written up couldn't be right, it didn't make sense. *shrugs* I don't know. So I tinked back to a certain point again. I think I'm gonna give the slip stitch heel a try. That's gotta be easier on my poor brain right now.

Why are things being hard on me right now? Perhaps it's because I feel like my brain is being pulled in a bunch of different directions right now. Honestly I'm surprised it hasn't exploded. I'm overworking the poor thing. Little more than a month to go and I can give it a rest. ... Maybe, lol.

Butchered my short row

on my green vanilla sock. I probably should have learned how to purl through the back of the loop before going at the heel enthusiastically. So I ripped it back some and stuck it back on needles until I can focus on it. (Today is sooooo not the day) I also ended up with extra stitches. Like two or three, at least.

In other news, I did spin for about an hour last night. Felt good to spin. I jumped on that and started spinning like I had not been on any spinning hiatus. I'd say bobbin is about two-thirds full.

I've also got the urge to knit a sweater. I don't know where this urge came from. Maybe because I see flowers blooming on southern blogs and it's still snowing up here. :-P

I seen this one called the Coraline Tunic and feel it's just gorgeous. But I think I better start with something like the Boxed sweater from knitty.com. Although I don't know if I want to spin all the fiber for it. ... If I do make the Boxed sweater I would make it longer. I'm not too thrilled at the idea of a sweater that short. The sleeves are fine though :-)

What is this?

This, ladies and gentlemen, is my first toe up sock.


It's gonna be a vanilla sock and I'm going by guidelines on a pattern by Wendyknits. Her Nanner pattern to be exact.

I tried the double knit cast on, the figure 8 cast on and I even tried to comprehend Judy's magic cast on. I couldn't quite get any of them. The double knit on looked terrible. If I had some time alone and quiet I could probably figure them out. While I was on youtube I spotted something called Turkish cast on. It looked promising but the video didn't quite do it justice. So I searched on the net and came across this blog which had a great picture tutorial and explained everything. The video I was watching for the other cast on's didn't do a very good job of explaining the beginning and end of the cast on.

But the Turkish cast on. Oh I love it! And so simple. Why aren't more people singing the praises of this cast on?

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone.

I'm the cook this Easter. First time making an Easter dinner. It's gonna be unconventional to say the least. But it will be yummy.

Last night we colored eggs. DS blazed through the eggs so fast. Next year I will have to boil more so it lasts a bit longer.

I still have the dye jars sitting on my counter. I'm going to use them on some yarn I have and try my hand at Easter egg dye dyeing. I'm still working on a project that can't be mentioned just yet. Would you believe the last time I worked on it was Friday? I looked at it once or twice but I didn't touch it.

We still have to do the egg hunt. That will happen as soon as grandma wakes up.

Today is supposed to be another gorgeous day out. I think another bike ride is in order. Yesterday we went out on a trail we had never been on before. It is nice. Asphalt path and it goes through the woods and past a field. There were even a few creeks running. I'm proud to say that DS can ride his bike for one mile and not be tired out. When we got back home he wanted to ride his bike some more. I love that he's so active. I can hardly keep up with him though. :-)

I love this sock!

Can I wax poetic about this sock? I'm serious.


I love it. It fits me perfect! It's a vanilla sock pattern.

I took this photo last weekend. Since then I've decreased the gusset on the second sock and I'm on the home stretch. I'm a bit perplexed by the second sock though. The heel flap on the first one had 20 stitches on each side. The second on had 15. However, it is the same length as the first one. *shrug*

This month I also knit up a hat for a friend to give to charity. I finished it at the tail end of the month.


Yup, it's another "an unoriginal hat" I really do enjoy knitting this pattern.

I also knit up a mess of washcloths this month but I can't take any photos of them because they are all being used. Shocker huh?

I did some spinning this month. I managed to fill a bobbin full with some colonial top. I think it's about 6 ounces spun and I'm going to try navajo plying the whole thing this weekend. *This* is gonna be a treat. I've got the general idea on navajo plying down. Now I've got to learn to keep everything even and not over spin it.

Just because. :-)

DS's green socks

Well, here's a photo. Remember I made these for his birthday at the beginning of February. I mentioned them here. Well, the didn't even last 19 days. He never took them off, and I had to sweet talk him into taking them off twice so I could wash them.

And he's already wearing the first one I've made him from the second pair. He's so silly. I've just finished decreasing the gusset on the second sock. I should have it finished by bedtime tonite.

