Let's See If This Works....

Longdraw spinning a Red Stone Yarns batt.... Tiger Eye to be specific.

Knitting at 12,000 feet....

Because we could.

Look What I Bought....

Just the Spinner's Choice Award-winning fleece from the Estes Park Wool Market. And I picked it out the evening before the judging. Good eye, huh? (Also a little steering towards the back of the grower's truck from my new fleece-buying plenipotentiary.)



From left to right is me (the happy owner), Chendra (fleece plenipotentiary), and Robin Phillips (the prize winning wool grower).

It's not coming home with me on the plane, though. Chendra, aka The Redhead, has it in Boulder right now and is going to scour it for me in return for a percentage of the cleaned fiber.

I'll post about more of my purchases later. Just had to share this one.

Pretending Today is Still Friday...

And trying to make Mary proud.....

Like a little Shetland in your singles??? Fiber from the Spunky Eclectic Galaxy series.



Or maybe a little Peach In Blue.



Perhaps you'd like a little Zen String in your diet? These three go up on etsy today..

Spinning for Ana

This is only the start of some spinning I'm doing for my friend Ana. It's the first plied bobbin of several from .5lb of Merino/Silk custom-dyed for her by Dragonfibers.

Knitting, Knitting, Spinning, and Knitting

And here we have another FO, Sarah's Diagonal Scarf. I knit it with just over a skein of Noro Silk Garden in color 258, which looks amazingly like a 8-count box of crayons. I found the pattern on Angel Yarns, through Ravelry, though I've seen scarves like this a whole lot of everywhere. Needless to say, she absolutely adores it. The plan is to knit up some of my self-striping worsted-weight hand-spun into a few of these for samples so customers can see just how nicely the colors transition.



Next up is another symptom of my Silk Garden addiction, the Flutter-Sleeve Cardigan from Interweave Knits Spring 2008, with a slight modification. I decided to knit it in the round so that the stripes would stay "friendly" the whole way round. Again, this was basically test-driving a sample pattern for my own line of yarns (I'm soooo sneaky.. *sarcasm*).



Above is a little teaser of some Alpaca/Merino/Silk lace-weight that I'll be taking over to Gauge shortly. The roving was from Spinning Bunny, and ohmygoodness, am I in LOVE with her stuff. :)



And here is a lone sock from some Claudia Handpaint from Gauge Knit. The pattern is the Biker Chic sock pattern, available from Zen String.

My New Sahara

AKA, I'm-not-photogenic.

The following is a public service announcement in pictorial form. Don't ever let your spouse photograph you while making fun of your bad modeling form -- especially if you have a sense of humor about such things.

First he says, "Smile and open your eyes." This is me saying, "huh?"



"No, OPEN your eyes..."



"You look like you've got a lazy eye now."



"Okay, now you have no eyes..."



"And now you just look insane..."



And because Mary requested the details... the pattern is Sahara by Stitch Diva (short-sleeved version), worked up in Tilli Tomas Pure & Simple in the medium size. It only took 2.5 skeins. I didn't use Rock Star or Disco Lights for the trim because, uhm, I have little children. :) I did the diamond rib pattern on the neckline and I have to say that P3togtbl is a complete pain in the rear.

Mark Your Calendars...

I've been invited to do a spinning demo at the Ravelry Meet-Up on March 16 at The Knitting Nest. I'll also be bringing some hand-spun yarns for sale, which means that for the next week and a half, I'm going to be spinning like a mad woman (which shouldn't be a far reach for me).

Want to see some of the stuff on my etsy? Click the link to the left!

I'm also working on a pair of Biker Chic socks of my very own, although I'm cheating on Angelina with some Claudia Hand Paint Fingering Weight sock yarn in Just Plum. Sorry, Zen!

It's Been A Busy Month For Me

Let's see.... first there was the Lace Shawl from Best of Knitter's Shawls and Scarves. That was done in technicolor cashmere/merino for my wonderful friend Ana. Only for her would I graft 100+ stitches in violet/fuschia/tangerine tweed.







Oh, and I dropped off a great big load of handspun at Gauge Knits today. Support your local LYS!!!



I dropped off some free-with-purchase scarf patterns for the laceweight handspun at Gauge as well. The sample is knit with the Victoria colorway -- last I checked, there is a skein still for sale left(hint, hint).

Mittens for Richard

Whee! Handspun mittens for my little boy. Made from the "play yarn" that had been sitting on the kids' bookshelf for the last month.

Pattern from PSSO.

Land of the Living

I really do still exist. First there was a family-wide sinus infection. Then there was Christmas. Next, a trip to North Carolina, during which I got a lot of knitting done. Then, alas, another family-wide sinus infection, this time with ear aches. I'm back. I hope. :)

So, first up is the Moonshadow Stole that I'm still working on. I have to find my beading needle so I can string the second half of the beads onto the second ball of zephyr.



Next, the Lace Shawl by Deborah Newton (creative name, yes?). It's about 75% done. I'm doing this out of cashmere/merino for my friend Ana. This is a pretty wild color, even for me. A lot of fun, though, and plenty of practice for the Princess Shawl.





Oh, you haven't heard about the Princess Shawl??? My lovely buddy Ana got me both the pattern and the yarn for my thirty-first birthday. Pretty damn cool, isn't she?

And now for the Klaralund. The yarn was a present from my husband's grandmother. (She sent me the money, I knitted it, then finished it in time for her to see it at our Christmas trip.)

