Party pics

The spread!



Mary Kay, Connie and Kati with my tree in the background (and my husband's ass)



Mary Kay and Connie



Sylvia, Brandi and Dawn (and my fat ass) enjoying the gnosh


Brandi and Sylvia checking out their gifts. Sylvia got some GORGEOUS handspun yarn. I'm a wee bit jealous.


Mary Kay and Connie checking out their gifts. Mary Kay got a supported spindle and some cotton. Again, I'm jealous. Connie's holding her new project bag. Again, jealous. LOL


Sylvia fondles her yarn while Dawn reads us the Letter From a Box of Earplugs as Irene listens. I never knew that little foam earplugs were so useful to a knitter until the earplugs wrote the letter for Dawn (as told to Connie) illustrating their many knitting uses, from point protectors to children drowner outers to projectiles for people who interrupt you when you're counting.


That's it. :-D

Guild Christmas Party

Last night was the guild Christmas party. We had it at my house, which was nice not to have to stress about DH being home to watch the kids and all. The food? Delish. The wine? Fabulous. The company? Divine. I also managed to snag 8 oz. of Color Me roving in Fiery. Drool. We had a small gift exchange, as well, and I received some lovely handmade soap in the most gorgeous little gift bag. I didn't get any pictures, but if they're posted on the guild site soon I'll snag them.

Weird

My monitor suddenly fixed itself last night. Gremlins in there or something. Anyway, now I can see how much the picture of my shawl really sucks. lol I'll get some better ones soon, promise.

Stick a fork in it

It's done. Thank goodness. This picture was taken by a girl in my guild on her cell phone. My monitor is shot (the red doohickey [actual technical term] fried up so I only have green and blue) so I have no idea what this picture actually looks like. lol Sorry if it sucks. It'll fit right in with all my other sucky pictures.

Editing to add details:
The pattern is Creatures of the Reef
The yarn is Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in Tidepool (gorgeous, gorgeous stuff.)
Knit on size 4 Addis, and I guess it took about 6 months to knit with a LONG hiatus in there, so really more like 2.

Navajo plying

I tried my hand at navajo plying tonight. At first, I wasn't pinching it off at all. I was just letting it wildly twist and wind on. Mmm, bad idea, okay? Don't do that. Once I figured it out, it was alternately pleasant and stressful. I think a tensioned lazy kate would help, but I'm using the super fancy Ghetto Rigged Knitting Needle Stuck Through a Box method. Also, the bobbin I was using seems to have a small bit on the end missing, and it was clacking and driving me crazy. That could have added to the stress. I'll have to find some way to fix that.

It didn't turn out too bad, I suppose. The main thing is the color changes were preserved. I had 2-plied some spindle spun yarn with this same top, and, well, it looked like crap. So I'm much happier with this. I'm not happy with the thickness. I wanted it thinner. Such is the learning process. This is before setting the twist.












With a dime for scale and whatnot. I dunno. It seems to be what you do. LOL

Just a few pictures

Okay! Time for some sharing.

First, here are my Lacevember projects.

First we have Baudelaire, which I started in the summer and finally finished yesterday. The yarn is Knitpicks Essential in Gulfstream.










Then this is the progress on the Creatures of the Reef shawl. I just have to do the seafoam stuff at the top and it's done.












Next up, my worst case of Second Sock Syndrome is officially OVER. The Jaywalkers! They're done! I think I started these at least a year ago. Sheesh. The yarn is Knitpicks Sock Garden in Pansy.






















And lastly, a truly craptastic photo of the splendifferous roving my secret pal sent me.











How does it look spun up?

Gorgeous.

Serendipity

Oh, y'all (I say as if anyone actually reads this blog LOL) I had the best day ever yesterday.

I sat knitting by the window stalking the UPS man and almost finished my cursed Jaywalkers aka The Worst Case of SSS in History. Finally he came! My wheels! They came! Wooohoo!

