Knittin' and Lovin' It

Can't Catch A Break

Once again I feel like the universe is having a great big laugh at my expense. I swear for every step forward I then have to take 3 steps back. Oh, I guess I should fill you in on what's going on, huh?At the beginning of the month I went to the rheumatologist for a check up. I go every 2-4 months. The doc isn't happy with my high inflammation levels and the fact that I'm having more pain and stiffness along with restlessness and waking up in the middle of the night hurting so he decided it was time to move on to the biologic RA meds. He wanted gave me Humira to try for three months but I had to have a TB test before I could start them. Humira and TB are a bad combo. So I got the test expecting like every other time that it would be negative. Boy wasn't I surprised when I had a splotchy red mark on my arm the next morning. Since I'm immunocompromised anything spot bigger then 5mm is a positive. It's 15mm so definitely more then 5mm. So after chest x-rays and more blood work to make sure it's not active TB I'm still going to have to go on the TB meds because of my compromised immune system. Of course I'm only on one med so that's always a good thing. The only good thing is the RA doc moved me to Enbrel which is what he really wanted me on to begin with but I guess the military throws a fit about it because it's more expensive.....gah! So I have to be on the TB meds for at least a month before he'll put me on the Enbrel but it's not as bad as I originally thought. I figured I was going to have to wait till I was done with the TB treatment.

Anyways now that the bitching and complaining is over with I can move on to the knitting portion of the post.

I picked up this lovely corriedale from TLE when I order the yarn for my swap partner.

The colorway is called Apple Pie and I couldn't pass it up. It'll probably be the next thing I spin when I finish what I have on the bobbin now.

Speaking of current spinning, this is what I have on my wheel now.

It's Yarn Love's Scarlett O'Hara which is a lovely merino/bamboo blend which is really nice to spin with. I wasn't sure with the bamboo in there but I'm really enjoying it. The colorway is called Blackberry Jam. I think I may very well have an obsession with stuff named after food.

My latest spinning FO's.

The first one is 8oz of Colonial/Corriedale from Copper Moose. It ended up being about 216 yards of worsted weight. This one is by far the best spinning I've done yet. It's pretty damn even. I could definitely see buying more of this fiber. I do have 1lb of it in a dark blue/purple colorway. Copper Moose has great customer service. I need to order some more of the Ashford sliding hook flyer bobbins. I had no problems plying 8 ounces of fiber onto that bobbin. The second is 4oz of BFL from Spinneretta's Studio. It's more of a thick and thin yarn. The third one is 4oz of BFL from Pigeonroof Studios. I'd definitely love to get my hands on more fiber from Pigeonroof Studios.

I'm making good progress on Shawn's sweater.

The yarn is Miss Babs Yowza. I love love love this yarn. It's a lighter worsted weight. I have some red in my stash that I'll be using for myself. I've just cracked into skein number 2. The hank is 560 yards so there's less weaving in ends.

Kaity's Tiny Tea Leaves cardi is done.

Both the girls sweaters are blocked and dry so tonight I'll be sewing on the buttons and wrapping them up. I love it when I finish stuff on time. I'll get final photos of them in them after Christmas.

I'm plugging right along on Bree's ripple blanket.

I still have lots more stripes to go though. Each colorway will have a total of 6 stripes except for the purple which will have 8 because it's my main color and what I'll use for the side border. I've been trying to work on it every day.

I finished my latest on the go socks.

These were made with Trekking sock yarn, colorway 100. All I can say is that I'm so glad I didn't try to match the stripes on these socks. I can't see an discernible frickin pattern on these socks. They are comfy so all is well.

New pair of socks on the needles for me.

These are CookieA's Marilinda pattern and the yarn is Wollmeise Twin. The colorway is a we're different Ruby Thursday.

I think that pretty much sums everything up for now. I'll leave you with a pic of our new baby.

Name to be determined. We're pretty sure it's another boy cockatiel but he/she is only about 6 months old so we'll know more in the next 6 months or so. We'll probably go with a name that will work for both guy and girl. I do believe this one is a cinnamon pied. It's a lot lighter grey then a normal colored cockatiel and it has a good bit of yellow on the wings and head. It doesn't show well in this photo though.

Until next time......Happy Crafting.

New FO's Finally!

I'm still hunting for a solution for my ball winder and swift dilema but for now I'm using the chairs from the old table. I'll figure something out eventually. I have time since we're holding on to the old table and chairs for an airman that works for Shawn. He's being told he needs to move off base so we're giving him the table and chairs to help him out. 

I've finished a few projects since my last post.

First up is Bree's Sydney sock (ravelry).

The yarn is The Unique Sheep Footprints sock yarn and the colorway is Echinacea. The yarn is sports weight so I had to use the smallest size in the pattern to fit Bree. She loves them and I see more of these in the future. 

I also finished my Embossed Leaves socks (ravelry).

The yarn is Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 and the colorway is Wine Storm. I love ZYG's yarn and the Serenity 20 is a 70/20/10, Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend.....very soft and squishy. 

I also started a new skirt for Bree. 

I'm making the Hip in Hemp (ravelry) pattern again. It's been reworked for smaller toddler sizes. I really loved working this pattern before. I only wished I could have found a deal on the Hempathy yarn I used for Kaity's skirt. That yarn wears really well and I always washed it in the washing machine. The yarn I'm using this time Elann Camila which is a 50/50 linen/cotton blend. It's a little rough on my hands but seems to be a fairly nice yarn.

My Camp Loopy project is done.  

In the Land of Oz (ravelry) with Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine. I added 6/0 TOHO glass beads where ever there was a central double decrease. I'm really glad that I opted to add the beads.

