New Baby Project

I know I have too many WIPs, but I just couldn't resist casting on for Kendra's baby's sweater. The baby is now three weeks old and I only have eight inches of the hood done. Granted, I did start this while waiting for R to get out of surgery Monday. I have been trying to be diligent about working on this sweater daily, even if it is only a row or two. And I feel like I have to hurry with it, because there is a sock class on Saturday and I could easily get side-tracked.

I picked up the pattern for the sock class today. I think it will be fun. It is one of those socks that has buttons up the side. Can't remember the pattern title, but will post it when I have pictures to show of the socks progress. I haven't decided on the yarn yet either. I guess I need to spend some time with the sock yarn to see which, from the stash, would be the best to use. I don't think I need to buy any more sock yarn, but I have some winging it's way here now.

Remember Judy, who was going to try my wheel? Lyn said that Judy has ordered her Lendrum! I hope she will be as happy with her Lendrum as I am with mine. Speaking of wheels, I have been spinning on the Hitchiker. I am on my second eight ounces of Knowlton's dark brown wool roving. Now I just need to do some plying, so I can have some free bobbins.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Some Finished Items

Look! The completed pair of Angel's Rest socks.
Started: The first Saturday in November 2007
Finished: 27 January 2008
This pair took longer than the last pair I knit. I think it was because Christmas was right in the middle of the classes and we didn't do a regular pair of socks for December. I didn't need the needles, therefore the socks didn't need to be completed. I have to have the needles for the new class this Saturday, that's why they are finished now.


While waiting for R to get out of surgery this morning, I finished the first of the clogs from January's sock class. I still need to sew the bottom of the soles together, but it is close. My hands are having a hard time getting used to smaller needles now, after knitting this one clog. Socks may be a problem on Saturday. I also started a new project while waiting for R. Three hours is a long time to get some knitting done. And that's how long I waited for him.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Best Wishes

Today was spent getting the last minutes items done for the marriage of E & Au. They were married this evening in a short but sweet ceremony. There were lots of members from all sides of the families. Au's family doesn't like E, so we thought there might be fireworks, but everything worked out well. C asked me today what I thought about my oldest child getting married. I told him E was still my first baby and it was hard to think of him now married and ready to start a family of his own. Both E and Au looked very happy and as if they were meant to be together.

As for the Angel Rest socks, that were started at the November sock class--they are finished! Well, I do have to graft the other toe and weave in the ends, but they are close enough to say they are done. I think they turned out very well. They are loose on my foot, but they should fit A-g just right. I like how the design turned out and the color sequences were off very little. They almost match which is a pretty big thing in my book. The socks are knit from a Knit Picks yarn and of course I have lost the ball band, so I can't tell you which sock yarn or the color way.

Now I just need to finish some other projects that just need the finishing touches. Most of them are gifts and should be given to their recipients before too much more time passes.

Welcome to the family Au from all of us!

Happy knitting & spinning.

Window Galaxy

These are the kind of pictures you get when you wake up at 4:45 am and there is a lot of frost on the bedroom window. Hopefully, you can click on the picture and make it bigger. Then you can see that the speckles around the moon look like some kind of galaxy. It was a very pretty night with a full moon and I couldn't resist taking a picture, even if it didn't turn out quite the way I wanted.


This picture shows it's been really cold here the past few nights. All of the windows in the sun-room have some kind of frost on them. This window reminds me of the trees in the forest, dense and full. Ok, don't think about the transformer above the frost trees, I know that's not in a forest.

Can you tell, I don't have any knitting content. And I have only sat at the spinning wheel for a total of 20 minutes yesterday morning while contemplating frost trees. And that's with the Hitchiker underneath the computer desk. Not much interest until after the wedding Saturday evening. I am still working on the sock and have even done a couple of rows on the felt clogs. Just not enough progress to warrant a new picture.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Too Cold

Not much has gotten done in the knitting and spinning field today or yesterday. Today we have vehicles that won't start! The temperature last night was -17(f) and I don't think it got higher than 15(f) today, but the sun was shining. This evening has been spent trying to get the cars going. We need running cars for everything that is happening the rest of the week and the weekend.