So I tore open the boxes and dug through all the hidden treasures that dear L put in. Homemade soaps, some Romney roving to get me started, extra paint and decals for the wheels, just good stuff. She also sent along some spindles. One is a basic top whorl that is painted with the same green and purple paint as my wheels. How adorable! Then there's another one that is so light and tiny it's like a feather. Can you say cashmere? I knew you could.

Anyhoo! So I got the wheels set up and sat down to learn how to use them. I succeeded in breaking my yarn and losing the end, mostly, but eventually I got it. As I was sitting there, there was a knock on my door. Who could that be? Why, it's the mail man, and he brought me about 8 oz. of the. most. beautiful. merino roving you have ever seen in your LIFE from my secret pal. She is just the best! All you other secret pals be jealous, because I got the best one. She put in a sweet note that made my day most of all. But how perfect that it arrived on the same day, nay, the same HOUR as my wheels? Of course, my pal says she totally planned that. ;) I've already got BIG plans for it.

I really need to get a picture of it. I tried, but the pictures just do not do it any justice at all. So I'll keep trying and post a picture soon. Just be warned. You might need a drool bib.

So then I spent the day spinning and getting to know my wheels, and that evening was the meeting for my Spinners and Weavers Guild. They ooohed and ahhhed over my wheel (I brought the green Delft with me) and tried to steal my secret pal roving when I wasn't looking and Suzieann (sp?) from Fire Ant Ranch was there trying to leave us broke tempt us with gorgeous spindles and fiber she had from Kid N Ewe. Much fun was had.

By the end of the day, this is what I ended up with. Please excuse the craptastic photography.









Not bad, I think, for my first attempt. Brown is not my color at all, but DH likes it and wants me to knit him a hat and some bulky boot socks, so I guess I'll oblige.

My first secret pal package has arrived!

And I can't find my camera! waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Anyway, my magnificent pal sent me a hank of Foxtrot from To Knit, Perchance to Dream. I LOVE IT!!!!!!! It is so beautiful, and so nice and soft and just the texture I love in a sock yarn. Thank you so much, whomever you are. You made my day! I can't wait to knit it up. Hmm, and I just got some new DPNs from Knitpicks the other day. Perfect. Off to search for a pattern!

Fortune smiles upon me

The lady I'm buying the wheel from offered me a very generous discount for both the wheels she was selling. So what did I do? Bought the other one, of course.

Thank you, L, my spinning savior!

Here's the other one. Love, love, love.

Lacevember, third contest question

This question asks what my ideal lace knitting conditions are. Well, my ideal would be sitting on a beach somewhere in the Mediterranean with a Calvin Klein underwear model rubbing my feet and telling me how great I am, but that's unlikely. So, a realistic ideal would be kids in bed, good light, glass of wine nearby, husband otherwise occupied, either sitting in front of the TV with something funny that I don't have to look at (stand up comedy is perfect for this) on, or sitting at my computer listening to the latest Randi Rhodes show, with my cat on the headrest behind me purring.

Pssst, I've heard the Lacevember folks are partial to cat pictures, so here is my purring fuzzball.

Mine all mine, version 2.0

For real this time! Hooray!

Lacevember!

The knitting questions, or the usual suspects

How long have you been knitting? I guess almost two years? I don't really know.

How did you learn to knit? I taught myself.

Favorite thing about knitting? Everything! Okay, not everything. Casting on 437 stitches isn't much fun, but all the rest of it is!

How long have you been knitting lace? My very first project was lace, actually. After some initial experimental swatching, I dove right into the Heirloom Baby Afghan from the craft yarn website.

Favorite thing about knitting lace. The fact that I usually never get bored, and the finished product.


The yarn questions, or flash your stash

Favorite lace yarn? So far my favorite has been Knitpicks Shadow

variegated or solids for shawls? Depends. For really intricate lace, I like a solid or heathered. If it's not too busy a pattern, I do love me some variagated.