I've recieved some goodies in the mail too since my last post.

This was ordered from The Loopy Ewe. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy and I'll use it to make Dawn Gnot (ravelry) socks for my second Camp Loopy project. The fiber was added in to keep the yarn company and to hit free shipping. I'm participating in Tour de Fleece this year so I'm in a fiber buying mood. 

Lovely BFL.

It's from Spinneretta's Studio. The colorway is called Peony II.

My tomato plants are doing great

While I haven't seen a single tomato on my big plants my cherry tomatoes are starting to multiply. 

I really can't wait to have some yummy home grown tomatoes. We had such a wet, cool spring. It took forever to warm up so the tomatoes are probably going to have a shorter growing season this year.

George had a bout of illness a few weeks ago. The vet thinks he was coming down with a upper respritory issue so he ended up on on anitbiotics and antifungal meds. Birds deteriorate very quickly when they get sick so an emergency trip to the vet was necessary. Lets just say that giving meds to a cranky cockatiel is not very fun and it's a slow process. Be prepared to have meds flung in your face. George is feeling better as you can tell from the video.

== There is a video embedded but doesn't show up in RSS feed readers. If you want to see it you'll have to go to the blog. 

 

I'll leave you with a pic of Penny and Shawn. 

Penny thinks she's a lap dog and loves to lay in Shawn's lap. It's not uncommon to see the two of them snoring together like this.

Until next time....

Happy Crafting!

Sometimes an Eye Roll Says It All

I made a post on Ravelry a few days ago about having games and cartoons on my iPad to keep my kiddo busy when we're stuck waiting at various appointments and the like. She responded back saying something like to think she gave use to give her kids animal crackers to play with and I jokingly responded that animal crackers are a think of the past. I noticed I actually got disagrees for that comment. Seeing the disagrees I rolled my eyes and started laughing. Disagrees on Ravlery don't bother me one bit and generally I ignore them. Why would I give a crap over the opinion of someone I don't know there are times when I don't give a crap about opinions from the people I love and cherish. Everyone has an opinion but for goodness sake if you're going to disagree at least post why in the world you disagree. Don't stand behind your anyonmous little click like a chicken butt. Stand  up and state why you disagree. (insert the eye roll)

I for one have never been big on giving my kids food to play with. Frankly it's just not interesting enough to hold their attention for more then a few seconds, not to say that my kids haven't danced their animal crackers around in the air before eating them but they never really played with them. I've found that crayons, Nintendo DS's, and iPads to be much more effective. I've taught my kids that playing with your food is rude and shouldn't be done. I mean seriously I'm not a germaphob. I don't run around with antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers wiping hands left and right but we do take a few normal precausions like wiping down shopping carts. That's not being over cautious that's just using common sense. Do you all know how germ ridden a clinic/hospital waiting room is? Very germy when you think about all the sick people that walk through those areas. Doctors and nurses can't run around disinfecting things after sick people have left. That would just be absolutely crazy. Now picture a small child playing with their animal crackers on the chairs that sick patients have sat in and then picture that same child putting said cracker into their mouth to eat it. I have seen this on multiple occasions and to say the least it's nasty and those parents are the ones sitting back wondering why little johnny and janey are sick all the time. Don't get me wrong my kids get sick. It can't be helped it's going to happen but my kids aren't constantly sick.

Ok, rant overwith. Time to move on to the knitting related portion of the post. I finished Shawn's sweater and it doesn't fit him. So it's now my sweater and I'm knitting him a top down raglan sweater out of Miss Babs Yowza. 

I think he's getting the better end of the deal since he's getting a sweater made out of soft handdyed yarn. The colorway is Denim. I love Miss Babs yarn and the Yowza skeins are awesome. It's her worsted weight yarn and it's sold in huge 8oz skeins. There's approximate 560 yards on each skein. I have 4 skeins but I'm not sure if I'll need to crack into the 4th skein.

My Feb YOSS socks are coming along nicely. 

I'm just going to keep knitting until I have a nice long sock. I'll most likely have enough yarn to make a pair of socks for Bree and add a new square to the sock yarn blanket. These are definitely not getting finished for Feb so I'll probably knit on them through March too.

I've gotten some goodies in the mail since my last post. 

These will be the last of the yarn for now.  Well not completely since I get paid in yarn from Woolgirl for my test knits and I did sign up for the Twisted Fiber Art sock club. So for March, April and May I'll get a skein of self striping sock yarn from them. I really really need to work on using up some of my stash. The two mini skeins in the upper left hand corner are Miss Babs yummy toes yarn. They're going to be paired with some dark pink Miss Babs sock yarn to make a pair of Choix Entrelac socks for myself. I test knit these socks awhile back for Miss Babs and Woolgirl and now I'm going to make a pair for myself. The two solid/semi solid skeins are Wollmeise from the last TLE update. The purple is Der letzte Versuch and the pink one is roter Himbeermund. The two colorful skeins are Twisted Fiber Art sock yarn. The top one is Crush on the Tasty base which is a merino/cashmere blend and Haunting is on the Playful base which is 100% superwash merino. 

 Last night I had Shawn help me with this. 

I took one of the little keys that is used to tighten your Knit Picks Options needles and altered it a bit. I had this stitch marker or whatever it is that had a little stretchy band on the end instead of the normal metal loops that I never used. Well I had Shawn tighten down the looped end of the key around the band part of the marker so that I have something that is easier to pick up. I don't know about you but I have a hard time picking up those tiny little things. This makes it easier to pick up.

