Dew on the Moab Desert

Wohoo!! Dew on the Moab Desert is all spun!! I do still have to ply the final one and a half bobbins, but it's nice to know all the spinning is done. I should have close to a thousand yards when it is all plied. Don't know if it will be enough for a pi shawl, but I think I will try it. If it's not enough, I do have some fiber that will blend with the Moab Desert dyed by the same dye artist, I think, if I really want to spin that.

ES came home this afternoon. When he was here two weeks ago, he didn't get everything done that needed to be done by the deadline. This means we can have a regular "date" night again. He has to leave on Sunday morning, so not a long time here.

Tomorrow is the last sock class that I am signed up for. This sock is designed by Debbie Bass who is a local knitter and designer. This is a lace pattern based on a Barbara Walker stitch design. It should be interesting to knit up. We will see if I can knit these in the same amount of time that I knit the button up socks. (I still haven't found buttons for them either.)

Tomorrow, I will try to have pictures of the start of the new socks and the end of the Greenjeans sleeve.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Mr Greenjeans - closer but not finished yet

I have been busy working on Mr Greenjeans. I have one sleeve done and the other is about half-way. I am enjoying the knitting on here and it is pretty mindless right now. I can do it while watching tv with no problems at all.

I have been working on socks and spinning for 10-15 minutes every morning. My stash of Moab Desert is s-l-o-w-l-y decreasing. Only four more balls of roving. I need to get to the silk, so this needs to be finished soon.

I've been doing some packing also. Not too much yet, just enough to say I am started. Not much is going on around the house tonight. C went to bed really early, like about 8 pm. He says he isn't feeling well again. R's watching a movie and I'm going to go knit for awhile.

Happy knitting & spinning.

What do I do with broken DPN?

I thought I had taken some pictures for the blog. But all I took were pictures of the silk challenge. I think I like how my dye turned out. I'll know for sure when I start spinning it. I will show all the pictures of the silk challenge about the middle of May.

The skein of Moab Desert ending up being 561 yards. Including the first skein, I now have over 700 yards for my project. And I still have 4 ozs. to spin! If I could get another 500 yards, I might have enough for a small pi shawl.

This morning as I was heading to work, I set my knitting down and then promptly leaned on it with my palm. Yep, you guessed it! I broke a bamboo needle. No not just one! I broke all five of them. I couldn't believe that happened. I had to go at lunch time and buy another set of size 0 bamboo needles to finish my toe up Railroad Rib socks. I didn't lose any stitches which was very good, because then I would have had to rip the toe out and start again. And I don't know if I could have done that today, or tomorrow, or the next day. I have never broken a needle before, let alone five at one time. I have bent a few in my knitting experiences though.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Spinning Accomplished

This has been a busy day and I have gotten quite a bit done. First of all, I finished spinning the third bobbin of the Moab Desert roving. I then Navajo plied all three bobbins into this skein. I don't know how much is there yet, as it is still on the niddy noddy. This is the second skein of this color and there is still one more skein to be made. First I have to spin the rest of the roving though. Maybe that will be a project for tomorrow, after church.

Second, I plied this bobbin of the Notlwonk brown roving I have been spinning. I have three more full bobbins to ply and then about three more ounces to spin and ply. This roving is almost finished. I feels good to get some of the stash spun up and ready to be knit. Now I just have to find the pattern I want to use for this yarn.

I also worked on the challenge fiber. I did some dying, but I am not posting any pictures of this project until the challenge is over in May. The fiber is now hanging up, drying out, so I can start spinning it.

In sock news, I have the button cuff socks done. But, I cannot find the buttons I want for the cuff! I looked at three different stores and no luck in any of them. I may have to wait until I can make a trip to another fabric or specialty shop. I think they will fit pretty well. One sock is a little longer than the other, but I don't think anyone will notice except for me.

I started working on one of the sleeves for the Greenjeans sweater. I don't know why I haven't worked on it sooner, it seems to be going fairly quickly. I could have this done by next weekend, if I am diligent. I know why I started working on it again, I didn't want to start anything new yet.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Lunar Experience

Last night, ES and I watched some of the lunar eclipse together. It was a fun experience to be able to see the same thing in the sky at the same time. Especially when we are 3000 miles apart. ES says it was our "American Tale" adventure. R and C even watched it a little bit. They both thought it was cool and wanted to take pictures, even if none of the pictures turned out any good. I didn't watch the whole thing, but I enjoyed what I saw.


One of my other Christmas cactus is blooming again. This one bloomed also in October/November if I remember right. It has at least 18 bud/blossoms in various stages right now. The first blooms are starting to open and they are really pretty, I think. I never get tired of watching the Christmas cactus bloom.



