Monday, September 29, 2008

Yarn-Amnesia

Okay, really now. I just got a box of yarn from Uruguay - what?!? Uruguay!! Who ordered all this yarn I wonder? It is from www.100purewool.com And even though it is 950 yards per hank of lace weight @ $8.50 per skein- which is a superb deal, I have no idea how it was ordered and sent to me. Do I have Yarn-Amnesia?? Could I have possibly put 7 skeins of pure merino yarn into a shopping cart and hit the paypal button without any recollection of having done so? Hmph, I would have to say NOOOOOo - if it hadn't happened before ;P

Just one caveat - the colors on the website are not even close to the real yarns. I will take pics this weekend (time permitted) so you can see the real deal. Nope - I am not returning it, since I would not know who to return it to (giggles).

I made some serious progress on my Hollerstaud'n Forest Canopy Shawl and I finished a Koigu Sock. I am turning the heel on the second Smores sock, so all in all a pretty good knitting weekend.

Click to enlarge, the colors are awesome!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Hmm, a Quirky Meme

From CiCi

The Rules

1) Link to the person who tagged me
2) Mention the rules
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself
4) Tag as many bloggers as you want by linking to them
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged

6 quirky yet boring things about me:

#1 I have to give the dog a treat every day or I feel like I am neglecting him.

#2 I have superior hearing - I can hear dog whistles and sonic pest repellers.

#3 I cannot stop reading a book even if I am not enjoying it.

#4 I like riding public transportation.

#5 I like to bake, but I don't like to cook.

#6 I like to fish, but I don't eat fish.

I don't do meme's - but CiCi has really been there so I did this one, but I am not going to tag anyone. However, if you would like to do this meme anyway please follow the rules above and feel free to link to me.

Cheers,
Me 8-D



Monday, September 22, 2008

New WIPS Old WIPS

I cast on three new projects - I had to use the Wollmeise.

1. Forest Canopy Shawl in Hollerstaud'n
2. Tiger Eye Scarf in Sundara Black over Violet
3. Candle Flame Scarf in Buxkranzl

My neck is always cold so I figured it is time I got some coverage. The candle flame pattern is slow developing, 36 rows in one repeat. I also had to go up a needle size to a US 5, 3.75 mm to get the lacey affect I want. The Tiger Eye scarf will not require much blocking, it is coming out very nicely. Planned modification on the Tiger Eye scarf - fringe, I like running my fingers through fringe on skinny scarves and I have more than enough yarn. The Forest Canopy Shawl is the same, and the colors are coming out in interesting places. It is strange though, the beautiful midnight blue in the Hollerstaud'n is all but invisible. I cannot wait to see what this shawl looks like after a dozen or so repeats.

Other WIPS have not been ignored. I am working on the toe of my Smores sock. I am half way through the foot of the Koigu sock. I have completed another 25 rows on the Crochet by Numbers portrait, the face is starting to show. I completed the border on the Celtic Knot Stole, so I can return to the body now, I have three more knots and the other border to knit. The only project I did not get back to was the Spring Thing Shawl, I will work on that tonight.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Happy Blog-A-Versary

I have been blogging for two years. Wow, I am sitting here remembering how it all started - Secret Pal Swap requirements. My friend Amy had asked me once, when we were discussing her felting of clogs, if I blogged. I was totally clueless. But I thought, why would I want to do that, I talk to myself enough as it is. But then I explored a bit and discovered swaps, podcasts, Blogger, Flickr and well the rest is history in the making. I must share something that touches me on this two year Blog-A-Versary. The very first podcast I listened to was about crocheting and Jeannie sounded so friendly and made the knit-crochet-crafting community feel so welcoming that I e-mailed her. And she gave me my first Podcast shout out.
  • Crochetcast

  • Episode 6 Crochet Felting

    Jeannie has been offline for awhile and I have wondered and worried, you know how easy it is to lose your web friends? Here today gone tomorrow Error 404 ?!?! But I refused to let go and kept her on my bloglines, and I was thrilled to see she is blogging again. She has been through some valleys, y'all know how that goes! But she is back with us so everybody send her a big electronic hug. Now if I could just hear something from Shannon in Japan, and if JustLindaOnline Knitting would stop playing and get back on the mic all would be right with my little world.