I also got some lovely additions to my fiber stash. The top one is from TLE and it's dyed by Enchanted Knoll Farms. The bottom was a trade with a lady on Ravelry for a bunch of my worsted weight wool leftovers. It's 1 pound of Copper Moose Colonial top. 

I leave you with an introduction to our newest family member.

Meet Stormy our white faced cockatiel. We're not sure if Stormy is a male or female but we'll know tomorrow because PetCo has the paperwork to give us that has all that information. Apparently they haven't been doing their job very well when they sell birds because we were suppose to get paperwork with all the info on the bird like hatch date, DNA test that shows if it's a male or female, the breeder the bird came from, etc. Stormy is a loveable little bird. 

Happy Crafting!

Back from the Dead

Things haven't been all that exciting around here. I've been dealing with a nasty head/chest cold that I'm finally starting to kick though I still have a nagging cough that is driving me crazy. So needless to say I was sporadically online but just not feeling the love to work on a blog update even though I do have a few things to post about. Amazingly enough I do have some finished knitting projects even though there was a good week or so where I didn't touch my knitting needles....shocking, I know! I'm really looking forward to kicking this cough so I can go back to physical therapy since my back is starting to bother me again. 

Lets see, hmmmmm, what should I start with first. Ah, I know the Butterfly Garden socks (Ravelry)(non Ravelry).

They are a bit snug so I'm trying to decide if I want to frog the leg and reknit without the pattern on the back of the leg and do a simple ribbing or seed stitch to match the front of the sock. I did change the cuff to a basic k2, p2 ribbing. I tried the cuff from the pattern but it was way to small for my foot let alone my leg. The yarn used is JulieSpins M420S (etsy)(artfire) which is a lovely superwash merino sock yarn and the color way is called Golden Glow. I'll definitely make these a again but use a slightly thicker yarn, maybe Dream in Color Smooshy.

I finally finished my latest "on the go" socks.

These are knit using Patons Kroy Stretch sock. The colorway is called sugar and the pattern is a basic toe up sock with a short row heel and k2, p2 ribbing. I do believe I can get this at Michaels so it's cheap and easy to obtain. It's not a bad sock yarn and I think they'll make great summer socks. Not that I stop wearing wool socks in the summer. I don't wear them outside but I do wear them around the house. Certain parts of the floor here in the house are freezing because the designer of this house was a real idiot when they decided where to put the vents for the air conditioner. This of course wasn't the only thing the designer messed up on but I won't go into that since it would probably be a blog post in itself.

I started and finished a scarf using the Mountain Colors Crazyfoot I won in a blog contest. 

The pattern is Rivolo (Ravelry)(non Ravelry) by Knitspot. As you can see this is the progress photo that I took. I haven't blocked the scarf yet so I'll post a finished picture when I get that done. This was a great knit and the pattern repeat was easy to work so I had no difficulties working on it when I was watching tv. It took me less then a week to knit. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the scarf....keep it, gift it. The yarn is Mountain Colors new sock yarn called Crazyfoot and the color way is called Wild Raspberries. I originally started a pair of socks but the two socks were completely different colors. There was a portion of this skein that was a much darker purpley color and then later lighter parts with bits of green and an almost orangish color (which is very pretty) for the rest of the skein so one of my socks would have had a dark purple foot. So to the frog pond it went and became Rivolo which played much more nicely with the yarn.

Here's the projects I worked on for Woolgirl/Miss Babs for Stitches West.

The top picture is Gust (Ravelry)(non Ravelry) in Miss Babs Yummy Sock in the A Day at Blue Spring Park colorway and the second picture is Hayrick Socks (Ravelry)(non Ravelry) in Miss Babs Yummy Sock in the Vlad's Red colorway. Both patterns are Knitspot patterns. I really need to get my hands on some of the Vlad's Red for myself so I can make my own pair of red Hayrick socks. I love the way these socks came out. 

I did pick up a few goodies along the way. 

An order from The Loopy Ewe.

 I picked up some ShibuiKnits sock yarn to make the Transitions socks, Dragonfly Fibers Djinni sock (merino/cashmere blend), and Needle Foods sock yarn. 

The first shipment for The Loopy Ewe sock club came in.

I'm sure most, if not all people have gotten theirs in now. We got Fiesta Baby Boom sock yarn, a sock pattern by WendyKnits, a shawl pattern, and two wooden shawl pins. I haven't decided which pattern I want to knit yet.

Gave some JulieSpins BFL (etsy)(artfire) roving a new home. The colorway is Peach Melba.

Someone on Ravelry was destashing and I do adore BFL although I haven't used my wheel since I threw out my back several months ago. She's been rather lonely and neglected. I really must give my Precious some attention.

I found some self striping Watermelon sock yarn on etsy from KnitPurlGurl.

The colors are vibrant and the yarn is super soft. I'll probably end up using this one soon for a pair of socks.

And that sums up my blog post for this round. I'm currently working on some test knits so I won't be working on my own knitting much. I was lucky enough to be picked by The Loopy Ewe to be a sample knitter so I'm really excited about that.

A Little Progress

I'm up with a sick kiddo so I figured I might as well start a blog post. Might as well put my time to good use, right? Kaity is sick with the flu and Shawn's getting over his bout with it although he still has a cough that is driving him crazy. I'm have my fingers and toes crossed that Bree and I escape the crude but seeing as we're surrounded by it it'll be amazing if we don't catch it.

I have finished a few projects since my last knitting related post but that shouldn't be to surprising since my last knitting related post was almost a month ago.

The Raspberries & Chocolate Mallow socks (ravelry)(non ravelry).