Lyn, remember I told you I only had two more "bumps" of the Moab Desert color? Well, I lied. I found another bag with 4 more ozs in it. This means I have to do a lot of spinning this week if I want to get the fiber spun to knit in March. I am kind of getting tired of spinning this, but I will persevere until it's done.


Yesterday morning when I woke up, the frost on the window gave me a pretty picture. The design here reminds me of the Tree of Life. Wouldn't it be a nice design in some sweater? I wish I could chart something and include it in something. Maybe that should be my new challenge. Take a design and make it tangible.


I just thought it was so pretty, I had to take a number of pictures of it. The boys thought I was crazy!

I could have a finished item, the button up socks, by the end of the week. The toe shaping is progressing nicely. I just need to find the buttons for the project, now.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Early Morning Good-byes

This isn't the best picture! ES was trying to set the timer so we could get a picture of the two of us, before he flew back to DC this morning. I am talking, of course. I was telling ES he needed to bend down or his face wouldn't be in the picture. Yes, it was really cold and the car was nice and warm. I miss him already. He says he didn't get everything done he wanted to do. He will be back in about six weeks, so he can get more done then. I'm not really this short, I had bent down to get in the picture. I usually hit ES at his shoulder.

The flu bug has bitten at our house. C has had a fever since Sunday morning. I thought it was strep-throat, because he had the strep smell. But he has definitely been down and out with the flu. His fever has finally broken this evening, I think. He may spend another night sleeping by the sun-room heater.

My January sock club package came in the mail today. That really brightened up my day. I have been looking and looking for the package to come. I must be the last one to have received my package. I love the colors of the yarn. I don't know for sure what I will make with them, if I will follow the pattern or not, but they will sure be pretty.

In other sock knitting news--I have turned the heel of the second button sock. I could have these done by the end of the week. That would be good and I would even be done before I needed the needles for the next class. That class is still two Saturdays away.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Fiber Weekend

Warning! This is a picture heavy post.

Yesterday was gray and dreary, heading down to the Spinner's group. You can't even see the mountains for all the clouds and that is unusual. It was fun to see how much snow, or lack thereof, there was in the fifty mile drive.

We had people there that haven't been in quite some time. It was great to talk with Betty again and see all the projects she has been doing. Betty is the lady in the blue vest she knit from the Folk Vest book. June is looking at the shawl Betty knit and asking questions.


Heather, in the grey sweatshirt, is the proud new mamma of twin lambs. Here she is showing the pictures to Sharon. Heather has one brown and one black lamb. The pictures are so cute. The first thought for Heather was that they were both black, but then she noticed one was lighter that the other and they were different shades.

Here is Lyn showing off her pi shawl. She says it took her almost a year to complete it. She dyed, spun and knit the silk used in this shawl and she did a wonderful job.


Here she is modeling for us. Don't you think she looks great in this shawl? Congratulations, Lyn!

We received our challenge fibers or rather fiber. We were each given about 2 ozs of a silk brick. The challenge, for about half of us who have not used silk before, is to dye (if you want) the silk, spin the silk and then make a scarf of some kind. We have until May to complete this challenge. It should be fun!

After spinners, C modeled his new hat. Ok, it's not really a hat, see it has the hole at the top where the vase is sticking through. It's the latest in the finished baby sweaters. This one is the first one knit for a new expected grandchild. The soon to be parents liked it.
Happy knitting & spinning.

ES is Home for the Weekend

Sorry, no pictures again. Do you realize how hard it is to take pictures of interesting, to other people, things? I am not a consistent picture taker anyway, so that makes it a little hard to get pictures.

ES came home this morning at 3 am. It is really good to have him home! There is a lot to get done in just the few days he is here. We have A-b for the weekend. Family dinner will be here Sunday. And we went to dinner with friends and a dance tonight. It was fun to dance with him again. Too bad he leaves Tuesday morning at 2:30 am.

Tomorrow is spinners. I am looking forward to going for a couple of hours. We are starting our challenge fiber and I want to get mine so I can work on it in the evenings. I would like to have it done with the rest of the group in May, before we move.

There has been no knitting or spinning today. Maybe tomorrow I can give you pictures of a complete, ok-minus the buttons, sock. I do like how it is turning out, but it does have one area I am debating ripping out and redoing. Maybe I'll see about that when I have them closer to being done.

Happy knitting & spinning.

C's Choir Concert

Today has been a busy day. There was an appointment for C this morning, work, R's required appointment, my class, and C's choir concert. His choir has quite a few people and sometimes he gets lost in the crowd. Most of the time when I attend his concerts the conductor is right in front of him. This time there were not as many people in attendance and I was able to move around until I could get him in the frame unobstructed. C likes choir and he sings well.

I did get some knitting done while at C's appointment. I was working on the button-up socks. The left one is almost to the heel shaping. It is a little bit different in the construction. The right sock is still waiting for the final picot and to join to work in the round. The lady the appointment was with commented on my knitting and C said, "She keeps working on them. She doesn't mess up and she can keep up with our conversation." I thought that was a kind of cool compliment from a child who probably didn't know he was paying me a compliment.

