Send Help!!!

I've fallen into a pit.....

I have not knit a stitch since Wednesday of last week.  Oh.....I am so missing it, but  I HAVE to get this done!  With so much more left to do:

My own fault, procrastination never pays!  BG's enthusiasm helps during the week, but his willingness to "help" does not!

I knew I was in bad shape when my husband mentioned the possibility of a 2 day road trip, and my first thought was "Great!!! I can knit!".  (This is NOT a project for the road).  So....hope that trip happens, and soon!.  Also, I was watching a video podcast this morning (while working on the advent calender) and the gal showed a knitted baby bid, out of cotton.  I thought "WOW....I want to knit that!".  Yes...I am convinced that I am in knitting withdrawal, and in need of immediate help! 

But, while knitting and spinning are nonexisitant right now, stash enhancement remains.  If you will remember, I am on a red yarn kick, and these three braids will add wonderment to my collection. 

These are colorways "Covered Wagon", "Farmer Phil" and "Ranchero" all on VBFL fiber.  "Ranchero is a 6oz braid, the other two are 4oz each.  These are from FatCatKnits, probably my favorite dyer.  I like that most of her colorways are repeatable, and all are available on all of her fiber bases.  She has both 4oz and 6oz braids available.  Oh - and also, on her website, the different colors are shown on the different bases, which is very helpful as different fibers take colors differently.  Anyway, no....no connection to Ginny in any way, just a very happy and satisfied addict customer.  :)

This one is the Fall 2011 Club selection.  I am actually not a member, but occasionally she has extra skeins that eventually make it into her shop.  This is on BFL.  Lovely stuff, and will probably become colorwork "something" eventually.  5oz total. 

While I obviously am a procrastinator at times, happily it is not my normal nature.  Christmas gift buying is well unnderway at my house.  BG and I made a trip to TOYSRUS the other day.....(Santa needed some help, and BG was happy to accomodate.)  I know he always loves books, and Caillou is his favorite TV show (here at my house anyway.  He watches it daily while I fix his lunch). 

Yesterday, I stumbled across the Caillou books at B&N, each selling for $3.99, which is a bargain for a nice little book these days.  Then the clerk mentioned this box of the same books - for ......see that price!  Yep, a little less than $11, for 6 books!  Santa smiled all the way home!

Our kitchen will be measured for the new flooring tomorrow.  I still have not made final decisions, but we wanted to lock in a sale price, so the paper work has begun.  I think perhaps a deadline will help me decide!  I even have to decide on grout color! 

Yep - sneaking around the corner......

Fall MUST be on the way.  It seems two things always happen at my house when fall is upon us.

The first one, not so pleasant - Sofee slips into the throes of allergy woe.  She's there.  I gave in and gave her some of her prednisone yesterday.  She's miserable, and I am too.  I worry so what the medications may be doing "to" her rather than "for" her.  Luckily I can usually keep the edge off, which is the goal, with as few as 8 or so pills the entire season.  Course, even that is 8 more than I'd like to give her.  I also hate to watch her suffer though.  It's no fun either way.....

The other is my annual "use up the scraps on kid's mitten" urge.  This year I wanted to use up some hand-spun scraps.  I could make a hundred mittens, as many bits and bobs of yarn that I have, but I fear my attention span is too short.  For now, 4 pair are enough. 

As always, they are strange looking, and I ponder the wisdom of donating them to charity.  Are the kids THAT desperate?  Then I remind myself that they are warm - densely knit out of double strands of wool.  So, they will probably find a mitten tree to adorn this Holiday season - and hopefully a snowman tummy to pat eventually.

Speaking of handspun yarns.....  I just prepped my next fiber project.  I think I will start spinning for another pair of colorwork mittens.

This is another FatCatsKnits fiber.  I have 2 onces of her colorway "Nerds" on a verigated bfl base.  I drafted out the first ounce, and will start spinning it this afternoon, while BG naps.  I plan a fingering weight when completed.  I'll spin them both seperately so I have two small skeins of identical yarns with the color floating from green to the peachy/orange.  I ran across a new color stranded mitten pattern yesterday and had an "ah-huh" moment. 