I knit these with Frog Creek Fibers Ebullient sock yarn in the Raspberries and Chocolate colorway. The colors are gorgeous, the yarn was nice to work with and I really enjoy the fit of these socks. I will be trying some of their other base yarns.

I'm trekking right along on my moms Whispering Pines shawl (ravelry)(non ravelry).

I'm actually not far from starting the edging on the shawl. I do believe I have around 21 rows left before starting the edging.

I started Mara (ravelry)(non ravelry) for my trip to and back from Oregon.

I'm using Araucania Nature Wool which I picked up on sale at WEBS awhile back. I want to make this as big as possible so I have something warm to use when I'm sitting in my chair. The only time I worked on this was in the car with the exception of one evening at my granny's house where I knit maybe one row before swapping to a pair of socks.

I finished my stripey Regia socks.

Their just a basic toe up sock with a short row heel and a picot cuff. I used a Turkish cast on and knit until I was bored with them. The stripes aren't matched up with this pair. I thought I had it but they were off by several rows and I didn't feel like ripping them out to start again.

We got snow a few days before Halloween.

Friggin' crazy weather! It melted in about 2 days but all total I think we ended up with about 4 inches in town. I don't think we got quite as much on the base.

Thankfully Kaity didn't get sick until the day after Halloween so she was able to go out Trick or Treating for a little bit.

They both had a lot of fun. Kaity went as Mitchie from Camp Rock and Bree was a little bumble bee. I think Bree was just as excited to hand out candy to other kids as she was to get candy.

I did get some goodies since my last post. I'll just link to my Flickr account since some of these could possibly be spoilers for some people. My Woolgirl Emerald City Wizard of Oz sock club kit made it in. So did the 3rd installment from the Zen Yarn Garden Spin Art fiber club, Lord of the Rings sock club, and My Perfect Fall is Halloween Kit.

My first skein of Bugga! that I managed to snag from some one who was destashing on Ravelry.

I can see why people are going crazy about it but I'm not going to miss sleep or go crazy trying to get more when there are other cashmere base sock yarns out there that are beautifully dyed and easier to get. Yes, yes I know it has 20% cashmere but frankly I think ZYG's Serenity sock is just as squishy and soft and it's a whole lot easier to buy. That said, if I had some extra cash and I stumbled upon some in an update I would buy it if I liked the colors.

I'll leave you all with a pic of my little yarn hugger.

Bree is my knitting helper. She loves helping me take pictures of yarn and projects and sits in my lap to help me knit. Plus she loves to "fuzz" the yarn. For some reason Bree asks to fuzz instead of feel but only when it involves yarn. She always asks if she can "fuzz it" when I get a new skein of yarn. I've even caught her sniffing it. The kid is a crack up in a yarn store. She treats the yarn as if it's super special (of course it is and I've taught her well). I think I have a yarn addict in the making. :~)

Some Knittin' Goin' On

Dear UPS,

Please, please, please don't fail me today. My daughter is counting on you to bring her a special package. In the past you have been untrustworthy to me. Telling me you were going to bring me my goods and then letting me know that the goods were delayed and I'd have to wait another day or too. This should not be done to a person when it's late at night and a person is feeling down because they didn't get their package fix. Please don't let me down today! I beg you because if you do I will be sending a very disappointed 8 year old to you so you can hear her cry.

Thank You,

Luvs2knit Family

Kaity is excited because UPS tracking is showing that her American Girl doll is here and out for delivery. Yes it was a splurge and a very special treat for Kaity. Yes yes yes I know that they are expensive and no we are not crazy for buying her the doll. I wouldn't scoff at you for buying a skein of Qiviut now would I.

For the past two weeks we've heard nothing but "is my doll here yet?", "I can't wait to see Chrissa!", "mom can you check the tracking to see if Chrissa is here yet?" "I can't wait till Chrissa is here so I can play at my friends house with her doll too! It's about to drive me insane. I swear on all that is holy if UPS changes the status to show that the package will be delivered on another day I'm going to scream so loud they will hear me in China!

The weather is still warmer then normal around here. I swear that it was only in the 60's and 70's Fahrenheit last year. I know it was a lot cooler in 2007 when we got here because we had to go buy warmer clothing because our stuff was still in storage. We've been hitting in to the 90's....that's just wrong, wrong, wrong. I'm getting back in a regular routine now that Kaity is in school. I'm starting to adjust to the fact that we are moving to Germany though we are pushing for the date to be moved to May 2010. We still have to be medically cleared but that will take some time yet and according to a lot of people we've talked to my arthritis could cancel our orders. We should know more within the next month or so.

I have managed to finish a few things and of course start up a few more. I just finished up another test knit for Woolgirl and am working on one for Madelinetosh.Here's a little teaser of what I'm working on.

It's a smallish project so it'll probably be done fairly quickly.

This is a test knit for Woolgirl.

I think this was from one of the Peanuts kits. The yarn is Curious Creek Fibers Serengeti and the colorway is called Happiness is. I loved all the cables and twists in this pattern. I really liked working with the yarn too.

First up are the Rapunzel's Braid Socks (ravelry).

I love love love these socks. They fit beautifully and the yarn (Zen Yarn Garden Serenity sock) is so soft and squishy. I think I have one more skein of Serenity sock in my stash so it's time to go buy some more.

The rainbow stripe Opal socks are finished.

I knit these with some Opal Brasil, #5001 from my stash. This is my basic toe up pattern that I know by heart. No need for a paper pattern which makes for perfect on the go socks.

Merletto Mitts (ravelry) for my mom.

I finally finished them. They are a quick knit (when I actually work on them). It took me less then two days of knitting to make both mitts. It took me so long because I kept getting side tracked by other projects.