E and Au are getting married on Saturday. This means wedding plans have taken over. E needs his car to be running so they can get all their stuff done. So much to do, not enough time and energy to do it. We are having a small wedding and reception on Saturday evening and as the groom's mom, I am in charge of the backdrop, flowers, and probably a cake. Au's mom is doing the food and table decorations. E and Au chose who they will have marrying them and where it is happening. Now if everything comes together smoothly!


I just wanted to leave you with a different picture of the skein from Sunday. This has a better representation of what the true colors are. I like this picture better than Sunday's. Au says she really likes the colors and she is not a purple or pink person. She would really like something from this yarn, but I think I have a project in mind for it and so she will have to wait.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Productive Weekend

It has been a great weekend. The fiber guild met on Saturday. We had our usual pot-luck which was really good, but made for not wanting to make dinner for the kids later that night. We were all able to meet Judy, who was able to try the Lendrum. She says it spins really smooth and her mind is made up. She didn't even spin on the wheel for very long, but she was able to spin her angora very nicely.

Here is a picture of Lyn and Judy picking out dirt and gunk from the angora that Judy brought with her to the meeting. Judy raises Angora rabbits and I think she said she has seven of them. The fiber is really nice and some guild members were jumping at the chance to get some. I think it would be really pretty in a blend of some kind, but I refrained from buying as I really don't want to move anymore stuff than I have to.

Here is a bobbin and a third plied of the "Dew on the Moab Desert" and then the skein from this bobbin.

I ended up with 211 yards in this one skein. I came home last night and while watching "Bourne Ultimatum" (love Matt Damon in these movies) I was able to spin another complete bobbin of this roving. This means I have spun about 6 ozs of the 16 ozs purchased. I am excited to finish spinning this and start a project with this color-way. I really like it!

I have also spun three bobbins of the Knowlton's dark brown roving for my Notlwonk's sweater. I can ply them altogether in a 3-ply, not Navajo plied, and use them as the base color of the sweater. This project may still take a few months.

Well, off to make meatloaf.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Beacons

Let me show you a gift I received from ES at Christmas. He said he wasn't going to be there to give me massages, so this is the next best thing. Can I tell you how many times I have sat in this chair with the heat and massage going? This morning was a prime example. Not enough rest and relaxation. Waking up to a tight back made sitting here this morning a priority. It really helped!

This morning I also sat down at the spinning wheel for my 10 to 15 minute spin time. I left the lights off in the living room and watched the airport beacon. It was really cool to watch the reflection in the cloud cover. I thought of how each of us at sometime need our own personal beacon. Showing us the direction we could go for our own selves. I thought of how each of the blogs I read inspire me in some way. Margene's was the first blog I read consistently. I always wanted to see what she was doing. As I've read other blogs, it's interesting to see what people are working on and where they got their inspiration from. I see something and think, "I can do that!"

Now j a r e d has posted about his EZ pi shawl. Even before he posted about it, Lyn has been working on one and I thought I would like to do a pi shawl. Now my beacon is pulling me to do one. I'll keep you posted.

Now I better go get some plying done so I can take some empty bobbins to spinners tomorrow. I'll show you the first skien of the "Dew on the Moab Desert" in Sunday's post.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Late Night-Early Morning--Not Even Knitting

Have you ever had one of those nights when sleep eludes you? When it seems like you wake up every fifteen minutes? This is what last night was. And today it was a run, run, run day. I woke up about 4:45 am and dozed until about 5:30. I was then wide away and not able to go back to sleep. I checked bloglines, email, and showered all before 7 am. Ran C to his doctor's appointment. Took R to his doctor appointment. Took C to school (he is in the suspension school for the rest of the week--idiot!) then took R to school and I was 20 minutes late for work. It didn't get any better!

The only bright spot is that R advanced into the next phase for his treatments. That means he could be done with everything right around his high school graduation!

R took the car tonight, so I had some uninterrupted knitting time. I could only knit for about half an hour until there was no more interest. The socks are coming along. They are at about six inches for the foot. The person who will be wearing them has a size 10 woman's foot, so I have to go another couple inches before the decreases.

On the bright side: E has been wearing these socks I made in October and gave to him at Christmas. How do I know? They were in the laundry yesterday! I am glad he is enjoying wearing them.