Piece of Advice (non-knitting)

Unless you are adept at coercing feral cats into performing military drills on a regular basis, do not ever, EVER attempt to mount a 46" flat panel tv on your living wall while you and your spouse are suffering from head colds.

These are the things which cause marital strife.

Fortunately, we live in a town big enough to order Tom Kah soup for lunch. I think it saved our marriage.

Max's Staircase Tam

Size: Child/ Adult Small

Materials: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted (Shocking Pink) 1 skein
1 set US #8 dpns or 16" US #8 circular needle.
Tapestry Needle
6 stitch markers

Gauge: 20 stitches over 4"/10cm

Pattern:

Cast on 84 stitches with a stretchy cast-on.
Join, place marker, and work 4 rounds in stockinette stitch.
Work 10 rounds (or 1.5") in 2x2 ribbing.

Increase round: *K2, M1* Repeat to end of round. (126 stitches)

Work 2" to 3.5" even in stockinette stitch, depending on desired depth of brim.

Begin crown:

*K17, K2tog, YO, K2tog, place marker* Repeat 5 more times (to end of round).

Continue in pattern as follows, until 4 stitches remain between each marker:

*K to 4 stitches before marker, K2tog, YO, K2tog, slip marker* Repeat to end of round.

When only 4 stitches remain between each marker, *K2, K2tog* 6 times.

Next round: *K1, K2tog* 6 times.

Final round: K2tog 6 times.

Run yarn through 6 loops, pull tight, and weave ends on inside of tam.

Sterling's Cable Hat

Size: Child/Adult Small

Materials: Malabrigo Yarn Chunky (Blue Surf) 1 skein
1 set US #10 dpns or 16" circular #10 needle
Tapestry needle
5 stitch markers

Gauge: 12sts over 4"/10cm after blocking in stockinette stitch

Pattern:

Cast on 52 stitches in 1x1 rib . Join work, mark beginning of round. Work in 1x1 rib for 8 rounds.

Increase round. *K6, M1, K7* repeat until end of round.

Begin cable pattern.

Round 1. *K3, place marker, P2, C2F, p2, K3* Repeat until end of round.

Rounds 2-4. *K3, slip marker, P2, K4, P2, K3* Repeat until end of round.

Repeat rounds 1-4 three more times.

Beginning on round 19, begin decreasing on odd rows while maintaining cable pattern.

To work decreases, *Knit to 2 stitches before marker, K2tog, P2, K4, P2* Repeat until end of round.

Continue decreasing in this manner until all 6 knit stitches between cables are gone, then cease cabling and begin decreasing every round as follows:
*Work in pattern to 2 sts before marker, K2tog.* Repeat to end of round.

Continue decreasing until only 8 stitches remain. Run yarn through 8 loops and close top. Weave in ends.

AARGH!!!!!

That's the kind of day it's been.

Hell, that's the kind of WEEK it's been.

*headdesk*

I desperately need some sleep.

(and, as you might've guessed, the tam & hat patterns are delayed some more)

Tam, Tam, Hat

New patterns. Woohoo! And they'll be free. Probably won't be up til the end of the week, though, cause I'm wrangling monkeys all by myself.

FOs -- Recent and Not-so-recent

Well, I just finished pattern number 3 from Elegance Knit 11. Japanese is fun! (Actually, those charts beat the pants off of anything I'd knit lace from previously.)





Yes, I know the pictures are bad, but DH had already packed the usual camera in his luggage by this point in the day. Unfortunately, his just-finished Vinnland socks were still damp and I didn't get a picture of those before he took them to Poland.

Speaking of... FINALLY some pictures of the redux of his felted jumper...





And not to be left out, the long-awaited picture of our herd of coffeepots.



And now for the list of knitted objects my husband is currently carrying in his luggage... 1 wool sweater (the cabled jumper in Patons above), 3 pairs of wool socks (Cherry Tree Hill, Die Wollemeise, and Wildfoote), 1 cashmere blend scarf (Truffles), and 2 hard hat liners (Austermann Step and KP Essential Stripe).

I Love Sivia Harding.

I mean, I really do. Love, love, love her lace designs.

So much that the newest one made me totally forget about all the angst regarding the white zephyr and the Mediterranean Lace Shawl.

And really, it suits so well, considering the fact that I was knitting her Faroese Peaks Shawl (for myself) while I was in labor with Toddler Boy.

(Ok, she's soooo going to think I'm stalking her now... but I'm really a nice little stalker... really... I am.) (Just kidding.)

My Deck Has a Hole in it.

But at least it's not my roof.

Look what I woke up to this morning.



I would much rather have a hole in the deck than a hole in the roof.



Fortunately, it missed the new (to us) pedal car.



And it missed the grill, which is under the roof line, just to give you an idea of how close it was to the house.

The really strange part is that, apparently, it didn't wake any of us when it fell.

Sarah's Pinwheel and My New Shawl

When everything goes pear-shaped, what should you do??? Cast on a new shawl for yourself, of course!! I started this one week ago today and I'm almost halfway through the repeats. It's the Flower Shawl from Elegance Knit 11 (Japanese knitting mag) and I'm working it up in Jaggerspun Maine Line 2/8, color Emerald, from the biggest yarn cake ever. Ana is a glutton for punishment so she wound my pound cones into gigantic yarn cakes. They're scary.





Also up are finished pictures of Sarah's new Pinwheel Sweater. These are FUN to do, especially in my own handspun. Gotta love that stuff. :)