I've started & finished a sweater for Bree.

The pattern is Cookie Sweater (ravelry) from Miss Bea's Rainy Day and the yarn is Dream in Color Classy, Visual Purple. Bree loves it and is very proud of her new sweater.

Now to wait for it to cool down enough for her to wear it.

The Pearl-barred Scallop Scarf (ravelry)(non ravelry) is finished.

Well I'm done knitting it but lazy me I have yet to block it. That's on the agenda for tomorrow. I hope to have it in the mail to the new owner by the beginning of next week. I want to find some goodies to put in the box. I have an idea of what I want so I'll pick it up this weekend.

New socks for Kaity.

She's worn these sock for the last 2 nights and I suspect she'll wear them again tonight. Worsted weight socks are such a quick knit. Kaity requested some new worsted weight socks to wear to bed so I dug out the scraps of Cascade 220 and started knitting. These are a basic toe up sock with a heel flap. Nothing fancy and a fairly quick knit since I used worsted weight wool. I planning on knitting her several pair out of whatever worsted weight yarn I can dig out of my stash. I really should knit these with some superwash yarn to make it easier on me when they need to be washed. Guess I'd better go digging through my stash.

I'm moving right along on moms Whispering Pines Shawl (ravelry)(non ravelry).

I can't wait to get this blocked out. I'm just about through with Section G.

The most absolute gorgeous color of sock yarn from Madelinetosh.

I picked this up from Woolgirl. The colorway is called Tart and I'd love love love to have this dyed up in Tosh Worsted for a sweater. Might have to save up some money and see if Amy will custom dye the yarn for me.

JulieSpins MCN sock yarn.

I picked this up from a Ravelry destasher. The color is Dark Peony and the yarn is completely petable. Now to find the perfect pattern for this yarn.

Self striping sock yarn from Fireweed Dyeworks.

I'm still on my self striping sock yarn kick. I'll probably wind this up and knit it for my next "on the go" sock project. The dyer was great to deal with and shipped the yarn out quickly. She even dropped me an email to let me know that she had shipped it.

I picked up a couple of skeins of Tosh Merino to try.

I picked these up from Madelinetosh's etsy shop. I'm planning a cowl and hat, maybe some fingerless mitts too. The colorway is called Ophelia and this yarn is so delightfully soft. I could totally imagine a cardigan made out of this yarn.

I pre-ordered a skein of yarn from Frog Creek Fibers awhile back....I think it was right before Sock Summit.

I received it in the mail last week and absolutely fell in love. The color is even prettier in person. The colorway is called Raspberries and chocolate.

A Spin-It Kit from Yarn Pirates etsy shop.

This kit has 4 ozs of Shetland wool dyed in 4 different colors, 1oz of each color. I have no idea how or what I'm going to spin this for but I thought it was a cool idea and isn't roving like sock yarn...you can never have enough?

My Sept shipment from the Artwalk Fiber Club came in last week. You can see it here. The fiber is so soft.

I received my Angel package from a swap that had gone wrong.

My TLE swap partner flaked out on me at the last moment but my wonderful angels more then made up for the flaking. They spoiled me rotten and even threw in some goodies for the girls. The cool thing is the skein of Trekking I received is the same color and dyelot as the skein I bought a long time ago. What are the odds of that happening? So now I have two matching skeins. I do believe this yarn is destined to become knee highs for me.

I did cave on the no more buying yarn before we move rule I had started. In my defense I only purchase one skein of yarn and it was to help meet the free shipping from The Loopy Ewe. I picked up the small clutch that matches my peacock Laguna bag that Shawn and the girls got me for Christmas. I picked up a few patterns I've been wanting and a skein of String Theory Caper. It should be here tomorrow.

Well that sums up my post for now.

Happy Crafting!

FO's and Yummy Goodies!

Things have been pretty busy here. I try to stay busy since it keeps me out of trouble. It's almost time for the kiddo to go back to school....woohoo! I'm ready to have a little peace and quiet here in the house. The girls normally play well together but when they're around each other for to long they fight a lot. Kaity has a bad habit of bossing Bree and that just pisses Bree off.

I finished my "on the go" socks.

These are a basic toe up sock using a turkish cast on. The yarn is Paton's Kroy self striping sock yarn and they don't match because there was a knot in on of the skeins that reversed the pattern. I really hate yarn companies that do that. It's cheap sock yarn so I'm not over mad about it. Non matchy matchy socks don't bother me so it's all good.

I also finished my On-Hold socks (ravelry).

The yarn is Madelinetosh sock, color: Cherry. The picture is so so. It's hit or miss with the sun around here. We've been getting thunderstorms in the afternoons and although most of the storms pass us by without so much as a drop of rain we still get all the lovely cloud cover.

I have a few more skeins of handspun to show off.

First up is a skein of yummy purple yarn.

I used Zen Yarn Garden Merino/Seacell roving. This stuff is seriously sooooooooft. Very smooth and a little slick to spin but wasn't to bad once I got the hang of it. I'm definitely going to be buying more of this fiber type...yum. This one will soon become a cowl for me.

Next up is the last two skein I finished.

The one on the left is BFL roving from Zen Yarn Garden and the colors remind me of candied caramel apples. If I figured this correct I have around 278 yards of sport weight yarn though there are a few spots through out that are a little bit thicker or thinner then sport weight. I'm going to try for a pair of socks out of this.