I also have five full bobbins of the Knowlton's roving spun. I'm almost ready to start plying again. I just need one more full bobbin. It is working really well to have the Hitchiker underneath the computer desk. I am getting quite a bit spun. Too bad the Lendrum won't fit there.

ES will be home late, late tomorrow, early Friday morning. I have to pick him up at 2 am. Yah! I may not be worth anything at work on Friday, but I am s-o-o-o excited to have him home for a few days.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Second Baby Sweater Finished

Remember, I said I had two baby sweaters done? Well, here is the second one. The pattern is from the Creative Knitting magazine, January 2008 issue. The pattern is on page 46, titled "Crimson Cutie". I used Plymouth Encore Colorspun in color #7512. The sweater took a skein and three-quarters. So I have plenty of yarn left to do another project. I had bought three skeins to work a baby sweater for Kendra, but I didn't have a pattern in mind, until I saw this one.

I had never done a picot hem before this. I thought it would be a lot harder, but it wasn't. I don't know if I would do it on every baby sweater, but I do like it on this one. Sorry the pictures are so dark. By the time I got around to blocking this it was later than I wanted and the light had changed. Plus, I think C moved my light, because he was sleeping by the heater last night and the light is near the heater.

I couldn't get the hood to look just right, so I have it folded over in this picture. At least you can tell it is a hood! I like the lacy look around the yoke. I have done this before on baby sweaters from a pattern link I got from Florence a few years ago. It always amazes me at how pretty it looks and how easy it is to do.

I have another project started, besides the socks. I didn't work on them at all yesterday, because I was working on the new project. I will get back to them this evening after work, I think. The new project is almost finished so the socks will be priority this week.

All the projects are piling up on ES's side of the bed. (There are really only two projects now, but there are also magazines and the left overs from the two baby sweaters that I completed this weekend.) I have to get everything either completed or moved, because he will be home for the weekend this Friday. Am I ever excited to have him here for a couple of days.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Finished Baby Sweater

Remember the baby sweater from the January 3rd post? Well, today it is completely finished. I have it blocking right now. And tomorrow I hope to present it to the intended baby and her mom.


I found this cute clasp at JoAnn's. I had to make trips to two different craft/sewing places, but I think it works very well on this sweater. And I know her parents will like it as it is in keeping with their style. I also bought another clasp to keep in the stash for another project. Who knows when it might come in handy and I don't want to be driving all over town looking for something similar to this one, especially in the middle of the night when I always seem to need something.

My socks from last Saturday's class are coming along nicely. I have the cuff joined on the right sock and only one more picot to finish on the left cuff. The socks are working nicely for my Nascar tv watching knitting. I went to the LYS today, to get help with how to join the cuff, and while there one other lady from the class was there also. Her sock is coming out h-u-g-h, so we were talking about if the socks would fit or not. The pattern says distinctly that you don't have to worry about gauge, but we really began to wonder. I measured 11" around my calf when I started the sock. My sock is now, not stretched at all, at about 8 1/2", but it has more stitches than I normally use for a sock cuff. I usually use 48 stitches on size 0 needles and I have 60 stitches on the sock now. I am hoping the socks will not be too big. The last time I did socks with 60 stitches, they ended up going to E and they fit him just fine.

Well, back to sock knitting and finishing the second baby sweater of the year. There is still some time left in the night, you know.

Happy knitting & spinning.

ETA: Sorry the link doesn't work. Don't know what I did wrong.

The Kids say "Bring on the Snow"

Yesterday morning, we awakened to more snow. It snowed between 6-8 inches during the night. The kids kept saying that school should have been canceled, but it wasn't. It is canceled for today, mainly because the wind which has come up and has made it hard for the school buses to get around the drifts. The weather also says we may get some more snow today too. Now the kids will have to get some stuff done around the house. There is always dishes to do.

I am s-o-o glad that we bought that snowblower a couple of years ago. Last year we didn't use it once, but this year has made up for that. The kids and I have used it at least three times this week alone. I am not in any kind of shape to be using the snowblower, my arms are telling me they are not in any kind of shape at all (I guess knitting doesn't count as exercise for running a snowblower). They hurt for a while when I get done using that machine.


On the knitting front, I have the right cuff almost done. I have half a picot to do and then join for the foot and switch to working in the round. I still have most of the left cuff to knit, so that will be my portable project for the next couple of days.

I am still working on the baby sweater, but have lost some interest in it. I think I just need to sit down with it, with nothing else around, and finish it off. It doesn't have that much left to do, but I am more interested in starting something than finishing a project.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Moving the Kids and other stuff

Sorry, no pictures today.