Oh, and the colorblock shawl from the previous post - it's toast.  Sorry Stephen.....the love was just not there.  I have seen some lovely renditions, so it's not the pattern's fault - just my color selection was not the best.  Anyway - be thee gone!  (Life is too short!).

Thanks to all of you who have actually been reading this blog and leaving such kind comments. :) I do soooo appreciate it!

Wooo Hooo - two posts in the same week!  I do believe I am on a roll.......  

Catchn up

Wow - it's been awhile.  Where do the days - weeks go?  So, this will be a catch-up post.

First off, I think we are pretty much over the nasty bug that we all shared.  Hubby was last to get it, but seemed to have a fairly short-lived version, when compared to what both me and my mom endured.  During the first few days of my illness, I managed to break an older dental crown.  Due to coughing, I chose to wait out a couple of weeks before getting dental work started.  YIKES - it's been years since I have had a crown put on, and now I remember how much I hate the process.  I really like my dentist, but just hate being captive and out of control.  I always have those "I want to swallow NOW!!" moments.  And - thanks goodness we have good dental insurance. I was blown away by the cost!!

DH has started planting garden (peas, onions, lettuce, radishes,) and probably more are in the ground.  Due to horrible rains last year, our garden was pretty much a waste.  We are hoping for a better crop this year.  It's a lot of work, for no gain......kind of a downer last  year.

And on the knitting scene, I've been busy.  A pair of plain jane socks were recently completed. I really enjoyed knitting these with my new 2.25mm Signature DPNS.  I am a total fan!

A couple of the gals in my knitting group just purchased the new Signature circulars, and I am anxious to hear how they like them. 

 I completed the Flamboyan shawl by Stephen West.  It's knit out the 2 colors of my handspun, shown in the previous post.  I really like it, now that it's finished.  It looks really nice draped over one shoulder with the ties handing down either side on the other side.  Sorry - no personal modeling shot.  If you could see my hair you would knot why!  LOL  The fence is much better looking than am I!  ;)  It's very soft and drapey fabric, so anyway, color me happy with this one!

And currently, I am nearing the edge of a shawl/shawlette knit out of this handspun:

BG was helping me "thwack" it during the finished process and declared it to be rainbow yarn, so I just had to take a rainbow photo......

I am enjoying knitting with it.  I'm making a Traveling Woman shawlette, starting with the green and ending the bottom edge with the dark wine color.  I would bet my last dollar that I am going to run out of  yarn though.  My yarn meter malfunctioned, so I didn't know what yardage I had.  I added quite a few pattern repeats, as I wanted to use the entire skein of yarn, so.....I'm afraid I misjudged.  Oh well - I will manage to use every yard of this yarn, which was my desire.  I think I will finish the very edge with a bit of Knitpicks Pallette.  I have all those little color samples, if you will remember, so picking out the exact color will be easy.  I think there are a couple of good matches, so I'll be placing a small knitpicks order soon. Hopefully it won't be too noticeable.

And some stash enhancement....

  8oz of IntoTheWhirled Polwarth fiber.  Quercus is the colorway name.  Nice!  My comfort colors.

And for some rainy day, when a little color is needed:

Again, IntoTheWhirled fiber.  This time SW BFL, in "Mandarin" colorway.  This colorway was inspired by a photo of a beautiful Mandarin duck.

So, Happy Spinning, Knitting, Crocheting, Quilting, Sewing, Baking, Gardening, Reading or whatever makes your heart sing.....talk to you later!  (In the reading category, I've recently discovered the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.  Fun escapism!!)
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What is it with handcoverings?????

All I can think of is that I must secretly be worried about cold fingers come this winter.  For some reason I keep knitting mittens/gloves.  Plus tons of designs are dancing around in my head.  Sheeessshhh!! 

Besides knitting for Sofee this week, I also managed to knit these gloves.

 The pattern is called Knotty, a freebie on Ravelry.  I have been admiring it for a couple of years.  The yarn,  a lightweight Socks That Rock, stashed from my club membership several years ago was always one that I really liked.  So...it was a good match!  I would really recommend this pattern.  It is very well written, and the gloves themselves are very nice fitting, and very wearable.  While they are technically knit from fingering weight yarn, the STR is a little heavier than some - resulting in what I think will be a nice warm glove. 