The skein on the right is superwash merino from Yarn Pirate in the Rosie colorway. I purchased mine at TLE but they're out of stock right now. I know Yarn Pirate also sells her roving through her etsy shop but she hasn't stocked the shop yet. This one is a thick and thin worsted/bulky yarn. Kaity has already claimed this one as her own. She's requested a cowl out of it. She's also a converted scarf user. All she asks for are cowls after the one I made her last year.

My Pearl-barred Scallop Scarf (ravelry)(non ravelry).

It doesn't look like much but when the pattern is blocked out it's a really pretty lacy scarf. I'm making this for a friend. I wasn't going to post about it since the friend in question reads the blog but then it dawned on me (yes my brain works slowly most of the time) that said friend doesn't know he/she will be receiving this so I can post all the pics I want. I have about 20 inches of scarf so far. The yarn is Malabrigo sock, color Impressionist Sky. I have the pattern memorized so I've been zipping right along on this one. Fingers crossed that friend will like it.

I also started two pair of socks but haven't taken any progress photos. I'll try to get pics for the next blog post.

I managed to snag this yummy JulieSpins fiber from someone who was destashing it.

It's Merino/Seacell in pretty pinks. Normally I'm not much of a pink person but I really liked the way this one looked. I've heard her sock yarn is super yummy but I'm just not in to stalking sites for yarn anymore. If I can't buying it without fighting other people for it, I don't want it.

I did some destashing so I could restash. I know that for some this makes sense and others think that I'm insane. It makes me happy and it's not hurting anyone so who cares. It's my only habit since I quit smoking. It's either stash or smoke. I think I'll stick with stashing since it's much healthier. If you have a snarky comment about my stash keep it to yourself because you will get no response from me. I ignore people who spread stupid.

I ordered The Loopy Ewe's 3rd anniversary kit.

I'm a sucker for coffee mugs and I really liked this Lorna's Laces colorway so I bought it. I'm actually sipping coffee from the mug as I type this.

I purchase this yarn from Eat.Sleep.Knit.

This is a really nice shop. I've been branching out and looking for other online shops to buy from. Not because I'm unhappy with the ones I shop from but because I want some yarn variety other then sock yarn plus I'm always looking for shops that carry roving. I'll definitely be going back to this shop. The cool thing is you get these lotto scratch cards that you can win things from like store credit, kits, yarn, etc. The two purple skeins are Malabrigo Silky Merino, colorway Blackberry, which will soon become a moebius cowl (ravelry)(non ravelry). The other skein is Yarn Love Anne Shirley in the Summer Sangria colorway which will most likely become a cowl and a pair of fingerless mitts if I have enough leftover.

I picked up this skein of yarn from Sonny and Shear.

It picked it up with a 40% off coupon that came off of already clearance yarn prices. It is such a bright cheery colorway though I have no idea what I'll make with it. I have a few patterns that I think will work quite nicely.

My August shipment from LOTR sock club. The club was renamed to Lord of the Strings but I just don't care for the name and just can't use it. It sounds goofy.....well maybe that's just my craziness coming out again. This of course did not stop me from joining in on round 2 of the club.

Picked up some Arucania Nature Wool Multi.

It was on sale at WEBS so I picked it up to knit Mara (ravelry)(non ravelry - this is a direct pdf link). I want one of my own and although I'd love to knit one it Tosh worsted I can't really afford 3-4 skeins right now. I do have plans to make one in Tosh worsted later on but I want one now because winter is going to be here before I know it and I need something warm to snuggle under.

I just finished a test knit for Woolgirl. I have a few samples that I'll post about next time. I have one I can show you here in a few more weeks and one that I'm going to be starting here in the next few days when I get it in the mail.

I'm holding out on starting another spinning project since my Spin Art Fiber club (from Zen Yarn Garden) has shipped. The fiber club is closed but will reopen in 3 months. I really want to start that when it gets here. I need to buy a few more bobbins for my wheel. I've come to the stunning revelation that 4 bobbins are not enough. I'm hoping to upgrade to the sliding hook flyer for my Traveller soon. I don't mind stopping to move my yarn since it gives me a change to stretch and give my legs a break.

I think that covers everything for now.

Happy Crafting!

Little Fishies & A Contest

Contest Has Ended! A winner will be selected in the next day or two.

We're celebrating being debt free and I want to pass on the celebration to all my blogland friends. We made our final payment earlier this month so we are now free of debt. Yippy!

I'll go ahead and get the contest details out of the way now before finishing the rest of the post. I'm going to make this simple: Post about your favorite summertime activity.

I'll keep this contest open through the 12th of Aug. I'll close comments down when I end the contest and the winner will be announced on the 13th in a blog post. I will also email the winner. To qualify for the contest you must post your comment in this post only. I'm not going to hunt willy-nilly through out the blog so if you want to enter post here. I'll use a random number generator to determine the winner.

FYI: If you don't want to enter the contest but want to post a comment just let me know in the comment and I won't put your name down.

So you all are wondering what you win! I'm making it easy this time. The winner gets to decide which online shop they'd like to get a gift certificate too, ie WEBS, Amazon, TLE, Woolgirl, Sonny & Shear, your favorite etsy shop.....I think you get the point. The catch is it has to be one that is easy for me to purchase, preferably one that I can purchase online and have it shipped/emailed to you. If you live in the UK I'm not going to call your favorite LYS to buy a certificate unless of course you want to send me a calling card to pay for the call. Lets keep it simple. I'm doing this because it leaves the contest open for anyone who isn't in the US too. The monetary value of the certificate hasn't fully been determined but I can say that it will be at least $25 USD.

Now on to the regularly scheduled blog post.

Shawn was sent down to F.E. Warren AFB in Wyoming for a few days so the girls and I have been hanging around the house. I think Zeus is missing Shawn the most. Poor dog keeps looking out the front window expecting Shawn to walk through the door at any minute.