Favorite lace color? Purple!


Technique, or show us your skillz

Circs or straights? Circs.

Favorite lace knitting trick? Counting along the purl row and just picking up the bar between stitches if you mis a yarn over. Or, alternately, if you're knitting lace on DPNs and have to do a YO right at the point where the needles switch, skip it and pick up the bar the next row.

Lifelines? If so with what? I live dangerously. I've never put in a lifeline.

Fancy blocking wires, or just sewing pins stuck in your carpet? I use the Yarn Harlot method, which is to string a thread through the top edge and then pin the heck out of the rest.


Pattern, or can you follow directions

shawls or lacey items? Shawls

triangle, rectangle, or circular shawls? I love circular shawls, but I haven't knit one yet.

Charts or printed instructions? I can get along with charts just fine if they're not 20 inches wide and teeny tiny blocks, but I do prefer printed instructions

Favorite lace you've knit? Hedera

Favorite lace you want to knit? Tea Shawl from Gathering of Lace


Just Fun, yup that's right, just for fun

Favorite jelly belly flavor? Mango

Tell me everything you know about Eric the Red..... Uhhhhhh, he was Leif Erikkson's father? And a viking?

Coke, classic or with lime? Ew, neither. Dr. Pepper all the way.

Holiday carols, sing along, or wish they would be banned from all public airwaves? I like them the few days before Christmas, but I think starting them right after Halloween is excessive and makes me want to poke my eyes out with sporks by Thanksgiving.

What is the definition of irony? Well, it's not a black fly in your chardonnay, I can tell you that.

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop? Let's find out. One... two... *crunch!*

Why is my cat always puking in front of my son's bedroom door? Because the cat is mad at your son and wants him to step in it.

What is your superhero power? Able to wrangle 3 short people on a single hour's sleep!

If the laundry is 9 foot by 11 foot (just dreaming, that's a big laundry room), and the walls are 8 feet tall, and you are going to tile the entire room in tiles that are 3 inches by 5 inches, what color should those tiles be? Black and white for the floor, lavender for the walls

What's for dinner tonight? It's way too early to worry about that.

What is clogging my children's bathtub drain? Alligators

I normally don't post political stuff, but...

I just have to scream this to the rooftops. I am beyond ecstatic right now.




MADAME SPEAKER!



Also, a big "so long" to Rick Santorum. My only regret is that I'm no longer in Pennsylvania and didn't have the pleasure of voting against you.

Spreading Santorum

Or not

Well, no, the wheel is not mine all mine after all. The seller started getting all shady, was listing it elsewhere for $125 more than I was going to buy it for, and after I had committed to buy it was offering it to another person on Knittyboard. And ignoring my emails. So I wrote her and called it off. Last thing I need is to be screwed out of money.

:( :( :( :( :(

So I guess I'm still searching. Poop.

MINE ALL MINE!

Yes, it is. I'm so excited! I get to pick it up Sunday.

WIP round up. Now with actual knitting progress!

Here we go. First my Flashy Lace sweater. If I don't get to some interesting shaping soon, this might become a UFO. So. Boring.




Baudelaire, the second sock with a not-so-pointy toe.




Lizard Ridge squares




Aran sandal sock - the first one is DONE! The top



The side


The heel (I love how the patterning goes down the heel. Perfect for clogs and birks)


Creatures of the reef shawl



I dunno, can you see the seahorse and crabs?




And lastly, the sad, sad, RPM socks that need me to rip some stitches out and fix them. How did I cross a stitch four rows back? I was paying attention! GRR!

SP9 contest

Woot! I love contests. So here's my entry. Thank you to our lovely host, Heatherly, for doing this.


1. Where is your favorite knitting spot?

My couch, surrounded by every throw pillow in the room. That really annoys my husband.

2. If you suddenly could never knit again (shudder) - what would you do instead?

Wallow in despair? Hmm, I guess I'd still spin.