Looking forward to the weekend. It is the fiber artists weekend meeting. Lyn emailed me and asked me to take my Lendrum as she has a friend who would like to try it out. I think I'll take a couple of extra bobbins also. We could get her hooked!

Steady Progress

This weekend has been one of working on projects. I have done quite a bit on the Angel's Rest socks. One of the socks is half-way down the foot. The other sock is about two inches behind the first. Once I remembered the pattern, these socks are moving along fairly quickly. I have decided to gift them away. A-g didn't get the socks she picked at Christmas, they ended up going home with J-g, so these will go to her in the not too distant future. I will have enough yarn left that I can use them for accents in another pair of sock, maybe for myself, because I really like the color.

I also have almost a full bobbin on the Lendrum. Not too shabby of progress when I was only at the wheel for about an hour or two this weekend. I really like how the colors are turning out. There is definitely dye lot differences, but I think it will turn out alright when combined with the other roving. I am interested in finding out what this will look like in the skien.

Happy knitting & spinning.

New Toys

I got a new toy for Christmas and I have been having some fun the past two days playing with it. I got a lot, 70 and some odd, songs downloaded before my free trial ran out. Even with that number of songs, I still have plenty of room left to put other things on. I need to learn how to download podcasts, I guess. It has been nice to have my own music that is right where I am while I am doing chores, spinning, and hanging out on the "net".

Speaking of spinning, I thought I would show you my latest spinning project. It is one of Judy's Novelty Wool, Merino in the "Dew on the Moab Desert" color. I picked this up at the Idaho Falls Fiber Fair in 2006 and it has just been marinating in my fiber tote. I decided this is the current Lendrum project. I have16 ozs. and you know how I can't spin anything but fine. I will have quite a bit of this as yarn.
Catherine, this one is for you. Remember the start I got from your plant in the front entry? Well, it has a blossom on it!!

Thanks for the plant!

Happy knitting & spinning.

Sheep in Green

I saw these today, as I was walking into work and I couldn't pass them by! I grabbed a pair and left them with my stuff until I could check out tonight. What could be better than sheep pajama bottoms? And seeing as how green is one of my favorite colors, I really couldn't pass them up. I couldn't wait to put them on when I got home from work.

There is not much else happening here. Knitting is continuing on the Angel's Rest socks from the November sock class. The heels are turned and I'm onto the foot. I thought I would give this pair away, but the more I work on them the more I want to keep them for myself. Besides, my feet are almost always cold for the first few hours at work and the wool socks I have right now are more boot socks or bed socks than shoe socks. And on top of that, I really like the colors!

Happy knitting & spinning.

Lace Weight

There hasn't been much happening around here in the past couple of days. I did finish plying the roving from SOAR 1996. Here it is completed. There ended up being 4 ozs. which is spun to about a lace weight. I ended up with about 285 yards. I think there is enough to do a some type of lace project. I haven't decided on the pattern, so I am open to suggestions. Anyone have any?


The second finished spinning project is the batts I carded for the fiber exchange in December. I have about an ounce of fiber here and I ended up with about 41 yards. The pictures do not do justice to the yarn. The predominate color is green with some spots of purple and yellow. I like how it turned out. I'm glad I had dyed up more than was actually used, so I can blend some more and get enough for some unknown project.

This is also a dk or lace weight. I have a really hard time spinning a thicker single. Although, the fiber I am spinning from Notlwonk is a thicker single. Maybe because I am spinning it while busy reading and not paying too much attention. There could be an experiment in there somewhere.

I have done some knitting on my UFOs. I am undertaking the heels on the socks from November. If I had more tv interesting enough to watch, I could even get them finished this week. Who knows!

ES has started his new job and so far is enjoying it. He says his place in Fairfax is actually bigger than he thought it would be. Last night he did some rearranging so it feels more comfortable for him. I do miss having him here, though.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Yes, This Weekend Has Been Busy

This has been a long, busy weekend. I got to have Thursday thru today off of work. I do have to go back to work tomorrow. I have enjoyed having these past four days to get some things done and worry about ES and his driving.