Julia Mueller has many glove patterns available for purchase.  Most have complex cable action going on.  She is kind of the Cookie A designer of gloves.  This very pleasant experience may have given me the confidence I need to try some of her more complicated patterns. 

My postal carrier rang my front door bell today with a package:

My very first "JulieSpins" fiber!  She has a unique way of running her "clubs".  She calls it the "Un-club".  She takes orders of who wants what, giving the participants some upfront options.  This time, she posted the fiber choices (Rambouillet or Merino/silk blend) and asked us each for guidance as to what colors we wanted.  I asked for the Rambouillet fiber in "Autumnal and woodsy" colors.  She calls this "Soft Oak Leaves".  Each time I look at it, I see additional colors.  I think it is just lovely!  Warm and rich - totally within my comfort zone.  I've ordered from Julie before, but only for the purchase of gifts.  This will not be my last purchase - for me!

And tomorrow, I may just hear that doorbell ring again! Could happen......

Well worth the price of admission

Since my fiber stash is getting a little hmmmm... "out of control" shall we say, I decided to document it all in Ravelry.  I have "most" of it in there.....at least most of the pretty stuff.  My theory is that it will help me remember what I have....and what I need to spin up prior to buying more.  Hmmmm.... I'll let you know how that works for me.  :)

It also gives me an opportunity to try out some of the things I learned in my recent photography class.  I do believe it was money well spent - that class that is.  Well, the fiber is well worth the money also.

I hope I remember my camera settings, so I can take nice photos of the new braids that should come in today's mail.  LOL..... yep.  I'll let you know how this new plan works out!

Per Judy's request:  my Ravelry name is "KathyInIowa"....no, I've never been known for my originality!

And two weeks later.....

The Canadian Red socks are completed.  Nice socks. although a decent photo totally escapes me...... sorry!  These are knit out of Cascade Heritage sock yarn.  I really like this yarn....it has nice stitch definition (although you'd never know by this photo) and is soft yet durable.  For some strange reason I have been wanting a red pair of socks.  Want no more......

I'll miss the Olympics, as I have really enjoyed watching all the competition.  There have been some wonderful highlights from these games, although moments of great sadness too.

I have just completed a test hat: "Habitat" by Jared Flood.  The test was actually for the yarn I used.  It's my handspun, 3-ply Merino.  I wanted to see how it would behave with cables.  It passed the test beautifully!  The hat is a very nice finished hat, the pattern well written, and a very enjoyable knit.  Can't ask for much more than that!  Do you see the "star" pattern on the crown?  I had not, till looking at this finished hat.  Such a nice design.  Jared Flood is surely one of my favorite designers.  I always like his choice of yarns too.  We share in our love for tweedy, heathered yarns. 

I recently received a large box from CooperMoose.  It held the "Rainforest" fiber for my sweater and this red fiber (along with a few others). This also is an AshlandBay Colonial roving in the "Twisted Ruby" colorway.  (aka multi reds).  It's gorgeous stuff!  I purchased only 8oz - again to play around with. 

I really like the little streaks of colors - giving the finished yarn the heather look that I love so much.  This was spun in a traditional 3-ply.  worsted weight - not sure what it will become, but for now it's just much loved. 

And, like little soldiers waiting in formation......

I now have 9 bobbins full of singles for my (eventual) sweater yarn.  There should be 3 skeins of approx 225 yards each there.  "should be" - lol!  I am on a schedule of spinning one bobbin each day.  So far I have managed.  We'll see......  Pattern choice is still pending, but it will come to me..... 

Regular readers may remember that a couple of years ago, I taught Melissa how to knit.  She is a life-long friend of my daughter.  Well, not surprisingly (if you know Melissa) she just bought a spinning wheel.  So again, I helped a little bit, and she is now on her way......  It's fun seeing her excitement with a new challenge.  She'll do just fine.

There are a couple of other gals in my TNKG showing interest in spinning.  Hmmmm - perhaps it will be a TNK&SG some day.  Could be!! 

Our group did our first KAL (well - those of us that chose to anyway) which was a seaman's scarf.  Mine is completed, but not blocked, so I will save that for another post. 

The Hockey Game for the Gold medal is on, so better run.  Probably unAmerican of me, but, well, I guess I'll just say I hope the "best team" wins.  It's just soooooo important to the Canadians and all......