3. If you could travel anywhere in the world - where would you go and why?

Australia, great barrier reef. I am a beachy watery pisces and I would love to swim with all those fish in such clear beautiful water.

4. When you were little - What did you want to do "when you grew up?" Are you doing it?

I wanted to be a vet. No, I'm not doing it, but my husband works at a vet clinic. lol

5. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Mississippi Mud *drool*

Socktoberfest!

Lolly asks to see pictures of our sock stash. My sock stash is WAY less embarrassing than my lace stash, so I'm happy to show it. See? Not that big. Of course, it doesn't count the 10 pairs worth that are in various stages of completion somewhere else in the house, but never mind that. It also doesn't include the roving I'm spinning that's planning on being socks. Ahem.


And some questions...

• When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?

I taught myself. I wanted to start knitting just to make socks. The DPNs and I battled for a while, and then finally we called a truce and I've been a sock fiend ever since.

• What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?

My first pair was for my husband in Lion Brand Magic Stripes on size 3 needles. Looking back, the guage is way too loose. But he still has them and wears them. They need a little darning on the heel. That man is hell on socks.

• What would you have done differently?

See "gauge issues" above. I also wouldn't have used Magic Stripes. Ick.

• What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

Socks that Rock! They truly do rock. I completed a pair in the Lapis colorway, and my RPMs (I just typed PMS... Freudian?) are also in STR. I have some Artyarns Ultramerino that I can't wait to use because I can tell I'm going to love it.

• Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?

We don't use that dirty "c" word on this blog. Not since the Great Star Blanket Fiasco of 2005. Nuh-uh. I have tried magic loop, but I still prefer my DPNs. The other ways just seem too fussy and just ways to avoid using DPNs, and since I don't mind DPNs and actually like using them, they're kind of just way too fussy for not a lot of benefit.

• Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)

I prefer a flap. I have adopted the heel flap from Hedera for all my socks now. Basically you do Sl1, P1 on the wrong side and just knit across the right side. Seems easier to me.

• How many pairs have you made?

I'm not sure. 10? About that.

• Do you have certain patterns planned for some of the yarns? Do you buy yarn and then choose a pattern?
  

I have patterns picked out for two pairs. My last skein of STR will be Anastasia from Minty Fresh. And the Knitpicks Dancing will be the air-conditioned socks from Jackie E-S's sock journal. All the others? I have no idear. I just buy sock yarn and figure I'll worry about a pattern later.

• Does a certain sock yarn you have in your stash take you back to a certain event? (where you were when you bought/received it? what was going on in your life at the time!)
  

All the sock yarn I've bought at the Woolie Ewe in Plano brings back good memories of sitting around knitting with Betty and spending way too much money. ;) Most of the other stuff was bought over the internet, so no, no special memories there.

Da Fair

So this week is the Fair in my neck of the woods. The HOT Spinners and Weavers Guild had a booth, and I was up there most of last weekend. I think I was supposed to be demoing and answering questions and such, but mostly I just played with yarn and wool and had a good time. Oh, and ate funnel cake.

Here's the booth.



While I was there, I spun up this mini-skein of noodlebarf yarn.



And for the what the fuck category, here's a butter sculpture of a cow riding a motorcycle. Bet you've never seen one of those before.

Secret Pal 9! Questionnaire

I'm so excited!

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? So far my favorite has been Socks that Rock. I mostly knit with Knitpicks yarn because I know I like it and I don't have a LYS within 75 miles. :( I'm not a big fan of the cotton.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? Store them? As in unused needles? HA! In the rare occasion that every needle in the house does not have a WIP on it, they go in a glass jar.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I have been knitting for a bit over a year, and I taught myself. I guess I'd consider myself intermediate, but I don't shy away from advanced techniques/patterns, and I love trying new things.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Why yes, yes I do.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.) Gardenia is my favorite. I like citrusy scents and floral scents. I'm not to fond of sweet scents, like vanilla.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? Do I ever. I like anything chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I'm a new spinner.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I like country. *paranoid look* Yes, my computer and DVD/CD player can play MP3s.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? I love blue and purple and green. I really don't care for orange.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I am married. I have four-year-old twins (boy and girl) and a two-year-old girl. We have a cat and dog.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? No, not really. It's too warm here for that kind of stuff.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? SOCKS! And lace shawls.