I finished the Christmas stocking and yes, it is big enough to put a 2 or 3 year old inside of it. I did this stocking according to the directions with the needle size requested. I knew I should have gone down two sizes on the needle, but I wanted to see what would happen. My stocking ended up being about an inch and a half wider than the sample and about two inches longer. Oh well, one less thing on the UFO list. I don't know what I will do with it yet. I am just going to put it in the Christmas stuff and see what inspiration strikes me next year. I don't have to decide today, do I?

This is the Fiber Trends clog that I did in class yesterday. I am on row 4 of the cuff, so almost done. I did go down two needle sizes on this pattern, although being felted I probably didn't need to. I am anxious to see how it will turn out. Maybe I have the kids knitted item for next Christmas and if I start now I can get them all done. The color in this picture is way off. The actual color is a purple variegated color and this shows it as being more blue with dark stripes. I'll have to play with the lighting when I complete the pair so the color will be truer in the final picture.

On Friday I took the batts from the December 17th post and pre-drafted them into this preparation. I spun them while reading blogs that afternoon and ended up with this much on one bobbin.
I haven't plied this bobbin yet so don't know how much is actually there. I am hoping to get that done this afternoon. I'll give you an update and completed picture in the next couple of days.

I have been sitting down to the spinning wheel for a few minutes every day. I am hoping that I can accomplish quite a bit of spinning that way. I have my next couple of spinning projects planned out, I think. I hope to have quite a bit spun before moving so I can have some knitting projects for the drive across the country.

Today I am making some split pea soup. E has been craving it and it sounded really good. Hope it tastes as good as it smells! There is a good chunk of ham on the bone which should make it really good for the boys.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Baby Sweater

Here's the baby sweater, at 3 pm today. The left sleeve in the picture is now completed and the second sleeve stitches are picked up and ready to be knit. It shows you how much I can get done in a time of worry and stress.

ES finally left town this afternoon on his cross country drive. He left at 2:30 pm. As of 10:30 tonight he is around Rawlins, WY and the roads are just now getting icy and windy. He says there is a truck jack-knifed and another car off the road. He is slowing down and taking things easy and getting off the phone, thank goodness for Bluetooths. He says he probably won't call until in the morning. I could get a lot more knitting done if I let myself worry too much. Maybe I can get my last three UFOs finished before ES gets to Washington DC.

Looking forward to the weekend, there is a sock class this Saturday. We are going to be doing the Fiber Trends felted clogs. I am s-o-o-o-o looking forward to this class. I have thought about making them before, but have never taken the time. Maybe the clogs will be the kids knit item for Christmas next year. Is that bad to be thinking of next Christmas already when I don't even have this Christmas taken down yet?

New Year - New Projects - New Adventures

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe that 2008 is already here. There are so many things happening this year. Here's a partial list:
1. ES moves to DC and starts new job.
2. E gets married, if the girls parents don't talk her out of it.
3. M comes home from Bolivia.
4. R graduates from high school.
5. J-b comes home from Richmond, VA.
6. Pack up house and move to DC.
7. Take heritage trip with R.
This list is only through the first of June. No wonder my knitting and spinning have been very profitable lately. I needed the de-stressing time.

Yesterday I was able to complete this hat. I think it's kind of cute. I call it my starfish hat. Doesn't the top look like a starfish? If I had done the contrast color is brown, it would have looked more like one. But, I wanted to use what I had left of the Keltic by Berroco. The pictures didn't turn out too well. They were done inside where it is dark. I liked knitting with the Keltic. I don't know that I would do a large project with it, but it worked well for Meg's mitts and my hat.

I also started a baby sweater. I will get pictures of it tomorrow. It is the Knitting pure & simple easy baby cardigan. It is constructed from the top down, raglan style. I have the body all done and one sleeve almost completed. Only about one more inch on the first sleeve and then the second sleeve to do. I should get it done by tomorrow. I am not working tomorrow, because my boss said I wouldn't be much help to him with just having sent ES on the road to DC.

I haven't counted up the projects I completed last year. I didn't keep a very good knitting journal then. Hopefully this year, with the blog and the journal, I can keep a better record. I do have to finish Mr Greenjeans, that's the only UFO from last year. Everything else was completed. Yah Right! I still have the Christmas stocking from the last sock class and the socks from the November class. Ok, only three projects not finished from 2007.

Happy knitting & spinning.