    FLASHBACK *** MEMORIES
    Aw yes, back in the days before socks and lace. When I knit actual garments.
    ;P

    Tally Ho Vest JSS #29 Trendsetter Yarns
    Designed by Jane Slicer Smith

    www.sigknit.com
    Baruffa Merino’s Otto Color 300 Chocolate
    100% Extra Fine Merinos
    Size #8 Needle
    For Me :D
    Notes: This came out great but I did have to add one addition button at the
    bottom.

    Garter Ridge Cardi
    May 2006 Creative Knitting Magazine
    Designed by Scarlet Taylor

    www.creativeknitting.com
    TLC Cotton Plus #3859 Navy - #4 Medium
    51% Cotton 49% Acrylic
    Sizes #6 and #8 Needles
    For my Mother for her birthday.
    Notes: This sweater is more like a jacket. It is much heavier than I
    expected a cotton sweater to be. It worked up really fast and there was minimal finishing.


    Sassy Shrug
    September 2006 Creative Knitting Magazine
    Designed by Elizabeth Freeberg
    www.creativeknitting.com
    Self Striping Yarn
    Noro Kureyon Color 128
    100 % Wool - #4 Medium
    Size 10 Circular; Size 8 Circular; Size 8 dpns
    Gift for a friend.
    Notes: This worked up so fast and came out so beautiful that I immediately
    started making another one. I would not use Noro again however.


    Monday, September 15, 2008

    YARNGASM!!!!

    That title should be in flashing lights and smell like chocolate. I have my Wollmeise Sock (not bloody likely) yarn in hand. The Hollerstaud'n is a rich mix of berry colors ranging from Rasberry to Blackberry. The Buxkranzl is the greens of Augusta during the Masters. This is the most gorgeous yarn ever - and considering I have a fair amount of Wollmeise in my collection already, that is really saying something!!! It makes me shiver it is so - je ne sais quai, it makes me speechless.

    There is no way this yarn will be walked on, I am knitting something for much higher on the body. Gloves, scarves, a Forest Canopy Shawl - but something that will definitely be SEEN. There is a metric ruler which was included to protect the DPNs during shipping, which as a inch-to-metric conversion challenged knitter, I really appreciate. The Holz Stein needles are beautiful, the wood is chocolate and caramel swirls/grain. Lovely. Although I find this yarn too precious for feet, I will definitely be knitting the I Mog Di sock pattern by BockStarkknits. I will probably use Shi Bui, Louet or Sundara yarn instead of this unbelievable Wollmeise. I kid you not, I moaned for several minutes when I pulled it out of the package. I was so thrilled that is contained two different colorways and at 574 yards, there are so many options, so many patterns, so little time!!

    Turning Corners

    I have turned the heel on Sock 1 in Smores Memories and I am almost finished with the border on the Celtic Knot Stole. I decided to go ahead and work the border since the body of the stole was substantial enough to have something to hold onto while working that crochet cast on row. So now when I get to the other end and knit that border I will be completely finished. My Spring Thing Shawl is very pretty in the Zephyr Sable. I think it will look really lovely with my chocolate brown cashmere winter coat.

    We got our cruise documents and I am beyond excited. I went out and bought new luggage. I had so much trouble getting my oddly shaped Joy Mangano piece in the cabin closet last cruise that I had to buy a traditional set. I got a 6 piece set with the 28" and 24" expandable pieces. I should be able to fit souvenirs in by expanding them on the way home. I like the hanging toiletry bag too, very handy. I bought it in a bright primary blue color and I am going to permanent marker my name on the bottom. All luggage looks alike to me so I need a little visual assistance in locating my own.

    For some reason I could not get into blogger dashboard last night, busy web night I guess.

    Big Bummer, my Wollmeise sock club shipment came Saturday - WHILE I WAS OUT buying luggage. My Roomie is going to go to the PO and pick it up for me today. Geez, timing is everything I was gone less than two hours. On top of that I had a very bad experience at Barnes & Noble. I usually love my B&N, but the staff that were there Saturday were wholly unpleasant and the magazine I went for was not on the stand yet.

    ANTS are taking over. My poor puppy, his Dingo treat was totally covered with ants when he came upstairs last night. Although he is supposed to be a hunter warrior dog, he came whining to me. So I put down my knitting, pause my audiobook, and go and see what is freaking him out. No problem, I grab the treat, go and rinse it off - washing the little colony down the drain. I wait a few minutes then I see a few more sneak out of the twists and rinse again. I go out in the hall - no pup pup, I go back in my room no dog to be found. He went back downstairs and back to sleep. So I popped his Dingo into a snack bag and tried to remember he gives me unconditional love when I have bad days and you should never kick a dog when he's down (or sleep).