13. What are you knitting right now? What am I not knitting right now? LOL A few pairs of socks, Flashy Lace from Knitty, Lizard Ridge from Knitty, and two lace shawls.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Looooooooove it!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I prefer circulars and DPNs, and I like them as slick as can be. I mostly use Addis and Knitpicks needles. I have found that I like Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs, but other bamboo DPNs drive me batty.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Yes.

17. How old is your oldest UFO? Oh my. Over a year old.

18. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween!

19. Is there anything that you collect? Dust bunnies? No, not really.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I have no knitting mag subscriptions. I do love IK's designs. Vogue, not so much. I really love the Heeere be Dragones shawl pattern, and I'm dying to try some Handpaintedyarn.com laceweight. I have been hesitant to order any because the last time my package was in limbo forever, and it took almost two months to get to me. I'd like to try some Kidsilk Haze, Trekking, Shepherd Sock and CTH Supersock, and Koigu because everyone always raves about those.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? I'm just getting started in modular knitting. I'd like to do more fair isle, too. I've done a tiny bit of entrelac, and for some reason I have it in my head that I MUST knit an afghan for my couch, and if I do I want it to be entrelac.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yeppers! I've never actually measured my foot. Hmm. I wear a size 9 shoe, and I do have a wide foot but I normally knit sock patterns as is or even a little narrower because I really like them snug.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) March 10th.

Distraction

Yeah, so I got distractd from the UFOs and WIPs that need to get done. Sue me.




First here we have a modular knitted coaster from the Knitty Gritty show the other day. Very cute and very quick. That's Sugar n' Creme yarn. I love how it looks like a bunch of little triangles, but it's actually knit all in one piece with no picking up stitches or anything. Very clever.





And this is my first square of Lizard Ridge from the newest Knitty. It's done with Paton's SWS in Natural Plum. I can't gush enough about this yarn. I love it. I can't wait to snuggle under a nice big blanket of it. This square needs a good blocking. It was tough to get it to lay flat. It's like a square with about a dozen little sock heels in it.

Aw, jeez, I'm a freakin' moron and a half. I just realized I did row 10 of the pattern wrong. No wonder it won't lay flat. *sigh* Rip. Rip. Rip. Damn it.

Sock INSANITY!!!!!

I have a couple of *coughcougholdcough* FOs to show. First one is a felted baby hat from a Pick Up Sticks pattern. Yes, this is the hat of furry doom that was blogged about before. Also some cute little booties.

These are my Finding Nemo socks. The yarn is Knitpicks Sock Memories in the Easter colorway, and the pattern is ... oh, crap. What is it? Something from Knitting Vintage Socks. I traded away the book, so I don't know. It's the purple one in the book. LOL I altered the pattern to accommodate a larger gauge, and I did these socks two at once on magic loop. Yeah, NEVER doing that again.




This is a WIP that I just started. Yes, it's RPM from Knitty. It's Socks That Rock Fire on the Mountain, and it's just loverly. This picture sucks. I promise in real life it's gorgeous and so, so, so soft.


But wait...



What's that?



EGADS! There are two socks, one inside the other! I'm trying out the double knitting method of knitting two socks at once. There was an article on it in the newest knitty, so I decided I'm insane enough to try some extreme knitting. What. A. Pain. In. The. Farking. Ass. I've only frogged this about 5 times and unknitted I don't know how many stitches. But I'm doing it! And it is kind of fun and definitely not boring.