March projects

In an effort use up my cotton yarn and be more "green", not to mention the fact that I want pretty colored dishclothes I'm going to go on a dishcloth making binge.

Also, one of my buddies had sent out a request for kids hats. I promised to make at least one. So I'm gonna work that in somewhere as well.

In anycase I guess those are my goals for the next month. :-) I do want to work on another pair of socks for myself. However, I think I may just make a pair of vanilla socks. Now just to decide how many stitches to cast on ...

Updates!

I was hoping to do this at the end of *last* month. But I guess March 3 will have to do, lol.

Spinning

Oh I'm still in mad, mad love with my spinning wheel. I'm practicing spinning from the fold and long draw. Not sure if I've got the long draw part "right" but I"m loving spinning from the fold. Or what my version of it is. My yarn is getting much more even and thinner. Oh wow is it getting thinner. I thought I was doing pretty good before. But I've impressed myself.

I'm still practicing with my colonial top in "bluebell."

I've got only one spot on the bobbin where it just overspun and I never noticed until it was too late. All things considered I'm not too worried about it.

I want to figure out Najavo plying next. I tried it this weekend and thought I was missing something. After watching more videos again and thinking about it I've come to the conclusion that I had the technique right *but* I wasn't holding the twist at the beginning of the loop (make sense/) I was letting it run right up the loop and basically letting it get away from me.

Knitting

I finished my Hedera's. About a year in the making and I finally did this pattern. I love them. Just love them.




Naturally, the photos don't do them justice. A lot of people at work were oohing and ahhing over them :-)

For my February washcloth I did just a kind of plain jane one. I was a combination of knits and purls to make a modified ridge-thingy.


It was kind of nice to just do a no-brainer knit. I'm using up my scrap cotton yarn and it's just about enought for a washcloth. I did the cloth 35 stitches wide. Not sure how many rows though. I'm getting better at guessing when I should start doing the edges on them and not running short.


I've been working on a second pair of socks for DS. I've got one done so far. I've just turned the heel on the second one.



I can't remember if I mentioned this before but I'm not going to dye these ones. As soon as I dig out where the first socks have been hidden I'm going to take a photo.

For whatever reason he doesn't seem quite as excited about these ones. Maybe because I'm not going to dye them green ???? If he really wants green one's I guess I would. I would definitely soak them longer before dyeing them this time around.

End of February check in

Well, ... my Hedera's are still not complete. I could have finished the second sock if I pushed myself this weekend but I had a nothing weekend and it was pretty much fabulous. I also think I'm suffering a case of SSS.

For DS's socks. Well, I forgot the pattern and work so I couldn't continue with those.

OH and there is a story on his first pair. I know I still haven't posted a picture of them being green but if I can pry the socks off his feet I have to take a photo cause you would not believe it otherwise, lol.

And here's pictures of my first plied yarn off my wheel.

(trying to be artsy close up)

(the whole thing photo)

I plied a second bobbin's worth last night. This first one was probably looser than it should have been. I did the second one a bit tighter.

As I said in the Kromski board I just can't say enough good things about this wheel.

My makeshift lazy kate worked great as well. Better than I thought it would. I guess I had had just a nightmare trying to ply before that I had it all built up in my head that it's always gonna be difficult. Then someone two-plied in front of me and I thought "Wow, that's not so hard" Someone else has Navajo plied in front of me as well, but I still haven't caught on to that yet. Someone will probably have to show me and be right there while I muddle through it.

And now ... a little music

One of my favorite songs

Funeral For A Friend - History

It's time to share photos!

Here she is in all her glory! Isn't she purty?

And because I did the finish myself it means that much more to me. :-)

It was a custom stain. I think the wood picked it up beautifully.

Course CeeVee has to get into the photo! She hadn't throughly inspected it before this so she was in heaven smelling something new.


After messing with and getting the double drive set up I spun this us in about 30 minutes. Not a ton -- maybe 1/3 of the bobbin. But it was such a dream to spin.

Valentine swap!

This year my mom's group decided to do a Valentine's Day swap. Oh was it ever fun!


I got homemade candy, homemade soap, handmade votive candles that smell super yummy! They are mango papaya.


The candy is a dark chocolate. I love it!

And I got a bag of one of my favorite teas, which I tore into Saturday. The little spoon in front is a tea spoon. I drink loose leaf tea.

This little spoon is just so sweet looking. I can't decide whether to bring it to work or keep it at home. When I see it smile.


Sorry for the yellow photo. Isn't the detailing sweet? :-)

Thank you dear Valentine :-)