    Thursday, September 11, 2008

    I'd Rather Be Knitting

    I started another pair of socks. I have some Knit Picks Memories sock yarn in my most favorite colorways, Smores and Yukon. I have knit several pairs of socks already in both colorways but I gave them away. I have finally cast on my very last skein of Smores and this pair of socks in MINE MINE MINE.

    I abandoned the Mystery Bag sock yarn thing. I have to confess the reason I had never knit up those yarns before is because I like my other sock yarn better. I hate this Koigu on size 1 needles!! Give me medium or heavy weight Socks That Rock or just about any kind of Knit Picks, and I will warm your toes!! Sometimes I feel like I am talking to myself here and then voila I get a comment. So I want to ask y'all, even you lurkers, are there rules to destashing that prevent you from selling yarn already in center pull balls or bricks? The mystery bag yarn mentioned above for instance. I have created bricks with all of the skeins in preparation of knitting socks, but I don't want to any more. But I don't know if anyone would buy yarn that is not in it's original condition. I have the tags and all but I am not sure. I will probably look around the Ravelry destash and in-search-of (ISO) forums and see what the deal is.
    I have some pretty nice ones left, some could be repurposed I guess. Let me know your thoughts.

    Mystery Sock Yarn Bags as of 08/04/08
    UPDATE ON THE MYSTERY SOCK YARN BAGS:
    2. Fearless Fibers Colorway Tiger's Eye - Superwash
    5. Four Seasons Hot Socks Colorway Tapestry - Virgin Wool, Nylon
    6. Knit Picks Risata Colorway Ash - Cotton, Wool, Nylon, Elite (cotton is my one KP exception)
    9. Fleece Artist Colorway Amber - Merino Wool 2/6
    10. Koigu KPPPM - ON THE NEEDLES Colorway 305-256 Purples - Merino Wool
    11. Dream in Color Smooshy Colorway November Muse - Superwash Merino
    12. Woolly Boully Softie Sock Colorway Fishing With My Father - Superwash
    15. Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Colorway Tropical Storm - Superwash Merino
    17. Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Colorway Thistle - Merino Wool
    18. Interlacement Tiny Toes Colorway 203 Blue Green Purple - Superwash Merino
    19. A Swell Yarn Shop Duet Sock Yarn Colorway Deep Blue Sea - Superwash Wool DK

    Peaks and Valleys. I finished off many UFOs during the summer - but instead of wanting to finish off more UFOs I want to start EVERYTHING!!! I joined three more KALs. I am anxiously awaiting the next 2008 Year of Lace, Rockin' Sock Club and first Wollmeise Sock Club deliveries. I have prepared my charts for the Spring Things Shawl. I bought some really pretty yarn - OF COURSE. My goodness, I wish I could be at home knitting right now!!!

    I realized recently that I need to make some adjustments in my crafting and entertainment set up. I have canceled my subscription to Audible and will be cancelling my Netflix subscription. Netflix was okay when all I was knitting was socks, but now that I am knitting lace I notice that I only listen to the movies now. And if the movie is entertaining and I keep looking up from my work I end up tinking. So no more Netflix. Audible is about $15 for one book credit, they have sales and deals, and you can get a plethora (I love that word ;} ) of audiobooks at a great discount. That is all well and good if you actually listen to them. I have six books in my Audible library that I have not gotten around to yet. I try to listen to them at work, but it seems like the only time someone wants something is if they see I am listening to a book. So no more Audible. There's also the fact that audio files are huge and I have to burn the audiobooks to CD to keep my hard drive clutter free. A major PAIN. When I am all caught up on Audiobooks I will listen to more podcasts.

    I think that is about all that is interfering with my knitting at home. Now how to figure out a way to get more knitting time away from home . . . hmmm

    Friday, September 05, 2008

    Shake Shake Shake

    We just had an EARTHQUAKE!!! It was a very good one, lots of shaking. I am not sure where the epicenter was, I don't have on a television. I am listening to audiobooks and catching up on Ravelry forums.