Shawn's due to leave tomorrow morning so he should be back before the girls head to bed. He stated to me that picking Montana over Wyoming was a great choice. He said the housing there is horrible. Most of the housing here is new although some of the new housing is messed up because some moron decided to build them on swamp land. Hello idiots, draining the swap and filling it in with dirt is most likely going to backfire on you. When you build a house on land that was once swamp land chance are the land is going to sink and try to revert back to its swampiness and that's what's happening right now. My next door neighbor is one of the many people who are being moved out of houses that are sinking. Truth be told the only reason we picked Montana was because it kept use closer to the West coast where my family is without having to go broke living in California or dealing with all that Las Vegas, NV has to offer. Living in Las Vegas is enough to give me nightmares for a year. Going to Wyoming would have moved us even farther way so Montana won.

Now on to knitting and all that other good stuff you all came here for.

I'm totally addicted to knitting these little fishies (ravelry) (non ravelry).

I can't stop casting on even though I don't really have any real use for them. I've made three so far. They're to small for dishrags. Maybe I can use a little of that mesh stuff knit in with them to make scrubbies. Bree's been grabbing them from me as soon as I finish them so I have several little knitted fishies floating around the house. Well I guess since Bree likes them then they do have some value, plus they're cute.

I purchase these from Dawning Dreams Etsy shop.

A pretty jewel orifice hook for my spinning wheel and two cable needles. I absolute love the cable needles and contacted Dawn who was fabulous and made me a set of mini cable needles for knitting on smaller things like socks. Here's the mini needles.....aren't they cute!

I'm not big on cabling without a needle and truth be known I can knit cables twice as fast with a cable needle then without one. The orifice hook is a tad to thick for my wheel so it's become a pretty decoration in with my knitting tools and crochet hooks.

I also acquired some yummy Yarn Love fiber from Sonny & Shear. I don't know why I've never bought from them before but I was pleased....great selection and fast shipping. They've got a pretty nice selection of fibers from various dyers not to mention all the different sock yarns.

First up is Yarn Love Marianne.

The color is Cottage Garden and it's superwash merino.....mmmmmm, merino is so soft.

Then there's Yarn Love Scarlett O'Hara.

The color is Blackberry Jam and it's a superwash wool/bamboo/nylon blend.

I picked up the yarn to start a shawl for my mom.

It's Knit Picks Gloss Lace and the colorway is Port.

Then I started my moms shawl after I finished up a sample knit.

This is the beginning of the Whispering Pines Shawl (ravelry)(non ravelry) by Anne Hanson of Knitspot. I'd have to say that she has some of the most gorgeous lace patterns around. Not to mention well written.

I finished my moms Loopified socks.

It's the Halema uma u Socks (ravelry) that came in the 2008 TLE Anniversary kit. As far as I can tell this pattern hasn't been released for sale to the general public yet. The yarn used was also part of the kit and is Handmaiden Casbah, colorway Loopified. This yarn is yummy and I think after the weather cools down my mom is going to love them.

I also received some yummy BFL that I purchased from Perchance to Spin which is Perchance to Knits shop for all things spinning related.

It's 8 ounces of soft BFL in a pretty light green colorway called New Leaf Green. I really love spinning BFL.

I also bought some lovely orifice hooks for my wheel.

These work beautifully with my Ashford Traveller. Fiber Jewels was having a get two for the price of one deal that I couldn't pass up. I don't really have a need for two hooks since I only have one wheel but hey they were buy one get one free.

Project & notions bag made specially for me.

I swapped a skein of yarn for the project and notions bag. The project bag is the perfect size for socks and it has a cool little pocket on the inside of the bag.

I'll leave you with this shot.

My baby had her 3rd birthday on the 24th. I can't believe she's 3 already! Man does the time fly. I'm thinking about starting her in Preschool next year.....yikes, I'm gonna cry if I keep thinking about it.

Oh Look Tomatoes!

Happy crafting!

On the Mend

I woke up the other day (mind you, I started this post on the 9th of July) feeling great without a care in the world not knowing that later in the morning my back would starting screaming in pain for apparently no good reason. I suffered with it for one day, went to bed early and woke up the next morning in even more pain. So when you're in pain, what do you do? Why call your doc to see if you can get an appointment. The military treatment system being as suckish backed up as it is didn't have an appointment till mid Aug....uuuuhhh, nope not waiting for that appointment. Thankfully we can go downtown to be seen in one of the the walk in clinics, which incidentally are 500 times better and staffed with much more friendlier, helpful, caring people then a military hospital. Amazingly enough the clinic wasn't to busy and I was only in there for a little over an hour. Turns out I was having a severe muscle spasm and possible muscle strain.

Just as my back pain was easing up I came down with some kind of virus. You know the routine, fever, sore throat, body aches so bad you want someone to shoot you. Except this time I ended up with the most unbearable dizziness. I was fine if I laid down but with two kids at home that really isn't much of an option. I finally figured out I could stop the dizziness if I chewed a piece of gum. The dizziness went away a few days later. I think it was a combo of headcold/allergies.....as if the allergies aren't bad enough.

So now that I'm on the mend I can get back to my some what irregular blog posting. It's been a very long time since I last posted. I'm trying to figure out where in the world to start first. This post is probably going to bounce around a bit between FOs, WIPs and stash enhancements.

I finally acquired my first skein of Numma Numma.

I swapped with a fellow Ravely user. I love the colors. The colorway is called No Substitutions. Now to find a pattern and knit this up. Hahaha yeah right it'll probably sit in my stash for the next 6 months before I figure out what I want to knit.

