Tuesday, October 25, 2005

My DH Tries...

So I was talking to my husband about buttons that my friends have on their respective sites. He opened his big mouth and I'm posting the results. What do you think about these?

Of course, this somewhat reflects the theme that I'm currently using on my blog:



Here's a second option:



Of course, it could be worse. Here was his first attempt:

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Yarn, Yarn, and more Yarn

This is some soysilk that I spun for Ana for NonoKitty as a test-spin. The top mini-skein is what I spun and plied on a lollipop drop spindle and it's unwashed. Very fluffy compared to the bottom skein.

The bottom skein was spun and plied on an Ashford Traveller using double drive at a 10:1 ratio. It was washed. Note the differences in the depth of the purples and greens in the samples after washing. The green washed out quite a bit and the purple seemed to get a bit deeper. Washing also added sheen, but reduced fluffiness.

This is the first pookascarf. I had some Coopworth singles that I hadn't yet set and just double-stranded them with some Target $1 fluffy eyelash yarn. (65 yds, which made a perfect toddler length scarf on sz 13 needles).




So, I decided that this stuff was so cute and soft (though unwieldy, because it hadn't been set), that I plied up 130 yds of the grey Target $1 yarn with the remainder of my Coopworth singles. It's lovely and soft and fluffy. I just hope it stays that way after washing.

It's for a friend of mine's little boy. She just learned to knit and a garter stitch scarf in yummy fluffiness should be much more pleasing than the non-project I have her practicing on right now.

Pookapants




So, here's a picture of the infamous pookapants, being modeled by Pooka herself. They're done in Lion Wool (Autumn Sunset) and she loves them. I regret to inform you that she is not, in fact, cleaning the porch. Rather, she is making it dirtier and dirtier every day. But I don't mind. ;)

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Humpty Dumpty





So this is the messy living room in which I fell trying to jump over the baby fence to get to DD, who was trying to operate the spinning wheel by herself. Yes, those are unfolded clean diapers on the couch. The big green recliner is my knitting chair. The blue rocker is DH's "work from home" desk.





Update on projects:

2 Christmas stockings done and felted
1 Christmas stocking almost done
2 pookapants done
1 pookapants 1/2way done
Blue-faced Leicester on the spinning wheel

1 pooka scarf 1/2way done - this is 1 strand of Target pastel fluffyball and 1 strand overspun coopworth roving. It's ubersoft and pretty, but I'll ply the 2 strands together nexttime to get rid of the worms in the coopworth.

To go:

3 Christmas stockings
1 babypants
1lb Alpaca to spin

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

More fun with Kool-Aid


So, I finished the snow-cone barf Christmas stocking, but I haven't blocked it yet. Hence, no pictures of it. I also finished the navy blue socks for my Dad (after almost completely frogging the first one because of THREE split stitches) and mailed them on time. I'm now working on some socks for my brother out of Tamarind Flavoraid dyed KnitPicks. Ain't it purty????? It really is a lovely rosewood color. That would be 4pks of Flavoraid to 1 skein Wool of the Andes.

I also dyed 2 skeins of Lana today with food coloring and lime juice. Yes, lime juice. My best friend has a BIG aversion to vinegar, so had to get the acid in there somehow. Btw, lime juice really messes with food coloring colors. One of the skeins looked grapish in the dye bath, but dried as fuschia. Not the color I was aiming for. So, I brought it home and overdyed it with straight blue and vinegar and it's now the lovely grape I was aiming for. No pictures yet. The other skein is a light golden yellow, but I had to leave it there. *sigh* It was a 5-year-old's birthday present (along with a knitting loom), so I couldn't exactly steal it.

Projects lined up now are a pair of crotch-gusseted shorties (hopefully) out of the grape Lana, more Christmas stockings, some winter-weight soakers out of some clearance Patons Upcountry, and a felted book bag for Tucker out of all these koolaid dyed skein ends.

Just half a sock left ---- to go in the mail tomorrow!!! (Along with the other 1 1/2 sock)

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

First Post!


Oh, this is weird. I'm blogging now. Something I said I'd never do, along with half the other things I've done in this life.

Well, I guess since it's a knitting blog, I better post my UFOs.


First, there's this Christmas stocking for my mother-in-law that is taking forever, what with all the frogging. I just can't get her name to look right. Blah. I'll just duplicate stitch it in afterwards. At least the yarn looks cool. It's in blue and yellow kool-aid dyed Fishermen's Wool. The FW on the left is strawberry koolaid for my SIL's stocking.

Now I know why the aforementioned yarn is so inexpensive. It's full of VEG MATTER. Thank goodness that took the dye as well. Bleh. I'm getting Cascade for the next 5 I have to finish by Christmas.

Presently my hands are taking a beating on some marine Lana that I'm trying to knit my father a pair of birthday slipper-socks with. I forgot - woe is me - that I am allergic to blue wool dye and now my pinkies are all hivey. Poor pinkies.

Oh, yeah, there's also that almost-finished white acrylic baby romper in the knitting basket. One would hope that I could finish it before giving birth to my 2nd baby, but we'll see. Hopefully, it'll make it into the church bazaar in Sept, but man, I hate seaming.