    Everything happens for a reason!! I was "supposed" to go through my yarn stash over the three day weekend. I killed not one, but TWO MOTHS a couple of weeks ago. I freaked out and swore I would personally finger every strand of Socks That Rock and Wollmeise in my collection. But I read, watched Netflix, knit and crocheted instead. Today I received a Ravelry message requesting to buy or trade some Sundara from my stash. I did not want to say yes without locating it first - SO - that meant going through my Yarn Collection. I worked up quite a sweat considering it is 90+ degrees here after 8:00 p.m. Anywhoo, it was in the bottom bin in the corner, and at the bottom of that bin. I had to pull it out of the corner after removing all of the bins and knitting books, patterns and project bags that live on top of it. But there it was a perfect skein of Sundara Black over Violet yarn, nicely protected in a plastic ziplock next to a lavendar sachet. Mind you this meant I had gone through every single storage bin of yarn to find this skein. Why is it that what we are searching for is always on the bottom of the last pile we lay our hands on? So I login to Ravelry and go to Messages to let the person know I have the yarn in hand and would be willing to send it off to her, and there, in my inbox is a message from her that she has gotten the yarn she needed from someone else. ALL I can say is, at least I know I have no MOTHS in my yarn collection, and that is one less chore I have to do this weekend.

    Squee, I just got an e-mail from Donna Druchunas!!! I am so going to add her to my Star Struck post.

    Thursday, September 04, 2008

    Pretty Patterns & Techniques Too

    I received three new books from Knit Picks today:

    Shawls Two, On The Go - Sixth&Spring Books. Ya know, I don't think I have Shawls One, if not I will be ordering it soon. This book is off the hook. So many great patterns.

    Ethnic Knitting Discovery by Donna Druchunas re The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and The Andes. Very timely since I will be doing color stranded projects soon. Another goodie by Donna, love that woman. I really enjoyed Artic Lace, and this book is even more . . . je ne sais quai. She gives you background, technique, patterns stitch definitions and repeats, resources - EVERYTHING. She even goes over VERY SCARY STEEKS. Yep, there is a reason why that word ends with eeks!! But Donna walks you through it all, no worries ( yeah right - you cut yours first).

    Knit With Beads: Stunning Shawls & Wraps by Scarlet Taylor Okay this one is just pretty. The shawl that struck me as a must knit is not even lacey. It is the Hounds Tooth Stole, oh my goodness. My sister has Hounds Tooth gloves, I must knit her a matching scarf - JUST MUST!!

    All three books contain great information on techniques and design. You can easily adapt the projects to something you want to make. I will probably only knit one project from each book "As Is". I will use them more for reference guides or jumping off points.

    While I was shopping the books I went ahead and ordered a set of size 6 Harmony tips, the locking stitchmarkers I cannot seem to get through a pair of socks without and some 32" and 40" cables to use as lifelines in my lace knitting. I found the technique on KnittingHelp.com and it worked like a charm. I have only (knock on wood) had to use a lifeline once, but it was a pain picking up laceweight yarn from cotton thread. So, on my current project I put the Knit Picks Harmony tips on a 40" cable, knit a row, screwed on the end caps and moved the tips back to the 24" cable I was working with. However, unlike the thread lifeline, I am moving the cable up after every milestone. I also used a KP cable for the invisible cast on, so when time comes to begin the knitted on border, I will have no stitches to pick up, I just need to move the needle tips to go live with that cable. I HEART KNIT PICKS!!!!! They make knitting so much more fun and enjoyable with all of these wonderful tools.

    Monday, September 01, 2008

    Lace and Crochet

    I have mostly been working on my crochet by numbers portrait and celtic knot stole the past few days. There are some really good completion prizes for the Secret of the Stole iii Hint 3 this week, but there is no way I can knit that fast. The pattern has a lot of SL1, K2TOG, PSSOs in it which always slow me down and are a pain to tink. So I am going really slow on that project. I added some new yarns to my stash in Ravelry. I went ahead and listed the individual Alice Starmore Hebridiean colorways from my Glenesk kit and the Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn that I bought - finally used my discount coupon from the Rockin' Sock Club. I earned another Loopy Ewe $25 bonus, I think I am going to buy patterns this time. I earned it purchasing some new colorways of Baruffa Cashwool and a skein of Perchance to Knit. I am going to knit another dimple shale scarf in one of my new yarns, and perhaps a narrower feather and fan stole in the Barrufa Cashwool. Everything is coming along nicely as fars as my WIPS go, but I found two more Ravelry Lace Groups that have enabled a huge surge in the number of projects I have queued. I even got to demonstrate knitting two socks on two circular needles to a previous knitter. I am always surprised when someone who used to knit is amazed by circurlar needles. I taught myself to knit using straight and circular needles, so I never realized that circular needles were anything new or out of the ordinary. But at least three times now, past knitters have asked me about circular needles and where they are sold and such. Funny. It's like showing a kid a rotary phone I guess - reverse technology shock.