I finished my Hearts and Flowers Socks (Ravelry).

This is one of the patterns out of WendyKnits toe up sock book. I have plans to start another sock from her book soon. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy, color Plum Paisley. I just can't get enough of this yarn. The only mod I made was to knit 4-5 rounds before starting the picot edging.

I started a pair of fingerless mitts for my mom.

The pattern is Merletto Mitts (Ravelry). I have no idea who dyed the yarn or what brand it is. I can tell you it's soft, it's definitely superwash and it's a tad heavier then fingering weight yarn, maybe sports weight. It was part of the winnings from one of the contests Woolgirl had on her blog.

I've acquired a good amount of fiber since my last post. I'm not going to post all the pics here but you can see them here on Flickr if you want.

I did acquire this lovely skein of BFL sock yarn from Zen Yarn Garden.

I placed an order when Roxanne opened up her new shopping cart and had a 10% coupon. I picked up 2 different fibers, BFL and Merino/Seacell. I'm currently spinning the Seacell right now. Anyway back to the sock yarn, this one is a new BFL sock yarn that ZYG is carrying called BFL4 Sock. It's absolutely delicious. I've been pondering what I want to make with this, socks or a cowl of some type.

I finished another pair of socks the other day.

These socks were a nightmare to get started. The yarn wasn't playing very well with any of the patterns I picked. I finally went with the Seeded Ribbing (Ravelry) pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks. The yarn is a skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot that I acquired as a pick me up when we first moved here. Some of you may remember that we found out we weren't going to get our house for over a month and were stuck in TLF (TLF means Temporary Lodging Facility, it's a military hotel for families). It was one of my very first purchases from the yarn shop here in town. I really liked knitting with the Bearfoot yarn but from here on out I will be sticking with their semi solid colors.

Here's the latest skein of handspun.

It's approx 148 yards of thick and thin yarn that's between worsted and bulky. I spun this using the Yarn Love Marianne Dashwood roving I picked up from TLE. The colorway is Bayfield Apple. This picture was taken before it took a dip in the woolwash. It's currently hanging out to dry right now.

I'm working on a new pair of socks for my mom.

This is the Halema uma u Socks (Ravelry) pattern from the TLE Anniversary kit I purchased last year. The pattern will most likely be made available on TLE's site for sale in the future....most kit and club patterns are made available 6 months or so after the kit is sent out. Actually I found a Ravelry user who was destashing so I have two skeins of this yarn. I bought the second skein with my mom in mind since she commented on how much she really liked the color. The yarn is Handmaiden Casbah and the colorway is Loopified. I'm not following the pattern to a "T". I cast on more stitches for a less narrow toe and I've opted for an afterthought heel since I really liked the striping that I was getting. I didn't want to mess that up.

My "on the go" socks have a heel.

Yup, I know, exciting stuff! Plain stockinette socks with self striping yarn, can't get much more easier then that. I knit them in the car and when I have doctor/dentist appointments. No pattern required and I don't even have to look at them while I'm knitting. The yarn is Paton Kroy self striping that I picked up from Michaels. The skeins were completely messed up due to one of the them having a knot part way through so there was no way to make the stripes match. To keep my sanity I decided to knit not matching pair. I like them so that's all that matters.

I've also finished a few more test knits for Woolgirl and I have another one to start that the mailman just dropped off. I'll be able to show you two of the knits in my next post.

On the upside my tomatoes are doing wonderful. No red ones yet but we have a few that are getting really close. In the few days I was down from the virus the amount of tiny tomatoes I had tripled. I can't wait to get my first tomato...mmmmmm!

Bree says she can't wait too!

Stay tuned! I'm gearing up for a blog contest. We have some celebrating to do since we made our final payment and are now debt free!!! I'll post more about the contest in the next few weeks.

Happy Crafting!

Spinnning Again!

I have to say I think I've found my forever soap. We discovered Windrift Hill's goat milk soaps and decided to give them a try. We've been in search of a new bar soap so when Hubby saw these in the main billeting office (billeting is a military hotel) he picked up a couple of bars. This soap smells good enough to eat but the fabulous thing about it is it lathers well and rinses leaving you feeling clean but yet when you dry off your skin feels so smooth and you have the lingering yummy scent of the soap. They're sold in generous 5oz for around $5 which is actually a pretty good deal. I have no affiliation with this company just a super happy customer who wants to share with friends. The bonus is this a small business based out of Conrad, MT so we're supporting a some what local business. I do believe that Conrad is about 2 hours from here. We are trying really hard to support more small and local business.

I've been spinning and here are the results so far.

This was the first attempt the other day. I had about 3oz of Sakina Needles BFL that I purchased from TLE. I can see I've made some good progress from my last spinning attempt.

This is attempt number two.

As you can see I'm still working on this one. It's some yummy BFL I purchase from Susan before she closed up her etsy shop. I really like BFL it's soft and easy to spin but I think it's time to branch out into some different fibers. Soooooo.......

I picked up this with my TLE credit.

The one on the left is Yarn Love Marianne Dashwood roving, color is Bayfield Apple and the one on the right is Yarn Pirate Superwash Merino roving, color is Pretty Pirate. I can't wait to start spinning them.

I had some stickers here at the house so I decided to put a few on my wheel.

My wheel has a clear lacquered finish. I know some people like to stain or paint their wheel but frankly that's just not my thing. I'll stick with stickers since if I get sick of them I can peal them off and pick out some new ones.

I'll be back in a few days with a knitting post. I have a few progress photos to show.

Happy Crafting!