We have been busy moving stuff to the mobile home for the kids. Hopefully, they will be in their own place by this time next week. I love having them here, but they need the time to become a couple and establish their own routines and stuff.

While I was at the mobile home tonight, I used the snowblower when R was done with it. There is about 8" of snow in the driveway there and we were trying to get some of it out of there. We had a little more snow today. Not very much accumulated, but there was enough to make the roads slick again. I will have to take another picture of the shed with all the snow upon it's roof, because you can tell there is more snow. I love the snow, but I am almost tired of it. I love to watch it fall, I don't even mind driving in it, but I don't like that this city does not plow the roads! It's a good thing I have an all-wheel drive vehicle.

I have knit more on the button socks. I now have the right sock to almost the point that the left sock is at, or vice a versa. I am liking these socks more and more as I knit on them. We'll see though when I get to the heel.

I did get another full bobbin of the Notlwonk dark brown roving spun last night, while I couldn't sleep. I'm getting tired of not sleeping, but I am getting quite a bit of spinning done. I also have almost two more bobbins of the "moab desert" color spun. With just about 15 more minutes of spinning, I should have it full and then I can ply them. I am anxious to see what my yardage will be with this yarn. I think I have special plans for it.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Super Bowl Knitting & R's Birthday

Okay, so the sock class went really well. This pattern will be a challenge for me though. The pattern is: Button-up Socks Just for the fun of it! by Joan Goldstein. You knit the top ridges and then pick up stitches along the flat edge for the cuff of the sock. The sock is then knit flat until after the length you want the cuff to be. I have the right cuff knit to about two inches and have the ridges started for the left sock. I think I may enjoy knitting these, but we will see. I hope to have them done this month. I need the needles for the class in March.

On the baby sweater front, this is the picture from before the Super Bowl. The hood, yoke, one complete sleeve and the second sleeve about two inches done is how far I was. By the time the Super Bowl was over I have much more completed.

Here's the sweater now. The hood is at the top. See, both sleeves complete and about four and a half inches of the body are done. Only two more inches here and then I can do the pattern at the bottom and the picot edging. It could be done before the end of the week.

On the "kid" front, today was R's 18th birthday. It is hard to believe that child is that old now. It seems like just yesterday he was a snotty-nosed kid. Now he is a young adult with some of the teenage attitudes disappearing. I really like that fact! Sometimes I get really tired of the attitudes. Thank goodness there is only one more living at home right now. R has turned out ok so far, although I will probably always worry about him. That's my "mother's" right. Do I ever grow out of it? I know I may want to, but do I get to?

Happy knitting & spinning.

Super Bowl knitting & R

Okay, so the sock class went really well. This pattern will be a challenge for me though. The pattern is: Button-up Socks Just for the fun of it! by Joan Goldstein. You knit the top ridges and then pick up stitches along the flat edge for the cuff of the sock. The sock is then knit flat until after the length you want the cuff to be. I have the right cuff knit to about two inches and have the ridges started for the left sock. I think I may enjoy knitting these, but we will see.

On the baby sweater front, this is the picture from before the Super Bowl. The hood, yoke, one complete sleeve and the second sleeve about two inches done is how far I was. By the time the Super Bowl was over I have much more completed.

Here's the sweater now. The hood is at the top. See, both sleeves complete and about four and a half inches of the body are done. Only two more inches here and then I can do the pattern at the bottom and the picot edging. It could be done before the end of the week.

On the "kid" front, today was R's 18th birthday. It is hard to believe that child is that old now. It seems like just yesterday he was a snotty-nosed kid. Now he is a young adult with some of the teenage attitudes disappearing. I really like that fact! Sometimes I get really tired of the attitudes. Thank goodness there is only one more living at home right now. R has turned out ok so far, although I will probably alway worry about him. That's my "mother's" right.


SORRY DON'T KNOW HOW THIS POSTED TWICE!

Zigity

Tonight, after dinner, E, Au, C, and I played Zigity. Zigity is a Cranium game which is really fun. It is actually four games in one. You have to match up the center action on your turn and it can get kind of wild. There is one section that you have to add up to 11, one section you match a planet and its rings, one section you have to make a word and the last section you match musical instruments. Sometimes it is hard to match up the items, because the cards are clear. But it is fun and a quick game. Your not stuck there for hours playing.


I found some yarn from the stash for the sock class tomorrow. I don't remember where I got this yarn, I think from an Estate sale. I think it will work up well and look good with green (or even beige) buttons. I am looking forward to seeing what kind of a pattern it will have in the knitting. Besides, this is one of my favorite colors.

The baby sweater is coming along nicely. I am halfway through the yoke and I don't think it will take me too long to finish the yoke. I am looking forward to knitting on this during the Super Bowl on Sunday. I might even get it mostly done this weekend.

Well, off to knit, to see what I can get done.

Happy knitting & spinning.